The United States is an exceptionally rich nation, particularly when you compare our wealth to that of other nations. Even our poorest individuals make a king’s ransom compared to those born outside our borders.

Want to see how rich you are? Head over to the Global Rich List and input your salary - it’ll show your rank among all of Earth’s citizens. You might be surprised just how lucky we are.

A recent NY Times article, “Men Not Working, and Not Wanting Just Any Job“, talks about a growing subset of 30-55 year-old men who are not returning to work. Most have decided to live off of savings and wait for a job that fits their expectations for salary, benefits, and respect. Some have been waiting for 5 years or more:

“I have come to realize that my free time is worth a lot to me,” he said. To make ends meet, he has tapped the equity in his home through a $30,000 second mortgage, and he is drawing down the family’s savings, at the rate of $7,500 a year. About $60,000 is left. His wife’s income helps them scrape by. “If things really get tight,” Mr. Beggerow said, “I might have to take a low-wage job, but I don’t want to do that.”

Is this the new hippy? Are we experiencing an inverted social pyramid from the 60’s, only this time it’s the parents who are loafing on existing wealth (and hoping that the government will bail them out if things get really tough)?

A little over two months ago I opened an account with Prosper.com. Today I am proud to report that all eleven of my micro-loans have made their first monthly payment on time. This is very good news, given that I have $1,000 on the line (a lot of money to me); if no one defaults I could realize a 13.54% return.

There is still a long way to go, and it is likely that late payments will come later in the loan cycle, but I am encouraged all the same.

Prosper.com allows you to bid on borrowing and lending money to other individuals. It’s like eBay for investing. Borrowers post a request for money to the site (consolidating debt, for instance). The lenders then bid on this loan. Usually the requested loans are satisfied by many small lenders who all bid small amounts, which are then combined to create the full loan. As the borrower pays back the loan each month lender’s accounts are credited with their “share” of the payback.

Technically I’m already “lending money” by having a regular savings account - how do you think we all earn interest each month? The difference is that the bank accepts the risk of borrowers defaulting (and reaps the benefit). With Prosper.com the full risk is on my shoulders, but so is the reward. As long as I spread my loans across many borrowers I should be ok if a few default. Today I get 3-4% return on bank accounts (ING Direct and HSBC), but my return could jump to 7-18% for Prosper.com investments (if a low percentage default).

So I decided to sign up. The process of acquiring an account instilled a bit more confidence in their competancy: they look up my credit score (which is displayed along with all other users), they require a lot of identification information, and they have a list of built-in collection agencies that work on my behalf. Now I just have to wait until my bank account is verified - I’ll keep you guys updated on my success/failure.