What does wealthy mean?

(Woa, suddenly today a host of posts (hehe) about value and money...)

This is from a comment in the comment-heavy tent-city post: Aniko said:
"I was astonished, reading the article, that the rich "can't pay their mortgages." Why would rich people have mortgages? My feeling is that if you are rich, means you have no credit."

Aha. Shouldn't it be that way? Why would you put yourself in debt if you don't have to?

As the famous book The Millionaire Next Door pointed out to a surprised world, the wealthy people, when measured in net worth, aren't those who we tend to think they are, they are not the people with huge houses, boats, and Rolls Royces. Those people who keep their money tend to be people who live just like others and drive a ten-year-old Datsun, and like a hamburger more than caviar, and a beer more than champagne.

The "rich" people we hear about very often have a rich lifestyle because while they make a lot of money, they spend all the money they have, and very often spend much more money than they have.

This seems pretty insane to somebody like me, but I think again we come down to a hidden, but very powerful inner anxiety that many people have, and which comes out in the form of addictions. An addiction can be drink or drugs, but it also can be work, or sex, or exercise. Or it can be status and lifestyle.

I don't want to seem superior about it, because saving your money can also be compulsive and can come from anxiety, only this anxiety is about the future rather than status. Some people will have millions in the bank, but still clip coupons for the supermarket.