Are there any millionaires who contribute to MSE?

artyboy

GeoffTF said:

mebu60 said:

OAP1952 said:

And the question I really want answered:  how do we change the life-long habits and spend the cash?!!!

There's many a thread on here endeavouring to find ways and means of making ourselves try to do that! 

Spending money is not a virtue. Give to charity.

The two things are not mutually exclusive! 

But by all means pontificate away if it makes you feel better...

TheBanker

If I add up everything, including my pension pots and the equity in my house, I have just shy of £1m. I am so close that if I re-run the calculation on payday next week after my salary has come in but before I've spent any of it, I will probably be a milionaire, for a couple of days at least! If I am a few pounds short I can get silly and add in the pot of loose change, my accrued Tesco Clubcard points and the credit balance of my energy account.

Of course, this is a pretty meaningless number - my pension valuation fluctuates on a daily basis, and I can't touch it for over a decade. Even when I can, it represents income for the rest of my life rather than 'wealth' as such. The equity in my house is only really worth anything if I decide to downsize, which I probably will at some point but not yet. And some of my savings are allocated for future expenditure e.g. replacing my car or home improvements.

But I'm quite happy with my position, especially considering that when I joined MSE I was mainly using the Debt Free Wannabe section and genuinely having sleepless nights worrying about how I was going to pay my rent. 

My change of fortune came when I secured a better job, which opened up a lot of opportunities. It involved a personal sacrifice though - I had to move about 200 miles from my family and friends.

But using some of the tips here has undoubtedly helped. £150 or whatever for switching a bank account is not huge in the grand scheme of things, but it's another £150 to add to my savings. The regular savings account merry-go-round takes little effort but helps to maximise returns. All of these small amounts add up, especially when they start to generate compound interest.

Having said all of that, I feel poorer than I did a couple of years ago. The cost of everything has increased and although I've had pay rises, they haven't covered my personal rate of inflation. Obviously it's easier for me to absorb this than someone on a lower wage, but I'm still feeling it. 

subjecttocontract

There is bound to be a few who have in excess of a £ million in savings/investments in addition to property & pensions who visit this site occasionally but....
* There is no reason why they would want to identify themselves.
* I doubt their millionaire status has been achieved just through being members of MSE.
* There are probably a few that have well in excess of a £ mi!lion.

UKX69

I’m far from being a millionaire, but a lifetime in the Oil & Gas sector has brought its rewards. I’ve got a comfortable lifestyle and enough liquidity to see me through to the big sleep. My investments and dabbling in the financial scene are just my hobby. I’m happy as I am.

jimjames

Mr.Generous said:

 Like someone said earlier, a millionaire when I was a kid had loads of spare cash to do anything they wanted, I live in a normal house on a small estate and drive a normal(ish) car and have normal holidays. My income is only at the threshold for higher rate tax, it's asset rich and cash moderate for me. 

It's an interesting thought, with asset values etc it would be very possible to be a millionaire but also a standard rate taxpayer. I've been very fortunate that I started my investment journey nearly 30 years ago but it really shows how time in the market and starting early are the key factors. I suspect this board is a fairly unrepresentative section of the UK population, you'd get very different responses and assumptions on other people's wealth on the Debt Free one.

Section62

jimjames said:

Mr.Generous said:

 Like someone said earlier, a millionaire when I was a kid had loads of spare cash to do anything they wanted, I live in a normal house on a small estate and drive a normal(ish) car and have normal holidays. My income is only at the threshold for higher rate tax, it's asset rich and cash moderate for me. 

It's an interesting thought, with asset values etc it would be very possible to be a millionaire but also a standard rate taxpayer. I've been very fortunate that I started my investment journey nearly 30 years ago but it really shows how time in the market and starting early are the key factors. I suspect this board is a fairly unrepresentative section of the UK population, you'd get very different responses and assumptions on other people's wealth on the Debt Free one.

Also quite possible to be a millionaire and pay no income tax... fully-used ISA allowances or something like a beneficiary drawdown could take you over the line, whilst also having income from other sources which after allowances leaves no income tax to pay.

GeoffTF

artyboy said:

GeoffTF said:

mebu60 said:

OAP1952 said:

And the question I really want answered:  how do we change the life-long habits and spend the cash?!!!

There's many a thread on here endeavouring to find ways and means of making ourselves try to do that! 

Spending money is not a virtue. Give to charity.

The two things are not mutually exclusive! 

But by all means pontificate away if it makes you feel better...

Of course, we all have needs. I was responding to the suggestion that I should spend £millions at the local public houses to avoid it burning a hole in my pocket (assuming that I have £millions of liquid assets, of course). I would not do that, even if it was feasible and was not injurious to my health. Much the same applies to gorging myself with unhealthy food at the local eateries. I expect that there are those who would regard me as an old eccentric, but it takes all sorts to make a world. There are people with greater needs than me.

leosayer

I've been on this board for nearly 20 years and it has certainly helped me on my financial freedom journey - my wife and I retired last year at 54.

But thanks also goes to a number of youtube channels such as Ben Felix, Meaningful Money, Pension Craft and James Shack.

I have to say that I have had a quite a bit of luck along the way and I made the most of it such as:

- growing up in central london enable me to get a job in investments where I learned a lot
- being brought up in a stable, loving family home. Albeit terrible with money which taught me a few things!
- being able to buy a property in the 90s when they were much cheaper than now
- having really good investment returns - around 8% compounded
- having a well paying job (with DB scheme for some of it) for many years that gave me that capacity to invest large sums
- having a spouse who is a hard worker and fairly frugal
- make use of generous tax reliefs and allowances (ISAs and Pensions)

I'm a regular but not prolific poster on MSE - mostly to pass on my experience and knowledge but also to ask the odd technical question.

Section62

GeoffTF said:

artyboy said:

GeoffTF said:

mebu60 said:

OAP1952 said:

And the question I really want answered:  how do we change the life-long habits and spend the cash?!!!

There's many a thread on here endeavouring to find ways and means of making ourselves try to do that! 

Spending money is not a virtue. Give to charity.

The two things are not mutually exclusive! 

But by all means pontificate away if it makes you feel better...

Of course, we all have needs. I was responding to the suggestion that I should spend £millions at the local public houses to avoid it burning a hole in my pocket (assuming that I have £millions of liquid assets, of course). I would not do that, even if it was feasible and was not injurious to my health. Much the same applies to gorging myself with unhealthy food at the local eateries. I expect that there are those who would regard me as an old eccentric, but it takes all sorts to make a world. There are people with greater needs than me.

Not 'eccentric', but possibly not as well informed as you could be if you really believe local pubs (and cafes) only serve alcohol and unhealthy food these days.

vacheron

In the 1970's-80's "Millionaire" presented a nice round number which denoted an exceptional (but not completely unacheivable) level of financial success.

In 2025, to live what most people envisage as a Millionaire lifestyle (large country house, possibly with a couple of staff, a couple of exotic cars, multiple luxury holidays, kids in private education, large boat / small yacht) you would probably need closer to £5-10million.

Today, £500K in a pension fund (providing approximately £20K per year income) plus a £500K paid off house, and there you go... Millionaire!

I'd imagine hundreds of people in this forum are in this position, most will probably be in their 50's or older and probably in the south with their property value increases has done doing a lot of the heavy lifting. 

Also, much like retirement, when the big day arrives it is generally without all the anticipated fanfare as neither you, nor your abilities or aptitude changes when you reach this number. Many won't even realise when the "magic threshold" is crossed as everything just carries on as normal like it did before.