Bet you didn't know where director BIS Shrapnel lives!!

Interesting article, Virgo.

Bruno Grollo lives in Thornbury where he owns a whole "street block". Mind you he could live on any estate he chose to in Toorak, et al. Not everyone aspires to the affluent suburbs, nor necessarily the high end houses. Nothing wrong for those that want/have that. Horses for courses at the end of the day.

The typical "Millionaire Next Door" in the book by the same title generally doesn't live in a trophy home. You'd be hard pressed to pick them according to the authors. For those who haven't read it, although it has a US slant, it is a great read.
 
Interesting article, Virgo.

Bruno Grollo lives in Thornbury where he owns a whole "street block". Mind you he could live on any estate he chose to in Toorak, et al. Not everyone aspires to the affluent suburbs, nor necessarily the high end houses. Nothing wrong for those that want/have that. Horses for courses at the end of the day.

The typical "Millionaire Next Door" in the book by the same title generally doesn't live in a trophy home. You'd be hard pressed to pick them according to the authors. For those who haven't read it, although it has a US slant, it is a great read.

its a fair compound too
 
Billionaire Gerry Harvey also lives in a relatively "modest" house. I bet he was also clever enough to know that more square feet and a posher suburb does not equal happier life.

I can tell you honestly that we were happier when our house and our income were each five times smaller. Hence: "Rosebud................"
 
Um the managing director (aka employee) of a research/consulting firm is hardly in the same league as a Gerry Harvey or Bruno Grollo. Talk about chalk and cheese.
 
Interesting article.

His message though has been one mentioned many times on SS. We all can't live in Double Bay or South Yarra, so prepare to compromise, like we all do for almost anything that requires money.

Speaking however of transport & commute times as mentioned by Robert Mellor in the article and in context of Melbourne I have been doing some commute times comparisons for properties in Sth Yarra, Elwood & Essendon to the city.

If you are forced to catch the tram/bus, Sth Yarra/Elwood to the city is over 30mins. It takes the same time to get to Pascoe Vale (last train station before it becomes zone 2) on the Craigeburn/Broadmeadows line in Melbourne's north. To get to the end of that line which is 26 kms out of the city, takes 50 mins by train. You could buy a 4br 2bath house for mid-400's.
 
The wealthiest person I know (and I mean truly wealthy not works 9-5 and lives in a mcmansion "wealthy") looks like a regular working joe off the street who you wouldnt give the time of day to. Lives in a modest non showoff house, with the only real sign of wealth being the car (which is an E63 merc, not something stupidly expensive).

This is a guy who would be up there in net wealth with the bigger league (ie sold his business a few years ago for the multiples of tens of millions).

The difference in attitude and need to show wealth between the truly wealthy and the aspirationally wealthy is quite pronounced.
 
We all can't live in Double Bay or South Yarra,

Does everybody want to live in Double Bay or South Yarra? Or places like that?

I DREAM of living in a small, beautifully designed eco cabin in the bush, near a bubbling brook, with chooks, goats, two cats, three dogs, happy children, easy-going neighbours, surrounded by dense temperate rain forest, on a school-bus route, within delivery distance of Woolworths. And I am working on it right now. :cool:

I would also LOVE to have a house at Double Bay or South Yarra so I could sell it for huge dollars and go to a place as different to that as possible.

When you get old and senile like me, you realise what matters, and what doesn't.

What's the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it." :)
 
The wealthiest person I know (and I mean truly wealthy not works 9-5 and lives in a mcmansion "wealthy") looks like a regular working joe off the street who you wouldnt give the time of day to. Lives in a modest non showoff house, with the only real sign of wealth being the car (which is an E63 merc, not something stupidly expensive).

This is a guy who would be up there in net wealth with the bigger league (ie sold his business a few years ago for the multiples of tens of millions).

The difference in attitude and need to show wealth between the truly wealthy and the aspirationally wealthy is quite pronounced.

Good post Dave. In Texas they would call the aspirationals.......big hat, no cattle.

Where we used to live in Bayside Melbourne, we had that going on all around us. Indeed, we were sandwiched by both neighbours who, unlike us had PPOR mortgages yet, changed their (high end) cars like their underpants. They couldn't understand why I still drove a decade old Jeep, yet hadn't clocked in or answered to anyone for quite a while. I only just changed my cars a few months ago since moving up north.

Where I now live, no one has a clue what I own and they don't care. That is a big change to where we used to live.....the need to compare. Here I walk around barefoot and mostly in shorts. I occasionally don a top to go into a bank or to the PO Box and of course I wear thongs at the very least to these places. No need to clock in or explain. There are also others here who are similar positions. Financially independant (some extremely wealthy) yet, to look at them, regular Joe's, as Dave puts it.

I recall Sunfish using the term Barefoot Millionaire in a couple of his earlier posts in another thread some time back. I like that term....... :D

And.....Dave, your mate has great taste in cars. I have also just returned to the three pointed star, however with a more modest motor. Those 63's are pure heaven to listen to when they take off from the lights.....who needs a stereo? :p
 
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I DREAM of living in a small, beautifully designed eco cabin in the bush, near a bubbling brook, with chooks, goats, two cats, three dogs, happy children, easy-going neighbours, surrounded by dense temperate rain forest, on a school-bus route, within delivery distance of Woolworths. And I am working on it right now. :cool:

Oh yeah..... :)

We've almost got this, except for the eco cabin, the brook, the chooks, the goats, the cats, the dogs, the kids, the school bus, the rainforest. We do have good neighbours and are within delivery distance of Woolies..... :eek:

The Y-man
 
Show off?

Hiya

My mum (and she is a wise woman) always tell me that people who must dress the latest or drive the latest cars or live in Big MacMansions to keep up with others actually have weak character...

You see, they are actually ceding power to others to determine how they feel and/or act.........me, i determine HOW I FEEL:D. HOW I ACT AND MOST IMPORTANTLY HOW I DRESS!!:eek:

And to the previous poster , bah the eco chook house: i want to go where Keith and Lisa have gone:p

https://secure.internationalliving.com/ILVCP/EILVN4A2?o=663875&s=668489&u=52697286&l=411813&r=Milo
 
If you are forced to catch the tram/bus, Sth Yarra/Elwood to the city is over 30mins. It takes the same time to get to Pascoe Vale (last train station before it becomes zone 2) on the Craigeburn/Broadmeadows line in Melbourne's north. To get to the end of that line which is 26 kms out of the city, takes 50 mins by train. You could buy a 4br 2bath house for mid-400's.

I've been thinking along the same lines with regards to London.

Take this place, for instance. It's just outside the M25 orbital motorway that surrounds Greater London, but a train will get you into two in thirty to forty minutes.

That's broadly similar to where I'm living at present. I'd get a much smaller place for the same money around here, though there wouldn't be any issues with taking on a commercial property and getting a change of use.

However, I'm not sure if I'd actually go for something like that. I'd be pretty happy living in about a tenth of the space it offers, and being closer into town makes life a lot easier. If I had kids then the equation would be different, but I prefer having easier access to things.
 
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