Everyone in media is filthy rich (and white?):
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker:
Arthur Holmwood and Count Dracula are filthy rich due to being nobility, the Harkers have a thriving real estate business, Helsing and Seward aren’t particularly rich but do have enough doctor money to throw around for vampiric emergencies, & Quincy Morris is a wildcard but considering he has enough money to travel to Britiain on leasure w/o worrying about his job means hes some kind of wealthy man (that being said i think that the harkers and doctors neglect their professions in order to pursue the count which cant happen if they dont have savings)
They use this money to facilitate bribery, transportation, hiring of professionals, and other miscellaneous expenses.
They also use the appearance of weath and good standing to obfuscate the law by looking as if they belong in places where they are not allowed and to do objectively unhinged things without being questioned.
2. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy:
While we do see people in various stages of abject poverty, it is mostly limited to desert survival where money cannot do much of anything; after they cash in on the first batch of scalps (good fucking grief) they are able to drink to excess and barter and buy to their blackened hearts’ content.
The Judge seems to always be wealthy (even when he is driven into the desert buck naked he has unconscionable amounts of gold to throw around for a hat)
This hardly counts bc money is a purposeful theme but its my list and i have recency bias so
3. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel (not far into this one)
Victorian gentlemen, their friends, and their servants who buy things for them, ect ect
(So far) Moneys not a problem for anyone important
Race plays a role in this so thats good/ cool
Money is not an issue for the protagonist because her family is well off, her husband’s family is noble, and she manages to either make a friend or join an organization that will eliminate the problems of subsistence
(Her husband/friends are usually people who hold positions of power aswell)
Piranesi himself faces difficulty surviving, but the other brings him commodities and the prophet (i think thats what hes called?) had quite a bit of money and power in his prime
6. Night circus (not far into this one)
Victorian gentleman again (maybe doesnt count)
The girl one works for a living since her horrible evil father apparently hasnt saved anything in his 200 years of thriving business
The boy one is given money for whatever as long as he reads and shit idk
I can cite a couple other examples in various media but overall i think its a trend for characters to be made filthy rich so that they can deal with “more interesting” problems without interference. Either that or classism. I know that poverty is incredibly limiting and in a narrative would cause a lot of very difficult blockades. It is however kind of annoying that everyone in the books i read is rich or has a rich friend or benefactor or something.
Also everyone is either white or so unaffected by their appearance/background that it doesnt matter (i dont expect anyone to write about things that make them uncomfortable & i dont object to poc that dont have to face racism but i feel like nobody ever acknowledges it in media)
