People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?

[Anonymous]

We have over $5 million NW and I hate to say it but I don’t think it’s enough to retire. The stock market seems frothy - I just don’t trust it. Plus healthcare. At 49 it hasn’t even crossed our minds that we could retire now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people just have that dog in them despite being worth $5M or $20M or $100M or whatever.

Yes. I am the first woman on either side of my family to have a graduate degree and I'd like to leave lots of money to future generations. It's a ego thing, I freely admit it.

How could that feed your ego? Your descendants won't care. They'll just take it. You'll be forgotten quicker than you can imagine.

It feeds my ego to be an executive rather than a retired old lady.

That is so sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people just have that dog in them despite being worth $5M or $20M or $100M or whatever.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because we want $10m to retire.

Why? Give us an outline of your retirement plans and why you need that much to achieve them, then explain why those plans are so important and desirable that they're worth giving up more of your prime years working to achieve them. I'm genuinely curious. After all, time is limited--for all of us.

Np. Working is not “giving up” one’s prime years just because I have $5M invested. It’s a choice about how we want to spend our time, and some of our years. There’s a sense of fulfillment from that, and it’s no less valuable than puttering around in a vegetable garden.

Oh, please. I retired with less than that and we have a gardener. Your "sense of fulfillment" is more likely from deriving your self-worth and identity from your job title and paycheck. And let's face it, most high paying jobs don't contribute jack shit to society. It's not like you're a fire fighter or something.

This is pretty ignorant. Partner at Goldman Sachs contributes just about everything you do. Without the capital raising nothing you do in your life would exist or exist the way it does now. Computers, cars, electronics, leisure, air travel, the banking industry so you can but a home -- nothing.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people just have that dog in them despite being worth $5M or $20M or $100M or whatever.

This.

This is DH but he’s also a bit of a miser so it’s not a good situation.

[Anonymous]

I quit my teaching job when we hit $5m. I just couldn't put in another 5 years. We pay out of pocket for insurance for 3, while my DH is on Medicare.

[Anonymous]

1) Wife
2) Children

Most men I work with who are high income with high savings have a SAHM wife who spends, and four or five kids who spend.

Have a trade up home and cars and still the guy who pays for everything, family vacations, kids on medical plan, kids on netflix, car insurance, phone plan.

When I hit 5 million I had 360K income. that is 30K a month in the door, my 5 million is not replacing 30K a month income. Let alone my company is my medical, dental, vision, 401k match, partial phone plan. I break even at 260K a year. So 360K I am saving a lot. At retired I am pulling around 20K a month out of my 5 million. Do the math it is gone quick.

I need to be an empty nestor all kids gone, off medical and home paid off to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my teaching job when we hit $5m. I just couldn't put in another 5 years. We pay out of pocket for insurance for 3, while my DH is on Medicare.

Possibly about to go on this path in about 6 months. How much is health/dental/vision insurance on the exchange for 2? A plan with great coverage, as that is what we would be leaving from my current job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retired people generally are:
- Relatively old
- Have similar aged retired people to hang out with
- Have kids that are grown up and moved out
- Feel content in what they've accomplished in life

Unless those things are true it's pretty unpleasant to retire.

We're late 30s with way more than $5M, but what would we do with our time if we retired? We're relatively young, our kids are still in school for 10+ more years, and our friends all still work. We also feel like we can do interesting things in our jobs and get paid a lot of money for it. So we both continue to work.

Also fwiw $5M is not very much to stop working at an early age. The Trinity study wasn't looking at 50 years of retirement, and a family of 4 living on $150k is not much when you consider that most people who reach $5M before retirement age probably made a lot more than that.

$150,000 after tax guaranteed with a paid off house is not tough to live on comfortably, even in a HCOL area, unless you've got 2+ kids in 60k/yr private schools.

+1
Here’s the crux for us - private school. Plus my friends all work. That said DH took a step back to be the driver, cook, organizer, and house anchor. He wants to work but layoffs will happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my teaching job when we hit $5m. I just couldn't put in another 5 years. We pay out of pocket for insurance for 3, while my DH is on Medicare.

Your DH is old enough for medicare and you still have TWO kids on your health insurance?? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because we want $10m to retire.

Why? Give us an outline of your retirement plans and why you need that much to achieve them, then explain why those plans are so important and desirable that they're worth giving up more of your prime years working to achieve them. I'm genuinely curious. After all, time is limited--for all of us.

Np. Working is not “giving up” one’s prime years just because I have $5M invested. It’s a choice about how we want to spend our time, and some of our years. There’s a sense of fulfillment from that, and it’s no less valuable than puttering around in a vegetable garden.

Oh, please. I retired with less than that and we have a gardener. Your "sense of fulfillment" is more likely from deriving your self-worth and identity from your job title and paycheck. And let's face it, most high paying jobs don't contribute jack shit to society. It's not like you're a fire fighter or something.

This is pretty ignorant. Partner at Goldman Sachs contributes just about everything you do. Without the capital raising nothing you do in your life would exist or exist the way it does now. Computers, cars, electronics, leisure, air travel, the banking industry so you can but a home -- nothing.

The state of all of those things you listed is not good right now. Getting worse and worse. Please stop raising so much capital. We’re good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my teaching job when we hit $5m. I just couldn't put in another 5 years. We pay out of pocket for insurance for 3, while my DH is on Medicare.

Your DH is old enough for medicare and you still have TWO kids on your health insurance?? Wow.

Another poster, but I'll be ten years into medicare and they'll still be on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my teaching job when we hit $5m. I just couldn't put in another 5 years. We pay out of pocket for insurance for 3, while my DH is on Medicare.

Your DH is old enough for medicare and you still have TWO kids on your health insurance?? Wow.

Another poster, but I'll be ten years into medicare and they'll still be on.

When you are 75 you will still have more than one child under the age of 26? That's an interesting life choice. When I'm 75 my kids will be in their mid 40's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my teaching job when we hit $5m. I just couldn't put in another 5 years. We pay out of pocket for insurance for 3, while my DH is on Medicare.

Your DH is old enough for medicare and you still have TWO kids on your health insurance?? Wow.

Another poster, but I'll be ten years into medicare and they'll still be on.

When you are 75 you will still have more than one child under the age of 26? That's an interesting life choice. When I'm 75 my kids will be in their mid 40's.

Yeah, very much frowned upon in the US, but perfectly acceptable in a lot of countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my teaching job when we hit $5m. I just couldn't put in another 5 years. We pay out of pocket for insurance for 3, while my DH is on Medicare.

Your DH is old enough for medicare and you still have TWO kids on your health insurance?? Wow.

Another poster, but I'll be ten years into medicare and they'll still be on.

When you are 75 you will still have more than one child under the age of 26? That's an interesting life choice. When I'm 75 my kids will be in their mid 40's.

It's not particularly unusual for men to have children in their late 40s into their 50s.