Also, if you have millions, does an extra million make a difference ? A even bigger house ? Boat ? You can already have all the space you need, you can eat everywhere and go wherever you want for holidays... Is it worth the hassle ?

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ks2048 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I've often asked myself with regards to the rich, "Don't they have enough money"?

I've come to realize the answer is nearly always NO. They want (and believe they need) more.

	▲	supportengineer 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		In this case, the person grew up very poor, so it's hard for them to see that much money being wasted.

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hermitcrab 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes, because it is all about status and having more money than the other guy. That is why no amount is ever going to be enough for some of these people.

But I don't really understand why they spend it on useless baubles. If you spend £50m on a fancy London house, a yacht and a some super cars, most people (British people anyway) will think you are a wanker. But if you spent some of that money on schools and hospitals in a poor country, you would probably be treated like a minor god in that country.

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bluecalm 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Well for Norway specifically they have 1.1% wealth tax and humongous 37% capital gain tax (of course it's lower for real estate because Europeans like fighting stock investments).

If you have say 4 million USD and invest in stocks expecting say 7% per year you will pay 103k USD in cap gain tax and then 44k in wealth tax for a grand total of almost 150k/year.

That's enough to fund Switzerland lifestyle let alone life in multiple other countries that levy 0 or close to 0 cap gain tax for long term gains. It's difference between comfortable retirement and having to work.

Maybe it doesn't make much difference if you're very wealthy but for those who just managed to get financial independence it's huge.

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iamacyborg 5 hours ago | parent [-]

> If you have say 4 million USD and invest in stocks expecting say 7% per year you will pay 103k USD in cap gain tax and then 44k in wealth tax for a grand total of almost 150k/year.

That’s only on realised gains, surely?

And if that’s the case, it’s likely cheaper than having worked for that income.

	▲	bluecalm 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Realizing every year vs realizing at the end produces about 1% annualized return difference with those rates over 10 years. It's sure significant but not huge. In practice you are likely to be somewhere in the middle. >>And if that’s the case, it’s likely cheaper than having worked for that income. How is that relevant? You are investing money already heavily taxed as income before. Anyway, I am just pointing out it makes a significant difference for someone who struck a bit of gold and gained financial independence but is not yet rich.