Welcome to the forum!

Rich: telling your boss to f-off (of course in a more PC way), getting contract terminated with a garden leave knowing you are better off this way. Knowing you have the luxury of having enough time to find the RIGHT job and not suffering standard of living decrease - that's priceless

Poor: being stuck in a crappy job (income level does not matter) having no confidence in yourself in order to leave and get something better/more satisfying.

I win again. Apparently I'm loaded!

Hey, owning a boat, that's another, and yep I have a boat.*










* Ok, it's a rowing boat.

Read the thread to find the answers to your questions.
Look at your avatar before you are insulting and rude.
Perhaps stay away from the Internet until whatever crawled up your arse either dies or leaves.

Yep, people say right. Rich or not can not necessarily lead to being happy or not. Leaving the measurment of being rich or poor aside, many of people who meet their life requirement and even live a quite good quality life, often feel surrounded by some negative feelings, like loneliness, being lost of definite objective, absence of achievment, etc. A lot of things can be the causes besides money. They might be pressed for not meeting their Mr. or Ms. right after years of trying their luck. They might have not many friends who can act as a dustbin absorbing their oppression from the job or family. Even they don't know what to do to kill time when they finally award a long holiday...no matter they are rich, or poor..

hehe, like this definition.

You are really rude, ill-educated and barking like a dog with full of dirty cursing words. Can't you talk like a normal human being? I was just saying my opinion, and you can't take it? You are the Poor. You are showing us now and revealing the definiation of being Poor. A person with poor behaviour and poor manner is the real poor, no matter how much money you have in your wallet. As cheap as 2 Rand ~~

Why, I am Swiss and I do it all the time.

Hey, guys, take it down a notch. Chill out, no one here comes with ill-intent. This is a forum that is meant to help us English speaking folk out here in this alien culture, no sense or gain in shooting at each other. Really.

Thanks. Exactly that's my point. No sense or gain in using cursing words attacking other people. That's the lowest thing a person can do in a discussion. Easy, easy~~

Damn! No car. Does travelling outside Switzerland at least once a week, by bicycle, week make up for that? I like to feel rich.

Why five years as the benchmark? Why not ten? Or enough to support totally through retirement years ( which could be forty or more years) Others would consider "rich" to be being able to save anything at all.

Ask not "How big is my boat?". Ask "How big a helo will my boat's landing-pad take?".
.

Anywhere in the world living life with honesty, integrity and strong character will make for "richness" that is beyond wordly weath. Those that die with the most toys don't really win. Some of the people with supposed lack of wealth should be respected for their efforts and convictions. There are plenty of monetarily "wealthy" people that I wouldn't want to spend a second in their skin.....

Of course financial wealth should not be an issue when considering respect. However, I suspect that it only when we have a certain level of comfort, that most of us start to say "money isn't everything." It may not be everything, but to those without any, having money certainly gives the opportunity to enjoy a life of integrity and honesty in a far more comfortable manner, with more choices and a greater chance of fitting it.

THe original poster made an early comment about how he felt it would be harder to feel poorm but happy, in England than in S Africa. I see this as being the same reason that being financially poor would be hard in Switzerland. It makes it harder to be part of a community - without excess disposable money, how does one afford language classes? sports equipment? ( and club fees) music lessons ( the occassional concert) a bunch of flowers...... The "richness" of life has far more restrictions for those without money, even if one is able to avoid the envy that can often go with seeing others who are able to be more carefree.

Personally, I would find it very hard to cope here if I couldn't afford my toys to both rejuvinate and to gain me entry to local communites and social contact.

....maybe a model helo.

In rich countries it's like this:




while in poor countries it's rather like this:

It's all relative anyhow. Someone with an income of 50000 a month is considered poor compared to someone who earns 500000 a month.
The rich head up to the top end of Bahnhofsrasse Zürich and the poor shop on the bottom end.

Hi
Let me put my opinion too,
A person is rich if he/she earn enough to keep his living standard and save enough for future.
A person is rich by heart if he/she feels happy within by helping needy people around him/her no matter in what amount...

Good thread.

Considering financial wealth, I would agree with Colin's description. If one has a relatively stable, passive income to cover needs and and wants for an indefinite period of time, I would consider that individual financially rich.

However, after the last three years, I wouldn't ever try to assign a number value. Changes in personal circumstances can radically alter one's perceptions of being rich, comfortable or poor!

On the broader topic, also agreed- the financial system is a disaster. I think the over regulated, over taxed societies in the west are ticking time bombs, both in financial and social terms and it's one of the primary reasons I got my family out to the (relative) safety of Die Schweiz!