The answer to the above question sounds pretty obvious – duh. Of course people treat you differently when you’re rich. If they know about it of course. There are after all super wealthy people <a href="http://www.therichest.com/luxury/auto/wealthy-people-still-driving-cheap-cars/?view=all">who drive economy vehicles</a> and <a href="http://madamenoire.com/522053/ceo-casual-why-the-rich-powerful-get-away-with-wearing-hoodies-jeans/">dress in casual clothing</a>. However, it’s not quite it’s all it’s cracked up to be. Yes, you gain access and a certain amount of prestige but it comes with a price.</p><h2>It’s Lonely at the Top</h2><p>Sure being wealthy can be great and all, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/17/wealth-therapy-tackles-woes-of-the-rich-its-really-isolating-to-have-lots-of-money">but you know what else it is? Lonely</a>. People do indeed treat you differently. The people who you are surrounded with are often broken down into two groups:</p><h2>The Yes Men</h2><p>The first group are the people who will treat you like a sycophant. They believe they have to be kissing your a** all the time in order to be in your presence. Sure it can be fun to a point but ultimately, it gets pretty boring to be surrounded by <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/02/28/your-inner-circle-beware-of-suck-ups-and-yes-men/#2a82b72e1215">people who are such fakers</a>. Not to mention that it can lead to stupid mistakes.

After all, you’ll never know if that new outfit really does look great or if you look like a reject from the Village People. No matter what you do, people will always be trying to praise you because they think that’s what you want to hear. It’s in essence a kind of gilded cage where you never get to have a genuine relationship with anyone.

Even the women you may date will often be the kind of people who are there just for your money and who don’t really much care about who you are as a person. And don’t get me wrong – arm candy is really nice. But it doesn’t replace real, honest friends who will be there in good times and in bad and who will genuinely be a comfort to you when things are bad.

The Other Rich People

Sure it’s funny in a sitcom (see Frasier or more recently, see The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) but the fact is that when you’re wealthy, even your so called friends are often not really your friends. They live for gossip and for finding ways to tear others down because that’s what they have at the top. The fact is that as Forbes says, rich people are often mean.

It’s Not All Bad Though

Look, I’m not saying being rich is all bad. Plunk down an American Express Black Card (aka the Centurion Card) at the hostess desk in a nice restaurant and you’ll see the doors open up to you for the finest table and they’ll very often have the chef come out to personally introduce his signature dish. After all, it marks you as a high roller who is worth a ton of money.

And of course, being rich does mean that snooty salespeople who wouldn’t give you the time of day because they think that you’re a poor slob like they are will think differently about you.

Take for example a local wine shop I frequent. I turn my nose up at the cheap, crappy bottle of wine for $10 or $20 and pretty much wouldn’t consider buying anything less than a $50 bottle of wine and have very often purchased well over a thousand dollars’ worth of wine in a single purchase.

The people at the shop know this and this gives me access. The owner of the shop has told all his employees that when I come in, to treat me as their most important customer. He has also taken me to see his private cellar with bottles of wine worth thousands of dollars (I have yet to buy one but have been tempted by a bottle Lafite Grand Vin which he has offered at an attractive price).

Bottom Line

Being rich isn’t quite the panacea that you might think it is, but it isn’t all bad either. It’s just a trade off from one set of problems to a whole new set.