Tag Archives: rich

How Many Millions Does It Take to Feel Rich?

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Money Surprise

When I was a teenager, I though that it just took a million dollars to be rich.  Perhaps it was back then (barely), but now according to 42% of millionaires, it take a cool 7.5 million to feel rich!

I’m bummed!  10 years ago, I thought that if I were able to grow my money to 1.6 to 2 million dollars, I would be rich!  Not Buffett or Gates rich, but still very well off! But consider this information I read on Yahoo.com’s site called “U.S. millionaires say $7 million not enough to be rich”, I’m not even close!

More than four out of ten American millionaires say they do not feel rich. Indeed many would need to have at least $7.5 million in order to feel they were truly rich, according to a Fidelity Investments survey.

Some 42 percent of the more than 1,000 millionaires surveyed by Fidelity said they did not feel wealthy. Respondents had at least $1 million in investable assets, excluding any real estate or retirement accounts.

So according to the survey of over 40% of those who are multimillionaires, it will take at least $7.5 million dollars to be considered rich.

I’m afraid I’m going to be short by at least 5.5 million…

Unfortunately, there is a reasonable probability of inflation running rampant, and so there is a good chance that these millionaires may be correct.  So what is a person to do?

  • Read 7million7years.com site, according the blogger he was able to make 7 million in 7 years.
  • Be extremely frugal.  A great site to refer to for this route is the blog site earlyretirementextreme.com
  • Perhaps another route would be via investments.  In this case consider the advice at BuyLikeBuffett.com
  • Maybe lottery ticket is a viable options after all?  (Just kidding).
  • Work 2 or 3 more jobs?  Possible, but a bit demanding…

To be honest, I’m not really sure how to get up to the 7.5 million dollar level.

What do you think would be the best possible way to get to the elusive 7.5 level?

-MR

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10 Ways To Improve Your Chances To Become Rich

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Honestly, Are you trying to become rich?

I’ll admit there is more that I could do to try to breach the point where my passive income exceeds my expenses, but I choose not to.

Although I’m frugal, I’m quite sure that I could run an even tighter financial ship! 

Below is a quick list of ways that I could improve my chances to become rich:

  • I could use budgets and do extreme couponing to whittle my consumption expenses down much lower! 
  • I could try to get more free stuff via giveaways online.  Free stuff is great and believe it or not, it’s out there with some work.
  • I could create a budget to identify where my weaknesses are and plan to fix them accordingly!
  • I could get another job by working during a second shift period.  This would have a huge impact on my savings game since my first job covers all of my living expenses.  This means I could pocket almost all of my earnings from the second job.
  • I could try to expand my hobby activities into other forms of social media.  This could practically double my hobby income.
  • I could create a goals spreadsheet to track my saving goals and keep me on track…  This is more important than it sounds!  Feedback is a great thing!
  • I could create an investing goal to track my investments performance.  This could help determine if I should start investing more into index ETFs etc…
  • I could borrow tools/things from family, neighbors and friends more.  Why buy a sidewalk edger when I only use it once a year?
  • I could do a better job of reducing my taxes, a Roth IRA is a great vehicle to reduce taxes on dividends from stocks, etc.
  • I could do a better job of reducing my gas expenses, treat driving as a real expense instead of just ignoring it.

There are plenty other ways that I could improve my chances of becoming rich some day.  Surprisingly, I now realize that I”m only putting  in about half the effort that I should be putting into getting rich…

-MR

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Getting Rich – Levels of Wealth – Part 2

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As mentioned in my previous review of the book, the full name of Getting Rich is “The Complete Idiot’s Guild to Getting Rich“.  But also as I mentioned before, don’t be fooled by the title!  It’s a good book!!!

Today, I’m going to talk about a portion of the book that I identified with and which influenced the way I approached my financial habits with respect to wealth creation!  The most powerful portion of the book for me was “The Five Levels of Wealth”  (also called Waschka’s Wealth Levels).

Before reading these levels, let me explain the book’s definition of TSG.

Target Savings Goal (TSG) is simply the amount invested yearly, so that after so many number of years of continual contributions, your investment nest egg will last (an hopefully outlast) you when you retire (or for some other goal).

The Five Levels of Wealth

  • Wealth Level 1
    You are able to maintain your standard of living and at the same time, save enough money to achieve your Target Savings Goal (TSG), the annual amount you need to save to meet your needs at retirement.
  • Wealth Level 2
    Your portfolio is large enough to produce, on its own, a total return each year equal to your TSG, as well as keep up with the inflation.
  • Wealth Level 3
    Your portfolio produces a total return large enough to cover your desired lifestyle and inflation.
  • Wealth Level 4
    You have accumulated enough assets to produce a total return sufficient enough to substantially increase your current and future lifestyle while at the same time keeping up with inflation.
  • Wealth Level 5
    You have accumulated enough assets to produce a total return well beyond what you would ever spend.  You now have the option not to work, raise your standard of living, and bestow large charitable gifts.

Some level (especially Level 2) has sub levels within them.  Currently I am withing Level 2, my got is Level 3!  Anything above Level 3 is just gravy 🙂

Wealth level 2 is special because it has sublevels until you get to Wealth Level 3!

Thanks for listening to me take a small trip down memory lane…

-MR

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Getting Rich (Book Review) Part 1

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Getting Rich

Getting Rich

The real book title is “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Rich”, and it was the 2nd book that I read on finances.

Don’t let the full title, fool you… its a great book, written by Larry Waschka (who was a registered investment advisor and once owner of Waschka Capital Investments, a fee-only investment advisory firm).

Unfortunately, the author died by drowning in Mexico while on vacation.  However, the book continues to be a great work and is on its 3rd edition.  It’s new co-author is Stewart H. Welch III, and while the core from Larry is the heart of the book, Stewart has kept it modern and has done an overall great job!

Much like Evan at “My Journey to Millions“, Larry also worked with very rich people and over time he was able to learn much about them.  This was one of the reason Larry wrote the book, to share what he had learned!

This book introduced me to some of the advance investing strategies that I still use today!

Unlike most financial books, this book actually lays out the formula step by step on how to get rich, not to mention the TSG (Target Saving Goal) calculation!  Most financial books are hype, inspirational, but mostly hype…, but this book’s author actually took it a step beyond by designing a wealth building strategy for his readers!

While this book might not get the credit and acknowledgment that it deserves because of its orange cover and silly title, it was instrumental in setting me on my financial path!

Tomorrow, I’ll dig a bit deeper into the book contents and explain what influenced me that most!

If you get a chance, check it out at the library or purchase it (it’s one of the few financial books that I have purchased in my life…), I think you’ll find value in reading it.

-MR

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