Why do people with millions of dollars still work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us, worth $10M (then deduct $1.5M home paid off, $1M for 3 kids 529s - still middle and high school). So we are roughly $7.5M investments. We will work until all kids are out of college in about 8 years, and we will be roughly 60, and hopefully be closer to $20+M. Plan for kids to go to grad school, but that is covered in the 529. We live in a smaller house in a popular area near metro and nightlife. We do save about 1/2 our salaries, and one of us makes much more than the other (one is a government employee) and the other a professional.

You only have 18 years left before you’re 70. You really want to use 8 of those years to get another $10M? What’s the point if you don’t have an extravagant life and actually need it?

[Anonymous]

You need 5 million to retire at 67 if you don’t die young.

You need 10-20 million to retire young.

Look if I retired young at 57 I had two kids in college which cost 80k a year plus my family medical would be 24k plus my house is 60k a year plus plus 48k in living expense.

I be pulling cash at 57. Even 5 million be gone quick. At 70 folks downsize, kids done college and moved out.

At 50 it crazy time. I was making 400k spending early all with two kids in college and all my other stuff and I had 1/2 paid for in 529.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is home all day assigning chores with a pet I am allergic to.

If I want to cough, sneeze, choke while cleaning up garage, scrubbing toilets, going to supermarket all day I could stay home.

I go to office 5 days a week with a semi remote job.

sounds like a healthy relationship

Some people subscribe to the "It's cheaper to keep her" philosophy.

I have two choices divorce lose everything or put up with it. Pretty much describes 90 percent of men.

Men work cause they don’t want to be home. Women stay home as they don’t want to work.

Most men are older than wife yet work many years longer.

At work there is freedom and respect.

Wouldn’t you lose 1/2, not “everything?”

You should have married another professional if you did not want to support your spouse.

It sounds like you are working to avoid your home life, which is no way to spend your final years.

Don’t you deserve better? That us worth some cash.

[Anonymous]

Make hay while the sun shines.

You never know what’s around the corner.

[Anonymous]

Something to do. The life of idle luxury isn't as appealing as it may sound. The only people who get away with genuinely idle luxury are the very rich because they have an entire world and social set built around full time leisure.

Having 5-10M in the bank doesn't classify you as very rich, which means anywhere you live all your peers and neighbors will be working or doing something productive. So what are you going to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something to do. The life of idle luxury isn't as appealing as it may sound. The only people who get away with genuinely idle luxury are the very rich because they have an entire world and social set built around full time leisure.

Having 5-10M in the bank doesn't classify you as very rich, which means anywhere you live all your peers and neighbors will be working or doing something productive. So what are you going to do?

Who said anything about luxury? One can easily be idle middle-class with 5-10M. $5M is $150-200K in annual drawdown (3-4%). The vast majority of middle class people don't spend that much in a year. Easily doable.

Also get rid of the notion of having to do something and being answerable to neighbors and friends. I'm plenty happy doing nothing. Try it. Set your own expectations. Don't let society do that.

[Anonymous]

I am not super wealthy but have a job that regularly brings me into contact with the wealthiest people in the area. Based on what I've observed, I would say it's not the money they are after at that point, but the power. Many have had money their whole lives, and for others money was never the goal. But they all strive for power. Political power is the goal of many, but others seem just to enjoy being able to manipulate everything and everyone they see, and having people suck up at every level to benefit from their largess. Once they step back from the work, they lose a lot of relevancy, and don't have the opportunity as often to wield influence just for the sake of wielding it. The recognition given so easily to these people is also a big draw - some truly hideously evil people are routinely given awards for this and that, little of it earned except through donations or sitting on some board (almost always for PR), or giving a speech here and there or having someone ghost write a book, but their goal is clearly the awards gala and the reputation-building press releases. Not a lot of awards given for sitting by the pool or playing golf all day.

[Anonymous]

I’m not reading everything posted so far - but for me ($30m in bank)

I still work - personal fulfillment, leading ppl, teams. Sense of accomplishment and purpose.

Life is not only about getting up late; puttering around your house.

What is your legacy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me it’s not even my work that I dislike, it’s everything else about it - the waking up early getting out of your warm bed on a cold dark winter morning, crappy long commute, have to answer to other people, being compelled to to go work even when you’re not feeling it that day, 5 days week, not having enough time for hobbies, exercise, home cooking, travel, spending time with your family - at least not without feeling like your life is hectic. WFH was supposed to fix some of this but now it’s going away in most places. Also NEEDING to live in a HCOL area with terrible traffic and everyone around you is an obsessive overachiever sucks too.

I ONLY work for money at this point, as soon as I have a few mil I’m gone. I don’t get people with 7+ million dollars who still choose to grind away their young healthy years in the rat race in, to be honest, a crappy city like DC (or any other HCOL area for that matter).

I left my lucrative profession. Life is short and there is more to it than a job. Obviously, you can keep making money and aim to become richer and richer but everyone doesn't worship money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something to do. The life of idle luxury isn't as appealing as it may sound. The only people who get away with genuinely idle luxury are the very rich because they have an entire world and social set built around full time leisure.

Having 5-10M in the bank doesn't classify you as very rich, which means anywhere you live all your peers and neighbors will be working or doing something productive. So what are you going to do?

Can I tell you, the life of idle luxury is GREAT. The key is, you need enough money to fund the pursuit of whatever non- or low-paid thing you want to do. It could be a sport or making art or sailing or starting a non-profit or whatever. There are a zillion non- or low-paid things that are a wonderful use of “full time,” whether everyone approves or not, but for most of them you need more money than you would calculate just to “retire.” Sometimes a lot more for the really fun ones.

[Anonymous]

Go on the Reddit FATFIRE forum.

5 to 10 is not much to do anything and everything you want to do. Also depends on your lifestyle.


50… That’s the number I can get behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not super wealthy but have a job that regularly brings me into contact with the wealthiest people in the area. Based on what I've observed, I would say it's not the money they are after at that point, but the power. Many have had money their whole lives, and for others money was never the goal. But they all strive for power. Political power is the goal of many, but others seem just to enjoy being able to manipulate everything and everyone they see, and having people suck up at every level to benefit from their largess. Once they step back from the work, they lose a lot of relevancy, and don't have the opportunity as often to wield influence just for the sake of wielding it. The recognition given so easily to these people is also a big draw - some truly hideously evil people are routinely given awards for this and that, little of it earned except through donations or sitting on some board (almost always for PR), or giving a speech here and there or having someone ghost write a book, but their goal is clearly the awards gala and the reputation-building press releases. Not a lot of awards given for sitting by the pool or playing golf all day.

Life is a game. The people who play the game the best, generally are the happiest and most successful.

Dropping out of the game does not bring happiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not super wealthy but have a job that regularly brings me into contact with the wealthiest people in the area. Based on what I've observed, I would say it's not the money they are after at that point, but the power. Many have had money their whole lives, and for others money was never the goal. But they all strive for power. Political power is the goal of many, but others seem just to enjoy being able to manipulate everything and everyone they see, and having people suck up at every level to benefit from their largess. Once they step back from the work, they lose a lot of relevancy, and don't have the opportunity as often to wield influence just for the sake of wielding it. The recognition given so easily to these people is also a big draw - some truly hideously evil people are routinely given awards for this and that, little of it earned except through donations or sitting on some board (almost always for PR), or giving a speech here and there or having someone ghost write a book, but their goal is clearly the awards gala and the reputation-building press releases. Not a lot of awards given for sitting by the pool or playing golf all day.

Life is a game. The people who play the game the best, generally are the happiest and most successful.

Dropping out of the game does not bring happiness.

Ummm. What

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go on the Reddit FATFIRE forum.

5 to 10 is not much to do anything and everything you want to do. Also depends on your lifestyle.

50… That’s the number I can get behind.

$50mil? That's a pipe dream for almost everyone including you. Basically you will be working until you drop dead. good plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not super wealthy but have a job that regularly brings me into contact with the wealthiest people in the area. Based on what I've observed, I would say it's not the money they are after at that point, but the power. Many have had money their whole lives, and for others money was never the goal. But they all strive for power. Political power is the goal of many, but others seem just to enjoy being able to manipulate everything and everyone they see, and having people suck up at every level to benefit from their largess. Once they step back from the work, they lose a lot of relevancy, and don't have the opportunity as often to wield influence just for the sake of wielding it. The recognition given so easily to these people is also a big draw - some truly hideously evil people are routinely given awards for this and that, little of it earned except through donations or sitting on some board (almost always for PR), or giving a speech here and there or having someone ghost write a book, but their goal is clearly the awards gala and the reputation-building press releases. Not a lot of awards given for sitting by the pool or playing golf all day.

Life is a game. The people who play the game the best, generally are the happiest and most successful.

Dropping out of the game does not bring happiness.

Wut? The PP is describing a situation not too diff from a football player. If they stay in the game, they run the risk of injury, pain and later-in-life brain damage. If they quit, they become nobodies. Pick your poison.