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I recently scanned an article called How Much is One Million Dollars Worth?, written by Ben Carlson. One part caught my attention:
What’s your burn rate? In The Algebra of Happiness, Scott Galloway writes:
The definition of “rich” is having passive income greater than your burn. My dad and his wife receive about $50,000 a year from dividends, pension, and Social Security, and spend $40,000 a year. They are rich. I have a number of friends who earn between $1 million and $3 million, with several children in Manhattan private schools, an ex-wife, a home in the Hamptons, and a lifestyle fitting of a master of the universe. They spend most, if not all, of it. They are poor.
Answering the title of this Thought, Are you rich?, as with many questions, depends on how you define things. This definition is not new to me, but I like how succinct it is, which is why I am repeating it here.
Published 2026-07-13.
If you find any errors in the text, please let me know. Thanks. Contact me with errors or comments using hibbardac@gmail.com. [Back to the top] [About the author, Al]