I don't know about the rest of you guys and gals but I confess to being very rich: I am 81 years old, have an 18-year old son who will be going to college, and I am in very good health. Unless, of course by "rich" you means in terms of money. Alas, no, I drive a 12-year old Toyota and have $11,000 in credit card debts, and I struggle to pay the rent. No, my richness comes in my attitude that there is no amount of money that (by itself) can equate to a meaningful life, which I define as one in which other people benefit from your being on this planet. So, while I resent the fact that our president gave the uber-rich a two trillion $ tax cut, I cannot in all honesty complain that their life is necessarily better than mine. After all, one of them reading this may be going through a nasty settlement, or taking chemo, or being investigated for fraud...who knows. Being rich ain't anything, though for a change I might enjoy it...but then again I might not.

Beautiful. I like your point of view.

It's too bad your 18 year old son has ahead of him a long life of servitude to the rich and amoral elites that run this country. It's too bad that at best he'll be a kiss-ass and at worst he'll be watching his children starve while some Hollywood whore spends away her fortune on cocaine. Maybe if he's lucky he can be the next guy to marry Britney Spears for a week or two.

You might not have many years left in this place but you should still try and clean up the mess so that your son doesn't have to wallow in it.

kids today should not have to struggle. they are way way too special to work at low paying, crappy jobs. kids today deserve it because they are so special.

just ask them and they will tell you how special they are.

way too special to live in dumps, drive old beater cars, wear cheap clothes and eat crappy food. they should never have to struggle, sacrifice, or do without anything.

the government should make sure that they never have to struggle.

being rich isn't that bad. i've been rich before and it was a lot like being poor except you pay a helluva lot more taxes.

i used to think the rich didn't pay taxes. boy was i in for a rude awakening.

Perhaps if you hadn't run up $11K in credit card debt the rent would be easier to pay? And what were you thinking using the love gun on someone when you were 63, you squirrly ole' bastard!

Look, your post was lovely, really, and I agree, there is more to life than how many pennies you have or how new your car is or how many square feet your home consumes. Money, or the pursuit of it, should not be the central theme of your eulogy.

On the other hand, one cannot ignore reality and should accept on it's face value that there is nothing wrong with having money, it really all depends on how you came by it. You say a meaningful life is one in which others benefit from your being on this planet. Truer words were never spoken. I have four kids and I think in those terms every single day. When I am dead and gone will they look back on my being involved in their lives as a positive or negative thing?

My wife and I try to make sure that answer will be it was a positive thing. When each was born I opened a 529 plan for them. We sock away $50 each month towards their college. We won't be able to pay for all of it but we'll be able to help out signifcantly, nor would I want to pay for all of it, I feel they if something is given you consider it less than if something is earned. I sure could use that extra $200 a month, especially since we lost half our income when the twins were born and my wife became a stay-at-home mom. We also have insurance policies on each of us which, if we passed, would pay off all our debts so either the children or surviving spouse would not be in a dire situation. We put 10% of our pay into a 401k and sock another $100 away each month in a savings account. We're far from the Rockefellers but I am hoping that our example will trickle down to the kids.

Our wish for them is to be happy in life. I tell my oldest (who is only 7) that when he grows up the most important thing he can do is become something that he loves doing each and every day. When you're happy with yourself and your life a lot of the other worries tend to fall by the wayside. And I want them to be wealthy, not in a sense of consumerism or greed but in the knowledge that having a stored amount of wealth takes a lot of the burden off of your daily life.

"After all, one of them reading this may be going through a nasty settlement, or taking chemo, or being investigated for fraud...who knows. Being rich ain't anything"

I beg to differ.

The nasty settlement: Usually a crop of high-priced lawyers can handily solve that one. Money buys justice in this country.

Taking chemo: Yep that's awful. But if you're super-rich, no worries about being denied procedures, no need to sit in the chairs lined up waiting your turn at the IV. No worry about the cap that your so-called health insurance puts on your ability to get the drugs that may save your life. Oh, and let's not forget, no worries about wether or not you can collect disability while on chemo. Bankruptcy claims are increasingly spurred by health problems.

Being investigated for fraud: See nasty settlement: Lawyers take care of that, either get you cleared or mitigate your losses. They're on retainer, no need to even call them. They'll buy your justice for you.

I'm hard-pressed to think of anything that money can't make better in this country right now...and not being able to buy love? Ha that's funny, it buys the next best thing.

RIRedinPA, What I hear you saying is, people need to be responsible for their own financial futures and posterity and not rely on others to make sure they and their progeny are taken care of from cradle to grave by others. Am I correct?

A simple exercise in sarcasm can refute not only your arguments, but your belief system;

"Taking chemo: Yep that's awful. But if you're super-rich a member of the ruling Socialist class or immediate family, no worries about being denied procedures, no need to sit in the chairs lined up waiting your turn at the IV. No worry about the cap that your so-called health insurance puts on your ability to get the drugs that may save your life. Oh, and let's not forget, no worries about wether or not you can collect disability while on chemo. Bankruptcy claims are increasingly spurred by health problems of the proletariat or their family members". So, tell me again about your Socialist Utopia where everyone enjoys an equal outcome?