Wealth and riches are a state of mind. It's not gooey sentimentality that makes me see my family and friends as unimaginable riches, it's the fact that they've always been there for me. I have a small garden and can grow flowers and vegetables to pick as needed. I have no credit card and drive a 25 year old car. Everything is paid for and what is left over is mine to save or spend. I look around me and value the birds that visit my garden, the friendly people who walk past my gate, the colour of the sky or the shape of a tree, which I try to draw and best of all, music. All these things enrich the spirit, the soul, and surely that counts more than money.

I have to say that I have a very different understanding of wealth than the above options. I am a minimalist by nature, but I have a very strict definition of 'rich' and its very simple: Rich = having a passive income > or = to your expenses. My personal goal is passive income = 110% of monthly expenses.

That is what being a 'man of independent means' as the old saying went. Of course, I'd still work because the idea of not producing something of value is crazy making.

It's funny that most of those articles dealt with attorneys. I'm about to begin my career and plan to aggressively pay off my ridiculous debt. And no one has paid down student debt more aggressively than FB!

I'm a student (in the Netherlands) and I live on 8,5 m2. This excludes the bathroom, which I share with 9 other students. This does not make me feel rich. It makes me feel crammed.
On the other hand, I don't feel poor either. I have everything I need right on hand, I live in a beautiful street in the middle of the city, I have great housemates.
My boyfriend however feels very unprivileged in his (similair) living space. This is not only because he used to live in a bigger place, but also because all of his friends and family live bigger and take pity on him. This makes me feel it's all a matter of perspective, really.

I think I'm a little of number two and number three, but mostly no. 3. My husband had a very good friend for years who paid in taxes every year what I earned and he was probably the most miserable human being I've ever met. And he KNEW he was miserable, he told me about it every single time I saw him, but he had it in his mind that he was going to become a millionaire by a certain age and he was going to do it, dammit, no matter how depressed he became.

He's pretty close to that goal now. I don't know how if it's cheered him up at all.

but as long as youre happy id say youre rich

In my 20 years of marriage, my husband and I have gone from $10,000 a year (more 20 years ago than it is now, but still under the poverty level), to… much more than that. We are comfortable.

One thing I've learned is that if you're not careful, you spend what you make. For many years our income increased, but our savings account did not. Therefore, we felt the same amount of stress when the bills came, and those last few days before the paycheck were always tight. We did not feel rich. It takes discipline, but when we learned to take that raise or that bonus and either reduce debt or save/invest it, that's when we started feeling "rich."

Now, the majority of my definition of feeling rich is being prepared for retirement. It's an unbelievable relief to know that when we retire we can be confident of living the rest of our lives comfortably.

Wow – I read that article, too, and was amazed at not only the audacity of the writer, but the commentators as well!

Here's my breakdown: I'm certainly in Camp 2. While I'm not saying that people aren't entitled to buy cool gadgets and have nice places to live and fancy furnishings if they can afford it, I've learned while beginning this personal finance game that having a whole lot of shiny things doesn't make me happy. Having financial security makes me happy.

I also learned a long time ago that life requires a number of compromises, and it seems like that girl mentioned in the article was refusing to budge on her desired lifestyle in order to work in a job she'd like. And I agree – it's ridiculous to have such expectations in this economy, and it's frankly insulting to everyone who's scraping to get by to hear her complain about not being able to go out to fancy bars for expensive drinks. Full disclosure: I'm one of those people, as I'm a part-time teacher, fresh out of college (with 30K in loan debt) and will only make around 12K this year. I'm not going to be very sympathetic.

As for me, "comfort" or "success" will not be defined by the crowd I'm hanging around or the car I drive, but whether or not I'm still in debt and don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. And guess what? I'm going to have to work some jobs I don't love to get myself there, but eventually, I'll find a happy medium (read: compromise! It's kind of a theme…) with a job I love, friends who are fun to hang around and support me, and a simple lifestyle that leaves me feeling fulfilled!

I belong to camp 1. It's all relative. However, I will know I am rich when the following things occur:
- I can go on 2 great vacations each year where I am not watching every dollar I spend while away.
- I can hire somebody to clean in my house once a week and I think that it's worth it.
- I no longer have a mortgage.

That there is my dream life.

This isn't to say that my life isn't pretty freakin great right now. In fact, I think I am probably "rich" compared to many people.

I find that as long as you spend less than you earn you are rich. That is, if you can buy what you need and what you want (Don't overdo the wanting though…) and still are left with a (small) monthly savings.

Do you really need to make a lot of money to feel rich? You can't take it with you when you kick the bucket. I'd rather spend it wisely on experiences.