When a Million Dollars was serious wealth

[2177V]

Hmmm...so I'm likely to get dementia?

"Likely" can be subjective and not guarantee. It may depend on your personality according to recent studies cited in Comment 223.

I do know that since I am an active investor, I spend a lot of time doing research and using my brain for my next active investment. For example, I discovered VCMDX which has done very well this year which involve derivatives in commodities. Derivative investing is NOT for passive investors. I needed a hedge against inflation and I discovered that bonds only provide a hedge during a bear market and bonds do NOT provide a hedge for inflation. If inflation do develop in one or two years, I should make money from VCMDX. Many passive investors shy away from derivatives because they do not understand derivatives.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We still think $1m or greater is pretty serious dosh in most folks books. Just ask those who do not have it.

 

[2177V]

^ thank you very much!

I think I may have to start a new and separate thread on how to live longer.

Some people are obsessed in making money and not realizing health is equally important. (I try to achieve and balance both)

I did a lot of research on this subject so it may be good for me to post the latest scientific studies on longevity.

This thread is about the relative value of $1M.

 

[Koolau]

We still think $1m or greater is pretty serious dosh in most folks books. Just ask those who do not have it.

Yep! My buddy who is .5 Mil in debt at 77 would love to have a million. I'm sure he would blow it before he died (and end up .5 Mil in debt - if not more.) YMMV

 

[TheWizard]

I disagree on two points:

(1) $200K per year of retirement income or $5M is really great for most people. Perhaps not to you...but for most people who are posting.

(2) Most rich folks knows how to leverage their wealth. For example: Interest rates are super low now and inflation is on the horizon. Rich folks know that during inflation a debt stays fixed while the value of money decline. Rich folks like to borrow money at 2% using their principle as collateral in order to earn 5% to 8% on their investment. This can be a business, real estate or even the stock market. If a rich guy has $5M, he can risk only 50% or $2.5M. At a 3% to 6% difference, he earns $75,000 to $150,000 each year on his $2.5M investment. My point: He has the other $2.5M as a fall back position while risking only $2.5M. Most people cannot do that. Can you imagine people with $50M? He earns $750K to $1.5M each year in this example. It is not about not touching 100% of his principle. It is about touching only about 50% of his principle which allows the rich folks to take risks and get rewarded for it. Note that if he defaults on his business or real estate, the bank takes over the failed business or real estate and it is harder for banks to reprocess the entire $2.5M that is used as collateral because the failed business or real estate still have residual value.

I think you mean PRINCIPAL...

 

[Koolau]

I think you mean PRINCIPAL...

Yeah, but we typically offer a fair amount of grace in not only spelling but use of homonyms.

I often mistake to, two and too even though I know exactly what each word means and how and when each should be used. I blame my computer or this forum's spelling/grammar algorithms, but often it's simply a mental glitch. If I reread before hitting the "submit reply", I'll typically catch it. Otherwise, I assume most folks know what I'm saying and simply chuckle - to themselves. YMMV

 

[2177V]

I decided to double down on VCMDX so I am betting about $250 K that inflation will occur. I made about this money when I reallocate my 60/40 portfolio to 100% treasuries in 2019 and then the COVID crash occurred in early 2020. I started buying equities since equities were down 30%. In other words…this like playing with “house money” at a casino. This was my point. Wealthy people has a lot of “house money” to invest so they take higher risk than most people. I am not super wealthy and $250 K is what I can afford to risk. This is because there are three possibilities: inflation (which I make a killing). No inflation (which I break even). Deflation (which I lose some of my house money that I made in 2020). For people who do not have house money that they can risk, I would not invest in VCMDX because it involves high risk derivatives in commodities. The worst case is my portfolio will decline to what it was in 2019. In my example of a $5M portfolio and risking $2.5M, the worst case is a portfolio back to $2.5M which is still larger than the average investor. You can invest aggressively if you have a lot of house money to play with. If that $2.5M is used to leverage in Real Estate and he makes 10X in 10 years, this means he can buy a $25M vacation house in Hawaii.

 

[jayanu]

>> My opinion: people get super wealthy by: (1) inheriting wealth. (2) real estate by using bank money by leveraging your down payment. (3) opening a successful business

Another possibility is being a star (you have to be very good at it!) in sports or music or movie unless one considers that as a business and then do better investments vs. spend it on cars, drugs etc.

 

[2177V]

>> My opinion: people get super wealthy by: (1) inheriting wealth. (2) real estate by using bank money by leveraging your down payment. (3) opening a successful business

Another possibility is being a star (you have to be very good at it!) in sports or music or movie unless one considers that as a business and then do better investments vs. spend it on cars, drugs etc.

I excluded those categories because the odds of success are somewhat rare. A higher odds 4th method that I forgot is: (4) marry a multi-millionaire…which a lot of good looking girls are in that business. Guys have a harder time with this method.

 

[RetiredHappy]

>> My opinion: people get super wealthy by: (1) inheriting wealth. (2) real estate by using bank money by leveraging your down payment. (3) opening a successful business

Another possibility is being a star (you have to be very good at it!) in sports or music or movie unless one considers that as a business and then do better investments vs. spend it on cars, drugs etc.

I would add Wall Street and High Tech.