Yahoo Lifestyle 27 Signs A Rich Person Is "Old Money" Vs. "New Money," According To The People Who Have Worked For Or Been Around Them
A while back, we wrote two posts where people shared the subtle differences between "new money" and "old money," which caused quite a discussion. So, here are some of the most eye-opening — and controversial — observations they shared that might change how you look at the lives of the wealthy:
1.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Wearing head-to-toe logo mania — only buying designer items that CLEARLY have the name front and center."
"For example, my roommate got a pair of Burberry track pants that are a bright blue sports material, button up the side, with only 'Burberry' written above one of the back pockets. Super cute for her, but she was out with a guy wearing a Burberry button-down who made some slick comment about her being dressed down. She said, 'Well, we both got the Burberry memo,' and he was too stunned to speak lol."
2.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "No conscious need to show off their wealth."
"I went to an Ivy League school as a middle-class kid, and I ended up meeting a lot of friends from old-money families. Truly old-money families do not care about brand names and do not go out of their way to buy flashy, branded items. Being dressed from head to toe in visible brands is considered somewhat tacky. They focus on owning quality items that are more timeless and less flashy or trendy; many of their garments and accessories are bespoke or tailor-made, especially men's suits. Open snobbery about wealth was something I saw more in middle-class circles — the upper classes were far less insecure."
3.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "The new money people I know are consistently awful to their hired help."
4.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I'm a cleaner; old money gives a Christmas tip and buys me a gift. New money does neither."
"It's a strange pattern I've noticed in my over six years cleaning people's houses, and I can't explain why this happens."
5.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Telling every single person they come into contact with how much they spent on something."
"A former employer of mine told me he had to send in this $8,000 heater from his second plane for a $2,000 service because it didn't get hot anymore. Like, I'm struggling to keep a roof over my head and food on my table, and this is what you're telling me?!"
6.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "Old-school hobbies."
"Maybe it's a stereotype, but most of my rich friends are quite accomplished at squash, sailing, tennis, fencing, crew, and equestrian sports. It's just a normal thing to enjoy in their circles. Playing some sort of sport at an elite school was sort of an expectation."
7.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Big new homes and expensive new cars."
"New money buys big new homes and expensive new cars. Old money keeps the older home and the older car, but both are in pristine condition, and it is a point of pride."
8.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "The one thing I learned from the wealthiest woman I ever knew: Everything is repairable."
"Throwing out broken things is a sign of middling wealth. My dad was a furniture upholsterer and carpenter and made scads of money off rich old people who didn't want to part with things and were willing to hire a professional in a field rarely heard from to fix something older than they were — rather than go to Ikea and get a replacement."
9.ALSO WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "Not understanding the stress that comes from being poor or middle class."
"I jumped between poor and middle class as a kid and wound up going to college with a bunch of rich folks. If you talked about how stressed you were over paying the rent or having to eat tofu and spend hours on food prep, they wouldn't insult you or think less of you — but it was very clear they didn't understand the emotional weight of those problems. They could hear about your stress and just shrug it off because they didn't get what it's like to be financially insecure. Sometimes, they'd even offer to help pay for a meal, but you could see the confusion on their faces when they picked up on the fact that you were still stressed because they didn't realize you were now worrying about your next meal.
"Every so often, this disconnect would show up in more overt ways: They'd tell people abused at work to just quit their jobs, or tell kids on scholarship (me) to 'take a break from work and come party' — not realizing that you wouldn't be able to enjoy yourself knowing that you had a paper to finish and that if you didn't finish it, you could drop a grade, lose your scholarship, and be unable to attend next semester."Ultimately, it was a lack of understanding that didn't necessarily come with any disdain or antipathy."
10.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "New money knows what it is like to be poor or middle class."
"So they don't always come off as spoiled or clueless about the real world. On the other hand, old money grew up in rich surroundings, and you can tell."
11.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "Family heirlooms are extremely important."
"An engagement ring is an old heirloom from a wealthy grandparent, not something new and flashy. The newly wealthy received brand-new diamond stud earrings for a 16th birthday; the old money received Grandma's gold pendant that had been in the family for generations."
12.ALSO WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "If they've attended an Ivy League school, they say the town or city where they went to school instead of the school's name."
"For example, if you say, 'Where did you go to school?' they would reply, 'New Haven' instead of Yale, or 'Cambridge' instead of Harvard."
13.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "In the UK, a lot of new money families went to random private schools or state schools rather than the Etons, Harrows, etc."
"Old money went to a school that was famous — usually one of the most obvious ones."
14.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "There's a sense of classism that is different — it's less a disdain for the poor than a disdain for poor behavior."
"Old money has more respect for a middle-class family who represent themselves well in behavior and manners than a very wealthy family who make their wealth obvious. In my hometown, the old money would disapprove of the newly rich because the newly rich wanted to show everyone how wealthy they were. The old-money families were secure enough not to show off."
15.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "People who come into money quickly can have a tendency to go overboard. They get the biggest, best, shiniest everything."
"They aren't satisfied with the lifestyle. They used to be like you. Now they're better. It's not enough to be rich — they want you to know they're rich. That comes across as tacky and lacking in class."
16.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "They might be a real stickler for everyday expenses but still pay vast amounts for holidays or cars."
"They probably own old real estate. Maybe a countryside mansion — that's probably the best symbol of it. This would, of course, be in addition to the hyper-modern apartment in the city. They might know about special vineyards that make rare, but not necessarily famous or particularly expensive, wines. The same kind of niche preferences may apply to food, music, whatever.
"I know some children of very rich families, and from just seeing them on the street, you wouldn't think they were anything but normal teenagers. Other kids can be spoiled and just go for designer clothes."
17.ALSO WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "Investing. Many old money families retain their wealth by being conservative (both with money and in other ways)."
"Most of their members don't make exceptional money; they are lawyers or doctors earning good but not wild amounts of money. I imagine that they wouldn't go on heaps of expensive trips to places, but instead have a summer home that they go to for holidays. They would go to expensive private schools and drive secondhand cars. A lot of their hobbies would be based around property in the right places, like dressage or rowing — they aren't necessarily expensive sports, but they require a river or lake or land for horses."
18.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Look at the car they drive. If they drive something like a Porsche or one of those hideous BMW X series cars, they're nouveau riche or they've pushed their credit rating out as far as it'll go."
"If they drive something like, oh, an old Volvo estate or something utilitarian and old, then they've got money. The ones with the old money know the value of good investments and the value of things — and not just the cost."
19.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "Only people with 'old' money (i.e., comfortable with wealth) will drive a Mercedes station wagon or BMW wagon. They aren't driving the car for status or conspicuousness; they want the space, but it has to be a luxury car nonetheless."
"It's a head-scratcher."
20.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "New money buys a big house in a nice neighborhood. Old money, you'll never even glimpse the house because it's so far back on their land."
—Sarah P., Facebook
21.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I work at a marina. If a guy walks in who looks like a scruffy, unhoused man who's been pulled backward through a charity shop, I know he is going to have a 20-plus meter boat and be minted. I also tend to find they are some of the easiest going customers; they rarely complain and tend to be really understanding about mistakes."
"Makes sense they have F-you money, so no reason to get upset about silly, small things."
22.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "On the other hand, as soon as someone starts telling me how much they pay to keep their boat here or start demanding my name to make a complaint, I know I'm dealing with new money."
"New money will try really, really hard to show they have money with branded items and by trying to throw their weight around when it comes to customer service. Another classic new money habit is talking to us like their custom is some great gift and that we should all be fawning over them for the privilege."
23.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "The clothing. My dad's family is old money, and they all wear the same LL Bean gear they've been wearing since the '00s. Plus, lots of high-quality fabrics they bought once decades ago and have never needed to replace, like wool cable knits and heavyweight corduroy pants."
"I have this half-baked theory that old money spends/shops less than new money."
24.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "It's the way they carry themselves. New rich will try and prove they own a place. Strut around, show off, and put others down to show how important they are."
"Old money is usually fairly polite. They know, deep to their bones, that they own the place. They know they are better than you, but they don't hold it against you."
25.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "They tend to genuinely not give a toss what you think of them. And they tell you outrageous stories as though they were discussing the price of fish."
"Also, they can instinctively recognize other people who are old money. I really don't think you could ever fake being one of them. You'd have to try really hard. And they don't try at all. They just are."
—Anonymous
26.SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Bragging. I have a coworker who comes from a wealthy-ish family, but I get the impression that her family hasn't always been wealthy. She brags all the time about the things that she buys that are 'designer.'"
And finally...
27.WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I have another coworker who is from a very wealthy family. I have never once heard her brag about anything. She talks with excitement about things, but she never sounds like she's bragging. She sounds appreciative of what she has."
"She sounds grateful for all that her parents have been able to provide for her — but she never sounds like it is owed to her."
What do you think of these? What are some other signs of "old money" vs. "new money?" Let us know in the comments below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
