Originally Posted by ff_

Well, to be fair that isn't exactly the point. Yes, you can save a million dollars by the time you reach 62 years of age, but a million at that point in time is going to be like 100K at age 21. Still a nice chunk of change by today's standards, but not enough to live on once you retire. If I reached 62 and only had 100K to live on for the remainder of my life, I'd be living in poverty.

The point is that these people achieve millionaire (+) status at an early age, through spending and investing wisely. By not living extravagantly, driving a Lexus with a $650/mo payment, living in 500K homes, and eating out every night.

Originally Posted by rai

You can't very likely live off $1M for the rest of your life, it's peanuts (IMO)

Originally Posted by TwiBlueG35

One thing I agree is having a lot of money but no one you love to share the money with wouldn't make you happy. Having a lovely wife and lovely kids and healthy happy parents would make you happier than having a million dollars in my opinion. Having a million dollars is rich enough, net worth or not. No matter how rich you are, you sleep on only ONE bed. You drive a top end Benz sedan? So what? You still will get stuck between traffic, same as a Toyota. You have a private jet? I don't see how much better you could be beside you could ram your beautiful mistress on the jet when I bought a economy class ticket and stuck on a small seat for hours. I could live with that. There is no difference in causing happiness once you reach a certain wealth level.

Originally Posted by LexArazzo

I guess what he's saying is what's the point of becoming a millionaire if what you have is a number in your bank account/portfolio, but you can't even enjoy something more luxurious than a Toyota & other luxuries.
You don't have to be a millionaire to be happy as long as you are enjoying what you think are the pleasures of life & is financially secure & not living beyond your means.

I do think you have to differentiate between people who take different paths in becoming millionaires. Those who are frugal ( & drive Toyota's etc.) are probably those that do it the hard(& slow) way. Whereas those who became millionaires very quickly from very high paying jobs, starting fast growing businesses & leveraging investments etc. are those who probably will spend their money on luxury more freely. I guess the former type probably constitute the majority.

You can also spend money on luxury items without being wasteful. Don't buy luxury items you don't need, like more than one home, multiple designer clothings that you don't wear more than once, excessive expensive jeweleries, trading multiple expensive cars every year (or even every few months, I've known a guy who does that).

I guess buying a Lexus & keeping it for at least 5 or 6 years or longer is OK.

Originally Posted by rai

My point is talking about 'a millionaire' does not mean much, if we're talking about having $1M right now, today that's not what it used to be.

You can't very likely live off $1M for the rest of your life, it's peanuts (IMO) so the fact that a lot of people have net worth of $1M is not that impressive, they are not rich people so it's not a shock that they drive a Toyota.

IMO "Rich people" have several million.

My point was just being a millionaire (that is $1M or more in net worth) does not take a lot, something like saving $20/day for 30 years and you have a million. Nost people can and should put away $20/day. If you can't save $20/day than IMO you are living over your head. But unfortunatly in the US many many people don't save anything. And I bet a lot of people 'look' well off such as driving BMWs and Lexus but they aren't saving for retirement, and thats part of the point of this thread.

I see no harm in buying a nice car. If you make a good living any you save a lot for retirement and you like nice cars then it's fine to buy as nice of a car as you can afford. I don't believe in saving to the point that you can't enjoy life today.