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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread. I have a net worth of 1.4 million (1.2 excluding primary residence). Diversified assets including rental properties and retirement accounts.

Agree, I am broke all the time. I don't have too much Cash (around 45K). I make 250K flat. I feel broke all the time. I have credit card debt. I eat out a lot. Have a wife and three kids. Drive expensive luxury suvs.

My expenses are 15K a month.

I'm surprised you were able to save so much with your spending habits!

Wait, how are you netting enough to spend 15k. One of us makes 280 and the next is like 10 before extra tax
Payments that we make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According the the Feds & Forbes a "Certified Millionaire" is a person who has a million dollar's in assets EXCLUDING their primary RESIDENCE

I do not understand this exclusion at all. Does this mean that a person who owns their 99K condo outright has the same net worth as a person who owns their 999K house outright, assuming everything else is equal? Makes no sense.

The SEC has a term of art for "accredited investors" defined as people with $1M in assets excluding primary residence and $200k+ income ($300k+ for couples). There are a whole bunch of consumer protections that get waived for people who fall into this class because they are "sophisticated" investors. The idea is that if they have that much money to invest, they can afford greater risk and they have the experience to spot scams. The result is that shady folks in the financial industry prey on little old widows, alcoholic chiropractors, car dealers, and professional athletes because they have money but little financial sophistication. Just remember, every penny that someone spends to sell investments to you comes directly out of your pocket whether it is a dinner at Ruth's Chris or a private plane ride to the All-Star game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread. I have a net worth of 1.4 million (1.2 excluding primary residence). Diversified assets including rental properties and retirement accounts.

Agree, I am broke all the time. I don't have too much Cash (around 45K). I make 250K flat. I feel broke all the time. I have credit card debt. I eat out a lot. Have a wife and three kids. Drive expensive luxury suvs.

My expenses are 15K a month.

I'm surprised you were able to save so much with your spending habits!

Wait, how are you netting enough to spend 15k. One of us makes 280 and the next is like 10 before extra tax
Payments that we make.

I am always struggling every month but have invested wisely, major matches on 401k, real estate investments, etc. My financial adviser said I would be well over two million had I saved more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According the the Feds & Forbes a "Certified Millionaire" is a person who has a million dollar's in assets EXCLUDING their primary RESIDENCE

I do not understand this exclusion at all. Does this mean that a person who owns their 99K condo outright has the same net worth as a person who owns their 999K house outright, assuming everything else is equal? Makes no sense.

Your house is not money. It's a house. In order to turn it into money you have to move out of it to sell it. Since they assume people need to live sonewhere, they count it as your house and not a pile if money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According the the Feds & Forbes a "Certified Millionaire" is a person who has a million dollar's in assets EXCLUDING their primary RESIDENCE

I do not understand this exclusion at all. Does this mean that a person who owns their 99K condo outright has the same net worth as a person who owns their 999K house outright, assuming everything else is equal? Makes no sense.

Your house is not money. It's a house. In order to turn it into money you have to move out of it to sell it. Since they assume people need to live sonewhere, they count it as your house and not a pile if money.

It is not money, but it is an asset. If I leave DC and move to a low cost of living area, I will have the cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HaHaHa...of course you're a millionaire just like Dr. Evil! The only issue is that a million dollars isn't worth as much as it was in 1950. Only 2-3% of Americans have net worth over $1M. So you should feel pretty special. But, that means there are 10 million other people who are as wealthy or wealthier. You can pity yourself for not being super wealthy or you can be grateful for being so much more fortunate than 98% of the rest of the population.

BTW - If you and your spouse have household assets worth $1M, your individual net worth is just $500k. And, what are those of you with large assets but low income doing with your assets? Shouldn't you be earning far more from your investments than from your 9-5 paying under $100k? If so, when will you hit your number and start enjoying your money?

This is false. $1M net worth gets you into the top 9.4%.

[Anonymous]

Liquidity, such as cash and cash equivalents like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds OUTSIDE of retirement accounts, is a far more meaningful measure of wealth than is net worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According the the Feds & Forbes a "Certified Millionaire" is a person who has a million dollar's in assets EXCLUDING their primary RESIDENCE

I do not understand this exclusion at all. Does this mean that a person who owns their 99K condo outright has the same net worth as a person who owns their 999K house outright, assuming everything else is equal? Makes no sense.

I agree that it makes no sense to exclude one's residence. With everything else being equal, a person who rents a condo for $2K per month would have the same net worth as his next door neighbor who pays $2000 mortgage but has $500K equity in the condo. Or with everything else being equal, a person who puts a small downpayment on a house and therefore has lots of liquid money would have more wealth than someone who puts a large downpayment on his house.

[Anonymous]

Net worth about $3 million, late 40s and early 50s. I consider myself a millionaire in the definitional sense but not a truly wealthy person. I still watch the budget and look at our waste expenses. We had a terrible year with a house renovation that went sideways and huge expenses for a special needs child. So, I don't feel secure in that sense that "millionaire" suggests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HaHaHa...of course you're a millionaire just like Dr. Evil! The only issue is that a million dollars isn't worth as much as it was in 1950. Only 2-3% of Americans have net worth over $1M. So you should feel pretty special. But, that means there are 10 million other people who are as wealthy or wealthier. You can pity yourself for not being super wealthy or you can be grateful for being so much more fortunate than 98% of the rest of the population.

BTW - If you and your spouse have household assets worth $1M, your individual net worth is just $500k. And, what are those of you with large assets but low income doing with your assets? Shouldn't you be earning far more from your investments than from your 9-5 paying under $100k? If so, when will you hit your number and start enjoying your money?

We have assets of nearly $1.4 million. About $800k if you exclude our primary residence. Our investments have gained $30k since the beginning of the year, which is probably on par with our HHI (about $90k). But we're not touching it for daily expenses. Most is in IRAs or other retirement vehicles.

[Anonymous]

I personally considered myself reaching a million dollar net worth when I was looking at my current liquid assets. That means nothing in 529s, real estate, retirement, vehicles, etc. It had to be in accounts I could take immediately with no penalties. So even a CD was excluded. This was my own personal definition, but then again your question asked what I considered to be a millionaire in myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally considered myself reaching a million dollar net worth when I was looking at my current liquid assets. That means nothing in 529s, real estate, retirement, vehicles, etc. It had to be in accounts I could take immediately with no penalties. So even a CD was excluded. This was my own personal definition, but then again your question asked what I considered to be a millionaire in myself.

Sure, but you should realize how irrational or that standard is. No one in their right mind would keep a million dollars in highly liquid cash equivalents, especially if even CDs don't count.

Scratch that, if you had 100 Mil, then maybe one mil sitting idle isn't really that big of a deal. Kind of like how you may not care if you had 10k sitting in checking if you have $1M net worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally considered myself reaching a million dollar net worth when I was looking at my current liquid assets. That means nothing in 529s, real estate, retirement, vehicles, etc. It had to be in accounts I could take immediately with no penalties. So even a CD was excluded. This was my own personal definition, but then again your question asked what I considered to be a millionaire in myself.

Sure, but you should realize how irrational or that standard is. No one in their right mind would keep a million dollars in highly liquid cash equivalents, especially if even CDs don't count.

Scratch that, if you had 100 Mil, then maybe one mil sitting idle isn't really that big of a deal. Kind of like how you may not care if you had 10k sitting in checking if you have $1M net worth.

Huh? I consider that million liquid if it is in stocks since one could immediately liquidity it. Lots of people in their "right minds" keep millionS in stocks.