Page 2 | If you are a self-made millionaire

Kljnmw3459 · 14/10/2020 12:50

I sometimes toy with the idea of dedicating the next 5 or so years of my life to just building my career and earning money and letting my dh stay at home with the kids. I wouldn't need to worry about kids being ill or taking time off from work to attend their events etc. I could work evenings and some weekends if needed. But dh has his own business that he wants to grow once the youngest is at school.

AriettyHomily · 14/10/2020 12:55

@niceupthedance

Three people I know Law Aviation catering company Superstar DJ

I wonder who - ask superstar DJ 😂 Advertising Accountancy

Not me, unfortunately

Lollyneenah · 14/10/2020 13:00

Not me!
Friends though,

a antique trader, trades high end british antiques abroad. Bought property and land in an area that became very exclusive too.

Song writer - wrote most of rod Stewart's hits

1 won the lotto

StylishMummy · 14/10/2020 15:01

DFIL is a property developer and landlord, owns multiple homes but manages them himself so doesn't pay any agent fees. Also has a great relationship with the tenants which means the repair bills are low. He's also got small pools of investments.

DAunt on my side did some very clever investing with her share save schemes over several years. Owns a couple of houses, cars and horses. Both very happy people and not driven to show off. DFIL lives in 2 pairs of jumpers and trousers much to DMIL's chagrin

NastyBlouse · 14/10/2020 15:04

@Smallsteps88

I lick people for a fiver a go. Covid has damaged business.

Thank you, this has given me a proper belly laugh in what is a very challenging week

CokeEnStock · 14/10/2020 19:01

DH's best friend, is CTO for a very large IT company everyone would have heard of. He started in a small tech company in NE that was bought out. He has a super lovely house in the US these days and has played poker with Bill Gates. One of my best friends certainly owns property worth over a million.

Zenithbear · 14/10/2020 21:30

Property
We own four between us which is not far off a £million, we live in one, rent two out and the other is our holiday cottage. So we're doing ok but we still need to work part time. The rest is in premium bonds, savings, pensions etc.

queenofarles · 14/10/2020 22:02

I know few who started with something small, like cookies/ Florist business/cafe then sold the name for millions. It needs to be something aesthetically popular but at the same time novel.

queenofarles · 14/10/2020 22:06

Oh and stocks. we own stocks bought well over 10 years ago, they are now worth triple The price.

Selmaselma · 14/10/2020 22:16

The millionaires I know are in the tech industry and own stocks.

DanFmDorking · 14/10/2020 23:08

How to be a millionaire?
Become a billionaire and take up yachting!

Original poster

BestestBrownies · 15/10/2020 10:42

Hmmm... so tech + property seems to be a winner.

If only I knew the first thing about computers or had enough deposit to get on the ladder

OP posts:

animalsolo · 15/10/2020 10:56

I made some high risk investments and struck lucky within a few years. Not sure if that counts as self-made as I didn't put much effort into it.

DH is a millionaire through working for a tech company. Started working for them over a decade ago, and he was given lots of stock options which have done extremely well. He works hard but not long hours, he's just got a good head for coding.

I know quite a few older millionaires as they own London property which they bought years ago (not sure if it really counts as almost all their wealth is in their own home (nice but not luxurious houses), and they mostly live quite ordinary lives).

A friend's DH started a fintech company a few years ago which is now worth millions. They've moved to Bermuda and are living an idyllic but quite isolated life.

CoffeeandKitKat · 15/10/2020 11:03

My parents are through my Dads good London job plus bonus and saving it/investing it wisely. They both retired at 50.

justanotherneighinparadise · 15/10/2020 11:07

I know of two. One made his money selling a company he took over along with some conworkers. Turned it around, built it up and sold it for over 100 million. The other develop a device, built the company up and sold it for 10 million.

Mooserp · 15/10/2020 11:11

The ones I know, started a software company and then it was bought by a big corporation years later for ££££

Usernamealreadyexists · 15/10/2020 11:23

Speaking for my father who came as an immigrant with no formal education, grafted hard in the clothing industry in the 70s-80s, made a lot of money, went bankrupt, started up again in the care home home sector and now has one of the largest privately owned groups in the country. As an aside, he invested in property. Did it without any computing skills, fancy qualifications (I have a PhD and can only dream of what he’s achieved), handwritten pocket address book, wouldn’t know how to use Excel or Word, cannot spell. He’s the cleverest man I know and has been very lucky with the opportunities that came his way. He has the most amazing skills when dealing with people, can read people extremely well, can negotiate like nobody I’ve seen before and is just the kindest and most humble man. My brother has refined the business and taken it to another level but he couldn’t have started from scratch what my dad achieved.

Neolara · 15/10/2020 11:31

My dad is. He had his own company and worked like an absolute dog for decades. Worked during all holidays and weekends. Company was on the brink of bankruptcy at the end of each month for years and years.which was highly stressful. I don't think he even particularly enjoyed the work. Finally came good when he sold it 20 years ago for a lot of money. It's not a way of life that I would recommend. It's not even that my dad is particularly interested in money. I think he was more interested in being "successful" and because of his experiences, success for him meant having developed a successful business. His big brother was considered hugely successful as a business man (was knighted for it) and even now and in his 80s, I think my Dad views himself as somehow not being good enough in comparison. It's a bit sad really.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, it's really not all about the money. Making millions can be a trade off against quality of life and quality of relationships. The thing that drives you to make money may not actually be the money. It can be things like competition with a sibling or an vague idea of what success looks like. I wonder if my dad might have been happier if 30 years ago someone had sat him down and said,. "Is it really all worth it? Why is this so important to you?".

ComtesseDeSpair · 15/10/2020 11:55

“Property” in an interesting one, actually. I’ve just had a quick mental run through of my parents’ assets and, in terms of the property they own, having paid off their mortgages long ago, they are millionaires. I suppose that’s what happens when house prices inflate so drastically, and a lot of people in their 60s and above must be in their position but would never actually think of themselves as millionaires.

LilyLongJohn · 15/10/2020 12:09

I have a friend who is. He's very good at his trade and does contract work (think electrician type thing) but he works abroad, £500 a day, no tax, he's always away though, will work his arse off and his employers love him for it, he'll fly all over the world, work to fit out buildings, so much so he now employs people to do the same, but he pays them whilst he invoices the customer.

He's younger than me but looks wrecked! He's constantly knackered, always ill, never at home, lives in the worst conditions sometimes, to me it's just not worth it. He'll probably retire and implode

LilyLongJohn · 15/10/2020 12:14

My boss likes to tell the story of when he was in the army and just got married. His mate asked if he fancied buying a flat in London in an up and coming area, said it was going to be the next financial district in London, it was called Canary Wharf. His mate bought a flat there for £36k and my boss bought a 3 bed house in Newcastle for 34k 🤦‍♀️

His mate sold the flat some years later for well over a million. My bosses house at the time he sold the flat was worth about 200k

SingleHandSue · 15/10/2020 12:22

A family member made his millions with ice cream!

Bought a run down ice cream van in the 70s and parked it up outside the town park or outside schools. Got another ice cream van, then another. Then moved on to burgers and hot dogs. He started catering events in the town park which saw him move on to bigger venues like the NEC and through that got contracts in car shows and horse events.

He eventually sold the company for millions.

All for that £70 ice cream van.

Ariela · 15/10/2020 12:24

My friend's parents were, much to her surprise. Her mother invested in cheap penny shares in the 70s and 80s, and some did exceedingly well I think Body Shop was one of them I seem to remember her mum talking about them, she bought when they were tiny unheard of name - she read a lot of investment material. As they improved in value they were sold and invested in more funds which kept the money intact and helped them through retirement.

Terralee · 15/10/2020 12:28

My multi millionaire great uncle was the top chemist for firstly a chocolate snack company then the pet food division. He actually invented the British versions of well known chocolate bars in the 1950s approx.
He got his degree in chemistry at night school I believe while he was working...

TabbyStar · 15/10/2020 12:32

Uncles - manufacturing (vague about this but I think one company sold machine tools)

Friend of a friend: importing furniture etc. from Asia.

London friends: not having children and spending the money on property!