In interviews with nearly a dozen recently minted millionaires, not a single one said they felt wealthy in today’s economy. Most said they felt financially stable and prepared for an emergency — a job loss, say, or unexpected medical cost — but none said it felt like the kind of money that would allow them to live lavishly or retire early.
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Keith Messinger, a retired civil engineer in Lexington, Kentucky, and his wife, a former teacher, recently became millionaires after 25 years of aggressively putting money toward their retirement account. It was a bumpy road to get there, Messinger said, especially after he depleted his funds a few times to cover routine expenses.
“I looked up at 42, and I’ve got $0 in my retirement plan,” recalled Messinger, now 68. “I said, ‘Well, the million-dollar boat has sailed. That’s no longer reachable.’”
Still, he decided to invest heavily in his shares of his employee-owned company. Messinger had calculated he’d end up with a net worth of $500,000 by the time he retired. But the recent run-up in the stock market — which doubled his savings in five years — has helped him reach his original goal.
Messinger retired at age 65, earlier than he wanted to, because his wife got sick. They’d just bought a trailer camper with plans to travel the country when his wife became disabled and largely bedbound. Messinger has since sold the trailer.
“The phrase I use is: I’m comfortable,” he said. “I can’t spend money willy-nilly, but I don’t worry about the day-to-day.”
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But young millionaires still exist, especially those who made it big in the expansion of the tech industry.
Marvin Xu, a 27-year-old software engineer in Seattle, crossed the million-dollar threshold last year. He credits his hefty compensation package — about $240,000 a year, including equity and benefits — and stock market investments for helping drive up his wealth. His frugal lifestyle has helped, too. Xu limits travel to local campgrounds and national parks and hardly dines out.
“I live by myself in a small, simple apartment; I always cook at home,” he said. “In general, I don’t spend a lot. And everything I don’t spend, I invest.”
Making it to $1 million felt significant, Xu said, especially because he grew up in the early aughts hearing his father, also a software engineer, talk about how it would take an entire lifetime to save that much.
“It’s a really nice milestone,” he said. “But of course a million dollars then isn’t what it is now. I don’t have the $1 million my dad was talking about all those years ago.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/more-americans-are-millionaires-but-they-don-t-feel-rich/ar-AA20LbW7
