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I'd like to know how the people here in their 20s and 30s report such high net worth in the mid-6 figures. I'm 32 and have a higher than average NW for my age but it's 80% due to inheritance... and quite frankly higher than it otherwise would be because the relative happened to die when her investments were at near all-time high points.
I don't really know that much about investing beyond basics, so my main focus is not losing it.
There was no way in hell I could possibly have a high NW on my own. It would get into the mid 6 figures eventually but due to expected raises and increases in home value, equity building.
How a young person could earn so much to build a multi-6 figure NW is incomprehensible to me. Very, very few of my peers make 100K plus unless they live in NYC, Bay Area or Seattle and in those cases their NW is proportional.
Speaking only for my household, here's how it happened for us (early-mid 30's, around 1mm NW)
Neither grew up in a wealthy home (not even close!) Went to a very good college. Willing to relocate for good job opportunities after graduation. Set high goals. VERY IMPORTANT: ALWAYS contributed 401k at least to the company match, even in the leanest of times. Did a stellar job at work--always stand out above the crowd. Willing to take on opportunities, risk, and responsibilities (yes, long hours...) VERY IMPORTANT: right place, right time=luck. It's true. But you have to be the person willing to seize the opportunities and the person others look to when the lucky chances show up.
We moved halfway across the country (a few times, actually) when my DH got a good job offer that would put us more where we wanted to be geographically. Small pay raise, but desirable job at a dynamic company. He's a diligent, hard working, ethical, good guy who also happens to be one of the smartest guys in any given room So when opportunities arose, he was considered for major promotions. He has a reputation for being trustworthy and following through, he's incredibly dependable.
Once our HHI approached $200k, it really snowballed quickly. Our 401K contributions from the very beginning, really started to add up. Got several HUGE bonuses. Plus increases in stock options, regular bonus percentages, etc. It adds up quickly, especially when the markets are going well.
VERY IMPORTANT: Along the way, however, we tried to be frugal and thoughtful about our spending and saving. We listed our priorities and didn't let many other things distract us. We clipped coupons, cooked at home, and and cut back on many "frivolous" expenses. We researched everything we bought (still do many of these things!)
Like aramax has posted, we don't know how long the "good times" will last, but we're thankful for them now. We're enjoying ourselves, but still being responsible. But if our fortunes change, we'll be ok. Our income and net worth don't definite us. Merely enhance us
Oh, and we have no inheritance, AND we have 4 children and have been a one income family for a dozen years
Kids can be great but just because you are "kind" to the doesn't mean they will be there for you later. I've seen plenty of people spend more on their kids, their kids do dumb ***** that their parents paid for that far outweighs cost of long term care
Got to agree with you here.
We definitely don't plan on our kids ADDING anything to our finances, now or in the future. But what they add to our lives in every other area cannot be measured on spreadsheets and in bank accounts. They are well worth many times what they have "cost" us
We definitely don't plan on our kids ADDING anything to our finances, now or in the future. But what they add to our lives in every other area cannot be measured on spreadsheets and in bank accounts. They are well worth many times what they have "cost" us
I wonder does Dylan Roof's parents feel the same way?
Seriously, I always wondered why people go with this notion of having kids so that they have someone to "take care of them or visit them" in old age. WHO is to say your kid does not grow up to be an A-hole and continue to want to live off of you? Or live on welfare? Or make 5 kids from 5 different deadbeats and PIN the grandkids on YOU to raise? Or try to murder you? Or murder someone else and end up in prison for the rest of their life (which means they won't be visiting you if they are in prison)?
I'm personally not having any kids for a variety of reasons, but I don't think one should have kids for the reasons that are usually listed (which are selfish reasons), you should have kids because you have BUILT something and you need to PASS IT ON.
If the majority of kids were created based on this criteria, we probably wouldn't have 75% of people created today. Parents today usually have kids for all types of stupid and selfish reasons such as:
- They don't want to be lonely in old age
- They want to potentially have someone to stay with in old age
- They want another welfare check
- They want to screw over a guy through the child support system
- They were having sex irresponsibly and created an unwanted pregnancy, then scrambled to make it work by just having the kid even though they most likely weren't prepared for it
These are the top five reasons on how most people are created today.
I'm personally not having any kids for a variety of reasons, but I don't think one should have kids for the reasons that are usually listed (which are selfish reasons), you should have kids because you have BUILT something and you need to PASS IT ON.
Sure, however you want to look at it.
We're simply giving the world the amazing gift of our phenomenal genes.
Congratz on your success. But your choice of profession also plays a big role. there are many professions where you can be dependable and yet make a meager living.
But, yes, being a person who delivers, no matter what, is a BIG determinant of success.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AfternoonCoffee
Speaking only for my household, here's how it happened for us (early-mid 30's, around 1mm NW)
...
Congratz on your success. But your choice of profession also plays a big role. there are many professions where you can be dependable and yet make a meager living.
But, yes, being a person who delivers, no matter what, is a BIG determinant of success.
Yes, that's absolutely true. Some (many?) careers top out no matter how matter how great you are at what you do. But, like you said, no matter the profession, the person who consistently delivers will be positioning themselves for relative success in their field.
And there is, whether people want to admit it or not, often an element of luck involved in financial success.
We definitely don't plan on our kids ADDING anything to our finances, now or in the future. But what they add to our lives in every other area cannot be measured on spreadsheets and in bank accounts. They are well worth many times what they have "cost" us
Agreed.
Or in business terms, kids aren't revenue centers, they're cost centers. That doesn't mean they don't enrich the environment.
My kids make me laugh every day and view life through a different perspective. Pardon the cliche, but they help keep me young (and enthusiastic). I think I'd be a cranky old man sooner without them, since they help remind us of the magic of the every day.
Parents today usually have kids for all types of stupid and selfish reasons such as:
- They don't want to be lonely in old age
- They want to potentially have someone to stay with in old age
- They want another welfare check
- They want to screw over a guy through the child support system
- They were having sex irresponsibly and created an unwanted pregnancy, then scrambled to make it work by just having the kid even though they most likely weren't prepared for it
These are the top five reasons on how most people are created today.
Or, there are those of us in happy, healthy marriages that wanted to start a family of our own, and raise children to be productive members of society. While those reasons you listed do exist, there are still a massive percentage of us who have children for all the right reasons.
My son is a huge enrichment to my life even if he is a massive cost center (mainly in trips to Urgent Care as he likes to find new ways to injure himself on a daily basis.) My wife and I both work harder because of the family we have built and are more successful as a result.
When i look at my boy, its extremely clear to me, that I am unlikely to do anything as important and meaningful as being a father.
Loving a child and raising him/her, is about sacrifice and selflessness. There is some selfishness too. There isn't anything wrong with selfishness of being ecstatic with a little baby/child/teenager. There is nothing wrong with the expectation that your child will help you in your old age. I will support my mother for as long as it takes, that how I was raised.
I am not counting on any support. But if the time comes, and if he is able, and I am needy, damn sure I will ask my son. He is family. and I hope that we will be close.
In most eastern cultures there is deep rooted idea that parents need to be supported emotionally and financially. It gets a little overwhelming, but billions of people live like that, in joint families, or in constant financial bond with their parents. Western individualism has this strange consequence of an almost fevered desire to be independent.
A family CAN stick through everything. That is an idea worth aspiring for, and its worth more than millions of dollars in the bank.
It would be extremely rare that a parent comes out and says their children were a massive burden, caused undue stress and they wished they didn't have them in the first place. I'm not saying everyone feels like this but everyone can't feel as though children are the best thing that ever happened to the either. It's not socially acceptable to go the other way
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So when opportunities arose, he was considered for major promotions. He has a reputation for being trustworthy and following through, he's incredibly dependable. 
