Our NW is around $50m and doesn’t include real estate, irrevocable trusts, multiple 529s and charitable trust. We don’t fly private (except during Covid) or drive luxury cars but we are members of three clubs. We made $ the old fashioned way - 40 years of hard work, saving a big % of our income and investing wisely. I doubt that any of our friends would guess our NW is what it is because we are far from flashy. We like it that way!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some posts make it seem very rare (which I’d expect), and others make it seem like every attorney in DC has twice this by age 40. We are 60 and our NW at this level is from a combo of inheritance and recent market growth. Not quite sure how we fit in. Country club members seem like they’re all regularly flying private to mansions Aspen, which doesn’t seem prudent even at this NW.

My old CEO had a network of 100 million and a 10 million income and felt poor, he did lose his job at 52 and never worked again. You need at least one billion to be rich.

The bolded quote might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read.

$30m - pretty much all family money.

I recently inherited $7.3 million. I was lucky to be born into the right family and in a country that doesn't really tax inheritance.

Anonymous wrote:Some posts make it seem very rare (which I’d expect), and others make it seem like every attorney in DC has twice this by age 40. We are 60 and our NW at this level is from a combo of inheritance and recent market growth. Not quite sure how we fit in. Country club members seem like they’re all regularly flying private to mansions Aspen, which doesn’t seem prudent even at this NW.

My old CEO had a network of 100 million and a 10 million income and felt poor, he did lose his job at 52 and never worked again. You need at least one billion to be rich.

Anonymous wrote:We’re at $15M in our late 30s. No inheritance.

We most definitely do not fly private. Even first class only happens when we do a couples trip, and even that is only once every few years.

Agreed with PPs that the people we know who do fly private generally are worth >$100M.

How did you hit $15M so relatively young?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Plenty of liars on this forum. You have to be a consistent high earner (close to 7 figures)
And/or inherited significant $$ at a younger age (pre 40) to have 15m nw. The cost of living here along with raising children chews up significant part of your earnings. We are close to 60 with a 8m nw, with consustent high earnings, simple living, with zero inheritance. We do expect to inherit around 2m within 5 years so even with that we are not going to be close to 15 at age 65 or so.

1. Most people have no incentive to lie on DCUM.

2. We are worth 20M+, no high income ever, no inheritance yet. It's solely due to lucky investments in the stock market. It happens more often than you realize. We know a few other people in the DC area who made their millions that way, all from the middle class. We all live non-flashy lives.

Yup…having 20m and spending your Saturday on a forum would certainly qualify as a non flashy existence. lol

We’re at $15M in our late 30s. No inheritance.

We most definitely do not fly private. Even first class only happens when we do a couples trip, and even that is only once every few years.

Agreed with PPs that the people we know who do fly private generally are worth >$100M.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I expect to be at $15M at some point in our 50s. We are early 50s with $9.5M invested assets and a very likely $2M inheritance coming. We are not retired and not spending down assets. We live in a townhome in Rockville and don't expect that to change. But we are not there yet.

You can do better than a dingy TH. Live a bit

Honestly, it's way less hassle, which means less stress. PP has a good thing going.

Anonymous wrote:No. Plenty of liars on this forum. You have to be a consistent high earner (close to 7 figures)
And/or inherited significant $$ at a younger age (pre 40) to have 15m nw. The cost of living here along with raising children chews up significant part of your earnings. We are close to 60 with a 8m nw, with consustent high earnings, simple living, with zero inheritance. We do expect to inherit around 2m within 5 years so even with that we are not going to be close to 15 at age 65 or so.

1. Most people have no incentive to lie on DCUM.

2. We are worth 20M+, no high income ever, no inheritance yet. It's solely due to lucky investments in the stock market. It happens more often than you realize. We know a few other people in the DC area who made their millions that way, all from the middle class. We all live non-flashy lives.

Anonymous wrote:I expect to be at $15M at some point in our 50s. We are early 50s with $9.5M invested assets and a very likely $2M inheritance coming. We are not retired and not spending down assets. We live in a townhome in Rockville and don't expect that to change. But we are not there yet.

You can do better than a dingy TH. Live a bit

I expect to be at $15M at some point in our 50s. We are early 50s with $9.5M invested assets and a very likely $2M inheritance coming. We are not retired and not spending down assets. We live in a townhome in Rockville and don't expect that to change. But we are not there yet.

The DMV is unique because the government gives our extravagant contracts to consultants etc. If you are likely to get into this niche early in your career you will be very rich.

The quickest way to be rich is if your income is from the taxpayer and you invest early and live below your means. You will be a millionaire very quickly.

Anonymous wrote:Some posts make it seem very rare (which I’d expect), and others make it seem like every attorney in DC has twice this by age 40. We are 60 and our NW at this level is from a combo of inheritance and recent market growth. Not quite sure how we fit in. Country club members seem like they’re all regularly flying private to mansions Aspen, which doesn’t seem prudent even at this NW.

You can do a search for “decamillionaires” and find out all about our peer group.

We’re five years older than you and have a slightly higher net worth. No inheritance yet, just high wages with appreciation from real estate and investments. No money frittered away on private schools, bad timeshares, first-class flights, and money-losing hobbies.

If you don’t want younger generations to hate you any more than they already do, keep a low profile because some of your wealth is due to hard work and a lot is due to luck.

No. Plenty of liars on this forum. You have to be a consistent high earner (close to 7 figures)
And/or inherited significant $$ at a younger age (pre 40) to have 15m nw. The cost of living here along with raising children chews up significant part of your earnings. We are close to 60 with a 8m nw, with consustent high earnings, simple living, with zero inheritance. We do expect to inherit around 2m within 5 years so even with that we are not going to be close to 15 at age 65 or so.