Just became a Millionaire today!…and I’m not even excited about it

Just became a millionaire today with another day of the markets ripping upwards. Not here to brag about it- just want to get thoughts from folks…

I dont feel a thing! Nothing! To be clear, more money is certainly better than less, and $1mm isnt even much these days in Gotham City, but it should feel like an accomplishment no?

Age 30. Have been in banking for a little while as a post MBA assoc. I’m sure others have hit this mark even earlier if they did IB out of UG, etc.

Am typing this while waiting for comments on some BS work at 9pm on a Friday.

How do others feel when they achieve a financial goal? Is this a sign to quit? In some ways I like high finance, but if not for the money, why do we do this job?

31 Comments
 

Put it all in $HAWK coin. It's gonna make a comeback, trust me.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

How do others feel when they achieve a financial goal? Is this a sign to quit? In some ways I like high finance, but if not for the money, why do we do this job?

Sadly, in my experience, it is just an opportunity to adjust your goals. The second a $2M home becomes attainable, a $5M home becomes desirable. The moment buying a reasonable 911 without any worry becomes reality, a turbo or a GT3 becomes just out of reach. 
 

Keep up the grind for as long as you can, and when you do quit, make sure you’re still doing something you care about, whether or not it makes money. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

1mm doesn’t mean much in today’s dollars. Especially if you live in NYC, it’s not gonna change your life one iota. And especially if that 1mm includes retirement accounts you can’t touch for years.

I think once you touch 5mm, it makes sense to make a humble brag post like this. I know you want to show off, but you’re not there yet. Sorry.

But for 1mm? Not a big deal.

 

10mm doesn’t mean much in today’s dollars. Especially if you live in NYC, it’s not gonna change your life one iota. And especially if that 10mm includes retirement accounts you can’t touch for years.

I think once you touch 25mm, it makes sense to make a humble brag post like this.

But for 10mm? Not a big deal

 
Teller in Branch - Personal Loans

Millimeters? 

M = 1,000
M x M = 1,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Most Helpful

Not in banking but have earned a good amount over the years. All I can say is eventually it becomes way more than about the money in order for you to make real money. Motivation is a weird thing. At first the money motivates you. But most find once they have enough to cover their lifestyle, an extra $X doesn't really matter. So in order to drive for that extra $X, you need to have real passion, determination, goals, etc. and they become the driver. The money becomes the byproduct of what you are doing and you need to be jazzed to do it.

I own a business in the AM/WM space. Wholesale and retail. I was very money motivated at your age (and younger). Was a driver. Top Producer. Made a very good living at a young age. Found doing the same thing over and over just got boring. Needed something to juice me. Took some business coaching classes and found some key interests based on what I was uniquely good at and started rebuilding my business around that. Had a blast for several years operating in the same space but looking quite different. That new lease on life brought the next level of compensation and I wasn't doing it for the money. Personal growth is key!

 

Not even a decade out of college with a mil is impressive. If left to grow and supplemented  it will be a very meaningful chunk of change.

The first mil is the hardest, absolutely true. 

 

To have a million at 25 would mean you founded a startup in your late teens / early 20s, worked at a hedge fund with an outlier P&L, invested in NVIDIA two years ago, etc. To have a million by 30 means you saved and reinvested 80% of your post-tax income for 8 years.... see the difference?

 

you can give it to me if you don't want it.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
Pierogi Equities

you can give it to me if you don't want it.

What's your Zelle? I'll send you $100M just for fun.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

First I'd say congrats. Everyone is going to tell you it's not that big a deal, you should have  arbitraged $1M by age 7, or you can't retire on it, blah blah blah. It's a big achievement, a lot of people will never sniff close to that money. Plus, the more you have the faster is accrues, hence more money. 

I'd add, it's okay because it really just is a number that we put a lot on for some reason. If you account/wealth fell to $999,999 would you feel less? A lot of people in different fields have this, some professional sports players lose motivation when they get to the league, or people described as "market" (stock, real estate), lose interest when they hit an amount. It's the true psychos who keep going and make billions, but after a while just enjoy your life. 

 

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