A million dollars just doesn’t seem like enough money.
It may not come as a surprise to anyone, but we are actually already millionaire.
(No that is not a typo, it is millionaire with no “S” because it is only one million for the two of us.)
“Only”, you scoff. I hear ya.
If you had told me years ago that I’d find a million to not be enough I would have given you a face and a “whatchu talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?” look.
Anyway, my partner and I with our combined net worths, are in the million dollar range, a little over it actually.
And yes, even with all of my insane shopping!!!
We somehow manage to squeak by the million dollar threshold, and luckily we also own our place outright, so we are mortgage free right now with a good 30 years left of horse work in us.
BUT…THERE’S ALWAYS A BUT
This is going to sound like a major #FirstWorldProblem but we don’t feel like millionaires. We really don’t.
I guess it’s true that the rich only seem to get richer, but we really don’t feel like the word ‘millionaires’, yet here we are.
A lot of our net worth, about $600,000 of it, is in a home, so technically if you took our home out, we aren’t millionaires, we only have $400,000+ saved between the two of us with 30 years of horse whipping to go.
That still isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it puts it all into perspective at least of one of the reasons why we don’t feel like the word, ‘millionaire’.
Also, I tend to report on only my net worth, not my partner’s, so there’s that too.
MILLIONAIRES SPEND WAY MORE THAN WE DO, DON’T THEY?
Millionaires I guess to me, are people who lounge on yachts, eat gourmet meals everyday made by their chefs and bathe in champagne because they can (doesn’t the alcohol dries out your skin though?…hmm).
They also take lots of vacations, and drive super fancy cars, spend like there is no tomorrow (oh wait… about that….) … And get massages and facials weekly, at least!
We or at least I, don’t do any of that. I’m not going to a spa weekly though I’d love to, and I’m spending a lot of money but I’m actually not spending “with abandon” as the feeling of the essence of the word “millionaire” might imbue you with.
Translated?
If I were a “millionaire”, there is sooooooo much more I want to buy.
….I’m only half kidding.
Maybe I’m thinking of billionaires, not millionaires, and especially not our kind of millionaire, where we only have one paltry million in net worth amongst the two of us.
Luckily, my plan is to save more than a million by the time I retire. I plan on working on and off, and eventually saving $3 million in liquid assets on top of what I own in the home ($300,000).
Why $3 million? Two seems like enough but I’m sort of the type that likes to over plan and be overly conservative so $3 million seems like a nice, safe number where I can continue my shopping habit happily and take a yearly month-long vacation to Europe to see family.
I’m also not killing myself by any stretch of the imagination to save that $3 million by myself, and I plan on enjoying myself along the journey.
What about you? Is a million enough?
16 Comments
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Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
That’s what I thought. A million is a lot for today but when I retire it’ll be …???? … and even education will not be $20K but $100K a year for my son. It won’t be enough. Money goes quick. You still have to pay taxes too if it is invested in registered accounts or when you sell it.
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Livingalmostlarge
We are past the seven figure mark and my dh keeps telling the kids we aren’t millionaire. I doubt he’ll ever stop.
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Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
I won’t be telling Baby Bun we have any money either. As far as I am concerned, I am living day to day.
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Alicia
What an interesting post.
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Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life
Noooope, 1M isn’t near enough to spend freely without consequence. That lifestyle corresponds to a billionaire in my estimate. I say that I need $10M to feel secure, but that’s partially because of the HCOLA we’re in, and maybe $3-5M would end up being enough once we’ve paid off any mortgages.
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Cassie
I think you’re right that what we commonly think of as the millionaire lifestyle is actually the billionaire lifestyle. Kathy already mentioned how in the Millionaire Next Door most of the millionaires were very much under the radar types. Do I think a million will be enough? Probably not. We could live quite comfortably with a million in liquid assets and a paid off house, but I have a travel itch that will need to be scratched periodically in retirement. 1.5 million and a paid off house is more likely a comfortable zone for us.
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Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
Ditto. For me it is more 3 million each … Hahah with the way I spend
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Kathy
I know that financial pundits say a million isn’t much any more and I understand the reasoning behind the statement. However, when I realized we had over a million in cash/investments without considering our recently built custom house, I felt pretty dang rich. But many millionaires, ourselves included, don’t meet the profile that the media has built. If you read the fabulous book The Millionaire Next Door, you’ll find most do not flaunt their wealth with yachts or Mercedes cars. Most of them could walk around town and no one would know for sure what their worth was.. We are approaching the 2 million mark now……I wonder if that will make me feel twice as rich?
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Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
I have read the book but I must say I don’t feel it. Perhaps it is because my partner keeps saying how we can’t afford things on our joint budget 😉
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ArianaAuburn
It would be enough, only because my perspective is affected by the lack of experience. Once the “million-dollar” threshold is reached, then my perspective would change. The mindset of having “enough” is psychological: I feel like I have “enough” even though I have FAR, FAR LESS than that threshold.
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Michael Proulx
Your remark about “feeling twice as rich” reminded me of a remark I love attributed to Arnold Schwarzenegger: “A million dollars doesn’t make you happier. I’m no happier now that I have $20 million than I was when I only had 19!”
Cheers.
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I’ve re-read this post for 2nd time. I think achieving a conservatively very high number of NW is a good life goal aspiration. I would LOVE to be a billionaire like from Crazy Rich Asians and go on collecting antique furniture from Christies auctions. It is timely that this podcast episode with guest Suze Orman from Paula Pant’s podcast Afford Anything http://podcast.affordanything.com/153-hate-fire-movement-suze-orman/ mentions that several millions of NW won’t be enough to live on when you’re alive in the 60-90s.