What would you do if your assets grew to 8 figures?

audreyh1 said:
Dealing with hired help seems like it often turns out to be a royal pain.
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And a slight risk to personal security. I feel like wealth is pointless unprotected. Letting more and more strangers into this realm increases risk.

Right now 7 seems so far away, but I know 8 is doable in my life. Will likely take me another 40-50 years at which point that same 8 figures won't go nearly as far.
 
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kgtest said:
And a slight risk to personal security. I feel like wealth is pointless unprotected. Letting more and more strangers into this realm increases risk.
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Back in the 1960s in Toronto I had a friend who was married to a girl from Guatemala......well off family, she attended a private school in Ontario.

She told of one branch of her family, equally well to do, who all sat down to dinner one night and woke up the next morning still sitting in their chairs.....appears that the maid(s) had drugged them and, doubtless with assistance, had cleaned the house out.
 
Sojourner said:
Ehh... not sure I'd say that $10 million "just isn't that much." It's a lot. It could easily support a $300K per year SWR. $25K/month. That's a very, very comfortable, luxurious level of spending. So much so that I have trouble actually thinking of myself ever spending that lavishly. I'd have to get quite creative and really push myself to get there, probably tripling (or even quadrupling) my spending in nearly every budget category. Sure, it's not mega-celebrity-scale spending, but from my perspective, that doesn't equate to "not that much."
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I expect $10M would be a meaningful fortune here in The Shire, but in New York or London or Tokyo, how far would it really go? A three bedroom house in town, a pair of new cars, golf club membership, dinner and a show once or twice per week, and - poof! - your allowance is all spent. Certainly a comfortable existence, but hardly lavish.

$90 million? Now you're talking lavish.

"I'd have to get quite creative and really push myself" Perhaps you could study the writings of Professor RobbieB on these pages. A most creative and energetic individual.
 
I use it to encourage myself to blow more dough - :)

It takes effort to forgo the frugality of so many years before. It takes effort to convince myself to hire projects I used to do myself.

If I found myself 10X richer I wouldn't spend 10X more either. But I would spend 3X more - :)

Have fun!
 
I would leave most of it to my favorite charities, including Paws - The Performing Animal Welfare Society - a sanctuary for abused elephants and other circus animals.
 
Mdlerth said:
Is 10 million really a lot any more? It doesn't even make you a one percenter these days, does it?
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Mdlerth said:
I expect $10M would be a meaningful fortune here in The Shire, but in New York or London or Tokyo, how far would it really go?
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Very valid points. I was just thinking recently about the TV show from the 50s, "The Millionaire". In that series, some random person received a gift of a tax-free $1,000,000 from an anonymous donor.

At the time, everyone clearly understood what a million dollars represented, and what the lifestyle of a "millionaire" could be like. Caviar, servants, champagne for breakfast, all that stuff.

But given the cumulative inflation since that series was on the air, the equivalent amount today would be roughly $10 million. So just because someone has one (or even several) million bucks today doesn't really make him or her a "millionaire" as it was traditionally understood. Certainly "comfortable" or "well off", but hardly the real thing.

It's just as interesting to me that those here on this forum who have the assets to be considered real millionaires in today's terms seem to be perfectly normal, down to earth people who don't have their noses in the air and can fit in very well with the rest of us. So even the concept of "millionaire" has been superseded as today we talk about billionaires like Gates, Buffett, etc. and "everyone else."
 
audreyh1 said:
Dealing with hired help seems like it often turns out to be a royal pain.
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We employ several “hired help” (cleaners, gardeners, property managers, pool guys, etc). and it is certainly better than doing it yourself. A royal pain? Shouldn’t be, but if so, get better help.
 
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RunningBum said:
Am I less worried still having $2M than I am with $400K (80% loss on $2M)? You bet I am! Not happy with either, but with the latter I'm back to looking for work, while I can still live on the former.

And to Robbie's point, sure, I'll spend more if I have 10x the money, but I won't spend 10x more. And it would be on stuff that would be very easy to back off of. I enjoy your posts for the most part Robbie, but your "gotta blow that dough" mantra sounds really misguided to me. My goal would be to enjoy life as much as I could, using my money to enable that, but the goal would not be focused on spending money. Experiences, "stuff", and helping others can bring enjoyment and satisfaction to me. The act of spending money for spending sake does nothing. I suspect you don't really do that either, but it sounds stupid when you repeat it so often. Sorry, I searched for a less offensive word but that one captures it, and I made sure I'm attacking the posts and not the poster.
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Spending money for spending sake is indeed stupid. I certainly don’t do that and Im surprised you think I do. Really have to be careful around here how you say things I guess? Or at least some of us do. Maybe you should be a little more specific as to what you think “sounds stupid”. I agree with everything else you said.
 
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Danmar said:
Spending money for spending sake is indeed stupid. I certainly don’t do that and Im surprised you think I do. Really have to be careful around here how you say things I guess? Or at least some of us do. I agree with everything else you said.
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I think he was talking to Robbie.
 
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Danmar said:
We employ several “hired help” and it is certainly better than doing it yourself. A royal pain? Shouldn’t be, but if so, get better help.
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I've had a lawn service and my house cleaned every two weeks for the last 25 years and I am not even close to 8 figures in assets. This was mostly because I worked 50 hours a week but I plan to continue these services in retirement. The social media website, NextDoor, is a good source for recommendations and workers who are trustworthy.

I admit that I am not extremely picky about the house cleaning but my housekeeper does a good job. If I wanted a very thorough cleaning, I know where I could go but it would cost twice as much. Home repairs are a different matter and can be a royal pain - it seems to be harder to find a good handyman.
 
ABQ2015 said:
I've had a lawn service and my house cleaned every two weeks for the last 25 years and I am not even close to 8 figures in assets. This was mostly because I worked 50 hours a week but I plan to continue these services in retirement. The social media website, NextDoor, is a good source for recommendations and workers who are trustworthy.

I admit that I am not extremely picky about the house cleaning but my housekeeper does a good job. If I wanted a very thorough cleaning, I know where I could go but it would cost twice as much. Home repairs are a different matter and can be a royal pain - it seems to be harder to find a good handyman.
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Agree. It is much easier if you use a property manager. But I understand most people wouldn’t do this. Home repairs are really tough for us at our lake house. The locals just don’t seem to want to work and there are no quality property managers around.
 
Danmar said:
We employ several “hired help” (cleaners, gardeners, property managers, pool guys, etc). and it is certainly better than doing it yourself. A royal pain? Shouldn’t be, but if so, get better help.
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If the property managers can help hire the other folks, the problem might be solved. Then you just need to focus on good property managers.
 
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Danmar said:
Sorry I thought you were talking about me. First point of your Post was about me, I think, and I erroneously assumed..... I will be more careful in future.
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I think he was just comparing $2M to $10M in examining the concept of worrying more due to higher or lower net worth. Musings by Spanky started that theme.
 
Congratulations on hitting 8 digits.

If I every hit 8 numbers I would give more away to charities and to people of need but not be identified.
 
audreyh1 said:
Dealing with hired help seems like it often turns out to be a royal pain.
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The problem is especially acute when there is large wealth gap between the owner & the help. One of my relatives owns a winter home on Antigua with many domestic staff. Guests there have problems with stuff being ripped off. Even if this wasn't a problem, the whole scene is not my cup of tea - all-white owners and visitors attended by an all-black staff? No thanks. 😧
 
audreyh1 said:
What?

Oh - it's not obviously a hypothetical post?
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"Need some advice. I have this friend who ...". ;)

socca said:
One of my relatives owns a winter home on Antigua with many domestic staff. Guests there have problems with stuff being ripped off. Even if this wasn't a problem, the whole scene is not my cup of tea - all-white owners and visitors attended by an all-black staff
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I've been to Antigua quite a few times, and it's not my favourite place either. While there are certainly exceptions, many Antiguans seem afflicted with passive-aggressive sullenness and appear to resent tourists (pretty strange, as hospitality is essentially the country's only industry).
 
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audreyh1 said:
If the property managers can help hire the other folks, the problem might be solved. Then you just need to focus on good property managers.
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Yes. Turns out property managers tend to be pretty good. At least the ones that have been around for a while. The one we hired in Arizona is very good and came with a personal recommendation from one of our friends there.
 
socca said:
The problem is especially acute when there is large wealth gap between the owner & the help. One of my relatives owns a winter home on Antigua with many domestic staff. Guests there have problems with stuff being ripped off. Even if this wasn't a problem, the whole scene is not my cup of tea - all-white owners and visitors attended by an all-black staff? No thanks. 😧
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The area around our lake house is a little like this. Lakefront homes owned by relatively affluent people from Toronto while the locals live in very modest homes in town or even “back in the woods”. If it wasn’t for the work provided maintaining the “cottages”, I’m not sure how the locals would survive there.

Even in Arizona there is some of this as well. Gardeners seem to be generally latinos. Sometimes I wonder how they can work in such heat. They were here yesterday in the afternoon when the temp was over 100.

Agree that the issue might be more evident when these differences are more than economic. But in a general sense, wealth disparity, if it keeps getting worse, will cause this type of issue to be more common, even in developed countries.
 
Amazon has a new service for many home repairs. They do the license and background checks and have a happiness guarantee. I'm trying them out Monday. Their prices were competitive and with an Amazon Visa I get 5% in rewards.
 
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