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...

Love your story @abstracteim and I agree with the pp that those mocking your dh are simply jealous.

I think there are millionaires and millionaires… DH and I are probably worth a million + but a lot of that is in house equity and we’re sort of just there. Mid 30s and got there through combination of no debts due to family paying through uni etc, DH’s family investing money for him, cleared £200k on our first flat due to area increasing massively in value & our combined income is over £200k.

Me: (scraping into this category) mostly inheritance plus increases in properties I’ve lived in.
DH: building a financial services business from scratch after leaving school at 16.
It took many years and we didn’t have a millionaire lifestyle.
At around 6 million all in, illiquid assets included, we are not particularly wealthy compared to many people in our area. A couple we know are incredibly wealthy and apparently he started with market stalls.
We don’t travel business or first class but might consider it for long haul in the future when we get a bit doddery.
We eat out regularly and travel. I have some nice jewellery but not loads. I’d look like a bag of rats in most designer clothes and they aren’t worth it to me so I don’t bother.

I still recognise the luxury of being able to buy things for hobbies and interests without having to scrimp and save: books, oil paints and most recently an electric bike.
My most valued luxuries are employing a cleaner and the freedom from the stress and anxiety that lack of money brings. I had that for a few years after my first marriage ended but even then, I had a full time job at least.

In the future I see us spending money on travel and experiences more than things. I’d love to see some more world class opera and DH would love to watch more live sports.

I have also retired very early and DH will retire at 60. That is a very expensive choice if you are planning for a comfortable old age.

I had a crappy childhood and from a very early age made a decision that I wanted to be rich. It was a very deliberate decision.

I went into a good professional career and grafted. Took every opportunity that was even a whisper. Did well but wanted more. Searched for a gap in market to create a business that utilised my professional skills.

Company did well and went public. I cashed out.

Recently became a millionaire, bought a crypto coin and 7 days later im now rich! And yes I've cashss it out and its in my bank account. Unfortunately capital gains will take a bit but still its absolutely insane. I'm going to be mortgage free shortly and so many options now.

The whole crypto currency thing bamboozles me.

@PegasusReturns

I had a crappy childhood and from a very early age made a decision that I wanted to be rich. It was a very deliberate decision.

I went into a good professional career and grafted. Took every opportunity that was even a whisper. Did well but wanted more. Searched for a gap in market to create a business that utilised my professional skills.

Company did well and went public. I cashed out.

That’s practically the same as me except I’ve still got my business. I don’t intend on ever cashing out. It’s my baby

DH and I, between us (does that count?) have over a million not counting our (one and only) mortgage-free house. If you added the cash value of our deferred pensions, it would probably be close to £2m in total.

He inherited about £280K from his parents 10 years ago and that money has been well invested. But it’s a minority of the total. The rest has come from the boring habit of always living within our income and saving at least a bit throughout our careers, along with investing for long-term growth.

Our house is a new 4-bed and very nice, but it’s not marble bathroom and gold-plated taps level - it’s a house on an ordinary estate in a small town in Devon, worth about £450K. We do our own housework, haven’t been abroad since before Covid, don’t have ‘staff’ or anything like that.

Our luxuries are that we have just retired aged 61 & 57, and we can afford lunch out and leisure activities, pretty much whenever we want.

My parents brought a house with a pool and a huge garden in 1994 for £400,000. They demolished it and built 2 on the plot. Sold one for over a million. Brought my brothers plots and built on those which sold for stupid money. I live in a crappy council house with no space and my “garden” is concrete.

I loved your story @AbstractEim. Congratulations on yours and your husband's success.

Recently became a millionaire, bought a crypto coin and 7 days later im now rich!

In 7 days of crypto you made a million?

[quote Cam77]@Username134
But did you sell it or are you sitting on it?[/quote]
Sitting on it. We live comfortably now and don't urgently need money so just going to wait and see. Cashing out huge sums of crypto in the current market is risky because even if it's taxed properly it flags you as a potential target for investigation/audits. In 5-10 years it will be far more mainstream and easier to deal with.

My house is now worth 1.5 million
Bought in 1996 for £130,000 😶

I spend money on everything! I love nice things but the importance of my money is that it gives me choices.

I “retired” after I sold my company but went back to work after a couple of years. I now have a prestigious role in a listed company and sit on a board elsewhere. My current role will - I hope - give me an opportunity to sit on pretty much any board on the future. Eventually I plan to transition to a portfolio of NED roles.

From a working class family.

I was the first in my family to go to university and with student loans and working at the school I put myself through earning a BS and MS in computer science.
I worked my arse off and made the jump to a better company.
I have quite a few patents and created and sold companies until founding my last company which went public.
So it's not so much one thing but income from real estate, investments, etc.
I'm always looking for opportunities. Like buying bitcoin on a whim shortly after it came out.

What do I spend it on?
I don't spend much day to day. I enjoy seeing the numbers most of all.
I fund a few scholarships. I like new tech. Things for my family.
I could have retired years ago, but I love what I do so much.

In the music and entertainment business. Being a household name.

Sometimes they're nice people and sometimes they're not. Like people without money.

I could tell you how my parents did it. They both grew up in poverty and were broke when they got married.
My dad got a job in a bank who sponsored him to go to university for free. He worked really hard, including long hours when we were small. They bought a house in the eighties so obviously benefited from house price rises.
My dad taught me the most important principle is always to spend less than you earn, no matter how much it is. For example once he used newspapers instead of carpet when he was poor.
Also there is good debt and bad debt, like your mortgage and student loans are fine, but never borrow for short term things.
Pensions are a huge part of his strategy so he says when you get a raise always increase your pension contributions first so you don't get used to having the money.

I married a millionaire and then divorced him. That wasn’t the plan (the divorce bit) but it’s worked out quite well.

[quote balonsz]@TableFlowerss it depends. You can sell a 2m house & buy a 800k one, no need for a tent. Plus if you bought a long time ago you probably paid it off years ago so income that would serve a mortgage has gone into other investments. [/quote]
Yes but I’m taking about those that work in normal jobs and live in a house valued at close to a million. Even if they sold it, they would no longer be millionaires even on paper.

I have a relative who is or is close to a millionaire.
Set up a company in the 70s, worked enough to buy a nice 4 bed family home in London. Which they sold once they inherited a property elsewhere.
So, a lot of hard work, and a huge bit of luck really.

I don't know any millionaires well but the one person I know of who is won the lottery. He invested some in a very niche business that wasn't doing well and turned it round, making more money in the process.

I married a man with a work ethic. He saves thousands in tax by being married (he's self employed) so it was a no brainer. Not quite a million yet but he's aiming for it.

@mellicauli

I got this email from a Nigerian Prince asking me to help him..

I sent the emails out pretending to be a Nigerian Prince asking for help. Occasionally I actually send a million or so over to one lucky winner to try to balance the karma of conning thousands of people worldwide…

It depends on what you mean by a millionaire @sugaraddictwithapinchoffluff

If that is including a house (paid for) then a huge number of people in the SE will be.

If it's cash in the bank, that reduces the number.

What's your own definition?