Are you a millionaire? Really?

[ziggy29]

The definition of "millionaire" is relatively fixed. The practical measure of wealth it represents, of course, is watered down over time with inflation. It used to symbolize an amount of wealth that represented absolute financial independence and then some -- not so much any more. I think you have to get over $5M, maybe closer to $10M, to get there today.

Quicken first told me of hitting $1M around 2011 (70% of which was in retirement accounts) and it's almost $1.3M now. That said, it's still a considerable and blessed nest egg, but now it merely means a nice cushion and supplementary retirement income. It doesn't mean mansions and butlers and maids and vacation homes any more. We certainly don't have a Mr. Carson or a Mrs. Hughes around here....

 

[aim-high]

The quality of life of a middle / upper middle-class individual today was probably better than Rockefeller's. imo

 

[ziggy29]

The quality of life of a middle / upper middle-class individual today was probably better than Rockefeller's. imo

In terms of technology and medicine, for sure.

 

[Music Lover]

In terms of technology and medicine, for sure.

Technology covers a lot of things: transportation, clothing, food availability, housing, heating and cooling, refrigeration, electricity, etc...

 

[UpAnchor]

The quality of life of a middle / upper middle-class individual today was probably better than Rockefeller's. imo

Or even solidly upper-class in some respects. On a recent hot/humid summer day, DD and I toured an historic 39-room mansion. While we enjoyed the tour from an educational standpoint, we couldn't wait to get back to her working-class 2BR apartment with window air-conditioner...

 

[marko]

I choose to look at through a different prism, $1m today would be equal to having about $35,000 dollars using the same rate of inflation in 1900. The average wage in 1900 was $449.80 annually. 4% of $35,000 is $1400.

WADR to Braumeister, I think this is a better way to look at it.

 

[6miths]

The very wealthy had a cook to make them whatever they wanted - they only had to ring a bell.

Whatever they wanted? Well as long as it was local, in season, hadn't spoiled...

 

[marko]

Whatever they wanted? Well as long as it was local, in season, hadn't spoiled...

...and they didn't die from TB, pneumonia, polio, flu or half a dozen other 'minor' infections that we don't even think about today.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

When the will of a long, long dead relative finally surfaces, I sure hope my $1MM cash inheritance was stored in the form of gold coins rather than paper bills.

 

[6miths]

Hey those Confederate notes in mint condition will be worth a real fortune!

 

[NW-Bound]

So, I am far, very far, from the millionaire class as first defined in 1719. But who cares? I bet the millionaires back then were miserable from the summer heat, not having cool AC like I do now.

Nope, not in that class for sure.

No yacht, no helipad, no helicopters. No maid, no butler, no driver either. No mansion, no gardeners, no wife, no children, just a dog.

I really suck.

My cat died a year ago, and I am in need of much kitty love. Other than that, I still have my loving wife of 36 years (40 years knowing her), two self-supporting children who buy me gifts (consumables like booze) for my birthday.

I have no maid, not even house cleaning service, but I do not like people cleaning after me. I enjoy cooking for myself, when I want to eat something my wife does not know how to make. Life is great as is. If I have more money, I am sure I will find a way to waste it, but it would only bring up my happiness level an iota. No yacht, but I have a class C motorhome that has let me stop and sleep by the side of the road before. That counts for something, right?

By the way, the sumac-marinated chicken smelled heavenly when I roasted it last night. I was hungry, and the aroma drove me crazy.

 

[cranberryjoe]

I have enough money that I could buy a mansion, a yacht, a Rolls Royce, hire a butler and a maid, and all the other things millionaires are supposed to have. But then I would have to go back to work! No thanks.

 

[Sunset]

... No yacht, but I have a class C motorhome that has let me stop and sleep by the side of the road before. That counts for something, right?
......

Don't you call that a land yacht

 

[RISP]

The very wealthy had a cook to make them whatever they wanted - they only had to ring a bell.

If you believe this source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza), there was no pizza at all in the U.S. until the late 19th century!

 

[scrabbler1]

I haven't worked for the last 10 years and I'll never have to w*rk again. That's enough for me.

I've been ERed for nearly 8 years and never have to work again, either. I can too!

 

[Texas Proud]

Most people in the 1900's didn't live past 50, either. Not much of a glide path needed back then.....

Actually, if you lived into adulthood most people did live past their 50s... it was dying young that reduced expected life span back then...

My mom did genealogy and you could easily see it... most families she has records from had kids that died young... but almost all of them lived into their 70s if they made it to 40....

 

[FIREmenow]

Actually, if you lived into adulthood most people did live past their 50s... it was dying young that reduced expected life span back then...

My mom did genealogy and you could easily see it... most families she has records from had kids that died young... but almost all of them lived into their 70s if they made it to 40....

Interesting!

So much for trusting what is on the "interwebs"..... I thought everything I read on there was true!

 

[Danmar]

Agree that in historical terms we live in a truly wonderful time. At least if you were born in a developed country, with the right ethnic/racial background, fairly intelligent, worked hard, saved a bit, etc. I think a significant proportion of the human race don't have it that much better than 100 years ago. We are very lucky.

 

[2017ish]

Agree that in historical terms we live in a truly wonderful time. At least if you were born in a developed country, with the right ethnic/racial background, fairly intelligent, worked hard, saved a bit, etc. I think a significant proportion of the human race don't have it that much better than 100 years ago. We are very lucky.

Actually, most people are doing substantially better--albeit nowhere near as well as those of us who were lucky enough to be born in US/Canada, etc. For example, from an October 2015 BBC article:

The World Bank has said that for the first time less than 10% of the world's population will be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2015.

The bank said it was using a new income figure of $1.90 per day to define extreme poverty, up from $1.25.

It forecasts that the proportion of the world's population in this category will fall from 12.8% in 2012 to 9.6%.

World Bank: Extreme poverty 'to fall below 10%' - BBC News Humanprogress.org has a wealth of data on this topic. Didn't link to that though since it is affiliated with Cato Institute, which raises concerns for some.

 

[FIREmenow]

Don't know if y'all have seen this, or if it is in any way directly related to this thread, but I think it is a really cool presentation/visualization:

 

[audreyh1]

The very wealthy had a cook to make them whatever they wanted - they only had to ring a bell. OK it would take like Niger than a few minutes.

The rest - well - not a chance!

I'm sure I meant to type:

OK it would take like more than a few minutes.

in that last sentence. Who knows what happens, but I am often victim to extreme over-autocorrection.

 

[Danmar]

Actually, most people are doing substantially better--albeit nowhere near as well as those of us who were lucky enough to be born in US/Canada, etc. For example, from an October 2015 BBC article:



World Bank: Extreme poverty 'to fall below 10%' - BBC News Humanprogress.org has a wealth of data on this topic. Didn't link to that though since it is affiliated with Cato Institute, which raises concerns for some.

Interesting. Thanks for setting me straight. With all the bad news we see around the world, it is easy to forget that things are actually improving.

 

[W2R]

I'm sure I meant to type:

OK it would take like more than a few minutes.

in that last sentence. Who knows what happens, but I am often victim to extreme over-autocorrection.

Thank you! I puzzled over that for a while, wondering what it meant. Didn't think about auto-correct for some reason.

 

[Totoro]

Another favorite of mine (and Hans Rosling), child mortality:

https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality/#child-mortality-globally-post-1950

Dropping and keeps dropping everywhere. Still a long way to go for some places.

 

[NW-Bound]

Don't you call that a land yacht

I would not call my humble class C a land yacht. It's comfortable for me, but has nothing that one would call fancy.

Agree that in historical terms we live in a truly wonderful time. At least if you were born in a developed country, with the right ethnic/racial background, fairly intelligent, worked hard, saved a bit, etc. I think a significant proportion of the human race don't have it that much better than 100 years ago. We are very lucky.

In looking at photos of people around the world, I cannot help noticing that people of 3rd world countries are getting, er, rounder than they used to be 30 to 40 years ago. Perhaps they eat too much carb, but that beats being skinny and hungry all the time.

Another favorite of mine (and Hans Rosling), child mortality:

https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality/#child-mortality-globally-post-1950

Dropping and keeps dropping everywhere. Still a long way to go for some places.

I recently read somewhere a French peasant in the Dark Ages could hardly hope to get beyond his twenties. Even among the elite, to be able to make it to the 60s required a lot of luck that one escaped all infectious diseases. Even as recent as the beginning of WWII, penicillin was so expensive and precious that it was recycled from patients' urine for reuse!

So, for people who complain, they should stop, and start to smell the roses. And also their sumac roasted chicken. What, they do not have sumac chicken? Golly, they'd better learn to make some. It does not cost anything.