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When a Million Dollars was serious wealth
08-26-2021, 02:35 PM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: W Wash
Posts: 1,644
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When a Million Dollars was serious wealth
DW & I were discussing the current debates in the media regarding if and how bad inflation might become and it triggered me to do this simple check. I graduated from my Masters program at Duke in 1970. The Millionaire Next Door was the rage and there was the TV program The Millionaire. My first job at a Fortune 100 megacorp almost broke the magic five figures.
Out of curiosity, I used the government inflation calculator ( https://www.usinflationcalculator.com) to see what that 1970 Million dollars is worth today--7,036,159.79!
Our net worth while healthy and over a Million, it is nowhere near 7,036,159.79. For me, it was a real eye opener just how much inflation can take.
YMMV
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08-26-2021, 02:47 PM
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#2
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,362
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Actually, The Millionaire (TV series) ended in 1960. So that would make it more than $9 million today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mi...28TV_series%29
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I thought growing old would take longer.
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08-26-2021, 02:51 PM
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#3
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 414
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Like someone once said, "Inflation is the crabgrass in your savings", but you might want to roll your calculations forward about 25 years.
The Millionaire Next Door, was originally published in 1996.
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08-26-2021, 02:52 PM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: St. Charles
Posts: 3,919
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And the Millionaire Next Door wasn't written until 1996. So, the inflation effect from then would be $1,739,980.88
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If your not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
Never slow down, never grow old!
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08-26-2021, 03:54 PM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,829
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by nwsteve
DW & I were discussing the current debates in the media regarding if and how bad inflation might become and it triggered me to do this simple check. I graduated from my Masters program at Duke in 1970. The Millionaire Next Door was the rage and there was the TV program The Millionaire. My first job at a Fortune 100 megacorp almost broke the magic five figures.
Out of curiosity, I used the government inflation calculator ( https://www.usinflationcalculator.com) to see what that 1970 Million dollars is worth today--7,036,159.79!
Our net worth while healthy and over a Million, it is nowhere near 7,036,159.79. For me, it was a real eye opener just how much inflation can take.
YMMV |
But a million dollars in 1970 was more than most people needed probably by quite a bit as is $7 million today.
I graduated high school in 1977 and if you said someone from our small town was a millionaire it was a big deal. Today of course it is not a big deal and in fact is almost mandatory. 
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08-26-2021, 04:14 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: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,228
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08-26-2021, 04:26 PM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,266
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Quote:
Originally Posted by braumeister
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If you watch it, you will notice DeForest Kelly playing an young idealistic doctor in one of the episodes.
A million bucks. Tax free, IIRC. Not bad even today.
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Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
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08-26-2021, 04:30 PM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 3,672
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I've had a million, I've had 2 million, two million is better!
A paraphrase of Ashley Montagu.
"I've been rich and I've been poor, rich is better.
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08-26-2021, 04:40 PM
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#9
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 19
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Inflation in the 70s was rampant. The value of $1M in 1980 is only $3.3M today.
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08-26-2021, 04:50 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Crownsville
Posts: 3,746
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Back around 1999/2000, when I started planning my retirement goals, I figured that if I could get to $1M in investible assets, and mortgage free, I'd be happy.
Adjusting for inflation, that would be around $1.6M and mortgage free today. I'm currently around $2.4M, but with around $459K on the mortgage. So, subtract out the mortgage and I'd be around $1.941M. Or, about 21% above my $1M goal in 1999/2000.
So, maybe my original goal wasn't *too* far off, after all.
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08-26-2021, 04:59 PM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Reading, MA
Posts: 1,806
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I've noted this a few times before, but the current concept of a millionaire, especially in regard to various Millionaire Tax schemes, refers to someone with an income of $1,000,000 per year or more.
And there are a lot of them...
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08-26-2021, 05:17 PM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Isabella Lake
Posts: 1,567
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWizard
I've noted this a few times before, but the current concept of a millionaire, especially in regard to various Millionaire Tax schemes, refers to someone with an income of $1,000,000 per year or more.
And there are a lot of them...
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You're bursting some bubbles there. 
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08-26-2021, 05:44 PM
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#13
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 190
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If that was 1970 (51 years ago), fast forward 51 years from today (2072) and imagine what a million dollars will be worth in purchasing power for our kids. Sadly, I suspect $1,000,000 will be the equivalent of you having at best $100,000 in 2021 dollars. That assumes the dollar still exists as a recognized and respected unit of measure.
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08-26-2021, 05:59 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Isabella Lake
Posts: 1,567
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CSdot
........ That assumes the dollar still exists as a recognized and respected unit of measure.
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In 50+ years? I say not a chance, LOL.
Also not a chance any of us will be around to find out. 
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08-26-2021, 06:17 PM
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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: May 2014
Posts: 7,373
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I was watching reruns of "Gilligan's Island" last week while we were temporarily confined to our rooms on my Alaska cruise - the crew kept us supplied with food, DVDs, books and adult beverages. It was kind of funny to hear Thurston Howell described as "a millionaire" who clearly could afford anything he and Lovie wanted.
A million isn't what it used to be.
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08-26-2021, 06:30 PM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 8,968
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We have almost 19 million millionaires here in USA. Highest in the world.
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08-26-2021, 09:19 PM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 12,660
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Wonder how many of them would be in the million club without home equity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobbieB
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__________________
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'There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.’ Christopher Morley.
Even a blind clock finds an acorn twice a day.
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08-26-2021, 11:28 PM
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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
Location: Leeward Oahu
Posts: 17,930
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In 1968 I had a summer j*b working for a millionaire. I got paid $1.50/hr for being a driver and all around gopher. The guy never flaunted his wealth and I learned a lot from him. When I got my "real j*b" after school ca. 1970 I was making $10K plus. At first, I thought I was rich. That didn't last long. Though I eventually became a millionaire, it's just not the same due to inflation. YMMV
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08-27-2021, 04:48 AM
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#20
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Crownsville
Posts: 3,746
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Seems like not that long ago, if you put $1M into one of those "What percent net worth am I" calculators, it would put you in roughly the top 8%. But, I just tried one out, and now it's only the top 11.9%. Of course, that number is going to vary depending on the calculator you use, and I'm sure the data itself could be suspect, but it does show that time, and inflation, do march on.
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