3 ms·

In 1988 Gates was a billionaire. spending 6% of his net worth on a house really doesn't seem crazy. Most americans, well, most americans don't own a house. Thos

by jfoutz 10y ago

In 1988 Gates was a billionaire. spending 6% of his net worth on a house really doesn't seem crazy. Most americans, well, most americans don't own a house. Those that do, it's their biggest asset. And his house has nearly tripled in value. Of course it has taken 25 years, because real estate is like that. I've never met the guy. By all accounts he's smart, dedicated and hard working. I think he'd be doing just fine regardless of the field he went into. He got very lucky, so he's a billionaire 80 times over. And, yes. The prince of Brunei is a great example of not thrifty. 14 billion in just 10 years. [1] [1] http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/07/prince-jefri-201107 http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/07/prince-jefri-201107

Retric 10y ago
He did spend 28 billion at one point. Which is my point. It's natural to think of spending in morale term so donations or gifts don't count or relative to income. Which makes finding a reasonable limit on the absolute scale meaningless. Supose he had 10 trillion and spent 1% on a house would a 100 billion be extravagant in that context?
- jfoutz 10y ago
  I don't understand. I asserted that Gates was thrifty. As in "using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully." I guess you're saying he's just doing whatever he thinks is fun from moment to moment, like prince Jefri. It seems like there's a subtle difference there, but I don't know how to articulate it.
  - Retric 10y ago
    I don't think thrifty simply implies someone lives well below their means. I think thrift applies in both a relative and absolute terms, so living a multi million dollar a year lifestyle you can easily afford does not count. I make good money as a developer and live well below my means, but I am not thrifty. I simply don't have much interest in buying most things, but I can point to 10's of thousands of dollars in wasteful spending.

by jfoutz 10y ago

Retric 10y ago

He did spend 28 billion at one point. Which is my point. It's natural to think of spending in morale term so donations or gifts don't count or relative to income. Which makes finding a reasonable limit on the absolute scale meaningless. Supose he had 10 trillion and spent 1% on a house would a 100 billion be extravagant in that context?

jfoutz 10y ago
I don't understand. I asserted that Gates was thrifty. As in "using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully." I guess you're saying he's just doing whatever he thinks is fun from moment to moment, like prince Jefri. It seems like there's a subtle difference there, but I don't know how to articulate it.
- Retric 10y ago
  I don't think thrifty simply implies someone lives well below their means. I think thrift applies in both a relative and absolute terms, so living a multi million dollar a year lifestyle you can easily afford does not count. I make good money as a developer and live well below my means, but I am not thrifty. I simply don't have much interest in buying most things, but I can point to 10's of thousands of dollars in wasteful spending.