They say money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a lot of things that make you happy!
1. Well, one ultra-rich person in particular. The CEO for a company I used to work for put a giant tank (pool) with a submerged "sunken ship" inside of it in his back yard so that he could scuba dive around in it.
2. Watching the weather report for multiple cities with ski resorts. If a lot of snow drops someplace, on moments notice a group of about a dozen will meet up at the private jet and go skiing for a couple days. During the trip, they might jet over to see a nearby sporting event. Then back to work as if nothing special just happened. A couple days later the designated accountant on the trip will send a spreadsheet around to everyone with their part of the bill for the trip. This bill can also include loses from the poker games played on the jet during flights.
3. Dated a guy who had a place at Ocean Reef (super exclusive, extremely wealthy community in upper Florida keys).
Sat with 5 other couples, going back and forth about whose mega yacht we should take out that evening.
Bob and Cindy's is the closest to the canal... but oh, Jim and Donna's is bigger! But, Mark and Tina's jacuzzi is already heated!... but Dale and Ira's has a full staff tonight!
I was just like... I have a kayak...
Ashleym527
4. Seasonal furniture.
"Well, it's getting on into April so we better get the spring couches and chaise lounges out of storage, and swap out the winter dining table and china for the spring set. Better get out all the matching drapes, too."
7ofalltrades
5. Buy property in London and dig out the basement 2-3 stories for conversion to luxury living.
6. Buying and selling people. Let me explain... (Continued)
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Buying and selling people. And then getting them to battle in front of an audience of thousands of people. On a football field.
7. Legally watch current theatrical films in the privacy of your own home theatre.
8. They buy fine art - museum-quality pieces - when it becomes for sale and hold on to it until it appreciates to a point where it's worth more to collectors than they originally paid for it.
That way, not only do they make a tidy profit, but they also get to enjoy the artwork in their homes as it increases in value.
Back2Bach
9. Oh it gets so much better than that. They give it away and make money doing so. This information is pretty old, so these loopholes might have closed or changed in some places, but it goes like this:
1. Buy painting for $1 million
2. Painting appreciates to $2 million
3. Donate painting to a museum. Museum pays you the $1 million you originally paid for it, so you get your original money back.
4. The $1 million of appreciation is considered a donation, which is tax deductible so you get to deduct that from your taxable income. This saves you (in the US) ~40% of $1,000,000 (or $400,000). In the past or in other countries, the top tax rate might be as high as 60% or even 90%.
So, you get your money back, plus a $400,000 (or $600,000 or $900,000) profit. You don't have to pay capital gains on the appreciation of the painting. You also don't have to pay a broker's fee. Plus, selling a multi-million dollar work of art can take a long time and with an auction, there's no guarantee you'd get the appraised price anyway. With an appraisal, you get someone to tell you what the price is. You are paying the appraiser. What do you think the odds are he's going to tell you a price you don't like?
Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
Before 1969, this worked as described above. But, the top marginal tax bracket abused the crap out of this loophole, so they changed it. Since then, you do have to pay capital gains tax on a portion of the difference between the sales price and the fair market value, as I'll show below.
People have a bit more to say about this, so I'll go through... (Continued)
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Complaint #1 It's not a donation if you get paid! You just sold it cheap!
Yes and no. The portion of the fair market value that you got paid for is a sale. The portion of the value you didn't get paid for is a donation. Note this only works when you're selling something to a qualified charity. It's called a "bargain sale".
Complaint #2 You could sell it and make a $1 million profit!
Yes, sometimes. Obviously people still sell art so it's not always best to donate. But remember, this isn't a used lawn mower you can throw on Craigslist and someone will come pick it up this afternoon. There's maybe a handful of people in the world who can afford a multi-million dollar work of art and might be interested in buying it. If none of them happen to want the piece you're selling, you're out of luck. You ain't selling no art today.
Because of the aforementioned scarcity of buyers, you're going to need a broker like Sotheby's or Christie's to sell it. They don't work for free. They can charge up to 20% of the sales price in fees. So your $2 million sale - $400,000 fee gets you $1.6 million. Some money right now is often worth more than theoretical money some years later, or maybe never.
Complaint #3 The museum can't/won't pay for a painting!
They can and will. They can turn around and sell it for the fair market value for a $1 million profit because they're a non-profit so they don't have to pay capital gains tax and they're a museum so they don't have to hire a broker because people who want to buy art will come to them. If it's a particularly famous piece (which it probably is if it's doubled in price) they can exhibit it and drive ticket sales.
Also, as other people mentioned, this is only the tip of the iceberg. You can loan it to a museum and get a deduction for that. You can start your own museum and avoid taxes that way. There's all kinds of crazy things you can do with trusts.
Look, I'm not going to say rich people are all smart. I've met plenty of dumb ones. But you don't get and stay rich by being stupid about money. If they're paying millions or tens of millions of dollars for art it's because there's an angle in it somewhere where they can come out ahead. Yes, they're not infallible, they can get burned sometimes (you don't get rich by being risk-averse either), but they're not just romantic art-lovers either.
PMMeUrHopesNDreams
10. The following is a true story based on real events
"Hey -whostolemyusername- you wanna fly down on my jet to Myrtle Beach and Golf tomorrow?"
"uh...I have work...sorry"
11. Using the term "Summer" as a verb. (eg: we're going to summer in the Hamptons)
12. Go abroad for dinner.
I hear of wealthy Londoners (or nearby) who simply jump in their helicopter and fly to Paris for an evening meal, then come home again.
Eddie_Hitler
13. Having house managers at all of their properties. These people coordinate all the domestic staff, and manage the properties so that they are instantly liveable at a moment's notice (down to the flowers of choice in every room) even if the owners only come in for a week or two in a year.
Their secretaries will usually call the house manager the day before saying "oh they'll be in London for a few days" and the manager will arrange everything from the pickup at the airport in the cars he knows each member prefers, coordinate with the secretaries to figure out any appointments they may have, instruct the chef to make their favourite menus.... all of this is done without any input from the owner. That's what they pay for.
all-you-need-is-love
14. This one is pretty messed up. My classmate at university was from a wealthy Russian family that had (Continued)
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that had deep connections to the government and oil industry. He was so ridiculously rich that I couldn't even fathom it.
Anyways he found a few friends of similar ilk and they started some kind of underground club where they would fly in really hot Instagram models from all over the world for "photoshoots". In return for buying them nice clothes and things like that, they would hold just ridiculous sex parties where some really messed up stuff went down. Think the kinkiest of the kinky and that is what they did.
The only reason I even knew about it is because I worked as a part-time limo driver and these guys would occasionally hire me to drive their girls around. Before you ask, I never got in on the action.
[deleted]
15. I just learned the other day that wealthy families go on "shopping trips" to other states just for shopping.
Never considered that some people might say "hey this weekend, let's fly to New York and get some new stuff." without having an underlying reason to be there (visiting family, business, tourism)
Also, my friend growing up had another friend who had a legit Giraffe taxidermied (?) in his bedroom that was multiple stories.
haffbaked
16. I was once offered the opportunity for someone to run me a bath for $500 at a hotel (no added perks, not sexual, no company- just a bath with rose petals blah blah). No thanks.
17. I had some family friends growing up that had a handmade monopoly table.
It was wooden with silver pieces, and they used real cash.
ohgreatitsryan
18. I have a relative by marriage who buys land just so (Continued)
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just no one can develop it.
19. Met a cool young girl at my college - she was like a princess - she said that was the closest English word to describe her status. Before coming to school, she had NEVER - dressed herself, bathed herself, walked up or down stairs without a maid holding her hand... I initially found this out when I heard her ask someone for help going down a flight of, like, 6 stairs. She was cool about it, though, and learning.
20. Not just the ultra rich doing it, but a new one on me... Valet garbage service.
I was out in LA walking around a neighborhood (not gated). You tell it was the kind of neighborhood where people would have housekeepers.
It happened to be garbage day. Suddenly all these brown skinned people appeared. They went into the yards, got the garbage cans from where they were stored. Wheeled them out to the curb, then as soon as the garbage truck passed, they wheeled the garbage cans back into hiding.
I talked to someone who lived there and turns out it's part of the homeowners' agreement that garbage cans cannot be left on the curb at all and they paid an extra fee for this mandatory valet garbage service.
Maggie_A
21. Building an extra wing onto the mansion to display 30,000 mounted dove heads.
22. My cousins have travel-around tutors that go with them when they travel around the world, so they technically never miss school. They aren't bound by the schedule of public or private schools in Texas, where they technically "live".
Also, they were just in South America shooting (Continued)
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Also, they were just in South America shooting Dove (apparently) and they killed 30,000 in a single week, between my uncle, his 15-year-old son and his 12-year-old son.
My step-grandfather (uncle's father) was...displeased about the display, despite having been a hunter his whole life. Somehow, in his age, he's discovered the wrongness of some of the things he's killed. Specifically about doves he said, "I was at the [country club] last week and they have lots of doves out there. The regular gray ones and the white-wing variety. And they're just so beautiful and I said to myself, 'How could you have ever killed these magnificent things? How could you look at yourself in the mirror?'"
This man has been a hunter for most of his life and he's sworn off of it forever. He doesn't even fish anymore.
SheaRVA
23. A girl I know is a nanny for a very rich family and they flew her to the other side of the world to take care of one of their three kids. Just one. The other two have their own separate nannies.
mepulixer
24. Buying their kid's way into a particular school, especially alma maters.
All it takes is a few well-timed donations, and suddenly your kid gets a private tour, lunch with alumni relations officers, and consultations with an admissions specialist. There are all sorts of assurances that this is so the kid can get to know the school, and that none of these people influence admissions.
But really. Assuming the kid isn't truly dumb, a couple hundred thousand goes a long way in helping them "stand out" from the crowd.
25. Old money in my part of the world have a thing for fully restored private railcars, with all the modern amenities of a high end RV. They pay to have a track branched to their personal storage shed and then take them out maybe once every other year. Of course the process of taking them out involves paying a company such as Amtrak to haul the thing to their main line, hook it up to a commercial passenger train, and then lug them around the country to their destination. Get a handful of private railcar owners together and they hitch up, rent an engine, and tour the country with close friends the old fashion way on entirely private luxury train.
NathuramGodse
Curious to hear from those who lived to tell their distressing stories, Redditor mind_guardian asked:
"For survivors of attempted kidnapping. How did you escape?"
The following Redditor had very close calls.
Spontaneous Escape Plan
"Guy at a club and his mix of friends was insistent about coming back to a party, I politely declined. Didn't think much of it. They got increasingly aggressive about it, to a physical extent, and I left. Walking back home, I realized they were following me in their car."
"Dashed down the road through the mid-path of a packed apartment complex and just started yelling like crazy."
"No one actually responded or poked their head out or maybe they just didn't hear me. But it sparked the escape reflex of the creeps and I hid in a bush until my heart slowed down. Jumped the fence of someone's property -risky in its own right- wandered through a field, avoiding the main roads, and circled back to a side-street to home. Lucky I knew the area better than they did."
– Dangercakes13
Offering A Ride Home
"I don't know sure what this was, but i was riding my bike home alone, cutting through a deserted middle school and high school parking lots during the summer time. A man in a station wagon pulled up and offered me a ride home. I never stopped pedaling, just said no I'm fine."
"He pressed several times saying he could fit my bike in his car, it was no big deal. I kept saying no. He gave up and left. Don't know if it was just a genuinely helpful guy (this was the late 70s or early 80s so it wasn't yet completely extinct practice that strangers might offer each other rides) or a potential kidnapper."
– DiligentAdvantage475
Up In The Treehouse
"My mum was always paranoid someone would kidnap us kids from the yard. We used to play outside while she worked from home, we were 10, 8 and 6 at this time. She paid our neighbours teenage daughter to sit in the yard and watch us. Mostly she just ignored us and read a magazine with her headphones on and Walkman playing, but she was nice to us. I remember thinking this was stupid and mum was right there anyway so why did I 'basically a teenage' need to be babysat lol."
"One day we were all up in our tree house being jerks to our babysitter and unplugging her headset cord while she was trying to nap. A man and woman came into the yard via the side gate. They started talking to my youngest sibling trying to get her to climb down. The babysitter screamed for help but no one came. She ended up throwing the ladder from the treehouse over our back fence into her own yard and made us all climb into her yard with her dog who was going insane at the fence."
"We ended up locked in her house and she called the police. My mum didn't hear any of the commotion from inside the house and she won't speak about it even now that we are all adults. Never complained about my babysitter after that though."
– Dark_Valefor
The Creepy Customer
"I don’t remember how old I was, just that I was small enough to fit into the kids seat on a grocery cart. This was the early 90s and my mom had taken me grocery shopping with her. I was sitting in the grocery cart while my mom was focused on picking out produce only a few feet away when an older woman swooped in between us and started pushing the cart away quickly. I recall her smiling at me and trying to make me feel comfortable while also making the 'shh' gesture with her hand."
"I did not feel comfortable and started making enough noise to alert my mom. She ran over and loudly yelled at this stranger that this child was hers. The most chilling part that I still remember was that she didn’t flee the scene and instead made a comment about how cute I was and calmly walked away. Before she disappeared down an aisle she took one last look at me and winked."
– gnophy
People who were actually abducted talked about how they got out of their situation.
The Elderly Hero
"It was the 90s in SE Asia. I wasn’t old enough to go to school yet so my grandma took care of me while my parents were at work. My grandma had a little convenience store and one day 2 men approached her. One was in his 30s and the other was an old short man with white hair. They were carrying those hand weave basket pig cage."
"They asked my grandma if I was for sale. She told them to bugger off. While my grandma was distracted, they snatched me and I was carried away. I was kicking and screaming until they knocked me out. One of the neighbors saw me and alerted my grandma. My grandma rode her bicycle down the main street looking for me. She argued and threatened them to get me back."
"If it wasn’t for my grandma and her stubborn fierceness, I wouldn’t be here. She passed away in 2016. Love you and miss you grandma."
– Sir_Blinklot
Dumb Cabbie
"My wife told me that when she was just a teenager, she got in a cab and the cab driver just abducted her. He didn't take her to her destination, instead he took her to a hotel room. She was really scared but she kind of started playing along a little and pretended that she was interested and into it. Then he lay down on the bed, and she said something like 'Oh, I'm hungry. Can we order a pizza first?' and the cab driver said okay."
"So she picked up the phone, while she was dialing he wasn't paying attention so she disconnected the cable. Then she said, you know, I think the phone is broken. Let me go to the front desk to tell them, and I'll order the pizza while I'm there. So he says, okay sure."
"She went to the front desk and told them what was happening, they called the cops, the cops came and hauled him away."
– humanefly
Fighting For Life
"Was drugged at a small town bar, went to the bartender and asked what drink she had given me. She recited what I had ordered. I told her I asked because I'm not feeling well suddenly and it was like the world was spinning on its head. I sat at my seat because she said she hadn't seen anyone near my table/drink. Cool, whatever."
"It's getting worse and I feeling the worst I've ever felt in my life. I don't really remember what happened but a guy had led me outside and we were getting in a car. I remember hearing 'bracele' and seeing handcuff clink on my tiny a** wrist. My first response was scream, kick, anything. I already felt like vomiting and pooping so in my panic of scream and writhing around (drawing a LOT of attention from a closed car apparently) I stopped for a second and hear 'finally you b*tch' before I vomited all of the back seat, myself, and I threw myself forward to cover him as well."
"At this point I had no control between vomiting and screaming as loud I as could to vomit more, my drugged self was like 'it can't get worse for me' and I literally pulled my pants down and shat as my body saw fit. Guy never left the parking lot because of the commotion I raised."
"I remember hearing people banging on the windows and the guy freaking out, so I started screaming 'help' the best I could. The guy was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping and drugging me with meth and fet that they found on his person. Blessed be the big man 'mike' who carried my vomit poop cover self to the gym (next to the bar) where they let me shower and change."
– totallyoriginalacct
The Ultimate Betrayal
"My best friend tricked me into hanging out with her after I moved to another coast to be closer to her. Once I got there she introduced me to her 'friend' then slipped out of the house. When i asked about it he laughed and said 'you really thought she was your friend? She owes me money and you’re her payment. I’ve known about you for months. None of this was coincidental' then proceeded to pull up pics of me and conversations between them two."
"After a lot of initial crying and begging I told him I needed to go to her house to get my stuff and my phone. He told me he would get me all new stuff and I didn’t need it. Why would I go back to her. I immediately told him that he was right. I didn’t wanna go back to her. That he really saved me from her cause what kind of friend would sell me to someone. I told him that he was gonna take care of me and I knew that. I just needed my phone to let my parents know I was okay and wouldn’t see them for a bit or they’d get worried and file a report."
"After much convincing he agreed to let me go to her house around the corner to grab my stuff and come back. I took off running once I got around the corner. Had to take 2 busses and 2 trains to get home. I haven’t had a close friend since."
– [deleted]
These Redditors recalled making a run for it before anything bad could happen.
Declining An Invitation
"When I was 8 years old (f) I had just moved to a new house that was directly across the street from the school I would be starting in just a month or two. I would sometimes go to the school and play by myself for a bit. One time I was headed back home when I was approached and surrounded by a group of boys in their early teens. They told me to come hang out at their house. I shook my head and tried to run home but was blocked. The second oldest pulls out a $20 and tells me that I can have it once we get to their house. I think for a moment and decline again but am blocked again from leaving. My heart is racing and I keep looking longingly at my house."
"The boy with the money holds it out to me and says to take it and he'll give me another $20 at the house, it's in his wallet, he forgot it. The oldest chimes in telling me I would be able to buy a LOT of candy with that money. I hesitate, and start to reach my hand out to take the money and then see my chance to run between two of the boys and escape. They yelled and tried to grab me but I made it home."
"I saw some of them on occasion but I always stayed far away and they seemed to have forgotten about me. I later learned that the house they were trying to take me to belonged to a drug addicted mother who was rarely home and her son's just did whatever they wanted."
– CMaya2006
Teacher "Dad"
"I was 12 and some guy was walking towards me after school. He said, 'Hey there kiddo, You remember me, don't you!? Mom told me to take you home!' I thought, 'B*tch, that's the oldest trick in the book!' My parents told me if this ever happened, one thing I could do was run to the nearest adult and yell 'Mom, Mom' or 'Dad, Dad' So that's what I did."
"A teacher was walking into the school and I said, 'Oh Dad, there you are!' The guy got TF outta there. I explained to the teacher why I did what I did. We didn't get his plate number sadly enough."
– SMG4-Is-My-God
"It Only Takes A Second"
"When I was very little my dad took my sister and I on a river camping trip for a few days. We got to the little rural town at the end of the river where a buddy left our truck and trailer at the boat launch for us. My sister was old enough to sort of help dad with loading the boat (hold rope so it doesn’t float away while we back up etc) but I was too little to really do much so I started wandering around looking for stuff. I found a dead bumblebee and I really loved bumblebees so I decided to bury it in a little grave to pay respects. I found a patch of flowers near the edge of the boat launch, by the woods. I’m crouched down, completely absorbed by my trying to make a little cross for a headstone out of two twigs and a bit of grass, when suddenly I hear my dad’s deep, booming voice scream."
“HEY!!!”
"He was a good ten yards away from me but it was so loud I could feel it in my chest and I jump and spun around towards him. He is already halfway to me, running. His face looks scary. He looks so mad, so focused, and he’s looking over my shoulder instead of at me. I run over to him, no idea what’s happening but scared that I’d at least get in trouble if I didn’t go over to him right away. He picks me up and puts both me and my sister into the truck to finish loading by himself."
"Apparently a man tried to take me. I never even knew he was there. Dad caught sight of him just as he began lunging towards me and scared him off. I wouldn’t have known until I was already gone if he hadn’t been so aware."
"Watch your kids, it only takes a second."
– CopsaLau
A Convenient Tool
"I was about 7 at the time, and at that time i thought it was cool to carry a pocket knife, well, one day i was riding my bike, and a man knocked me over covering my mouth, i grabbed my knife and stabbed him in the side and ran inside crying."
– Toaster_Ruler
Listen To Your Gut
"I was 19 walking to work in the early hours of the morning in winter. I knew someone was following me for a little while and I was just praying I was making it up. Suddenly all the sh*t I have even been taught about self defence came forward. He grabbed me and pulled me."
"There was a moment when I turned to look at him and he laughed and it was at this point I pissed my pants. I was walking as close to the road as I physically could without being on it and I pushed my head down and then threw it back as quickly as I could."
"He fell and I ran in the middle of the road with my armsout screaming. Flagged down to cars. It was a very scary moment in my life and taught me a harsh lesson. Listen to your gut, even if you've done something 100 times if you don't feel safe you're not safe."
– Ok_Talk_90
These and hundreds of other examples on this Reddit thread reflect the sad reality of the horrors of the crime that still happen to this day.
Hopefully, what the survivors did to flee from their traumatizing situations can be a useful reminder to always stay vigilant, whether it is for yourself or your children.
And when all else fails, always scream and fight for your life before the situation can get any worse.
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Interesting points were brought up when Redditor onegrayhair asked:
"What culinary hill are you willing to die on?"
People shared cooking tips and how some foods should be prepared a certain way.
Poor Construction
"Nachos should be built wide not tall."
– DBroncos515
"I hate when the chips at the bottom don’t have all the cheese and toppings, but the chips on top have too much. Balance is key to a great plate of nachos!"
– yo_kashlee
Jaws Have Limitations
"We need to make burgers wider not taller."
– John_Lives
"If I have to disassemble a burger to eat it, it’s missing the point, isn’t it?"
– JediTigger
Just Let It Stew
"Homemade chili is almost always better the next day."
– burritokiller1971
"And most soups and stews."
– wjglenn
Add Some Zap
"Worcestershire sauce can work magic."
– dberis
Resourcefulness
"Being poor isn’t a culinary crime. It takes talent to make cheap food taste as good as my mom did."
– urbancowgirl42
People had plenty to say about rating recipes.
Unfair Critique
"When you're baking from an online recipe, don't change three or four ingredients "to make it healthy" and then leave a one star review about how bad it is."
– cliff99
Inaccurate Reviews
"Don't leave a 5-star review on someone's recipe while saying 'This was a great recipe... after I made these 10 changes!' At that point, you're not rating that person's recipe, you are rating YOUR OWN recipe. That person's recipe must not have been so good if you had to make so many changes."
"Also, don't leave a 5-star review on someone's recipe while saying 'This recipe looks great, I can't wait to try it!' Why skew the ratings when you haven't even tried it yet?"
– randomentity1
Snobbery Is Tasteless
"Being snobby about food to the point where you're hindering someone else's enjoyment is not a positive personality trait."
– swordcowboy
Taste Buds Don't Lie
"If it tastes good it tastes good."
– Danielwols
Some questioned others' capabilities in the kitchen while others straight up forbade them from doing something that is unfavorable.
The Complaint
"People who hate cooking with stainless steel don’t know how to cook with stainless steel."
– 3Me20
There's A Dress Code
"DON’T WEAR YOUR APRON INTO THE BATHROOM."
– andre3kthegiant
"I've called people out for doing this. It's disgusting. This isn't a hill to die on, this should be common sense. People be dumb."
– Aldayne
Cross-Contamination–Bad
"I had to call a girl out again for putting a container of raw meat on a cold station."
"She complained that I 'always call her out on that.'"
"Yeah no sh*t, you're the only one tryna catch state health code write ups.'
"e/ she saw the post and I made her cry, oops."
– ChefBoredAreWe
Don't Interrupt The Cook
"Get out of the kitchen if I'm cooking. Out out out I don't want your help."
– Justice171
Not All Salads Are Good For You
"I live in the Midwest, I love the Midwest but just because you call something a salad does not mean it is healthy and an acceptable side dish to your main course. Snicker-marshmallow-mayo-whatever is not salad."
– ArachnesChallenge
I don't consider myself a cook, but I do pat myself on the back for some of the dishes I do know how to make well.
One of those is Japanese curry. And while I can't keep from serving and eating what takes at least an hour-and-a-half to make, I do find that my leftover tastes infinitely better the next day.
I make a HUGE batch of curry sauce so I can continue enjoying it for the next few days. There's something about leaving it in the fridge and heating up portions at a time that really activate the spices.
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