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The no-longer-millionaire club
Old 11-18-2008, 09:52 AM   #1
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The no-longer-millionaire club

I recently became a member of the no-longer-millionaire club. I may have to change my forumid to "free4notmuchlonger". I will say it has been an invigorating time... the threat of the death of my FIREhood has energized me to get cracking on all the things I want to do with my free time, and rather than sleepless nights I'm coming home exhausted and falling asleep instantly from doing so many good things in my days. But it feels like it may be the end of an era.

Anyone else joined the club?
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Old 11-18-2008, 09:58 AM   #2
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Not yet, but NW is getting dangerously close to dropping under 2M- my personal benchmark.
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Old 11-18-2008, 10:39 AM   #3
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IMO it depends on what you include...I have a total for net worth and net funds. Net worth is still over $1M...so I continue to look at that.....I like that total better than funds....
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Old 11-18-2008, 10:46 AM   #4
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Member #2 of the "no-longer-a-millionaire" club, checking in. I'm not stressing about it too much, since I'm ~15 years from FIRE (much more concerned about the economy and job market in the near term).

I do miss seeing that 7th digit on my net worth spreadsheet, though.
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Old 11-18-2008, 10:53 AM   #5
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I've joined. > 300K of losses was too much. I'm telling myself it's only a paper loss and that my 3+ years of cash will keep me from locking any of the loss in. (fingers are crossed...)

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Old 11-18-2008, 10:53 AM   #6
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My retirement portfolio has gone from $520K to about $340K in the last 13 months.
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Old 11-18-2008, 10:59 AM   #7
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IMO it depends on what you include...I have a total for net worth and net funds. Net worth is still over $1M...so I continue to look at that.....I like that total better than funds....
(sorry off-topic) This is the problem I have with financial all-in-one site mint.com. I like the convenience of it but I've not seen (not that I've looked too hard) a way to include non-account assets in current net worth. If you've got a car, gold bricks, or fancy paintings, whatever I'd love for a way to include those as assets.
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Old 11-18-2008, 11:00 AM   #8
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quick, add in the alleged value of your house (consider vagabonding) and don't forget to include the theoretical value of your social security and don't forget that small pension. presto chango, instant millionaire.

(dont' worry, deflation is just around the corner. a million sure doesn't buy what it used to.)
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Old 11-18-2008, 11:04 AM   #9
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I cant say multi anymore.
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Old 11-18-2008, 11:13 AM   #10
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I include my house, vehicles and jewelry in my net worth. I value their worth as what I could get for them if I had to sell tomorrow, therefore the ideal value is much lower....

Social security and pension annuity are not included in my net funds. I don't count my chickens before...well you know the rest...
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Old 11-18-2008, 12:24 PM   #11
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Without the losses from the past year, we'd have comfortably passed the half-million mark by now...

As of October 2007 our portfolio had been returning 8.9% annual since January 2000 (when we started our retirement portfolio). I thought that was pretty decent (8% annual was my target) especially when taking into account the 2000-2002 market tumble. Well my portfolio's annual return since January 2000 is now... negative.
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Old 11-18-2008, 12:33 PM   #12
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Anyone else joined the club?
Many times! As far as I can tell, the only membership advantage is higher taxes.

One of our local entrepreneurs has a refreshing "easy come, easy go, I'll make more" attitude about his net worth. He was an exec in a 1990s Internet startup that went public in the low teens and ended the day at $125/share. He was pretty happy about it, but three months into the six-month lockup his shares were worth $1 each.

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... I've not seen (not that I've looked too hard) a way to include non-account assets in current net worth.
Quicken has a net-worth feature that can include personal-property assets. Or you could roll your own spreadsheet.
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Old 11-18-2008, 12:49 PM   #13
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Yep - just counting my Vanguard plus the stocks in VG broker - back under 1 mil again - 3rd time if you count the first crossing from the south side. Remember I retired in 93 with his and hers ballpark 300k.

Not counting timberland, house, cars, stupid patented gold mine(2 cents value) and my file cabinet with 14 remaining DRIP stocks which I don't like to admit I haven't transferred to the broker yet.

Sooo - handgenade wise I'm dirt poor in my own mind.

heh heh heh - later 90's, bottom of 02, and the current 'unpleasantness' make three. This is almost getting to be fun - in a left handed sort of way. Horse shoe close to 4% total portfolio yield.
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Old 11-18-2008, 12:53 PM   #14
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Im not going to look. If I bury my head in the sand the bad things will go away!
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Old 11-18-2008, 12:54 PM   #15
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Social security and pension annuity are not included in my net funds. I don't count my chickens before...well you know the rest...
problem today is without buyers you can't always sell tomorrow. so oddly enough, social security might be a closer hatch than a house.

with today's volitility, financial geniuses can't seem to tell us within even the ballpark of certainty that life itself won't be devalued by another 50% next month. what i wouldn't give for past days of arrogance to temper currents of fear.

do we ever find our way back. how do we get through this. how to rebuild. i've already lost more than i could possibly earn between now and, um, retirement. is taking a job now setting yourself up to be the first to be let go should that the dreaded d-day come.

perhaps now where matters more. as previously discussed, i'd be more of a millionare in daytona than in fort lauderdale. given a great depression, i'd probably live relatively very well in thailand or tennessee. maybe mobility works best when trying to peg down numbers that make no sense. it's tough to catch a greased pig when grasping with slight of hand.

odo may have disappeared, but the smoke and mirrors have come home to roost. the rabbit is the magician. the illusionist wasn't just fooling the audience, he was kidding himself. how much money do i have? observe as i pull a nickel out of my ear.
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Old 11-18-2008, 01:05 PM   #16
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Hmmm - pension(non - cola) and early SS - means I'm an old phart.

Now if you could magically give me a another rerun of my first 15 years of ER including zapping my grey hair - I'll take a lower net worth any day.



heh heh heh - at 65 - I've crossed that mythical line into ho hum ordinary retirement. Rats! . It ain't the money/it's the dang clock. BTW - I never knew that when I was layed off at age 49.
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Old 11-18-2008, 01:14 PM   #17
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I cant say multi anymore.


Me either !
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Old 11-18-2008, 01:57 PM   #18
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....

perhaps now where matters more. as previously discussed, i'd be more of a millionare in daytona than in fort lauderdale. given a great depression, i'd probably live relatively very well in thailand or tennessee. ....
You say that like there's something wrong with living in Tennessee? :confused:
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Old 11-18-2008, 03:18 PM   #19
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I went from 200k to 120k (lost 40%). My thought is it took me 11 years to accumulate the shares I have worth 120k now. In one year I can buy 1/3 of what I already own- so if the market stays down for 3 years when it goes up I will have twice as many shares go up as I had which went down.

I am 18 years from FIRE, so I have time.
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Old 11-18-2008, 03:25 PM   #20
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I recently became a member of the no-longer-millionaire club. I may have to change my forumid to "free4notmuchlonger". I will say it has been an invigorating time... the threat of the death of my FIREhood has energized me to get cracking on all the things I want to do with my free time, and rather than sleepless nights I'm coming home exhausted and falling asleep instantly from doing so many good things in my days. But it feels like it may be the end of an era.

Anyone else joined the club?
No but I soon might be gaining membership into the "I lost at least a million" club
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