If you have a networth of $1m plus do you consider yourself a "millionare"?

[Anonymous]

Technically we are millionaires (if you combine mine and husband's assets).

But in reality we neither live nor feel that way. I do think being of reasonable worth now will position us well for retirement in 20 years, but I sure don't feel like we can coast now.

[Anonymous]

Technically, yes, but most of it is retirement funds, which we cannot use until (duh!) retirement. So I guess from a practical standpoint we are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Technically, yes, but most of it is retirement funds, which we cannot use until (duh!) retirement. So I guess from a practical standpoint we are not.

That's not exactly true. You can have it right now with a 10% penalty (which really isn't all that much), or you can have it in five years through a Roth conversion. Hell, there are some investment funds that will lock up your money for five years.

[Anonymous]

Never thought about it.

[Anonymous]

I find it amusing to watch our total assets fluctuate on Mint because we're right under a million, or just over, depending on what time of the months it is and whether we've just been paid, or just paid our bills. Now we're millionaires ... now we're not. It's all fake to me anyway, since it's in our 401Ks and home equity. No guarantee we'll ever see any of that money.

[Anonymous]

month*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't consider home equity of a primary residence or vacation home. I only count productive, or income-generating assets. 401(k)s, stocks in a brokerage account, equity on a rental house, etc. Your primary residence costs you money, it doesn't earn you money, so it's more of a liability.

We own our primary residence outright, plus we have about $1.5M in investments, so based on the latter, I consider myself a millionaire. We're very much Millionaire Next Door types--public schools, normal cars, vacations at the lake--but our $1.5M in investments can be expected to, on average, generate about an 8% annual return, or $120,000 annually before either of us gets out of bed or sits down in a cubicle. If we wanted to live off of it, we could safely withdraw and spend 4% annually, forever, which is more than the median household income in the country.

Where on earth are you getting a guaranteed 8 percent rate of return these days?

[Anonymous]

1 million in DC in 2014 isn't enough to pay for a good house and put 2 kids through school....I'd only consider myself a millionaire if I had those things covered plus an extra million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it ironic that I am a millionaire in net worth -- based on 401K balance and home equity, mostly...but I am living paycheck to paycheck.

You're not putting anything into home equity or 401k?

No...I am paying my Mortgage and putting in 12% total (including company match)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it amusing to watch our total assets fluctuate on Mint because we're right under a million, or just over, depending on what time of the months it is and whether we've just been paid, or just paid our bills. Now we're millionaires ... now we're not. It's all fake to me anyway, since it's in our 401Ks and home equity. No guarantee we'll ever see any of that money.

It's not fake at all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't consider home equity of a primary residence or vacation home. I only count productive, or income-generating assets. 401(k)s, stocks in a brokerage account, equity on a rental house, etc. Your primary residence costs you money, it doesn't earn you money, so it's more of a liability.

We own our primary residence outright, plus we have about $1.5M in investments, so based on the latter, I consider myself a millionaire. We're very much Millionaire Next Door types--public schools, normal cars, vacations at the lake--but our $1.5M in investments can be expected to, on average, generate about an 8% annual return, or $120,000 annually before either of us gets out of bed or sits down in a cubicle. If we wanted to live off of it, we could safely withdraw and spend 4% annually, forever, which is more than the median household income in the country.

My primary residence has appreciated by more than half a million since I bought it (quadrupled in price). Sure I've spent some money on it -- mortgage interest, maintenance and some renovation, but overall it's a massive net gain. It's the best investment I ever made. How is it a liability?

[Anonymous]

You are a millionaire. You feel disappointed because a million ain't what it used to be. You need something on the order of 22 million to be the level of rich people meant back in the day by 'millionaire'. Inflation.

[Anonymous]

Technically, yes, in that when our net worth became > 1M we became "millionaires." I thought it was kind of neat. Not sure what it means to "consider myself" a millionaire, unless you mean to start up the old "I'm not wealthy" debate.

[Anonymous]

Hey, just checked Mint and we've just crossed $1M for "investments," not even including equity. Now that's ... kind of neat I guess. Now back to my racing game where I can pretend to own a Bugatti.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it ironic that I am a millionaire in net worth -- based on 401K balance and home equity, mostly...but I am living paycheck to paycheck.

You're not putting anything into home equity or 401k?

No...I am paying my Mortgage and putting in 12% total (including company match)

It's not really paycheck to paycheck if you're saving 12%