How does life change once you hit $1 million?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us, hitting $1m in savings was very exciting. It didn't change our life at all - we kept working and saving and getting on with our lives. The hope is to retire at 65 and 63 with about $4m, including $1m home, which we will sell and downsize (not yet sure to where, and, we have time to figure that out).

We are not "DCUM rich," although we realize how lucky we are. Our 2 cars (workhorses) are both over 12 years old, our kids are in public school (and walk there, they do not have cars), we eat 95% of meals at home (dinner together as a family when the kids are not at an activity), and our vacations are not extravagant (VRBO, not hotels, mostly so we can cook some meals at home)

+1 You sound exactly like us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 million is the new 1 million so 1 million means nothing

I went to the financial calculator. To have the buying power of a million dollars back in 1980, you would need approx. $3.6 M in todays currency. Seems about right.

I guess it depends on when you were alive and when you fixated on the idea that 1 million is a lot of money. If you thought 1 m was a lot in 1985, you only need 2.7m to be equivalent. I was 10 in 1995 and I though 1 million was a lot--I wouldn't even have to double it now to be the same.
1 million in 2023 equivalents in other years:

1980: 3539824
1985: 2711909
1990: 2232625
1995: 1914324
2000: 1694024
2005: 1493720
2010: 1337783

[Anonymous]

I just retired at 57 with about $6M plus $2M home fully paid off. I don’t feel rich. Make dinners at home usually, drive Honda and stay in Marriotts. Vacations about $15-$25 a year, which is largest expense. Kids education is funded and not part of $6M. It takes a lot to be wealthy these days, which isn’t me. But certainly happy where am I financially and also grateful.

[Anonymous]

1 million in your 20’s or early 30’s is still a big accomplishment since just from compounding alone it’ll be multiple times that amount by retirement age. If you’re 50+ and just hit 1 million then it’s not as impressive.

[Anonymous]

Late 40s with $6M NW, while making $500k annually. We feel comfortable and secure, but not rich. Can comfortably afford kids college education and annual vacations. But not much else, still flying economy class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just retired at 57 with about $6M plus $2M home fully paid off. I don’t feel rich. Make dinners at home usually, drive Honda and stay in Marriotts. Vacations about $15-$25 a year, which is largest expense. Kids education is funded and not part of $6M. It takes a lot to be wealthy these days, which isn’t me. But certainly happy where am I financially and also grateful.

Well if you’re healthy and lucky, you could live another 40 years. I think it’s prudent that you not begin a life of the rich and famous. Good on you (said in a non-sarcastic way).

[Anonymous]

I think it's less about the dollar amount and more about when you hit your actual savings target. We are in our early 40s with 2 kids, over $1 million net worth but still pretty far short of our combined retirement plus college savings goal, so it felt/feels pretty anticlimactic. But when we finally hit the amount we need and can relax and coast from there, I imagine it will feel amazing!

[Anonymous]

We have just shy of that in equity in our house alone (so I guess that was our lucky investment). It’s not that much money to live on comfortably in DC. When the kids are grown were hoping to use it to buy a small house outright someplace by the water and live off our retirement accounts. Wont be lavish, but it will be enough to live well.

[Anonymous]

Mine didn’t change at all - bc once you hit $1, race for $2 is on. And then oh look the market hiccups so now you’re back below $2 and need to get up there again. IMO the hamster wheel doesn’t stop spinning.

[Anonymous]

I found that as income rose above $1M annually that I was truly starting to leave most of my peers behind. As it surpassed $2M, $3M, $4M I realized that I could no longer financially relate to almost anybody.

Admittedly it was because of some particularly good investments in a single year, plus a really strong other recurring income, but my best tax return yet, had personal income of $13M+. Unfortunately it had a $3M +tax due line item as well (and that was after as much tax deferral as I could muster). Plus another $1M+ in state taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine didn’t change at all - bc once you hit $1, race for $2 is on. And then oh look the market hiccups so now you’re back below $2 and need to get up there again. IMO the hamster wheel doesn’t stop spinning.

^^ this

[Anonymous]

I was super excited when I hit $1M in my retirement accounts (not counting my husband's stuff) in 2021. Then a few months later it was worth $800K lol.

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t sadly

I think $3M and $5M will feel a bit different though…or maybe I’ll just be trying for $10M

Ah the rat race

[Anonymous]

I guess I am at $1 million net worth by now. Honestly it hasn't felt different. I am 41 and am privileged enough to have never had to worry about money during my adult life. So I do not feel relief and accomplishment because I am fortunate enough that money has never been a big source of stress for me. On the flip side, I live in a condo and even with not being worried about money I also feel like I can't afford to live in a house in a neighborhood where I would want to live. I know that an emergency is not going to break me but also that I can't buy anything I want either.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't. It also didn't change at any other NW milestone. The only change was that my husband could retire right at his MRA due to our net worth. I'm still working.