BEYOND BRUSHSTROKES
present is considered “new money.” There are exceptionally smart and lucky and hardworking individuals who rose in the 70s-90s and whose wealth today is considered legendary. They are in the Forbes list of billionaires.
Like good wine, money must be aged properly. People who have money are distinguished from one another by the manners and mannerisms. The old rich hide it. The new rich flaunt it. (Not politically correct, during hard times.)
More than a century ago, John Jacob Astor remarked that a rich man had assets worth a million dollars. That was when the purchasing power of one dollar then was equivalent to today’s $50.
Two decades ago, a millionaire used to be defined by bankers
Having money is not all about buying pleasure for oneself.
and brokers as someone with an annual income of one million dollars. The numbers have increased substantially.
Rich people are classified according to the age and source of their wealth. The major categories: Heirs — Rich inheritors of money made by their ancestors. The Rich and Famous — Individuals who are famous merely because they are rich. The Rich and Powerful — Individuals who are powerful because they are rich.
The sub-categories consist of the following: Old rich — working rich, idle rich, useless rich;
New rich — Those who acquired their money during and after WWII.
Robber barons are those who acquired their wealth through dubious activities. (Manufacturing liquor during the prohibition years; or supplying arms, fuel and vehicles to the enemy during the war, etc.)
Entrepreneurs who made their fortunes through honest hard work and good timing.
Arrivistes — the socially ambitious people and fortune hunters who married into money (heiresses and heirs);
Cronies — people who made money through political influence and connections. Some cronies are recycled holdovers or returnees from exile, former cronies from previous administrations.
Lucky Rich — people who struck gold: in the stock market and financial markets, lottery, sweepstakes; beneficiaries of bequests from wealthy and generous employers.
Filthy rich — pyramid schemers, human traffickers, drug lords and dealers, smugglers, gun runners, vice lords, money launderers, cybercriminals, politicians who take advantage.
Miserable rich — the misers who penny-pinch, hoard, count, and worry about their billions but are tight-fisted and selfish.
Philanthropists — the rich but generous angels who share their personal wealth and their corporate resources through their various foundations.
Money is a means; not the end. It is a tool to help make a better life for others. Having money is not all about buying pleasure for oneself.
The Talmud has an interesting saying, “You are rich if you are satisfied with what you have.”
LUCIEN C. DY TIOCO
nExecutive Vice-President