Rodeo Drive is built for the image of wealth, with luxury storefronts, expensive cars, polished sidewalks, and visitors who often look like they belong inside a high-end ad campaign. But when finance commentator George Kamel went to Beverly Hills to ask people whether they were actually rich, the answers were less about designer bags and more about debt, savings, lifestyle, and how people define success.
In a recent video, Kamel said he wanted to find out who was truly wealthy and who was simply good at looking the part. His question sounded simple – “Are you rich?” – but as the conversations showed, almost everyone had a different way of answering it.
Some people talked about health and spirit. Others talked about income, investing, debt, or the freedom to enjoy life without worrying too much about every purchase.
The Fitness Instructor Who Said Health Is Wealth
Kamel’s first interview began with a fitness instructor who answered that she was “very” rich, but not in the way many people might expect on Rodeo Drive.
She told Kamel that she tells her class every day that “health is wealth,” adding that being healthy is the real kind of richness people should value. Kamel asked what she did for a living, and she explained that she teaches yoga sculpt, yoga, and strength fitness.
The conversation quickly turned playful as Kamel joked about hot yoga and why there was no cold yoga, but the more revealing moment came when he asked her about debt.
The fitness instructor told him that “everyone” has debt. Kamel pushed back, saying he did not have any, and she appeared surprised, especially when he said he did not even own a credit card.
She argued that credit is how people buy things and build financial access, while Kamel countered that the point of credit often becomes getting more debt. She then explained that, in her view, rich people use debt and credit to get more things, but debt becomes a problem when someone is “underneath it” instead of on top of it.
That exchange captured one of the major themes of the video. In Beverly Hills, debt can easily look like wealth from the outside, especially when it is tied to cars, clothes, or lifestyle, but Kamel kept trying to separate the appearance of financial strength from the actual numbers behind it.
The woman then told Kamel she had student loan debt, but said she was waiting for “the right president” to forgive it. When Kamel asked what degree she received, she said she did not finish school, and the balance was about $20,000.
She also said she had a Tesla lease, which Kamel explained still functions like debt because she is locked into payments. The woman described the car as useful because it “drives itself,” especially for what she called “car concerts,” where she could sing along with music while the car handled more of the driving.
A Young Business Owner With No Debt
The next interview shifted the tone completely.
Kamel spoke with a 23-year-old man who said he did not consider himself rich yet, but was “rich in spirit” and aiming high. When asked what would make him feel rich, he said six figures a month, because six figures a year would not match the lifestyle he wanted.
At first, that answer sounded like the usual Beverly Hills ambition, but his financial habits told a more grounded story.
The man said he had money in the S&P 500, Tesla, a high-yield savings account with Capital One, and a Roth IRA. He told Kamel he had been investing for about three or four years, meaning he began around age 19 or 20.
When Kamel asked who taught him, the young man credited research and social media, saying people can learn a lot if they train their algorithm toward useful information instead of “brain rot.”
He also said he had no debt, which Kamel praised as impressive for someone his age. The man explained that being debt-free helped him run his business with less stress because the money he earned could stay in his pocket instead of going toward payments.
He lived in West Hollywood and said his one-bedroom apartment cost about $3,500 a month, choosing a nicer place with better amenities. Even with that high rent, his answers showed a clear financial structure: investing early, avoiding debt, and focusing on building a business.
This was one of the more interesting moments in the video because the young man did not define wealth as simply having the most expensive things on the street. He connected it to freedom, peace, and setting his family up for success, which is a far more stable definition than chasing whatever looks expensive today.
The Audi Driver Who Saw The Cost Of Looking Successful
Kamel then spoke with another 23-year-old man who said he was not rich yet but hoped to become rich in the future. He defined rich as having at least six figures in savings and another six figures in investments, with an income of around $200,000 or more.
Unlike the previous young entrepreneur, this man admitted he had debt, including credit cards and a car loan. He estimated that he owed about $35,000 on his Audi S5 and another $10,000 on credit cards, putting his total debt around $45,000.
When Kamel asked whether he bought the car partly to play the role, the man gave a surprisingly honest answer. He said he had been making good money the previous year through a coaching business and bartending, at one point averaging over six figures, but his income dropped after the coaching business took a hit.
He said he had fallen in love, lost track of his goals, and spent more freely to impress his girlfriend. He described the Audi as a gift to himself for what he had accomplished, but also admitted that if he got laid off or his income shifted, the $610 monthly payment would become a problem.
The man said he only had about $6,000 to $7,000 in savings, which Kamel noted could disappear quickly if his income dropped. He also said he had some money in stocks such as Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, but was focused on getting out of debt before investing more.
This part of the video was useful because it showed how quickly a high-income season can turn into a long-term payment. The car may still look successful, but the payment remains even after the business slows down or the lifestyle changes.
The Difference Between Investing And Gambling
The Audi driver also told Kamel that he wanted to get into trading, including day trading or swing trading. He explained that it involves buying contracts and betting on whether a price will rise or fall, with the possibility of larger returns because of higher risk.
Kamel asked what made that different from gambling, and the young man admitted there might not be much difference, joking that “swing trader” simply sounds better than “gambling addict.”
He also revealed that he had tried day trading about three years earlier and “blew all” his money. Kamel compared the idea of trying again through swing trading to touching a hot stove and then deciding to touch a slightly less hot stove.
Kamel then used the man’s car payment to show the cost of that choice over time. He calculated what would happen if the man invested about $615 a month from age 23 to 60 in a diversified stock market fund with a long-term assumed return of 10%.
The result was about $2.86 million.
The number seemed to land with the young man, who said it sounded nice and admitted the conversation made him think differently about his money. Kamel pointed out that the Audi would likely be worth far less years later, while the invested money could become the kind of wealth that would let him buy cars in cash later.
It was one of the clearest teaching moments in the video. Kamel was not only saying the car was expensive; he was showing the opportunity cost of the payment.
Two Canadian Cyclists Defined Wealth Differently
Kamel also spoke with two men from Quebec, Canada, named Ultan and Adam, who were in Beverly Hills for cycling training. One had raced professionally and now worked in bicycle design, while the other worked in marketing and product management for a consulting company that serves bike brands.
When Kamel asked whether they were rich, the answers were more measured. One said no, while the other said “potentially,” depending on how rich is defined.
One of them described wealth as a way of life, meaning he could live comfortably, travel, go out to dinner, buy fun things, and not worry too much about spending. He said that in Canada, someone making around $60,000 to $70,000 could live quite comfortably depending on the situation.
Both men said they had no consumer debt, though one had a mortgage. They credited family support, lower school costs in Canada, and smart choices for helping them start adulthood without major debt.
Their spending plans on Rodeo Drive were modest. They said they were likely only buying food, coffee, or snacks rather than luxury items.
That interview stood out because the two men were surrounded by one of the most famous shopping streets in the world, yet their definition of wealth had little to do with buying something there. They talked about comfort, career progress, lifestyle, and eventual retirement, which sounded much closer to real wealth than the pressure to prove something through a purchase.
Kamel’s Bigger Point About Wealth
At the end of the video, Kamel said most people do not consider themselves rich, no matter how much they may already have, because the goalpost keeps moving. There is always another income level, another car, another nicer apartment, or another person nearby who appears to be doing better.
But the people who seemed most secure in the interviews, Kamel noted, tended to have no consumer debt, a lifestyle they could afford, and a focus on their own goals instead of constant comparison.
That was the quiet lesson from Rodeo Drive. Wealth was not always where the luxury stores suggested it would be.
Some people looked the part while carrying payments, leases, or debt. Others were simply walking around, buying coffee, investing early, living below their means, and building something less flashy but more durable.
Kamel’s takeaway was that real wealth is easier to build when people stay focused on their own goals and stop chasing the appearance of having “made it.” On a street designed to sell status, that may have been the most valuable answer he found.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, John developed a love for the great outdoors early on. With years of experience as a wilderness guide, he’s navigated rugged terrains and unpredictable weather patterns. John is also an avid hunter and fisherman who believes in sustainable living. His focus on practical survival skills, from building shelters to purifying water, reflects his passion for preparedness. When he’s not out in the wild, you can find him sharing his knowledge through writing, hoping to inspire others to embrace self-reliance.
