‘What is something you thought rich people did that turned out to be completely fake?’: People who have made a lot of money discuss the thoughts they had about rich people before they became wealthy themselves.

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Aug 5, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

We have this idea of how rich people behave, but is it true or just what films and TV shows show us?

As someone who is actually really far from being rich, I do think we don't have the best idea of how people in that tax bracket actually act and behave. My perception of them is mostly created by the image that media and films have been curating of it, and not really what it's actually like. Also, there is a difference between someone that manage to build a business that did really well and is now in a good financial position due to it, as opposed to someone who was born with a family empire and had to just maintain it and invest without really having to start from 0 to 100. So, can we really say how rich people behave when they are so different types of people with money?

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  • To anyone who made a massive amount of money very quickly: What is something you thought rich people did that turned out to be completely fake?

  • Sometimes when we picture a millionaire, we think of them as some evil villain that could have been taken out of a children's movie. Someone who has made their money from not exactly legal things or by doing some shady deals. But that doesn't have to be the case. Of course, there are people with money who got it by negatively impacting people, but there is also the person who worked hard and legally for it. That someone who had a dream and worked day and night to achieve it, which actually got them the financial benefit as well.

  • Money spread on a table.
    via Alexander Grey

    Money spread on a table.

  • In the thread below, we get a sense of how our concept of rich people isn't necessarily a correct one. Because, after all, they are people as well. And maybe they aren't all spending huge amounts of money on some designer bag and instead donating that amount to an animal shelter. Or maybe they aren't always buying the most expensive option just because they can, and they actually save so they can provide their children with a better life than the one that they had.

  • Franclin2002 i thought rich people spent all their money on flashy stuff, but the biggest surprise was that having money is really more about buying freedom and peace of mind than showing it off
    via Franclin2002
  • zaftpunjab I thought all rich people shopped designer everything! Turns out they go to Target just like the rest of us Imao
    via zaftpunjab
  • SubstantialBottle464 You still feel poor, because you compare yourself to others around you, and now all of your friends and business partners are either at the same level or even richer than you. The race never ends.
    via SubstantialBottle464
  • MommySasha34 That they all have great taste. Money doesn't buy taste. It just buys expensive ugly things
    via MommySasha34
  • A mansion with an expensive car parked in front.
    via Anastase Maragos

    A mansion with an expensive car parked in front. 

  • So maybe we need to stop imagining and assuming how people are just because of the money they have. Yes, money is important, but the amount that you have shouldn't be what defines you. It doesn't prove that you work harder or better according to the number in your bank account. Sometimes it's just being born in a wealthy family. But whatever the case, there is no need to make THAT our defining quality. Money is nice, but we are far more than that. 

  • The_Hungry_Grizzly You think old money is just going to associate with new money?
    via The_Hungry_Grizzly
  • Icy_Peak5368 I used to think money changed people. It mostly amplifies who they already are.
    via Icy_Peak5368
  • dtyler86 Do you mean as a "rich person" or that people should be surprised about Rich people? I work with rich people and they are completely different from each other just like anyone else. I once had a very large settlement and came into a lot of money and was surprised that I didn't spend anything. I invested most of it and didn't reward myself with a d n thing.
    via dtyler86
  • Syklst We didn't make a lot of it quickly, but the last six years my salary & bonus has been more than double we need. Along with saving and investing even when we were poor has made us very comfortable. We live in an average house that we thought we would stay in for a couple of years, that turned into 26 years. We drive ten year old cars (put $100k aside 5 years ago for new cars, it's sitting there growing) and do our own
    via Syklst
  • landscaping. We do have a small mortgage, but we earn (Edit: we earn a larger percentage from our investment accounts than the APR) than more than we pay in interest. We are set to retire at 65 with zero worries and enough protection to survive to 100 with a major recession. There are a lot of people like us that fly under the radar.
    via Syklst
  • Nomromz Eh. I know a lot of rich people (and I'm somewhat well off myself), but they're all different. I know guys who will only fly first class everywhere and guys who will fly economy only. Some of these same guys who fly first class refuse to pay for alcol at restaurants because they can just drink better alcol for cheaper at home. Turns out everyone has their own
    via Nomromz
  • preferences and what they like to spend money on even when they're rich.
    via Nomromz
  • Northern OverExposure I was a member of a very elite social club for a few years. They really like to be entertained, they cannot entertain themselves, and they don't really think for themselves. They show up for a thing if there is food and entertainment (speaker, dancer, etc) and then they go home. There is no intellectual discussions, there is no saving the world, there is no "what can we do as the elite." They were concerned with attending ballet (because they are on the board), the
    via NorthernOverExposure
  • symphony, some plays/operas. And world-traveling to places they always go. One couple went to Dublin once a year. Another had houses in London/India. Or they stay in reciprocal clubs in other cities. But that's about it. I have a PhD in Literature, and there were a handful of people who said they always wanted to start writing, so I had a writing workshop for a year or two. They have zero imagination. It was the weirdest frking thing I've
    via NothernOverExposure
  • ever encountered. Most of them were high lawyers, and they could defend why they cannot write one paragraph describing "what is in the box" even though we had an entire discussion about this (could be grandma's old recipe box, box of old photographs, box of old love letters, could be Narnia for pete's sake). No one could figure out what was in the box. After months of these writing prompt fails, they said they didn't understand imagination, so I had an entire day explaining the difference betwee
    via NorthernOverExposure
  • thought and imagination, and they said it was all too hard and they just wanted to write stuff. I don't know what to do with this information but it was unnerving.
    via NorthernOverExposure
  • drschitzen I'm far from rich but as a business owner with relatively high margins I've had clients make very large deposits at once. What I've learned is that wealth is a mindset more than anything. And while money allows us to purchase all of the things we may want (or think we want), I find more peace in knowing I have the funds to purchase something, than I do in making the actual purchase. Therefore I try to be very measured in how and when I spend my money.
    via drschitzen

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