What are very wealthy people spending their money on these days, and
does it cost more to liveextremely well these days than it did 10
years ago.

Hey Brian this one's straight down the line for Ace! He write volumes
on this I bet. Whataa ya reckon?

I'm not a qualified researcher; but I do drink a case and half of
Chardoney every week my excuse is that that thirsty bloodly Ace and
his mates Brian and Pinky (actually Pinky is a chick..........so Ace
reckons) Anway I digress.
Now I'm not exactly filthy rich; but I do have their habbits; which I
picked up on a vist to the States. Met this chick in a bar with Red
Hair. Turned out it was Doberman Guard Dog in DRag.  Anyway where were
we. I'll finish this last glasss.................of ff 
shi.........bam!    zzzzz    zzzzzzz

I put this in as a comment since it does not provide an answer. The
book "Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas Stanley profiles the actual
spending habits of the wealthy in the USA, though in a general sense.
It gives you an accurate picture of the lifestyles of the low-profile
rich. It may help.

Crockokoala2,

I would suspect the rich these days spend their money on:

- Cars
- Boats
- Private Jets
- Their partner
- Their kids
- Houses
- Gold
- Expensive drinks (like Champaign)
- Cigars
- Jewellery
- Designer Clothes
- Moon Territory
- Domain names
- Stock market investments
- Their pets (including horses etc.)
- Technology in general
- Computers
- Holidays
- Home Entertainment (like TV, Hi-Fi)
- Security (Alarm Systems, Protective Personnel)
- Experimental Robots
- Backing-up Political Parties & Politicians
- Aquiring Websites
- Sponsoring Research
- Gambling (like horse races)
- Sports (Golf etc.)
- Tickets to various events
- Bribing People
- Transportation
- Special services (like massages)
- Insurance
- Presents
- Education & Training
- Drugs
- Collecting memorabilia (like historical books, records)
- ... last not least, taxes


I'm unsure as of now how that compares to the spending habits of 10
years ago but will try to track down official surveys and statistical
data on the two questions once my online connection to Google is up
and running again. Hope it helps!

The following statistical data outlines spending habits of Americans
in the category of "urban wage earners" in 1987. I indicated
increase/decrease compared to 1950 with +/- (or blank if no prior data
available), so that you can see the general trend.

MSN Money - American spending habits: how do yours compare?
http://moneycentral.com/articles/banking/basics/1352.asp

Food and alcohol                20% -
Shelter                         20% +
Utilities, fuels, pub. serv.     8% +
Household operations             1% -
Household furnishings            4% -
Apparel and services             5% -
Vehicle expenses                25% +
Public transportation            1% -
Health care                      4% -
Entertainment, reading           6% +
Personal care                    1% -
Education                        1%
Miscellaneous                    4% +

There is a special focus on above page on "How the rich spend it":

"In addition to learning how thrifty you are compared with people in
your income bracket, you can use the data to confirm your suspicions
about the spending habits of America's upper crust. The numbers
validate novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald's observation that "the rich are
different than you or me." Indeed, the statistics indicate that those
at the top of the pyramid spend more for everything: food, home
furnishings, health care, you name it. In 1995, those in the highest
20% income bracket accounted for 40% of the spending."


Also, see this revealing paper:

Spending Patterns of High-income Households [PDF]
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils26.pdf
"These high-income households, on average, spent more than other
households (...) and they allocated their expenditures differently
(...)
High-income households are more apt to be homeowners (...)
High-income households allocatesmaller shares to shelter and
utilities, and moreto other household goods and services (...)
Households with annual incomes of $90,000 or more allocated just over
11 percent of their total expenditures on food and 51 percent of that
on food away from home. The figures for the other households were 14
percent and 37 percent, respectively.
On average, high-income households spent more than twice as much
($12,521) on transportation than did other households ($5,690). (...)
As with transportation, high-income households spent considerably
moreon health care, than did other households."

For more information on this report, you can contact Valerie Vannett
in the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys at (202) 606-6900, or
by Email: mailto:Vannett_V@bls.gov


Now, what about the very, very rich? First, let's determine who they
are:

The Richest People On Earth (CBS News, 2001)
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/stories/2001/06/22/national/main297890.shtml
"1. Gates, William H. III, United States, 45, 58.7, Microsoft
2. Buffett, Warren Edward, United States, 70, 32.3, Berkshire
Hathaway, investments
3. Allen, Paul Gardner, United States, 48, 30.4, Microsoft 
4. Ellison, Lawrence Joseph, United States, 56, 26, Oracle 
5. Albrecht, Theo and Karl, Germany, 25, retail 
6. Alsaud, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Saudi Arabia, 20, investments 
7. Walton, Jim C., United States, 53, 18.8, Wal-Mart 
8. Walton, John T., United States, 55, 18.7, Wal-Mart 
9. Walton, S. Robson, United States, 57, 18.6, Wal-Mart 
10. Walton, Alice L., United States, 52, 18.5, Wal-Mart 
10. Walton, Helen R., United States, 81, 18.5, Wal-Mart"

Let's take the number one, Bill Gates. A search ("bill gates bought"
-"if bill gates bought") reveals:

"Bill Gates bought Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks"
"Bill Gates bought shares of Apple Computer stock"

And some of the others:

"Warren Buffet bought 20% of the world's yearly silver output"
"Warren Buffet bought about $135 million ozs of silver while Bill
Gates bought 10% of a silver mine" [1]
"[Lawrence Joseph] Ellison bought himself a turquoise 1964
Thunderbird"


One final thought:

Luxury Fever
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s121634.htm
"As the middle class try to emulate the spending habits of the rich,
the rich are trying desperately to appear middle class."


Again, I hope it helps. If you find this data satisfactory, despite
the lack of information on changes within the last 10 years, I'll
gladly re-post in the answer spot.


Sources:

[1] CertifiedCoins.com
http://www.certifiedcoins.com/goldsilvereagle/silvereagle.htm


Search terms:
"spending habits" "high income" "survey OR poll OR research"
(...)

I think wealthy people spend (and have always spent) money on services
that makes them more money or prevents them from loosing it, e.g.
insurance, financial advisors, diversified investments, donations
(tax-breaks).  The stupid rich people typically spend their money on
divestments, e.g. luxury cars, boasts, clothes, parties.

Claudietta
Google Researcher

...sorry for the rather strong word "stupid".  I meant to say "less wise."

Claudietta
Google Researcher