Someone Asked "What Do Insanely Rich People Buy That Poor People Have No Idea About?" And 30 Folks Online Delivered

Time.

For example, I own a boat, I work my a*s off on it repairing, cleaning, storage, etc. If I were rich I would just pay to have all of that taken care of so that I just make a call and the boat was ready to go anytime I wanted it.

The rich spend their money on toys, but they also spend money buying the time to use those toys and to live their lives.

My in-laws were well off.

Way before the internet, I had an unexpected emergency when my brother was in a bad car accident in another state. I had been out shopping with my sister-in-law when my mother-in-law called the store and told us to come home right away, but she didn't say why.

It took me 20 minutes to make what was normally a 40 minute drive. I'm pretty sure I scared my sister-in-law to death with my driving.

When we got home, my in-laws gave me the news. They also had airline tickets waiting for me so I could be on a plane right away. How? They had a travel agent they'd used for years. In the half hour between the time they got the call from my family to the time I walked through their front door, they had called the travel agent who had booked the ticket and had it hand-delivered to my in-laws home.

So what do rich people buy that poor people have no idea about? Incredible convenience, that's what.

Isolation from poor people. Rich people spend a lot of money to make sure that poor people can't get anywhere near them.

My wife’s, cousin’s husband is a chef for a famous Bollywood star. The catch- he is only there to make chai. Apparently his chai tastes exactly the same as his employer’s beloved (now deceased) grandmother used to make. The man makes more than I do per year making chai 2-3 times/day.

Access.

Need to call a governor? He's on speed dial and will phone the senators too. Need to talk to the CEO of Coca Cola... he's waiting for you and immediately assigns someone to fix your problem. Do you want to yatch around the horn of Africa? The closest naval fleet will tell you the safest route and provide "support" so pirates don't mess with you.

I own a company and by nature interact with a lot of billionaires and CEO's. I'm by no means rich but hang in the circle enough that I've e-mailed CEO's of fortune 500's and they've hooked me up with huge "free" things as a small perk or thank you. I've been PAID to fly places just to have a 1 hour meeting and then get a free VIP week long vacation with the mayor or consulate showing me around.

It's trippy and I've never really felt at home, but I've been eternally grateful for these travel opportunities.

OilSpillsAreGood wrote:
You don't really "buy" this, but, family offices. You need to have an incredibly high NW to even think about these services.

climb-it-ographer added:
Yeah a proper dedicated FO is really in the $500+ million net-worth territory.

They're really like an 'easy mode' for so many of life's annoyances. Having trusted lawyers, financial advisors, personal assistants, and other staff on-hand for everything just takes so much of the hassle out of day-to-day life.

Feel like buying a new Range Rover? Well, you sure as hell don't need to mess around with that process yourself-- just ask your FO to handle it and have it dropped off at the house. Want to buy some property you saw while on vacation? Just have them work out the details and give you the final paperwork to sign. Getting sued because of some shit you said on Twitter? Your lawyers are working around the clock with no other clients just for you. And on and on-- a team of dedicated assistants is a hell of a luxury.

Support ships for your mega-yacht.

The biggest yachts don't travel alone, they generally have small cargo ships that do everything from house additional staff, to transport your cars so you always have them when you make port, to holding all of your toys (helicopters, submarines, day-boats, etc.). They'll often travel a day or two ahead of the yacht to a destination so that your staff can unload your things (cars, clothing, etc.) at the next villa you're summering in.

Kidnap insurance

Happiness.

People say you can't buy happiness, but that's not true. Not only do rich people have more time since people with less money have to work a lot more, they can also buy stuff that can make then happy for years that is someone from a poor family tired to buy it they definitely ruin the family's income, making them even more poor.

I'm not saying buying stuff like multiple phones or expensive clothing i mean stuff like pets, plane tickets etc,, poor people have to really work for those. Me and my bf live really far away, I live in Czech Republic and have lives in Australia. If someone bought us plane tickets to we can be with eachother, I'd be so unbelievably happy. Unfortunately they are really expensive and neither of us have that kind of money atm, tho we are hoping to get it soon enough. Neither of us is that poor, it's just a lot of money to spend on something.

Honestly insanely rich people often get so much for free because they're rich. Money begets money as well as access. It's crazy how much free stuff and access you get just because you're rich.

An acquaintance of mine is one of six pilots "on retainer" for a wealthy family

On staff mechanics. People see the Floyd Mayweathers and Tom Cruises of the world buying tons of cars and motorcycles, but when you have a fleet like that, you basically need on staff mechanics who at the very least keep your cars clean, but also handle all maintenance.

Funny, I know this guy who is the son of a man who sold his company to a large tech company for hundreds of millions.

The son went to art school. Works for an associate of his father Lives in Manhattan. Dad pays for everything.

He started a movie company recently. Dad $. Wrote a screenplay. Is filming a movie today. He's the producer and director.

He invited me to drive a few hours to be an extra in a few scenes.

I had to refuse because I need to work to pay for some unexpected bills.

That's what money can do. Either give you options or make opportunities out of reach.

Weird but important different types of insurance on their "money-makers"

Like Taylor Swift has her legs insured for like $50 million. Her legs are part of her brand, her look. If some terrible accident happened that removed her legs or damaged them, she has insurance to cover that loss of income.

Private doctor's. My nephew married into a very high net worth family, They employ a general practitioner/hospitalist with privileges at several top level hospitals. He caters, in house, to any and all medical needs they may have.

Its not just buying stuff but also keeping stuff they once bought. Many rich people just keep all the homes they ever owned as investment instead of selling when they move. Thats also a prime example of housing turning into commercial realestate in many cases.

I work for the super-rich/elite of California. Tycoons and politicians and old money types. They don't wear the "poor" name brands like Gucci or Prada. They buy these random brands you've never heard of where a white t-shirt is 3k. Money talks, wealth whispers.

EDIT: for those asking, some examples off top of my head would be Khatie, Miu Miu, Alaïa, Loro Piana, moncler, etc. Those aren’t the most expensive, just the most common. Someone linked a Quora below with other good examples! The clothes are all pretty normal and unassuming, which is the point. It’s meant to be an iykyk kinda thing

There are membership-based vacation clubs. Similar to high-end country clubs, but for travel.

You may pay a one-time initiation fee that can be upwards of $100k - $250k to get 5-10 years of *access* to purchase incredibly exclusive vacation/resort/rental property experiences.

I work in the travel industry and I know of multiple companies like this.

In my ex-socialist country, rich people buy (off) officers, teachers, doctors and judges.

Cloning pets, one of our investors spent ~$100K cloning his dog.