Bright eyed is kind of on the right track.. I don't think any of us here have or want the Trump lifestyle.
PART of me says you are going to regret "What-if" if you just TRY and make it big (lots of wealth, house by a lake, water skiing with wife, etc.), so I'm asking everyone if you have lived this "What-if" scenario.
...I hope more people would contribute there "What-if" scenarios.
I don't think people who are posting here have that type of "make it big" mentality. If they did, they wouldn't be sitting around chatting with other
retired folks.. they'd be out water-skiing or overseeing the maids, gardeners and caterers, or out talking with lawyers and accountants and chasing the next deal so they could pay for it all..
"Retiring" means taking yourself OUT of the striving and acquisition rat race, at whatever level, and being satisfied with maintaining, roughly, one's current std. of living. Trump can never 'retire' from being Trump (and if he did he'd probably sink like a stone, since his whole 'empire' seems to be more or less established on churn/froth/loans; he's handcuffed himself to a life of 'deal-making', from what it looks like).
I think just adding a few high-maintenance aspects to your lifestyle complicates it disproportionallly, perhaps almost exponentially. I see it as taking
more than 2x the time and money to deal with 2x the stuff and activities.. just as a matter of overhead and efficiency. So there's not much temptation for me to look in that direction. Don't know if others here would agree.
Don't want to speak for everyone, but I think we're here because we value security over extra toys. If we were still in the "what-if" universe, we'd out be buying lottery tickets...
'cause ya never know!
Harm, just chill. You're doing great; someone else will always be doing better.. I think also just the word "million" puts people over a psychological tipping point. We still think of the "millionaire" as being chauffer-driven and caviar-fed. Spend some time studying some inflation tables (as others here have alluded) and try to adopt a calm and steady strategy. Chop a zero off your numbers, or add one.. and try to think about what you might do differently,
realistically, in those two alternate scenarios and then ask yourself about your conclusions.. Best wishes!