Inside the lives of America's anxious 1% — who hide housekeepers and nannies and don't think they're actually rich

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November 7, 2017 6:22 PM

A recent book, Uneasy Street, highlights America's 1% and offers some unexpected insights into how they think. Most surprising? They don't think they're rich.

It's not always easy being in the 1%.

Rachel Sherman's book "Uneasy Street" highlights the lives of America's top earners and the anxieties they face, including guilt and comparing themselves to their wealthy friends.

The New York Times also highlighted the anxiety of rich people in a recent article, saying "wealth frequently comes with a bundle of expectations."

Here are some surprising insights into the anxiety of being rich.

Rich people claim they're part of the "middle class" and lead "simple lives."

The 1% doesn't believe they're wealthy unless they have a full-time driver and private plane.

Rich people hide housekeepers, chefs, and nannies out of guilt and embarrassment.

Sherman interviewed a stay-at-home mom who described how she hid her hired help, a common practice for the 1%.

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Millionaires still worry about money and retirement.

Thomas Gallagher, a multimillionaire quoted by The New York Times, reveals his anxiety about money.

Many rich people say paying taxes means they don't have to give to charity.

Sherman writes that many people that she interviewed justified not giving to charity with the amount of taxes they pay.

Wealthy married people still fight about shopping and credit card bills.

One woman told Sherman how her husband was angry about their credit card bills.

Stay-at-home moms in the 1% complain they struggle to get it all done.

Many stay-at-home moms in Sherman's book describe the difficulty of keeping up with their various properties, renovations, and social commitments.

Rich people experience a 'luxury creep' that alters their sense of reality.

Wealthy people worry their kids will be spoiled.

Many wealthy people worry their kids will be spoiled.

That doesn't mean they make them work, however.

Wealthy people eventually realize money doesn't mean happiness.

"If someone doesn't have that money growing up, it's like being shot through with too much energy," Mellan said. "There's this undercurrent that money equals love, power, security, control, self-worth, self-love, freedom, self-esteem — all those loaded things that money supposedly can do, but doesn't."

Many rich people are terrified of actually spending money.

Wealth adviser Eric Bailey tells The New York Times that many of his clients are terrified of spending money.

spend

Many people in the 1% worry they have a target on their back and people will take advantage of them.

Wealthy people are taking classes to cope with the anxiety that comes with being rich.

Institute for Private Investors

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