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This is tough question for me because I have a guaranteed non-contributory retirement. I have a few hundred thousand in actual assets, but not anything close to 1 million. But, if you count my retirement, I have around $2,000,000. That is, assuming I live to an average age. I don't really know if that's how it works, but to the question of have I reached $1M.... maybe? Kinda. (late 30s)
We have many friends that have likely met that mark, but we didn't share it with them either. When we hit it, I told my wife. Besides her, I think the only other people we explicitly shared it with were my parents. They made a lot of sacrifices for me and my siblings, and I think they took some comfort (and probably some pride) in knowing how much it all paid off. They knew we were doing well since we had already been helping with a lot of the finances, but that number was still a nice milestone to share with them.
It's interesting to me that you feel comfortable sharing that kind of information with family members. Nobody outside of my spouse, me, and our financial advisor knows the extent of our assets. Not even our children. It's none of their business.
We live a middle class lifestyle. All they know is that we own an average house in a nice(ish) neighborhood, drive older cars, take the occasional vacation, and put away money for the kids to attend college. Everything else we keep close to the chest.
It's interesting to me that you feel comfortable sharing that kind of information with family members. Nobody outside of my spouse, me, and our financial advisor knows the extent of our assets. Not even our children. It's none of their business.
We live a middle class lifestyle. All they know is that we own an average house in a nice(ish) neighborhood, drive older cars, take the occasional vacation, and put away money for the kids to attend college. Everything else we keep close to the chest.
My parents were always pretty open about their own finances. My dad was an accountant for one of NYC's many public sector organizations, so it was pretty much a middle-class upbringing. And when we bought a car (when I was probably in fourth grade), we talked about car loans (and why they paid in cash). When they saved up enough to buy a rental property, we talked about why they took out a mortgage and about the rental income. We talked about delayed gratification, opportunity costs, setting goals and making plans.
For me, I think it helped to have those discussions in the context of actual numbers and decisions my parents were making.
It's interesting to me that you feel comfortable sharing that kind of information with family members. Nobody outside of my spouse, me, and our financial advisor knows the extent of our assets. Not even our children. It's none of their business.
We live a middle class lifestyle. All they know is that we own an average house in a nice(ish) neighborhood, drive older cars, take the occasional vacation, and put away money for the kids to attend college. Everything else we keep close to the chest.
when my children are old enough, i intend to share with them exactly how much i have and exactly what i plan to do with it. i feel it will help them learn how to manage money and also eliminate any questions about my plans for myself and them. i would like for them to see themselves as part of a team and let me help them make sound financial decisions.
nobody right now knows exactly what i have. my wife has full ability to see everything but she doesnt really care (as long as she knows its plenty). id like to teach her some basics in case something happens to me but she has no interest. me and my brother work together so we are able to be very open with each other. its nice to have someone to talk openly with, most people would see it as bragging probably. i disclose things here also. i feel like others may find certain things interesting and i like being able to say things that i cant say in person.
I became a millionaire in the summer of 2013. I do not remember when I became a millionaire not counting the house, or when I had $1 million in investments. Sometime between then and now.
The Millionaire Next Door said that the average millionaire was 57, with 3 children and the wife he originally married. The average annual income was $130,000. Dual Income No Kids (DINK) should have an advantage. If kids are as expensive as some people say, singles with no children should also fare well. The fact that these groups do not tells me there is a mindset correlated with building wealth.
I have often wondered why I was able to become a millionaire right on target at the age of 57, despite being single, and only earning half of the average millionaire's income. I have to assume it was because I share the millionaires' values, not the values of my peers.
Thinking about having $1M is extremely limiting if you ask me.
It's a lot of money.
But if you have a business, it can grow in value from say $1M to $5M almost overnight. It's hard to get to that $1M, but once you hit it, it can quickly become a distant memory. And $5M can turn into $25M just as quick. And so on and so forth. Money, especially large amounts generated though leveraged business operations, can snowball quickly.
My parents were always pretty open about their own finances. My dad was an accountant for one of NYC's many public sector organizations, so it was pretty much a middle-class upbringing. And when we bought a car (when I was probably in fourth grade), we talked about car loans (and why they paid in cash). When they saved up enough to buy a rental property, we talked about why they took out a mortgage and about the rental income. We talked about delayed gratification, opportunity costs, setting goals and making plans.
For me, I think it helped to have those discussions in the context of actual numbers and decisions my parents were making.
I think your parents did a great thing by discussing financial issues with you. More of us need to do this sort of thing with our children.
our kids don't know our exact worth but they have a general feeling because we always discuss business with them . one son is a partner in our real estate venture so he gets what we get in the sales of the real estate .
they also read the articles in money magazine and fidelity investment magazine about us so it is out there regardless .
I like what CaptainNJ said- "when my children are old enough, i intend to share with them exactly how much i have and exactly what i plan to do with it. i feel it will help them learn how to manage money and also eliminate any questions about my plans for myself and them."
My father is (still working) a financial advisor for wealthy and some ultra wealthy clients. He has been in the business almost 50 years but I cannot remember once my father discussing even basic finance let alone investing with a proper asset allocation. I always knew my father made a good living but he was always frugal, living in a middle class neighborhood, driving basic cars- no luxuries etc. Given my upbringing it only is on par for the course I have no idea of what his estate planning looks like or even if he has chosen a POA in the event he becomes incapacitated.
I learned a lot from my depression era Grandparents plus reading, reading & reading more on the subject. Obviously, most of us feel this is also common sense but there are millions of people who just don't get it. Good for your CaptainNJ for taking a lot of the guess work out of it and hopefully saved your children some time on creating a plan for themselves.
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