After how much money did you think you "have money"?

[Anonymous]

$5m

[Anonymous]

When my retirement savings hit 1 million. As a single woman who came from a blue collar family and has totally supported myself, that made me proud.

[Anonymous]

We were the tortoise when it came to money as we always saved and invested, saved and invested and while we lived very comfortably, it was well below our means. When we started having grandchildren we decided to set up 529’s and we put in $100k for each baby. We quickly had an army of grandchildren but we had no problem writing the checks. That’s when what we had became reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once we had 5 million

Same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my retirement savings hit 1 million. As a single woman who came from a blue collar family and has totally supported myself, that made me proud.

This was the same milestone for me also, there’s something exciting about hitting 7 figures. I looked around and realized I had everything else taken care of and putting aside a good amount for retirement savings so it continues to grow.

[Anonymous]

when we decided to buy a 2nd home on the water...we already have 5 rentals but those were really for investment purpose. The 2nd home was really for our enjoyment and something just for our own use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up buying clothing at a thrift store that sold it by the weight and was not able to go on school field trips if I didn’t earn the money first. Making six figures for the first time and being able to just put whatever groceries I wanted into my shopping cart without having to re-total to make sure I had enough money is an indescribable feeling.

Yep -- I remember when I couldn't do this. It is a great feeling.

[Anonymous]

When my husband told us we had $1M excluding home equity and 529’s. It was an awesome feeling back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am older and have a high net worth through a combination of 401K, real estate investments, and a relatively small taxable account.

I have always lived well below my means, even at a low income level, and have always had enough money saved to take care of emergencies without panic. I don't shop higher than Safeway and have never stopped looking at price per unit in the grocery store. We drive used cars and very seldom eat out or travel.

Things have changed, however, as I am now supporting an adult child in another state who has developed significant health problems, with a fair amount of medications etc. not covered by insurance. I feel stressed every month when the credit card bill is due; after paying in full, there is so little left and my once healthy emergency fund has dwindled into a mere ghost of its former self.

I am old enough to withdraw from my 401K without penalty, so that has become my emergency fund. I have a colleague in the same position due to adult child medical problems. The first and, thank goodness so far only, time I had to withdraw I consulted with him on how he handled the tax aspect.

Accumulation of $$ not the end game. What happened to your child can come to you. Enjoy a bit.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I think for me it happened when we crossed above 5 mil in net worth. I remember eating a meal for 200 dollars for the four of us and not caring. That was a clear "before/after" event. I understand that there are many experience-focused people for whom a $50/person meal is perfectly normal even with far less net worth. This was just an example, I am sure everyone has their own examples.

Everyone is different OP. We are over 5mil and still don't feel like this PP.

We are way under that an feel like that, PP. Our net worth is about 1.5mil and I’d have no problem dropping $500 on dinner. But we don’t usually spend much and don’t have expensive tastes. Once I paid off my school loans I felt like I had plenty.

Maybe one explains the other.

Yes. The fact that they have 1.5M net worth explains they can afford a fancy dinner.

DH and I had a $1k dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant on our honeymoon, when our NW was like $200k 😀

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I think for me it happened when we crossed above 5 mil in net worth. I remember eating a meal for 200 dollars for the four of us and not caring. That was a clear "before/after" event. I understand that there are many experience-focused people for whom a $50/person meal is perfectly normal even with far less net worth. This was just an example, I am sure everyone has their own examples.

Everyone is different OP. We are over 5mil and still don't feel like this PP.

We are way under that an feel like that, PP. Our net worth is about 1.5mil and I’d have no problem dropping $500 on dinner. But we don’t usually spend much and don’t have expensive tastes. Once I paid off my school loans I felt like I had plenty.

Maybe one explains the other.

Yes. The fact that they have 1.5M net worth explains they can afford a fancy dinner.

DH and I had a $1k dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant on our honeymoon, when our NW was like $200k 😀

We were in our mid-late 20s then. Now 10 years later our NW is 10x what it was but when we get takeout it’s $50 from Cava :-/

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I think for me it happened when we crossed above 5 mil in net worth. I remember eating a meal for 200 dollars for the four of us and not caring. That was a clear "before/after" event. I understand that there are many experience-focused people for whom a $50/person meal is perfectly normal even with far less net worth. This was just an example, I am sure everyone has their own examples.

Everyone is different OP. We are over 5mil and still don't feel like this PP.

We are way under that an feel like that, PP. Our net worth is about 1.5mil and I’d have no problem dropping $500 on dinner. But we don’t usually spend much and don’t have expensive tastes. Once I paid off my school loans I felt like I had plenty.

Maybe one explains the other.

Yes. The fact that they have 1.5M net worth explains they can afford a fancy dinner.

DH and I had a $1k dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant on our honeymoon, when our NW was like $200k 😀

We were in our mid-late 20s then. Now 10 years later our NW is 10x what it was but when we get takeout it’s $50 from Cava :-/

Hopefully you have kids because no way two people could spend $50 at Cava! Lol.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:So many little things. The big one was when we started wanting to make sure we were enjoying our money vs just saving it. Dh went for his dream car and we paid cash easily. Just pulled it from checking. No big emergency could derail our lives. We need a 12k roof? Okay. New hvac? Sure- let’s get the energy efficient one, not necessarily the cheapest.

People who have a “dream car” are pathetic. Sorry.

Huh? How is a dream car any different than your ambitions? If that's what brings him joy, let him go for it. Please tell us what your 'non-pathetic' dreams are..

Crickets, of course.

Not anything as pathetic as a friggin' car. That's for sure.

Crickets…again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:honestly? not until after like 2.5 million

Our NW is technically around 2.5M but it's all in retirement accounts and home equity. We don't feel like we can splurge on things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:honestly? not until after like 2.5 million

Our NW is technically around 2.5M but it's all in retirement accounts and home equity. We don't feel like we can splurge on things.

Same. But that’s also because we’d like the option to retire early.

But agree with PP’s that unexpected expenses or temporary job losses no longer phase us so that’s nice.