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Reading back through this discussion, and I can't help but be amazed, at how little people think a million dollars actually is. Realistically, it's about 15 years of wages, for a middle class worker. Would you really laugh at being handed 15 years worth of wages, say when you were maybe 55-60 years of age? Would you turn up your nose at being able to immediately retire, if that happened?
Reading back through this discussion, and I can't help but be amazed, at how little people think a million dollars actually is. Realistically, it's about 15 years of wages, for a middle class worker. Would you really laugh at being handed 15 years worth of wages, say when you were maybe 55-60 years of age? Would you turn up your nose at being able to immediately retire, if that happened?
in retirement it isnt the equal of 15 years wages , it is about the income 15 years of wages generates safely .
there is a big difference ... most who i am friends with who retired early here and got 40k a year in a pension took on other jobs until ss ....
40k is not even the equivalent of what my buddy gets as a pension from teaching since he is over 70k ... my other friend gets 105k from being a cop.
so 40k here is nothing special . take the 40k and add it to the average ss check amount and you have a normal regular average wage for the most part .
it is no longer about the million . it is only about what is spins off which is approximately what a sanitation worker here gets in pension with no savings . .
under worst case outcomes drawing 4% you can have a buck left at the end of 30 years.
a million you can just spend is a lot of dough but that NOT what it represents when you have to pensionize your own money to live on for as much as 30 years or longer
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-20-2021 at 09:04 AM..
Reading back through this discussion, and I can't help but be amazed, at how little people think a million dollars actually is. Realistically, it's about 15 years of wages, for a middle class worker. Would you really laugh at being handed 15 years worth of wages, say when you were maybe 55-60 years of age? Would you turn up your nose at being able to immediately retire, if that happened?
It's relative, and someone who's on the lower end of the income spectrum is going to look at it differently than someone on the higher end. What's 15 years and immediate retirement material to one worker is 2-3 years income and ~10% toward retirement (or just yet more slush for the slush fund) for another. To someone like Bezos, it's pocket change.
unfortunately not... if you started out 20 years ago investing $1,000 a month, which is a substantial sum for most people, especially 20 years ago that was quite a hefty amount, and you invested in Fidelity Target Date 2040 consistently ALL through 2 DECADES... you would still not be anywhere close to $1M (you would be at $665K now).
And, that is through the biggest, most epic bull markets in history. God forbid the market drops 50% like everyone is saying it will and does not recover for another 13 years like it did in 2000-2013, then your million dollar dream will be on hold for a VERY VERY long time!!!
People say yeah, $1M isn't much, but to actually accumulate that is exceptionally difficult, it isn't easy.
The previous poster said 30 or 40 years, not 20. There's a big difference between 20 and 30 years.
$550 a month in Vanguard Wellington starting in May 1991, would have been worth over $1M at the end of May 2021.
Reading back through this discussion, and I can't help but be amazed, at how little people think a million dollars actually is. Realistically, it's about 15 years of wages, for a middle class worker. Would you really laugh at being handed 15 years worth of wages, say when you were maybe 55-60 years of age? Would you turn up your nose at being able to immediately retire, if that happened?
I could definitely retire at my age and my current balance plus a million dollars.
However some people at my age have a more normal lifestyle that involves traveling, eating out, having hobbies, and an extended family that includes kids and nephews and nieces that involves money.
We are all different and I can see where for some a million dollars isn't a lot of money. I can definitely see where posters in the frugal section that don't even spend a hundred dollars on themselves a month on food can stretch that million dollars for life.
how can one spend $100 on food?
what is he eating?
day old bread,crackers,hot dogs,eggs are cheap you can get one dozen for 99 cents these days,cheese is cheap too.
Once I met a woman who lives on SSI,she told me she will buy a packet of chicken wings and eat half with rice and the other half for din din with rice also.
As for breakfast,it would be porridge or a roll with home brew green tea.
back then chicken wings are cheap
how can one spend $100 on food?
what is he eating?
day old bread,crackers,hot dogs,eggs are cheap you can get one dozen for 99 cents these days,cheese is cheap too.
Once I met a woman who lives on SSI,she told me she will buy a packet of chicken wings and eat half with rice and the other half for din din with rice also.
As for breakfast,it would be porridge or a roll with home brew green tea.
back then chicken wings are cheap
This is why I worked hard, lived frugally, persevered, saved & invested. So I would not end up like that.
Locally there is an ad running for a casino. It shows people telling what they would buy if they won the million dollar jackpot.
I've got to say, the general population has no idea what a million dollars is (or maybe it is just the gambling public?). Sorry, folks, a million dollars will not buy you your own private jet let alone afford to fly it anywhere, your own gigantic yacht, or your own huge private beach in a place with fantastic weather.
There are a lot of places in America where, after taxes, your million dollar jackpot won't even buy you a middle class 3 bedroom house.
Not that I'd turn down a free million dollars, but it just isn't all that much spending power any more.
I could easily retire today if I had it.
40K for me includes going out as much as I want and a yearly vacation. If I wanted to live frugally, then I could probably get by on ~25-30K.
A million dollars, even after they took a chunk out of it would take me to SS age with ease.
Also ... if I had 20 years doing what I wanted to do, I'd be able to make 'some' money off doing that.
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