Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like the real question is what percentage of these people got here actually on their own. Meaning their parents or other family member didn't pay for their college, didn't give annual gifts, didn't buy them a car, didn't inherit. I bet it is just a handful.

You want to see people whose parents weren't able to contribute a single cent to them post-18? At this point, just ask for people who were grew up in an orphanage.

Immigrants. I had to send money home while working here illegally from age 18-30. From 30-42 I finally finished college (took me 17 years), had two kids, and bought 2 properties, one here, one abroad, which didn't go up much.
Sold the properties at 42, put the money into market and retired.
I remember having extra $400-$500 left over every month at 18 working low wage service job. I had nowhere to put the money because I wasn't allowed to bank in US and stock market wasn't available in the old county. I also couldn't go to school or buy a home. Such a waste of time. I remember 1-bedrooms being $70k in Adams Morgan. My sister and I would have paid that off in 5 years right as it went up to $300k.
Had I known anything about stock market, I would have skipped real estate at 30. I didn't buy at the top, but stock market would have been a better place for my money.
I always wondered why Americans didn't invest in stock market.

Anonymous wrote:I feel like the real question is what percentage of these people got here actually on their own. Meaning their parents or other family member didn't pay for their college, didn't give annual gifts, didn't buy them a car, didn't inherit. I bet it is just a handful.

Passing for college if you can is the standard thing to do for the middle class and above. Maybe if you're extremely wealthy you skip college. But mostly boomer parents pay for their kids' college if possible. So i don't consider that a leg up. But a trust fund, inherirance, downpayment on a house, yes absolutely.

Anonymous wrote:I feel like the real question is what percentage of these people got here actually on their own. Meaning their parents or other family member didn't pay for their college, didn't give annual gifts, didn't buy them a car, didn't inherit. I bet it is just a handful.

You want to see people whose parents weren't able to contribute a single cent to them post-18? At this point, just ask for people who were grew up in an orphanage.

Anonymous wrote:If you have 5-10M net worth and are in your 50’s. Can you describe how you got there? Just curious. And only if it’s self made. No parent money to start you off.

The old fashioned way. Spending less and saving more. From the very beginning. Never made more than $400k and that has only been the last 10 years. No childcare expenses due to a parent SAH. Living a simple life.

I feel like the real question is what percentage of these people got here actually on their own. Meaning their parents or other family member didn't pay for their college, didn't give annual gifts, didn't buy them a car, didn't inherit. I bet it is just a handful.

We live in ohio . Net worth 4.5mil at age 44/47

Aim for 10mil by 55/58.
My husband is working 0.8fte but he d like to ramp up because he love his work. I’m going down to 0.5 fte in a few months.

We got there by living wayyyyy below our mean. Invest and work a lot.

We live in NOVA. Age 44 & 45 combined net worth is $3.7M. All on our own without any family help. HHI $450k.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know for sure, but many have $$$ and take multiple vacations per year, but cry poor and don’t have enough to retire. Makes me wonder if they are truly living hand to mouth but give the illusion of having a lot of money with the lifestyle they are living.

In DCUMlandia it seems everyone has HHI of $400k* though the statistics for the area beyond DCUM show that’s higher than most households here.

So what is going on? Are they claiming “poor” or middle class just to fit in? Or are they overspending significantly.

FWIW only 1% of American households have a NW of $3M by the time they are 55.

55, just retired (Jan 2), have $3.7 in retirement funds (trad and Roth IRAs, brokerage, etc), and a paid off home conservatively worth $1.5 million. Fortunately, due to former employer, we have Healthcare for life. Youngest graduates from college this spring

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have that kind of NW, and I can defend the “not rich” comment. I am not going to claim poverty but it’s not really accessible. I’m a 57 year old fed single parent. My TSP is sitting at around 2m, I have whatever equity I have in my close-in townhouse that I bought years ago, I have whatever you value a federal pension at, and a few cash accounts, cds, bonds, etc. This is not FU money, fly business/firsf class money to high end resort several times a year money, or buy a Lamborghini money. My car is 12 years old. I got here by being careful and saving, and it will last me in retirement because I don’t spend like a drunken sailor either. I appreciate that I am secure unlike so many Americans, but when all your NW is tied up in a couple of vehicles that on some level you have no control over (eg primary residence) this is not the “rich” class.

+1 my situation is very similar. Well said. I am very comfortable relative to the US population and feel very fortunate but it’s not what many people think of as “rich”.

I guess I have that kind of NW, and I can defend the “not rich” comment. I am not going to claim poverty but it’s not really accessible. I’m a 57 year old fed single parent. My TSP is sitting at around 2m, I have whatever equity I have in my close-in townhouse that I bought years ago, I have whatever you value a federal pension at, and a few cash accounts, cds, bonds, etc. This is not FU money, fly business/firsf class money to high end resort several times a year money, or buy a Lamborghini money. My car is 12 years old. I got here by being careful and saving, and it will last me in retirement because I don’t spend like a drunken sailor either. I appreciate that I am secure unlike so many Americans, but when all your NW is tied up in a couple of vehicles that on some level you have no control over (eg primary residence) this is not the “rich” class.

Anonymous wrote:Read the millionaire next door, OP. Those who are spending for show generally are not the ones with a high NW. It’s the ones living in a modest home driving non-flashy older cars who have/are building wealth.

I have but there seem way more $3M+ NW posters here than one would expect even on a site like this that attracts wealthier types

Anonymous wrote:If you have 5-10M net worth and are in your 50’s. Can you describe how you got there? Just curious. And only if it’s self made. No parent money to start you off.

Fully funded retirement since my 1st job. Bought my 1st place after my 1st job and bought next place after I moved and did not sell the 1st place and rented it, repeated this process.

I own 3 houses from above. Then bought a beach house as investment. All my real estate has done really well.

I’m invested aggressively in my retirement and brokerage fund since I’m young.

NW almost 5 million. BTW I’m a woman and all of the above I did on my own independently before I got married except for the beach house. Bought that shortly after I got married and with my own funds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t know but assume most people i know have more than $3m by 55 even without including their house. I have more than that just in my 401k.

I make 7 figures but don’t flash it around and am pretty frugal. I’ve lived in the same house for more than 25 years and paid it off several years ago. That’s why I have more than $10m saved.

Did you have access to a very aggressive growth fund for your 401K? I have wondered how people get that high.

I’m 62 and have paid in the max allowed tax deferred since I was in my 20s. Had matching at 2 employers, I think one was 3% and the other 6% of comp up to max. It’s mostly just time/compounding.

Fascinating. We spent below our means. Live in a house that can be afforded on one income. Weve co tributes max to 401k and have other investments. Cars at 10 and 20 years old. We have taken a weekend car trip and paid hotel on points. Visit out of state parents1-2 times per year. Advanced degrees. Eat-in. Mid 50s. NW $2M in NOVA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t know but assume most people i know have more than $3m by 55 even without including their house. I have more than that just in my 401k.

I make 7 figures but don’t flash it around and am pretty frugal. I’ve lived in the same house for more than 25 years and paid it off several years ago. That’s why I have more than $10m saved.

Did you have access to a very aggressive growth fund for your 401K? I have wondered how people get that high.

I’m 62 and have paid in the max allowed tax deferred since I was in my 20s. Had matching at 2 employers, I think one was 3% and the other 6% of comp up to max. It’s mostly just time/compounding.

Anonymous wrote:

My husband bought Apple stock when he was a young adult, before we met. It took a looong time to take off, but now constitutes the bulk of our portfolio. I bought Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet, Tesla (before Elon went off the deep end), Nvidia. They've done very well too. We were poor and could only invest very little, otherwise we'd have much more than 20M now, PP! You don't seem to grasp Apple's valuation over the years.

I'm the PP you responded to. It's kind of a stretch to say I don't grasp Apple's valuation, when I had no idea that was the bulk of your portfolio until you said that. But I am with the others who have replied to your post . . . you have been incredibly and unusually lucky with your investments, and it's completely disingenuous to suggest that everyone who makes $150k could be in your shoes.

+1

It did not make sense to say that PP didn’t grasp the valuation when you didn’t mention it the first time, and not everyone could have such luck.

You mentioned your HHI, which suggested that was your path to 20M, in your original post and you didn’t mention the Apple stock until pressed to say more.