First Million

[racemize]

I hit that about the same time.  $2 million five years later.

 

Nice, man. So what's stopping you from running your fund full time? Still doing that, right?

 

I work a couple days a week now, and it doesn’t feel stressful anymore. I’m going to coast here for a while I think.  Fund is at $7 million and needs to get to $15 before it works as a business really.

[boilermaker75]

A dude on the phone with his father, a grumpy old retired econ professor:

 

Dude:  “Hey dad, guess what, I just became a millionaire.”

Dad:  “No you didn’t.”

Dude:  “How do you mean?”

Dad:  “You just converted your human capital into financial capital.  In other words, you just sold your life for money.  You were always a millionaire, you just didn’t know it.”

Dude:  “Ok, but no dad, I didn’t just save my salary, I made a killing in the stock market!”

Dad:  “That just means you used the wrong discount rate.”

 

;D

 

Dad, I really really just became a millionaire...

 

...

 

I started with 10 million and invested in Canadian O&Gs, some promising biotechs, even more promising techs, couple airlines, IBM, and triple index tracker.

 

Reminds me of this quote, "To make a small fortune in the futures market, start with a large fortune."

[rkbabang]

A dude on the phone with his father, a grumpy old retired econ professor:

 

Dude:  “Hey dad, guess what, I just became a millionaire.”

Dad:  “No you didn’t.”

Dude:  “How do you mean?”

Dad:  “You just converted your human capital into financial capital.  In other words, you just sold your life for money.  You were always a millionaire, you just didn’t know it.”

Dude:  “Ok, but no dad, I didn’t just save my salary, I made a killing in the stock market!”

Dad:  “That just means you used the wrong discount rate.”

 

;D

 

Dad, I really really just became a millionaire...

 

...

 

I started with 10 million and invested in Canadian O&Gs, some promising biotechs, even more promising techs, couple airlines, IBM, and triple index tracker.

 

Reminds me of this quote, "To make a small fortune in the futures market, start with a large fortune."

 

Or Richard Branson saying " If you want to be a Millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline."

[LC]

I hit the mark about two years ago before I bought the houses...but I'd guess it isn't the same as it was growing up in the 80s/90s. Now, you can get a useful degree and go consult for 5 years, save your cash and you're 90% of the ways there. Which is a good thing!

 

I think it was easier to build wealth in the 80s/90s. Lower debt levels for the average young person and better market returns. The S&P 500 averaged like 18% or so from 1981-1999.

 

That’s a good point as well!

[Gregmal]

Here's the million dollar question... Is it a million free and clear of taxes owed? In other words, the liquidation value net of tax?

 

Either way, congrats.

[bennycx]

Net of tax and net of debt!

Started with 10k 7 years ago after graduation. Been socking 50% initially and more recently up to 70% of my income every month as I get paid more.

I am usually holding a 3-5 stock portfolio with roughly 30-50% concentration in one name. Main big returns are BAC in 2011, WFC in 2013 and AXP in 2016, with some tactical arbitrage plays like Dell (from public to private in 2012 and back to public in 2018) and some other less known ones.

All is not well since I made one main mistake in an oil name in 2015 and suffered 30%-40% losses there (overall -10% to portfolio).

Another positive thing is that I can feel more financially stable when thinking about starting a family!

[Cevian]

Bennycx, congrats on reaching the mark.

 

Out of curiosity, do you own your own home? If not, where do you live?

 

I find real estate has become a larger and larger component of ones net worth and it would be interesting to know where you are on that front.

[DocSnowball]

Congrats, that’s quite an accomplishment assuming you started from zero. 

 

I remember first passing the $1m mark because it happened rather quickly thanks to a concentrated position in a stock that went up 5x or something in less than a year.  Of course I did a round trip on that one, and it took me a while to get back to $1m again.  Hopefully you will only need to become a millionaire once, not twice like me.  :)

 

Thank you for sharing. +1 on the round trip. Slowly working my way back bit by bit  :)