Crossing into 7 figures

[d]

Quote:

Your Home Equity Is Part Of Your Net Worth

of course! but if one intends to continue using that asset as their home, it will not put bread on the table, so many would choose to exlude it from their "target".

[MasterBlaster]

If you guys really believe that crossing some magic threshold in your portfolio will suddenly make you happy then you are mistaken.

Maybe your anxiety level will drop as you become financially independent. But just having 7 figures by itself won't change you much at all.

You will still be you.

[Andre1969]

If you guys really believe that crossing some magic threshold in your portfolio will suddenly make you happy then you are mistaken.

I'll get excited about crossing the next threshold, but it's only a temporary rush. I've always realized that. I think my biggest rush so far came around late 2004. I paid off my Intrepid, which freed up $348 per month. And I sold my condo, which put about $80,000 in my pocket, after expenses associated with remodeling and such, and at the same time freed up about $1100 per month.

That didn't make me totally independent, financially. But it did lift a great weight off my shoulders. Now though, it seems so far in the past that it just seems like no big deal.

[d]

Quote:

You will still be you

i'd rather be me with some semblance of financial security, than me without it. there are indeed other things in this world other than money: poverty and misery are two which readily come to mind.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMueller If so, what was your reaction when you realized that you had reached what is, for many, a significant financial milestone?

1. *"Sheesh, these real estate values are really getting out of hand."
2. *Whenever our ER portfolio hits a new high, spouse cries "Sell!" *When the portfolio hits a new high five times in two weeks, I think "Ruh-roh."

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMueller I'm also curious whether you started with a goal of reaching a 7 figure portfolio, then once you had reached it, proceeded to raise the bar a little (for cushion). *

When the markets opened after 9/11 and everyone thronged the exits, we ran our portfolio through Financial Engines. *I'd already set my date for June 2002 but we were wondering if we'd need to seek additional employment. *It turned out that we'd squeak by, and we've never revisited that low number. *Everything since then has been more cushiony...

[tednvon]

Hi...very interesting question...actually the last two weeks saw the old "Yes, Yes......NO!!! for the 7 figures...I think the investing god's did this just to me personally, but that is my paranoia!!!

I guess one of my first thoughts after being raised in a very modest income home and watching my father die with a $3000.00 life insurance policy and nothing else was WOW!, who would have ever thunk it (a mil in my name) 30 years ago...

At this point I am working 60% time in phased retirement and will be done totally in 09 at age 63...great job with lots of flexibility and no stress...even take 3 months off for Florida in the winter.

Every FireCalc I run says OK...And no matter how I pad our budget projections I cannot get over 4300/month. this even includes paying 700/month for health insurance until from age 63 to 65 until Medicare...

So the 1 mil (give or take this month) looks pretty good to me plus SS benefits from spouse and I in 09...
Thanks to this board, I am always 5 years in cash or CD to let the market do it's thing...
So 1 mil to me looks mighty good...I just refuse to worry about horrible what ifs and go with the flow and good ol FireCalc...60K/ including SS before tax in todays dollars will let us live a pretty good life...We consider ourselves very very fortunate to be in this position....so many in our age group are not...

All the best...Ted, *lover of this board!!

[wabmester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMueller what made you finally say, "enough is enough"?

Heh. * There's nothing wrong with raising the bar once you hit a milestone. * That's what life is all about. * *But eventually, you'll hit the tipping point, and you'll know when enough is enough.

I'm not a purist when it comes to ER. * *Earned income isn't anything to be ashamed of. * But I guess the milestone that felt "safe" to me was when my portfolio had the ability to throw off income at the risk-free rate that was >= my salary at the time.

Of course, even that quickly became much less safe in my mind. * *Right around the time I was thinking about getting off the treadmill, the risk-free rate started dropping. * And I realized that I forgot to consider inflation.

A salary is a pretty amazing thing. * *All you need to do is show up for work, and they pay you a nice consistent amount that generally grows faster than inflation. * *Getting that kind of feeling of security from the markets ain't easy.

[grumpy]

I guess I assumed GMueller, in his original post, when referring to a 7 figure "portfolio" was talking about financial assets (not including home equity). The 7 figure portfolio I referred to consists solely of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and cash (equivalents).

Grumpy

[lazygood4nothinbum]

the 7 figures mark will tear my heart and tear my eyes and i will have lost all the security that i have ever known.

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum the 7 figures mark will tear my heart and tear my eyes and i will have lost all the security that i have ever known.

Happy to be of service: when you get to $999,999 have any additional savings forwarded to my account.

[wabmester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum the 7 figures mark will tear my heart and tear my eyes and i will have lost all the security that i have ever known.

Does that mean you're at 8-figures now?

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa Happy to be of service: when you get to $999,999 have any additional savings forwarded to my account.

haven't you guys ever read a short story before i don't think you'll want what's left to send. i thought you were a doctor, not an undertaker.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wab Does that mean you're at 8-figures now?

no, it means i made it to 6 figures on my own. putting mom under the ground puts me over the top.

i swear, poetry is lost on you financial types. no wonder the artist starves.

[justin]

here's a little haiku for you:

maybe we do not
understand your artistry
as much as you do

[MasterBlaster]

Here's a little Poem handed down from generation to generation by the Masters...

Roses are Red
Violets are blue
I have just enough money
that's too bad about you

[justin]

You're a poet,
you just don't know it
and can't show it

[Martha]

The stock market's a risky affair,
You can be rich if you have the flair.
This life is not for me
One must surely agree
That I don't know a bull from a bear.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin here's a little haiku for you: maybe we do not understand your artistry as much as you do

failed to express self
in a vernacular voice
thank god i have cash

[cute fuzzy bunny]

A weird creepy little feeling that someone would call me up at some point and say that some sort of mistake must have been made and they needed to get all that money back. Slipped decimal point or something.

Doesnt help that twice in my life a clerical error has resulted in several hundred million dollars being deposited into my account. Still have both statements in my file for amusement value.

When Digital Equipment Corp first started doing automatic payroll deposit, I was on the forefront of this much distrusted newfangled thing. I really enjoyed it when they deposited the entire company payroll into my bank account.

About 7 years ago I owned some Janus funds with american express, and decided I'd had enough of AMEX screwing up every single transaction I ever did. AMEX continued their fine tradition by transferring all of their janus holdings for every customer into my account.

The fun part is that they both had to ask my permission to get their money back. It was fun for a couple of hours to be a hundredmillionaire.

When AMEX made their screwup, I took the transaction report with me when "the gang" went out for drinks after work. Slapped it on the bar and said "So...you guys think i have enough money to retire?".

I've never seen peoples eyes bug out that far.

[SteveR]

I'm not a poet and I know it.

So, back to the original thread.........

I started out after college at zero. *I was even..no loans no income. *

Next was the car loan....followed by getting married...followed by a house and a mortgage and then the kids and the credit card debt. *

At the time of my divorce we were well over 6 figures in the "hole". *Three years later I was even again and single. *

Ten years later we (new wife and I) hit our 7 figures.

We have been back and forth the 7 figure threshold several times. *The first was total net worth (I know, that is redundant). *The next time was in our combined 401k accounts. *Then it was just in one account alone...then it was in our after tax...then it was in RE values. *It is still moving around but I don't have to worry too much about falling below it anymore. *I am just trying to make it to the next 7 figure threshold. *Long term projections show several of these over the next 30 years. * *

[Yipee-Ki-O]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vagabond . . . I remember and recorded the 1st time I became a millionaire in Feb 00. My excitement later died when my tech stocks began plummeting. It took me over 5 more years of frugal saving to return to that number. For a single guy, it is a nice goal to achieve.*

Vagabond, that's just about my story too. Except* 75% of my portfolio was in the stock of a single company, my blue chip drug company employer. (Is a portfolio really a portfolio with 75% in one company?) I remember thinking at the time that I was pretty smart, invested as I was in a blue chip company as the dot.com meltdown snared many of my friends. If I'd known how much money I was destined to lose I'd be living in a much nicer house! Oh well, just this year have I surpassed my net worth total for the year 2000 prior to the flood. Just as you say, 5+ years of frugal living plus (finally) some well diversified investing. I always heard making the second million was much easier than the first. I found that losing half of the first million was way too easy!
yko