Marketplace Money Stories

In reality, there may not be many of us who actually know someone who is rich. Instead, we get all our perceptions of wealth from popular culture — TV, movies, books, the Internet. Tess Vigeland takes a look back at the trends of wealth throughout entertainment's past.

With money comes a lot of responsibility, and that's what many have learned the hard way. Depending on how you got rich also seems to play a role in how you handle it. Mitchell Hartman reports.

The number of $250,000 a year is being thrown around by politicians these days as being "wealthy" and "rich." But is it really? Tess Vigeland talks to financial psychologist Ted Klontz and the Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank about wealth in America.

The American Dream — the belief that anyone can work their way up the ladder to prosperity — is deeply intertwined into U.S. culture. But it's also deeply affecting our thoughts about income taxes, says commentator Felix Salmon, and we need to become more realistic.

With the fall of the stock market and the Great Recession, everyone from the very wealthy to the not-wealthy felt losses. How much were people really affected? Ted Klontz and Robert Frank discuss with Tess Vigeland.

In a second question posed to financial psychologist Ted Klontz and the Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank, Tess Vigeland asks what it is that makes people feel wealthy. It turns out, the fact that many don't believe they're rich may be the problem.

How we each individually live our lives often depends on how we see our peers live their lives. For people making $250,000 a year, or the top 2 percent income in the country, that means probably surrounding themselves with even richer people. And that's why there's a debate over taxes, says the New Yorker's James Surowiecki.

The cost of living changes, of course, depending on where you live. And if you happen to want to live in Manhattan, that cost of living is very, very high. Sally Herships visits with a Manhattanite to see how far a $250,000 salary can get you in New York City.

Are you rich? Do you feel rich? Come to think of it, just what is rich? Next week on Marketplace Money, we'll hear from people across the country to get their take on what is rich. In the meantime, we want your feedback. What is rich to you?