Poll:Have $5 million invested assets?

[Ronstar]

No, I still do not have $5M, not even as net worth if I include my 2 homes.

+1. I doubt I will get there. I tend to gear my spending a little below my net worth increase level.

 

[RockyMtn]

I'm shocked that, so far, 35% DO have $5MM+ in investable assets. I think of this as a board of people who dislike work and want to leave as soon as possible. If that's the case why would anyone work long enough to amass even $2MM? I will never reach $1MM and that's fine by me.

I don't agree that this is a board of people that dislike work. I think it is a board of people who actually like work, worked very hard and reached FI at a variety of ages. In my case I liked my work for years....then I didn't and that's when I FIRE'd.

 

[NW-Bound]

+1. I doubt I will get there. I tend to gear my spending a little below my net worth increase level.

... meaning you'd rather spend the increase than let it stack up? Nothing wrong with that.

I often thought I should spend more now, rather than later. However, I cannot spend just for the act of spending. If I do not get any pleasure out of it, then it feels like throwing away money and I just cannot do it. Examples include bigger homes, fast cars, or fancy restaurant meals more than once per month.

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't agree that this is a board of people that dislike work. I think it is a board of people who actually like work, worked very hard and reached FI at a variety of ages. In my case I liked my work for years....then I didn't and that's when I FIRE'd.

+1

Because I loved my work, I was very good at what I did. At the risk of sounding like a braggart, as an expert in my field, my pay at the last more-or-less-full-time job I did in 2003 was still more than 2.5x the median of the pay in this field today, as I just looked up on the Web. If one considers only experts in my field, then perhaps my salary would not be so high, but the area is narrow enough that there's no statistics that I could find.

I still have people asking me to help, but I have been feeling my time is running out, and I need to move to the next phase in life.

I have been telling my son, who is a mechanical engineer, to have a passion in his work. If one has to work for a living, not liking his job makes it a living hell. Surely, one can hate his work environment. Just find another company where you fit in better.

 

[Spanky]

I have a long way to reach $5M as my portfolio is very conservative. I have no desire to reach that amount anyway.

 

[ratto]

I think I will have a sleepless night.

 

[RunningBum]

I'm shocked that, so far, 35% DO have $5MM+ in investable assets. I think of this as a board of people who dislike work and want to leave as soon as possible. If that's the case why would anyone work long enough to amass even $2MM? I will never reach $1MM and that's fine by me.

I think of this as a board of people who for various reasons want to (or were forced to) retire early, and discuss issues related to this. Some want to retire as early as possible, and some will continue to work until they can live in more luxury or with a huge buffer.

 

[RunningBum]

I think I will have a sleepless night.

Why? A higher number of people than you expected above $5M? That doesn't change your situation.

 

[Shanky]

If I let it reach $5 Million, I have failed.

 

[NW-Bound]

I think of this as a board of people who for various reasons want to (or were forced to) retire early, and discuss issues related to this...

There are also many people here who want to be FI. And once you are FI, you may decide to RE. FI should be first!

Of course if your lifestyle is like most people, it does not take $5MM. Perhaps $1MM is enough, or even less than that if one lives simply as some resourceful members here have demonstrated.

On the Web, I have read plenty of bloggers who wanted to RE or semi-RE before FI. They seemed to have fun until some minor extra expenses occurred, then misery galore!

Earlier, I suggested that one should change job if one is unhappy with the work environment. I then realized that it might not be so easy.

Another thing to look into is to have your own business, or partner with like-minded colleagues for a venture. The latter I did, twice. If you do, I hope you have a better business sense than I did. I considered myself lucky to escape with no financial harm, other than working for a few years for no pay. Good thing my later well-paid consulting job and free-lance work, even if mostly part-time, helped me get recovered.

Money, money, money... One does not need a whole lot, but it still often takes a lot more than people realize. Our LBYM philosophy saves us. YMMV.

 

[pb4uski]

I don't agree that this is a board of people that dislike work. I think it is a board of people who actually like work, worked very hard and reached FI at a variety of ages. In my case I liked my work for years....then I didn't and that's when I FIRE'd.

+1 In my case it wasn't so much that I got to a point where I didn't like work but I got to a point where work intruded on my leisure time more then I liked and I decided that I wanted leisure time more than I wanted to increase my kid's inheritance.

 

[wanaberetiree]

+1

 

[bondi688]

Some posters expressed amazement that there are posters who had ERed with notable amount of assets. That just shows there are still ways of generating income and increasing the net worth (if one chose to) after ER. and people do not have to settle for suffering fools, backstabbers and sharks at a salaried life.

 

[haha]

I just want you all to know that I am proud to be associated with such a successful group of people. It's a privilege to share this forum. Now don't kick me out because I am not in this $5mm+ class. Money is not the main goal in life, but certainly one is no slug if s/he has $5million.

Well done!

Ha

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by ERD50 View Post
Holy Cow! If my 401K isn't an 'investable asset', I'm screwed! ...

Sorry, you're on your own.

"Investable assets" seems to be a term used by the financial industry to describe an investor's assets that a financial advisor can take under management immediately. ...

It's going from bad to worse!

I don't plan on letting any financial advisor get to any of my money - so I guess my 'investable assets' are zero!

We really get in trouble with definitions around here, don't we? Especially with polls.

-ERD50

 

[haha]

We really get in trouble with definitions around here, don't we? Especially with polls.

-ERD50

Well, some of us do. But the finance industry didn't invent the term. It's pretty simple, your Ferrari Dino is you hope a chick magnet, but ordinarily it is not an invested asset. Your stocks and bonds and mutual funds and ETFs and commodity deposits and rental real estate and IMO that well chosen industrial lot you are holding are all invested assets. Speculative real estate is not less an investment asset than a stock that pays no dividend. In both cases, the only value is what you hope to realize at some future date.

I started by saying "invested assets". Then I thought, somebody will want to quibble about whether his cash balances or some bucket or idiosyncratic category that he maintains are really "invested assets", or perhaps only assets waiting to be invested. So I added "investable" to forestall this particular snag. But, as you say, too simple.

Ha

 

[luckydude]

For those who have $5+ million in investible assets, I would love to see a poll showing the breakdown of the sources of their wealth. I can think of some legitimate categories:

-Inheritance
-Lottery
-Salary or bonus from employment (senior mgmt, sales)
-Sale of business/dividend from one's own business
-Stock options/IPO
-Divorce settlement
-Judgment from a lawsuit
-Others?

I think that in general, it is virtually impossible for an average Joe to accumulate this kind of wealth without some combinations of the above.

luckydude

 

[NW-Bound]

"Investable assets" seems to be a term used by the financial industry to describe an investor's assets that a financial advisor can take under management immediately. Therefore IRAs are investable assets but not 401Ks or real estate as they can't make a commission off of those assets.

But, but, but the hapless retiree can be sweet-talked to roll out his/her 401k into an IRA, then the proceed used to buy annuities, illiquid REITs, etc... Mucho commissions and fees ensue. Heh heh heh...

I then thought about my Golden Eagle gold coins and a few other valuables that I have. Are they 'investables'?

Well, as these did not even add up to 1% of networth, let alone push me over the $5MM mark, my earlier vote was still valid. Heh heh heh...

 

[FIREd]

For those who have $5+ million in investible assets, I would love to see a poll showing the breakdown of the sources of their wealth. I can think of some legitimate categories:

-Inheritance
-Lottery
-Salary or bonus from employment (senior mgmt, sales)
-Sale of business/dividend from one's own business
-Stock options/IPO
-Divorce settlement
-Judgment from a lawsuit
-Others?

I think that in general, it is virtually impossible for an average Joe to accumulate this kind of wealth without some combinations of the above.

luckydude

Feel free to create a new poll.

 

[Cooked]

If I let it reach $5 Million, I have failed.

+1 I respect the people who have accumulated more, but enough is enough. I want to try a volunteer gig for a while.

 

[obgyn65]

My view also.

+1 I respect the people who have accumulated more, but enough is enough. I want to try a volunteer gig for a while.

 

[Alan]

I'm shocked that, so far, 35% DO have $5MM+ in investable assets.

Many people, including myself, often don't see poll questions on threads, as the poll options don't always appear when you open a thread.

I've included the word "Poll:" at the start of the thread title. This is also useful when doing searches for past polls.

PS
I see that the % is already down to <15%

 

[donheff]

I would disagree on not counting a vacation home. Unless you view it's use as central to your retirement (as you would a primary residence) it is simply a slightly less liquid asset than stocks or bonds. Fairly valued it represents funds that can be made available to pay expenses. I view mine as an escape hatch asset if things go seriously south. Sell it and invest the proceeds in accordance with my AA and eliminate the substantial maintenance expenses to boot.

 

[jon-nyc]

For those who have $5+ million in investible assets, I would love to see a poll showing the breakdown of the sources of their wealth. I can think of some legitimate categories:

-Inheritance
-Lottery
-Salary or bonus from employment (senior mgmt, sales)
-Sale of business/dividend from one's own business
-Stock options/IPO
-Divorce settlement
-Judgment from a lawsuit
-Others?

I think that in general, it is virtually impossible for an average Joe to accumulate this kind of wealth without some combinations of the above.

luckydude

That's a pretty comprehensive list. It's hard to accumulate 25k without some combination of those.

 

[jerome len]

today, just under 14% of everyone answering this poll have over 5M....impressive since only about 1% of everyone has that amount. So, people answering this poll arent average. I have friends and family, some with much less, some with much more. In my opinion this happens for two reasons. 1. The career you chose or the business you owned. 2. how much you lived below or above your annual income. I knew one individual that owned a busiess, made over 1 million each year and died broke....he always spent a little more than he earned. I know another individual that was a janitor and college educated three successful kids, owned a small home, died late in life and left a couple hundred thousand dollars to his church. And....I'll bet my janitor friend was happier and had more friends than the broke millionaire at his funeral.

Me? I've been fairly successful, always lived under my means, had a blue collar Dad, saved my money, educated my kids and won't die broke. I love pizza, mexican food, shop at sales and splurge only when we really want to. I'm really lucky!!!!! most on this post are......so I think our common goal should be to have enough, live within our means and enjoy life!!!!! And.....I'm off on a vacation trip.....good day to all.