Do you consider a net worth of 2.5 million "rich?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Our net worth is what it is. I didn't say we had a huge HH income. It's interesting how people's opinions change once the "truth" is out. I never purported to be rich in the first place. This is precisely why I'm uncomfortable with people thinking we're rich.

Well you made it a point to emphasize this part " 2.5 million, excluding our home. "

Because everyone knows that real estate was basically a lottery winning for people who bought before 2005l

OP here- I am excluding our home. The 2.5 million is in various bank accounts. The bulk of the money was accumulated through real estate, but excludes the equity in our current home.

What is your net worth excluding money accumulated through real estate

What is the equity in your current home

[Anonymous]

I think you need to exclude retirement and college savings (if any). Presumably retirement isn't cpsomethi g you'd dip into now. I (not "we"...just my part) have almost a million in retirement alone. I don't count that. Like you, I don't include real estate equity in the calculation...and we have 6 homes and a 1/4th ownership interest in an office bldg. then you ask about the amount remaining, could that sustain you forever if you never worked? No...so in my opinion you aren't rich. If one of you has needs long term care in your 80's you'd have nothing left in your 90s. If you divorced, you'd have half of that..,and 1.25 million isn't life sustaining. We have more than you do and don't consider ourselves rich. Just keep plugging along...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Our net worth is what it is. I didn't say we had a huge HH income. It's interesting how people's opinions change once the "truth" is out. I never purported to be rich in the first place. This is precisely why I'm uncomfortable with people thinking we're rich.

Well you made it a point to emphasize this part " 2.5 million, excluding our home. "

Because everyone knows that real estate was basically a lottery winning for people who bought before 2005l

OP here- I am excluding our home. The 2.5 million is in various bank accounts. The bulk of the money was accumulated through real estate, but excludes the equity in our current home.

Wow, are you intentionally acting dense? You got rich b/c you played and won the real estate lottery. I'll bet you think you are shrewd real estate investor, noticing gems before others did, not a luck duck who flipped at the right time but really had no idea when the party would end.

Did you at least realize it was a speculative bubble while you were flipping, or was it really just good fortune your last flip had settled before prices stopped escalating? Though here in DC your risk was minimal since prices never really went down, thank you Bush wars and Bernanke.

But for the sake of all that is good, own up that you got rich from gambling, not by being 'frugal' or other nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to exclude retirement and college savings (if any). Presumably retirement isn't cpsomethi g you'd dip into now. I (not "we"...just my part) have almost a million in retirement alone. I don't count that. Like you, I don't include real estate equity in the calculation...and we have 6 homes and a 1/4th ownership interest in an office bldg. then you ask about the amount remaining, could that sustain you forever if you never worked? No...so in my opinion you aren't rich. If one of you has needs long term care in your 80's you'd have nothing left in your 90s. If you divorced, you'd have half of that..,and 1.25 million isn't life sustaining. We have more than you do and don't consider ourselves rich. Just keep plugging along...

So you don't feel rich because your money is in retirement accounts and you own 6 houses and part of an office building? Now wealth only counts if it is in a bank account, not an investment of any sort? I get that people are uncomfortable labeling themselves rich, maybe because it feels like "rich" people are supposed to be charitable or philanthropic, or maybe the rap videos and movies have you thinking rich means helicopters and 50 foot yachts. You own 6 houses. You are rich. No, you aren't Bill Gates or Oprah, but 99% of American would gladly trade your place for theirs.

As far as OP - you are rich. You have more at 38 than nearly all Americans will when they retire (if they retire). You could stop working now and be okay. You wouldn't be living a champagne and caviar lifestyle, but 75k/year goes a long way, especially if you are truly frugal. You could do at 38 what most won't be able to do at 60 or 70. Doesn't matter that it makes you uncomfortable, doesn't matter that you know people who have more, doesn't matter if you aren't satisfied and want more.

[Anonymous]

OP, we're in roughly the same boat. $3 million net worth, but including our home. I'd say we're comfortable. We're not able to retire yet though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are absolutely, unquestionably rich. If your income from interest equals or exceeds the local median income, ie, you could never work another day in your life and maintain a roof over your head and food on the table, then yeah, you're rich.

And it's offensive to everyone who can't miss a single day of work (or a month, even) without financial catastrophe being the inevitable result to suggest that you are not.

We have $2 million invested but much of that is in retirement accounts, so that kind of nest egg if in tax deferred funds does not produce anywhere near a six figure interest payout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If that's not rich, what is? Not being snarky, genuinely curious what that would be?

Rich is having enough interest income to not have to work ever again. For us, that would take $5 million or more, as we need to except out the $500,000 we expect to spend on the kids' college from our nest egg calculations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I promise I'm not trying to be offensive. It's just that around here, and it seems especially on DCUM, there's a tremendous amount of wealth. I'm not saying I'm not, but with 3 small kids, we're planing to keep on working for the next 20 years, at least. We still have expenses to cover that investment income doesn't cover. The point is, it seems like wealth is everywhere here.

It is not rich. Rich would mean that, in addition to being able to stop working and live off of your investments, you could also send those 3 small kids to whatever school you would chose through college (and maybe even grad school). Well, you would spend down most of your money just to put 3 small kids through private school. Assume $30k+ per child for even 10 years. That's almost 1mm right there and you haven't even paid for college yet. Sad as it sounds, you are comfortable, not rich.

OP here again. Your response summarizes my point. Even though we're not planning on private schools for our kids, we definitely watch our spending carefully. On paper, we may seem "rich" to many people, but in reality, we're living a middle class lifestyle. I appreciate everyone's perspectives.

I am wondering what kind of lifestyle we must be living, then, having many times less money?

Working poor? Having no expectation of ever being able to retire, or to contribute meaningfully to the expense of your childrens' college educations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I promise I'm not trying to be offensive. It's just that around here, and it seems especially on DCUM, there's a tremendous amount of wealth. I'm not saying I'm not, but with 3 small kids, we're planing to keep on working for the next 20 years, at least. We still have expenses to cover that investment income doesn't cover. The point is, it seems like wealth is everywhere here.

It is not rich. Rich would mean that, in addition to being able to stop working and live off of your investments, you could also send those 3 small kids to whatever school you would chose through college (and maybe even grad school). Well, you would spend down most of your money just to put 3 small kids through private school. Assume $30k+ per child for even 10 years. That's almost 1mm right there and you haven't even paid for college yet. Sad as it sounds, you are comfortable, not rich.

OP here again. Your response summarizes my point. Even though we're not planning on private schools for our kids, we definitely watch our spending carefully. On paper, we may seem "rich" to many people, but in reality, we're living a middle class lifestyle. I appreciate everyone's perspectives.

I am wondering what kind of lifestyle we must be living, then, having many times less money?

Exactly.

My net worth is about 1/10 yours, OP, and we don't own a home. This is the "reality" of the middle class.

I think it's hilarious that folks on DCUM seem to think that if they aren't living in Downton Abbey, they must be "middle class"!

This is a serious question. I'm in my late 40s. Do you really think you're middle class if you can't afford to buy a home? To me, that would be lower middle class or working class, unless you are still in your 20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's not what she said. You get rich by making a lot of money AND spending like you make much less. If you actually made much less, you might spend most of it and have little left over.

She didn't mention income at all, just spending below what one earns. The point remains, making a lot of money is where everything starts. It doesn't guarantee wealth accumulation, of course, but it's a necessary condition. I am tired of high earners pretending to have become wealthy by making their own coffee and canceling cable.

You're absolutely right. That's why going into a high paid profession, marrying another high earner and deferring and limiting childbearing are all important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- FWIW, our HH income is around 200k. We got very lucky by buying our first home in 2000, which appreciated tremendously during the real estate boom. We also bought and sold a few properties with minimal down payments within 5 years. That's how we were able to accumulate our assets. All along, we've been savers, maxing out retirement/401k every year. We're definitely not dual income big law, as some might have predicted.

AHHAAA The truth is out! You rode the real estate bubble and flipped houses.

Sorry you didn't make it for real.

NEXT

+1

Jealousy is so ugly. You didn't make it at all or you wouldn't be posting like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If that's not rich, what is? Not being snarky, genuinely curious what that would be?

Rich is having enough interest income to not have to work ever again. For us, that would take $5 million or more, as we need to except out the $500,000 we expect to spend on the kids' college from our nest egg calculations.

Says who? And what does "not having to work ever again" means anyway? Even with less than 500k you could move to a cheaper country n live ina small apartment without working,

Next thing you know,being rich will be owning a fleet of 747s and an airport. Some people here are just ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are absolutely, unquestionably rich. If your income from interest equals or exceeds the local median income, ie, you could never work another day in your life and maintain a roof over your head and food on the table, then yeah, you're rich.

And it's offensive to everyone who can't miss a single day of work (or a month, even) without financial catastrophe being the inevitable result to suggest that you are not.

+1 and thank you for your comments!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I promise I'm not trying to be offensive. It's just that around here, and it seems especially on DCUM, there's a tremendous amount of wealth. I'm not saying I'm not, but with 3 small kids, we're planing to keep on working for the next 20 years, at least. We still have expenses to cover that investment income doesn't cover. The point is, it seems like wealth is everywhere here.

It is not rich. Rich would mean that, in addition to being able to stop working and live off of your investments, you could also send those 3 small kids to whatever school you would chose through college (and maybe even grad school). Well, you would spend down most of your money just to put 3 small kids through private school. Assume $30k+ per child for even 10 years. That's almost 1mm right there and you haven't even paid for college yet. Sad as it sounds, you are comfortable, not rich.

OP here again. Your response summarizes my point. Even though we're not planning on private schools for our kids, we definitely watch our spending carefully. On paper, we may seem "rich" to many people, but in reality, we're living a middle class lifestyle. I appreciate everyone's perspectives.

I am wondering what kind of lifestyle we must be living, then, having many times less money?

Exactly.

My net worth is about 1/10 yours, OP, and we don't own a home. This is the "reality" of the middle class.

I think it's hilarious that folks on DCUM seem to think that if they aren't living in Downton Abbey, they must be "middle class"!

This is a serious question. I'm in my late 40s. Do you really think you're middle class if you can't afford to buy a home? To me, that would be lower middle class or working class, unless you are still in your 20s.

Not the PP, but someone in a similar situation. We can afford to buy a home, just not a home we like in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- FWIW, our HH income is around 200k. We got very lucky by buying our first home in 2000, which appreciated tremendously during the real estate boom. We also bought and sold a few properties with minimal down payments within 5 years. That's how we were able to accumulate our assets. All along, we've been savers, maxing out retirement/401k every year. We're definitely not dual income big law, as some might have predicted.

AHHAAA The truth is out! You rode the real estate bubble and flipped houses.

Sorry you didn't make it for real.

NEXT

+1

Jealousy is so ugly. You didn't make it at all or you wouldn't be posting like this.

not the PP - perhaps "i didnt make it" but then, neither did i flip homes.