When a Million Dollars was serious wealth

[Amethyst]

Probably 'cause they are workaholics, who may never retire, and certainly don't have free time to be nattering on web forums!

I worked with some people who were almost certainly 1%ers, at least income-wise. They were retired military/government who'd jumped to defense contracting. With a clearance and a little STEM knowledge, their salaries were easily 3X what they'd been making before retirement (I know this because I dealt with contracting at one point, and saw what their salaries plus overhead were costing us!)

Most were in their 60's, some older. They seemed (based on how they talked) to be living quite large, yet here they were, in a dingy government office. Some seemed happy, but many were grumps.

Yep. Even here with all the conscientious savers and diligent investors, there aren't too many 1 percenters.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

In 50+ years? I say not a chance, LOL.
Also not a chance any of us will be around to find out.

Speak for yourself.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

When I do a quick look I find contradicting numbers with how many US households are millionaires. I see from 6% to 11% of US households being millionaires.

I think this is simply because there are so many different measures people use. It akin to defining "retired."

 

[Major Tom]

Though I eventually became a millionaire, it's just not the same due to inflation.

True, but there is still a ring to the phrase "a million dollars". It may no longer be worth what it was in past decades, but it still ain't chump change!

 

[braumeister]

 

[marko]

When I was in high school (1966-1970) a classmate's sister married a 'millionaire'. Apparently her life was pretty sweet for the time.

He vowed that he wouldn't get married until he made his own million. Not sure if he ever made that goal but he is married now and runs a nice head-hunter business.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

True, but there is still a ring to the phrase "a million dollars". It may no longer be worth what it was in past decades, but it still ain't chump change!

A MILLION DOLLARS!!!

 

[MichaelB]

For me, it was a real eye opener just how much inflation can take.
YMMV

Dr Evil from Austin Powers had the same thought

 

[marko]

True, but there is still a ring to the phrase "a million dollars". It may no longer be worth what it was in past decades, but it still ain't chump change!

True. But around here (north of Boston) a three bedroom Cape in a nice town runs for just about that amount. DN just spent $985K for a 'nothing' house that needs another $100K in kitchen, bath and yard upgrades.

 

[Major Tom]

I was just having fun marko. Don't harsh my mellow, dude (or whatever the phrase is )

But yes, these thoughts have definitely occurred to me. Retired, with invested assets of $1.2M, and no property ownership, I have accepted that I may well be an eternal renter - especially as I like living in large metro areas, where real estate tends to be expensive.

 

[neihn]

We became millionaire through hard works and savings - and proud to be millionaire, don't take that away us please

 

[marko]

I was just having fun marko. Don't harsh my mellow, dude (or whatever the phrase is )

Aloha dude person, sorry. Didn't mean to chill your vibe...or sumpthin'. Mahalo (I think)

 

[youbet]

Big difference between being a net worth Millionaire, vs. a liquid/investable assets millionaire. Discount house/land/possessions/business/farm, etc., and that percent of households would drop a lot.

True. And I don't think you can predict which will fare better going forward. Someone with a few million bux of prime farmland or a business with a bright future just might outperform someone with a few million bux invested passively in the usual investment markets.

 

[youbet]

there aren't too many 1 percenters.

Indeed. I'd bet that not more than one percent of the population are one-percenters!

 

[athena53]

About 10 years ago someone posted on a personal finance board that if they had $1 million they'd be set for life. They could invest it at 8% and withdraw $80K/year forever. I pointed out to them that (a) an 8% rate of return, even if that were a realistic expectation, would have some volatility and require a very high % of equities and (b) $80,000 may sound good to them now but in 20 years it will buy a lot less, so you have to withdraw a smaller amount so that some can grow to allow for inflation in expenses.

Not happy news to them, I'm sure.

 

[street]

This data shows that you would need 4.4 mill to be in the top 1% in the US. I could see that number being true, if said in the world.
https://marker.medium.com/it-takes-more-than-4-million-to-join-the-1-202e2cbb8c18

 

[finnski1]

yeah I saw $11 million as well for top 1% in US and $4.4 million for top 1% in the world.

 

[street]

^ thanks. I might have missed that in this article but that sounds more like it.

 

[braumeister]

If you don't have a superyacht with a helipad on it, you're not really that impressive any more.

 

[CSdot]

One nice thing to be said for having $1M+ invested, zero debt, and a paid for house, is your nest egg seems to want to grow on its own. While that is not always true (dot com, 2008, March 2020), the times when it is true is a thing to behold.

 

[youbet]

One nice thing to be said for having $1M+ invested, zero debt, and a paid for house, is your nest egg seems to want to grow on its own. While that is not always true (dot com, 2008, March 2020), the times when it is true is a thing to behold.

Even better than " $1M+ invested, zero debt, and a paid for house," would be $1M+ invested, zero debt, a paid for house, a thousand acres of prime farmland leased out, a paid for apartment complex in a high tier area being professionally managed, an exotic car collection and a trust fund spouse!

But, yes, having enough passive income to cover your spending desires is a good thing...... !

 

[rodi]

I remember about 15 years ago when a friend laughed and said she and her husband were 'nega-millionaires'. They had invested in several rental or development properties and owed more than a million bucks. The idea was shocking to me, but I liked her attitude.

Fwiw - she pulled the plug and retired in her mid 50's. They've sold or paid off the properties they still own. Her husband still works - but choice. So owing that million, being nega-millionaires, was a good financial move for them.

 

[MRG]

This data shows that you would need 4.4 mill to be in the top 1% in the US. I could see that number being true, if said in the world.
https://marker.medium.com/it-takes-more-than-4-million-to-join-the-1-202e2cbb8c18

It's interesting, to me anyway, how "they" determine household or even individuals worth. During my programming career I worked on two large projects the goal was to link investors accounts together, saving fund/investment companies millions in postage.

This was MUCH more difficult than you might think; at least programmatically. You'd think comparing the accounts registration would be a piece of cake. Yeah I thought so too. Turns out over years of software changes and conversions from different systems of record made that hit or miss. Ignore nulls and make them equal to spaces? Maybe. What about CaSe? Middle initials? How many false links would have to be resolved if you actually linked the accounts based on what your program was coded to do. Choose to error on the side of safety? Want to have people combine the millions of accounts manually? That's why they funded the project.

Of course just aggregating numbers together, even if wrong, would be easier.

 

[Out of Steam]

By 2040, we'll be talking about trillionaires.

 

[youbet]

I remember about 15 years ago when a friend laughed and said she and her husband were 'nega-millionaires'. They had invested in several rental or development properties and owed more than a million bucks. The idea was shocking to me, but I liked her attitude.

Fwiw - she pulled the plug and retired in her mid 50's. They've sold or paid off the properties they still own. Her husband still works - but choice. So owing that million, being nega-millionaires, was a good financial move for them.

I get the humor in the "nega-millionaire" nomenclature, but debt doesn't subtract from your net worth. For example, if your friends properties were conservatively appraised at $1.5 million and they owed $1 million, then they'd be able to include $500k in their net worth (not subtract $1 million).

Why were you shocked?