Yes, I can. A good friend of my husband made it big and that man is completely immersed in charity work all over the world. I am not talking just writing checks. I'm talking about hands on work, going into the poorest regions of the world and finding ways to get these communities clean water, food, medicine, and education. We have attended some of his fundraisers and he is incredible kind, gregarious, and generous.
I could but I won't Of course, I'm not saying there aren't others but I don't know them well enough to make such a judgement. Let's call him Zack (Australian slang for sixpence before we got decimal currency).
Zack had an associate who not only crushed him at chess but always crowed about it. He rang the Chess Association and asked where he could get lessons on the Blue Mountains. There was nowhere, but they gave him my phone number. He eventually learned to beat the other guy but it was a long process -- a couple of years -- and we became friends.
Like anybody with a head for money he could be ruthless but he could also be generous. He was friendly, gregarious, helpful, and I suspect quite the opposite of a douche bag. (And in case you were wondering he didn't pay for the tuition. We played as friends.)
In the years I knew him before he moved to another state there was only one time I felt uncomfortable. Mrs Didge and I were invited to a New Years Eve party in his home and every other guest had a big-money background. Dullest group of people I've ever met.
Yes, my old (deceased) buddy Richard was a genuine good guy. He owned 4 Wendy's and a motorcycle shop in a large city. He offered to help grow my business at the time but I didn't want to do that.
You probably know a LOT more millionaires than you think. If someone's been building a 401K plan for the last several score they're probably millionaires. Heck, most of my neighbors are millionaires just based on the market value of their homes. Just keep in mind that being a millionaire doesn't mean that you have a lot of "walkin-around" money. Most I know are just scraping by in this Obamaeconomy.
I had a cousin who was a multi-millionaire. Incredibly nice man. He was my grandmother's first cousin. They were quite close, he always went out of his way for her and by extension, us. Every holiday & birthday he would send each of us gifts and I recall he visited often.
His wife became quite ill at a relatively young age. I believe today she would have been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. He took care of her for years & remained married to her until the day she died.
Then he married his longtime girlfriend. Okay, I didn't say he was a saint but he certainly wasn't a "complete and utter douche bag."
I don't personally but after reading the responses above I'm getting the feeling there just like us... you know... either Good people or not so good people
I recently read that every person, even middle-class folks, need to have $1 million saved for retirement, just to maintain lifestyle. That's a pretty big chunk, but it's going a whole lot less farther than it used to. So, hopefully most of the people I know who are at/ nearing retirement are close to the mark, just so they can enjoy their golden years. I suspect few of them are there, though.
As far as knowing people who aren't jerks, yes. I know several non-famous one-percenters and they're incredibly kind and generous people. They're very structured and orderly- managing wealth is a business in itself, but they all have causes they believe in, donate, and are generous with the people in their lives. Personality-wise, they all seem to share several characteristics, like drive, organization, consistency, and they're very set in their ways, but good people overall.
This post was edited by Just Asking at January 15, 2017 2:58 PM MST
