The First $1 Million Dollars Is Always The Hardest

Published connected July 15th, 2024

Last week I became a multi-millionaire.

20 years agone I expected it to person a different meaning, and I don’t deliberation I americium unsocial here.

Pop nan champagne bottles, let’s hop successful nan Lamborghini and caput to nan Yacht!

Amirite?

Is $2 Million A Lot Of Money?

50 years agone it was.

And if you don’t person overmuch to your name, it will look for illustration a immense amount.

Hell moreover a fewer years ago, erstwhile I was conscionable a azygous millionaire, 2 seemed for illustration a lot. I callback reference a chap financial blogger’s website who had reached that constituent and retrieve reasoning that he was truthful acold up of me. Recall 1 of my earlier articles written a fewer years agone was to retire pinch $2,000,000.

Well, of course, that was earlier nan dollar “officially” mislaid 25% of its worth since nan past predetermination arsenic nan authorities started dumping money into nan system and liking rates remained astatine zero while nan system was robustly recovering from COVID nightmare.

The “experts” kept saying that ostentation was “transitory” and hoped nan problem would spell distant connected its own. But of people it wasn’t and I wrote astir why backmost successful 2021 and offered immoderate suggestions for what assets to bargain to support up pinch it (it’s hard!).

But present we are.

It Takes Money To Make Money

The study astir wealthiness is that nan much you have, nan much you make. This is astir apt evident to galore group who repetition nan idiom, “It takes money to make money” but going from 0 to $1 cardinal takes truthful overmuch much clip and effort than going from $1 cardinal to $2 million.

There are ways you tin make a batch of money from a mini first outlay of capital, but they are mostly longshots for astir people. That doesn’t extremity group from trying. Some get lucky, and everyone hopes it is going to beryllium them!

I was a assemblage student for what seemed for illustration forever, collecting a bunch of degrees successful Math, Economics and Computational Finance, and I didn’t commencement pulling a existent paycheck until I was successful my precocious 20s (I had worked afloat clip for a twelvemonth successful between, but dumped my net into my surviving expenses during my last grade program).

When I started re-investing during nan commencement of my profession successful finance and digging myself retired of my student indebtedness hole, I callback reasoning backmost past astir really nan $500 I made connected an individual banal felt truthful good.

That’s $500 I tin walk to bargain a amended computer, aliases amended clothes, aliases walk connected a vacation!

It’s each relative.

I group a extremity for myself, based connected nan magnitude I projected that I would prevention and invest, to scope $1 cardinal earlier property 40, pinch a agelong extremity of getting location earlier property 38. Well, I ended up beating nan agelong goal, but it still took 9.5 years, which seems for illustration an eternity for everyone who hopes to “get rich | quick.”

It moreover took 6 years to scope half of it and was specified a slow slog of a time.

Millionaire Dreams

Back erstwhile I was connected nan lowest rung, I was looking up and reasoning that $1 cardinal was truthful overmuch money, I told myself I would fulfill my assemblage dream and bargain an exotic car.

When I yet crossed that millionaire threshold, it took maine a while wrap my caput astir spending that overmuch connected a car; It conscionable seemed for illustration an unjustifiable chunk of money to driblet connected a toy. Being an investor astatine heart, I ever thought astir nan opportunity costs – nan costs of really overmuch I won’t gain from investing it.

But past nan pandemic happened and location was obscurity to spell and thing to do for a year, and truthful it seemed for illustration arsenic bully clip arsenic immoderate to yet cheque that box.

But astatine first, during nan marketplace meltdown of outpouring 2020, I concisely “lost a comma” arsenic my relative said to me.

I was irritated astatine him for saying that because it reminded maine that I had moved distant from my accomplishment and it was depressing to beryllium losing truthful overmuch money astatine nan aforesaid clip being locked retired of restaurants, shops and places to spell because of nan authorities imposed lock-downs.

Of course, it didn’t return agelong for nan marketplace to roar backmost pinch each nan authorities stimulus that flooded nan system and nan banal marketplace soared to caller heights successful short order. Pretty soon I regained my comma, and past some, and successful outpouring 2021, I yet bought 1 of my dream cars, an Aston Martin.

And life went on.

Two Million Dollars

The absorbing point is that it only took astir 5 years to summation nan adjacent million.

Of course, this makes consciousness since it only requires a 100% summation to spell from $1 cardinal to $2million and erstwhile you are starting retired going from $100,000 to $1,000,000 requires a 1,000% gain, aliases a 2,000% summation starting from $50,000 (assuming nary dollar costs averaging for simplicity).

I started keeping a log backmost successful 2017 and this is nan improvement of my nett worthy complete time:

Visually it looks beautiful linear, but I only return snapshots each 1-3 months. In my adjacent article I will break this down a small much nan type of investments I for illustration and show that I person historically “beat nan market” done nan cycle.

Wealth and Happiness

It whitethorn look for illustration a cliche, but while it’s a awesome individual accomplishment and a extremity that galore group strive for, wealthiness is not nan astir important point successful life.

What each personification who achieves wealthiness learns is that it’s not nan money that makes you happy, it’s nan enrichment of your life that does: nan partner you choose, nan fulfilling ways you walk your clip together, your family, your health, and nan clip you give to yourself for your individual enrichment and hobbies that you love.

Obviously money doesn’t hurt, but if you aren’t happy pinch $100,000, you’ll astir apt not beryllium immoderate happier pinch $1,000,000, aliases $10,000,000. People person a inclination to travel up pinch things to beryllium unhappy astir and ever deliberation personification else’s life is “better.”

Ben Affleck proves nan constituent that you tin person it each and still beryllium miserable:

Money’s top inferior is simply a information nett that provides a bid of mind that you won’t beryllium surviving connected nan streets and that you person immoderate buffer successful lawsuit you request it.

Going from $1 cardinal to $2 cardinal wasn’t life changing for maine and I uncertainty nan adjacent cardinal aliases 2 will beryllium either. Do I scheme to discontinue soon? No. Do I scheme to bargain a Lambo soon? No.

Ultimately, it’s conscionable different Monday.