What Does Being a Millionaire Really Mean?

[kcowan]

Saw an interview with Branson at his island in the Caribbean. In the interview, he mentioned that he reached his first Billion back in the mid-80s "when a Billion really meant something."

I think that pretty well sums it up. What it means depends on your perspective.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

being a millionaire means i have more than i need.

[Mach]

Being a millionaire means...

A lot less now than it use to. The inflation calc shows that best. 3-5M feels more like millionaire in terms of how you can live your life. 1-1.5M seems to get you out of work, but still in a middle-class lifestyle. Seems like "millionaire" should both get you free + some luxury.
Net worth would be the measure to use I'd assume.

But really, Master Blaster's description struck a chord with me. *wiping tears from eyes*

-Mach

[kaudrey]

However you define it, I'm not there yet either. Hope to be in the next two years, though!

[dessert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoffrey What does being a millionaire really mean? Hmmm. Not much – it’s just a number. I thought 7 figures had some magical significance until I reached that plateau a couple of years ago and realized that nothing in my life had changed – I still live in the same house, I still drive the same care, I am still married to the same person, I still socialize with the same people, and I am still working and saving for retirement.

My sentiments exactly! I couldn't have said it better. That's me!

[Salaryman]

Geoffrey hit it on the head previously....it's just an arbitrary number, that's all.
We have a number of friends that have made an enormous amount of money in their businesses but our friendship remained due to the fact that they did not let the money thing warp their lives and their world.
If you think you're well-off, there's always someone better-off than you and someone worse-off as well.
As they say, ya gotta keep it REAL.

[Enuff2Eat]

million dollars = a little closer to RE

[Tadpole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521 dex and medit8, Look at the numbers again carefully. I think the first one is taking $1M in 1955 dollars and inflating it forward to 2006, the second one is taking $1M in 2006 dollars and "un-inflating" it backward to 1955. 2Cor521

Yes, and more specifically, these numbers would seem to refer to the bucket of goods used to compute inflation over the years. It is questionable to me, though, that the inflation calculation gives an equivalence in perceived "wealth" since "wealth" seems to be defined by keeping up with increasingly more affluent life styles. Also, this period of time included some very high inflation years that may or may not occur again.

[Bikerdude]

Having a million dollars is better than not having a million dollars.

[Khan]

"Having more money does not insure happiness; people with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars"
-Hobart Brown

[MasterBlaster]

John D. Rockefeller - "It is wrong to assume that men of immense wealth are always happy"

[Bikerdude]

Let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich.
Samuel Johnson

[Webzter]

Show me the money! -Jerry Maguire

[ScottFromUtah]

"A Gallup survey asked people who made $10,000 a year, 'Who is wealthy and happy?' Their response was, 'That’s simple—people making $50,000 a year.' So Gallup went to folks making $50,000 and asked the same question. Their response was, 'People making $100,000.' For people making $200,000, the sense of who is wealthy and happy was a couple of million dollars. We tend to push the bar above and beyond where we are, no matter where we are..." --Dan Baker, Ph.D.

[audreyh1]

IMO having a million dollars does mean quite a lot. It might not be quite enough for retiring or complete financial independence. But it DOES bring a much greater degree of financial independence. It is a WHALE of a cushion. If you lose your job, you're not devastated - you have time and the flexibility to regroup and choose your future wisely. Even knowing you have that cushion can give you more of a feeling of freedom in your job and less a victim of the whims of others. If you are hit with a major illness, you have the wherewithal to get through it. You might not be able to retire, but you can weather life storms much more easily - much more on you own terms than someone elses's.

That is worth a lot!

Audrey

[loosechickens]

Well, we're there, and a bit more, in liquid assets. Nothing much has changed. All it means is that there is more than enough. We don't spend all the income. We don't have to worry about money or if the truck needs repairs, etc. We can look forward to our fall in Europe without really worrying about how the dollar is doing against the Euro.

I don't know that we'd do much different if we had ten times as much or ten times less. Most of the things we really enjoy doing (with the exception of the Europe trip, of course), don't cost much money to begin with. When you go off on a hike, who cares whether you've got $100,000 or $1,000,000 or $10,000,000 in the bank? Your feet get just as tired.....

It's nice to have it. It's more than enough. But it's not nearly the big thing people think it is. It's just pleasant.....but it was pleasant when we didn't have much, as well. Who knows?

I do find it surprising that all the websites and many here think that a million in liquid assets is hardly enough to keep body and soul together. Must be discouraging to all the folks we've met who have retired on much less....heck, they thought they were enjoying life all this time. I feel kind of sorry for people who think that a million dollars is not enough for them when there are so many to whom it would be excessive in the extreme.

Funny thing...sometimes I think that the less you care about money, the more it finds you. Sure has been true in our case. We were saving by nature, and frugal in our tastes, and the Universe has insisted on showering us with money despite (or maybe because) of that. Who knows?

LooseChickens

[MJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan "Having more money does not insure happiness; people with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars" -Hobart Brown

But I suspect, they might be happier than someone with only one dollar in his/her pocket.

Besides with a lot of extra money you can do some good through donations and that might make you even happier.

MJ

[me_no_boss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan "Having more money does not insure happiness; people with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars" -Hobart Brown

" I am no happier today with $45M than I was with only $39M." - Governator Arnold, tongue in cheek.

I probably mangled the quote, but you get the idea.

Not to start a flame war, but something Kiosaki said last night on CNBC Millionaire Inspired resounded with me.
"Security and independence are opposites..."
The quest for maximum (financial) security could parallel a prison sentence if your job is ruining your life.

[FinanceGeek]

I am as excited about the possibility of being rich as the next fellow, but I do like to remind people that the richest man who ever lived died a miserable death of malnutrition...Howard Hughes...

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by me_no_boss ..."Security and independence are opposites..." The quest for maximum (financial) security could parallel a prison sentence if your job is ruining your life.

And then their is this:
In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich - New York Times
For example:

Quote:

"People around here, if they have 2 or 3 million dollars, they don’t feel secure,” said David W. Hettig, an estate planner based in Menlo Park who has advised Silicon Valley’s wealthy for two decades.