Here’s How a Middle-Class Can Afford a Yacht and Other Things Billionaires Own
Written by
Gina Hagler
Edited by
Maria Concepcion
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When you think of owning a yacht, you probably assume such a luxury is reserved for billionaires. However, there are ways that a middle-class individual can afford something like a yacht, not to mention a bevy of other luxury goods.
First things first, ‘yacht’ is actually a broad term. The largest, most expensive options are called megayachts, but plenty of other smaller options don’t rise to that level of cost. There are quite a few types of yacht classifications based on the purpose, including sailing, explorer/expedition, sports, sport fishers or cruisers. When it comes to thinking about them in terms of cost, the size is generally the primary consideration. You’ll sometimes find these terms merged or used interchangeably, but generally, there are mega yachts, superyachts, large yachts, mid-size yachts and small yachts.
The largest yachts reach lengths over 50 meters and carry a price tag of as much as $600 million, give or take. So, what should you consider that’s not a superyacht?
The smallest ones sport less ostentatious designs and a lack of space for a jacuzzi but can get as low as $500,000 — certainly not cheap, but much more obtainable when speaking relatively. You’ll still benefit from day cruises on the open ocean. Selecting an older, used model is the best way to keep that price as low as possible. For example, there’s the Ciao Bella 2006 Sunseeker. It’s roughly 15 meters long, sports three cabins and goes for $500,000.
The same principle applies to affording other ‘billionaire items’ where you’ll scale things down without losing the spirit of whatever you’re looking for. Take household staff, for instance, where the image that comes to mind is a massive mansion with a team of maids, cooks, gardeners and more. That’s probably out of range of the average middle-class person. Scale it down to perhaps one staff member, a butler or a housekeeper and you’ll pay around $40,000-$100,000 rather than close to $1 million or more. While most middle-class households don’t have a butler or housekeeper, this is far more doable than having an entire staff.Â
Billionaires also buy things like expensive paintings or islands. Oracle founder Larry Ellison purchased a 90,000-acre Hawaiian island for $300 million. Suddenly, a 1-acre island for $500,000 seems much less impossible. Keep applying this idea of scaling things down to fit your lifestyle, do all you can to perfect your credit rating and available credit, consider pooling resources or renting your asset out from time to time, and you’ll find yourself able to afford things you never could.
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