I am rich and can live off of my Investments... What do I tell people I do at the reunion?

Say you are retired.

Tell them you have had luck with day trading and are counting the days down to where it all comes crashing down on you. Give those poor bastards a break.~

Try a little more subtle approach that “I am rich and can live off my investments”!! That will send them running like roaches in the daylight! Try I am retired and enjoying my life after working so hard at….

Whats wrong with “I am rich and can live off of my Investments”?

Tell them that you’re semi-retired and dabble in the market.

“I am lucky enough to have been able to retire”. I don’t think you need to go into more detail. And lucky you!!

If a friend or old acquaintance of mine said they are retired, I would be thrilled for them. Why would I run? I don’t get it. I would want to know how they did it, what line of work they were in, and what they are doing with their time now.

What have you invested in? Why not just say you are in the business you have invested in. “I’m in Real Estate,” or I’m in Stocks.”

What @Judi said.

Skip the passive part. You have an income from your active involvement in…

I am liking Judi’s tale as well.

What are you doing with your free time? Talk about that and say that you are gainfully unemployed.

@Bellatrix total luck! Hence the question :)

Well you had to take the risk and think about where to invest in the first place. So, not totally luck :-)

Why not just tell the truth (with some tact, of course)? You shouldn’t have to coddle the insecurities of adults anyway.

@facade Exactly. I don’t get the lying people are suggesting.

I don’t think saying “I’m in real estate” if that’s where your income comes from is lying, that’s why I suggested it.

The thing is, I have been very fortunate. So I want to skip over the discussion as much as possible, while validating what they are doing, because I know most people do struggle. I think Judi had a nice response.

And Adults need coddling.

Tell them you retired working as a personal assistant. If they asked whom you worked for, tell them it’s Warren Buffett. Lol. : )

Seriously, you don’t even need to tell them you don’t work anymore. Not in those exact words. After all you still look after your investments don’t you? And that’s still work somehow. So @Judi is right about just saying you’re in stocks or options or bonds aka investments.

And I don’t know if you’re male or female, but bringing attention to wealth always attracts the crazies.

@JLeslie I don’t think anyone is suggesting lying. What people have been suggesting is a way to explain the situation without being off-putting.

I didn’t realize we knew for sure the money was from real estate. I must have missed that.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought How old are you?

I think @mazingerz88 is right. You still have to watch over your investments, don’t you?

38. Stocks actually.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought That’s what I had assumed. Usually when it is real estate people specify. Were you an investment broker? Or, did you work in a different career up until now, and investing was a side hobby?

Stockbroker when I first graduated, then I worked as an Independent Contractor for IT Projects, threw the money at good investments all along.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought Nice. So do you travel now? What do you do with yourself?

I am earnestly working on the novel I wanted to write when I was a young boy. Focus. Not be an asshole at the reunion.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought Well there you go. See, we had a perfectly normal conversation. My answer initially was wrong, you are not retired. You are happily working on a novel after leaving the IT biz.

Awesome. Thank you JLeslie. I am a poet.

I think people might stay away from work questions with unemployment so high. Keep the conversation about funny memories from school, where you live, how many kids, etc. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Saying you are retired is the truth. So, go with that.

If I were rich, living off my investments at 38, and writing a novel, I’m pretty sure I would tell people I was writing a novel. I don’t think I’d be telling them I was rich unless I wanted to spend the evening fending off (a) people who were interested in letting me know where I might invest my money and (b) hard-luck cases who were sure that I could afford to give them some of my wealth. Some former classmates in that age range are certain to be on hard times because of the economy. But I might say (as I have heard some others say) that I’m heavily occupied with managing my investments, which can mean all kinds of things.

In any case, I would change the subject quickly: “How are things going with you?”

If I didn’t want to hear about the others and didn’t want to talk about myself, I wouldn’t be going to the reunion. Didn’t, actually.

Thank you Jeruba. But I think the girl I love will be there. And I am a romantic. :)

Ahhh . . . and, let me guess, you haven’t seen her since graduation?

@Jeruba, don’t guess. It is painful for me when you guess correctly.

People don’t give a shit where your money comes from; when they ask what you do, they’re trying to start a conversation. What do you want to talk about?

what’s wrong with “I’m in investments?”

Entrepreneur.. That seems to satisfy most people who don’t actually know what entrepreneur defines, but it sounds corporate.. Just don’t mention anything about investments else they’ll be lined up waiting to give you a glimpse of their perfect money maker if they only had an investor.

So, @Imadethisupwithnoforethought, maybe you do want the whisper to go around that you are rich and have plenty of free time?

@nikipedia, I think that’s true of the nice, sensible people. But there are also the nosy folks who are curious about all kinds of things that don’t concern them, the envious sorts who regard anyone’s success as an affront, and the whiners who think life isn’t fair if others do better than they. One reason people go to those things is to compare themselves with others. Anyone who makes the lot of them look bad—especially after only two decades!—is probably going to attract a lot of grudging and spiteful remarks. Our friend here will probably be accused by some grumblers of thinking he’s better than everyone else. (I’d be willing to bet that this smart cookie had a bit of a history with some of them already twenty years ago.) I think he’s wise to anticipate some negative reactions and think of ways to soft-pedal his success without lying outright—especially if he’s hoping for an interesting conversation with Ms. Old Flame of 1991.

I think the answer is pretty much always to talk about what you’re proud of and what you enjoy. If that’s your investments, then that’s what you do, if it’s your book, then that’s what you do.

I met a lady the other day who told me she sold vintage t-shirts. I asked how many she had to sell to pull that off.

“I don’t know, I’ve only sold 10 so far, that’s not enough (laugh)”

It turns out she had a day job but was more excited about the t-shirts, so that’s what we talked about, it was a lot better than hearing about whatever job she wanted to get away from.

@Jeruba – I think I’m probably taken as the nosy guy sometimes. I ask people what they do and how they got into it because in my mind that’s how most people spend the majority of their time. People who love what they do are usually a lot of fun to talk to.

Tell them you are the creator of some giant roller coaster that runs in Japan or that you invented the Snuggie.

Lol@the Snuggie. Good one @Vunessuh. They might believe that. Someone has made a packet.

I’m in exactly your position, and people will ask how you can afford to be writing. I tell them that I’ve been very fortunate with my investments, so I can take the time now to do what I want. Some will ask investment advice, if you’re not comfortable discussing your particular investments, recommend that they find a good financial planner. Some may be pissy at you, most will agree that you’re fortunate, then you steer the conversation away from your income to your writing, which is a lot more interesting (IMHO). The word “fortunate” lets them know that you appreciate your situation.
Have fun!

I would avoid saying “I’m rich” because that becomes a magnet for everyone with a hard luck story, cause they want you to donate to or business scheme that needs backing.

“I’m retired.”

Let them assume you can float for a while why you try your hand at this novel, they don’t need to know how rich you are. If my husband lost his job tomorrow, God forbid, we would spend 2 to 3 months travelling, trying to sell our house (well, we are trying to sell now for other reasons) and eventually looking at what to do next or for a new job. We could float for a while without financial panic, but we could not live forever without more income and we are not, in my opinion, rich. You don’t have to define exactly your financial situation, no one else does.

What i don’t understand is, why would you want to inform the people there about your finances.
In your question you wrote this: What do I tell people I do.
So, writing a novel is all you have to say, for starters.

You could say that you answer questions for a living

Try the truth minus the I AM RICH part , simply say I live off of my Investments, I invested well whats so wrong with the truth as long as you do not sound like a jack-ass , you’ll probably be accepted at face value. Have Fun !

So, @Imadethisupwithnoforethought: eight months later…what did you say? (And how about the high school sweetheart?)

They all knew. My sisters still live in that town.

And she was not what I remembered

Ah, well, the disappointments of lost youth. I bet you’re cooler than all of them, not to mention incredibly cute in your Mal Reynolds look.