According to a recent article the difference between being rich and acting rich is huge. Millionaires do not necessarily sport the expected brand names. Apparently more millionaires wear
Seiko watches than Rolex, and drive Toyota’s rather than BMW’s.
A study which was conducted at the University of Georgia by Thomas Stanley (author of several books about the social behaviour of the rich) illustrated this point perfectly distinguishing between the habits of the super rich and the ordinary man on the street. Buying expensive brands was not found to be a trait common in the rich…but rather those who aspire to appear to be rich and therefore spend over their means.
The study concluded that ultimate happiness has little to do with what we eat, wear and own and that in fact affluent people tend to derive pleasure from more simple things like entertaining their friends and watching their grandchildren play!