Do you know people that are rich but act poor?

“Why do they do that?”  I often wonder to myself.  At first, I thought maybe they were acting poor to fool people as a joke.  I thought perhaps the rich were laughing at us behind our backs while incognito mode.  Or maybe when they do business with us, they can play the “I’m just like you” card, “I’m just trying to feed my family”… give me a deal buddy!

I’m Broke?

Next, I thought maybe they were trying to blend in with their friends, kind of like a chameleon.  Perhaps they are afraid of what their friends would think, knowing that they are rich.  This makes sense, I think if I had rich friends I would be jealous and spiteful, maybe?  Or perhaps, they want to fit in with their family, and avoid brother “Billy” from asking for money to borrow and never pay back.

The reasons above might ring true, but personally, I think they act poor because that is how they were raised and it’s the habits that they are use to.  I believe that you are a product of your childhood environment, not matter how rich or educated you become.  Sure, they can rich-speak with their rich fiends, but probably they still think internally in the class environment that they were raised in.

Ironically, it works out well for them financially because they still fit in with their upbringing background, plus this enables them to save and even invest more money.  Of course, this means that they become richer and richer since they don’t have to support a highfalutin lifestyle.

I often wonder if I was in the same situation, if I act poor even though I were rich.  I always thought that if I were rich, I would definitely travel more (and I still do think this), but maybe to fit in, I wouldn’t do it as much as I initially believe I would?

What do you think of people like this, and would you do the same behavior and act poor around your friends and neighbors?

-MR