Comments on: A Million Dollars is a Million Dollars (Is a Million Dollars)

By: J. Money

J. Money — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:25:14 +0000

@Kim @ Say What?! – Haha… look at some of the comments above – they explain it for us ;) And man 40 years sounds long… whew. I hope it takes forever to get there!
@Diane – More power to ya! $2 Mill would def. be more ideal.
@WR – Man, that was one helluva good commment – jeez! If I were you I’d copy and paste that bad boy right into a blog post ;) Loved it. Esp that last line – “It is less about what a million dollars will buy but rather about the lifestyle a million dollars will support.” Thanks for sharing my friend.
@sandy moss – Oh yeah, no way I’ll stop workin’ on things… in fact, I don’t really “work” now anyways! haha… more like playing with my passions ;) although I would like to learn how to play golf one day….
@Steve – It’ll def. though ;)

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:47:41 +0000

Have a million dollars in retirement funds. Don’t think it is enough!. At age 50 with 2 kids (6 and 3). I have a long way to go before I can retire and given the market, inflation and life expectancy, doubt that a million dollars will get me there.

By: sandy moss

sandy moss — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 04:13:24 +0000

So, here’s the thing…
Where we are financially, in this country, pretty much dictates retirement as we think of it today will not exist by the time it’s our turn. The flip side of that is ok..you “work” your entire life til say 62 and then STOP… how much golf, how much travel, how much of any “retirement pleasures” can anyone really take? I’ll take the million but count me out of the retirement gig.

By: WR

WR — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:27:33 +0000

Cool Topic

Having a millions dollars is quite different than having a million dollar net worth.

If you add up all your stuff and subtract all you owe that is the first part: Net Worth

If you then look at all the stuff you have accumulated you can weed out the biggest money drains. As prices go up (inflation) so do your property taxes and general upkeep, utilities, etc.

For instance, If you know you are going to travel in retirement, you can safely trade down to a smaller home that will give you less total cost of ownership.

Most importantly I think, if you choose to live frugally, you can save up some cash. The nice thing about having a little bit of money is that you can actually then save a lot more:

You can bulk buy and take advantage of volume discounts.

You can pay cash for a nice used car instead of feeling pressure to finance a new one.

You can be adequately insured against loss. In fact, once you get to a certain level of wealth, you could decide to self-insure. One small example of this is having larger deductibles on car insurance and paying a much cheaper premium. Of course you have to have that extra $1000 in the bank to cover a damage claim but if you do, it pays.

It is always about lifestyle choice and habits. If you develop strong financial habits now (investing 30% no matter what, for example) you will be wealthy in retirement. As you get older your needs will change. Instead of cars, tablets and shoes you’ll be buying more meds, birdseed and toys for your grandkids.

It is less about what a million dollars will buy but rather about the lifestyle a million dollars will support.

-WR

By: Diane

Diane — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 13:48:15 +0000

No. I am close to that now and no way could I retire now and have the $ last. I aim to have $2M and a paid-off house before I can retire.

By: Kim @ Say What?!

Kim @ Say What?! — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 10:31:02 +0000

I have no idea what the wooden nickel saying means; I’ve never heard it before. Care to enlighten?

As it stands, I could not presently live off a million dollars for my whole retirement if I were to retire today – mortgage, student loans. However, since those factors will be long-since paid off by the time I actually retire, I think that I could if the economic conditions were similar (which, of course, in 2055 they won’t be).

Just 40 more years to retirement….yup, I actually count.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 03:01:33 +0000

@retirebyforty – Oh yeah? Well I don’t believe you ;)
@Ashley @ Money Talks – mmmm…. road trips…
@kh – Hah! So I bet those would be worth something these days, eh? I really have to find me one… we got a Hobo Nickel from my Grandma the other week – now THAT is cool. And must have taken a looooot of time. (not our website btw, but it is funny that it’s Angel Fire! remember that? wow I’ve digressed…)
@engin33r – Remind me to ask you if you reached it in 30 years, okay? :)
@Chris – Hehe, had to get off all that deep deep talk lately! Liven it up abit, right? ;) Nice seeing ya here as always my friend.
@Debbie Beardsley – Glad you appreciated it as much as I did! Got some groans when I told some friends, haha…
@Sarah Smith – Hi friend!!! No, haven’t heard of it but if you say it’s good I’ll watch it :) Btw, we’re going out to the OC this month – you gonna be around (I forget where exactly you live, but if so give me a shout via email: j at eliteedgemoney dot com – woo!)
@Crystal – Haha yes, please check on that ;) Although you’re always great about it. And real cool to be collaborating with you now over at Love Drop! Thanks for joining!
@Jenna – For sure, I can never sit still enough to not be working on *something*. But hopefully you and I can do our thang by then and just not have to worry about the money aspect :)
@Donna Freedman – OOOooooOOOOoooo cool! will you take me there one day? It’s near USAA’s headquarters! Woo!

By: Donna Freedman

Donna Freedman — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:56:02 +0000

For a look at a wooden nickel, check this link to the Wooden Nickel Historical Museum:
http://www.wooden-nickel.net/pictures/
I doubt I’ll have a million in hand when I retire. But I will work as long as I can and add in the Social Security and small pension, and keep cooking lots of dry beans. I’ll be solvent, but sadly somewhat combustible.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:22:37 +0000

I think I could live off a million dollars once I retire (but I don’t plan on actually ever “retiring”) but I would hope to have more saved up by then.

By: Crystal

Crystal — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:28:57 +0000

Yep, we could live off of $1 million.

Your other question was if we thought we’d have a million bucks. If we can get 5% returns or better over the next 25 years, then yes. Our 2 Roth IRA’s, 401(k), and Scottrade investments should be more than $1.5 million and we’ll hopefully have his teacher pension as well.

I made my millionaire to do list a while ago…I should see if we’ve been working on it…