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Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

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Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#91

Post by zcid »

vbtemp wrote: post #82
dwc wrote: post #27

There's a sad undercurrent to this, as some redditors respond that they find this depressing. While I understand their plight, I do not understand the sustained pessimism for most of the depressed ones. I went to work right out of high school at menial jobs. No college, no big family business. Paycheck-to-paycheck, and any minor emergency like a dead car battery was a financial crisis. I did not "get lucky" on stocks…

> I decided I definitely did NOT like being poor "Money doesn't buy happiness, but having no money can sure buy a lot of misery." On a related note, it really grinds my gears when I hear well-to-do young adults from middle class families say money doesn't matter when they've never struggled to pay rent or for basic medical care.

As someone who struggles for rent and basic medical care, it really grinds my gears listening to someone's victim mentality.

I struggle right now because of my poor decisions. I am improving my lot in life through consistently good choices. Sure, life happens, but ultimately, I am in control of my own destiny.

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#92

Post by smackfu »

spindritf wrote: post #81
smackfu wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a middle ground between not spending and spending extravagantly. So many people with large incomes just waste it away and end up with nothing at the end. We're not talking about a single $500 iPad. We're talking about a $500 night at a club.

How great a night we're talking here? Because, in general, experiences are worth more than gadgets (see below what I mean). Though (sky)diving lessons or vacation would probably be better than a night out. "Asked which of the two purchases made them happier, fully 57% of respondents reported that they had derived greater happiness from their experiential purchase, while only 34% reported greater happiness from their…

As I said "There's a middle ground between not spending and spending extravagantly." Whether that is experiences or material goods. A $500 nightclub night once a year in Vegas is perfectly reasonable. A $500 nightclub night every weekend is probably over the line for most people.

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#93

Post by smackfu »

girardy wrote: post #53
hkarthik wrote: post #22

Our path to be on track for a net worth of $1 mil: 1) Two good incomes on the professional track. We both have good degrees from universities and don't plan on taking any breaks in employment. Even with kids, there are plenty of great childcare options available. Living near family helps too. 2) Drive paid off cars. Buy new cars if you want, but structure your costs so you can pay them off in 2-3 years max and then d…

1) Two good incomes on the professional track. I read a book called The Millionaire Next Door that described how getting married and staying married was one obvious way to boost wealth. Not only is divorce really expensive, but married people on average use less space per person than single people. You can obviously construct scenarios where this isn't true—what if you marry a spendthrift?—but it was still a really i…

I would think most of the benefits are from living together rather than the actual act of marriage.

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#94

Post by jacoblyles »

dwc wrote: post #27

There's a sad undercurrent to this, as some redditors respond that they find this depressing. While I understand their plight, I do not understand the sustained pessimism for most of the depressed ones. I went to work right out of high school at menial jobs. No college, no big family business. Paycheck-to-paycheck, and any minor emergency like a dead car battery was a financial crisis. I did not "get lucky" on stocks…

I blame politics. A lot of young people are emotionally invested in the idea that "the System" is responsible for some people being poor and others being rich. If you acknowledge that some choices are good and others are bad, it challenges the view that wealth is predetermined and that income inequality is caused by fate/bias.

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#95

Post by jacoblyles »

smackfu wrote: post #93
girardy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Two good incomes on the professional track. I read a book called The Millionaire Next Door that described how getting married and staying married was one obvious way to boost wealth. Not only is divorce really expensive, but married people on average use less space per person than single people. You can obviously construct scenarios where this isn't true—what if you marry a spendthrift?—but it was still a really i…

I would think most of the benefits are from living together rather than the actual act of marriage.

The extra stability/longevity that comes from the marriage contract probably helps.

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#96

Post by [deleted] »

toddmorey wrote: post #14

Entrepreneurism seems under-represented: most of the responses seem to be inheritance or stock investments. I'm wondering if that reflects on the reddit community makeup, the type of people who would answer this question, or just that growing a successful startup is really hard / rare.

[deleted]

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#97

Post by astrofinch »

veguss wrote: post #72
toddmorey wrote: post #14

Entrepreneurism seems under-represented: most of the responses seem to be inheritance or stock investments. I'm wondering if that reflects on the reddit community makeup, the type of people who would answer this question, or just that growing a successful startup is really hard / rare.

You know the saying? Lottery is for people who are bad at math. Well, same for startups. The odds are so against you you might as well play the lottery.

What's your citation?

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#99

Post by noodle »

c16 wrote: post #46

I think the best line from the whole thread has to be: 'TL;DR If your reading this first, your not going to be successful. You're too fucking lazy.' - http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/rqejz/redditors_w...

Generally agree with the sentiment, though that guy seems to have deleted his account because (apparently) his post is a big lie.

Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?

#100

Post by vaksel »

run4yourlives wrote: post #64
vaksel wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

with cars you can just buy them used and sell them before they depreciate too much. Buy a 3 year old car, keep it for 1-2 years, then sell it. (if that's still too rich for your blood...get a 5 year old car and keep that for 2 years) Just look at the cars as the cost to own...not actual price you pay. So even if a car depreciates 20% in that time period, you can still drive something decent. A $10,000 used car...will…

Wouldn't it be easier just to lease? The big thing your entire calculation leaves out is the time it takes to do this transaction every couple of years, because there is no way a dealership is going to give you the money you are looking for... I'd rather do something else with my time to be honest.

leasing costs way more.

cars lose the most value in the first 3 years. So in those 3 years, you'll lose 50% of the car's value. Since leasing is basically just covering the cost of depreciation...you end up on the hook for the biggest loss in the car's life.

when you buy used and sell in the next 2 years, you only lose ~20%.

+ with leasing you are limited to 10-12K miles per year.

remember, for this thing we are talking about getting the best bang for your buck, while still getting something decent.

i.e. I'm leasing a CRV for my mom(don't want her to deal with repairs etc). It costs me $262/mo...so over 3 years it will cost me $9,432.

At a 20% loss...that same $9,432 loss...would have been the same as if I've gotten a used $47,160 3 year old car, then sold it 2 years later at a 20% loss.

A $47,160 3 year old used car would have been a $70-90K new car.

Some alternatives(used eBay with the buy it now and low miles):

Original MSRP is inside the ()...but with most of these cars you can add another 10-20% for options.

  2009 BMW M5($83,000)
  2009 Audi S5($60,000)
  2009 MB CLS550($71,000)
  2008 MB SL550($105,000)
  2008 MB CLS65 AMG($94,900)
  2008 Audi RS4($70,000)
  2008 Porsche 911($82,000)
Now which would you rather drive...a CRV...or any of those.

Yes your time is important, and you have to add that into the calculation.

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