Got my second comma -- what is this anticlimactic feeling?

TheMoneyRat · Post by **TheMoneyRat** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:40 pm

So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic? Maybe it's because we crossed over the million-dollar net worth hurdle in 2016 taking into account home value -- but honestly I thought I'd feel more excited about officially hitting "millionaire next door" status. (About me: age 48, kids about to start college, wife works, we live well below our means but pretty comfortably given total income).

Anyone else experience this?

TheMoneyRat

bligh · Post by **bligh** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:45 pm

Congratulations!

It is an awesome milestone and the anti climactic feeling is probably your rational brain telling you there isn't THAT much of a difference between 996K and 1002K.

Tell that rational part of your brain to shut up for once and bask in this milestone you have crossed that few people have crossed. Yes it is an arbitrary number and based of the decimal system. So what?

KlingKlang · Post by **KlingKlang** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:48 pm

I know exactly what you mean. As far as motivation treat yourself to a double shot of Johnnie Walker Black

at $1,000,000 and every $100,000 after that. After $2,500,000 switch to Johnnie Walker Blue.

randomguy · Post by **randomguy** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:49 pm

TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic? Maybe it's because we crossed over the million-dollar net worth hurdle in 2016 taking into account home value -- but honestly I thought I'd feel more excited about officially hitting "millionaire next door" status. (About me: age 48, kids about to start college, wife works, we live well below our means but pretty comfortably given total income).

Anyone else experience this?

TheMoneyRat

It is because 1 million isn't enough to retire. Knowing nothing about you, you probably need to hit 2-3 million to be financially independant and able to live your current lifestyle

Chan_va · Post by **Chan_va** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:52 pm

Probably because you know that the 8 year bull market has to end sometime, and when it does, you will drop back. But crack open a cold one now - you have earned it!

TheMoneyRat · Post by **TheMoneyRat** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:57 pm

randomguy wrote:
It is because 1 million isn't enough to retire. Knowing nothing about you, you probably need to hit 2-3 million to be financially independant and able to live your current lifestyle

Yeah, my number is $2mm outside our retirement accounts, plus college costs, kids out of the house, plus my wife working until at least 60 (which she wants to do). House already paid off. Target date is 55 years old. Not a super-early retirement but good enough for me. 7 years is long enough to seem frustratingly far away but close enough that I can smell it.

TMR

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:59 pm

I know what you mean, but keep in mind that a million dollars is still a lot of money. It's quite an achievement to reach a million net worth. Congratulations. Take you wife out to eat and celebrate.

JohnFiscal · Post by **JohnFiscal** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:02 pm

Perhaps it's maturational, over your hard work of saving, budgeting, investing, etc, you have learned that while having money is great (better than not having it) it is not an "emotional" thing.

I went through something similar when I graduated university (on the 8 year plan). And I think it's something that Dave Ramsey's "snowball" debt payment theory is missing (and lacking in)...trying to change the emotional connection/thrill to money.

10YearPlan · Post by **10YearPlan** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:13 pm

I think that is a pretty common reaction around these here parts. But this internet stranger thinks it is a big deal and certainly worth noticing and celebrating in some way. My opinion is that if we don't celebrate the milestones accomplished along the way, and enjoy the process of getting from point A to point FI, then what's the point?

At $1M, I'd go out to a nice dinner. Or spring for a bottle of Veuve. Or both. But that is just how I roll.

Then the next day, you can work on the next $M.

Dutch · Post by **Dutch** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:19 pm

You may be crossing the two comma mark several times.

Maybe it will feel better the second time around

BolderBoy · Post by **BolderBoy** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:46 pm

TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic?

Because folks aren't really special until they cross the 3 comma mark nowadays.

But congratulations. e pluribus unum.

bigred77 · Post by **bigred77** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:53 pm

I can only tell you that once I achieve 2 commas in net worth including home equity I am going to celebrate big time.

I will then celebrate big time when I reach 2 commas in net worth excluding home equity.

I will then celebrate big time every time I hit some sort of round number goal because I don't understand why you wouldn't

Doom&Gloom · Post by **Doom&Gloom** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:56 pm

TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic?

Because it is just an arbitrary number that you can see approaching. It's usually just a slow, roller-coaster-like, grind to get there after you get in the vicinity. And there is no big, sudden boom that changes your life noticeably from what it was the day before.

Having said that, congratulations!

lthenderson · Post by **lthenderson** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:03 pm

When I don't feel excited about passing the two comma mark, I just think about most of my peers who have barely saved past the first comma. That usually does the trick.

nisiprius · Post by **nisiprius** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:05 pm

A mild case of impostor syndrome?

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:06 pm

Look at it this way: That one million will produce $40k per year that you don't have to work for. Smile. Be happy.

Nthomas · Post by **Nthomas** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:43 pm

Personally I think 1M is a significant milestone because at that point even if you stopped contributing and did nothing else it would grow significantly over the next 20 years (3.2 M at 6%).

fishandgolf · Post by **fishandgolf** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:53 pm

Chan_va wrote:Probably because you know that the 8 year bull market has to end sometime, and when it does, you will drop back. But crack open a cold one now - you have earned it!

+1....yep

Raymond · Post by **Raymond** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:57 pm

Congratulations!

Savor the moment, then carry on.

Celebrate again at $2 million.

The Wizard · Post by **The Wizard** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:06 pm

TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic? Maybe it's because we crossed over the million-dollar net worth hurdle in 2016 taking into account home value -- but honestly I thought I'd feel more excited about officially hitting "millionaire next door" status. (About me: age 48, kids about to start college, wife works, we live well below our means but pretty comfortably given total income).

Anyone else experience this?

TheMoneyRat

Anticlimatic because getting to the third comma in wealth is going to be hard...

Grt2bOutdoors · Post by **Grt2bOutdoors** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:07 pm

KlingKlang wrote:I know exactly what you mean. As far as motivation treat yourself to a double shot of Johnnie Walker Black at $1,000,000 and every $100,000 after that. After $2,500,000 switch to Johnnie Walker Blue.

I'd rather buy more shares with that money.

NibbanaBanana · Post by **NibbanaBanana** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:12 pm

KlingKlang wrote:I know exactly what you mean. As far as motivation treat yourself to a double shot of Johnnie Walker Black at $1,000,000 and every $100,000 after that. After $2,500,000 switch to Johnnie Walker Blue.

Money doesn't buy happiness now does it. But a good scotch on the other hand.

Nick341981 · Post by **Nick341981** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:13 pm

randomguy wrote: It is because 1 million isn't enough to retire. Knowing nothing about you, you probably need to hit 2-3 million to be financially independant and able to live your current lifestyle

I know of more than one couple without kids and several single guys who retired on less than a million. Not having kids helps...A lot

ClevrChico · Post by **ClevrChico** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:14 pm

TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic? Maybe it's because we crossed over the million-dollar net worth hurdle in 2016 taking into account home value -- but honestly I thought I'd feel more excited about officially hitting "millionaire next door" status. (About me: age 48, kids about to start college, wife works, we live well below our means but pretty comfortably given total income).

Anyone else experience this?

TheMoneyRat

I told my spouse yesterday, "Forget about being millionaires! Let's be billionaires! That's our new goal!!"

She now thinks I'm crazy.

The Wizard · Post by **The Wizard** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:16 pm

ClevrChico wrote:
TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic? Maybe it's because we crossed over the million-dollar net worth hurdle in 2016 taking into account home value -- but honestly I thought I'd feel more excited about officially hitting "millionaire next door" status. (About me: age 48, kids about to start college, wife works, we live well below our means but pretty comfortably given total income).

Anyone else experience this?

TheMoneyRat
I told my spouse yesterday, "Forget about being millionaires! Let's be billionaires! That's our new goal!!"

She now thinks I'm crazy.

There's decent evidence to support her supposition...

HoosierJim · Post by **HoosierJim** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:20 pm

Here is the real reason.

How Desire Fools Us: The Benefits and Dangers of The Chase

Uber uses something similar in "gaming" their drivers to push on to get more fares. Just as driver might set a goal of earning $200 / day -

To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off.

So congrats on hitting a goal but now it's time to reset the goal and get back on the hamster wheel.

nisiprius · Post by **nisiprius** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:23 pm

For me, I do remember a feeling of excitement and exhilaration perhaps seven or eight years before we retired, when I ran the numbers and realized... we were there! It would be a nasty pinch and not where we wanted or planned to be, but we actually had enough that, you know, even if we didn't manage to save another dime, then as soon as we could start claiming Social Security we'd be OK. We could pay the taxes on the house, buy food and keep the lights and the Internet on, and so forth. We were at the stage where if we didn't save any more, retirement would be unpleasant but doable.

TheMoneyRat · Post by **TheMoneyRat** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:45 pm

lthenderson wrote:When I don't feel excited about passing the two comma mark, I just think about most of my peers who have barely saved past the first comma. That usually does the trick.

Lol! Not quite schadenfreude -- I wonder if the Germans have a name for what you just decribed?!?

TMR

TheMoneyRat · Post by **TheMoneyRat** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:52 pm

Nick341981 wrote:
randomguy wrote: I know of more than one couple without kids and several single guys who retired on less than a million. Not having kids helps...A lot

True . . . but if I had to choose, I'd give up the million in less than a second.

TMR

TravelforFun · Post by **TravelforFun** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:22 pm

BolderBoy wrote:
TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic?
Because folks aren't really special until they cross the 3 comma mark nowadays.

3-comma is $1 billion. Is that what you meant?

vitaflo · Post by **vitaflo** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:53 pm

Chan_va wrote:Probably because you know that the 8 year bull market has to end sometime, and when it does, you will drop back. But crack open a cold one now - you have earned it!

Exactly what I thought when we hit this 2 years ago. But we're up another 300k since then so who knows, maybe a market drop won't take away my comma!

bluebolt · Post by **bluebolt** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:16 pm

Every time I hit a major goal, it was ahead of schedule. I just kept increasing my goals. It felt pretty anti-climactic, but DW & I do celebrate the big (arbitrary) milestones with a glass of wine or a nice dinner.

What I find to be an interesting thought experiment - If I could whisper into the ear of my twenty-something self and say, "In 20 years you'll have more than a million dollars" and imagine HIS response - it would be utter joy & amazement.

forkhorn · Post by **forkhorn** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:31 pm

All these three comma comedians. It does make me wonder though- how far do you have to go back so that a million then was "like" a billion is now? I wouldn't use the price indexes, I don't think we've had that much inflation since recorded history. But if there are a few hundred billionaire families now, and maybe 100 million families in the US, for a billionaire rate of maybe one in, say, 300000 families, I wonder how far back you have to go to when only one in 300,000 families was a millionaire family? Anyone know this?

Teague · Post by **Teague** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:37 pm

A comma doesn't go as far as it used to.

Doom&Gloom · Post by **Doom&Gloom** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:50 pm

Teague wrote:A comma doesn't go as far as it used to.

Are commas common?

psychoslowmatic · Post by **psychoslowmatic** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:26 pm

Not to minimize your accomplishment but it probably has something to do with how it only means that stage 43 (arbitrary) of your retirement plan is complete. Probably the first thousand, crossing 1x salary in the bank, and the first time you gain or lose more in a day than you take home in a paycheck all feel like bigger milestones.

iamlucky13 · Post by **iamlucky13** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:15 pm

I've never experienced it, but according to my spreadsheet, I should get there at about the same age (putting me slightly behind your inflation-adjusted pace) as you if my progress continues.

I'm intrigued by it as a curiosity, but I also know it's just an arbitrary number that signifies nothing. Retirement will still almost certainly be another decade or so away, and it will only come somewhere in the middle of a long period of disciplined savings.

PStrider · Post by **PStrider** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:12 am

Perhaps it's because there's two people working together instead of one?

So it would feel like you're actually at $500,000.

At least you're half way there.

Viking65 · Post by **Viking65** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:18 am

Congratulations OP! We hit the same milestone of 2 commas with free and clear house a little later than you at age 49. That was 2 years ago, and we immediately poured the mortgage payment into extra savings and our NW has snowballed since then.

Abe wrote:Look at it this way: That one million will produce $40k per year that you don't have to work for. Smile. Be happy.

This! DW and I call this "The Third Man", who is now working and producing income for us in perpetuity. We like The Third Man.

Keep on keeping on.

alfaspider · Post by **alfaspider** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:39 am

KlingKlang wrote:I know exactly what you mean. As far as motivation treat yourself to a double shot of Johnnie Walker Black at $1,000,000 and every $100,000 after that. After $2,500,000 switch to Johnnie Walker Blue.

Geezzz. How much do you need before you can get the good stuff?

I'm thinking about a bottle of Caol Ila 27 Year for the $1,000,000 mark.

mrc · Post by **mrc** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:18 am

TheMoneyRat wrote:
lthenderson wrote:When I don't feel excited about passing the two comma mark, I just think about most of my peers who have barely saved past the first comma. That usually does the trick.
Lol! Not quite schadenfreude -- I wonder if the Germans have a name for what you just decribed?!?

TMR

They are farfrumquitin

Snowjob · Post by **Snowjob** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:29 am

nisiprius wrote:A mild case of impostor syndrome?

That would totally be me if I were a high achiever, so it cant be me.. right wait... but yeah I'm totally of this psychological mind set regardless of my achievements or abilities in anyone else's mind.

When I crossed the two comma mark in my early 30's despite a modest NE salary I felt great for one night, then immediately discounted this as nothing, a consequence of luck, timing, and that I had wasted my years delving into the markets etc etc. In away there is a lot truth to this, but the math does not lie, its at least a significant number even though it may not be a significant achievement.

Index Fan · Post by **Index Fan** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:30 am

It has a hashtag-

#FirstWorldProblems

an_asker · Post by **an_asker** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:59 am

Viking65 wrote:Congratulations OP! We hit the same milestone of 2 commas with free and clear house a little later than you at age 49. That was 2 years ago, and we immediately poured the mortgage payment into extra savings and our NW has snowballed since then.

Abe wrote:Look at it this way: That one million will produce $40k per year that you don't have to work for. Smile. Be happy.
This! DW and I call this "The Third Man", who is now working and producing income for us in perpetuity. We like The Third Man.

Keep on keeping on.

To be PC, you'd want to say "Third Person" for sure!

That said, it does appear that there are many ways to slice and dice the commas:

- all in
- without the house
- without the house and retirement accounts
- taxable investments only
- cash only
- any more?!!

Viking65: I am assuming that two years ago, you were in the second bucket above (my understanding is that OP is in bucket #3)

remomnyc · Post by **remomnyc** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:27 am

Congrats. My best guess on why it may be anticlimactic is that maybe it’s not a huge difference versus the last time you checked. It is a big achievement, and you will be stunned how the commas multiply.

Will do good · Post by **Will do good** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:39 am

Take the victory lap, celebrate a little, be happy. You are way ahead of most people in this world.

ysette9 · Post by **ysette9** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:42 pm

Congrats!

When we crossed that mark it was definitely a little blip and nothing more. A lot of that probably had to do with the fact that we had just brought home our preemie newborn and had our minds filled with more pressing concerns. It has been exciting to see how quickly that number has risen after crossing that 1M$ mark though.

I told my spouse yesterday, "Forget about being millionaires! Let's be billionaires! That's our new goal!!"

We had the conversation just the other day: can we call ourselves millionaires? Does it not count because it is one million between the two of us? Do we need two million for each of us to be able to call ourselves millionaires?

Longtermgrowth · Post by **Longtermgrowth** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:37 pm

TheMoneyRat wrote:So with our paychecks last Friday, we crossed over $1mm in cash and investments. Why does it feel so anticlimactic?

My first thought was: because it's not 1973 when 1mm had the purchasing power of over 5mm today. Dang inflation

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

staythecourse · Post by **staythecourse** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:50 pm

I was the same and felt even less after passing it a second time and now coming up soon a third time.
What I realized after tge first time is it didn't improve my happiness. I started realizing what made me happy was having good health in the family, loving spouse, great kids, full independence at work, and great friends. No matter how much money I could brag about changed any of that. It did not make it better or worse.

I still love seeing the net worth go up, but found out through this journey money did not buy me happiness

I realized I didn't i didn't identify my happiness with net worth, but all those other things above..

GrayS26 · Post by **GrayS26** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:57 pm

Good question. I mean I'm 27 basically and I think techinically I'm at the 2 comma mark(?) but for me I feel like maybe there's a lot to worry about nobody knows the future so I just try to spend only a little bit while also trying to have fun.