Fearless Money

I’m in the middle of reading Robert Frank’s fascinating new book "Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich."

One measure of a book is how many conversations it sparks, and by that measure this book is gold. I brought it on vacation, ending up talking about it to my brother in law and his roommate in separate conversations. I’ve probably talked about it with nearly every friend I have, which has got to be a record for me.

It gives a wealth of facts and figures to support the conversational, unbiased reporting of how the wealthy (and the extremely wealthy) live and think. I hadn’t realized the explosion in numbers of millionaire households, essentially tripling in the last 10 years. Nor had I known that most of the new wealthy are Democrat rather than Republican.

I was particularly fascinated when reading about the difficulty the wealthy have in finding good household managers (new-style butlers). The pay is very good, the work is interesting, and the accommodations excellent. Yet there is a shortage of trained, willing household managers. I think many people, most definitely including me, think "nice pay, but I’d rather be the wealthy guy than the servant."

Another interesting area is Mr. Frank’s discussion of where "true wealth" begins. Defining that status as the level at which one can live a wealthy lifestyle off of investment income, he puts the stake in the ground at $10 million. That assumes a rather decent yearly allowance of about a half million.

For any of us interested in wealth, this is a fun, informative, light summer read. I heartily recommend it.

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