I am not @Voyager. But I’ll suggest a bunch of the difference is down to age.
Someone well into comfortable retirement is probably not too interested in replacing their nicely appointed house with something more grand. Too much work. They probably already eat and drink about as fancy as they want about as often as they want. They may already have done their early retirement travel-gasm, and although there’s always more of the world to see, and always fancier more pampered ways to do so, the stamina may be lacking at this point to add much more to what they’re already doing.
As a mere stripling of 67, I could imagine deploying an extra $10M to good effect. There’s a condo I’m lusting after right near here that’s $6.5M, plus ~$200K/year taxes, maintenance, and insurance. I already travel often and well. But I could kick both “often” and “well” up a notch, and especially if I forego the condo.
But that’s nothing compared to how an extra $10M would have altered my life at age 35.
A million wouldn’t be enough, especially with the on-going staff expenses.
On the other hand, we’re doing OK, paying our debts, doing some traveling, and being able to save a bit against stuff that comes up. Our money guy took our 401k funds and set us up with comfortable annuities, plus there’s SS and my pension. So It would take a real influx of funds to change our life appreciably, but none of the things on my list are critical or worrisome. If we can’t afford it, we don’t do it. So no housekeeper, no yard crew, no new kitchen - those would be real changes. All things considered, we don’t have a lot to complain about (not that it stops me from whining about my kitchen… )
A million? I’d probably retire today instead of end of next year as planned.
Life changing would likely require $10 million or more. And the way I would change isto become ridiculously generous, primarily to talented musicians who work way too hard for way too much money.
To THEM, an extra $1-10k in the tip jar WOULD be - if not life changing, at least life more pleasanting.
(On edit - damned discourse. Something kept putting a chunk of my post in italics, without spacing. Likely my use of dollar signs. Thanks for presuming I intended something I didn’t!)
“Life-changing” for me would mean being able to fully replace my current job with passive risk-free income, like from T-builds or high-yield savings. Minimum comfortable amount for that would be 3 million, at least until the kids are through college.
A thousand wouldn’t change much if anything, I’d get to retire a few weeks early maybe.
Definitely part of it. And what fraction of what you currently have it is.
Plus of course if your basic needs hierarchy is already satisfied and secured.
Then what your wants are: what makes you happier? Do you care about luxury items or status display much?
And yes which direction it is going. It is hard psychologically to lose something, especially something lifestyle impacting, more of an impact psychologically to lose the same amount than it is to gain it.
We inherited about 100K when my parents passed in 2022. We paid off our mortgage, and have had enough in savings to keep us going while waiting for my pension to kick in (I retired in June, and the retro part is allegedly in the process of being sent to the bank). As a result, we haven’t had to touch my IRA or any of the mutual funds. I think with a million we’d be pretty much set, with more than we need.
I’m your age contemporary. From previous investment threads my understanding is I am a bit under your net worth but within similar ranges. But that is the difference between our utility curves: I can’t imagine my life improved by spending much more than I spend and barring a catastrophe big enough that I am doomed no matter what, not impossible, I can live that life to the century mark if such is my fate, and still fund grandkids 529s, if I ever get any.
I would get relatively little utility from having say Musk’s money. More power to impact events, as wealth is power (and power is wealth) … but not sure having such would make me happier. The Spider-Man bit comes to mind and great responsibility is stressful!
There are people here saying that more money, even a lot more, wouldn’t change how they lives. While I’m sure that’s true for some. It would change our lives, even though we have everything we “need” now. The benefit I see is you no longer have to give a fuck about what something costs. Want to fly to NYC for a long weekend? Charter an executive jet and skip TSA, the big airports, and waiting for your bags. Want the bottle of champagne in the hotel mini fridge? Grab it. Stay at the best hotels, tip generously. There was someone here in the last few days recounting parking a half mile from the hotel to save on the parking fee. With $10M in the bank, you don’t care about the $50 valet fee. Get the best tickets to sports, theater, or music. $1,000 a seat? Who cares? Spend it, enjoy it, live the dream.
Sure, it’s not for everyone. But it sounds nice to me. If you like baseball, wouldn’t you want a great seat at the stadium? If you like music, same thing. Travel without worrying about cost? Sounds good to me. Even grocery shopping would be a different experience.
I would get tremendous joy from establishing my version of Macarthur grants. The area I am most familiar with is music. Of the top of my head I could think of 50 musicians whom I would love to give $100k - or maybe an annual stipend of $50k, just to free them up to make more music without having to work so hard and stress so much just to pay their utility bills and any medical emergencies. And music camps/organizations that could do wonders with more ready resources. Free up the time they have to spend fundraising to actually do good things.
And there is no reason it would have to be limited to music. I doubt it would be difficult to identify any number individuals and small organizations active in social service/science/arts that woud benefit from $1ook or $1 million.
And the people I love, I would love to be able to free them from having to spend as much time as they do at jobs they do not love.
I’m not sure if such philanthropy is necessarily the same as “power.”
Nice? Maybe. But very marginally nice. Offset some by the discomfort being one of those people would cause me. And I think the additional “happiness” it would result in would have an initial bump and then settle back into pretty close to my current state of mostly pretty content with my own personal state (the state of the country and the world being another matter).
I accept the fact that the data shows greater wealth is associated with greater happiness … but I also think that most of us, once our basic needs are met and we are not feeling insecure, gravitate towards a personal happiness center of mass no matter how much we have.
Yes and it comes with all of the potential hassles that power entails. Constant solicitations for donations - some people would love that, some (like me) would find it tedious beyond belief. Having to manage a staff. Having to manage and keep around security because at a certain level it just becomes prudent if not out and out necessary even if just as a deterrent. It all sounds exhausting and not for me.
I’ve mentioned this before (probably multiple times), but I buy a couple of lottery tickets a year for the fantasy aspect. Maybe a couple less than I used to because before I retired it was often a fun way to mock my job when there were moments that stressed me out . I have a couple of friends that do the same. But they will only buy one when the jackpot is huge. I will only buy one when the jackpot is “modest” ( i.e. $10-20 million rather than $300 million). Because in the insane unlikelihood I win a) I didn’t lust after that kind of money in the first place, b) I don’t want the headaches that come with truly massive wealth and c) by law in my state you can’t remain anonymous and relative anonymity will only work if you win a “small” jackpot, not one of the huge ones.
That’s true to some extent. Once any surplus is absorbed by debt, then anything you have can start adding marginal value, which would no doubt improve your life in some way. But personally, marginal value doesn’t really get at the core thing that dominates my life, which is working for a paycheck.
So my life, my whole life, doesn’t actually change until I have some kind of low-risk passive investment that replaces that paycheck. Obviously high-interest savings fits that bill, and $3 million would just do it. I don’t know of anything else that reliably returns more than that, with low risk. Maybe a 1.5 million rental of 4-6 units, but that’s a little too job-shaped for me to call it “life-changing.”
A thousand wouldn’t make a difference either way. A million would if I lost it - but I’m not sure there is any amount of money that would change my life. Not because I’m so rich already - but because I can’t imagine no longing caring about how much something costs. I care about how much something costs now not because I can’t afford it but because I don’t think it’s worth the price. I can afford the $50 body wash- but I don’t like it more than twice as much as the $15.95 one. I might start buying business class seats - but I wouldn’t charter a plane. And I don’t fly often enough for business class seats to be life changing.
Yeah - I’m not seeing that. With enough money, you can hire staff to manage your staff. You swoop in at your leisure to make sure things are running according to your wishes.
I wager several people on these boards choose to pay people to do tasks they wish not to: lawn care; housecleaning… Or simply pay others to do things you don’t want to do: drive certain places; change your oil; shop and deliver…
I don’t see how simply paying people to insulate you from the hassles/hasslers is all that different. You pay for security, and for staff/a board to review incoming requests and recommend/make disbursements. Hell, maybe you could institute and publicize a policy that ANYONE who directly approaches you requesting $ will automatically be denied permanently.
One where money is not an issue. We could spend a lot more than we do on frills and stuff, but we don’t want to. I said 10 million was a maybe. 1 million, no. Our financial planner tells us we should spend more,
Now, getting 30 hours more of time a week, that would be a game changer.
Exactly. I go online and clip coupons for the grocery not because paying more would break me but because getting maximum savings is kind of a game. My parents grew up during the Depression, so I was raised to be careful of money. My wife is the same.
However I’ve decided that the next time we go to Europe we are going to spring for business class. We flew coach to Amsterdam a few years ago, and while the seats were fine it was not fun. I have trouble sleeping on planes. But not for short domestic flights.
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. I have a couple of friends that do the same. But they will only buy one when the jackpot is huge. I will only buy one when the jackpot is “modest” ( i.e. $10-20 million rather than $300 million). Because in the insane unlikelihood I win a) I didn’t lust after that kind of money in the first place, b) I don’t want the headaches that come with truly massive wealth and c) by law in my state you can’t remain anonymous and relative anonymity will only work if you win a “small” jackpot, not one of the huge ones.