A lot of people are under the impression that if you lease an asset like a car, then you're not really rich. Well, that argument may make a lot of sense if you are talking about land-based vehicles. I am, of course, talking about cars, trucks, SUVs and similar terrestrial vehicles.
However, that argument, for lack of a better expression, simply fails to hold water when applied to yachts. Why? Well, think about it. The average price of a mid-sized yacht is somewhere north of a couple of million dollars.
Now, it doesn't really matter whether you are financing a huge portion of that amount with some sort of financial institution or lending establishment like a bank, credit union or some other organization or you have paid that money up front.
Whether you borrowed from your relatives, from an institution or you have spare money for that kind of purchase, you have joined an exclusive club. You have to understand that, by and large, the United States is becoming just like the rest of the world.
Back in the good, old days, there used to be a huge middle class. In other words, the divide between the very poor and the very rich was not that extreme. In fact, according to many studies, the typical CEO of a company was making only about ten times the lowest-paid employee.
You may be thinking that is quite an income discrepancy. You might be thinking that is quite a gap in income inequality. Well, think again. That was the good, old days. We're talking about a 10:1 discrepancy.
Now, it's a 1000:1. That’s right. There are many CEOs who make tens of millions every year and their lowest-paid employees are barely getting by at 30,000 per year.
Is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing? Well, it really boils down to market reward. There's a reason people get paid the salary they get paid. That's the price the market puts on that person’s skills.
If you are in any way, shape or form unhappy with the amount of money you make, there are two things you can do right here, right now that can increase your take-home pay. You can either boost your productivity or boost the quality or, better yet, the perceived quality of your work.
This was true yesterday, this is true today and this is going to be true long into the future. I am, of course, talking about Economics 101. It's all about supply and demand. CEOs, for better or worse, have a high perceived value as far as their skills are concerned. That’s why they’re able to charge that much money. This is why when people buy yachts, it's very hard to fake being rich because you are rich.
Now, a lot of people have a tough time accepting that fact. Maybe they grew up in a family where being wealthy or being ambitious is viewed as something negative. However, please understand that when it comes to authenticity, people will know, regardless of whether you lease your yacht or not, that you are the real deal because you showed up in such a maritime vehicle.