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Comment by smt88

5 hours ago

It’s not. There are plenty of non-wealthy people who make money from things other than their labor.

Small-time landlords are an example, as would be anyone who owns a small business and draws cash from profits rather than taking a salary.

15 comments

smt88

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tancop  2 hours ago

im going to be controversial and say no one should have anything other than labor as their main income until they retire.

anything you can do thats useful to society counts as labor (but not vice versa, you can work as a robber or corporate lobbyist). from line cooks to wall street ceos to open source volunteers and stay at home moms who dont get paid but still work. landlords and executives count because management is labor too.

if your income comes from a trust fund or owning properties that you dont manage thats a passive reward for doing nothing. you are not productive. you are a parasite living on the back of everyone else and expecting indefinite rewards for a fixed amount of work you or your parents did years ago.

  • triceratops  2 hours ago

    What if you volunteer 30-40 hours a week but pay your bills with rental income? What's your position on that?

contagiousflow  5 hours ago

> non-wealthy

> landlord

If you think these two things are compatible you need to talk to more people outside of your bubble.

  • artisinal  4 hours ago

    Not American here. I know a couple of people who took out a second mortgage to buy a small appartement to rent out when mortgages rates were at 1%. They probably have €300k in equity in both the primary and secondary home. And around €600 in income from the rental. I do not consider that wealthy.

    • torginus  4 hours ago

      I would describe that as having invested in an appreciating asset (like stocks), and their main income comes from the gains of the property prices as they go up in value. Moreover, they leveraged themselves via loans to acquire income even faster.

      These gains might be realized at any point if they're willing to pay taxes for them.

      Having lots of money but choosing not to spend it doesn't make you any less wealthy.

      1 reply →

  • tonyedgecombe  4 hours ago

    Most landlords are leveraged up to the hilt. They may look wealthy from the outside but a close look at the figures says otherwise.

  • bigstrat2003  4 hours ago

    You don't have to be especially wealthy to own a second house and rent it out. That isn't poor, certainly, but I wouldn't call it wealthy either.