The rich don't need to flaunt it.
They're already confident in the fact that they have it.
Those are lessons I've learned over the years working and living among them.
Most people with money like to be aloof about it.
People knowing you have money can lead to a lot of other issues.
One surefire sign I know a person has money is when we order drinks.
And without blinking, they order the obscure $300 bottle of whatever, just to mix a drink with.
Redditor Ermland2 wanted to know how to see the rich people signs, so they asked:
"What's a subtle sign someone's actually really wealthy?"
A Little Extra
"I got this guy extra sauces at my job and he slipped me a $20."
- redketchupp
"That reminds me of this regular I used to have at this bakery I worked at in the mall. He would always show up with his son dressed to the nines and ask for 3 chocolate chip cookies and would always pull out a fat stack of cash to pay."
"On days his son wasn't with him he'd offer whoever took his order $30 cash to carry the cookies and whatever bags he had out to his car. I always took him up on the offer whenever I worked."
"He had a really nice Mercedes. Sadly he was also a really big dude and he passed away but I remembered his son so when the son and his mom would come up I'd spot them waiting in line and I'd have their order waiting for them. They didn't tip but I still felt like being nice."
- llDurbinll
Nameless
"They have really nice things, but don’t have the brand names plastered all over the place."
- EatLard
"One thing I've always heard (and noticed) is that only low-end luxury plasters brand names are everywhere. High-end luxury speaks for itself. You might find a small label/tag somewhere with the name but that's about it."
- Korpi--
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Named It
"They refer to their summer and winter homes by their names."
- IndependentAshameda
"No joke. I’m a nobody pleb, but my work takes me to the houses of the 1% on a weekly basis. One of the most annoying parts of my job is when we’re trying to get an address for a new project, and our client says something like, ‘It’s Welborne/Hunt Meadow/Kildare farm,’ like I should know the location of every 150+ acre estate within a 30-mile radius."
"I’ve met a couple of rich people who are the 4th/5th/6th generation to inherit some grand estate and genuinely don’t know the legal address of their house because to them it’s just FancyName Farm in FancyTown horse country. House numbers are for the help to worry about."
- Cheaperthantherapy13
Stay Quiet
"They don't flaunt it. I can understand why. Getting robbed isn't fun."
- Mister_Moho
"I wouldn't say I'm wealthy but I'm far better off than most of the people I hang out with, and personally I hide what I have because I don't want my friends feeling insecure over perceived class differences or BS like that. I imagine for most very wealthy people it's similar."
- Stargazer5781
The Aunt and Uncle
"I used to date a girl a few years ago who had an 'aunt and uncle' that were friends of the family. Over the summer I was invited to stay a week in their house on the northern coast of Maine. The property was absolutely massive with a private beach and all but easily explained as it had been in the family for generations."
"I love cooking and was asked to prepare dinner for everyone on the 3rd night of whatever I wanted to make, I was told to make a grocery list of whatever I wanted. Being on the coast and all I wanted to make some whole cod with some family-style sides. I thought they were just being nice and going grocery shopping since I was not familiar at all with the area."
"The moment I knew these people weren't just well off but wealthy was when the aunt placed a phone call and 3 hours later a seaplane landed at their dock with produce picked that day and then a boat pulled up with the cod I asked for."
- PlentyLettuce
They Don't Care
"Quietly comfortable about money. It’s simply not a subject. Who picks up the tab? They don’t care. Their minds simply don’t go there. And if they somehow feel obliged to, then they simply do. There are no considerations going on in their minds, and with a keen eye, you can see this in their attention, their mannerisms, their lack of certain stresses. It’s subtle but clear as day."
- VehaMeursault
On the Move
"Frequently traveling."
- snow_michael
"Greatly depends on where you live. For Americans, yes… generally if you frequently travel you’re doing better than most by quite a bit. However, for Europe, travel is much cheaper and you have a huge variance in how much you want to spend. I once purchased a flight to Paris for 8 euros."
- Sorry-Nose-7667
"Yep. I know someone who is ultra-wealthy. They don't spend their money on anything other than the upper middle class. lifestyle, except for travel. Going to see the northern lights in Finland for a weekend is something they do on a whim."
- onlyinsurance-ca
Feel-Good
"I work in a niche industry that brings in a lot of wealthy folks. The wealthiest people I've helped are among the kindest customers I've ever had. One of them turned out to be the owner of the company that we get 1/2 of our product from. I didn't know until I toured their facility a couple of years ago and was introduced to their CEO. She remembered me and commented on how knowledgeable I was with her products. It was def a feel-good moment!"
"I was seriously in awe though. A woman CEO of a major international company (at least it's major in my world with revenue of $720M in 2022) still did her own shopping! And not only did she listen to what I had to say, but she also took my advice too! She has an entire staff of people like me but liked my ideas enough to implement them. I would work for her in a heartbeat if she wasn't 1.5 hours away."
"It was a good reminder for me to be kind to my customers. Sometimes in the busy season, I get a little cranky."
- guinnypig
The Unassuming
"In my early 20s, I was a bartender at a super fancy yacht club. I was an incompetent employee who didn't even drink alcohol (and still doesn't) and got the job entirely through knowing the right people. The millionaires always dressed super nice and humble-bragged about their success."
"The billionaires wore sandals and clothes from Target and Walmart and didn't stand out at all. This one dude sat at my bar for two years with a five-clock shadow and cheap t-shirts and just shot the sh*t with me and the other bartenders about school and everyday life."
"Found out after two years he was the richest guy in there and had been giving the owner of the yacht club huge loans to keep it afloat. It still went under."
- Nightmare_Tonic
Movie Rich
"I lived with a girl in college who was Crazy Rich Asian rich. She moved in for the company, otherwise her parents were just gonna buy her a house. She always wore this mini bag style purse when we were going out and it just looked like a small plain black bag to me."
"I asked to borrow it for a concert one weekend because they had a super strict bag policy that none of my other bags met. She was like oh sure no problem. I loved it and ended up looking it up to buy one for myself, and found out it was more than a year's salary. And she let me take it to a music festival without a second thought."
- chubbybunn89
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Let's Play
"They don’t spend money on status symbols but are completely price insensitive with opportunities and education for their children. They teach their children how to 'play the game' from a very young age. The children of wealthy parents are successful less because of direct inheritance and more because they have been groomed for success their entire lives. Spoiled rich kids who just get money from their parents tend to squander it within a generation or two. Intergenerational wealth takes a lot more effort."
- JimBeam823
Grace Period
"Parking wherever they want. I’ve met some wealthy people who legitimately consider parking tickets as a fee to park there."
- The-disgracist
"That reminds me of Steve Jobs. Not only did he park in handicapped spots frequently, but he hated license plates so much on his Mercedes so much (always silver) that he traded them in every six months because that was the 'grace period' California allowed to receive your plates and put them on."
- irving47
Normal
"They downplay what their dad or grandfather did. You can’t casually tell me that someone started a bank in the 80’s and me not smell billions. Cmon. Stop it. It’s not normal."
- Rentsdueguys
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Being Free
"Has all the time in the world. No prior commitments with other people but themselves. Does not work for someone. They know what they want. You'll realize you're the one adapting to their schedule for meetings. They don't work with laptops in a coffee shop, but with their phones always on a call telling someone else what to do."
"Sometimes, you'll even judge them if they're even competent as a person because they don't work, but once you talk about money with them, you'll really notice their financial intelligence. Just things I noticed with wealthy clients as an architect."
- mikecrovision
Munich
"Was at my favorite lunch place in Munich. The guy is sitting there in an old jacket with dirty boots and a scruffy dog drinking coffee. Chat to him a bit, nice guy. After he leaves the owner of the restaurant tells me he owns the two city blocks surrounding the restaurant. The only reason he didn’t own the block we were in was because the church owned it and wasn’t selling."
- PAXICHEN
Now I know that I know even more rich people than I realized.
Although I do know a lot of people with free time on their hands, and they are poor as hell.
But I guess we never know what others are hiding about finances.
Nobody really wants to talk about them. Especially if you have more than most.
The signs are there; keep looking.