Why rich people live quite ascetically, and people with an average income on the contrary, even if for this they have to take out debts?

[Viking_Girl19]

Is there a psychological explanation for this?

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

The lifestyles of the rich have always influenced the middle and lower classes who wish to transcend that social class. Look at the wedding industry as a perfect example — white wedding dresses didn’t become the norm until the wedding of Queen Victoria, who wore an all white dress and had an all-white cake as a massive display of wealth. In those days, weddings were as informal as county fairs and white dresses were only meant to be worn once, not to mention a white cake covered in white sugar was incredibly expensive. But it was such a luxurious event that shook the world that many of the world’s non-royal rich went on to copy for their own weddings, which in turn influenced the lower class who kept witnessing these events and wanted a similar level of luxury. They turned weddings from simple, happy events to these huge, formal ceremonies that had a massive impact socially.


Every trend you can think of was set by someone with enough money and time to do it and the boredom to try it.

[KostasKouvalis]

While I don't think this is true on a broad spectrum, most of the rich people I've known in my area were like this. And I noticed a trend in that many of them preferred to live in a more humble house and instead use their earnings for things like travel or collecting stuff. And one guy was saving up for a private island in Fiji.

I don't know how accurate the second part of your question is, but maybe they are trying to prove something to themselves or others and feel better about themselves. I've noticed that people who never had much money then suddenly get some, have the highest demands, because I guess they want to experience a taste of that good life I guess.

[normalice]

People with lots of money usually inherited most of it without doing a single thing to earn any of it, so they have to believe that money (not feats) is the main way to be valuable as a person. As such, they are always trying to accumulate more while spending less. At best they will put themselves in a position to be the one who announces the success of others so that people will associate them with those feats.

People with an income closer to average aren't afflicted with this validation deficit and so are less clingy with their money and want to enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

My experience was the more money they had the less they'd want to waste

My associates with a few million have flashy new cars

The rich ones mostly have classics or practical stuff

[Maybeyoutoo]

This is absolutely not true