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

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97guns Why would you even invest if you had an 8 figure net worth, 10 mil in a cd at .01% is $100k a year

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar I think .01% of $10,000,000 is only $1,000 a year?

See my first sig line...

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6miths I'd be on the 'take more risk' side although I can't say that I see investing in the total stock market with a 60 year or longer time horizon as exactly taking more risk. With a more than adequate nest egg and four children this is what we have been doing since it became apparent that we were set and it was time to consider the bigger picture. I think Bill Bernstein's advice is good for the money that you are relying on but I feel that funds beyond that should be invested with children/legacy in mind.

Not everyone has children.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dunkelblau Something I'd think about: Enough Already - HumbleDollar “WHEN YOU’VE WON THE GAME, stop playing with the money you really need.” That’s something my longtime friend and fellow author William Bernstein is fond of saying—and lately it’s been on my mind. I'd still run it, although after another digit most of it would be outsourced.

I don't consider investing with a basic stock/intl/bond strategy to be "playing with the money".

[mpeirce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 What would you do if (or did you do when) your assets grew to 8 figures?

Someone with $3MM now will reach 8 figures in about 25 years if they grow their assets at 5%. 18 years at 7%. Roughly.

So many of us in this forum will hit this number. Some already have obviously.

Quote:

Would you change how you invest?

Nope. I don't see the need to make any real changes.

Quote:

Would you change how you spend?

Clearing spending would go up a lot since I use a percentage of assets spending plan (set percentage of last three years assets / 3).

Currently when our budget goes up I usually focus on increased spending on travel. That makes it easier to reduce spending when it goes down. Travel could absorb a lot of cash. Probably not all of it, so I'd have to look into the new-underwear-a-day option like others apparently are...

Quote:

Other changes you can think of?

Maybe earmark some funds for family. DM & DF while they can enjoy it. Maybe DD and DS only after they got a bit older and established themselves.

[Badbreath]

think of how I could get more in there.

[Letj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97guns I'd be spending it like a druggie needing a fix, my spending habits changed considerably when I made the 7 figure mark, 8 figures and I'd be throwing money around like no tomorrow

Lol. Me too.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpeirce Someone with $3MM now will reach 8 figures in about 25 years if they grow their assets at 5%. 18 years at 7%. Roughly. So many of us in this forum will hit this number. Some already have obviously.

Sure, as I recall from Firecalc runs, there are a lot of scenarios where I'll end up with that much. But 8 figures won't mean nearly as much in that time frame, kind of like "millionaire" doesn't mean as much as it used to. 5-7% return after spending isn't a slam dunk either.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum Sure, as I recall from Firecalc runs, there are a lot of scenarios where I'll end up with that much. But 8 figures won't mean nearly as much in that time frame, kind of like "millionaire" doesn't mean as much as it used to. 5-7% return after spending isn't a slam dunk either.

FWIW, remember that FIRECALC reports your future worth in CURRENT dollars (as quoted " values are in terms of the dollars as of the beginning of the retirement period for each cycle"). Therefore those forecasts already take inflation into account. You (and I) may actually get there. And then again, maybe not

[FUEGO]

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

Answer: Wonder what I did wrong to let the portfolio grow to such recklessly high heights!

We're closing in on the 2 million mark and facing the same sort of question that is making us re-examine spending decisions. Definitely loosening the purse strings.

Example: if we see a nice travel deal and we can fit it in our schedule we're much more likely to take advantage of it. Just booked a cruise on a nice new ship for $675 for a 7 night cruise. It was so cheap because it was last minute. Turns out we spent almost exactly the same amount for the flights down to Miami (well, redeemed free credit card rewards points to cover that amount ).

Airfare was $670 for non-stop flights that will only take 2 hours and get us to/from Miami at the ideal times. We could have rented a car and drove down to save $75-100 but figured flying would save us 5-6 hours of travel time. Similarly on the way back, we opted for the mid-day non-stop flight that was $75 more than the non-stop that would get us home at midnight or the late morning flight that would have us rushing from the cruise terminal. We could have easily saved $200 on the flights in exchange for some extra effort and time spent waiting or driving but figured the $5-7/hr wasn't worth the effort. We also decided to skip the 17 hour bus ride that would save us $400!

I'm hoping to slowly ramp up my spending if the portfolio continues to rise. We're sort of struggling to find meaningful ways to spend it though. I suppose I could have spent $1000 on first class seats to/from Miami instead of the $670 but don't see hardly any value in that vs. sitting in "good enough" coach for 2 hours. I couldn't even justify paying $40 to reserve the premium seats on the return flight (all regular seats were sold out and there's a decent chance we'll get assigned free seats next to each other; worst case we part ways for 2 hrs).

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97guns I'd be spending it like a druggie needing a fix, my spending habits changed considerably when I made the 7 figure mark, 8 figures and I'd be throwing money around like no tomorrow

What, (roughly), would you blow spend it on? DW & I sometimes play the "What if we won the lottery?" game, but we quickly run out of ideas about things we might buy.

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R When I read this, I couldn't help figuring out what the yearly cost of this would be. Honestly it wouldn't be that much! I doubt I would do it, but gosh, what an incredibly cool idea.

The cost for me assuming I was able to get my bras on a 1/2 price sale would be $12,045 . If I could not get the sale it would be $20,074 .00.Not chump change !

[hesperus]

Our net worth, including real estate, just reached eight figures about a month ago.
I started a thread on this in a rather 'wheee!' moment (see: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...lub-88399.html), but nevertheless, it was a milestone. Right now, not too much has changed really. We are who we are, and except for the $10M NW milestone, we will stay who we are. It's a damned good feeling though.

[luckydude]

Over the years as my NW went for low 7 figures to 8 figures, I kept playing this game of saying, “If my NW got to X, I will buy <insert item>,” etc. But when my NW got to X, my desire to acquire the said item invariably went away, so that I never bought any of those things that I thought I was lusting for when I DID NOT have the money for it.

Also my investment strategy changed as my NW grew. At low-to-mid 7 figure NW, my focus was solely on making sure I had enough $ for retirement and to fund kids’ college education, and how to mitigate any market/healthcare risks, etc. Once I went into the 8 figure territory, however, my focus shifted to building cross-generation wealth for the kids, and for this I have focus on real estate investment, because in general that has the most potential for long-term growth and something that I can hand over to the next generation to manage and grow. Already the strategy is bearing fruit and many of the properties we purchased have appreciated significantly and provide a nice income stream, which we then plow into more real estate investment. Also, I don’t take on debts; all investments are cash only and must be at least cash flow positive or neutral while the underlying assets value appreciates.

I still adhere to AA for a percentage of my portfolio that I expect to fund DW and me through a very comfortable retirement, but the rest is devoted to long-term growth as mentioned above.

Lucky dude

[flyingaway]

Our assets would grow over 8 figures if we keep working until 70 years old with the current income and saving rates. That is not going to happen.

[ncbill]

keep my mouth shut

have personally seen many high-income, high-consumption people targeted by you wouldn't believe how many scammers/hucksters.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hesperus Our net worth, including real estate, just reached eight figures about a month ago. I started a thread on this in a rather 'wheee!' moment (see: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...lub-88399.html), but nevertheless, it was a milestone. Right now, not too much has changed really. We are who we are, and except for the $10M NW milestone, we will stay who we are. It's a damned good feeling though.

Yes, your thread was my inspiration. I wanted to see what folks here think they would do differently.

Now, if it keeps creeping up you'll let us know of any new inspirations/aspirations, right?

[socca]

A distant relative occasionally goes to a restaurant where there are no prices on the menu, the point being that if you have to ask how much a menu item costs, you don't belong there. It doesn't seem likely that I could ever become sufficiently wealthy that I would stop considering the cost/value relationship.

P.S. I've noticed that the fancier (and expensive) the restaurant, the smaller the portion. Some high-end restaurants bring out a huge plate with a dollop of food in the center. Taken to the limit, this would mean an empty plate at enormous cost. Not my style.

[Mdlerth]

As I've watched this thread progress, the many cogent responses got me thinking: Is 10 million really a lot any more? It doesn't even make you a one percenter these days, does it?

It's eight figures, to be sure. But so is 90 million, and there's a world of difference there. And even 90 million isn't a superyacht level of wealth. You'd have enough to rent one for a few weeks, but the really big ones sell for several hundreds of millions.

According to the polls here, the average ER.org member retires contentedly on a third or less of the eight figure threshold. So 10M would offer some extra scope for most of us. It's both reassuring and humbling that so many suggest they'd up their charitable budget rather than their lifestyle budget.

It's curious how modest our ambitions are when we contemplate adding that extra digit. I notice that the posters here who already are well into 8 figure territory don't talk about building Biltmore House-style palaces. They may snowbird very comfortably. They may fly first class, or perhaps charter the odd flight. But celebrity-scale, massively conspicuous consumption doesn't appear on anybody's radar here. Maybe that tells us that 10 million just isn't that much.

[Danmar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckydude Once I went into the 8 figure territory, however, my focus shifted to building cross-generation wealth for the kids,

Likewise. I view my portfolio really as “held in Trust” for my daughter. Many people don’t have kids so I suspect charitable objectives will prevai for theml. Once you are into the 8 figure range it is very unlikely you will not leave a sizeable legacy to someone.

[timemoveson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdlerth As I've watched this thread progress, the many cogent responses got me thinking: Is 10 million really a lot any more? It doesn't even make you a one percenter these days, does it? It's eight figures, to be sure. But so is 90 million, and there's a world of difference there. And even 90 million isn't a superyacht level of wealth. You'd have enough to rent one for a few weeks, but the really big ones sell for several hundreds of millions. According to the polls here, the average ER.org member retires contentedly on a third or less of the eight figure threshold. So 10M would offer some extra scope for most of us. It's both reassuring and humbling that so many suggest they'd up their charitable budget rather than their lifestyle budget. It's curious how modest our ambitions are when we contemplate adding that extra digit. I notice that the posters here who already are well into 8 figure territory don't talk about building Biltmore House-style palaces. They may snowbird very comfortably. They may fly first class, or perhaps charter the odd flight. But celebrity-scale, massively conspicuous consumption doesn't appear on anybody's radar here. Maybe that tells us that 10 million just isn't that much.

Well put. It doesn't feel like "that much" especially when it's just the natural outcome of 30 years of diligent working, saving, investing and managing risk. I'm there now, early 50's and really nothing is changing big picture. I'm generally worried about the same things and generally optimistic and content with the same things.

Very good thread, thanks for everyone's contributions.