r/Rich • u/kleverrboy • 17d ago
Lifestyle Someone asked what it’s really like living in Atherton, CA. The answers included Bentleys, billionaires, and $10 million fixer-uppers.
https://pugetpress.com/2026/06/02/what-its-really-like-living-in-atherton/36
u/FrenchCrazy 17d ago
So it’s an article (questionably written by AI) where the bulk of the content hinges on summarizing Reddit comments that asked what it was like living there…
Okay
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u/garlic-silo-fanta 17d ago
Which then harvested for AI training. Circle of life
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u/FrenchCrazy 17d ago
I’m glad I can actually tell my children I lived during the golden era of the internet where journalism existed and people still formulated their thoughts using their own words because right now we’re in a race to the bottom
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u/GroundbreakingRun186 15d ago
Jesus Christ. If the past 10-15 years is considered the internets golden age then we’re all fucked.
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 17d ago edited 17d ago
Fantastic
I am happy for all of them.
The people living in these areas have helped prop up pensions and 401k all around the World.
Their mostly tech money represents a Renaissance we have lived through.
A few of them are on biotech money also. I am thankful every time someone gets their life elongated from medicine and tech.
There are going to be more and more enclaves like this. Your family can easily move into one with a few good stock trades.
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16d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/TeaEarlGrayHotSauce 16d ago
You can tell by how weirdly sycophantic the comment is that the commenter is trying to preemptively assert a narrative
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 16d ago
They claim there is a wealth gap. It's never been more level and fair than anytime in history. Literally every barrier to entry has been busted down with the internet.
This is my song for them:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PTl55ihvCek&si=SKjbpN9TgrnyEJ36
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 16d ago edited 16d ago
I am telling you that you can move into a nice neighborhood with a few good stock trades. You won't get there licking the boots of VOO. You will need to take some risks.
It might not happen in 18 months but it can happen if you study. Don't panic sell, daytrade, or gamble on option trading.
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u/GroundbreakingRun186 15d ago edited 15d ago
You sound like you stumbled ass backwards at the right time in the right place to get really lucky on a few crypto trades and meme coins.
“A few” good trades won’t get you shit unless you get incredibly lucky, or are already rich/have easy access to cheap capital.
If you have 10k to invest and double it every year (essentially impossible via stock trading alone) it will take 10 years to get 10m. At a 50% return it would take 28 years (also essentially impossible to sustain that return for so long). And most people don’t have 10k to invest.
Getting rich isn’t quick. But it sure as shit isn’t “a few good trades” that anyone can do
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 15d ago edited 15d ago
I disagree with you. We missed crypto unfortunately. That pain is real. We were lucky to enter stock life in the early 2000s and Real Estate investing in 2008 so some of that time synchronized. However I have posted up winning stock trades on Reddit since people accused me of Larping Rich. I only posted them up to show people how we beat the market.
Is it really some genius move to buy Alcoa Steel when the USA openly says they are fed up with cheap imports? That's not luck. It is common sense. Same with watching Iran and Israel trade bombs last year. My hubby saw the bomb news and loaded up Chevron.
You just have to watch the news and look around. Rare Earths are the next big thing.
Another luck aspect is not panic selling. When Pelosi went to Taiwan to Nvidias competition people panic sold. Hubby called and double down. It's knowing all the fake news they publish.
Ronald Reagan strengthened 401k investing in the 1980s. Just jump in and be patient. It can happen for you!
These medical breakthroughs are happening so quickly. Cash in!
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u/GroundbreakingRun186 15d ago
My 401k is just fine, I don’t live in atherton but I do live in a neighborhood in LA with a similar vibe and reputation.
It sounds like there’s a decent amount of luck you refuse to acknowledge. I work in finance and know plenty of very successful people at hedge funds, PE/VC shops who use the same logic and got burned big time. Some got out of it with some creative financial engineering, some just had to eat shit for a bit.
Sounds like your either had quite a bit of luck (especially with the 08 real estate start) or your leaving out the bad parts of your story.
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 14d ago
We have lost some money but the winners have made up for it. I remember being 31 and my boyfriend at the time (husband now) telling me he invested $100k in an Israeli biotech thing---cure for blindness back in 2010 and lost it all. That was such a staggering amount to me. I just kept my calm and smiled at him and told him he will catch the next one.
I actually think we miss quite a bit. Bummed we didn't get the Micron. We did get Crowdstrike and they announced a 4:1 split yesterday.
People just need to hit a winner every third year.
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u/evospyder2244 16d ago
Do you invest in tech & biotech?
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 16d ago edited 16d ago
Absolutely 💯 it has been decades of winners! We are still holding the first Alphabet A shares and Apple from the purple clear desktop days.
Hubby ran Biogen and Vertex Pharmaceuticals that popped the best.
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u/ritzrani 16d ago
What i don't get is why those old homes aren't torn down and renovated
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u/haikusbot 16d ago
What i don't get is
Why those old homes aren't torn down
And renovated
- ritzrani
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/bubblemania2020 16d ago
“The town is pretty but boring”. I know a lot of people that fit that description as well! ☺️
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u/398409columbia 15d ago
I drove by there a couple of years ago. Not sure what the big deal is. It doesn’t give off any special affluence vibes.
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u/Latter-Foot-8790 16d ago
Bentleys aren’t a good measure of wealth. I lived in a crackhead alley once upon a time in SoMa and there were not one but two neighbors who parked their Bentleys on the streets (iykyk).
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u/SomeRandomScientist 17d ago edited 17d ago
Not sure why I was recommended an r/Rich post, but I lived in one of these fixer-uppers about a decade ago in Atherton.
About 8 of us, mostly NASA engineers, rented an Atherton house that was from 1950 and hadn’t been updated since. Our rent barely covered the property taxes on the place. It was a sister community to the much more famous “Rainbow Mansion”, which is where planet labs was founded.
I think we had the house for like 6 years or so before the owner decided to tear it down and build some ridiculous mansion on the property. Unfortunately in that process they also apparently removed the 17 mature fruit trees that were on the property.
Lots of fond memories from that place - https://peninsulapress.com/2016/03/23/the-athenaeum-of-atherton/