Is a million dollars enough?

[I Am Legion]

At this stage of my life I technically could retire on it. But life would be way easier if I got the 1m and still worked for another 10 years.

How much is your nut per month? If it is 5k that 1m covers 16 years. If you have savings, 401k and eventually SS, you can figure that in. I COULD retire on 1m, but 2m, I could retire and live better.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

If I had 1M cash right now I could probably invest it all in real state in Buenos Aires and live the rest of my life without having to work again.

 

[boingyman]

How do you jump from 1 mil to 1 bil lol. That's a huge difference. Also enough for what? $1 mil is definitely still a huge milestone for many, but obviously not what it use to be. I bet a decent amount of people on this forum have a net worth of $1 mil+, but at the same time $1 mil would be a lifechanger for most.

 

[Gene Tunney]

$25 million, minimum.

 

[RoastBeast]

1mil won't even cover eggs in 2025.

 

[Osculater]

You can keep it in th3 bank and earn interest on it or invested in crypto like a boss!

 

[Osculater]

1mil won't even cover eggs in 2025.

But you could buy the hens instead

 

[ChosenOne]

I would say 10 Million is the new Million and i think this always referred to a middle-class person who lived in a decent sized city, not tiny towns and not the most expensive cities.

Back in the day when one MIllion was seen as the milestone, most average middle-class people might achieve that number if you added up all their assets, including a paid off home and retirement money, but they would not have much more. And they could retire and live a good life off it.

Today that same middle class person, imo, in that middle city, needs about 10M, including paid off home and retirement funds, etc. They can comfortably retire, travel and do most things without worry.

 

[RoastBeast]

1mil won't even cover eggs in 2025.

I would say 10 Million is the new Million and i think this always referred to a middle-class person who lived in a decent sized city, not tiny towns and not the most expensive cities.

Back in the day when one MIllion was seen as the milestone, most average middle-class people might achieve that number if you added up all their assets, including a paid off home and retirement money, but they would not have much more. And they could retire and live a good life off it.

Today that same middle class person, imo, in that middle city, needs about 10M, including paid off home and retirement funds, etc. They can comfortably retire, travel and do most things without worry.

If you needed 10M to comfortably retire, almost no one could comfortably retire. The actual number is far less than that.

 

[ChosenOne]

I would say 10 Million is the new Million and i think this always referred to a middle-class person who lived in a decent sized city, not tiny towns and not the most expensive cities.

Back in the day when one MIllion was seen as the milestone, most average middle-class people might achieve that number if you added up all their assets, including a paid off home and retirement money, but they would not have much more. And they could retire and live a good life off it.

Today that same middle class person, imo, in that middle city, needs about 10M, including paid off home and retirement funds, etc. They can comfortably retire, travel and do most things without worry.

1mil won't even cover eggs in 2025.


If you needed 10M to comfortably retire, almost no one could comfortably retire. The actual number is far less than that.

I was very specific speaking to decent sized mid cities where in the past the 1M to comfortably retire saying came out of in what i would say was the late 60's to 70's time frame when we first starting hearing that and it was directed at those who were upper middle class.

In smaller town, back then you did not need a Million either, just as you would not need 10 million now.

An upper middle class person now, in a decent sized city can easily have several million tied up in their home alone.

 

[RoastBeast]

I would say 10 Million is the new Million and i think this always referred to a middle-class person who lived in a decent sized city, not tiny towns and not the most expensive cities.

Back in the day when one MIllion was seen as the milestone, most average middle-class people might achieve that number if you added up all their assets, including a paid off home and retirement money, but they would not have much more. And they could retire and live a good life off it.

Today that same middle class person, imo, in that middle city, needs about 10M, including paid off home and retirement funds, etc. They can comfortably retire, travel and do most things without worry.


I was very specific speaking to decent sized mid cities where in the past the 1M to comfortably retire saying came out of in what i would say was the late 60's to 70's time frame when we first starting hearing that and it was directed at those who were upper middle class.

In smaller town, back then you did not need a Million either, just as you would not need 10 million now.

An upper middle class person now, in a decent sized city can easily have several million tied up in their home alone.

I'm upper middle class in a mid sized city in California and don't need anything even remotely close to 10M to retire comfortably and I don't know anyone who is upper middle class who has several million tied up in their homes either. I'm not sure where you're getting your information from but it's based way far off reality. Maybe you've read some of those articles that make it seem like you need millions and millions of dollars to retire comfortably but it's just simply not true.

If your house is paid off, you're only going to have a couple grand in bills per month. How much more does a 60+ year old need to live comfortably from month to month? If a 60 year old retired with 10M in the bank and lived until they were 85, that would give them 33.3k per month to spend.

 

[Oblivian]

My parents net worth has increased since my dad's retirement. I think people overestimate how much you really need. They live off of the interest, social security, and then there is quite a bit leftover. Between the interest and social security, I believe it's six figures each year. Most retirees should be able to live off of much less than that since everything is paid off.

 

[TeTe]

Not when the average houses where I live are over $1million

Same here lol

I was reading a couple days ago that as if 2024 there are 22 million millionaires in the US. I'm going to assume that's net worth.

So yeah definitely doesn't seem like have just one million, especially in a high COL area is going to set you up for life.

 

[TeTe]

It isn't reasonable to say $1b is the new $1m as that milestone isn't reasonably achievable, so then what is?

I'd say more like $10 million is the new million if comparing to 30 years ago

 

[ChosenOne]

I'm upper middle class in a mid sized city in California and don't need anything even remotely close to 10M to retire comfortably and I don't know anyone who is upper middle class who has several million tied up in their homes either. I'm not sure where you're getting your information from but it's based way far off reality. Maybe you've read some of those articles that make it seem like you need millions and millions of dollars to retire comfortably but it's just simply not true.

If your house is paid off, you're only going to have a couple grand in bills per month. How much more does a 60+ year old need to live comfortably from month to month? If a 60 year old retired with 10M in the bank and lived until they were 85, that would give them 33.3k per month to spend.

My brother and his family are model upper middle class in a town of 120K people. HIs house, in one of the nicer neighborhoods is worth between 2-3 Million now. He and his wife have between 2-5M in retirement savings and other accounts. They own a cottage outright probably worth 1M in a remote lake area.

And i am counting the paid off house in that $10M. If not paid off then you have mortgage payments still and less equity, so you seem to be reading that point backwards. Yes once you subtract the paid off house, and other assets their need for actual cash is not great.

And you seem to be speaking to what a person would need to spend to sustain themselves, which yes would much much less. I am speaking to a person maintaining their retirement lifestyle from age 60'ish to age 90'ish, in terms of planning, and where the person is going to travel more, etc, and have increasing health needs and costs.

 

[TeTe]

My parents net worth has increased since my dad's retirement. I think people overestimate how much you really need. They live off of the interest, social security, and then there is quite a bit leftover. Between the interest and social security, I believe it's six figures each year. Most retirees should be able to live off of much less than that since everything is paid off.

I wish calculating pension into net worth wasn't so complicated cause I'd be interested to see what it is when my wife can retire with full benefits at 58.

 

[ChosenOne]

When the 1 Million to retire was always brought up, way back in the day, it was presented as a number that an upper middle class family would strive for to have enough money to retire and continue to live a very ideal life. It was not a mark for budgeting to just get by and stretching it out. If you watched Mad Man, a Don Draper locking down a Million for his family would have been considered a significant big deal. A upper MC success story. That same million today could easily be budgeted to maintain, especially if you moved some place very inexpensive but to have that comparable life today and keep up with the Joneses, you need a lot more.

 

[PG29 red0 Jr]

It's like 500k to send your kid to Northwester for undergrad and an MBA. I guess you could try and forego the graduate degree upfront and do an executive MBA later on........

1MM is hardly enough to send a few kids to school these days.

Answer: 1MM is chump change in this crazy world we live in.

 

[whocares]

It's a relative figure. There' no such thing as "enough money" for a person who can't manage money. A person who can will get by on any sum.

 

[GSP_37]

If you're smart, you can turn it into $20 mil.

Sometimes you hear of some guy trading a paper clip into something and trading that into something and ends up paper clip traded to ultimately a house.