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07-26-2012, 09:05 PM
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#1
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 46
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Surest Way to $1M
Last page of this month's money magazine has a CNN poll results that asks "What is the surest way to reach $1M"?
- Invest in Stocks = 36%
- Buy Real Estate = 21%
- Own a Small Business = 31%
- Win the Lottery = 12%
WIN THE LOTTERY = 12% Really?
More than 1 in 10 people think this is the surest way to $1M...depressing.
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07-26-2012, 09:16 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,350
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UnderTheRadar
Last page of this month's money magazine has a CNN poll results that asks "What is the surest way to reach $1M"?
- Invest in Stocks = 36%
- Buy Real Estate = 21%
- Own a Small Business = 31%
- Win the Lottery = 12%
WIN THE LOTTERY = 12% Really?
More than 1 in 10 people think this is the surest way to $1M...depressing.
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For people who never make more than $25K/yr that may be true. I've been unemployed for almost a year and when/if I find another job it'll pay less than $25K/yr. Even with my VERY frugal habits i'll never reach $1M from investing. Of course since I live on so little i'll never need $1M but that's seperate topic.
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07-26-2012, 09:19 PM
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#3
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: LaLa Land
Posts: 4,698
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If I had to do it all over again I'd put 33 1/3% in the first 3 choices. I like to diversify.
The 4th option doesn't work for me.
__________________
Work is something you do to get enough $ so you don't have to....Me.
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07-26-2012, 09:50 PM
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#4
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 500
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Start with $2million and invest with a high fee broker!
__________________
Worked the plan and now living the Dream!
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07-26-2012, 10:07 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,733
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fisherman
Start with $2million and invest with a high fee broker!
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There are many variations of this theme. Start with 20 million and buy I winery is what some of the Silicon Valley folks I know have done as a semi retirement. The other surefire way is to start with $100 million and buy an airline.
Personally my first choice would be to own your own business, followed by investing in stocks. I'm surprised that marrying a millionaire isn't on the list. Now days you don't even need to be a girl, plenty of guys have done it think of Demi Moore boy toys, and Presidential candidates John Kerry and John McCain.
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07-26-2012, 10:49 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Scratch the small business. Been there, done that. I would like to see the success rate of small entrepreneurs. None of the money that I have now, and I do have a 7-figure sum, comes from the small start-ups I was involved with. In fact, I would have FAR MORE, if I stayed with a megacorp. Would work a lot less hours too.
And when it comes to a small business, most people can only think of common things like a restaurant, a retail shop, etc... How many of those go belly up in a year or two, taking the owner's life savings with it?
Surest way though not the fastest is to work a 9-to-5 job with a megacorp, keep your nose to the grindstone, live LBYM, maxing out 401k, save as much as possible with after-tax money. Invest in stocks. Rental properties if you have the knack for it.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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07-26-2012, 11:33 PM
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#7
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 239
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Max out 401K for around 25 years. Buy a modest house on a 15-year mortgage and when that is paid off, make it a rental and buy another on a 15-year. Also max out a Roth if you can. Never buy new cars nor carry credit card debt.
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07-27-2012, 06:01 AM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: midwestern city
Posts: 4,061
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Sorry for hijacking thread and for typos - typing from iPhone while traveling. Just wanted to mention there are 3% CDs available this week. Just bought some.
__________________
Very conservative with investments. Not ER'd yet, 48 years old. Please do not take anything I write or imply as legal, financial or medical advice directed to you. Contact your own financial advisor, healthcare provider, or attorney for financial, medical and legal advice.
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07-27-2012, 06:02 AM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,331
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They didn't include something like put 20% of your income in a low cost target retirement (or equivalent) fund?
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
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07-27-2012, 06:23 AM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,376
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Quote:
Originally Posted by obgyn65
Sorry for hijacking thread and for typos - typing from iPhone while traveling. Just wanted to mention there are 3% CDs available this week. Just bought some.
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What term and where?
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07-27-2012, 06:25 AM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Naples
Posts: 2,179
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Speaking of the stock market (in which I don't participate), I was just at a seminar Tuesday in which this broker/owner/software developer gave his sales pitch. He had hundreds of charts to show how the market as a whole is controlled/manipulated by giant banks of computers which react to minor twitches in trends. What is interesting is that he doesn't operate on commission but on a 1% flat fee. Later, when he came to talk to DW and me, I told him all our money was in CD's at 5.5% and had three years before they matured.
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07-27-2012, 06:37 AM
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#12
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 507
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronc879
Of course since I live on so little i'll never need $1M but that's seperate topic.
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that's actually the key.. .there will be people with a lot more money than you but they will still have to w%$k.
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07-27-2012, 07:15 AM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: GTA
Posts: 1,728
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound
Scratch the small business. Been there, done that. I would like to see the success rate of small entrepreneurs. None of the money that I have now, and I do have a 7-figure sum, comes from the small start-ups I was involved with. In fact, I would have FAR MORE, if I stayed with a megacorp. Would work a lot less hours too.
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Actually most of the people I know with 1M+ (self included) did it through owning all or part of a business. Small or midsize. Almost all the rest did it through real estate. I find the ones who do it solely through their stock market "smarts" are actually about as rare as the lottery winners.
__________________
Family Motto: "Every penny's a prisoner"
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07-27-2012, 07:20 AM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Alberta/Ontario/ Arizona
Posts: 3,393
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Agree with NW Bound. Get a good job and save for an extended period. If you can make say $75-100k I think $1mm is well within range. Probably the least risky option too. That was my route which resulted in much more than $1mm. Lucky, I know but survivor bias almost requires luck in this kind of question.
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07-27-2012, 08:00 AM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,331
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Most people I know with $1M+ portfolios (excluding real estate) did it through systematic savings. Maxing out 401Ks and additional after tax savings over many years. Looking at total actual net worth I would expect real estate tips the balance for most people with $1M+.
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
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07-27-2012, 08:11 AM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,558
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My wife and I will be at a 1M+ in a few years (assuming no market crash) from simply saving a lot and putting it in the stock market, mostly via 401ks and Roth IRAs.
Not a ton of stock market "smarts". Just a very high savings rate, two good incomes, and a lot of patience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koogie
Actually most of the people I know with 1M+ (self included) did it through owning all or part of a business. Small or midsize. Almost all the rest did it through real estate. I find the ones who do it solely through their stock market "smarts" are actually about as rare as the lottery winners.
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07-27-2012, 08:11 AM
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#17
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: midwestern city
Posts: 4,061
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I will PM you - don't want to highjack the thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski
What term and where?
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__________________
Very conservative with investments. Not ER'd yet, 48 years old. Please do not take anything I write or imply as legal, financial or medical advice directed to you. Contact your own financial advisor, healthcare provider, or attorney for financial, medical and legal advice.
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07-27-2012, 08:23 AM
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#18
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 859
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Get a good degree, and then a good job with a MegaCorp. Live below you means. Manage your tax liability. Marry someone who thinks similar. Don't have kids if you want to get there even faster.
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07-27-2012, 08:33 AM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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I am sure that many small business owners can get to the 1M+ mark a lot sooner than the average worker with his 401k.
But it's just that these people with good entrepreneurial spirits would know what to do already themselves. If someone has to ask how to become a millionaire, then he would be better off doing it the slower ways.
Most of the engineers I worked with were millionaires at the age of 50 or sooner. I got to the 1M mark some time in my very early 40s. Not sure when, because at that time I was working my ass off with these start-ups that failed, and did not check portfolio daily like I do now. Did not get lucky with any stock picks either (I invested solely in MFs, and some were really dogs).
Have 2 houses now, which I bought as "consumption items", not as investments or for rental income. In this depressed real estate market, Zillow estimates put them at only 21% of my net worth. For me, equities rule!
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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07-27-2012, 08:33 AM
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#20
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Saint Cloud
Posts: 55
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obgyn, I might be interested in that rate as well, if you are inclined.
__________________
When all is said and done, usually more was said than done.
Retired Fall of 2011 @58 :)
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