how much money do you need

How Rich Is Rich?

EmailPrint.by Steve Hargreaves, Senior Writer
Monday, August 9, 2010

How much money do you need to feel rich?

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Wealth is a subjective concept, but one thing is universal in most definitions: being able to live a comfortable life without having to work.

"I'd like to have enough money so my family and I wouldn't have to work anymore or worry about the necessities, and maybe travel a bit," said Deborah Veale, a Southern California resident visiting New York City.

Veale said she'd need about $10 million to consider herself set.

One woman from Seattle put it at a "couple thousand dollars a month." Another from New York City wanted a billion (although she'd still fly coach.)

Experts peg the figure to be somewhere around $2 million to $12 million in savings.

On the high end of that range, a single person living in an expensive part of the country (say, New York City), wanting to retire at 35 would need at least $300,000 a year to feel rich, according to Steven Kaye, president of Watchung, N.J.-based wealth management firm American Economic Planning Group. He based that number on real-life figures his clients tell him they need.

A yearly income of $300,000 would allow for taxes, a $3,800-a-month apartment (the average price in Manhattan), and a monthly spending allowance of around twelve grand, he said. Not too bad, especially since you could do this all without a pesky job.

To generate $300,000 a year beginning at age 35, you'd need a nest egg of just under $12 million. That assumes a conservative investment portfolio generating a return of 5% a year, an inflation rate of 2.5% a year and Social Security benefits of $25,000 a year starting at age 62.

Over time, the shape of your nest egg would resemble a bell curve, growing in the early years, and then declining as inflation required you to withdraw more money to maintain a lifestyle equivalent to $300,000 in 2010. The $12 million would finally dwindle to $934 when you turned 100.

If you live in a low cost part of the country, $100,000 a year should be enough, said Kaye. In that case, you would need savings of about $4 million to retire at 35.

But if you're willing to stay in the workforce until age 65, a mere $2 million would be enough.

Jon Duncan, a financial planner at Tacoma, Wash.-based Seneschal Advisors, gave numbers similar to Kaye's, and agreed that for most people, the figure would be somewhere in the multi-millions.

"I'm from an era when we'd talk about millionaires and say 'Whoa, he's got it made for life,'" said Duncan. "But that's not the case anymore."

Indeed, few experts think a million is enough to quit your day job.

"Don't retire at 35," he advised this reporter, "you'll need a ton of money."

Keeping Up With the Joneses

Of course, there are other ways of determining wealth besides just what you'll need to live well in retirement.

Although decidedly not recommended by financial planners, one is relativity. Basically, you're rich if you're making more than your brother-in-law.

That appears to be how the government measures affluence. The Obama administration wants to extend tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans, which it defines to be those families making more than $250,000.

But that only includes about 2% of the population, according to the Census Bureau.

Kaye cautions not to confuse wealth with income. Some people can make a million a year, but be spending a million and a half. They are not rich, said Kaye.

"Income relates to lifestyle," he said. "Wealth relates to balance sheets."

 

you don't need money to be rich. i consider myself rich, but it's not because of my finances (obviously). my children, friends & family in my life make my life rich.

 

how much do you NEED really depends on you! some folks are content with not alot and say they dont need much, others enjoy making as much money as they can and have that same need. Just as preferences for our Mates, people have preferences for what they want and need and we are all individuals

 

I would say about ten to twelve million.

 

It really depends on your expenses. People who make a lot don't realize that. If you are making a million and your expenses are 999,999 then you are not rich.

 

I would say that you are rich, as soon as you have more money than you can spend till you die. For some it is a few millions, for others it has to be 100 million and more.

 

Piece of mind is something that you can't put a price-tag on.

 

It depends on where you live and how much. If a person lives in New York City it would be 30 to 40 Million dollars because of the taxes. In a low tax area it would be 15 to 25 Million dollars. If a person wins a lottery or sweepstakes that person should be careful on how to spend that much money. Me? 77 Million and up.

 

So if it were 74.3 million you'd starve lmao

 

No,but I would be unhappily poor by 300G.

 

Have already started working toward my first million. I will get there if god continues to gives me the wisdom, strength and motivation in the years ahead. I'll get there.

 

12,000 a month spending money is insane

lol

that's AFTER paying damn near 4 STACKS for an apartment in Manhattan

:smt037


i never thought of myself as keeping up with the joneses tho.....shit i dont even have a whip

 

Agreed, Luv.

You could live in Trump Towers with all the trimmings and still have...not a life.....but a mere *existence*..

With Mellisa and my studio pals & colleagues by my side, AND a happy homelife...I'm good where I'm at..



















'Nuff Said!!!!



















OpinionsCartoonStudios@Yahoo.Co.UK

 

what is it with all of these 'im rich at heart' posts

this thread is about $$$$$$$$$$

 

how far can you get with your $1.50...???

 

move that decimal several spots to the right and add me in a few more zeroes

 

LOL, petty you are the shit.
I believe in having financial peace

 

I believe money will never buy you true peace, or contentment.

 

There's a saying in Spanish that goes like this:

"No es más rico el que más tiene, sino el que menos necesita"

a poor translation (would love for somebody to come up with a better one):

"The richest is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs less"

 

well , when I say financial peace Im mean that if you have a good amount in your savings account and other assets to sustain you for years upon years and you are debt free then you have financial peace.

lets say you are debt free except the mortgage and you say one day fuck it I want to travel for 3 months and you are able to do so then that is financial freedom whereas financial peace would be if your car broke down and it cost you 2000 to fix it then you would cool thats all . that is because you have a savings acct for emergencies that will keep you going without missing a step.

that is financial peace which helps to a balance life