Financial milestones that feel good

[flyer]

You’re actually right AN, in that, although $1M is 7 figures, by today’s standards and stats, the new definition of “wealthy” starts at around $10M.

[an]

[quote=flyer]You’re actually right AN, in that, although $1M is 7 figures, by today’s standards and stats, the new definition of “wealthy” starts at around $10M.[/quote]Yep, which is why I said what I said. Because I vew $10M+ is the break through # for “wealthy”. However, $1M is still quite rare, as you’ve posted before flyer. There are not that many people w/ $1M net worth.

[The-Shoveler]

1 out of 25

http://www.joshuakennon.com/1-out-of-every-25-households-millionaire-united-states/

Probably a lot higher in SD county.

5. San Diego County, California: The fifth county in the U.S. and the 3rd in the State with the most number of millionaire households, San Diego has 102,138 millionaire households that make up 9 % of such households in California. It also accounts for 1 % of the total millionaire households in the country.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/73297/real_estate/top_10_us_counties_with_the_most_millionaires.html

[an]

What is the demographic breakdown of millionaire households in the United States?
-Virtually all are, on average, college educated
-A majority of those who are college educated did not attend an Ivy League school, though those institutions are disproportionately represented among these households
-Most are headed by men
-Most fortunes were made outside of finance, music, or movies. The idea that you have to be a singer, actor, or work on Wall Street to make it big is a lie. It seems that way because these are the people you see most often in the news.
-Asians are vastly over represented among the samples as a result of immigrant work ethic and a culture geared toward saving
-A vast majority are first generation wealth, even among the members of the billionaire club
-Almost all are married, a vast majority of whom are married to their first spouse
-Most are in their 50’s or older

[bearishgurl]

[quote=AN]What is the demographic breakdown of millionaire households in the United States?

-Virtually all are, on average, college educated. . . [/quote]

AN, I don’t believe this …. at all. Where did this info come from?

I know of MANY households with a net worth of $1M whose heads of households have little or NO college! Shoveler is correct in that older coastal CA has many thousands of them. Of course, in most cases, most of their “net worth” is tied up in real property, either “inherited” or purchased 3-6 decades ago.

I have more than a DOZEN relatives who are lifelong residents of “flyover states” who are easily worth $1-$5M and two more are worth $8-$10M. I think only 5-6 of them attended college (retired schoolteachers and principals living in lifelong dual-income households).

Yes, the vast majority of these people are over 55 years old today (NOT 50). The biggest portion of that subset are over 65 years old today.

Some (10-20%) likely never finished high school.

I don’t think this level of wealth/security can be accumulated today without a college degree, unless deriving from a TF. It’s much harder now to save, due to the much higher cost of living, especially in coastal CA.

However, I DO HAVE a nephew (age 24), married with a 22 yo spouse, both who work FT and live in “flyover country,” who will have their 3/2/2 home paid off at the end of this year. So having lifetime security is much more obtainable in certain parts of the country but the $64M question is “Would the Piggs want to live there?” And would they want to have the type of job my nephew does (manning/servicing oil rigs), even for just a few years?

[bearishgurl]

Folks, your “millionaire next door” neighbor is driving a 1998 Buick and does his/her own yardwork. You can’t even imagine how many households in SD fit this criteria … or anywhere else in the country, for that matter. “Millionare” is such a loose, misunderstood term. You can’t eat your house. You still need pensions and SS and SD’s senior citizen cohort has all that in spades … in every single zip code.

[The-Shoveler]

IMO as long as your home is paid off (with a low prop 13 tax base) (not one of those homes with a 15-20k MR and tax bill)

I think you could easily make it on a lot less than a million in the bank (retirement).

I think people are being push to take high risk when there is no real need IMO.

200 – 500K should be enough to live really well (with a paid off home and low tax base)(SS and/or pension included of course).

[bearishgurl]

[quote=The-Shoveler]IMO as long as your home is paid off (with a low prop 13 tax base) (not one of those homes with a 15-20k MR and tax bill)

I think you could easily make it on a lot less than a million in the bank (retirement).

I think people are being push to take high risk when there is no real need IMO.

200 – 500K should be enough to live really well (with a paid off home and low tax base)(SS and/or pension included of course).[/quote]

Agree except need to clarify last paragraph. The taxes need to be less than $800 year AND the pension/SS together needs to be $3K mo … to live comfortably and be able to make home and vehicle repairs and travel occasionally (1 or 2 person hshld).

If your property tax bill is more than $800 year and your monthly pension/SS is lower than $3K, than you will likely need $600K to $1M, depending on family longevity and other factors.

[The-Shoveler]

I think you need to factor other things (do you own a economical car and can you make basic car and home repairs etc.._).

I don’t think you need to own a high maintenance BMW etc.. (in fact most people really don’t know how to handle a Boat/plane or high performance car etc.. to begin with).

You can get by with say up to a 5K property tax bill easy with around 3K SS or pension coming in (I see people do it all the time).

I even know one lady who takes one trip a year to Hawaii on less than 2K SS coming in a month. (tax bill and HOA on her condo is around 3.5K).
She has quite a bit less than 200K saved.
Playing on the internet all day is free (well almost).
And there are lots of ride share and senior discounts,
You can live fairly well surprisingly with a little effort.
Also she could play Golf everyday if she wanted to (Nice course actually from the looks of it)

[bearishgurl]

[quote=The-Shoveler]I think you need to factory other things (do you own a economical car and can you make basic car and home repairs etc.._).

I don’t think you need to own a high maintenance BMW etc.. (in fact most people really don’t know how to handle a Boat/plane or high performance car etc.. to begin with).

You can get by with say up to a 5K property tax bill easy with around 3K SS or pension coming in (I see people do it all the time).[/quote]

I’m just going by most seniors I know who own and drive older cars. They usually pay for everything they have done on them … oil changes, tires and bigger jobs at the shop. No, they’re not expensive, high maintenance vehicles.

Okay shoveler, I guess one could pay up to $5K yr in property taxes out of a $36K annual income. But that’s a chunk of change for that level income. Perhaps they can just withdraw from savings for their annual tax bill only … and for any longer trips they might take.

I’m not a “senior citizen” yet but I’m a “road warrior” several weeks out of the year. I can tell you that the senior citizen demographic is alive and well out there on the road everywhere towing their 5th wheel, MC’s, boats, ATVs, jetskis or traveling in RV’s towing an economy car behind it, etc. It’s not uncommon for them to be gone a month or two. Most of them who travel in RVs or have 5th wheel trailers take their pets with them. Another subset drives a more economical vehicle and stays in motor lodges with their pets (that’s “my” group). It costs MONEY to do this! Gas is cheaper now but RVs don’t get good gas mileage and their owners also have to pay for campsites and other expenses and still pay the bills back home.

It’s a real stretch living on $36K and taking modest road trips if the bare bones bills back home are too high. $200K to $500K might only last 20 years if invested risk free. I guess that’s okay if you’re near 70 when you finally “retire.” But NOT okay if you’re 60-65.

[The-Shoveler]

My main point is it is not a disaster if you don’t have a million saved for retirement.

My mother retired at 65, takes bus trips a few times a year (they sponsor them at her senior community), as well as the Hawaii trip.

The bus trips are very cheap (few hundred dollars for several day trip).

Yep I guess you can’t spend big, but from what I have seen most don’t anyway (maybe a few do), me I think I could be happy just walking on the beach a few times a week.

To each their own.

Once you hit 75-80 it is very very unlikely your going to be riding off road motorcycles etc…

[bearishgurl]

Just a couple fav summer road-trip events for the boomer and beyond set:

http://www.fjsummit.org/

More than half these drivers in the above annual “summit” are 60-75 years old and drive in from all over the nation. It’s pretty difficult to obtain the experience to navigate these high, narrow, rocky trails competently when you’re a 20/30-something worker bee stuck in the city 50 weeks per year.

http://www.rallysturgis.com/dates/

Don’t kid yourselves, Piggs. Most of the “Sturgis crowd” is now in the 55-70 yo bracket, including the ladies, lol …. I see couples ride their Honda Interstates together or in pairs all the way up there in my travels. Yeah … up to 2000 miles one way ….. they’re part of the “motor lodge” crowd.

That reminds me … it’s about time to book my Flagstaff motor lodge nights for up/back to/from my flyover destinations (not the above this year). It gets filled up fast in the summer and you don’t want to pass through that town on any summer evening without a verified and locked-down motel reservation … trust me on that.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=The-Shoveler] . . . Once you hit 75-80 it is very very unlikely your going to be riding off road motorcycles etc…[/quote]

They don’t ride them (or the jetskis) themselves, shoveler. They either take a few grandkids with them or the parents meet them for all or part of the trip.

Lots of families around here go to the river every summer … or Lake Havasu. Some own cabins or timeshares there. The grandparents just tow up the toys from SD and maybe bring an RV/5th wheel to house more people.

[La Jolla Renter]

Paying cash at the dealership for my last couple cars felt good. (But maybe should have put the money in the market and taken the .9% financing. I probably could have owned the cars for free.)

Net worth of 1M felt good. Unfortunately, it ain’t what it use to be. (not including primary residence equity for the net worth sticklers out there)

[scaredyclassic]

a million cash probably wouldnt feel all that secure. one good nursing home bill will probably clean you out. i guess you can get long term care insurance.

real financial security requires ability to put a bullet in ones head at the appropriate time on the downhill slide, assuming networth less than say 3 million or with adequate insurance.

Im pretty sure I could feel inssecurewith just 1 or 2 million in the bank. I think id probably worry a little less about money over 3.5 million. but then again, given my worrying tendencies that number would probably seem small once i got there. there is no number at which i can rest.

incidentally did you see this research asking the question, do smart people worry more?

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/04/do_smart_people_worry_more_iq_is_correlated_with_anxiety.html

[Author]

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