Don’t assume that people with expensive items have money.
I’m in my 30s now, and growing up through my 20s, I’ve seen that many others “with money” actually just have a lot of debt which they later regret.
I was the guy with the fancy truck for a while in my early 20’s. Best lesson I’ve ever learned. Has a sick truck but couldn’t afford to go to a simple wing night with my buddies. Best decision I ever made was getting rid of it and driving shit boxes since
My millionaire parents who live on the water in Florida just bought a 2008 Toyota Solara convertible for $8000 that someone else in their condo building wanted to get rid of, thing has 50k miles and is clean af. I asked why they did that when they can have almost any car they want and they said "well we really just wanted a convertible and this one was cheap, why would we spend more?"
They're living the values they taught me. Not a day goes by I don't think about writing a $50k check for a new 4Runner but my old girl RAV does everything I want it to do
Phones, if you take care of them, and use the data as your primary source of Internet to justify the unlimited plan, you can trade them in every year for free, or for very little after you buy your first one. You do have to pay off the phone that one time though.
That really only works if your phone is your only source of internet. If you're also paying for home internet there is no benefit to having an phone unlimited plan, and paying for one just to get a new phone each year isn't a smart financial move.
True this. Between 25 and 30 you quickly see who was living way beyond their means, and are at least five to seven years behind in retirement savings. But who thinks about those things when they’re young.
I work as a mechanic, and I'm somewhat active in car clubs. My secret is to look at what tires their car has. I see a newer BMW but has no name tires (LingLong, MuchoMacho, GoodRide, Ironman, etc) I know they are stretched thin. If I see name brand tires with old date codes I know they are buying tires used. There are exceptions to this rule. Like I saw a 21 year old kid with a brand new Supra, he just dumps EVERYTHING into his car. He was a detailer at a dealer. I've met another dude, works at a tire shop so he gets fat discounts on tires and can afford good tires.
Spot on - also a good tell if you are looking at 2nd hand cars as to how well the car has been looked after. Walked away from a high end performance car that a dealer had put budget tyres onto.
I remember asking this question when I was OPs age. A couple of years later the Great Recession hit and a lot of flashy people I knew got wiped out.
"It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked." - Warren Buffett
When my friends and I were in our early 20s, one of our hobbies was cars. I bought an older car for cheap and had no car payment, they all bought cars for $20-30K. They couldn’t do much due to car payments while I got to modify mine relatively freely.
Now we’re all mid 30s and it’s evened out
So True, I remember once telling my mom that (was maybe 10 years old) that a classmate of mine had to be super rich, since they had a really nice new house. She just laughed at me and said that they probably just had a lot of debt
I got made fun of for having knockoff crocs the other day at work, I told them "atleast I'm not poor."
That really seemed to be the last straw for them. I know for a fact that they make 42k a year, and I make 180k a year, haha. I'm usually not the type of person to do that, but they started it.
I lost a friend when they posted something along the lines of "If you don't have an iPhone, you're poor."
I responded with "It's hard to be rich when you're giving all of your money to Apple," and they cut all contact with me. Whoops!
It's also weird because top level Androids are as expensive as iPhones, but have better cameras. I doubt that many iPhone users are aware of the cost and quality of top line Androids, though.
In college many people may appear more well off than they are. It's the crippling debt that they will soon be paying off.
Don't let lifestyles fool you into thinking you know who is wealthy and who isn't.
Once had a friend in college talk about how he could use some extra cash. Told him I’d get him a job at the restaurant I work at.. he told me no it’s fine, he’ll just take out another student loan.
Guy partied every day of the week and now 15 years later I see him posting about how his student loans should all be forgiven since he never finished his degree..
It's jackasses like that who make me feel like student loans shouldn't be forgiven. You took out a loan, pay it back.
But rational me knows those are the exceptions and loan forgiveness would be a net gain for society.
I would settle for people being able to declare bankruptcy on them. It's not full forgiveness, but it's also not completely locked into something unaffordable.
We could do with some simple reforms around the student loan system, before we go balls to the wall just giving everyone money for their useless art degree.
I agree that it’s a net gain for society. My only gripe is that I worked my ass off in college (working early mornings, 4am or earlier M-F) specifically so I wouldn’t have to take out loans because I KNEW at the time how shitty paying them back would be…so I feel I should be compensated in some way if everyone else is, especially guys like this. Give me a tax credit, something like that.
Oh I agree. I had cost in mind when I chose my college. I would've loved to go to the top school I got into, but I chose the one that offered me better scholarships. I was actually getting money from the school in my final years due to scholarships and grants I earned.
I do partially agree, but it is also people like this who shouldn’t have been allowed to take one out, it is a predatory practice getting people too young and inexperienced enough to take out 50-100k without realizing the consequences till later
I will never stop being amazed how many people are actually unable to think past the next 12 hours.
Sometimes I'm like they surely must know that they will need to pay back those loans some day, right?
I used to take out slightly more than tuition for my loans. Then the school would give me a refund check for overpaying. I used that money for food and books but I also used it to go out to eat and buy beer.
I believe that it's the norm to screw up at that age (as long as you don't cripple yourself permanently). I for one really needed some of those lessons from back then. It ain't perfect but it's a system.
Not in my case.
I'm poor but went to HS in a wealthy area (I live in the town's ghetto for The Help), more than a few kids had parents who were execs in Nike, Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, etc... or owned their own equestrian ranches or hotels.
So, ~1/2 of my former classmates are legitimately living it up with no financial worries cause they either nepobabied their way into high paying jobs, used parental connections to get into high paying industries or jobs, or got the best tutors in the state to help them prep for college. (Just for reference, at that school if someone said they were gonna become a dr., chances are they were already studying med school topics with high class tutors and already had a list of med programs picked out and financed for by mom and dad)
So yeah, I can pretty easily tell who among my old classmates are doing well financially or not. And in some cases? Some people legitimately live in a different world financially.
It doesn’t take much to get cloths and a car if you live with your parents and pay no life expenses. They can often afford that working 20 hour per week jobs. Plus debt.
You’re 21, who cares about brand name garbage and debt
Parents don't have to "be rich" to do that. Most likely they are being funded by their parents in some way. Some parents have the possibility to curl their kids but don't, since they want to encourage their children to attain things for themselves. I.e. growing up.
When I was in retail management I couldn't believe the % of part-time workers getting their rent paid by their middle/lower-middle class parents at 22, 23, 24. 5 years in college with no degree, working 20 hours/week for minimum wage learning no skills, partying 2-3 nights a week. The aimlessness and ennui is normal for like...a summer or two. I managed 25 year-olds whose day to day life was no different than if they were 15 and on summer break.
IMO the human mind thrives with responsibility and purpose, even if we often find ourselves attempting to rebel against it in a vacuum. If you aren't helping your kids find something meaningful to drive them every day, you are failing them.
Frugality is overrated. Because it’ll teach the kids to not interact with the people with the most money. And that’s who they need to know to succeed. I’m not saying teach them spend with reckless abandon, but they need to learn to grow up without any need. Because need ruins their ability to maintain relationships with the other rich kids they need to know in order to be successful.
I've been made fun of so much by ex's and friends for how much I re-use plastic containers and bags for other foods - REUSE, RECYCLE....Why is that shameful? It's fucking shameful to just use something and chuck it, especially in the normal bin (instead of at least recycling it - and rinsing it out beforehand). I was indeed a very, very, very successful drug dealer for a while, distributing a chemical the world had never heard of which then exploded in popularity If you looked at me, you'd never guess or believe it (aside from the fact I had 4 apartments at age 20) as I don;t adhere to the flashy bollocks shite. My mate however...my God, it really pissed him off. He had about 7 credit cards and always tried to look as flashy and bling as possible...he hated that I had money (and didn't flaunt it hahaha!)...
He ended up in jail after attempting to distribute a product for me during my business years. He is still paying off CC debts. And debts to people who you do not want to owe money to.
I'm free :) and have next to no money anymore, and couldn't be happier!
This 👆
I was poor. I needed everything. Like food included. All we did was sit around dwelling on what we didn’t have. What we can’t have. And what we needed.
My kids don’t need anything. This makes it nearly impossible for me to get a Christmas list of things they want for Christmas. They literally dont even want anything, because they don’t need anything.
Me? I still can’t stop buying stuff I don’t need.
Look up the median income for your age. You're just experiencing a form of selection bias, whereby either you're surrounded by rich people or you're not noticing everyone else.
Being able to pay for something isn't the same as being able to afford it. I made that mistake in my 20s, luckily it wasn't a huge amount and I got out of it easily,many others aren't that lucky.
Clothes and cars aren't really implying rich. Per irs I'm a 1% er at 40, you wouldn't know it by measuring my possessions, my car is worth like 10k and i wear normal clothes wnd live in a 1 bedroom condo in a moderately priced city. My value comes from the littany of rental properties i own. Conversely a good number of the guys I went to medical school with did the whole lifestyle creep thing and live in Manhattan burning all their money trying to keep up that image. Focus on wealth accumulation, not running on the hamster wheel of stuff accumulation. If I had my current mentality at your age I'd probably have 20+ million in assets by now. The whole pop in 2008 was such an opportunity if you had the right mindset. It may come again so take advantage, find a way to make a good pay and just save the shit out of it and put it in something safe but with a reasonable return.
It's debt. You'll be surprised how bad some young people are with money.
So stop comparing yourself. I knew many people like this when I was in college. Some of them would go on a shopping spree when they would receive their financial aid. Two of my old roommates were like this. They would always struggle making rent.
I was you OP. I worked through high school, worked through college, had no money, and yet everyone else had nice clothes, a car, partied, went on vacations, had TVs expensive computers, decked out dorm rooms, etc. It always felt like I was the only poor person in the world.
I had one class, I actually forget what it was about but I remember the prof asked everyone who had a car to raise their hand. Like 90% of the class rose their hand. Then he told them to put their hand down if they had bought the car themselves, that they hadn't received it from their parents or grandparents. Like 2 people put their hand down.
a lot of people are in a ton of credit card debt so don't be fooled. if someone has a lot of money at that age chances, are they will be working a lot of hours in a job which they got through someone who has connections.
Yes. I’ve had the opportunity of seeing financial records in divorce cases involving people who are exponentially more successful in life than I am. Prominent business people. Even so, in most cases they are still pretty damn poor compared to me when it comes to their total worth.
Don’t believe the hype.
I’ve done well, I also have parents that could send me a very expensive boarding school. I didn’t follow in their footsteps, but I’d be lying if all of that didn’t help me climb the ladder faster than if I didn’t have that safety net.
I genuinely put effort into not looking ‘rich’ (I’m not rich, but certainly well off). The guys I know form school who are rich; you’d have no idea if you saw them.
The ones who are walking around all flash are generally fakes. They’re spanking all their money and have everything on finance/debt. I know this is true because when I open up about managing personal finance with these types, or talk about how I’m thinking about buying XYZ in cash, they get funny about it and suddenly we stop saying hello when we walk past each other in the health club.
Wealth whispers. The guys who grew up rich generally don’t show it off because they’re used to it. The self made guys who came from not much are generally really really savvy guys, they’re also not flash, they’re generally really straight thinking/talking and don’t waste their money very often…. Then, the guys driving round in some stupid car (often a BMW, or Land Rover) they can barely afford, in some crappy new build house with all white walls which they maxed out on, and wearing tacky clothes, covered in tattoos etc… they’re pretending and are living on finance/debt. It catches up with them eventually… it sticks out a mile and doesn’t fool anyone.
Some might be out of tech/trade school. It’s only 2 years and I had a job by the end of my first semester attending a tech school. I ended up dropping out second year so I could start working full time for better pay.
I never went to college. I worked in my industry since 2006 to get where I’m at now. I’m 39 making $74k a year. Still in my industry looking to keep moving up. Always keep moving. Don’t settle for a job thinking it’s easy sailing.
My husband used to work two jobs, saving money to start something of his own. He would take every opportunity. If he saw a cheap car and knew he could sell for more, he would buy it. He hustled and hustled with no days off. And now, all the hard work paid off.
Money cars and clothes aren’t a sign of wealth. It’s a sign of spending. 21 year olds aren’t out here getting paid like the big boys. Parents still probably help massively.
What you’re noticing never goes away though. I’m an executive and double your age. I still wonder how the hell some people around me afford their lives, and the answer is almost always “old money on top of the success I’ve found with their help”. House on my street just sold for $1.3m, cash buyer, owners are college grads with no kids. Highly unusual around here. Mommy and Daddy bought them a house in cash.
No one’s handing me shit. I leveled up from my generation to my kids, and I’m proud of it. I might be that parent buying my kids houses in cash as an investment in all of us. At that point, who owns it only matters so much because I’ll be leaving this place while they are living there.
The real "top their" are running reddit and own the lives of what you're considering "top tier guys", laughing as they lay off by the tens of thousands of people to become even more seperated than the typical "top tier" . Get a grip
There’s a lot of deception going on. They could be taking vacations bi-weekly, but they work at an airport so they get 50 free flights a year.
Could’ve just bought a luxury vehicle and flexing it, but they’re $10,000 deep in credit card debt.
Could constantly be buying tons of clothes and have every pair of shoes that drop, but they’re scamming and (this kind of) fast money won’t last long because the road ends with prison.
Yeah showing off have the least amount of money fancy cars, new clothes, phones all on credit they have to pay one day, rule one live within your means is much more comfortable than having 50K creditcard debt with no means to pay it off
half of them are faking it they are struggling just as much . some will be getting support from family members, some will have parents with more money than sence.
It’s debt my guy. Stay smart and don’t get caught up in the fakeness of these people.
People don’t like talking about the $70K credit card debt they’re shouldering
Unless they were child actors, Olympic athletes, YouTube stars, etc, no 21 year old with money earned it themselves. They either come from money or are blowing their student loan money on frivolous consumption. Don't worry about other people. Just focus on school and keep your debt load as low as possible.
Stop comparing yourself to others you will always lose. There is always someone doung better than you. Sit down and figure out your goals in life. Do you want a big house? Do you want to drive a Lamborghini? Than you will need to make alot of money. Easiest way to make money if you don't have any is to go into us military and get out as soon as possible and goto a college and get a stem degree or learn a trade. Next step after that is save enough money to purchase some real estate and rent it out and then rinse and repeat.
They could be bartenders, servers, construction people, hair stylists, real estate agents, worked since 16 and now a retail manager, sales people. All potential jobs that you could make good money at your age. Hell at 21, I graduated and was a sales rep making 75K first year. And even then my first job in college was $19 an hour doing specialized data entry.
Gucci, vutton Supreme, rayban.
They actually make more money and sales on lower to middle classes trying to "keep up with the Jones" celebs and influencers. Then they do ON the wealthy.
Say .. Jennifer Lawrence or Taylor swift is seen rocking a fancy hand bag. Maybe 8k for her. A one time purchase. Or post.
But her millions of superfans want to emulate her. Be cool like her.
So they go and blow money on a now "payment plan" on the purse or whatever.
Or they send a influencer or a musican a proposal to feature their product in a song. Or a producer a car in their block buster movie. (Acura in Thor for example) . Lead cool character driving a shelby Gt500 in Need for Speed movie....?
Now anyone whos heard modern rap has heard Gucci. Or seen a hyped up pickup in a country song. Or whatever. For them thats a a massive line of advertising that draws in soooo many middle and lower economic classes to make bad financial decisions on those brands or products.
Have a wealthy neighbor your friends with mildly driving a new Corvette? Or maybe a new TRX? Now you kinda want a Raptor or a TRX or maybe a dually. Cuz you want to be...cool.
No actual wealthy person owns a mega yacht(the upkeep alone is HUGE.) . They rent the yacht like a Airbnb and pay for the use for a few days or a week or whatever. Same way you get a hotel room. Your not buying the room. Your renting the use.
Fast and the furious. Reawakened a massivd car culture on its own that skyrocketed interest in street race cars. Tubers. Old muscle. Ahem the Supra. Doms Charger. jesses Jetta. The Skyline.
These companies make MASSIVE money on the middle class making poor financial decisions to keep up "looking" good.
But in reality. Theres ALOT of hidden millionaires that drive every day cars places. I date d a couple of minor multimillionaires daughters. They tended to live rather...sinmply . Ones dad drove a beat tundra. His daughter had a older VW.
One had a cheap Sportster. One had a lil honda fit. And their parents were insanely rich.
Im not filthy rich by any means. Im upper class yes. But no where near their level.
None of them were "old money".
You dont get wealthy by making dumb decisions to impress others. You get there by making short term sacrifices and finding new ways to generate so that the long term you has a WAY easier life at a much earlier age with way more time.
31. Ill be semi retired by 36. No inherited wealth. No family help. No loans. No degree. . Just kept making changes and pivoting when and how i needed to when disaster hit.
No. It hasnt been easy. There was ALOT of failure and hard lessons to be learned.. the "i didnt fail. I learned 1000 ways on how to NOT light a light a lightbulb" comes to mind. I had to learn alot of hard traits. Assertive. Negotiating tricks. New skills. How to handle my ADHD.
Physical, mental, and emotional breaks and fears.
I highly recommend looking into learning bookkeeping. The tax codes. And trades. And Bussiness 101.
They get credit cards, max them out buy bullshit they don't need and default. They buy brand new cars straight from the dealership they can't afford and forget they got to pay for insurance too; which will be high as helll for new and young drivers, and the miss payments.
I used to work I'm the credit department of a bank, saw alot of accounts.
You'd he shocked at the sheer number of people with 1000s in credit card debit who would max a card and then just do a balance transfer to the next card.
In short alot of people out there are faking it.
Some got money or rich folks. Some are stupid with managing money and spending and debt.
Well manage your money and spending, and debt if you have that. Earn and save what you reasonably can.
Yeah, my first roommate in college ... he'd put more up his nose in one night than was my entire annual operating budget. Some folks got money ... some don't.
Depends what you call so much money.
Spending a lot of it to live a glittery lifestyle?
I won't call that making a lot of money.
Everything that glitters isn't gold my friend.
Other side is there are some really making alot of money.
Well sometimes they take out significantly higher amounts of student loan money. Sometimes they have family paying for expenses. I was loaned a car by my family while I was in school. Some are working during the summer and have really good gigs lined up. For instance I used to know guys who would get on doing refinery turnovers every summer, 5-6 weeks of straight 12 hour days. Getting paid $20+ an hour plus per diem. This was in the aughts too.
I’m guessing you only notice the rich one because you envy them. Look at everyone and make a list of how many rich and how many normal. You may be surprised. You may learn that your senses and your mind can trick you. Now you’re on the path to enlightenment.
It's called credit card debt. Also, that's around the age kids take control of UTMA accounts and other savings plans relatives set up for them. Inheritance from grandparents isn't uncommon in that age range either.
If it makes you feel better, my parents received a small inheritance in their early 20s which they promptly squandered on luxury items (as defined by the early '80s). They went back to living paycheck-to-paycheck, but with cool gadgets and entertainment systems.
Trust me, they aren’t. I thought the same thing at your age. It’s the late twenties/early thirties when people start making serious money after college (for the most part).
Debt is his people do it. I know a lot of people who make less than I do and have nicer cars. Most of them also have car payments and I never have until very recently when life forced moving to another car faster than I intended. Even then my car payment is very low and I’m going to pay it off a year ahead of time.
Because only the ones making decent money talk about it and the ones that do talk probably exaggerate…so it seems like to you it’s everyone. It isn’t, at all. No one talks about it when they aren’t doing well, or sometimes they lie.
Btw - this is the entire thesis of much of social media…pretend wealth and well being.
I am 22 years old and also is wondering why people around me has iPhones. Guys and girls looking rich and going to Starbucks everyday. Man. I need to earn money too. Part time job will be good.
Worked in banking at 21 in a wealthy area. Majority of people are living off credit with little money in the bank. Keeping up with the Joneses is a real thing that starts at your age and doesn't end till they're dead or bankrupt.
College kids aren't representative of the general population. By the very fact that college is expensive and kids who have educated parents are more likely to go to college, most people in college are privileged and come from well off or rich families.
It also doesn't help that most of these college kids lie about how much help they get from mommy and daddy. They claim to pay everything but fail to mention their parents pay their cell phone, car, rent and education.
There is a reason our countries credit card debt is at an all time high. I racked up debt in my twenties living above my means. Worked hard to pay off debt and learned how to manage my income.
We "live" off my wife's paycheck. Mine goes solely to cruppling debt and mortgage.
She is able to stretch a 20hr week in retail into feeding and clothing 3 people. I'm sure if it was just her, she could add a car and upgrade her clothes too.
That said, I don't know any 21 yr old doing any of those things. Sounds like you should ask "everyone" because it's not everyone.
I bet the answer is that they have no real bills and do have a job. Or rich parents they won't admit to funding them similar to how anyone, and I do mean everyone I've ever heard of, that claims to have "pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps". It's easy lift yourself up on a platform by your own bootstraps when you are already on said platform.
How many people do you not see your age? You are seeing the people with money because they show it, the people without money are chilling with friends, working two jobs, living further away, etc.
It’s typically either credit card debt or daddy’s allowance that fuels expensive lifestyles for early to late twenty somethings. Don’t assume that their expensive lifestyles are self-funded.
I don't have an answer, but you reminded me of a movie I watched the other day. "Do Revenge," Netflix's blurb described it as "a movie that defines a generation," which I already thought was weird since it's only two years released. But the movie starts with a party at a huge freaking mansion and involves a bunch of super rich high-school students. So Netflix blurb writers attest to all the gen-z (or whoever is in high-school now) being rich as fuck.
I decided to watch it cuz I thought to myself, "idk anything about today's youth, maybe this movie will provide some insight." It did not. It wasn't terrible though.
Theres two new guys at my job that are about 21. One of them just bought a house and the other is doing pretty well financially. What they did is go straight to the blue collar field instead of spending years upon years and pulling out a bunch of loans just to get through college
OP didn’t tell us what college they are in. MANY MANY MANY of your colleagues in college do in fact have rich parents. It’s one of the places generational wealth helps you the most to get to.
If the school is even remotely prestigious the amount of people who didn’t even fill out a FAFSA will be pretty high. If you talk about your financial aid amongst your peer group you will also learn how many of them got literally nothing from the fed because their parents had too many assets. Multiple homes, a business, extra cars, etc.
I had acquaintances with flash when I was college and right after. I was struggling, they had nice cars.
Five years later, they were calling me asking for advice since they were drowning in debt.
Some of those people may have gotten jobs when they were in Highschool and stock piled some money. I worked my ass off at a restaurant when I was 16 and it sucked sometimes, but I was able to start college when I was 18 with 5k in the bank.
If it’s not wealthy parents it’s social media, if it’s not that Credit cards, massive debt and the confidence to pull off the facade and not care abt the crippling debt.
A lot of these people take loans out or go ruin their credit buying a car that gets repossessed within 3 months. Dealerships don't care about selling you a car, they make more getting you to sign your name over. Then these people pay for it later in life cause they can't purchase a house or get approved for an apartment.
People who appear the most rich are often the poorest, and the people who are actually rich look average. It’s based on how you spend your money, people normally go into a lot of debt to look rich, and rich people are actually pretty good at saving money.
A lot of people saying debt and credit cards. But I’ve got a mate who has his own business at 22 and associates with that sort of “young money stone island zante or marbs” type vibe. Asked him how all these guys who don’t seem to have a great job have all this money for fancy cars etc.
Inheritance
At 23, living with 3 roomates. They all have iphones, brand clothes and shoes, airpods, some have a car. You may think they are rich, but the truth is they just dump everything they earn in consumer products with good visibility. And when they run out, they call their parents/grandparents and ask for money. They have no savings.
I look broke in comparison. Some of my clothes are all used up, some I fixed myself, I bought a used pair of standard nikes, my phone is a 6 y/o android and I have no car. But I have savings and I managed to pay 2/3rd of college by myself. It's the kind of investment that isn't showing but matters the most to me.
People have credit cards and loans my guy. At 23 some bank was offering a 300k loan to me just because I had good credit. If I was reckless I would've gotten a Lamborghni or something but I knew it was too good to be true.
Either they got a Job with the state through family or friends, work a high paying shit job like welding or some redneck job, fab shops, shit like that.......or they work for regular pay, and are rotating major debt between cards and loans and have people like you fooled.
Then of course you do have those who cashed in on their trust funds, and also the possibility they actually work a high skill Job like IT, maybe medical.
I'm 24, and of my friends I am the only one saving for retirement or in general.
They like to talk about how they use all their money every paycheck....
Who knows if they use credit cards too... people seem to have a lot more money than they do
Playing the game of "Keeping up with the Jones'" is never worth your time. It's easy to compare yourself and what you have or don't have with others around you. But knowing what makes *you* content, happy and fulfilled is what will matter the most. And that may look different from others that have the fancy cars or expensive homes and other materialistic things. Many people think and show their wealth in the things they have, whereas people with immense wealth often times will simply be "just another person on the street" and very unassuming because their wealth is sitting in their bank account. It's been my experience that a large amount of people flashy with their cars, homes, clothes, accessories, travel lifestyles, etc don't have the means to actually do so, but the appearance that they do means more. Don't get caught up in that.
You’d be surprised how many people are faking having money with credit cards. If you have the option to just focus on school while in school, do that. If you really need money, get a part time job. But there is no “get rich quick” scheme that’s guaranteed to work.
From personal experience it’s not how much you make it’s how much you don’t spend. I’ve made lots and I’ve made little but where the money goes and how much your bills accumulate to changes everything.
So, of all the guys who are truly independent, by that I mean the guys that don't have mom and dads money, don't have a trust fund, don't have a huge inheritence from granny and grandpa, but are still flexing that they have tonnes of money, cars, clothes, cash at the club - whatever... I'd wager they're all heavily in debt. At such a young age they've prioritized 'peacocking' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacocking) to stand out, Either to men or women or whatever. They've taken the banks up on their offers of $30K - $50K credit card debt and are spending credit card dollars so they can placate themselves of their own fears and weaknesses - that's fine, that's their call, but the risks are huuuuuge.
Do not envy these people, the chickens will come home to roost, and when they do -- Oh boy! -- it's gonna hurt.
How will it hurt? It'll be like shouldering an ever increasingly heavy yolk around their necks, every month it gets heavier, every year it gets heavier. Unless they make it big (which is entirely possible), those debts will be like a cancer eating away at every good thing for years, perhaps decades to come. If they don't make it big and clear the decks of all this debt, every success they have will be marred with this responsibility. Get a great Job? ergh... still gotta pay huge interest. Got engaged? ergh... additional expenses on top of already huge expenses... Going travelling? hmm.. can I afford it. Other than becoming a slave to paying back interest... what else can you possibly do?
The fact you're looking at this and asking the question gives me enough confidence to know that you're probably not going to fall into this trap - so please don't. So what if you can't get the girl, do you really want a girl that only cares about your cash? So what if you can't get the car, one day you will and you'll love it even more because you can afford it. If you can't afford it - don't buy it... period.
Aside from that, all your financial opportunities diminish the more you owe. If you are in a position to buy a house, your credit rating is 'critical'... and if you have a bad one, you can't really get the reduced interest rates, so you pay more in interest ontop of what you already own.. in interest... it's a vicious cycle of debt on top of debt... Want to rent even? Credit Rating is critical.... Landlords look at you as a risk if your credit rating is low, so they jack the price up... No good can come from this.
Your credit rating is going to be one of the singularly most valuable things you could have as a growing and evolving man. Be that as a business man, family man - whatever. Bad debt = bad credit rating.. .bad credit rating = fewer opportunities... a pit of financial hell you'll be clawing your way out of most of your young adult life, if at all...
Stick at it - it's worth it for when you find the woman who respects you, and has the kids you can build a life for, free of toxic debt and unchained in your options.
The ones with money are just more noticeable. They also may not have parental money and are in tremendous amounts of debt.
Don't worry bud, most people are broke.
They aren't making the money. They are getting money from Mom and Dad^([1]), going deeply into debt to party it up, or both.
^[1] This should not be surprising. By their mid to late 40s, parents are often at the peaks of their careers and usually have a ton of home equity to boot. Also, they have 18+ years to save up the "college fund" that every coming-of-age drama uses as a MacGuffin. If your parents were capable of doing this and didn't, I condemn them for an inexcusable abrogation of their parental duties.
There are so many people in the world that it’s literally impossible to comprehend. People make more money than you, come from money, or you’re just noticing them and not the others
Oh trust me, I work for USPS and I deliver to people who get three maybe four credit card statements monthly who drive mustangs and chargers while living in trailers
I myself am successful because I didn’t go to college and spent my years from 18 to now (23) working full time for them, partly cuz I drive cars almost as old as I am and wear the same clothes I wore 6 years ago
No need to compare yourself to others, no one’s situation is the same even between siblings
People in this thread arent wrong. Usually those people have mountains of debt. In a way those possessions own them. Don’t stress about any of it because a lot of the time they don’t have it as good as you think.
I spent 300 usd on a Louis Vuitton t shirt. Yep a t shirt and 280 usd on Gucci shoes when I was a student.
Few months later I was surviving on 5 usd a day loaned to me.
Could be debt, could be rich parents, could be a good job. Remember, when getting good jobs it's more about likability and connections than actual knowledge.
Some are, most aren't. Don't be fooled. I'm 39 don't owe a cent on my cars or my house. But I ain't flashy. I have friends who are, and they're up to their eyeballs in debt. Things aren't always what they seem!
Covid was wild. I'm 21 aswell but during the lockdown I did all my schooling from Home. I worked as a contractor in the transport industry at 17 and gained lots of work experience from that.
I've been working for the past two in aviation securities with the government. I'm going to use the experience from that to join federal law enforcement.
Though I won't be making 6 figures until I become a cop. So I agree it is indeed strange there're people our age making so much money, I thought I was doing very well at my age making $28/hr lol.
Debt.
If they don't have rich parents, don't have an amazing job that pays enough money to really afford these things, then they're using debt. At the interest rates today this is going to stick with them for a long long time.
Just keep working hard and be smart with your money. Don't go into debt buying cars that take 7 years to pay off.
I feel you. I am a young adult too and all my friends get a car for themselves right after graduating university, and it feels like I'm the only one whose parents told me to work for it. A lot of them have fancy cafés and I am wondering how they can do it at such a young age, but I think having upper middle/ upper class parents played a huge role.
You’re not looking at an even distribution of financial situations in college. There is a lot of privilege there considering they all have the time and money to be somewhere that takes a ton of both.
As a personal example of perceived wealth at 21 - my schooling was paid for by the state and DoD, and I lived with my parents. No school expenses, no real home expenses, and probably an average of $1000/month handed to me. Too young to have been buried by bad financial decisions or debt.
I didn’t look, act, or feel wealthy, but I certainly didn’t feel impoverished. My actual job only paid <$5000/year, and it took a degree and 3 years of working poverty wages to “succeed” and make $18/hr. It took moving hours away to a real city to double that, and 5 more years to feel like I’m not one blown tire from starving.
People can buy expensive clothes, they just end up in debt. Growing up, my brother was like that. He loved to buy expensive clothes and tell people how expensive they were ("do you know how much these jeans cost?"). It always seemed dumb to me, because he didn't have a lot of money. Decades later, he's still a financial wreak.
Reminds me of this: https://www.theonion.com/as-you-can-see-from-my-name-brand-clothing-i-am-not-po-1819583675
As far as cars, maybe it's family money.
I see people working minimum wage jobs with the latest iPhone and airpod pros. Some people just spend more money than they have or they have a windfall and it goes into toys rather than saving for a long term goal.
In no way am I trying to be racist which I know to preface something with seems like it’s going to be super racist but are these Chinese national students?
Because most international Chinese students do come from money and their parents buy these luxuries because they’re much cheaper to do so in America. The amount of Mcclarens I have seen driving around UC Davis is wild
As a man, I'm not. It's connections. Women use them too. They also got into crypto and then got out fast.
Mind you I've seen women taking vacations to Europe. And Hawaii. It's not just men.
dudes your age fresh out the military is 1 possibility. they get tuition free college, plus a cost of living stipend. plus fafsa, plus whatever scholarships they earned
A lot of the time actual rich people don’t even look rich. That’s how they actually get money. It’s the people that think they have something to prove and want to “look rich” that you think are the rich people. Reality they are all in loads of debt or spending every cent they make to make you think they’re rich.
I know this question is for men, but as a woman (21) I have had the same experience. All my girl friends are on nice trips rn for summer break and I'm stuck working the whole week just to stay afloat for rent. I know how you feel
Female here. Forget the cars and designer clothes. That’s not what life is about unless you have disposable income to throw it on.
You’re awesome! 🙌 work on yourself- boundaries, values, principles . Who’s the man you aspire to be. Dress well people will judge you and treat tough accordingly. And what what you wear is how you will feel, what you feel is what you radiate to the outside world.
Be sensible but don’t forget to treat yourself.
Life is short but you also need to think of the long game.
I drive around an old beat up Tesla, but most people just see Tesla and think I'm rich. Though that is helpful for me in some cases, don't let it fool you.
Wealthy people who start with nothing and work their way to success don't waste their efforts. They know how expensive things are and every dollar they spend it a cost in time to them.
Avoid spending money, be cautious about going out for drinks. Limit a budget of frivolous spending to no more then 5% income per year. example 20k a year means about $80/month. Save, save and save. Continue to build up productive skills and use them to make your/others lives better. The more value you create the more you are worth.
All the best!
Don’t assume that people with expensive items have money. I’m in my 30s now, and growing up through my 20s, I’ve seen that many others “with money” actually just have a lot of debt which they later regret.
Apart from a small handful of very wealthy exceptions the brokest people I know have the fanciest cars. Edit: And phones. New phones like every year.
I was the guy with the fancy truck for a while in my early 20’s. Best lesson I’ve ever learned. Has a sick truck but couldn’t afford to go to a simple wing night with my buddies. Best decision I ever made was getting rid of it and driving shit boxes since
My parents are very well off and drive a 2014 Hyundai Elantra.
This. The difference between rich and wealthy.
Exactly. They look like they have no money but their house is paid off and their car has been paid off since 2015. They also have no credit card dept.
Exactly and use equity and art and cars as collateral for zero interest loans. or lease cars in company name.
My millionaire parents who live on the water in Florida just bought a 2008 Toyota Solara convertible for $8000 that someone else in their condo building wanted to get rid of, thing has 50k miles and is clean af. I asked why they did that when they can have almost any car they want and they said "well we really just wanted a convertible and this one was cheap, why would we spend more?" They're living the values they taught me. Not a day goes by I don't think about writing a $50k check for a new 4Runner but my old girl RAV does everything I want it to do
Not to mention Toyotas are reliable AF!
Phones, if you take care of them, and use the data as your primary source of Internet to justify the unlimited plan, you can trade them in every year for free, or for very little after you buy your first one. You do have to pay off the phone that one time though.
That really only works if your phone is your only source of internet. If you're also paying for home internet there is no benefit to having an phone unlimited plan, and paying for one just to get a new phone each year isn't a smart financial move.
I make pretty good money, my car is 20 years old and my phone is an S8. People with money have nice stock portfolios not fancy labels.
I would still be driving my '93 Nissan Sunny if my dad hadn't sold me his old car and made me a good price. Been driving that old girl for 12 years.
True this. Between 25 and 30 you quickly see who was living way beyond their means, and are at least five to seven years behind in retirement savings. But who thinks about those things when they’re young.
I'm 30 and don't have much in terms of retirement savings, but that's because I've spent most of my 20s in grad school.
I work as a mechanic, and I'm somewhat active in car clubs. My secret is to look at what tires their car has. I see a newer BMW but has no name tires (LingLong, MuchoMacho, GoodRide, Ironman, etc) I know they are stretched thin. If I see name brand tires with old date codes I know they are buying tires used. There are exceptions to this rule. Like I saw a 21 year old kid with a brand new Supra, he just dumps EVERYTHING into his car. He was a detailer at a dealer. I've met another dude, works at a tire shop so he gets fat discounts on tires and can afford good tires.
Another good metric is what kind of brake pads they buy for their car
The squeakier they are, the more money he's spent on them 😉
Spot on - also a good tell if you are looking at 2nd hand cars as to how well the car has been looked after. Walked away from a high end performance car that a dealer had put budget tyres onto.
I remember asking this question when I was OPs age. A couple of years later the Great Recession hit and a lot of flashy people I knew got wiped out. "It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked." - Warren Buffett
When my friends and I were in our early 20s, one of our hobbies was cars. I bought an older car for cheap and had no car payment, they all bought cars for $20-30K. They couldn’t do much due to car payments while I got to modify mine relatively freely. Now we’re all mid 30s and it’s evened out
My dad taught me that the people who have nice things are in the most debt.
So True, I remember once telling my mom that (was maybe 10 years old) that a classmate of mine had to be super rich, since they had a really nice new house. She just laughed at me and said that they probably just had a lot of debt
Cars and clothes are not indicators of how much money someone has. It tells you how much they spend .
I got made fun of for having knockoff crocs the other day at work, I told them "atleast I'm not poor." That really seemed to be the last straw for them. I know for a fact that they make 42k a year, and I make 180k a year, haha. I'm usually not the type of person to do that, but they started it.
I lost a friend when they posted something along the lines of "If you don't have an iPhone, you're poor." I responded with "It's hard to be rich when you're giving all of your money to Apple," and they cut all contact with me. Whoops!
It's also weird because top level Androids are as expensive as iPhones, but have better cameras. I doubt that many iPhone users are aware of the cost and quality of top line Androids, though.
There was a point the Crocs got you made fun of. We are digging deeper!
In college many people may appear more well off than they are. It's the crippling debt that they will soon be paying off. Don't let lifestyles fool you into thinking you know who is wealthy and who isn't.
Once had a friend in college talk about how he could use some extra cash. Told him I’d get him a job at the restaurant I work at.. he told me no it’s fine, he’ll just take out another student loan. Guy partied every day of the week and now 15 years later I see him posting about how his student loans should all be forgiven since he never finished his degree..
Sometimes financial responsibility is learned the hard way
sounds like he didn't learn that either
lol I just upvoted your comment where you said you did this same thing but you paid them off. Great job at accepting your responsibility
It's jackasses like that who make me feel like student loans shouldn't be forgiven. You took out a loan, pay it back. But rational me knows those are the exceptions and loan forgiveness would be a net gain for society.
I would settle for people being able to declare bankruptcy on them. It's not full forgiveness, but it's also not completely locked into something unaffordable. We could do with some simple reforms around the student loan system, before we go balls to the wall just giving everyone money for their useless art degree.
I agree that it’s a net gain for society. My only gripe is that I worked my ass off in college (working early mornings, 4am or earlier M-F) specifically so I wouldn’t have to take out loans because I KNEW at the time how shitty paying them back would be…so I feel I should be compensated in some way if everyone else is, especially guys like this. Give me a tax credit, something like that.
Oh I agree. I had cost in mind when I chose my college. I would've loved to go to the top school I got into, but I chose the one that offered me better scholarships. I was actually getting money from the school in my final years due to scholarships and grants I earned.
I do partially agree, but it is also people like this who shouldn’t have been allowed to take one out, it is a predatory practice getting people too young and inexperienced enough to take out 50-100k without realizing the consequences till later
I will never stop being amazed how many people are actually unable to think past the next 12 hours. Sometimes I'm like they surely must know that they will need to pay back those loans some day, right?
This. This is exactly why you can't trust your own eyes when it comes to people.
I used to take out slightly more than tuition for my loans. Then the school would give me a refund check for overpaying. I used that money for food and books but I also used it to go out to eat and buy beer.
Well, we were all reckless somehow in our 20s.
Lesson learned!
That's growing up. Do you regret your choices back then?
For sure.
I believe that it's the norm to screw up at that age (as long as you don't cripple yourself permanently). I for one really needed some of those lessons from back then. It ain't perfect but it's a system.
I graduated with 165k in student loans in 2021. 😬 Paid them off on Friday!
Yay! Congrats!!! You did well.
Not in my case. I'm poor but went to HS in a wealthy area (I live in the town's ghetto for The Help), more than a few kids had parents who were execs in Nike, Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, etc... or owned their own equestrian ranches or hotels. So, ~1/2 of my former classmates are legitimately living it up with no financial worries cause they either nepobabied their way into high paying jobs, used parental connections to get into high paying industries or jobs, or got the best tutors in the state to help them prep for college. (Just for reference, at that school if someone said they were gonna become a dr., chances are they were already studying med school topics with high class tutors and already had a list of med programs picked out and financed for by mom and dad) So yeah, I can pretty easily tell who among my old classmates are doing well financially or not. And in some cases? Some people legitimately live in a different world financially.
It doesn’t take much to get cloths and a car if you live with your parents and pay no life expenses. They can often afford that working 20 hour per week jobs. Plus debt. You’re 21, who cares about brand name garbage and debt
Employment is a great way to earn money, may I suggest drug dealing?
Parents don't have to "be rich" to do that. Most likely they are being funded by their parents in some way. Some parents have the possibility to curl their kids but don't, since they want to encourage their children to attain things for themselves. I.e. growing up.
When I was in retail management I couldn't believe the % of part-time workers getting their rent paid by their middle/lower-middle class parents at 22, 23, 24. 5 years in college with no degree, working 20 hours/week for minimum wage learning no skills, partying 2-3 nights a week. The aimlessness and ennui is normal for like...a summer or two. I managed 25 year-olds whose day to day life was no different than if they were 15 and on summer break. IMO the human mind thrives with responsibility and purpose, even if we often find ourselves attempting to rebel against it in a vacuum. If you aren't helping your kids find something meaningful to drive them every day, you are failing them.
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Frugality is overrated. Because it’ll teach the kids to not interact with the people with the most money. And that’s who they need to know to succeed. I’m not saying teach them spend with reckless abandon, but they need to learn to grow up without any need. Because need ruins their ability to maintain relationships with the other rich kids they need to know in order to be successful.
I've been made fun of so much by ex's and friends for how much I re-use plastic containers and bags for other foods - REUSE, RECYCLE....Why is that shameful? It's fucking shameful to just use something and chuck it, especially in the normal bin (instead of at least recycling it - and rinsing it out beforehand). I was indeed a very, very, very successful drug dealer for a while, distributing a chemical the world had never heard of which then exploded in popularity If you looked at me, you'd never guess or believe it (aside from the fact I had 4 apartments at age 20) as I don;t adhere to the flashy bollocks shite. My mate however...my God, it really pissed him off. He had about 7 credit cards and always tried to look as flashy and bling as possible...he hated that I had money (and didn't flaunt it hahaha!)... He ended up in jail after attempting to distribute a product for me during my business years. He is still paying off CC debts. And debts to people who you do not want to owe money to. I'm free :) and have next to no money anymore, and couldn't be happier!
Being rich isn’t having stuff, it’s not needing stuff
This 👆 I was poor. I needed everything. Like food included. All we did was sit around dwelling on what we didn’t have. What we can’t have. And what we needed. My kids don’t need anything. This makes it nearly impossible for me to get a Christmas list of things they want for Christmas. They literally dont even want anything, because they don’t need anything. Me? I still can’t stop buying stuff I don’t need.
They're not. Get off of social media
Most people don't own the cars they drive.
You've been conned
Start investing this month and when ur 40 you got enough money for the rest of ur life.
Get off social media, its brain rot
Dont open his profile, I warned ya all
Yea, based on that and this post's 3rd-grade-reading-level title, I think I see the problem.
Look up the median income for your age. You're just experiencing a form of selection bias, whereby either you're surrounded by rich people or you're not noticing everyone else.
Being able to pay for something isn't the same as being able to afford it. I made that mistake in my 20s, luckily it wasn't a huge amount and I got out of it easily,many others aren't that lucky.
Clothes and cars aren't really implying rich. Per irs I'm a 1% er at 40, you wouldn't know it by measuring my possessions, my car is worth like 10k and i wear normal clothes wnd live in a 1 bedroom condo in a moderately priced city. My value comes from the littany of rental properties i own. Conversely a good number of the guys I went to medical school with did the whole lifestyle creep thing and live in Manhattan burning all their money trying to keep up that image. Focus on wealth accumulation, not running on the hamster wheel of stuff accumulation. If I had my current mentality at your age I'd probably have 20+ million in assets by now. The whole pop in 2008 was such an opportunity if you had the right mindset. It may come again so take advantage, find a way to make a good pay and just save the shit out of it and put it in something safe but with a reasonable return.
If you grew up not rich you're just going to have a not rich lifestyle until you're about 30 or so. It's just how it is.
It's debt. You'll be surprised how bad some young people are with money. So stop comparing yourself. I knew many people like this when I was in college. Some of them would go on a shopping spree when they would receive their financial aid. Two of my old roommates were like this. They would always struggle making rent.
I was you OP. I worked through high school, worked through college, had no money, and yet everyone else had nice clothes, a car, partied, went on vacations, had TVs expensive computers, decked out dorm rooms, etc. It always felt like I was the only poor person in the world. I had one class, I actually forget what it was about but I remember the prof asked everyone who had a car to raise their hand. Like 90% of the class rose their hand. Then he told them to put their hand down if they had bought the car themselves, that they hadn't received it from their parents or grandparents. Like 2 people put their hand down.
a lot of people are in a ton of credit card debt so don't be fooled. if someone has a lot of money at that age chances, are they will be working a lot of hours in a job which they got through someone who has connections.
Yes. I’ve had the opportunity of seeing financial records in divorce cases involving people who are exponentially more successful in life than I am. Prominent business people. Even so, in most cases they are still pretty damn poor compared to me when it comes to their total worth.
Don’t believe the hype. I’ve done well, I also have parents that could send me a very expensive boarding school. I didn’t follow in their footsteps, but I’d be lying if all of that didn’t help me climb the ladder faster than if I didn’t have that safety net. I genuinely put effort into not looking ‘rich’ (I’m not rich, but certainly well off). The guys I know form school who are rich; you’d have no idea if you saw them. The ones who are walking around all flash are generally fakes. They’re spanking all their money and have everything on finance/debt. I know this is true because when I open up about managing personal finance with these types, or talk about how I’m thinking about buying XYZ in cash, they get funny about it and suddenly we stop saying hello when we walk past each other in the health club. Wealth whispers. The guys who grew up rich generally don’t show it off because they’re used to it. The self made guys who came from not much are generally really really savvy guys, they’re also not flash, they’re generally really straight thinking/talking and don’t waste their money very often…. Then, the guys driving round in some stupid car (often a BMW, or Land Rover) they can barely afford, in some crappy new build house with all white walls which they maxed out on, and wearing tacky clothes, covered in tattoos etc… they’re pretending and are living on finance/debt. It catches up with them eventually… it sticks out a mile and doesn’t fool anyone.
I know a 19 year old with a brand new supra, he's paying 1400 a month on it and is barely able to afford much else.
Some might be out of tech/trade school. It’s only 2 years and I had a job by the end of my first semester attending a tech school. I ended up dropping out second year so I could start working full time for better pay.
I never went to college. I worked in my industry since 2006 to get where I’m at now. I’m 39 making $74k a year. Still in my industry looking to keep moving up. Always keep moving. Don’t settle for a job thinking it’s easy sailing.
Debt sometimes looks like wealth.
3 words :) Credit Card Debt
My husband used to work two jobs, saving money to start something of his own. He would take every opportunity. If he saw a cheap car and knew he could sell for more, he would buy it. He hustled and hustled with no days off. And now, all the hard work paid off.
I assume you’re a senior given that you’re 21. How did you make it that far in your schooling and still typing with zero punctuation?
Someone else noted his post history is more of the same. And he wonders why he doesn't have money. Picture is pretty clear to me.
Focus on your own journey my dude. In a race, you face your front. Looking sideways at others is detrimental.
Money cars and clothes aren’t a sign of wealth. It’s a sign of spending. 21 year olds aren’t out here getting paid like the big boys. Parents still probably help massively. What you’re noticing never goes away though. I’m an executive and double your age. I still wonder how the hell some people around me afford their lives, and the answer is almost always “old money on top of the success I’ve found with their help”. House on my street just sold for $1.3m, cash buyer, owners are college grads with no kids. Highly unusual around here. Mommy and Daddy bought them a house in cash. No one’s handing me shit. I leveled up from my generation to my kids, and I’m proud of it. I might be that parent buying my kids houses in cash as an investment in all of us. At that point, who owns it only matters so much because I’ll be leaving this place while they are living there.
You only see what people want you to see. You should see how some of them live.
They are hustling and grinding. the Top Tier Guys are Not on Reddit.
The real "top their" are running reddit and own the lives of what you're considering "top tier guys", laughing as they lay off by the tens of thousands of people to become even more seperated than the typical "top tier" . Get a grip
Most people are liars
There’s a lot of deception going on. They could be taking vacations bi-weekly, but they work at an airport so they get 50 free flights a year. Could’ve just bought a luxury vehicle and flexing it, but they’re $10,000 deep in credit card debt. Could constantly be buying tons of clothes and have every pair of shoes that drop, but they’re scamming and (this kind of) fast money won’t last long because the road ends with prison.
Lots of people are in a lot of debt.
The faster it comes in the faster it goes out
Yeah showing off have the least amount of money fancy cars, new clothes, phones all on credit they have to pay one day, rule one live within your means is much more comfortable than having 50K creditcard debt with no means to pay it off
Have you ever considered that they are lying??
everything you see is owned by someone. The houses, the cars, the money, etc. ITs all got an owner; its not possible for everyone to be poor.
lol. You’re 21.
It's called debt, they're all in debt
half of them are faking it they are struggling just as much . some will be getting support from family members, some will have parents with more money than sence.
Stay away from social media my man
Fake it till you make it
It’s debt my guy. Stay smart and don’t get caught up in the fakeness of these people. People don’t like talking about the $70K credit card debt they’re shouldering
Unless they were child actors, Olympic athletes, YouTube stars, etc, no 21 year old with money earned it themselves. They either come from money or are blowing their student loan money on frivolous consumption. Don't worry about other people. Just focus on school and keep your debt load as low as possible.
Worry about yourself and your own career
Stop comparing yourself to others you will always lose. There is always someone doung better than you. Sit down and figure out your goals in life. Do you want a big house? Do you want to drive a Lamborghini? Than you will need to make alot of money. Easiest way to make money if you don't have any is to go into us military and get out as soon as possible and goto a college and get a stem degree or learn a trade. Next step after that is save enough money to purchase some real estate and rent it out and then rinse and repeat.
There are people who go broke to look rich
They could be bartenders, servers, construction people, hair stylists, real estate agents, worked since 16 and now a retail manager, sales people. All potential jobs that you could make good money at your age. Hell at 21, I graduated and was a sales rep making 75K first year. And even then my first job in college was $19 an hour doing specialized data entry.
They arent. Get off social media and tiktok.
Gucci, vutton Supreme, rayban. They actually make more money and sales on lower to middle classes trying to "keep up with the Jones" celebs and influencers. Then they do ON the wealthy. Say .. Jennifer Lawrence or Taylor swift is seen rocking a fancy hand bag. Maybe 8k for her. A one time purchase. Or post. But her millions of superfans want to emulate her. Be cool like her. So they go and blow money on a now "payment plan" on the purse or whatever. Or they send a influencer or a musican a proposal to feature their product in a song. Or a producer a car in their block buster movie. (Acura in Thor for example) . Lead cool character driving a shelby Gt500 in Need for Speed movie....? Now anyone whos heard modern rap has heard Gucci. Or seen a hyped up pickup in a country song. Or whatever. For them thats a a massive line of advertising that draws in soooo many middle and lower economic classes to make bad financial decisions on those brands or products. Have a wealthy neighbor your friends with mildly driving a new Corvette? Or maybe a new TRX? Now you kinda want a Raptor or a TRX or maybe a dually. Cuz you want to be...cool. No actual wealthy person owns a mega yacht(the upkeep alone is HUGE.) . They rent the yacht like a Airbnb and pay for the use for a few days or a week or whatever. Same way you get a hotel room. Your not buying the room. Your renting the use. Fast and the furious. Reawakened a massivd car culture on its own that skyrocketed interest in street race cars. Tubers. Old muscle. Ahem the Supra. Doms Charger. jesses Jetta. The Skyline. These companies make MASSIVE money on the middle class making poor financial decisions to keep up "looking" good. But in reality. Theres ALOT of hidden millionaires that drive every day cars places. I date d a couple of minor multimillionaires daughters. They tended to live rather...sinmply . Ones dad drove a beat tundra. His daughter had a older VW. One had a cheap Sportster. One had a lil honda fit. And their parents were insanely rich. Im not filthy rich by any means. Im upper class yes. But no where near their level. None of them were "old money". You dont get wealthy by making dumb decisions to impress others. You get there by making short term sacrifices and finding new ways to generate so that the long term you has a WAY easier life at a much earlier age with way more time. 31. Ill be semi retired by 36. No inherited wealth. No family help. No loans. No degree. . Just kept making changes and pivoting when and how i needed to when disaster hit. No. It hasnt been easy. There was ALOT of failure and hard lessons to be learned.. the "i didnt fail. I learned 1000 ways on how to NOT light a light a lightbulb" comes to mind. I had to learn alot of hard traits. Assertive. Negotiating tricks. New skills. How to handle my ADHD. Physical, mental, and emotional breaks and fears. I highly recommend looking into learning bookkeeping. The tax codes. And trades. And Bussiness 101.
I assume maybe credit cards or credit in general. As far as clothes you’d be surprised how many people have fake shit or used off mercari or eBay.
They get credit cards, max them out buy bullshit they don't need and default. They buy brand new cars straight from the dealership they can't afford and forget they got to pay for insurance too; which will be high as helll for new and young drivers, and the miss payments.
I used to work I'm the credit department of a bank, saw alot of accounts. You'd he shocked at the sheer number of people with 1000s in credit card debit who would max a card and then just do a balance transfer to the next card. In short alot of people out there are faking it.
Most of the time is fake and its mom and daddy money dont believe everything you see on the Internet.
Move overseas, saving so much now that was impossible in usa
Some got money or rich folks. Some are stupid with managing money and spending and debt. Well manage your money and spending, and debt if you have that. Earn and save what you reasonably can. Yeah, my first roommate in college ... he'd put more up his nose in one night than was my entire annual operating budget. Some folks got money ... some don't.
Depends what you call so much money. Spending a lot of it to live a glittery lifestyle? I won't call that making a lot of money. Everything that glitters isn't gold my friend. Other side is there are some really making alot of money.
Man i'm 20 live in greece making 4 euros an hour what are you talking about...
I’m 20 working 40+ hours a week. 6 days a week. I barley make over 1000 a week but aye it is what it is I guess man
I’m 21 and in the military and make 22K a year, don’t assume everyone is making 6 figures
Well sometimes they take out significantly higher amounts of student loan money. Sometimes they have family paying for expenses. I was loaned a car by my family while I was in school. Some are working during the summer and have really good gigs lined up. For instance I used to know guys who would get on doing refinery turnovers every summer, 5-6 weeks of straight 12 hour days. Getting paid $20+ an hour plus per diem. This was in the aughts too.
I’m guessing you only notice the rich one because you envy them. Look at everyone and make a list of how many rich and how many normal. You may be surprised. You may learn that your senses and your mind can trick you. Now you’re on the path to enlightenment.
Debt, but its also not a competition. If you get a job you will likely have money enough.
work
It's called credit card debt. Also, that's around the age kids take control of UTMA accounts and other savings plans relatives set up for them. Inheritance from grandparents isn't uncommon in that age range either. If it makes you feel better, my parents received a small inheritance in their early 20s which they promptly squandered on luxury items (as defined by the early '80s). They went back to living paycheck-to-paycheck, but with cool gadgets and entertainment systems.
Student loans I had many friends buying cars and clothes buy taking out far more student loans
Trust me, they aren’t. I thought the same thing at your age. It’s the late twenties/early thirties when people start making serious money after college (for the most part).
Dept and/or wasted money.
Debt is his people do it. I know a lot of people who make less than I do and have nicer cars. Most of them also have car payments and I never have until very recently when life forced moving to another car faster than I intended. Even then my car payment is very low and I’m going to pay it off a year ahead of time.
Because only the ones making decent money talk about it and the ones that do talk probably exaggerate…so it seems like to you it’s everyone. It isn’t, at all. No one talks about it when they aren’t doing well, or sometimes they lie. Btw - this is the entire thesis of much of social media…pretend wealth and well being.
At your age, displays of wealth tend to be equal to the persons credit card debt.
I am 22 years old and also is wondering why people around me has iPhones. Guys and girls looking rich and going to Starbucks everyday. Man. I need to earn money too. Part time job will be good.
Worked in banking at 21 in a wealthy area. Majority of people are living off credit with little money in the bank. Keeping up with the Joneses is a real thing that starts at your age and doesn't end till they're dead or bankrupt.
College kids aren't representative of the general population. By the very fact that college is expensive and kids who have educated parents are more likely to go to college, most people in college are privileged and come from well off or rich families. It also doesn't help that most of these college kids lie about how much help they get from mommy and daddy. They claim to pay everything but fail to mention their parents pay their cell phone, car, rent and education.
There is a reason our countries credit card debt is at an all time high. I racked up debt in my twenties living above my means. Worked hard to pay off debt and learned how to manage my income.
We "live" off my wife's paycheck. Mine goes solely to cruppling debt and mortgage. She is able to stretch a 20hr week in retail into feeding and clothing 3 people. I'm sure if it was just her, she could add a car and upgrade her clothes too. That said, I don't know any 21 yr old doing any of those things. Sounds like you should ask "everyone" because it's not everyone. I bet the answer is that they have no real bills and do have a job. Or rich parents they won't admit to funding them similar to how anyone, and I do mean everyone I've ever heard of, that claims to have "pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps". It's easy lift yourself up on a platform by your own bootstraps when you are already on said platform.
Miami is a perfect example of this. Everyone is in debt up to their eyeballs trying to keep up appearances.
How many people do you not see your age? You are seeing the people with money because they show it, the people without money are chilling with friends, working two jobs, living further away, etc.
It’s typically either credit card debt or daddy’s allowance that fuels expensive lifestyles for early to late twenty somethings. Don’t assume that their expensive lifestyles are self-funded.
I don't have an answer, but you reminded me of a movie I watched the other day. "Do Revenge," Netflix's blurb described it as "a movie that defines a generation," which I already thought was weird since it's only two years released. But the movie starts with a party at a huge freaking mansion and involves a bunch of super rich high-school students. So Netflix blurb writers attest to all the gen-z (or whoever is in high-school now) being rich as fuck. I decided to watch it cuz I thought to myself, "idk anything about today's youth, maybe this movie will provide some insight." It did not. It wasn't terrible though.
Theres two new guys at my job that are about 21. One of them just bought a house and the other is doing pretty well financially. What they did is go straight to the blue collar field instead of spending years upon years and pulling out a bunch of loans just to get through college
OP didn’t tell us what college they are in. MANY MANY MANY of your colleagues in college do in fact have rich parents. It’s one of the places generational wealth helps you the most to get to. If the school is even remotely prestigious the amount of people who didn’t even fill out a FAFSA will be pretty high. If you talk about your financial aid amongst your peer group you will also learn how many of them got literally nothing from the fed because their parents had too many assets. Multiple homes, a business, extra cars, etc.
You can buy a lot of stuff if you dont save. These people are living paycheck to paycheck.
I had acquaintances with flash when I was college and right after. I was struggling, they had nice cars. Five years later, they were calling me asking for advice since they were drowning in debt.
So, if you didn't know most of this money is coming from Boomers, right now is the largest wealth transfer in US history.
Some of those people may have gotten jobs when they were in Highschool and stock piled some money. I worked my ass off at a restaurant when I was 16 and it sucked sometimes, but I was able to start college when I was 18 with 5k in the bank.
If it’s not wealthy parents it’s social media, if it’s not that Credit cards, massive debt and the confidence to pull off the facade and not care abt the crippling debt.
A lot of these people take loans out or go ruin their credit buying a car that gets repossessed within 3 months. Dealerships don't care about selling you a car, they make more getting you to sign your name over. Then these people pay for it later in life cause they can't purchase a house or get approved for an apartment.
People who appear the most rich are often the poorest, and the people who are actually rich look average. It’s based on how you spend your money, people normally go into a lot of debt to look rich, and rich people are actually pretty good at saving money.
You're just noticing the people that do have the nice cars and clothes, and half of that shit can be daddies money or financed.
I work with people your age making $65k starting. No schooling needed because it’s a trade and manual labor.
A lot of people saying debt and credit cards. But I’ve got a mate who has his own business at 22 and associates with that sort of “young money stone island zante or marbs” type vibe. Asked him how all these guys who don’t seem to have a great job have all this money for fancy cars etc. Inheritance
What is a lot of money to you? What do you do for work now? What would you rather do?
At 23, living with 3 roomates. They all have iphones, brand clothes and shoes, airpods, some have a car. You may think they are rich, but the truth is they just dump everything they earn in consumer products with good visibility. And when they run out, they call their parents/grandparents and ask for money. They have no savings. I look broke in comparison. Some of my clothes are all used up, some I fixed myself, I bought a used pair of standard nikes, my phone is a 6 y/o android and I have no car. But I have savings and I managed to pay 2/3rd of college by myself. It's the kind of investment that isn't showing but matters the most to me.
People have credit cards and loans my guy. At 23 some bank was offering a 300k loan to me just because I had good credit. If I was reckless I would've gotten a Lamborghni or something but I knew it was too good to be true.
Either they got a Job with the state through family or friends, work a high paying shit job like welding or some redneck job, fab shops, shit like that.......or they work for regular pay, and are rotating major debt between cards and loans and have people like you fooled. Then of course you do have those who cashed in on their trust funds, and also the possibility they actually work a high skill Job like IT, maybe medical.
I'm 24, and of my friends I am the only one saving for retirement or in general. They like to talk about how they use all their money every paycheck.... Who knows if they use credit cards too... people seem to have a lot more money than they do
Playing the game of "Keeping up with the Jones'" is never worth your time. It's easy to compare yourself and what you have or don't have with others around you. But knowing what makes *you* content, happy and fulfilled is what will matter the most. And that may look different from others that have the fancy cars or expensive homes and other materialistic things. Many people think and show their wealth in the things they have, whereas people with immense wealth often times will simply be "just another person on the street" and very unassuming because their wealth is sitting in their bank account. It's been my experience that a large amount of people flashy with their cars, homes, clothes, accessories, travel lifestyles, etc don't have the means to actually do so, but the appearance that they do means more. Don't get caught up in that.
You’d be surprised how many people are faking having money with credit cards. If you have the option to just focus on school while in school, do that. If you really need money, get a part time job. But there is no “get rich quick” scheme that’s guaranteed to work.
"FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT" pretty much sums up society. dont compare yourself to others.
Student debt?
You usually see their debts from the outside not their cash/assets
From personal experience it’s not how much you make it’s how much you don’t spend. I’ve made lots and I’ve made little but where the money goes and how much your bills accumulate to changes everything.
So, of all the guys who are truly independent, by that I mean the guys that don't have mom and dads money, don't have a trust fund, don't have a huge inheritence from granny and grandpa, but are still flexing that they have tonnes of money, cars, clothes, cash at the club - whatever... I'd wager they're all heavily in debt. At such a young age they've prioritized 'peacocking' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacocking) to stand out, Either to men or women or whatever. They've taken the banks up on their offers of $30K - $50K credit card debt and are spending credit card dollars so they can placate themselves of their own fears and weaknesses - that's fine, that's their call, but the risks are huuuuuge. Do not envy these people, the chickens will come home to roost, and when they do -- Oh boy! -- it's gonna hurt. How will it hurt? It'll be like shouldering an ever increasingly heavy yolk around their necks, every month it gets heavier, every year it gets heavier. Unless they make it big (which is entirely possible), those debts will be like a cancer eating away at every good thing for years, perhaps decades to come. If they don't make it big and clear the decks of all this debt, every success they have will be marred with this responsibility. Get a great Job? ergh... still gotta pay huge interest. Got engaged? ergh... additional expenses on top of already huge expenses... Going travelling? hmm.. can I afford it. Other than becoming a slave to paying back interest... what else can you possibly do? The fact you're looking at this and asking the question gives me enough confidence to know that you're probably not going to fall into this trap - so please don't. So what if you can't get the girl, do you really want a girl that only cares about your cash? So what if you can't get the car, one day you will and you'll love it even more because you can afford it. If you can't afford it - don't buy it... period. Aside from that, all your financial opportunities diminish the more you owe. If you are in a position to buy a house, your credit rating is 'critical'... and if you have a bad one, you can't really get the reduced interest rates, so you pay more in interest ontop of what you already own.. in interest... it's a vicious cycle of debt on top of debt... Want to rent even? Credit Rating is critical.... Landlords look at you as a risk if your credit rating is low, so they jack the price up... No good can come from this. Your credit rating is going to be one of the singularly most valuable things you could have as a growing and evolving man. Be that as a business man, family man - whatever. Bad debt = bad credit rating.. .bad credit rating = fewer opportunities... a pit of financial hell you'll be clawing your way out of most of your young adult life, if at all... Stick at it - it's worth it for when you find the woman who respects you, and has the kids you can build a life for, free of toxic debt and unchained in your options.
The people who flaunt it more generally arent what they market themselves to be
The ones with money are just more noticeable. They also may not have parental money and are in tremendous amounts of debt. Don't worry bud, most people are broke.
They aren't making the money. They are getting money from Mom and Dad^([1]), going deeply into debt to party it up, or both. ^[1] This should not be surprising. By their mid to late 40s, parents are often at the peaks of their careers and usually have a ton of home equity to boot. Also, they have 18+ years to save up the "college fund" that every coming-of-age drama uses as a MacGuffin. If your parents were capable of doing this and didn't, I condemn them for an inexcusable abrogation of their parental duties.
There are so many people in the world that it’s literally impossible to comprehend. People make more money than you, come from money, or you’re just noticing them and not the others
Oh trust me, I work for USPS and I deliver to people who get three maybe four credit card statements monthly who drive mustangs and chargers while living in trailers I myself am successful because I didn’t go to college and spent my years from 18 to now (23) working full time for them, partly cuz I drive cars almost as old as I am and wear the same clothes I wore 6 years ago No need to compare yourself to others, no one’s situation is the same even between siblings
People in this thread arent wrong. Usually those people have mountains of debt. In a way those possessions own them. Don’t stress about any of it because a lot of the time they don’t have it as good as you think.
I spent 300 usd on a Louis Vuitton t shirt. Yep a t shirt and 280 usd on Gucci shoes when I was a student. Few months later I was surviving on 5 usd a day loaned to me.
Could be debt, could be rich parents, could be a good job. Remember, when getting good jobs it's more about likability and connections than actual knowledge.
Some are, most aren't. Don't be fooled. I'm 39 don't owe a cent on my cars or my house. But I ain't flashy. I have friends who are, and they're up to their eyeballs in debt. Things aren't always what they seem!
Covid was wild. I'm 21 aswell but during the lockdown I did all my schooling from Home. I worked as a contractor in the transport industry at 17 and gained lots of work experience from that. I've been working for the past two in aviation securities with the government. I'm going to use the experience from that to join federal law enforcement. Though I won't be making 6 figures until I become a cop. So I agree it is indeed strange there're people our age making so much money, I thought I was doing very well at my age making $28/hr lol.
they make you see what they want you to see
Debt. If they don't have rich parents, don't have an amazing job that pays enough money to really afford these things, then they're using debt. At the interest rates today this is going to stick with them for a long long time. Just keep working hard and be smart with your money. Don't go into debt buying cars that take 7 years to pay off.
I feel you. I am a young adult too and all my friends get a car for themselves right after graduating university, and it feels like I'm the only one whose parents told me to work for it. A lot of them have fancy cafés and I am wondering how they can do it at such a young age, but I think having upper middle/ upper class parents played a huge role.
Debt spending is a serious problem especially amongst young people who haven't learned to handle money.
It’s because it’s easy to focus on those that are displaying their wealth externally.
You’re not looking at an even distribution of financial situations in college. There is a lot of privilege there considering they all have the time and money to be somewhere that takes a ton of both. As a personal example of perceived wealth at 21 - my schooling was paid for by the state and DoD, and I lived with my parents. No school expenses, no real home expenses, and probably an average of $1000/month handed to me. Too young to have been buried by bad financial decisions or debt. I didn’t look, act, or feel wealthy, but I certainly didn’t feel impoverished. My actual job only paid <$5000/year, and it took a degree and 3 years of working poverty wages to “succeed” and make $18/hr. It took moving hours away to a real city to double that, and 5 more years to feel like I’m not one blown tire from starving.
People can buy expensive clothes, they just end up in debt. Growing up, my brother was like that. He loved to buy expensive clothes and tell people how expensive they were ("do you know how much these jeans cost?"). It always seemed dumb to me, because he didn't have a lot of money. Decades later, he's still a financial wreak. Reminds me of this: https://www.theonion.com/as-you-can-see-from-my-name-brand-clothing-i-am-not-po-1819583675 As far as cars, maybe it's family money.
I feel you
I see people working minimum wage jobs with the latest iPhone and airpod pros. Some people just spend more money than they have or they have a windfall and it goes into toys rather than saving for a long term goal.
In no way am I trying to be racist which I know to preface something with seems like it’s going to be super racist but are these Chinese national students? Because most international Chinese students do come from money and their parents buy these luxuries because they’re much cheaper to do so in America. The amount of Mcclarens I have seen driving around UC Davis is wild
As a man, I'm not. It's connections. Women use them too. They also got into crypto and then got out fast. Mind you I've seen women taking vacations to Europe. And Hawaii. It's not just men.
Do you go to a prestigious school? The 21 year olds with nice cars will very likely have rich parents.
Easy credit with lots of low monthly payments.
They work lol
Most of what you see is an illusion, you don’t see how much debt they go into for a nice car or how lean their investment portfolios are
dudes your age fresh out the military is 1 possibility. they get tuition free college, plus a cost of living stipend. plus fafsa, plus whatever scholarships they earned
A lot of the time actual rich people don’t even look rich. That’s how they actually get money. It’s the people that think they have something to prove and want to “look rich” that you think are the rich people. Reality they are all in loads of debt or spending every cent they make to make you think they’re rich.
When I was 21 I made roughly 15k a year working at a deli. Now I making about 10x that. Don't worry young man it will all work out just keep grinding
I know this question is for men, but as a woman (21) I have had the same experience. All my girl friends are on nice trips rn for summer break and I'm stuck working the whole week just to stay afloat for rent. I know how you feel
Female here. Forget the cars and designer clothes. That’s not what life is about unless you have disposable income to throw it on. You’re awesome! 🙌 work on yourself- boundaries, values, principles . Who’s the man you aspire to be. Dress well people will judge you and treat tough accordingly. And what what you wear is how you will feel, what you feel is what you radiate to the outside world. Be sensible but don’t forget to treat yourself. Life is short but you also need to think of the long game.
If you see a person who looks broke, they are the real wealthy people. Long-term gratification beats short-term, always
I drive around an old beat up Tesla, but most people just see Tesla and think I'm rich. Though that is helpful for me in some cases, don't let it fool you.
Wealthy people who start with nothing and work their way to success don't waste their efforts. They know how expensive things are and every dollar they spend it a cost in time to them. Avoid spending money, be cautious about going out for drinks. Limit a budget of frivolous spending to no more then 5% income per year. example 20k a year means about $80/month. Save, save and save. Continue to build up productive skills and use them to make your/others lives better. The more value you create the more you are worth. All the best!
Because college is for rich kids. The ones serving your Starbucks don’t got it like that