Spending money or having money? Judging people’s wealth from their spending habits

People spend money on things that are conspicuous, or highly visible to others, to project wealth. But we shouldn’t assume people are wealthy based on their spending habits. Some people prefer to save most of their income; others spend more than would be financially advisable. Heather Kappes warns us that when we infer people’s wealth by what we see them consume we tend to spend more, leaving us more financially vulnerable in case of emergencies.