This 24-year-old made big money by pretending to be a filthy rich kid — posed in private jets, luxury villas and mingled with A-list celebs. Here’s how wealthy Americans really live

The benefit of stealth wealth

According to Ramsey Solutions’ coverage of a 2024 Global Wealth Report from UBS, there are nearly 24.5 million millionaires in the U.S. But it's not always so easy to differentiate the rich from the average.

Many well-off Americans opt to hide their wealth rather than flash it. You might assume that your neighbor around the corner who drives an economy sedan and lives in a three-bedroom, 1,700-square-foot home isn’t all that well off. In reality, that same person might have millions of dollars to their name.

Now you may be wondering “What’s the point of being wealthy if you don’t spend your money?” But you should know that stealth wealth has its benefits.

For one thing, it can buy you financial liberties. If you have enough assets, you don’t have to worry about keeping a toxic job just to make ends meet, and rather, can focus more on job satisfaction and fulfillment. Those who are wealthy are most often financially literate, meaning they focus on generating long-term wealth that will last, rather than spending all of their income streams now, living paycheck to paycheck.

Hidden wealth also buys you peace of mind. As of 2022, 37% of Americans could not cover a $400 emergency expense with cash or its equivalent, according to the Federal Reserve. If you’re truly wealthy — and spend your money modestly — you won’t need to sell off luxury goods or go into debt before you can afford a sudden expense.

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Learn how you can set yourself up for a more prosperous future by exploring why so many people who work with financial advisors retire with more wealth.

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Protecting the wealth you've worked hard to build

If you make a point of keeping your wealth hidden, it can be easier to protect it (and yourself) to some degree. But there may also come a point when you want to upgrade your car to a nicer, newer model or a home with more amenities and nicer furnishings. And if you can afford those things as a result of your savings and hard work, then they won’t hurt your financial health.

But it's also important to make sure you're protecting your assets. To that end, be wary of strangers who approach you in public places, as well as those who get your contact information online and reach out to you electronically. If you’re public online, it’s easy to become a prime target for crime.

The more you own, the more measures you’ll likely have to take in the name of security. Whether it’s a comprehensive security system for your home with cameras or opting for locked garage parking, you have more precautions to think about. You can quickly be left with nothing to show for your hard work if you don’t have enough car insurance or home insurance coverage for your assets, for example.

And finally, monitoring your finances regularly is a standard practice if you’re growing your money. Log into your accounts once a week or every other week to check for suspicious activity. You can also request a free copy of your credit report from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion annually to monitor for fraud. Though signing up for a credit monitoring service on your own for more frequent updates will keep you more connected to your finances.