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Who Here Has a Net Worth of Over One Million USD

Do you have a net worth (net of debt you owe) of over $1 million USD

  • Yes

    Votes: 22 19.3%

  • No

    Votes: 92 80.7%
  • Total voters
    114
  • Poll closed .
OliveGardenDeac said:
Agree that 8% is not easy. I'm still down about 20% from 2008 lol from my large stake in Wachovia that tanked 90%. However, I've been making a comeback as of late and am up 25% this year so far.

4% is a given, but I think 8% or even 10% (maybe 12% if you are incredibly good and have lots of time to invest) is realistically achievable.

Also, there are some Wake Forest grads who will go on to be hotshot lawyers, doctors, investment bankers, and entrepreneurs who will make $500k/year or more by age 40.
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All fair and true. I do, however, know a lot of folks who pull in big time wages that do a horrible job of saving money. I know one guy who is a GC and his wife is a marketing executive. They have 3 kids in private school, drive fancy cars, live in the big house with the big mortgage and essentially are running paycheck to paycheck. Some of those choices need to be questioned.
 
DeacMan said:
All fair and true. I do, however, know a lot of folks who pull in big time wages that do a horrible job of saving money. I know one guy who is a GC and his wife is a marketing executive. They have 3 kids in private school, drive fancy cars, live in the big house with the big mortgage and essentially are running paycheck to paycheck. Some of those choices need to be questioned.
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I know many like that as well. It's no secret that frugality is the key to long term wealth. I personally live on approximately 8k/year even though I make about $20k as a research assistant/software intern. I don't need much to be happy other than a full stomach, a fast computer and an internet connection, though long term I'd like to buy a house in a nice area, so I'm saving for that.

I think I can save $40k/year starting next summer with an ambitious 10% return. We'll see how it goes.
 
OliveGardenDeac said:
I know many like that as well. It's no secret that frugality is the key to long term wealth. I personally live on approximately 8k/year even though I make about $20k as a research assistant/software intern. I don't need much to be happy other than a full stomach, a fast computer and an internet connection, though long term I'd like to buy a house in a nice area, so I'm saving for that.

I think I can save $40k/year starting next summer with an ambitious 10% return. We'll see how it goes.
Click to expand...

At 23 you are on the leading edge. Things seem awful now, but you are young and there will be some amazing buying opportunities in plenty of asset classes in the years ahead.
 
OliveGardenDeac said:
I know many like that as well. It's no secret that frugality is the key to long term wealth. I personally live on approximately 8k/year even though I make about $20k as a research assistant/software intern. I don't need much to be happy other than a full stomach, a fast computer and an internet connection, though long term I'd like to buy a house in a nice area, so I'm saving for that.

I think I can save $40k/year starting next summer with an ambitious 10% return. We'll see how it goes.
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Your bar tab is roughly a quarter of that 8k.
 
DeacMan said:
All fair and true. I do, however, know a lot of folks who pull in big time wages that do a horrible job of saving money. I know one guy who is a GC and his wife is a marketing executive. They have 3 kids in private school, drive fancy cars, live in the big house with the big mortgage and essentially are running paycheck to paycheck. Some of those choices need to be questioned.
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No kidding - if they get rid of those 3 kids they could probably get another fancy car!
 
Liquid Karma said:
Your bar tab is roughly a quarter of that 8k.
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lol, and I admittedly get a little help from my parents still. They pay for my car insurance and cell phone, and I'm still on their health care plan.

But really, it's very cheap to live in Winston, and I have no problem drinking $17 handles of evan green. I even ride the shuttle to school so hardly spend anything on gas.
 
DeacMan said:
If they get rid of the three kids they could get at least 3 new fancy cars. Forget the Mercedes, they could really upscale. Each of those kids is costing them 25K plus a year in tuition alone.
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That's pretty ridiculous. I would be pissed if my kids didn't get in Harvard or Stanford if I were paying that much for secondary education.
 
OliveGardenDeac said:
Wake Forest graduates should be and are well above average though. Your average person went to 2 years of community college and works in middle management making 35k at age 40. By 40, most wake forest grads should easily be making 100k, maybe more. I know several people my age (23) right now in entry level jobs making 70k - 90k. Then again I do know a lot who are making 40k - 50k. Even still they should be making more than 100k by 35 to 40. If you make 100k, you can save 30k/year with ease if you prioritize. Invest at 8% for 15 years and you'll get there.
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my wife and i make north of 100M/yr and saving 30M per year is far from easy with a kid. between your mortgage/rent payment, daycare, normal bills (insurance, phone, utilities, etc.), and one car payment, you are looking at a minimum of 3000 in monthly expenses before you put a scrap of food on the table, gas in your car, or have any sort of entertainment. assuming you take home ~75% of your income after taxes and pre-tax deductions, you are starting with $6,250/month in income and are expected to save $2,500 of it? doable maybe, easy, hell 2 da naw.
 
The challenge with saving a lot of money when you're young is that in order to make $70k+ early on you're probably living somewhere that's pretty damn expensive.
 
OliveGardenDeac said:
I know many like that as well. It's no secret that frugality is the key to long term wealth. I personally live on approximately 8k/year even though I make about $20k as a research assistant/software intern. I don't need much to be happy other than a full stomach, a fast computer and an internet connection, though long term I'd like to buy a house in a nice area, so I'm saving for that.

I think I can save $40k/year starting next summer with an ambitious 10% return. We'll see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Once you make more money you will spend more money (to a point). I was somehow able to save 100-200 per month with my initial salary of my first job (5 years ago). I couldn't even come close to making ends meet now if I had to go back to that salary (I live in the same house and don't have a car payment). I save money, but my "standard of living" has increased (althought my primary expenses stayed the same). It works out to where $.50 of every dollar increase in salary has gone to increase my standard of living (i.e. I spend it) and $.50 goes towards savings. this will skew more to savings and less to spending until I upgrade housing
 
bmoneydeac said:
my wife and i make north of 100M/yr and saving 30M per year is far from easy with a kid. between your mortgage/rent payment, daycare, normal bills (insurance, phone, utilities, etc.), and one car payment, you are looking at a minimum of 3000 in monthly expenses before you put a scrap of food on the table, gas in your car, or have any sort of entertainment. assuming you take home ~75% of your income after taxes and pre-tax deductions, you are starting with $6,250/month in income and are expected to save $2,500 of it? doable maybe, easy, hell 2 da naw.
Click to expand...

Well, paying down your mortgage counts as saving, just not the interest, property taxes and maintenance of the property.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it's possible if you prioritize. You may not be able to live the middle class lifestyle you want, but this is what I plan on doing with a $90k income
30k goes to taxes so we have $60k after tax
rent $400/month. This is possible if you live with roommates and don't have to be right in the city or the nicest areas.
Utilities: $100/month, you don't need fancy HBO and sports packages or a home phone. Basic cable, internet and Air Conditioning/heat will do
Car: well I have a car that my parents gave to me (lucky I know). You don't need a car if you live in an area with good public transportation. I also biked 3.5 miles to work each day over the summer. If you must have a car, you can find one that works for $6k, you don't need anything new or fancy. Let's say $200/month
Car insurance: if you must have a car, you'll have to pay about $100/month for this as well.
Gas: $100 month, if you're commute is longer, ride the train or move
Food: $200 month (assuming one person and you only eat food from the grocery store)
clothes: I have accumulated a lifetime worth of clothes already, but let's say an extra $100/month is reasonable
Cell phone: $100/month (amortized new phone cost with 2 year plan). Splurging a little here
Furniture: Once again nothing fancy is needed, and it only needs to be bought every decade or so. $100/month to overestimate

And that pretty much covers your basic needs with even a little bit of spoiling yourself. It assumes you only provide for one person. Kids are both expensive and a choice. This comes down to $1400/month. Now realistically, I'm gonna throw in another $400/month for fun stuff like going out to eat, movies and drinking. So $1800/month. We have after tax salary of $5000/month so we save $3200/month or $38,400 a year. So just short of the $40k/goal, but I counted the $200/month for the car which I won't actually have to spend since I'm spoiled so, that's how I plan to get to $40k
 
My monthly regular paychecks are about a 1/3rd of what my total salary is. the vast majority gets payed out as a bonus when we bill.

We try to live on the monthly paychecks. We used to be able to do it, but with two kids it doesn't happen. Now our credit card bill is usually 1K more than my paycheck.
 
ogd- if you are able to do that, i'll be thoroughly impressed. i guess i read your original post without thinking about it being for a single person. once you throw in a wife and kid, all bets are off. also, i forgot how much money living with roommates saves.
 
bmoneydeac said:
ogd- if you are able to do that, i'll be thoroughly impressed. i guess i read your original post without thinking about it being for a single person. once you throw in a wife and kid, all bets are off. also, i forgot how much money living with roommates saves.
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We'll see if I have the discipline to stick to it, but I'd really like to do it for a few years at least to get a quickstart to savings. Investing with my portfolio right now is kinda boring, "wow I made $38.60 this week". I agree it's not even close to possible with a wife and kid, I don't plan on getting married until I've really settled into my career in my 30s probably with a kid at 35ish maybe. But if your wife works also, that can add up to a big number for total household income.

Also, I'm very lucky in that I have absolutely 0 debt. I have a full scholarship + stipend for my M.S. program in CS at Wake, and I was fortunate enough to have my parents pay for my undergraduate education, something most people can't count on. I'll never forget that no matter where I go in life, I had a huge help at the start being born into an upper middle class supportive family that saved well and prioritized their children's educations.
 
OliveGardenDeac said:
Well, paying down your mortgage counts as saving, just not the interest, property taxes and maintenance of the property.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it's possible if you prioritize. You may not be able to live the middle class lifestyle you want, but this is what I plan on doing with a $90k income
30k goes to taxes so we have $60k after tax
rent $400/month. This is possible if you live with roommates and don't have to be right in the city or the nicest areas.
Utilities: $100/month, you don't need fancy HBO and sports packages or a home phone. Basic cable, internet and Air Conditioning/heat will do
Car: well I have a car that my parents gave to me (lucky I know). You don't need a car if you live in an area with good public transportation. I also biked 3.5 miles to work each day over the summer. If you must have a car, you can find one that works for $6k, you don't need anything new or fancy. Let's say $200/month
Car insurance: if you must have a car, you'll have to pay about $100/month for this as well.
Gas: $100 month, if you're commute is longer, ride the train or move
Food: $200 month (assuming one person and you only eat food from the grocery store)
clothes: I have accumulated a lifetime worth of clothes already, but let's say an extra $100/month is reasonable
Cell phone: $100/month (amortized new phone cost with 2 year plan). Splurging a little here
Furniture: Once again nothing fancy is needed, and it only needs to be bought every decade or so. $100/month to overestimate

And that pretty much covers your basic needs with even a little bit of spoiling yourself. It assumes you only provide for one person. Kids are both expensive and a choice. This comes down to $1400/month. Now realistically, I'm gonna throw in another $400/month for fun stuff like going out to eat, movies and drinking. So $1800/month. We have after tax salary of $5000/month so we save $3200/month or $38,400 a year. So just short of the $40k/goal, but I counted the $200/month for the car which I won't actually have to spend since I'm spoiled so, that's how I plan to get to $40k
Click to expand...

You left out the cost of a gun and bullets. Sounds like a terrible existence. Enjoy life - I am a big saver and big proponent of living within your means. My wife and I make more than the magical $250K, so we are by definition "rich." We do save quite a bit, but before I got married, I wanted to save more than my wife did. But, I now realize (particularly with the market turbulence) that you can't really plan for everything, you are going to have dips, etc. And, the older I get, the more I realize how short life really is (I know you are a Kurzweil fan and you think you will live forever - maybe so). You need to enjoy it while you can - not recklessly, but don't punish yourself just for the sake of saving some extra loot. I doubt you will think it is worth it in the long run.
 
food $200/month???????

lol making $90k and you spend $50/week. that life sucks, dude
 
ABCDeac said:
You left out the cost of a gun and bullets. Sounds like a terrible existence. Enjoy life - I am a big saver and big proponent of living within your means. My wife and I make more than the magical $250K, so we are by definition "rich." We do save quite a bit, but before I got married, I wanted to save more than my wife did. But, I now realize (particularly with the market turbulence) that you can't really plan for everything, you are going to have dips, etc. And, the older I get, the more I realize how short life really is (I know you are a Kurzweil fan and you think you will live forever - maybe so). You need to enjoy it while you can - not recklessly, but don't punish yourself just for the sake of saving some extra loot. I doubt you will think it is worth it in the long run.
Click to expand...

This. We take at least 2 one-week vacations a year and pay for it from savings. We want to live comfortably when we reach retirement age, but we also still want to enjoy the spoils of our labors and show our children the world.
 
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