How did you become a millionaire

[sugaraddictwithapinchoffluff]

Go on, make me extremely jealous of how you became a millionaire, what it's really like and is it what it's cracked up to be? What sort of luxury do you indulge in that people like me can simple not afford ...

Take it away...

@Novemberchild2 yes, my husband has become obsessed with that shiba inu (I've prob spelt it wrong) he has already made about x4 what he put in but he says it's a really long term thing. What's your thought on it, if any ?

Bought a London flat 20 years ago for £138k, sold it for double that 8 years later. 18 months after that, I bought a London terrace that's now worth around £800k. Always maxed out my ISA and SIPP allowances, mostly in stocks and shares, meanwhile earning around £60k, riding old bikes around town and shopping carefully. Always had nice (cheap and adventurous) holidays but never flash cars or other expensive luxuries. Must have about £2m overall now in early 50s, and am thankful. Asset prices (shares, property, you name it) worldwide are now so high that these opportunities won't come again in the same way, but everyone should be taught financial literacy and how to invest.

I developed a fraud detection application and sold it to the company that I now work for. My dh died a few years ago and left us with nothing so I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved.

My road to becoming a millionaire was through being in a violent relationship that I got out of and buying a small house to move to. I then got sacked and could no longer afford to live in it. I rented all the rooms out and moved area. I was in bedsits for years, then I married had a child but eventually divorced. I borrowed against original house, bought another moved in and renovated. I then rented that one out and then moved into extremely run down properties and did them up and sold/rented them out.

I now have enough rents coming in to be basically retired. What having this means to me is Freedom and Security for me and my child. All my furniture is still second hand or sale items. I drive an old car. I love eating out but I normally go to places I can use my Taste card (2-4-1 meals or reduction). I go on an abroad holiday once or twice a year. My clothes are from charity shops or sale items. I am still careful with cash. But my luxury is one that I never ever take for granted and I appreciate it all the time and that is - I have earned FREEDOM. I do not have to compromise with anyone. I do what I want when I want. No Boss, No partner (by choice). I have known so much being ‘owned’ that I
Am so grateful to be in this position.

I worked extremely hard. I did without. I struggled. But... I had luck, help with childcare free from family, I was often in the right place at the right time, I was able to see opportunities and go for them, I was reckless on occasion and looking back I can hardly believe what I put myself through. I had a burning desire to change my life and not be answerable to anyone.

Making it financially (unless inherited) is down to many factors and sometimes those who deserve it don’t get it and vis versa.

I wish you luck

I have family who are millionaires, all through careers. They are scientists and have patents on technologies that they have developed as well as very prominent roles in universities.

One uncle, for example, created a molecule used to treat brain cancer. He is a multi millionaire from the patent of this. There are several other things family have developed that are used in different healthcare sectors.

My whole family are profs/dr and are in the science sector. So when I see the bias towards the rich and assumptions that no one worked hard, and have lack of ethics because all they care about is money, it does annoy me a bit.

I'm a millionaire, but it's not in the bank. I'm just a millionaire in the love of my husband, children, grandchildren, father and friends. They are all beyond price for me. We're reasonably well off, but nothing matters as much to me as those I love. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I was on the bread line, but I hope not.

I have some family who are millionaires. They’d never admit it, and you’d never guess. They buy own brand goods and live in a modest home.

They arrived in the U.K. in the 1960s as immigrants, with nothing. They worked, and then they worked some more. So they worked for a farmer in the day, then grew their own produce in their limited free time. Then a market stall to sell their produce, then a shop, then they worked their way up the supply chain, drove their competitors under as they had a lower price (and free family labour) and then they bought their competitors. Acquired a couple of shop buildings along the way. Then they went into a related business and this time moved down the supply chain (so producing what they started off just selling). At some point they bought more land for farming, then built some houses. They have a number of commercial lets.

What a braggy post.

I bought a flat in London in the mid 1990s which I lived in for two years, then bought a house with my boyfriend and then a bigger house four years later. Have worked hard to pay off the mortgage so we are now mortgage free in a big central London house. Obviously we have to live somewhere but on retirement we will sell it for something smaller and further out of London and realise cash for our old age. We have had very nice holidays all over the world because that is what we love but otherwise live pretty frugally as not into clothes or cars or such like.

🙌🏼

So sorry for your loss 😢
Well done you 🙌🏼

Truly inspirational 🙌🏼 Well done you x

@Mamamoosika

What a braggy post.

Which one😂

I'm one on paper. I own outright my house (bought this summer for £920k), and three investment properties worth £1.25m. I also co own a property in Spain and have other assets.
They are not liquid. I live off the investments and rent. I am a widow (since my kids were small). I bought my first house after my husband passed away from the equity from our marital home (which I paid the total deposit for, and my husband the mortgage). I moved to another house I already owned outside London and when I eventually sold the London house bought two - one to live in one to flip, in a much cheaper area. I repeated that a few times, and then my parents died so I inherited enough to buy another flat in London which I rent out.
I have one car and one of my children goes to private school ( my other one went to vocational college after school). We holiday every other year. While I don't worry how I will pay for basic bills, I live in a small terraced house and weigh up every purchase. While I have benefited from the increase in property values in the sale of my marital home which allowed me to invest, I am proud to say I have the same value assets as what I inherited, and have at the same time managed in the last 12 years to put two children through private education, and enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle.

I am not a millionaire by any stretch, but I know two sets of people who are. Friends of my parents had a chain of elderly care homes which they sold - they have an awful lot of money now.
Parents of a good friend of mine are scientists who developed a very important and life saving drug. They are in their late 70s and very well off indeed.

@my8thMNusername

I know two people who are Bitcoin millionaires.

Yes!! We lost a lot of our IT team as they became Bitcoin millionaires .. they bought them at the start, when people still thought it was some crazy conspiracists joke !

I suppose technically we are millionaires as house worth £600k and both me and DH have about £200k in our pensions.
I work in a lowly paid admin role. DH has his own business but most of our money through paying a lot into our pensions every month.

@LadyCampanulaTottington

I created my own business.

I buy convenience as my luxury. We have a full time housekeeper (our house is relatively small as there’s just the two of us now). She does everything including batch cooking weekday meals. We have a gardener, a valet comes to the house to clean the cars and twice a year we get the carpets washed.

We travel business class when possible and pay for lounge access, speedy security checks and put all of our bags on the hold. Some airports have a private terminal that they keep hush. You can pay to use it even when flying commercial.

We pay for a black American Express for the extra air miles and use the concierge service regularly.

For me, money buys time because I pay others to do the things that either I hate or are not a good use of my time. I am the golden goose after all.

That's what I call class.

And money well spent.

Inheritance

I married a billionaire and spent most of his money

@BruceAndNosh

I married a billionaire and spent most of his money

@BruceAndNosh 😮 wow a billionaire is a whole new level. What sort of things did you buy? You have to tell us all

@Kisskiss one of those people is my techy brother who tried to get me into it years ago! I've made about 6k so far... kicking myself