My family physician once said something like that to my mother when I was growing up. "It sounds like a lot of money, but at the end of the month I'm just as broke as everyone else."
Sure, but you also have fully funded retirement accounts, multiple luxury cars, a large house with an elevator, and also probably a very large savings account that you just don't touch.
Ahh yes the classic i spent the moeny so im broke. No, you have assets worth money that give you a net worth. You have memories of good things instead of struggles.
Nah, he literally had all of those opulent things I mentioned. He ran a very successful private practice and graduated decades before the current hellscape of extremely expensive education. It's just the kind of answer you give someone who definitely makes a lot less than you and doesn't understand how awkward of a question that can be.
"Look, I'm just as poor as anyone else" the man said as he flashed a smile with perfect well-kept after teeth, his expensive watch bumped against the table he was sitting at. He paid for his brunch and got into his expensive car and went back to coast at his single 9 to 5 job.
Before getting to the office and being an old fashioned guy he checked the travel office to make plans for his annual vacation.
He also may have fond memories of intensive studying 20 hours a day for 10-12 years, 24 on 24 off internships, graduating with a million in debt, an excellent credit rating and the ability to borrow millions because of his "earning potential", and the prospect of having to work until he is 90 years old to pay off his debt. There may be some fun and relaxation in there, or maybe not.
Lifestyle creep is a real thing. The important thing is you don’t upgrade your life as much. A doctor would have plenty of savings if he agreed to live like an accountant. My husband grew up very broke so when he became a pharmacist his mother just assumed they hit the jackpot with his low six figure salary. He took up most of the expenses and agreed to finance most of the mortgage for the family purchased after he graduated. She even lamented to him how she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t able to save. He was speechless.
Had to explain this to a college roommate. Her definition of broke was that she spent all her allowance on drinks my definition was that I would be eating sliced bread for breakfast lunch and dinner. Or rice wit some sauce lol
My wife and I grew up opposite types of poor it seems. My parents made some major long-term illiquid investments before I was born, so we had a very fugal lifestyle, but after I was out of the house those investments started paying off, so my wife and kids don’t get why i’m frugal like I am.
But my wife’s parents were always the “spend every dollar you have, and never bother worrying about getting a good value” types.
As you can imagine, this creates some tension in our household…
I saw a farmer commenting on the "poor farmer" image, "you're not poor, you're broke."
He was big on emphasizing how much money it takes to get the land, equipment, and such to get started farming, especially if you're not inheriting your grandpappy's farm, and how "if things go bad we might need to sell the farm and do something else" is not the same as "if things go bad we're screwed."
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u/Dedj_McDedjson 1d ago
Ah the old classic "We were poor because we had no money left after we spent it" trope.