When it comes to new money vs old money, they say there are two sides of wealth:
The first one is: The Haves together with the Have-Nots &
the second one: The Have-Had-Long-Before-the-Haves-Had.
Welcome to another valuable Sunday Motivational article Aluxers! This one is particularly interesting as many of you are probably on your journey of climbing the social ladder, so we decided to break things down for you to make your ascend even smoother.
You probably heard both terms before, but let’s make sure everyone is on the same page:
New Money – or Nouveau riche- are people who’ve built their wealth in the current generation. They’re the first ones in their ancestral lineage to have wealth.
Today: we have the tech billionaires, athletes, movie and tv stars as well as anyone who got rich from a business they started.
Old Money – are people whose families have been wealthy for generations.
Think of: The Gettys or Vanderbilts in the US, The Rothschilds, The Wendels in France, The Agnelli in Italy or any of the families mentioned in Crazy Rich Asians.
A key difference between an old and a new Aluxer, is that the old Aluxers know they can switch to our video upload for this topic:
With that plugged, let’s get right back into the article.
With old money, you never got to meet your great great grandfather who started it all and now your family is still enjoying the fruits of those efforts.
But that’s not the only thing that separates these 2 social classes. Here are
15 Differences Between NEW MONEY & OLD MONEY
1
New Money Invests Short Term, Old Money Invests Long Term
One of the fundamental differences has to do with their overview of the world.
New money is about NOW,
Old money is about FOREVER!
This is because NOW is the time when new money is hot, when there’s a competitive advantage to cash in big.
New money is playing the HIGH RISK – HIGH RETURN game.
On the other side, old money doesn’t care about rapid returns, they’re the turtle in the race, making sure the wealth grows sustainably throughout generations.
2
New Money Spends by Trends, Old Money Spends by Tradition
When it comes to their spending habits, Old Money is pretty much set in stone. They have the legacy brands, they have their traditions, their already favorite hotels, resorts, automobile brands and stick with them.
New money is Bold & wild, it wants attention. They love trends, they’re part of the conversation and of the change that’s happening in the world.
Old money treasures tradition: they work with the same firms as the previous generations did, the kids go to the same schools where their name means legacy and so on.
If we were to bring it into today, new money is buying crypto while old money is holding onto more gold.
3
New Money Loves Talking About Money, Old Money Rarely Mentions It
This happens because for the new rich, dollar bills are exciting. They’re amazed at how much you can do with money because it’s fresh; they never had it before now.
For old wealth, money is almost taboo. Actually, they teach them young.
Here are the 3 golden rules of old money:
- Don’t tell anyone because they’ll treat you differently
- Don’t show that you have wealth
- Don’t spend it
It’s almost amusing the juxtaposition of being proud of being wealthy and also ashamed of having so much money that you didn’t earn. This has shaped the way old wealth positions itself in society: they wanna play it safe, they have no intention of standing out.
New money, on the other hand, can’t scream it out loudly enough. They buy the pink ferrari, the oversized mansions, another pink ferrari just because they like flamingos. Their shaped by the culture in which they grew up. You wanna get a good wip, get the latest drip.. Have your eyebrows on fleek… ok ok.. We’ll stop with the nonsense, but the argument is valid.
We’re all carrying the scars of poverty!
And wear money like a badge of honor: Look moma!! I made it!
4
New Money Sits Courtside, Old Money Plays Golf at the Country Club
Because they are shaped by the current generation, they find everything old antiquated.
New money didn’t grow up playing polo or riding horses, but they watched Jordan score 69 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For them that’s history and want to be part of the one in the making.
For Old money, mainstream sports it too democratic, a bit too accessible to everyone. Formula 1, tennis, polo or gold at the country club have a barrier to entry.. Not everyone can get it.
This is what they enjoy. It’s like racism but with money.
5
New Money Is Always in a Hurry, Old Money Takes It Slow
There’s a big difference in attitude towards life between these 2. New money live in the age of speed:
By the way.. If you loved our integration of Cars in this financial article, please share this article & we’ll keep the memes coming.
New money has to-do lists and calendars. They go through them as quickly as possible so they can write down another achievement and post on social media about conquering the day.
Old money happened yesterday and will happen tomorrow, but new money is happening now!
Old money kicks back, they volunteer, do charity work, travel, host parties and – we imagine – shake their heads in disbelief at the new generation while sipping their Chateau Latour
They’re not in a hurry anywhere, because they’ve already arrived!
6
New Money Loves Publicity, Old Money Hates It
If you’ve been subscribed to our channel for a while you might be familiar with the phrase:
Money talks, wealth whispers.
And it’s true.
Truly wealthy people are very protective of their privacy.
Here’s something crazy that we discovered first hand a couple of years back that blew our minds:
There are people who pay to be in Forbes magazine &
There are people who pay NOT to be in Forbes magazine!
While new money is flaunting their wealth on instagram and on every tabloid in town, old money is actually spending money to remain anonymous and keep a low profile.
Old money doesn’t care what other people think, new money does!
The family name means a lot and it needs to be protected. In almost all traditional cultures, old money care more about not bringing shame to the family name above everything else. Which is why paying for privacy or keeping your image clean has become a priority.
We’re living in the age of technology and basically everything we do online is being out in the open. Your carrier is monitoring everything you do online, social networks are building sophisticated avatars of what you like, don’t like and all of these can be used against you.
The first step to claiming back your privacy is using a VPN while online. It’s a super easy to use tool that with one click anonymizes your online activity so that prying eyes don’t know who you are. Go to alux.com/vpn right now and get one. NordVPN is the vpn we personally use and they have an amazing offer to support our community and channel right now, where you’re getting a 68% discount for 3 years worth of service. Buy it now and you’re set for the next 3 years.
7
New Money Is Less Snotty but Also Less Polished
When talking about old money, we’re all probably picturing the same thing. These people:
Wait!! is that Professor Minerva McGonagall?! – ok.. Calm down… we know it’s from Downtown Abbey, put your cheetos down!
Old money gets taught etiquette, how to behave, what to wear etc.
All this polish can look like snobbery to the average person but it all means well.
New money didn’t grow up with this kind of education, they’re just figuring it out right now or in some cases, they simply don’t care about it at all.
8
New Money Entertains by Dining Out, Old Money Entertains at Home
This is one of those basic differences in behavior. Unless they’re going out to the single, one, favorite restaurant where they order the same dish over and over again, you’re unlikely to catch old money hosting outside of their home.
New money on the other hand is running through every new pop-up available – hashtag foodie #foodie -.
If you’re celebrating new money, you best believe some bottles will be popped. If you’ve ever been to Vegas, St Tropez or Mykonos, you know damn well that champagne showers are a thing. Here’s a standard champagne menu from a popular spot on Mykonos: The last one costs 140,000 dollars for those of you in the states.
There was a trend a while back where people were flexing on social media with how much money they spent on a night out, where spending over a quarter million dollars wasn’t rare.
Old money would be shook at the idea of spending that much.
9
New Money Is Open to New People, Old Money Is Closed Off
Despite having money, new money is a lot more relatable to the average person. They’re literally living the dream most of us have, to make it big despite our current circumstances.
Which is why they connect differently with people, they’re not snobbish or shy away from normal things.
Old money is scared that anyone new coming in could mess with the existing order of things to the point where they’re almost paranoid. This is why wealthy mothers still insist their sons or daughters marry into another wealthy family. Because of everything we’ve mentioned so far, old money is almost looking down on new money.
Fundamentally, it’s because of class systems people do not like to have their class integrated by people under them. – or at least that’s how some perceive it.
10
New Money Thinks They Can Always Make More, Old Money Is Trying to Make It Last
New wealth is recent, they’re in the game right now, they understand how money is flowing and they’re dominating because life is predictable. Right now, they know what they’re doing is working and they can see how the marketplace will change in the short and medium term.
If new money is on the playing field, old money is just a spectator!
Of course, even old money has some stake in the game, the financial advisors took care that they have a diversified portfolio, but they’re not getting the full return.
But you see, this is not their game to win, they’re playing a very different one. Their job is to make sure they don’t screw everything up.
Holding onto wealth for generations is quite a rare skill to learn and then pass onto each new generation.
There’s a very smart quote that we believe is from George Pell that goes like this:
Property in this country is drifting in the hands of those who can keep it and out of the hands of those who can merely acquire it!
Right now the largest transfer of wealth is happening, from the old hands into young ones who are leveraging technology to grow their fortunes. While this is happening, making sure you’re holding onto the bag is something to be praised.
One of the greatest international examples is Florence, Italy. The Richest families in the late 1400s are still the richest families today
It’s never too early or too late to begin crafting a plan so that your grandchild don’t sell everything you’ve worked so hard to acquire. There are several good books on the subject, the two we recommend you pick up are: Complete Family Wealth and The Millionaire Next Door – for both we’ll leave a link in the description. If you’re more into audiobooks, go to alux.com/freebook right now and if this is the first time you sign up you can get one of these 2 for free, thanks to our friends at audible.
11
New Money Buys Experiences, Old Money Buys Things
We’re living through a consumption revolution. A couple of decades ago, the goal was material. The more things you possessed the wealthier you were perceived.
Today, everyone can afford almost everything, so the folks in the marketing department needed something new. This is why all this philosophy of traveling the world and buying experiences instead of things has taken the world by storm.
Travelling the world as a gift to yourself is something quite recent. In the time of Cleopatra, nobody would ever think of travelling to a new city or town for pleasure, there is no need for it.
New Money comes towards life with the attitude of: You can’t take it with you when you die!
While old money replies: But you can live it to your children!
New money takes pride in earning your wealth and more recently they began to oppose the idea of leaving their fortunes to their children, which is why we see the richest people in the world vouch to donate the majority of their fortunes to charity upon their death. You can see the folks who joined Bill and Warren’s Giving pledge at givingpledge.org
From what we discovered in our research, this is something quite unique to the East. It’s very unlikely to see this type of behavior in India or China.
12
Old Money Knows All the Rules, New Money Doesn’t Care About the Rules
Though proper etiquette requires a man to remove his hat when indoors, the nouveau riche men generally keep their hats on, especially if it’s a cowboy hat.. Also.. nobody was wearing hats anymore but apparently they’re making a comeback.
New money simply no longer cares about the theatricals of society. You no longer dress for status, which is why you have billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates or Elon Musk wear comfortable clothes instead of business suits.
Old money loves rules, because rules keep out the undesirables.
Society’s rules apart, there are some set by the universe for those interested in becoming rich. Check out the “15 Rules of Success.”
13
New Money Has Specialized Knowledge, Old Money Has General Knowledge
This is because in order to get rich today you need specialized knowledge. The new rich have an almost absolute understanding of a particular space or industry with very little knowledge outside of what is in their immediate interests.
At the opposite pole, Old money has an abundance of general knowledge because they’ve mastered the art of conversation. It’s one of those things you get taught since you are young:
One should be able to hold their end of the conversation with anyone on any subject!
14
There Are Many Different Types of New Money, but More or Less Only One Category of Old Money
Because of the linearity of time, everyone who’s inherited riches from the old families has developed a familiarity in practice, behavior and even wealth. Every fortune that lasted the test of time was structured fairly similarly.
When it comes to new money, you have full chaos.
You have the entertainment stars, like movie stars and singers who hit it big and their lives revolve around their talent.
You have the super-athletes, who are technically entertainment as well, who’ve made it to the pinnacle of their career and now are cashing in big.
You have the gamblers or lottery winner, who through sheer luck have entered this new social class.
Then you have the entrepreneurs, who are building products and services that people love.
And you can probably think of many more categories of new money.
Everyone is getting richer by specializing in their own field and maximizing the number of people they can serve or entertain.
Because they are so different and come from different industries, they’re quite different in behavior and values.
15
New Money Embraces Change, Old Money Hates Change
This last one is pretty straight forward:
For old money, change means letting go of the comfortable, of the familiar and diving into the unknown.. And who knows if the unknown will be as reward as it has been in the past.
That’s exactly where new money thrives. Not only do they embrace change, they are the ones bringing it.
Old hotel chains were the old money, airbnb is the new money bringing the future into the present.
Cable tv was the old thinking, netflix & youtube put them on their toes.
How long do you think it will take before esports will overtake traditional sports? We’re betting that within our generation the transition from the old way of doing things to the new way will happen. Which is why we’re experimenting with a Gaming channel here on youtube which you can subscribe to by going to alux.com/zerodeaths.
We’ve met some people along the way who come from old money and in our experience they were super nice, not snobbish actually kinda chilled back. What we identified is that they’re missing the hunger of not having. They have their own version, that of proving that they are more than their parents’ inheritance, but it’s not the same and you probably know what we’re talking about.
Question:
Would you like your grandchildren to be old money or do you believe every generation should get their own? We’re genuinely interested in hearing from you on this one in order to figure out where you, the aluxers, fall on this issue. Please answer it in the comments.
