George Kamel - Subtle Signs Someone is Richer Than They Look

Episode Date: June 12, 2026

🎧 Check out my audiobook, Breaking Free From Broke!   Can you spot the millionaire? According to Reddit, these are the subtle signs someone is actually rich—and they’re more surprising than you think.   Next Steps: • 🎥 Watch my video 13 Minutes of Reddit’s Worst Financial Horror Stories. • 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! • 🎓 Find out more about Financial Peace University! • 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.   Connect With Our Sponsors: • Get up to 20% off Cozy Earth with code GEORGE. • Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. • Go to Boost Mobile to switch today!  • Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We surveyed 10,000 millionaires and discovered something surprising. They don't look the part. They drive modest cars, live in modest homes, and wear modest cargo pantackies. And unlike my cousin Vinny, they actually blend in. Oh, yeah, you blend. So we went to the people of Reddit to learn the secret tales of a millionaire and answer the question, what's a subtle sign someone is actually rich? And I'll get to the responses right after this not-so-suttle not to delete me for sponsoring this channel.

Starting with this first comment, I had an ex in high school that came from tons of money. They had a big house in a nice area, was always cool to hang out there. Outwardly, they were perfectly normal and chill. Drove a pair of VW Jettas, but inside their house was something quite subtle that only rich people would do. Twice weekly, they would get fresh-cut flower arrangements in every room. More than one in most rooms, that's like 20 bouquets twice a week.

That is a lot of money. I got to fully understand this. What's the... But what's the flower math on this? More than one in most rooms. That's 20 bouquets. Twice. How many rooms are in this house?

You're saying they were perfectly normal and chill, and yet they had 15 rooms in their house? But yeah, I mean, that'll add up. Let's do some math here. Average cost of a standard floor arrangement. Let's call that 50 bucks for a nice arrangement. 20 bouquets, 50 bucks per bouquet, twice a week. That's $2,000 a week minimum.

on flowers or a hundred grand a year if you expand it out. That's pretty insane. I would say that's a not so subtle sign someone's actually rich, but it's flowers in their house. So like you wouldn't automatically go, wow, they're rich they bouquets. This seems like the only rich people thing I read on this thread. Okay, there we go. I mean, this is the top comment. So it's just going downhill from here, guys. Now I will say, fresh flowers in the house is a game changer. Feels nice. I think one or two does the trick. Don't need them in every room. All right? I think the kitchen, dining table, living room, that's great. Maybe a bedroom if you want to get crazy.

I've never done that. I think that's a little over the top. All right, next comment, my rich friend always picks up the tab. They don't run the tab up. They don't try to make the tab fancy, but if we're out and the check comes, they get it. They never give any of our friend group cash. They never pay for vacations for the fellows or anything. They just always pay the bar tab or food check without fail.

Let's see what other people thought about this. I'm not rich but comfortable. I definitely pick up the check with my friends who earn less than I do. I was them at a different point in my life, and it's my turn to pay it forward. I mean, that's a nice thing to do, but it feels odd to be like scanning the room going, all right, this guy makes 60, I make 75, he makes 80, I think he picks up the tab. Richest guy should get the tab. I just think it's a nothing burger.

It's fine to just say, hey, have you guys good, split checks? Cool. But if you want to treat them, I think that's a very nice thing to do, but just don't do it out of feeling obligated or causing other people to feel entitled. titled to it where they go, oh, we know we're going out with George, he's going to get the tab. That makes me feel icky about being generous. But the truth is, when you're rich, you can afford to be generous, regardless of motive and regardless how anyone else feels.

But here's a deal. You've got to still budget for it. You can't just nonchalantly cover tabs left and right, because then you're going to lose all the wealth that got you to the place where you can be generous. And let me do you one better. You know what's really fun is picking up the tab for another table. Just a group of strangers. You overhear a conversation. You see a single mom with a bunch of, you know, mangy toddlers.

just anonymously cover the bill. And that's happened to me. Somebody just covered the bill. I didn't even know who it was, and I had to ask the waitress, hey, can you tell me who that was out of curiosity? And she went, yeah, she's in the corner over there. And I went over and I just said, hey, I just wanted to say that was so kind of you to cover the bill.

And it turns out she had gone through Financial Peace University, which is our flagship money course, and it had really helped her get out of debt and start building wealth. And she saw me in the restaurant with my family and said, I just want to cover his tab. So, generosity is a beautiful two-way street, and I always like to pay it forward when I can. And it's always good to just look up for the opportunities to give. You never regret that.

Nobody looks back on their deathbed and goes, I shouldn't have covered the tab at that one restaurant that did me in. Next up on subtle signs, someone's actually rich. Suspicious amounts of free time. What makes free time a suspicious amount? And how are you watching them? You've got to watch them in your free time to notice they have suspicious amounts of free time, tells me you have suspicious amounts of free time. Whoever smelted.

You think that's air you're breathing now? I will say that is a funny one because I've been, like I've taken a morning off, for example, to go to Costco. And I am shocked at the amount of people at Costco at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. And I'm not just talking like moms with the kids. I'm talking entire families. Dad, mom, the kids. Is no one in school?

Is nobody working? How are we surviving in this economy for all at Costco at the same time? Don't bring Costco into the... So I am curious about what free time means. Are they retired? Is it the spouse? Because generally, I found rich people work harder, not less, unless they're like, you know, trust fund kids and they don't have to work at all. But if you actually look at wealthy people, they're hustling. They're not just sitting around at a coffee shop waiting for you to judge them for their suspicious amounts of free time. But the next comment says, and the ability to spontaneously do

things with little to no notice of time or budget. Now that one I get, you can be more sort of spontaneous, impulsive, move on a whim because you have those options. You have that flexibility. You're not as locked in when you have built some wealth. And so I like that idea. Club on a Monday night, their game. Okay, that's a weird example. You try to get me out on a Monday night anywhere, especially a club?

Huh. At 10 p.m. movie. And I will shoe you out the door, let alone a club. I like this one, though. That could be true of someone who is chronically unemployed, too. So suspicious amounts of free time. either super rich or unemployed and broke. There is no in between.

The rest of us are out here working, okay? But it is true. I mean, think about it. If you are wealthy, you could buy your time back, which means you then have more free time, which then causes other people to see you enjoying your free time, wondering, what are you doing with your free time? How about this?

Just you focus on your life. Quit stalking people, you creeps. Next up, A Sleep Onion said, their house needs a new roof, so they just write a check and have a new roof installed. Must be nice to have that roof money. As a guy who's out of roof replaced, it's not cheap. But that's true. If you can take a big home repair or renovation and just write a check to pay for it in cash,

that's a flex right there. And that tells me that they likely don't have a ton of payments weighing them down. They likely have an emergency fund. They have a sinking fund for home maintenance and repairs. That allows them to go, all right, we need to be. new roof. It probably wasn't a surprise, by the way. Roofs don't just magically go bad overnight. So in that case, they see things coming. They save up for it or they just have the cash sitting around and they write the check. And that's what can happen when you get out of that paycheck to

paycheck cycle. All right, you follow the plan that I teach on this channel. Get out of debt. Get the emergency funds. Start building wealth for the future. And then life just sort of happens and you write the check and it's sort of a nothing burger. It becomes a sort of a yawn, an inconvenience instead of a crisis, if you will. The next one comes from bad vinegar. Oof. I think that turns into kombucha if you ate long enough. They said,

My friend paid $10,000 to have her downstairs painted from off white to eggshell white. I thought eggshell was more of a finish than a color, but what do I know? This is a wild one, though. It's like you didn't like the exact shade of white, so you changed it, spent $10,000 to paint the entire. How big is this house that just the downstairs

was $10,000 to read? This tells me this is a very big house and a very wealthy person. Because I've had my whole house painted and I want to say it was like maybe $750.50. I got all the walls done. Skip the ceilings. Didn't want to pay for that. But $10,000 is a whole lot of money. And I will say in our last house that we built, my wife had like PowerPoint presentations exploring the different shades of white. So I know too much about Sherwin-Williams paint colors. All right. Alabaster, you're going to lean a little warmer on the yellow side. And Greek Villa also there.

Snowbound. Now we're going a little neutral, a little more cool. And that's what we ended up going with. What a difference. Do I have regrets? What my life could have been like with the Greek Villa? Yes, but no takebacks. I'm not paying 10 grand to repaint the house.

All right, next up on our list of subtle signs someone is actually rich, chill golf coach, said they don't ever talk about it. Money talks, wealth whispers, is very real. That's an interesting one. Should I be whispering more? I feel like I talk too much. If I whisper, does it make it creepier?

Or do I come across more wealthy? You tell me. The first one? I think just creepier at this point. I don't think any woman has been like, hey, I prefer you whisper to me. I actually like that better. Not even my wife.

I think my wife would prefer outdoor voice. The softer you whisper, the mouth sounds. I think that's the most disturbing part. Tune in for ASMR, George Campbell. On our next episode. We've been trying to reach your hair car's extent of work, guys. But this is true. If you notice, like, your friends that talk about money a lot, they're usually trying to flex.

They're trying to impress you. They're projecting. They're trying to come across wealthier than they are. But actual wealthy people, not the ones that are, you know, flashy and vain. The ones that actually just have money, they just don't talk about it. There's no need to. They don't need to impress you. They're secure.

They're confident. All right? They got good posture. You ever noticed about wealth? Yeah. Next time you see a rich person, watch their posture. Maybe except Warren Buffett, but he's old. So I imagine he's got a little, you know, like a Bernie Sanders.

That guys, don't let him fool you. He's got money. He just prefers to do this. It's like a turtle. I can just go in and out of the shell. It's pretty impressive. All right, let's go to Beyond the F. Don't know what that's about.

A lot of these answers are just not broke instead of actually rich. Huh. So when you're broke, anybody who can survive. survive and is not paycheck to paycheck is sort of like, wow, must be nice, they're doing well in life. And there's a truth to that. Or there's another side of the story. When you're broke, everyone seems rich to you. Or everyone else is funding their life with other people's money, drowning in payments, miserable, stress, bad relationships. That's a possibility. Or they just have figured it out. They found out how to create margin. They got rid of their debt. They make good money. They live on less than they make.

They use that margin for things that matter to them, like investing, giving, saving, spending on things that add value to their life instead of depreciating assets, whatever it may be. So I do think there's a lot we don't know about those people, but I do think that when you don't have money, anybody that does is like next level wealthy to you. And then you get to that level and you go, oh, that's not that fancy. Like when I was growing up, I thought if you had a like a fridge in the garage, you are a billionaire. pool table in the basement, billionaire. A second line for the phone and the internet, I could not even fathom. I mean, we had one bathroom growing up where if you open the door, you'd hit the person on the toilet. So if you had more than one bathroom or even your own bathroom, get out of town.

That's a flex. So I do think once you get to that level, you realize, oh, I'm not rich. I just, I'm not broke anymore. And that's a good place to be. All right, our next comment, subtle sign. someone's actually rich, just a calmness. Nothing can really phase them. Think about all the problems in your own life. How many could be solved if you had unlimited funds? Unlimited is some fighting words. I mean, I don't think you need to have unlimited funds to be calm and have a peaceful

life. But I will say, we talk about financial peace around here. And a lot of that stems from getting out of debt, not having payments, having an emergency fund. That alone, without having unlimited funds, will give you such a sense of peace. And yes, as you build wealth, As you have enough that your investments and assets start producing enough income to cover most or not all of your lifestyle, that's when you go, like, I'm good. I don't even need this job anymore. My investments are doing the heavy lifting. That's an amazing feeling. And when those emergencies do happen, they will no longer feel like an emergency because you are financially prepared to tackle them.

All right. Next comment on the list here. They don't know when payday is. That's interesting. So the wealthy aren't super focused on like. Like, when is that paycheck gonna hit? Because I need it to cover the next bill. That tracks.

I mean, when you're broke, you do count down the minutes to payday. And then those dollars are immediately gone. When you're rich, it's like, oh, look at that. It's payday. That's nice. If you never have to look at your bank account, sure, that's a sign you're rich. But I also think that's a terrible habit. Because whether you're broke or rich, knowing where your money is flowing,

coming in, going out, that's the key to get in control of it. So real rich flex, if you want one, getting a full month ahead with your budget. So if your expenses are five grand, the month, you have five grand in that checking account on the first of the month to cover through the end of the month. That gives you a great sense of peace if you can do that. And you know what pairs beautifully with a budget? A good bank. And for that, look no further than Fairwin's Credit Union, a sponsor of today's video. Unlike most banks who only want to take as much of your hard-earned money as they can, Fairwins wants you to win financially. There's no gimmicks,

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So you stay in control of your budget and keep more of your money where it belongs. So bring your unlocked phone, keep your number, and start saving today. I switched in five minutes from my bed because I've got an e-sim, which you likely have in your smartphone. So make the switch at boostmobile.com slash Ramsey. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on Boost Unlimited Plan. All right, back to our list of subtle signs someone's actually rich. Thin Function said, in my experience, actually wealthy people and I work with a lot of them, there are very few signs.

They aren't keeping up with the Joneses. They make money moves quietly. Wear humble clothing, drive humble cars usually. Maybe a vacation home somewhere out of town or a lot of vacations. But actual wealthy people don't usually look like what we're told to expect online. Usually very responsible, humble individuals. A response, it seems that people confuse wealth with income. People who spend a lot because of a high income don't tend to accumulate wealth.

Brilliantly said. So you can't just say, well, if you're making over 100 grand a year, you're rich. Maybe, or you're the most broke because you feel like you can handle all the payments in the world, and yet you have nothing to show for it. Nothing to put aside in savings and investments, nothing to give. You're just spending it all paying back things you paid for in the past through lenders. Don't love that. All right, next up, they drive a 1991 Toyota Corolla.

That is a little too specific, but I get the vibe here. They're driving a very old, reliable car that still works, therefore why upgrade? That part is true. We have found that in our millionaire study, actual millionaires are buying used cars, on average, four years old, and the top makes Toyota, Honda. Now, there were some Lexus in there, some Accura, if we want to get crazy. But the key is they're not all driving Lamborghinis and fancy cars.

They're going, what gets me from A to B? Because this thing's going to go down in value, therefore it's utility in my life. It doesn't need to be the thing that I enjoy most in life, not turning heads at a stoplight. All right, let's see what Anna had to say. Rich's feel is subjective. I feel is confused. I don't look at prices of groceries.

If I want it, I put it in my car. Some will say I'm rich, but I can't afford a house, LOL. Not the flex you think it is, Anna, but happy for you that you're buying the groceries you want. I think part of the reason you can't afford the house is that you spend flippantly in every other area of your life. Fighting words, you tell me. I mean, where you shop matters. Okay, what I do is I look for what's on sale. for the Bogos. I try to meal plan around that. And yeah, I shop at, you know, a public's

occasionally or a Whole Foods, but my go-to is Aldi or a Costco or a Sam's Club to get the bulk of what I need. Maybe a Trader Joe's, if I'm feeling a little crazy. I want to get a little treat for myself. I delight to the census. Isn't it my friend? Isn't it? But according to the National Study of Millionaires, 85% said they rely on a grocery list to some degree. So going in willy-nilly to throw stuff in the cart, not going to get you to millionaire status or allow you to keep any wealth you create. Last but not least, who is Homer said they use summer and winter as verbs. I summer in Martha's Vineyard. This comment follows it up, or they do somewhere when they travel, or they do edgy or posh travel destinations. Quote,

we did Peru this year. We were thinking of doing the Rio Carnival, but we just couldn't face the idea of being among the riffraff. How was that impression of the most insufferable wealthy person? That is true. Why don't they just say we went to Peru? And we did. We did. We did Peru. Yeah, it was very nice. We did Argentina. It was nice. It was no Switzerland, but did the trick for us. I think this is one of the biggest things money does is people can take a two-month trip where they rent a house somewhere and explore everywhere around it for two months. Yeah, I mean, taking two months off to travel is pretty wild. I don't know of a lot of families that do that unless you've got, you know, no kids in school or their world schooling. That's a thing. I've seen that. Some of my friends do that who aren't like uber wealthy, but they go, hey, we want to travel with our kids while they're young, and we're going to go live in Thailand for a month. and do some homeschooling there and explore the region and the culture.

I think that's a cool idea. But yeah, summer and winter is verbs. Annoying and we don't like you. Well, I think that's enough Reddit for one day. If there's a theme here, it's that rich people are subtle in the best ways. They don't need to impress you. They're secure. They're confident.

And I hope that they're doing all this without any debt. They're paying cash for everything in their life. They have an emergency fund to cover whatever life throws their way. They're building wealth of the future instead of spending money on depreciating assets. assets to impress people they don't even like. That to me is the healthiest version of wealth, where you're not comparing yourself to others and if you're ever looking at someone else's bolts to make sure they have enough, and that's called generosity. That is the wealthy person I aspire to be one day. And if you want to know the real, unsubtle signs that someone is

rich, just look at the numbers. A millionaire is defined by their net worth, not their income. So take what you own, minus what you owe, and if you have a seven-digit number left over, bada-bbing, buma, you're a millionaire. Now, if you want to see Redditors get it horribly wrong, check out this next video where they share their biggest money mishaps and financial failures. Click here to watch it next or use the link in the description. That's it for today. We'll see you next time.