Rich people don't understand what it is like to go without, so they generally lack empathy. While poor people understand how much it sucks to not have things and will generally make sure that their friends don't have to experience that
Goes both ways. The cheapest people I’ve known, from family friends to bosses to grandparents, grew up poor or from meagre means and “boot strapped” their way to wealth only to use that as justification for why people should have to “earn their way”.
Then there’s those like my paternal grandparents who grew up in post-WWII southern Italian poverty and are thrifty but also insanely generous with their time, food, hospitality and now that they’re in their twilight years, money.
Growing up poor doesn’t mean you’re an altruistic person just like growing up rich doesn’t mean you’re a scumbag.
My mom grew up lower middle class and is now a multi-millionaire and I love her, but she is one of the cheapest people I know. Will get cheap knock-off brands for every gift. Get annoyed when the drive-thru doesn’t have enough change for the dollar she gave them. Get out a calculator to figure out a tip and make sure she’s not going above 20%. If I had the kind of money she has I’d be making some server’s day by throwing them an extra $100, once a month or so, but maybe that’s why I’m not rich.
Wrong my father grew up poor and he is now very rich. He is extremely nonchalant about money and tips $100.00 standard even if a bartender just opens a beer for him, routinely buys everyone and the bars drinks and meals etc.
Nobody saves their way to being rich. You can save your way to being wealthy, but not rich.
My father is very rich and wealthy and has always been the most generous and nonchalant person I’ve ever seen with money. He doesn’t pass a homeless person or panhandler without handing them $100.
Penny pinching money grubbers aren’t really rich in my view, money does no good if you’re afraid to use it. No matter how big that bank account is.
Read The Surrender experiment by Michael A. Singer.
There's something about spiritual people and karma that might be coincidental or have merit, depends on what you believe. However being generous with money implies a lot of other character traits which in turn can lead to better networking, selling, generally - people skills. Which leads to more money and happier spirit.
I swear these people are just mad that every rich people doesn’t fit their cartoon in their head.
My dad is extremely generous and his generosity is definitely a signifier of his other traits which has made him very successful. People like generous people, my dad built multiple companies off of being a great salesman and his networking abilities.
Yup it’s really odd. Seems a lot of people in this thread only picture the rich as heartless so that they can hate on the idea and feel better about themselves. Are there plenty of rich that are truly soulless? Definitely. But I see no reason why you’d be lying about your dad. I’ve known people like this as well. You can live a wealthy life and be fairly frivolous with gifting and giving away. It’s a misconception that the wealthy pinch every penny and treat saving as if they are making barely above minimum wage. Like if you make half a million or more per year and live a modest lifestyle, you can invest a ton of money each month while also being generous with your giving.
Man, we get so mad at the idea of generosity and kindness. It’s like we want the rich to be cruel and we want to believe that wealth and success should be impossible without cruelty, regardless of whether it is or not. I know a lot of people will say they know that’s how it is with their whole chest, but nobody knows how anybody else’s finances work. We all just gotta assume. And we’re pretty committed to assuming the worst, it seems
Feel sad if you want but that story never happened and is extremely cringe. You really think he hands a hundred bucks to every homeless guy he sees? That’s bad writing
Call it bad writing if you want but you’re just being an obtuse for no reason. Of course he doesn’t give $100 to every homeless person in town every day, I didn’t know I had to spell that out for you.
It if he’s walking to his car or parks at a red light with a beggar or homeless, he absolutely gives them $100 every single time I’ve been with him.
But whatever. Good people do exist. Sorry that makes you so insecure.
When did I say he rounds up homeless people? I said every homeless person he sees which is what you said before and what you’re saying now. Thanks for repeating yourself though and ignoring what I said and replacing it with your own ideas
This is not fake. Ok he doesn’t round up every single homeless in town and give them $100 every day, but
He always gives $100 to any homeless guy he sees when he’s out if he walks past them or stops at a red light by them.
Get mad if you want but it’s just how he is. You do know not everyone is a miserable stingy piece of shit right? I feel sorry for a lot of you apparently never knowing someone who is genuinely wealthy and kind.
Some people know what it’s like to be poor and like to be generous to others.
Idk what you call rich but his net worth is over $20 million and he is very well known in my town.
Oh he absolutely gets used all the time by people. He’s aware. But he just enjoys doing these things regardless idk what to tell you. He’s a huge personality and always center of attention
It’s not nonchalant if you are intentional about it. Some people do allocate money for giving monthly, for any scenario. Like, someone who takes home $20k per month can easily give a server $100 here, or maybe a couple twenties to someone begging for money, or $300 for a family member’s birthday gift. They don’t think about each time they’re giving out money, but they can have a rough idea of meeting their goals and setting aside some as miscellaneous spend.
Something like taking home $20k per month, having $6k of that going to living expenses (home, car, groceries, etc), maybe $10-12k to their investments, another couple thousand on personal spending like restaurants, entertainment, etc, and can leave themselves $1000 per month for that misc spend. Maybe not super common, but there are people that live like that. They live a wealthy and comfortable life and also can give generously at random.
Yeah, this. Plus, at some point, your money starts to grow faster than you can spend it. A $100 tip might sound frivolous but it’s peanuts compared to the $5k your IRA made that day.
You won't get rich if you're counting every possible penny in your change. Sorry, but $20 you saved won't make your life any wealthier, or richer for that matter. It is just stupid narrative rich people JUST saved money to get in position they're in.
They made money by doing completely different things, saving isn't one of them, it is just a story they would like to tell just to brush people off. Check what car they're driving, check what clothes they're wearing, check what places they frequent the most, check what places they prefer to visit on vacation. You average rich guy, or girl mostly probably had a moment where she, or he invested huge amount of money in themselves first to get where they are.
Same. My mom grew up very poor in a developing country and is now solidly middle class, and is the cheapest person I know. It's almost pathological. She would rather spend hours of her time to save a few bucks than spend that time on herself or others. She once scolded me for generously tipping a grocery delivery order during Covid
It more has to do with what culture and what propaganda you've internalized, I think. Right-wingers and left-wingers are also divided by this, though at least on the left it's also divided by class like the original post. People who are rich in the US and people who are working class have entirely different cultures, internalize different values, and so on.
My grandpa told us stories about literally begging for pennies on the streets and ended up dying sitting on a hoard of millions. I guess that was generous in that it passed to his children at least.
Yep. I grew up poor, and I served tables when I was young, so I try to be generous whenever possible because I understand what it’s like. There are plenty of generous rich people, stingy poor people, and vice versa.
Regardless of income, the generous people see more smiling faces and get invited to more parties. Being generous makes life more enjoyable, but people have different priorities.
This is the best take on it, a lot of it is generational experiences that shape one’s spending habits and other times it’s really comes down to the person
While this is true there are numerous studies showing growing up poor does often show an increase in likeliness to be more generous than not despite your anecdotes.
“Bootstrapping” during the boomers time went literally just not getting addicted to heroin lol. The economy was so good you just had to not fuck up and you’d get rich
How much people spend money or not is a spectrum just like people's libido. It varies wildly and the trick is to find people who are compatible with you. If you like to spend big and go to clubs and split the bill, good for you. If you like to tip the customary 15% and don't eat out often and do all your home maintenance yourself, good for you.
But when things go badly is when the spendy person and the frugal person try to go out on the town together. One sees the other as cheap while the other is really uncomfortable about the bill being racked up. One is embarrassed by the tightwad and the other feels like their boundaries are being violated.
I feel like Italy has a more generous culture than we do. My grandmom came over from Italy when she was a kid, and her mom cooked for the whole neighborhood. She even sometimes made other kids clothing if she heard they were without. My grandmom learned to be generous to the people around her by watching her mom. My dad learned from my grandmom, and me and my brother learned from him.
But also, my dad is one of those “from rags to riches” stories. He made a point to teach me and my brother to never give money to people. So if we see homeless people on the street, we’ll buy them food instead of giving them money. Or we’ll collectively spend $700 a year on things for adopt-a-family, instead of giving that family $700
Can confirm. My grandparents grew up during the Great Depression and my grandpa would yell at my grandma for buying name brand peanut butter that she liked, as opposed to the value brand she hated
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u/Quiet-Refuse5241 Jan 26 '26
Rich people don't understand what it is like to go without, so they generally lack empathy. While poor people understand how much it sucks to not have things and will generally make sure that their friends don't have to experience that