TheDonEffect

Yeah, luxury now has become exclusivity/flex, but alot of these luxury brands have forgotten how they rose to prominence. To further your point about stealth wealth, let's use for example Louis Vuitton, they were renowned for making the highest quality travel gear such as trunks, suitcases, bags, etc, outlasting their competition and what not. So let's say then you were a woman reaching for a daily bag, well you got this high quality, fashionable bag that you like using for travel, odds are you'll end up just grabbing it for daily use. Further consider that travel in the early 1900s was a pursuit of the wealthy, so when a good number of wealthy people are wearing a certain thing, well you get the idea. Same thing happened with Rolex, among other things they made professional diver watches. Diving, especially around the 1950s and 60s, was again a rich man's pursuit, further a pursuit by the adventurous, so when those dudes all began to wear Rolexes because hey it's a great (and back then very affordable) watch, well the trend gets set.

Louis Vuitton is like luxury cars now,relies on its name and does just enough while charging as much as they can to maintain that image. Rolex on the other hand actually does over engineer and scrutinize every detail to this day, along with very careful brand managing, and their prices reflect the demand of their products. You compare their lineup model for model and they vastly outcharge more than their competition.


Because they don't care about impressing the average person, like at all. They got money, life is great, they don't need reassurances, they have the freedom to pursue whatever makes them happy without having to fake any sort of social construct. And those people tend to only want to associate with other like minded people. Look at the explosion of being doing BJJ now around tech hubs, because it's the in thing to do now. Before it was cycling, or golf, etc. Everyone wants to be in the club.

Why get a burger over steak? Because you have people literally competing to take you out for a nice steak dinner, and all you want is a burger. There are so many things that you're supposed to like, when really most people are pretty damn simple, and when you're self confident, stupid rich, you dont give AF. Walk into a Michelin starred restaurant and ask them to make you a burger off menu.

Look around now, tastes have shifted. Wealthy people who used to scoff at the idea of buying an S class or 7 series will happily plop down the same money on a Model S/X. When you're out hiking some exclusive mountain or whatever getting dirty Gucci doesn't make any good gear for that, but you could spend similar money on ArcTeryx, and then toss it afterwards. You may be scratching your head seeing their Prius in the driveway, but miss the garage full of S Works and Pinarellos, each costing as much if not more than high Motorcycles. You may not see a Porsche, but instead a plain Sprinter van... that's kitted out with more stuff than my house costs. And the people that they do want to impress and start conversations with, know this very well.

Extroverts don't rule the world like they used to.

jnewtons2k

[/QUOTE]Extroverts don't rule the world like they used to.[/QUOTE]


The NUNYA Principle

Bullwings

As a regular "Joe", my dick swinging pissing flex is financial independence. I can go +3yrs without a job and make zero changes to lifestyle and not touch any retirement accounts. No one needs to look at me and know that my house is fully paid and that the 2 mortgages I have (below 2.75%) are for rental properties - all in Orange County SoCal, because extra big dick swinging here.

So, last year, when my company announced lay-offs 10 weeks in advance of it happening, I didn't worry at all. Everyone was losing their shit during those 10 weeks leading up to it. I even went to my boss and volunteered to be on the list so I could collect a severance and get some "forced" time off. My boss shook his head and said no - he ended up getting cut along with 60% of my department. I'm too much of a cheapskate to take the time off myself and leave money on the table.

I don't care to flaunt my shit because I don't want people to know what I actually have and want it. I like blending in with everyone else and no one knowing any better. I would much rather people assume that I'm poor rather than the opposite. The only problem with "looking" poor is when you're around law enforcement. In almost all other meaningful life situations, you pull out the paper work for proof of loan qualification or just buy whatever it is that you want with cash. Go around flaunting your shit, and that's how you get people following you home, mugging you, and becoming the victim of a violent crime etc. etc. Also, buying shit to flaunt, well in circles that are truly wealthy with luxury, someone always has more and something nicer and more luxurious. It becomes a never ending money spending contest with the satisfaction goal being that you out spent the other party with something more expensive. The joy doesn't come from experiencing the product itself, but in trying to illicit a reaction from others to be impressed with your wealth. That's a recipe for failure and spending beyond one's means, which is what the vast majority of regular Joes are doing. They have no clue what they can "afford" and what their means are. Just because you can buy it, doens't mean you can "afford" it.

At the track, I like going with acquaintances/friends with Porsches and Beemers so I have an opportunity to out drive them in a "lesser" Honda and flaunt/flex my skill as opposed to my superficial wealth. If I had a GT3, I would have no option but to go fast. Anything less than that would actually be a lesser reflection on me, and the lack of skill would be at the fore front over shadowing my attempt at a wealth flex.

Having eaten the 30-day dry aged ribeye, I do not appreciate the extra bump in quality over a Black-Angus/Outback ribeye to find value in spending the premium over it. However, I can appreciate the bump in quality of a Black Angus ribeye over a Sizzler top sirloin... It's why a DD a Rav4 and not a Rivian or a Mitsubishi Mirage. It's also one of the most common vehicles on the road, so I blend in perfectly with the masses. I'm actually quite disappointed with how the view of the s2000 has changed. It's turning into a luxury collectible classic that people want. When I bought it in 2010, it was right after it got discontinued and no one wanted it - hence super cheap at 36K miles for $18K. It was absolutely perfect for tracking.

My goal is accumulating enough capital such that it generates enough income to cover all of my expenses and have just enough left over to re-invest and grow the capital further.

So yeah, flaunting my shit here because anonymous and internet message board.

Saki GT

This here is the point - car reviewers are talking "luxury" while they review everything from a Kia Sorento to a BMW X7 - and all these cars have the same features. The word has lost its meaning, and I'm not sure what is there to replace it for the things you really get on higher-end vehicles, like better suspensions, better sound dampening, etc.

Half of reviews these days are talking screen size and apps, so I don't know if they're really reviewing a phone or a car, but that's a topic for another day.

TommyDeVito

Many of us are like this here. I’m much the same. If I was into flaunting this and that, fake superficial bs, I wouldn’t own 7 vehicles. I wouldn’t own rural land in the mountains and a house sitting on many 6 figures of equity. Actually skipping the superficial is going to end up with me not having a mortgage, a 2350 sq ft garage, and a few more vehicles from the Yamaha powersports dealer for off road use. I’ve always chosen to flex for myself, not for strangers, and there is a massive difference there. I learned as a kid raising myself and working way too early of an age, and being an adult at a very early age, that most of society is fake, superficial, and utterly pointless. The Joneses competing against each other in a never ending consumer product purchasing scheme, akin to some Amway products. There is a huge delta purchasing vehicles for use, compared to image/status. I remember being a teenage boy in high school, but with the mind of someone 10 years older due to circumstance. I looked around at all that high school fake bullshit, and laughed. Then you get older and see grown adults still caught up in all that. LMAO. I think many of them would be better served by skipping the Joneses bit and getting a shrink. It would be much more cost effective.

Time, not money, is your most valuable asset. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, will both end up in the grave or the fire, same as everyone else. Steak, meh, I’ll take Salmon or Mahi instead. I make both all the time at home. No need to even get dressed up, put up with a wait, waste fuel and time when I make restaurant quality food at home on the skillet. F that steak.

Like you Bull, chasing independence. I could make 5X, 10X more $ than I make now and I’d still be driving the same vehicles. I’m chasing financial independence, but also independence in general. Acreage in the mountains with my metal building, making my own power, with my own well, and the only utilities to pay are cell/ISP. Independence in the form of space/land to get some distance from neighbors, etc. I do want a full Arcteryx bib and jacket though Don. For riding the SXS in the winter, and shooting steel on my land in the winter.

Fake superficial bs extends to everything in life including vehicles. It’s there at every corner of society. You just have to choose to ignore it and live instead. I see it in the gym every weeknight. You see it on the roads whenever you drive. At work, church, name it. It’s mostly due to programming, commercial advertisements, and social media threw race gas on that fire. I call it the show and it’s been there well before any of us shot out of the uterus. And I cannot wait to escape it permanently.

silvio1522

Why bother? Sounds like you'll never spend any of it, other than to become a slum lord. Maybe ask Tommy for a little spending advice. Not that he's flaunting it, Right?

Bullwings

That's part of the reason why I had kids. Keep it exciting and give me more purpose beyond my hedonistic self.

Besides, flaunting your wealth publicly, ehhhh. whatever. That's what new money does. You gonna flex on a bunch of poors? It's like clubbing baby seals. I guess if you haven't had money before, you get a kick out of it - like all of the flashy rappers and football players that all of a sudden find themselves with money, and then bankrupt and destitute 10 years later....

TommyDeVito

Really? That’s what you got out of what he had to say? Forest for the trees..he don’t need my help or advice in the slightest.

His point was he ignored or chose not to do the flaunt life, the Joneses, etc. He could have that sweet ride, that costs tens of thousands more to drive every day. He chose not to do that. His mentality yielded other things, investments. Investments that have paid off to where he isn’t sweating losing some corporate job. He built his own ground to walk on, very admirable, saying no to things in life to set up an alternate revenue stream for his family. He described knuckleheads at work, sweating everything, and he’s not in that position because he chose a different way to live his life. Had he made different decisions, buying luxury this and that, he wouldn’t be in the position he is. That was his point.

And it’s my point too. I’m not flexing at all. I’m proud of what I’ve done in 50 years. Starting with nothing, not a pot to piss in, to now. Only in America. And I’m proud of all of it. Just like him I put up my middle finger to show life and made different decisions, definitely no lux cars or flossin’. It’s been all uphill, still is. A couple of paragraphs aren’t enough to list the bs you’ve gone through to get where you’re at. I guess you don’t understand, sacrifice. As an example, to build my fleet, and what I have, I quit going out to eat. Quit going to bars. No American major sports franchise seats, etc. I really didn’t care about any of that so it was an easy sacrifice. Had to quit with the vacays for a decade too, and now back in that position, yet again. And I had to quit the buy/sell/trade on vehicles. Instead I said, from now on, I only buy what I intend to keep long term. During this life I also walked away from a very lucrative career in the music business because I was just tired of the fake bs. Took a massive pay cut. And I’ve had a damn job since I was 10. You think that is flossin’? Nah. Just different strokes for different folks. I’ve got friends that drop $800-1000 a month on the wine and dine. Then they come over to my house and say “they are paying you too much.” I just laugh. Nope. Just chose a different way, a different route. Never have cared for the status quo. Never cared what everyone else is doing. Never been on these social media platforms and apps liking stuff, or following this and that. IDGAF. I have zero regrets in life but at the same time wish I wasn’t a gear head. My accounts and such would be so much better off. But I’m afflicted and it is what it is. After God, my vehicles and living the way I want to live are numero uno. It’s definitely against the grain and different but it is real. I remember Wooderson’s quote. The older you get, the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You gotta be Randall Pink Floyd, instead, and keep l-i-v-i-n.

Maybe…perhaps, study marketing and advertising. Learn what a market maven is, target demographics. Learn to be Neo and start seeing the Matrix for the first time in your life. It’s all a construct and fake. You can live in the Matrix or you can get unplugged and DIY in the real world. Make your own moves and ignore the herd. It’s even in the Bible to monitor, watch, and be weary of “society”. In this world, people want you live like they live. Dress like they dress. Think like they do. And when you don’t, oh my, they have a major problem with it.

TheDonEffect

Seriously, I would happily sacrifice screen size for buttons. Jesus, navigating from Google Maps to just the damn radio is like setting the time on a VCR, lol.

Thing is though, they're not wrong. Heated/cooled leather seats, whether in a Civic or an RR, it's luxury. I think what we lose sight of alot especially in the US is that we lead pretty decadent lives. Here, the people looting stores are wearing nicer clothes than I'm wearing, and their runaway vehicles are Maseratis. Our poor are among the most obese in the world. We don't get decontented BMWs here.

It's why I always encourage people to travel abroad, I love driving in other countries to see the differences. Nothing makes me appreciate what I got more than driving a POS Opel super compact with manual everything, no tach, etc etc, in total utter chaos, lol. Having an automatic transmission, power windows and locks, heck even a tach feels like a quantum leap after a while. Nothing made me appreciate my WRX, and now GRC, more than being reminded what truly entry level cars actually are. Heck, having consistently paved roads is a luxury...

TheDonEffect

Uh oh, sounds like someone's mad that they can't flip their Rolex they're making Affirm payments on, lol, jk jk jk.