The Wealthy Have 'Worked Hard' And Deserve To Keep Their Money

[ctaylors6]

147. and does wealthy

mean income for one particular year? over many years? accumulated savings?

I wonder what many people would consider my in-laws "wealthy." She's a now retired school teacher, and he was an office worker at a big fortune 50, blue chip company. He didn't have a college degree and was never close to being an executive. He worked at a time when the pensions and benefits were great. They are very thrifty and saved tons of money. When he retired, he received a lump sum payment for his pension. I know she received some kind of pension but don't remember specifics. At one point, they probably had $500,000 in investments and savings after they both retired, maybe more.

Half a mil seems like a ton of $ to me, but I wonder what others think. I'm sure their tax rate is quite low - it'd be SS and investment earnings.

I know a few people who've made lots of money when the small technology company they worked for went public. They were maybe making about $80,000 - $100,000 per year as IT specialists then in one year made over $500,000 from IPO. They socked it away that year then went back to making their normal salaries in other years.