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...

@Mamlife

I took in ironing

I made my money thru my job… my parents paid for my education to university and then everything after that , I made myself .

Because my parebts grew up very poor, they are very frugal and I have the same habits.. so when I started work I would be saving quite a lot every month, whilst my peers were going out and getting wasted /going to fancy restaurants. Have only started to really relax more in the recent few years ( before I guess I always had the fear of overspending )

Salary was ok /low to start (30 a year) but over the last 13 years, my pay has gone to many many multiples of my first pay check.. I’m too lazy to invest , beyond stock etfs ( and only doing it opportunistically, so , buying dips) .. but am grateful that I ended up in a job that is interesting and pays

We are millionaires only if you count the value of our house. We are around 60 years old (one less, one more) so bought a first house in 1986. House worth £750K then we have the rest in savings in various forms eg cash, premium bonds, ISAs, pension etc.
Before kids, we both worked very hard with long hours. My DH carved out a knowledge niche for himself in a national industry so now he just does part time consultancy but it pays well as he is the only one with he knowledge.
As the kids grew up, I built my own business which generates passive income so I can work when I want.
The main luxury is being able to buy our way out of issues especially health for us and our grown up children eg one has health issues but we can pay for private consultants so no waiting (suffering) time as he can get the care he needs.
We also have fortnightly cleaners, use posh toiletries, a flower subscription and stay in nice hotels regularly and have expensive meals out. We both have the time to do voluntary work and we are generous with gifts.
We have had times when I was a sahm when we scrimped and scraped and had a very tight budget. I would say we were happy then and we are happy now.
We live in an area that does not require us to have many posh or smart clothes and designer labels do not appeal - I still get some clothes from ebay or charity shops.

@hotmeatymilk

On MN, it’ll be by working PT term-time only and flexible hours, around 2-6 per week, for £200,000. Quite frugal – my house manager is very savvy in Waitrose, we chose bifolds or parquet, not both, etc.

Just saved and invested it wisely – eg bought my double-fronted Victorian mansion in west London 30 years ago then sold it last year, try getting on the property ladder three decades ago?

Ha!

@Newbabynewhouse

Thank you. By 'this generation' I mean those who are faced with huge deposits to raise. My parents bought with a 0% mortgage, as did my grandparents. Not an option these days. Although my rent is more per month than I would pay if I was allowed a mortgage for the same house.

@my8thMNusername, just in case you were curious about MVIS, the stock you asked about previously. I'd avoid it for the time being.

investorplace.com/2021/09/mvis-stock-is-still-too-high-especially-since-microvision-is-still-trying-to-sell-itself/

@FrozenWillow it would take more than a month on UC for those capable of understanding though I suspect some would be unable ever to truly understand. I recall various MPs having a short period on UC televised for the public or on JSA/IS and previous iterations of benefits but they never have the replacement of larger items and debt to complicate things and they know it will end soon.. It's like the difference between voluntarily following a fasting regime temporarily to lose some weight when overweight and facing a lifetime on staples with the fear of not having enough money to even buy those.

Some of these "young people" are doing very well on Crypto investing. There's always an opportunity.

I used to babysit for a millionaire couple, in their moated Manor House. (My phone insists on capital letters there!) They had built up then sold a software company.

Apart from their collections (lets say boats and cellos) they were very normal and family friends.

I have become a millionaire today! BMW are giving me a car and $1.5million! I'm so lucky. Just need to reply to the email with my details and soon it will all be mine!

@Thedogisdrivingmemad I completely see your point.
My don’t have designer clothes either, I find it pointless for young children.
When I said the best of everything I didn’t really mean material possessions as I don’t hold much value there. They do have what I consider to be nice clothes but not designer everything.
For my dd; she has the best education we could get her, attends really good sports clubs and has private tuition in one of them to ensure she can reach her potential.
Also private swimming lessons which we found much more beneficial for her progress.

My son who has disabilities has weekly private therapies. I also consider that to be better but appreciate these things might not be the best for some.

For Christmas this year my DD has asked for a big blanket with mermaids on and a globe. They’re not spoilt children and I wouldn’t allow them to be.

@RussianSpy101 that all sounds eminently sensible.

What surprises me is people having a lot of designed bags and flying business.
Whilst we have more than 10m, I don't have a single designer bag (Chanel bags are like £5k plus...?) And we only fly business if we have points - we've never paid for it (my dream is to fly business to first class every time). And we're not frugal either.

I just wonder how much money do ppl make to have so many designer bags

I agree @lousanne.

@AnneinNovaScotia

We both started out with good professions and no student debt. we had no other support from family but that alone was massive. Then dh made a change into an industry that pays very well including bonuses and also gives stock options/grants as part of the compensation. My own job wasn't badly paid and also included stock (not to the same extent though). We both had employers match pension contributions too.

We have a lovely house that we renovated a few years ago, have a second small place in our homeplace, put children through private school and they will graduate university without debt. We save/invest most of our money for retirement/future. we (dh and I only) have occasionally travelled business class but only using upgrades from dh's airmiles. I haven't one chanel bag still less 5 :) That wouldn't interest me though. We give a significant percent of our income to charity (one we volunteer with too) and have done for years. It was harder to do when we earned less.

Dh works with people who are way way wealthier than we are. mostly people who went into industry early on and made out like bandits on stock options. Finance is also a good one. dd was friends with a girl whose father was in one of the big venture capital firms - they were seriously seriously wealthy - 2 massive holiday homes, trust funds for their children. He came from a completely ordinary background but was super smart at math and then went to Harvard Business School. I think he retired from that around age 45 never needing to worry about money for him or his 4 children again.

I've always suspected that if I tried harder at math I would be rich! My parents were right! Oh well, it's not too late for my baby, I will shamelessly push her towards math henceforth!

Is that the secret, be good at maths!!

Oh well. No wonder I'm skint.🤦‍♀️

@unidentia thanks for the links everyone, very helpful

@Annabelle69

I really don't think buying property that has gone up in price over the decades counts as savvy investing. Its pure luck at being born at the right time and profiting off the back of house price inflation. I say that as someone who has benefitted from it, while realising how much misery its caused future generations that aren't so lucky.

I'd love to hear more from people who worked hard or set up businesses.

I’m glad you said it! This was exactly my thinking 👏🏻

[quote unidentia]Couple of basic links:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/investment-beginners/

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/

I personally invest in Vanguard Life Strategy as its cheap and diversified - I'm not interested in spending time researching and buying/selling individual companies, I just want to benefit from long term market growth in a hands off way. Historically I make 10% a year.

www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/investment-fund-types[/quote]
thank you!

Developed an App, bought by a large tech firm

For me by marrying DH , for him by inheritance and by working hard after a good education. When I met him he was a poor seeming student ( I didn’t know his parents were paying for his university and living costs etc ) and I was an aupair . We travelled for best part of a year after he finished his degree the following year after us meeting then we lived in his trust money until he figured out what to do and went back to do a masters in computer science to the one of the top UK unis where he’d gotten his science degree from before it . His first job was in the city but not in finance to which he moved into after a few y and he’d started at around 23 000 graduate salary about 15 y ago . He got into banks and moved jobs a few times every few years in the beginning now he’s been at the same hedge fund for nearly 10 y . Doing this his career has been in a steep upwards curve and he’s gone from 23 000 to mid 6 figures to management and pretty senior in his current job which is just crazy . His family also owned a fairly large nation wide company and everyone had boarding schools education and trust funds . He got control of his at 25 and we bought our own first home after that we’ve sold twice and made a bit of a profit both times . Unfortunately his dad past away a few y ago but left him inheritance which enabled us to buy a larger house outright first and then sell our old pay of the small mortgage on that while renting elsewhere as well during the process . Now we’ve just moved and stopped paying the mortgage on the old house we completed on and soon will stop paying the very high rent on our last house which leaves us mortgage and rent free for the first time ever . We’ve had private medical insurance and dental plans from several of his jobs in the banks and since I have many health problems I have made good use of these in the past decade . Other members of our family too . I really appreciate the speed of care . Our kids have always gone to private schools like DH but not boarding I wouldnt want them to I like them home . I grew up average middle class I’m in my own country going to a state school like everyone . State Education is very good there . Always had summer and weekend jobs growing up where as dH studied hard and has the two degrees but never had to work in the holidays . We are able to pay for things like private specialists for medical if insurance doesn’t cover . Taxis for me to get around since I can’t drive due to my health problems and now might for the first time ever finally get a cleaner and a gardener etc since the house is twice the size of our old one and I’m in worse condition hardly able to do the stairs . When we travel we now normally use business because of me . I’ve sat in economy most of my life but now that I some times can hardly move I do spend the money to try to make myself more comfortable. We’ve all seen the world I always dreamed of and done amazing things and kids have every opportunity and are so privileged and I always remind them of that but I’d give nearly anything to be healthy again . I think your family and friends relationships with people and your health are the two most important things in life . I have counted the pennies and not had much at times in life , had awful jobs so I know what it’s like although I have never been on the breadline . I appreciate everything I have but being sick for life with no money in the world being able to cure it puts a huge cloud over everything. Money in itself doesn’t make you happy in my experience but it takes away the sources of stress and misery related to the lack of it of course and can buy you time , comfort , security , fast medical care and good education etc.
Atm we have our house worth a couple of million and the money from the old which we’ll invest , pensions ,isas and other investments ,and from DH mother he will inherit much more since he’s an only child . It all seems quite abstract to me like the fact that I myself owned half of these two houses worth a lot when growing up I owned nothing .

Btw the computer science degree is the highest paying one from his university and in his hedge fund all the people not at management level ( some of these kind of people are partners though ) making big bucks are Cambridge maths prodigies so yes a maths degree is a good idea if you are talented in it !

I didn't realise how many millionaires there were out there!!

Just married one. He was a knob so divorced him. Negotiated a fair settlement and am marrying another one next summer. I do have quite a nice life but it’s pretty simple. I live in a house that is adequate. I have a new car every three years but it’s pretty basic. I’m just not that extravagant. I figured school fees for DDs would take a large chunk but they didn’t like boarding school so attend the local high school and are happier coming home every day. I suppose for me the best part is not having to worry about money much but I never really did anyway….

Crikey! I just read some of the other comments. I realise that I take quite a lot for granted 😬 we eat out an awful lot. Regular restaurants with DDs but fancy ones for a weekly date night. We have a cleaner, a gardener, a laundry service. We have our meals at home delivered by Mindful Chef and we took a lot of holidays prior to Covid. We’re just in the process of booking the ‘Ultimate World Cruise’ …. Maybe we are quite extravagant!