Just became a millionaire

Albermarle

Audaxer said:

Alexland said:

Prism said:

Just to be a little pedantic - you say my net worth, don't you mean our net worth? Having a million each and having a million shared are quite different.

My thinking is that to become millionaires we need to get to the point where our half of shared assets plus our individually held assets are for each of us worth at least a million.
Our house is shared and ISAs perfectly match but pensions differ, which we are part addressing in our long term contribution planning, but still it probably won't be until we reach around £2.4 million that my wife will herself be worth a million.

Surely if your shared joint assets are over 2 million, then you are both worth a million no matter who has the most? However another thought after reading your post - can someone of around 40 years old be classed as a millionaire if a significant part of that million is in a pension that they cannot access for years?

There are numerous different definitions of what is a millionaire .
In popular culture it does not mean a Million in assets , or even two Million . It means a Million in cash/spare money that you can blow on fast cars, yachts etc if you want to 

justcheckin

Agree with Albermarle. 

The numbers which you describe are great OP and if you keep your standard of living fairly modest you can retire early and live comfortably.

Unfortunately, so few people understand how little a million pounds buys you (especially if a fair chunk of it is tied up in your principal dwelling) that all saying this is going to achieve is everyone else in the pub thinking the drinks are on you, when they aren't.

You are doing really well with your savings, and congratulations 

zagfles

Albermarle said:

Audaxer said:

Alexland said:

Prism said:

Just to be a little pedantic - you say my net worth, don't you mean our net worth? Having a million each and having a million shared are quite different.

My thinking is that to become millionaires we need to get to the point where our half of shared assets plus our individually held assets are for each of us worth at least a million.
Our house is shared and ISAs perfectly match but pensions differ, which we are part addressing in our long term contribution planning, but still it probably won't be until we reach around £2.4 million that my wife will herself be worth a million.

Surely if your shared joint assets are over 2 million, then you are both worth a million no matter who has the most? However another thought after reading your post - can someone of around 40 years old be classed as a millionaire if a significant part of that million is in a pension that they cannot access for years?

There are numerous different definitions of what is a millionaire .
In popular culture it does not mean a Million in assets , or even two Million . It means a Million in cash/spare money that you can blow on fast cars, yachts etc if you want to 

Indeed - there's no point including your house unless you have plans to downsize and then only what you'll realise (usually a lot less than most people think). You may as well include the value of your heart, liver and internal organs on the black market if you're going to include stuff you own but need to live

zagfles

Flugelhorn said:

Ibrahim5 said:

jamesd said:

NannaH said:

Put this exact post on Mumsnet AIBU - I dare you 🤣

As well as possibly living in the SE of England. Nice earnings helps a lot with speed but only if you're not increasing spending as you increase the earnings.

The SE is where most of the UK's millionaires live, courtesy of housing values and the jobs paying enough to buy those homes then them inflating in real value over many decades. Doing it outside that area is more of a challenge.

Oh yes you don't get millionaires in the North. It's too grim. Get rich in the South and stay there please. I think some of them have moved to the Lake District pushing up property prices. Bad move. It's very grim there. Cold and rainy all the time. Best to stay down South where life is good.

It is cold and rainy and grim - 2 decades was enough, brought my dosh back  down to south west where the fuel bills are so much smaller 

South west gets more rainfall than the north east. It is warmer though. But personally I prefer cold and dry to warm and wet.

MallyGirl

We are here or hereabouts - I need half the house equity, OH doesn't. South East house prices have undoubtedly helped.

The point about stretching is really important. I started ramping up the exercise a bit as part of operation "Retire Early in a fit state to enjoy it". I now run once or twice a week, do a basic stretch class and a harder yoga/Pilates class each week and fit in the odd swim here and there on top of the daily dog walk. Looking around the yoga class there are some very flexible people - I am not yet one of them as a result of starting at 54. Touching toes is easy but anything involving sitting crossed legs is dire

I am naturally more frugal and OH isn't but that is why he leaves all the finance to me. If we go to town he is all 'let's have a coffee' and I am all 'there's a kettle and a coffee machine at home'. I usually prevail. We do still like our gadgets though and the phrase 'fast car arms race' did appear in the best man's speech at our wedding.

Much of it is luck - I happen to be good at something that pays quite well. I have friends who are brilliant and passionate about their work but it just doesn't pay a lot. They are happy in their jobs which is good as early retirement just wouldn't be possible.

Langtang

Scrudgy said:

George Farthing, an expatriate British man living in America

To turn the tables slightly.

A rather audacious American Framer was speaking to his British counterpart.

"You know, my farm is so big that it takes me 4 days to drive around it"

"Yes" said the British farmer "I used to have a car like that, too"

Albermarle

George Farthing, an expatriate British man living in America, was diagnosed as clinically depressed, tanked up on antidepressants, and scheduled for a controversial shock therapy when doctors realized he wasn’t depressed at all, he was just British!

At least we have a good sense of humour ( if you discount the hate mobs on Twitter ) . Probably because we need it !

ex-pat_scot

"wealth" is rather subjective.
Clearly depends on currency, for a start.
Hard to measure, for another. I have no interest in the value of my house, save an estimate for insurance and mortgage purposes.  Equally, my extensive cycle fleet is worth a lot more as a collection of parts than as complete bikes.
FInancial wealth can be complicated - CETV can be a poor proxy for the true value of a DB, for example.

I view my "wealth" in terms of:
- access to savings. Do I have enough to cover the bills, pay for emergencies and not to worry about dealing with unexpected challenges?
- stable income. Do I have enough coming in to comfortably provide for my family, our needs, and most of our wants?
- health. Am i spending enough time on essential maintenance, including exercise, diet, rest and mental resilience?
- family. Are they resilient, supported and loved?
- retirement. Do I have (or will I have) sufficient to generate a comfortable later life for us?

Obviously I can measure my salary, and can monitor the retirement funds.  
The one figure I track is the pension, and that is what  I see as my "wealth" in its simplest terms. It's what I will be able to spend.

jimi_man

Audaxer said:

Alexland said:

Prism said:

Just to be a little pedantic - you say my net worth, don't you mean our net worth? Having a million each and having a million shared are quite different.

My thinking is that to become millionaires we need to get to the point where our half of shared assets plus our individually held assets are for each of us worth at least a million.
Our house is shared and ISAs perfectly match but pensions differ, which we are part addressing in our long term contribution planning, but still it probably won't be until we reach around £2.4 million that my wife will herself be worth a million.

Surely if your shared joint assets are over 2 million, then you are both worth a million no matter who has the most? However another thought after reading your post - can someone of around 40 years old be classed as a millionaire if a significant part of that million is in a pension that they cannot access for years?

And this is where the whole thing becomes a little bit nebulous. In the case of the OP, who is 42 and has money in DC pensions and a house, neither of which are liquid assets and as you say the DC pension that can't be accessed for 13-15 years then the 'million' is just a meaningless figure. In my case at the age of 56 I don't have a huge amount of liquid assets available for retirement (about £125k at present), so I would be far off being a millionaire. But I've been receiving a DB pension for five years which is currently around £31k and with a further £10k to come for me and my wife at 65 (plus State Pensions though of course everyone gets them) which is all way less than our spending requirements, so we certainly feel as though we are prepared for a comfortable retirement even though we'd never be described as millionaires in the conventional sense by any stretch of the imagination or would ever describe ourselves as rich. 

The reality is, I think in the case of the OP, is that he was probably just reflecting on the fact that he's managed to live a reasonable life thus far, by saving an adequate proportion of his earnings and that his life is going to plan. I suppose the million pound 'milestone' is just something that causes you to reflect on how far you've come and what's wrong with that.

In my case it was when I left my job and the pension started immediately and I knew that I'd have that guaranteed income landing in my bank account on the same day every month for ever which is an indescribable feeling. 

It may well be a bit 'show-off-ey' (in fact it probably is) however this is the pensions forum and people are interested in figures since it provides context and people like to compare what others have with their own situation. It does however, highlight the huge disparity in apparent wealth between those with DC pensions and those with DB pensions and I do wonder if that's a significant driver for those with DB pensions to convert to a DC pension?

Anonymous101

Surely when people refer to "millionaires" they mean net worth?

All the other definitions are measuring something else entirely. Liquid / illiquid assets, people's FI pots, Spending power, ISA / pension / cash balances etc etc are all far too subjective. The only objective measure has to be total net worth. Whether you plan on spending it or not is totally irrelevant.