Every Man Should Be Worth $1 Million By Age 50
I am now going official with one of my most controversial opinions of them all. But don’t worry, I will be able to defend it with facts and data, just like I always do. I’ve mentioned this opinion a few times before in passing, but never explained it fully.
Before I get to making many of you upset, I have to be very clear in stating that this is simply my opinion. That’s it. Just my personal opinion. It’s not an official recommendation or endorsement. It’s just an opinion.
I am not saying that this is some kind of requirement for Alpha Male 2.0 status. It’s not.
I am not saying if you don’t achieve this you’re some kind of loser. You’re not. (Though it could raise several questions that I will discuss in a minute.)
I am not saying the business techniques I teach will make you a million dollars. Oh, they certainly can and likely will if you stick with them, but how much money you save/invest/amass is completely up to you. I don’t teach “how to get rich” stuff or “get rich fast” stuff. I teach the Alpha Male 2.0 lifestyle, the freest and happiest lifestyle a Western man can live in the modern era, and one of the requirements of this lifestyle is that you make at least $75,000 US or the equivalent via location independent self-employed income while having zero to little debt. The lifestyle I endorse and teach does not require millions of dollars; far from it (though obviously millions of dollars would certainly help).
This is just my individual option separate from any lifestyle or financial advice I teach.
Got that? So from now on, if you ever see anyone saying anything like “Blackdragon says Alpha Male 2.0s need to be millionaires! What a bunch of crap!!!”, then that person is lying or retarded.
Now that we’re past all that, here’s my opinion:
Any man who has lived in the Western world his entire life should have a net worth of at least one million dollars by the time he reaches age 50.
Before I explain that, let me note a few things for the record:
1. I am 46 years old, so this doesn’t apply to me (yet). I’m also not saying I’m not worth over a million dollars. I’m not going to tell you what my net worth is and I’m not saying anything about that for legal reasons. I’m just making it clear that I don’t have this opinion just because I’m 50 because I’m clearly not.
2. I’ve have had this opinion since I was about 26 years old when my net worth was not only zero, but negative. So this opinion is nothing new. As always, I don’t form opinions based on my own subjective, temporary emotions nor my current conditions which are always subject to change. (Like guys who defend monogamous marriage just because they just got monogamously married, or guys who defend college just because they’re currently going to college, etc.)
Now I shall explain this opinion using points that are going to be very difficult to argue with. I shall explain my statement point by point.
“Any man who has lived in the Western world…”
I’m only talking about men who live in the Western world, not Africa or Bangladesh or Paraguay. By “Western world” in this context I mean the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, Scandinavia, and Israel. I also include a few of the more prosperous Asian nations such as South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and more or less Japan. I partially include Eastern Europe but I’m willing to give those men a slight pass because of the economic state those countries have been in over the last 30 years.
So if you’re outside those nations/regions, I’m not referring to you. But if you are inside one of them, I’m talking to you.
“…his entire life…”
If you are living in the Western world now but haven’t spent your whole life here, I’ll give you a pass. I’m not talking about you. We could have a complicated conversation about exactly how long you’ve been here and base my criteria on a certain number of years, but that’s not a conversation I’m willing to have. If you haven’t lived here your entire life, I’ll give you a pass.
“…should have a net worth…”
Some of you don’t know what “net worth” is, so let me define that. That means you add up all the stuff you own (your business, house, car, investments, whatever) then deduct all the debt you have (your mortgage, credit cards, student loans, whatever) and get a total figure. That figure is your net worth.
So when I say you need a net worth of one million dollars by the time you’re 50, I’m not saying you need a literal pile of cash on your bed equal to one million dollars. No, no. I’m saying that by the time you’re 50, if we deduct all your debts from all of your assets, the resulting number should be at least one million US dollars. Most of the time, a strong percentage of that number will simply be equity in your house, and/or perhaps the value of a small business, not actual cash.
That being said, having one million or more of high liquidity (i.e. quick and easy convertibility to cash) is a fantastic thing and I highly recommend it if you can pull it off by age 50 (or sooner!), but that’s a very different topic we can discuss at another time.
“… of at least one million dollars…”
I’m about to explain something that many of you poorer guys won’t understand. That is this: one million dollars is not a lot of money.
The reason you think a million dollars is a lot of money is because it used to be. You’re a victim of outdated Societal Programming that says “a million dollars is a lot” or “a millionaire is rich.”
Back in my day, the 1980s, yes, if you had a million dollar net worth, that meant mansions and limousines and private jets and all kinds of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous™ type crap. If you were a millionaire back in 1988, yeah man, you were fucking rich.
Today, after 30 years of inflation, taxflation, increased taxes, quantitative easing, money printing, currency devaluation, manipulation of commodity markets, skyrocketing government spending, fractional reserve banking, and all the other slow-collapse-of-the-Western-world aspects I’ve talked about in great detail over at my other blog for many years, the value of the US Dollar (and most other Western currencies) has diminished by wide margins. One million dollars is now a small fraction of what it used to be.
A guy worth one million back in 1988 was fucking rich. A guy worth one million today is barely upper-middle-class. All it means is that he owns a small business and has some equity in his house. That’s it. He’s your next-door neighbor who lives in a house just like yours and drives a car just like yours. He’s not rich at all. Not even close, particularly if he has kids and stuff. Read the book The Millionaire Next Door for more details on that. And that book was written back in the 90s; currency values are far worse now than when that book was written.
So start a small business, pay down some of your house, and get a few investments. Wham. You’ve got a million dollar net worth, which isn’t very much money today. You’re a millionaire, but you’re not rich. As I’ve said many times before, today “rich” is $10 million or more. One million is not rich. It’s not bad, but it’s not rich.
“…by the time he reaches age 50.”
Now this is when I get hard on you. Get ready.
Time to do some very uncomfortable math.
By the time you’re 50 years old, you’ve had 30 fucking years in the workforce. If you’re 50, you’ve been working longer than thousands of people reading this article have actually been alive. A 50-year-old man has been working a long, long time.
If you’re 25 years old and you have no money and no net worth, I get it. You’ve only been working a few years. No one expects you to have a lot of money. Even if you’re making a high income at age 25 (I certainly was) I still don’t expect you to have a high net worth (I didn’t have shit for net worth when I was 25) because you haven’t yet had the time to pay off your debts, save a lot of money, and so on. Fine.
But by the time you’re 50? Different story, buddy. No excuses for you. You’ve been working for 30 years. You’ve had 30 years to get your financial shit together.
I semi-regularly meet guys who are 50+ who have no money or little money in terms of net worth. The question in my mind is always the same: What the fuck have you been doing for the past 30 years? 30 years! You’ve been working for 30 years and have nothing?
Insane.
Now here come the excuses…
1. Well, I went through a divorce and lost my ass with alimony and child support and blah blah blah…
So did I. So what? I lost a decent hunk of money in my divorce too. But you know what? That divorce was 12 years ago. I have more than made back all the money I lost 12 years ago several times over, and my net worth is now far beyond what it was when I was a stupid, monogamous, imprisoned, traditionally married beta male.
This is because it is so expensive to be traditionally married that once you get divorced, it’s easier to make and save money, since you don’t have that traditional wife to support anymore. This is to say nothing about raising kids, which is also expensive as hell.
Once you’re divorced and you’re done having kids, it should be no problem at all for you to hit it hard and make whatever the hell you want to make. You’re a free man.
Saying you have no money at age 53 because you got divorced back when you were 37 or 44 is a cop-out and you know it. You’ve had plenty of time to recover that money as a free man.
2. But I have five kids and college is expensive blah blah blah…
Five kids? Are you fucking kidding me? In the modern era of an anti-man culture and a collapsing society you had five kids? Who’s fault is that, you idiot? This isn’t the 1800s or the 1950s. What a stupid decision. And no, I don’t give a shit what your religion is.
I had two kids, and that was probably too many, and I probably make way more money than you.
Doing things like having five or six or more kids in the modern era is only for men who have already amassed millions of dollars, as I already explained here. It’s not for normal, middle-class or even upper-middle-class dudes.
You have only yourself to blame, and my opinion still stands. You need a one million dollar net worth by the time you’re 50 regardless of how many kids you have.
3. Well I had that money but then I went bankrupt…
So what? Again, whose fault was that? Everything in your life is your fault. If you had millions of dollars in net worth and you literally lost it all, then the odds are overwhelming that you were seriously over-leveraged in your debts and/or your business, and/or you were not diversified in your investments, and/or you didn’t have any asset protection in place (offshore trusts, etc).
I have an Alpha 2.0 financial structure, meaning I have zero debt, multiple unregulated businesses in different industries and markets, own 100% of all my own companies with no partners, have all kinds of asset protection up the wazoo, ridiculously diversified investments, and tons of liquid cash for emergencies. I can’t go bankrupt. Yes, I can have financial problems and upsets just like everyone else, but I can’t go bankrupt, because I’ve structured my life to ensure that I won’t. And I’m not even 50 years old yet.
If you went bankrupt and lost it all, I’m pretty sure you didn’t do any of that. (You could be a bizarre exception to the rule, but I doubt it.) You did the typical Societal Programming thing of putting all or most of your assets into one business or one big real estate deal or you had assloads of debt. In other words, you were stupid. Your fault.
4. You don’t need a million dollars to be happy.
When you’re 25 or 36, I agree, you don’t need it. But when you’re 72, trust me, you’re going to want that money. Correction, you’re going to need that money. And when you go begging your kids for money, who will be annoyed at the prospect of taking care of you, or assuming a Western government that is going through bankruptcy and keeps changing its social security laws is going to support you forever in your old age, good fucking luck. Trust me, you’ll want that million in ways you don’t understand right now when you’re not yet really old.
5. What’s the point of a million dollars when, by the time you’ll need it, it will only be worth a faction of a million dollars because of inflation?
This is the stupidest excuse of them all.
Let’s say that your million dollars, when you get really old, is only worth $200,000 due to inflation. Now answer this very difficult question: When you’re 78 years old, would you rather have zero dollars or $200,000?
I realize math is difficult, but think about it.
Stupid.
6. Well, yeah, I agree with your points about a million not being a lot of money and 30 years being a long time, but you need to understand that not everyone can make a million dollars, even given that amount time.
Correct. Mentally retarded people can’t make a million dollars. People with no arms and no legs probably can’t either. Are you mentally retarded? Are you missing both your arms and your legs? No? Then shut the fuck up, stop making these stupid excuses, and get to work.
Again I will repeat that having a $1 million net worth by age 50 is not some kind of Alpha Male 2.0 or Blackdragon “requirement.” It isn’t. It’s just my personal opinion. But man, I have a lot of data to back up that opinion. Good luck disagreeing with with me using facts.
(And on Monday I will talk about something to help you increase your income and your net worth.)
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Totally agree. 1 million $ is not a lot in western world these days.
If you aren’t able to scrape that together at age of 50 including your real estate, then what the hell have you been doing?
Invest in some index funds and just let it grow.
Since you did mention Paraguay.
I would like to mention that it is in fact a lot EASIER to hit that financial goal living in this country compared to any place in europe, if you have a lifestyle that comes even remotely close to 2.0 lifestyle.
I have been living here for about 10 years and came here to semi-retire but have more than doubled up (closer to 3x) my net worth ever since.
Why is this? Very low to no taxes with no taxes in world wide income (even for businesses) along with a pretty solid 7% capital gain (secured, good banks) per year with up to 14% if you are willing to take some risks on top.
If you have any sort of internet business you can live well above average lifestyle (western standards, full time maid, mansion for U$ 200.000ish) and still easily double up your net worth every 6-8 years.
So no, if one expats from a western country I wouldnt give any guy living in south america (well except Venezuela) a pass – its even easier to reach that goal here than in say germany or france. BY FAR.
Ummmm, not sure where is it that you live and what kind of house and car you own, but in Ireland, where I live, most of my neighbours are nowhere near that level, I am pretty sure. Most work 9-to-5, live in a semi-detached house in a nice neighborhood (most have mortgage, of course) which cost around 200k Euro, have two-three kids, have very little savings (some of my colleagues don’t even have a pension and are in their early 40-ies) and drive 2009 Volkswagen Passat, worth around 10k. What’s more, we have Government that gives out many houses for free (yes, you can have a nice house in a nice neighborhood – you can even choose which neighborhood – completely free with one caviat – you can’t sell it and it goes back to government after your death, not your kids). So these guys technically don’t even have their house as their asset. There are not too many of these, but I have know quite a few people who were given such houses.
What’s more, even if you don’t have a pension or any savings after you retire, government provides you with some pretty juicy social welfare payments. Hell, I know guys my age (late 20s) who DON’T WORK and GO ON HOLIDAYS at least a couple times a year thanks to the money from the government.
Your argument makes sense – 1 million is not a lot of money and its reasonable to expect to have achieved this after working for 30 years. But I start to wonder if the standards described by you are different for Ireland (Western Europe) and USA.
One more gem:
“People with no arms and no legs probably can’t either.”
Look at this guy (and his decent wife and nice kids while you are at it):
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Vujicic
And here some pics:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Nick+Vujicic&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b
If he can do that, whats your excuse?
Well, for one thing, he’s got Jebus on his side. 😛
To help put $1 million in perspective, I used to tell people that if you had that much invested, you could live like you made $50k per year. I haven’t revised that estimate in awhile, but it still helps make the point that $1 million isn’t rich.
Completely off topic (although I am more than half of my way to my first million at 34 years of age), but I’ve just read your entire dating history series. Fantastic stuff. I’m so happy to have come across your site.
If you lived in a small city or low cost area in many developed countries, you could live a modestly comfortable lifestyle with a million dollars and no other pension or support, although you’d do better if you also owned the place you lived. You might be able to do a few flashpacker trips abroad each year, if you budgeted well and didn’t expect five star hotels. You better live somewhere with reasonably priced health care, though.
You could live a lot better than that if you retired to some lower cost environment like Bali, Thailand or Costa Rica, just to name the obvious, easy places.
A million dollars is not nothing, but it’s not a huge fortune.
As for people talking about relying on state support, is anyone here old enough to remember a place called the USSR? Guaranteed housing, state funded health care, life long pensions. What could possibly go wrong?!
You do not mention southern Europe. What about those countries? Some of them are closer to Western Europe than anything else while some others are like central europe or worse (central europe you also dont mention but I guess you consider this eastern europe and hence that you partially include it).
I have realized that no matter how much money I make its very easy to always adapt my spending to the point I save almost nothing and never own much. That all works fine as long as the money keeps coming. So I have started putting some money aside in various diversified forms.
Speaking of that what do you think of buying a luxury swiss watch with the idea its part of my investment portfolio? Is that a valid way of thinking or would you say such stuff is “for fun” only and counts in the same way as say spending it on an expensive holiday and not in the same way as buying gold coins for example?
Agreed.
I am the same age as you and I already ticked off this box despite ‘retiring’ at age of 36.
This really isn’t hard and no $1,000,000.00 is really fucking nothing.
Here in California a house is pretty much minimum $500,000.00, so pay that off and that’s half way right off the bat once it’s been paid off.
Then once you pass a Mil you have to wonder why the fuck we have an Estate Tax (Death Tax as referred to by the Right) and (Inheritance Tax as refereed to by much of the Left) this Has to be by far once of the biggest bullshit taxes we have. When I CREATE Wealth I want MY KIDS AND FAMILY to have it, not the fucking government. Or at the very least I would rather see it in charity. I’d rather burn it than give to them. Even many of the Leftists don’t like it, it’s more of the Bernie and Progressive crowd who loves it. Bernie won’t shut up about this tax.
This post is far from reality. FYI, a recession is just around the corner. I know I’ve been saying this for awhile and people laugh, but we’ll see who laughs last.
The “American dream” is now LESS attainable than ever before.
The reader who said he retired at 36, and expects everyone to be like him is not representative of what’s going on.
@Pitbull
I totally agree with you dude.
Best thing you can do if you’re not there, because I’m not... is pay off all the debt you can.. have other sources of income and have emergency money ready to go.
I have a feeling the Recession we have coming next will be worse that 2008 and it may even be a Fucking Depression.
It maybe the final push that makes our country turn far more socialist and redistributionist like the Left wants. because I’ve been saying for a while that we will eventually get a Bernie.
What do you suggest people do with their money after they earn it? I see owning real estate with a paid off mortgage on your list, but nothing mentioned about investments.
@Pitbull, the trouble with the American dream (or the Australian equivalent) is it involves conspicuous consumption and the breeding of swarms of children, both of which are extremely expensive activities. I read some estimates about the cost of raising the average kid in Australia standing at around quarter of a million dollars each. Refrain from breeding even one of them and you’re 25% of the way. As for conspicuous consumption, well … I like what BD says in Unchained. Just make sure that you spend money on stuff you either really need or really want and doggedly refuse to spend a cent on other crap. You can reach the goal of a million without even earning the 70k a year that BD says you need if you follow those rules.
Nitpicking. When talking about the entire Western world I’m sure you could find some exceptions to some of my more specific examples. Doesn’t change anything I said.
Wrong. You live in Ireland, one of the most business-friendly, least poorly run nations in Europe. You need to be worth $1 USD million after working for 30 years, period. No excuses.
Yep, lowering your monthly footprint by living in a cheaper country and allowing you to invest more is a really smart idea, exactly as I recommend in my blogs and books.
Exactly.
Generally I include them, but there would probably be some moderate exceptions if we went down the list country-by-country (which I have no interest in doing).
It’s only an investment if it accrues in value, on average, forever. Otherwise its an expense, like a car.
Well done.
Good argument. I said in my post, Good luck disagreeing with with me using facts. Thank you for proving my point.
Correct, a huge one, as I’ve been saying for quite a while at my other blog. That’s completely irrelevant to the point. Recessions don’t last 30 years.
I’m not talking about the “American dream”. That’s a terrible idea and bullshit societal programming. I’m instead talking about having a net worth of $1 USD after working for 30 years straight, which is now easier because the value of the dollar is so much lower.
Great, but I never said anyone needs to retire at age 36. I said you should be worth $1 million by age 50. A very achievable goal for 98% of men in the Western world.
Too off topic for this blog. Instead,
1. Read my other blog. I talk about investing over there regularly.
2. Join my monthly SMIC Program. I talk about investing and financial management in great detail over there.
Not really off topic based on the article you just wrote. It says to accumulate a good amount of money, then makes no mention of what do with it. My question is a logical next step based on the position you are advocating for.
I’m happy to occasionally talk about overall financial and business lifestyle objectives at this blog, but giving specific money management advice here is, yes, too off-topic for the Blackdragon Blog, especially considering I do give that advice in at least two other places. If you’re too lazy to click a link and go to another blog where I talk about this stuff, that’s fine, but that’s not my problem; it’s yours.
Good points… is there a resource that shows the approx. percentages of Americans at $75,000, six figures, a quarter million, half a million and million dollar status.
Furthermore juxtapose that to the overall world’s percentages of each wealth level ?
Looking forward to Monday’s post.
Good ideas and points, and best wishes to everyone accumulating high-quality wealth! Also, I’m assuming that BD means $1M adjusted to the 2018 USD.
I don’t see any point for me continuing to live past 75 years old.
@Zan
Yes there are several such websites, can’t remember on the top of my head but some links I already posted in comments in this blog.
Worldwide, I think it means being in the 1% richer “but not rich” people, in term of net worth.
Not if you buy a “normal” luxury watch at a jeweler shop. I’ve been eyeing a Patek Philippe for a while now (definitely not buying it; maybe when I’m worth $10M). The very plain, 2 hands, cheapest new Calatrava is $16k or so. You can get a used one for less than 1/2 of that. The problem is jeweler probably gets ~1/2 of the price when he sells it to you… I’ts an expense (like jewelry), unless it’s a very special, $5M one-off watch – that one will appreciate due to rarity.
Look at cars: most loose value, but not all. Hats off to Rowan Atkinson: he bought a 240 mph McLaren F1 in 1997 for GBP 640k, clocked 41k miles, totaled it in 2011 (got GBP 900k insurance) and sold it in 2015 for GBP 8M ($12 Million).
The fact McLaren only made 64 of the supercars, he is famous and was able to buy it at all back in 1997 makes this car very different from other luxury cars…
I’m going for 120. At least 🙂
Yep.
Because you think when you are 75 you’ll look like people who are 75 now and you won’t. What if you were 75 but looked like and were as healthy as being 45?
Yes but unlike car a special watch from a highly thought after brand is much easier to sell and keeps the value much better. Of course car is easy to sell if you go a lot down with the value. Maybe its better to think of it as a hedge, its not the same as gold as its harder to liquify and more likely to lose a bit of value but again Id see it as diversification. Or you disagree?
Yes I know that these watches lose a lot of the value as soon as you buy them. I would of course not buy a new one unless I was really rich. I am thinking buying a second hand one which I think in 10-20 years I can easily sell for a similar price to what I bought it for now. If that will be the case its a hedge like gold.
@Lion King :
Besides seeing your kids evolve, if you have or want any (I don’t, but I can understand just this is a good reason to live as old as possible), what is it that you want to live past 75 years old? I just don’t get it. I don’t see why past 75 it wouldn’t be just the same old things in your life but your health, no matter how much sports and healthy diet you do, starts to really deteriorate (imo BD is completely delusional on this topic and has hyper optimistic faith in medical technology breakthrough, but nothing indicates he is correct, quite the contrary : all people I know who work in this field agree that there aren’t very significant breakthrough anymore, unlike between WW2 and the 90s/early 2000s.. Currently only rare deseases significantly benefit from new researches and a lot is invested in cancer).
I see living old just as an anoying burden. I have lived many things already. There are still plenty of stuffs to do that I never did. And there are guys who do incredible stuffs such as Elon Musk. I admire him for instance but I don’t envy his workaholic life. It seems hell-ish to me. Or I could decide to do wingsuit flying or base jumping, deep sea diving or bang model types of escorts every day. All these crazy stuffs are sort of 2% rule whereas I like the 20-80 pareto principle applied to my life. Thus I don’t see any point for a guy like me who don’t want kids, to live past 75. I am not going to fight for that.
I am also a low energy guy, always been, tried many things to change that but didn’t succeed… perhaps perspective on life are drastically different when one is high energy.
My grandparents lived into their 80s and 90s, and they were born early 20th century. I’d expect a bit more due to medical/health progress. Plus add at least 20 years I lost due to being beta and not knowing about red pill 🙂
If you were talking about a one time event like divorce or bankruptcy I’d agree with you. But child support and the expenses accompanying child raising last for 18 years. Not only that but if your child’s mother is bitter, angry, and litigious, with a family that has money and is willing to pay her lawyers bills; then you’ll be spending a pile of money on family court lawyers every 2 to 3 years on top of that.
If you want to have a good relationship with your child(ren) you’ll be limited to one geographical location. Which will severely limit your economic opportunity. Especially if you’re not near a major US city. I admit sticking around to have a meaningful relationship with the kiddo’s is a choice.
Good shit bro. I like your mentality.
In my opinion it’s akin to saying “Every Man Should Have Created 5 Works Of Art by Age 30”. Just preference that’s coming out of your personality. Everyone’s gonna have different priorities.
I’m only 23 and very art-focused though.
I am not saying you CAN’T live that long. I am asking “what is the POINT for you in living past 75”?
From your answer I understand that you need some time to live what you didn’t live during your “blue pill” 20 years lost. I lost just about 10 years but I was never completely blue pill in the first place (never marnied, no kids, always wanted nonmonogamy for both myself and my partners). And perhaps you take pride in beating your ancestors at it… Both my great gand mother and grand mother died at 94 years old. I still don’t see the point in living that old beyond seeing her offsprings evolution.
I just passed the $1m USD net worth threshold last year at 29. How I did it was in my local real estate market. Acquired a few properties putting some cash down and financing the rest from the bank. Tenants pay my mortgage and other fees. Own 1 br condos and rent out to single professionals or professional couples. My net worth was quite flat for the first few years of owning property, mostly going up a few thousand from principal down payment. Then the economic recovery kicked in and the global inflationary effects of quantitative easing accelerated the past 3 years, so stocks/real estate/and many other assets have gone up in value. Most major cities throughout the globe have experienced increasing real estate prices in the downtown areas the past few years. I have no kids, but also not a super high income.
My parents started the same thing when they were in their late twenties and I was just a baby. They are now late 50’s and worth about $10m. They have no college education and my dad was a blue collar cable installer. Also, two of my aunts are the same (real estate, blue collar, no college education). If they and I can do it, then anyone can. No excuses.
Everything. Every exciting technological breakthrough that has been eluding us, I want to witness. I want to see the end of disease and aging, I want to see fusion reactors, I want to see widespread space travel, even to other stars. If that takes millennia, I want to live millennia.
Fine. As long as you don’t go “I don’t like this, so other people shouldn’t like it either and shouldn’t be allowed it in the first place”, I have no quarrel with you.
I’m not particularly high energy. I just don’t see the point of willingly renouncing on living new interesting experiences. There’s a million spots to visit on Earth alone, and I don’t want to stop at Earth.
You’re also mistaken about improvements in longevity. Pretty much all the gains in life expectancy so far were obtained by reducing child mortality + death from diseases barely related to aging (infectious diseases, etc), we’ve pulled the average up without attacking aging itself, so of course that route will soon stop yielding results; but there are billions being poured into addressing aging itself. Wait and see.
Something that “holds its value” is not a real asset. A real asset is something that accrues in value and/or provides residual income.
A $30K watch that stays at $30K in value 20 years later a horrible place to put your money when you could put that same $30K into real estate and (perhaps) double it many times over in the same time period.
Disagree completely. Gold is a hedge, not a fucking watch.
Wrong. Why would paying child support for kid or two prevent you from getting to a $1m net worth over a period of 30 years? I paid child support for well over a decade, and I didn’t have a problem. And child support stops when the kids hit age 18. It doesn’t go on forever.
That is only if you violate rule #1 here. The only guys who keep having to pay ex-related lawyers for years and years on end are those guys who stupidly choose to go to war against their wives. Don’t fight her, and lawyers will cost you zero once the divorce is over. Field-tested.
Not if you’re in the the Western world. If you’re in Bangladesh then I agree.
Uh, there’s this new thing thing called the “internet.” You can use it to make money regardless of your physical location. It’s pretty neat. You should check it out.
I make six-figures just from my internet income alone (this doesn’t include all of my offline income from my other businesses or investment income). That means I don’t have to be anywhere near a major US city. Neither do you.
Stop with the excuses. Seriously.
Thanks!
Absolutely incorrect. Art is a special skill many people don’t have. Putting a little money away for 30 years doesn’t require any special skill at all, even at lower income levels. There are people who have never made more than $30K a year who are millionaires by the time they’re in their 50s or 60s.
Stop with the excuses.
Yes. Real estate is probably the best way to do this, along with starting your own business. But it’s not required.
Bam! There you go.
Paternitytester, did you read that?
Ok, I get that and I hope to see that some day. I am even quite passionate about fusion, I studied it in details and even visited ITER. However, it’s not enough of a reason to keep me going after 75.
Ok, I get that. I watch Space X videos and science fiction movies and shows such as Star Trek, Battlestar Gallactica and The Expanse, Mars, etc. I am looking forward to Mars settlement. And I also get that it will take millennia to be multy star systems. So here again you’re either not saying that seriously or completely delusional.
I am somehow retired since I am 29. Now going to be 37. So I have a lot of time to travel and do what I want. And it’s great. But, I don’t see the point in fighting for more life years past 75 personnally. Give or take a few years.
I am not engaging the topic to make you change your mind, rather the contrary : I am curious to understand other men’s motivations in living very old and perhaps change my mind about it.
Boom nailed it. I’ve been living with my folks for roughly a year now because I’ve been exploring the road to location independent income. I’ve only made $2500 or so from freelancing this last year but I have a feeling there is gonna be a giant momentum shift down the road. My folks barely get by with their social security, social security that I know for a FACT that I will NOT have in 40 or so years. So its either work until I die or have tons of money saved up. That’s my future. That’s probably people BD’s age future as well.
Right now my net worth is DEEP in the negatives, and I just turned 36. I don’t think I’m alone, although I used to think I was. If I don’t turn things around quick, my net worth will be probably $-200000. A few years ago, in 2011, I realized this and wanted to end my own life. But my sense of curiosity wouldn’t let me and I decided to live. Debt is deadly. Unless you can pay for it yourself, avoid college at all costs. You get ALL the tools you need to get location independent income right out of high school, and I would even argue before even finishing high school.
I love articles like this that call out lazy assholes like me, BD. I can’t wait for your guide on Monday. I’ve been very overwhelmed with starting my location independent business and have literally no experience in this kind of stuff, but I’m learning new things every day and tbh, I actually feel younger because I am curious about so much stuff. When I worked my retail job for 8 years, one of my bowling buddies told me I was wasting years of my life. He was right. But I only stayed because my self esteem was so low that all I thought I was worth was a retail job. I still kind of feel that way, but when my curiosity takes over, I feel like I can do anything. And for the last year, I’ve been nothing but curious about location independent income and have been soaking up knowledge like a sponge. I only wish I was able to apply all of it at once.
Money is the only life area where I am pretty much at zero. I have roughly 15 years to change that. So as the same bowling buddy says, LET’S GOOOOOO GIT IT!!! haha
I don’t see why this will be controversial. This seems like some type of baseline achievement for a reasonable lifestyle. The alternative, being worth less than this amount, could create some very real and significant problems such as issues with your 4 walls (food, shelter, transportation, clothing)
Look at the comments above from Pitbull, Mike Hunter, Paternitytester, etc.
I’m not a Westerner and I’m still struggling to secure a stable situation in France (which for complex reasons more or less requires me to stay in college for now, not much longer though). When I’m done with that shit I’ll get a job, and then I’ll start to work on diversification, location-independent income, possibly leaving the West, and finally net worth. I doubt that I will shoot for a million though. I don’t think I’m lazy but business doesn’t appeal to me at all.
A few hundred thousands in safe accounts that reliably return more than inflation over the long term (and zero debt ofc, but I currently don’t have debt anyway), that does sound like a goal I could shoot for. Even nicer if I have them in a cheaper country.
@Joelsuf: I don’t know what BD would say but if I were deep in debt, I think I’d go for the soul-sucking but high paying job first, and pay them off as fast as possible, and *then* worry about making my income more alpha2.0. I’ve been following your posts at the alpha2.0 community with interest and I check your blog now and then, but I kind of assumed your were merely poor without big debt.
This should not be controversial at all. I’m 39 and not close but a decade left to add $1 million sounds very reasonable. I have the divorce and failed businesses, but those were past mistakes that are entirely avoidable in the future. If I could look at my life and conclude there was no way to add just $1 million in worth over the next 11 years, I’d probably not want to keep living.
“Faith, that’s as well said, as if I had said it myself.” (J. Swift)
What would you say about the advice from the blog WallStreetPlayboys which says that you should have $1 Million dollars by your mid-thirties? They have a complete guide but they that the only good career are Sales, Engineering or Wall Street. I’m just asking for opinions, I’m not saying BD is wrong.
@Yurok, if you had ambitions or desires to live a high consumption, “American dream” lifestyle, you’d probably be needing that – and you’d never have enough anyway, because there’s always something better you could buy. It’s a matter of how much you need to be happy.
I don’t need that much – single, inexpensive hobbies that keep me very happy and sometimes actually generate income, don’t like bars or dining out, don’t spend a lot on women (or not recently, anyway). My only real extravagance is frequent international travel, and even then, I don’t spend huge fortunes.
But below a million dollars in assets at retirement (if not exactly at fifty), you’re going to have to accept a low income lifestyle. Some people pull that off and are happy, but not many.
BD,
I agree with the principal, but I think you are underestimating how badly a guy can get setback in a divorce by the family courts, particularly if it happens at the wrong time (like a recession) and the ex-ho is hellbent on destruction.
Filed for divorce in ’08, 2 kids, cheating-sahm and she got about 90% of the assets including 75% of my retirement (which she liquidated and blew through in a year), $5K+/mo Alimony and CS based on imputed income from a couple great years earlier, not the current situation after the company folded (I was unemployed at the time the divorce was final, imputed income), assigned 100% of the marital debt, much of which I was unaware she had run up – $100K worth in total. On top of that, I have had significant ongoing expenses due to staying in my kids lives (court opted NOT to sanction her or stop her when she moved away unannounced with new surprise hubby and in violation of decree, wtf?).
All that said, I’ve been kicking it this whole time – back in the black, zero debt, super credit intact and about 40% of the way there to $1M netw – it’s going to take closer to 2 decades (60), not one (50) to hit that $1M target though. I could go faster, but not without ignoring my kids.
And like a lot of guys in my position, I hide the fact I am doing well from my ex, because she has this delusional state that she’s supposed to get it anything I make. As far as she is concerned I am just barley hanging on, and it is always some random chance of luck that lets me treat the kids to the big Disney vacation or several other things (always for/with my kids) that don’t fit my poverty narrative.
As to how delusional my ex is, I have so many examples, but here’s some of the doozies: a couple years after she remarried (less than a month after the last alimony check was cashed), when I was picking up my kids she went off on a tirade about how “she deserves seven thousand a month in alimony for the rest of her life” and how “I cheated her out of HER money”. All while forgetting that she remarried so she wouldn’t have to ever work. Or the rants about how we got divorced in the wrong state (you know, the one we were *living in* at the time) because it didn’t have lifetime alimony.
That aside, she never misses a chance to pawn off the kids expenses(which should be handled by child support) on me, or try and haul me back into court for her latest delusion (more than attorney has told her to go away) – and all that takes energy and resources away from the other goals I am working towards.
Correct.
I agree with it completely, but that advice only applies to a certain percentage of very motivated, go-getter younger men. My advice applies to everyone.
Incorrect. I’m Blackdragon. I have been communicating with divorce-raped men for over ten years now. I’m an expert on this topic; I know more about it than you do.
My opinion still stands.
Read what I said above to Mike Hunter. A war requires two participants. You can simply choose to not participate. I realize that’s very hard for men’s egos and a father’s biological desire to protect his children, but being finally fucked in your later years is not worth it in my view.
Holy shit, utterly incorrect. You could get an additional $600K in net worth in 10 years as an unmarried man in his 40s, no problem. It will require some hard work, but you could do it. Even if you don’t quite make it by age 50, you’ll be really close, and probably have it nailed by your early 50s.
You’re literally proving my point here.
Completely irrelevant. You’re letting your negative feelings towards your ex (something you should have moved on from completely and something that should be completely out of your mind by now) to influence your view on now much money you can make in the next ten years.
Your fault. Just agree with whatever bullshit she wants (as long as it doesn’t cost too much money) and stop going to court. Again, read this article.
I too got a divorce in a middle of a recession.
I too had to pay alimony and child support based on false, higher income figures that didn’t apply and that I couldn’t afford.
I too had an “ex from hell” that tried to fight me constantly. (Emphasis on the word “tried.” It didn’t work because I didn’t fight her back.)
Ten years later, I ended up just fine. Better than fine.
You can too.
As sound as that is, I know myself too well. I would get comfortable and then I would rationalize not trying to pursue a location independent income until its too late. And yes there is kind of a time limit to doing that kind of thing. I started last year at 35, which is pretty much the last gasp to try to start a location independent business. Any older and energy levels will be too low. I can’t imagine trying to get all this info and apply it in my 40s. Fortunately, by then, I’ll be more established.
I stuck to my retail job for nearly a decade for a reason. It was STUPID easy, fun, mostly self supervised, but it was really REALLY comfortable. I will NEVER achieve what I want if I am comfortable. I’ve learned that the hard way quite a bit.
Thank you for checking out my blog, I’m kind of taking time off posting there because I am working on a book. Then I’m going to be doing some remodeling of the blog; I’ll be editing my articles there, make a landing page for the book, among other things. As far as debt is concerned, The only debt I do have is student loans and a credit card. I don’t owe on a house or anything, so if there was any misunderstanding then that’s where it was.
I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had a mortgage and car payments etc. I mean yeah it sucks that my credit is gonna suck for awhile, but owing on a house or car…I’ll NEVER do that.
BD, I’ve already passed 50. And yes I am proving your point because I’ve been on that trajectory despite the laundry list of things of my ex has done and continues to do.
The thing I’m trying to say is that there some YMMV factor at play when you say it should only take 10 years, especially depending on what a guy’s mission is and how that factors into their income producing activities. As it stands, I should see myself hitting the $1M netw mark between 4 and 7 years from now, somewhere between ages 55-58. How long some of the things I have built (My biggest passive income stream should kick in sometime mid-next year) will take to pay out is subject to market and other forces outside my control.
Perhaps I should have been clearer in my post. I went from negative $145K in ’08 at age 41 to currently ~$435K today, but especially in the first 5 years post-divorce I was capital starved by the alimony, child support, debt payments and additional crap. That kind of crap can be overcome? Of course. But I can’t dictate the exact schedule and date when milestones will be reached – just that they will be.
Maybe I misunderstood but it seems that in the comments here it was several times suggester or even said directly by both BD and many others that its a good idea to get a house via the morgage route. Did I misunderstand? It seems contradictory to the usual advice. It creates debt and it pegs you in one place.
I see that these days a lot of people I know are getting loans to buy houses. Their argument is that the loaning conditions are very good and they dont need to put down a down payment and that they save on rent while saving up on a house.
Good article, very motivating and realistic. I would say any guy in the west should have an autopilot business by that time if he doesnt want to be miserable.
Just a small note: the equivalent of having $1MM USD net worth in the west might also be to accumulate about half that, and then move to a cheaper part of the world. Thats been my plan. Bonus is potential business opportunities from being bilingual, cultural benefits, weather, etc.
One mindset shift that has helped me in the last couple years is this: Hard work and problem solving actually makes people happier. Training new employees makes me happier. Getting big sales is fun. Creating jobs is charity work (literally, in my opinion). Earning respect from clients and employees feels great. I also enjoy time off to play guitar, dance, travel, but I cant do that full time. I wouldnt enjoy it or feel productive. So business success is a great , fun goal. Its just unfortunate so many people have a negative outlook on it these days.
BD,
Could you explain what it means to have, as you said, “multiple unregulated businesses”? How do you mean unregulated, because I get the feeling that it borders on illegal, and I know you don’t do illegal? I’m uneducated in this field so clarifications would be highly appreciated 🙂
“Unregulated” means you don’t need a license from a nanny government to do your business.
Yes. For example if you open a restaurant thats obviously regulated because of food hygiene etc. If you provide electricity supply to houses or assemble parts for ships that will most likely also be regulated because you need to meet some requirements and there might even be restrictions on your pricing. If on the other hand you are a photographer who sells his photos online or give advice to people on business efficiency then most likely there is no regulation at all.
Good. Thank you for proving my point.
That’s a complicated answer and not something I could address in a brief comment.
That would work, but only if you are planning on never getting married and never having any children. (With just $500k to your name you’d have to live the rest of your life pretty frugally, even in a third-world country.)
As other commenters said, it simply means it’s not regulated like a restaurant or an attorney would be.
My three businesses:
1. Business consultant – totally unregulated
2. Lifestyle advice for men – totally unregulated
3. Tech marketing – totally unregulated
Compare that to if I was a doctor or CPA. Heavily regulated.
I am so happy for all the wonderful people who find joy and fulfillment in making $1,000,000.
I love how people with lots of money, or the ability, experience, and know how to get it, so quickly berate others for not doing the same exact thing. See how fast they get insulting towards you? Thank-fully, not everyone has the same attitude towards people.
I have lost 160 lbs in 18 months. By myself. With no help from anyone. Do I think anyone should be able to do what I have done, and berate them if they do not? No. I understand that ability, talent, and hard work are not enough. Those things are essential, but they are not enough.
1. A million dollars is not a lot of money.
Hear that a lot. Maybe its true. Just not around here. A million dollars compared to my history is a tremendous fortune, is for most people in your Western world. Just not you.
2. Any man…..should
Should is such a dangerous word.
Should as in that is what all men must do? Or should, as in be able to as a matter of normal life?
10% of people have an I.Q. at 85 or less.
50% less than 100
Where do you draw a line and say below a certain level of intelligence, no matter his circumstances, a man simply does not have the mental capacity to make all the right decisions that would result in him have a net worth of $1million by age 50? If 30 million Americans are mentally retarded, what about those tens of millions with an IQ of only 90? 92? Every male you said. Every…single….one.
3. Everything that happens to you is your fault.
On different levels, sure. In reality, no.
You don’t get to choose some of the most important events in your life. Events that directly impact your future ability to have a million dollar net worth.
4. If I can do it any one can!
Yeah, yeah. Ever heard of a bromide?
I dont expect every fat person to lose 160 lbs, like I have done. Because not every fat man is the same as me. Practice all you want, you wont be a superstar in sports, you don’t have what it takes physically. Study all you want, you won’t get that Phd if your IQ is too low.
5. You need a one million dollar net worth by the time you are 50.
Wrong.
Need. Does that word mean anything? Need: to require something
Guess you should try different words. Lets see, no one in my family has a net worth of one million dollars. I’ll use a man I respect as my example. My father. Teacher, minister for his money. That’s all. Married and raised three children, all of which are thankful he did. Without him we wouldn’t be here. How many kids did you say you have created? 2? Barely adequate. Anyway, my father has been retired since 2000. Still works at teaching and being a minister for FREE! Instead of trying for a million he did what he loved, so he can still do what he loves, for free now. He lives on his own land (1 acre) in a nice, warm part of the U.S., with a nice, warm woman. Is he careful with his money out of necessity? Sure. My father is a disciplined man. Would he be wiped out if the “system” collapsed? Sure, I guess. He’s pretty resourceful. He lives a great life. So does my mother. So did my grandparents. None of them needed a million dollar net worth. Neither does my father. He already has more than he “needs”.
6. Shut the fuck up!
That’s funny, it really is. Just my opinion, but someone of your ability should have a billion dollars net worth by age 50. Whats your excuse? Don’t got one? Shut the fuck up!
In my opinion, the measure of a man isn’t money. Happiness is subjective. All those surveys and studies notwithstanding. You may see that many of them have a pretty low confidence interval, that’s how sociology rolls. Would I be happy if I spent my time focusing on developing a million dollar net worth? Doubtful. The things I would have to do, according to you, are not appealing to me. Starting a business? Just because I don’t wish to monetize my successes in life doesn’t make me an idiot. My father could be rich. Chose not to. I could be rich. So? I could be a lot of things, which, in your opinion, I need to do.
I am doing what I need to do. I am improving myself as best I know how, with what brains and balls I have, failing and succeeding day by day.
A million dollars isnt rich, thats a good one!!
Maybe not everywhere, but for most of humanity, it is.
Just my opinion.
I enjoy reading your articles. Thanks for providing them.
If you don’t have passive income streams, that is one of the stupidest things anyone could possibly do. I’d argue its worse than taking out student loans. A (decent) house nowadays is worth probably $500k. Do you really have enough foresight to pay that off? Or are you gonna do what everyone else does and just re-finance it over 9000 times before selling it for $370k, leaving you about $125k in bad debt?
I don’t understand how people take home loans and NOT have passive income streams. Just lol.
I would. I would certainly berate someone who was 160 pounds overweight and not doing anything about it, because that condition will cause you massive unhappiness both in self-esteem and health problems.
If you want to say, “Hey man, it’s okay you’re 160 pounds overweight. Maybe there’s nothing you can do about it,” you are harming that person, not helping.
You don’t have to like my tone, but my tone helps motivate people to be happier, regardless of your personal feelings about it.
Granted, I agree that most really stupid people probably can’t pull this off, as I more or less implied in the article. But by your own estimation, you just said 10%. That means yeah, the other 90% should be worth $1 million by age 50. Including you.
I already addressed the bizarre exceptions to the rule in this article, like a child getting cancer. As I’ve said hundreds of times, using the bizarre exception to the rule in order to prove your point means you don’t have one.
Every heard of a fact? Yes, if I can do it, anyone in the Western world can (and yes, I exclude retarded people and very stupid people from that, of course; again, exceptions to the rule).
You need to back up that contention with real statistics and facts just like I do. Some emotional anecdote about your dad does not count as facts or statistics. Try again. (If you can.)
If you think my $1 million figure is incorrect, give me your figure that a man should be worth by age 50. And again, back it up with facts.
Because I don’t need a billion dollars to be happy long-term. I’m not going to spend my time doing something I don’t need. But I do need a million dollars (at least!) by age 50 to be happy long-term, as I demonstrated in my article.
I agree. I have never said or even implied otherwise.
At the same time, if you don’t make a certain amount of money you will suffer unhappiness, as I explain in great detail in my book and as numerous studies have conclusively shown, and saying that isn’t true is denying fact and reality.
Yep, that essentially sums up your entire comment: “I don’t like facts so I’ll just ignore them.”
1. Would you be happy being in your 60s and 70s with zero money, always hoping/begging for other people to pay your living expenses for you? Doubtful.
Sometimes you need to choose the lesser of two pains in life.
2. Saving/investing $1 million over a 30 year working lifetime isn’t hard.
Did you even read the article? To quote the article: I am not saying if you don’t achieve this you’re some kind of loser. You’re not.
I never said be rich. I just said have a $1 million net worth by age 50.
One million dollars in cash piled on your bed could be considered rich, but yes, a million dollar net worth is not rich in 2018. Correct.
Again, did you even read the article? That is the opposite of what I said and I was very clear about it.
If you want to argue my points, you need to quote me correctly. The fact you’re not shows something about you.
You’re very welcome.
To all the other guys who said that this $1 million by age 50 advice should not be controversial, read Andy’s comment above. Facts and logic are always controversial to those who think and react emotionally… which is most human beings.
This sentence drew me in to read further for the facts/data. Disappointed that I didn’t see them.
Here are some facts. The average american makes about 40k. After taxes and living expenses he might be able to save 5k. Multiply that by 30 years and you get 150k. Invest that out to 300k. It’s not a million, but it puts you in the top 10% with only an average income. Well done.
300k invested at 6% gives you 18k per year passive income. You don’t even have to be super ambitious and sell wrinkle cream on the internet like countless self help books say to do.
These are conflicting statements. At least in my case. Every couple of years my ex gets pissed at me and makes false allegations in her pleadings; then sues me for full custody, a ridiculous amount of child support, and other financial obligations. Also I being able to see my children. If that’s not important to you then that’s your choice to make. But bankrupting myself by agreeing to unreasonable financial obligations in exchange for not being able to see my son doesn’t sound like much of a solution to me.
In the beginning I already gave her everything that she asked for. She just kept hiring a lawyer to sue me every couple of years to demand more.
If you couldn’t afford it how did you save any money?
Technically true I guess. Just like if someone physically attacks you instead of fighting back you can just let them repeatably punch you in the head. It’s not a good option. But it is an option.
It has nothing to do with ego; it’s about being a father to my child. The easiest thing for my ego would have been to tell her to go fuck herself once she “accidentally” got pregnant. Then move to southern Europe where I’m eligible for citizenship and where it would be nearly impossible to enforce any family court judgement against me.
Why was this here instead of over at calebjones? It’s more financial related than women related.
I thought I had my sites mixed up for a bit.
* Also I like being able to see my son.
No I’m not the one making the claim. I already know enough people who are not nor ever shall be worth $1 million in money-value who live interesting, secure lives in their old age to say with confidence that one does not NEED to be worth that much.
Really? Are you sure? I guess I’ll have to take your word for it. I don’t need a net worth of $1 million to be happy long-term, either.
Then you go on to the insanity label for men who have little or no money by age 50. Without qualifying what “little” means to BD. I guess, according to the gist of your article, anything short of the holy $1m net worth mark is…..little?
What? Kids, college, traditional family? Hmm, sounds like a loser to me.
Wow, I guess I’ll be begging on the streets cause I just didn’t quite make it to that $1 million net worth mark back in the day…I better lock the doors so all my poor relatives can’t come over and raid the larder.
Implication: all men who don’t fulfill the $1 mil-by-50 mark…Yer all gonna be beggin’ the kids for money. I guess all the old folks I know, and there are hundreds if not thousands, are wasting their time at the golf course, casino, or the swimming pool. They should be out there begging! Whats wrong with them?
Never said it was hard. For everyone. For a few its easy. For most pretty tough. For some, near impossible. For a few, completely impossible.
That 10% of pop at or below 85 IQ is not an insignificant number. And those are just the lowest of the low. There are a whole bunch more just above them.
Emotional anecdote? Really? Relating something from my own experience is emotional? Your reply to me veered into emotional a few times, but I don’t hold that against you, people are emotional. You included.
Yeah, that works. I guess the more a person with a problem gets insulted and slimed for it, the more likely they are to take the steps needed to change. You are right, your tone does motivate people. And it also turns people off to your message sometimes.
Anyway, BD, thanks for the reply. According to your bio you hit the redo button and you are doing great. My finger is on the redo button, pressing it for all I’m worth. Happy and proud. If I never make it to the $1 million mark under discussion, and I wind up not begging my kids or neighbors for handouts…is it alright for me to be happy? Just a little?
Thanks.
Thanks, BD, for voicing an opinion I too have held for decades but have never mentioned to anyone. I fully agree and, since I began investing on 1/1/1998, have carefully grown and monitored my own net worth on spreadsheets and graphs.
There is one important point to net worth I don’t believe anyone here has mentioned yet. Beware of how you value a tax-deferred account. Since you haven’t yet paid tax, the value of the account is in pre-tax dollars and is therefore artificially inflated. In my spreadsheets and graphs, for example, I assume a tax rate of 25%. I know the exact number is inaccurate, but that’s not the point. The point is, when you’re valuing your net worth and see your traditional IRA sitting there at $400,000, that’s not really $400,000. It’s more like only $300,000.
Andy, for me at least, it’s your posts that sound emotional and incoherent. An example that stands out is that you imply that “interesting, secure lives” are a priority, and at the same time you extol your father’s life path, which by your own admission lacks security.
Instead of dissecting others’ answers point by point, could you answer just one question: what is your suggested life path to long-term consistent happiness (that’s incompatible with earning the $1M)?
And a question to everyone else: is BD the only one on the entire f#$%ing Internet with clear and actionable answers to the above question (without the part in parentheses of course : )? Where’s the diversification?
Kinda wish BD doubled down on this and said that if you don’t achieve this you ARE some kind of loser. Cuz the more stuff I come across about Alpha 2.0 businesses, the more I’m starting to believe it. With all the ways to make money nowadays, if you really can’t make that kind of money and with all the resources we have regarding finances, you ARE a loser if you don’t have a $1m net worth by 50. Its true. Especially if you’re a guy like me who tells SP to fuck off and does everything on his own terms. NO EXCUSE. NONE.
Like BD says if you don’t want to have a net worth of $1m by the time you’re 50, its your funeral. By 70, it will LITERALLY be your own funeral.
And this is coming from someone who decided to take out nearly 100k in student loan debt just for the sake of doing it (I hated myself a lot back then and didn’t really care about anything).
There’s a difference between counterbalancing the insults with support vs just insulting. For example, BD says that while yeah, you are a loser if you do not have a $1m net worth by 50 (that’s how I interpreted his opinion), there are plenty of ways to achieve it and he is willing to help and be supportive in anyone’s quest for such a thing.
My stepdad does the same when he hits the bottle. Calls me all kinds of names, but then says that he’s always in my corner and tells me that he disses me so hard BECAUSE he knows how capable I am.
Its assholes like my dad who just hurl insults and not be supportive. Those people are toxic and psychologically projecting like crazy. BD is not like that at all.
Whether it’s a million or a bit more or a bit less is a bit of a distraction. The general principle holds. You need a certain income in your old age when you are less likely to be able to work. You need to factor in reduced tolerance to discomfort, possible medical costs. And to sustain that income for a few decades, you need liquid assets equivalent to about twenty times the target income.
So you need to devise a life that enables you to accumulate it over about thirty years. It’s not (usually) a matter of making a sudden fortune by doing something devastatingly clever. It’s about long term commitment, prioritizing, reducing expenditures, particularly by identifying futile expenditures driven by societal programing, learning to have big fun with little money, making good life choices or striving to overcome the impact of earlier bad choices, building incrementally on opportunities to increase income, particularly in ways that have the potential to create further opportunities in the future. Sometimes it looks crazy impossible at the beginning, but surprising things happen if you start trying.
A million? Well, it could be less. Some people compensate by building up other forms of capital in other areas of life, like the guy who cited his father who was a teacher / minister. I could imagine a guy like that could live happily on much less than 50k a year if he lived in a small, traditional community, getting pleasure out of reading books at the public library, mentoring, ongoing community service, that kind of thing.
My father was lousy with money, but a brilliant pick up artist, a skill he retained into old age. He compensated for zero savings by finding a rich woman to look after him in his final years. He had capital in another life area other than the financial area.
But are you building capital by struggling and failing to achieve the dream? By fighting losing battles with ex wives? Or by bitching about how America isn’t what it used to be? Or pointing out that no one else you know is doing anything different?
Just think about how it applies to you. Be realistic. Make adjustments and changes. Face challenges. Recognize your potential. Examine your assumptions about life. Be open to opportunity
Seriously, financial insecurity and dependence on other people in old age is a drag. Do what it takes to avoid it.
@Mike Hunter – You and I would have to do a specific blow-by-blow of every item your ex demanded in order to continue this conversation, and obviously I’m not going to do that. Obiouvlsy you want to keep seeing your own children, but, I’m quite confident that if we went down the list of everything she’s demanded of you, much of those things, perhaps even most (not all, but most) are things I would have just shrugged and given her so I could minimize my court time and attorney costs. If you disagree then we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
Easy. I increased my income. Easy to do when you have 10-15 years to do it.
@CF – I occasionally post money-related articles here (like this one) because money is a core component of the Alpha 2.0 lifestyle. I just don’t go into detailed specifics here.
@Andy – I can’t respond to your last comment because it’s almost non-stop irrationality that completely ignores multiple clear statements in my article. (I never called a family man an idiot, just one that has five or six kids in the modern era; you can get close to $1 million by age 50 and that’s probably okay even if you don’t hit that exact number; it’s not “zero” or “exactly $1 million” like you keep implying, and so on; c’mon man, don’t be silly.)
I can’t respond to you if you continue pretend like you didn’t read my article. There is one thing I will respond to though:
I know. That’s why I have it.
Absolutely correct, and as I’ve said many times on this blog, those people need to, yes, fuck off, and get as far away from this blog as humanly possible. I don’t want readers nor customers like this. I’m not here to help people like that. I’m here to help the 10% of men who want to better their lives even if such changes require temporary emotional discomfort, as I clearly explained in Part Two here.
My friend, you’re acting as if my tone is spontaneous result of me being mean or something. Instead, my tone is something I do deliberately and purposefully with great forethought. I’m here to help others get results, not sit around and engage in an emotional circle-jerk about how you don’t need any money to be happy (or whatever point you’re unsuccessfully trying to make).
This post reminds me of one more thing. A quote from George Orwell, with which I agree:
“At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.”
Rich = Alpha
always has, always will
That was a gift. Both of time and timing. That’s the best time to get divorced because if you are broke your alimony and child support are low.
This is was my experience. BD was lucky to divorce in a state that had favorable rules that limit someone’s ability to come back in the future.
My ex ran up legal bills in excess of $75k because after she changed attorneys twice she began representing herself.
If I had chose to not fight I’d been stuck with whatever judgement she proposed to the court, and those judgements are not discharged in bankruptcy. Only by (you guessed it) returning to court.
Child support can go out to 25 in California and alimony can go forever if you are in a long term marriage (10 years plus). If I was able to pull down 1/3M a year to make BDs target, my ex would undoubtedly drag me back into court and take her half.
That said, I agree with BD, and if you are lucky enough to not make mistakes, there’s no reason to not have $1m by the time you are 50. And I’d have made it in spades because I was thrifty and started saving when I was 22.
And in retrospect, I regret doing that because what she didn’t burn up in resolving the property, I had to borrow to pay the attorneys. I wound up broke at 50 either way.
But that’s my fault for following conventional wisdom and getting married in the first place.
At the end of this, all you can do is learn from your mistakes and try to do better going forward.
And hope you aren’t 45 when you are sucked into a protracted divorce with someone who wants to fight.
I hope you make money from this blog. I’d never have the patience to talk in circles with all of these butthurt keyboard warriors.
Entirely false statement.
Most of these people you are talking about either inherited free stuff or their life is interesting because they pile up debts that they will leave behind to the next generation. Also a lot of old people might have being living a frugal boring life in their young age only to live secure and “happy” life later on. This is about now AND later. So if you want a continuous exciting and happy life there is a huge point in what BD is saying.
Your perception on money is wrong. Money is part of the equation to happiness. There is no true happiness without money. There is perceived happiness because that’s what you want to show around you but inside you something big is missing.
Money create time and experiences you wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.
But let’s go to the point. Why 1m by age 50? According to my calculations in todays era and prices, 1m is the minimum net worth one must have by that age. This is to sustain his full exciting and happy life over the age 50. 1m to have as net worth is not exactly middle class today but it is not super rich as it was 20 years ago. It seems about right. More is better of course.
Why not 1b you say? Because to reach the 1b you need to spill blood, lots of hours of work and a lot of networking that will take most of your time, time you need otherwise to be truly happy. In other words you won’t by truly continually happy if you are chasing the 1b(unless of course your road is paved in gold). But 1m? It looks very easy if you know what you are doing and when you know what you are doing, you can reach that 1m in 10 years, not more.
@BD: In your life so far, how long in total have you rented the primary place where you lived?
My parents always said renting a place is a waste of money, like an indirect debt and that it’s better to actually get a debt for owning a place.
But recently I read many contrary advices.
Also, currently I am living a nomadic lifestyle where I like to rent a place for 3 to 6 months before moving to explore new places or to go back to places I like. I could buy without debt one of these properties, but I am not staying long. So I feel I am kind of wasting this money.
It certainly is. So, regardless of whether you are right or not, how the fuck is this useful, to anyone?
FFS
I believe that all X should do Y. Regardless of the fact that this is fairly obvious and uncontroversial to any reasonable person, I am sure I can find plenty of people on the Internet to disagree with me. However, I have no specific advice of any kind to offer here on how X can or should to get to Y, but I’m as always I’m right. I hope you all learned something today.
Mental masturbation.
A few years when I was young, and for about eight years after my divorce.
There’s a correct time to rent, and a correct time to own. It depends on the scenario.
Because following my advice will make you happier in life long-term.
Both incorrect and stupid. I offer mountains of specific advice about how to do this at this blog, and at this blog, and in this book, and at this service.
You’re acting as if the BD Blog is the only thing I offer people.
Look at the comments above from Pitbull, Mike Hunter, Paternitytester, Andy, etc.
Great attitude. Accurate too. You’ll go far in life.
I do or I wouldn’t be commenting here. But yeah, comments like this guy’s and the others above demonstrate exactly why I’m only here to help 10% of men, not men in general.
Off topic and serious question:
Where/How would you hide part of your money from women, business partners, government etc? If my parents were still alive I would give them my money but they are not here anymore. So how do you save money just for yourself when you get old?
Just curious how did you come up with that number? Is it just a guesstimate or is there some research about men who are receptive to the type of advice you are offering?
I’m also curious how did you come up with the “helping 1 million men” part of your mission? How did you come up with a specific number of 1 million? How do you measure something like that?
CLASSIC SP, and its a narrative that is near centuries old. This article explains it perfectly, and gets down to the exact numbers why owning is not as good as renting, ESPECIALLY if you have taken out a mortgage. This article also explains why getting a mortgage is a very VERY bad move (a few paragraphs in).
It is MUCH better to buy a house in cash then rent it out for passive income. One of my buddies does that. Has a net worth of probably $250k and he’s around BD’s age.
Rent out what you own, own what you rent. That’s how Alpha 2s do it.
Ideally I’m guessing you need a net worth of about $4M by the time you feel you’ll soon be too old to work hard anymore. If you’re getting a 5% yield and we shave off 3% in inflation, taxes…, then you have 2 “clean” percents, which translate to $80000 per year that keep their purchasing value as long as inflation doesn’t go crazy. That should be enough to live pretty well even for an old man who will need medical care.
The dumbest comment I’ve ever seen on any of Caleb’s blogs.
BD should start giving out razzie awards for stuff like this.
My opinion was to ignore the $1m number, but focus on the post tax free cash flow from your investments.
If you have the opportunity to buy a property that throws off $50k a year for 300k, or one that costs $1m, which would you choose?
If you answered “the cheap one, and go look for two more”, you’d be right.
Ive seen hundreds of equity rich folks be broke real quickly once they sell out because they didn’t have enough cash.
Chase free cash flows.
I’m curious. To all the guys against 1M at 50, what age would you guys suggest one reach 1M?
What amazes me is not that some people disagree with BD – you could have a reasonable debate on some of his points – it’s the strength of people’s emotional response. If you respond with anger, rage and distress, it might be worth pausing and reflecting on where that’s coming from.
The problem is you can’t do that while you’re angry. You want to throw a hissie fit and bitch like a little baby.
Maybe some of these guys will calm down later and realize how stupid they sound. Or maybe not. lol
Like someone else said, I can’t believe BD has the patience for this shit.
Wrong metric, IMO. Here’s what I suggest:
Start with BDs $75k income. Then start accumulating passive assets that throw off free cash flow until you get to $75k/year. Do not spend this money. Reinvest it into other assets that throw off passive income. Ignore your equity.
Heres why:
Sooner or later you are going to be too sick/injured to work. If you do not have that replacement income to fall back on, you will be forced to liquidate that 1m in equity and you may be surprised to learn that 1m doesn’t liquidate into full value.
If you focus on cash flow you don’t care. Stop investing the coupons and spend it.
I had acquired a small farm property in 2012 that I planted a orchard on. The mortgage was manageable. I would have been full equity with a free cash flow of about $40,000 a year next year (2019). Plus I’d have no more mortgage (reducing cash outflow).
But I got divorced.
Not like I need to beat this dead horse, but don’t get married kids.
To throw out one scenario with some numbers:
Assuming a good, modest 5% rate of growth compounded monthly (7% -2% inflation):
Starting at 20, invest $500/month => at 50 = $416,129.32
At 30, add another $500/month (in total, you’re now investing $1000/month) => $205,516.83
At 40, add another $1000/month (in total, $2000/month) => $155,282.28
776,928.43 US$ = $416,129.32 + $205,516.83 + $155,282.28
If you have some equity in your house, say $100k, plus your own business, say another $100k, then you’re nipping at $1M. Of course, not many people start investing that much, that early, but it is possible to do. And, even if you don’t start that early, you can invest more later, etc. Obviously starting early can help.
If the same person, from 50 to 65, went back to investing $1000/month (from$2000/month), plus continued investing with what they had accumulated (about 776k), they could have over $2M (including the house and business equity) at 65.
see https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/free-financial-planning-tools/compound-interest-calculator
Of course, wealth means a lot of more than just money (wealth>$$$), but amount of money can be used as a “good, quantitative measurement” of modern Western wealth in most cases. Some people may focus on other aspects of wealth that aren’t as easily related to money, but as a general rule of thumb, money works for purposes of discussion.
And, in regards to the major life areas – health, wealth, love and happiness – we all have our personal priorities, though most people value all 4 highly. You can be healthy, happy and have a lots of love, without being “wealthy”. But for “most people”, wealth does start to play a more important role in their lives, probably starting around 35 when “most people” stop sleeping on their friends’ couches 🙂
Blueguitar
People always show the compounding interest examples but it rarely exists in real life in my experience. You have to watch that shit like a hawk. Even my “safe” investments LOSE for the year sometimes. Plus taxes and fees have to be subtracted. I like the Nassim Taleb model of investing and I would add that an additional 10% of savings AND time be invested in one’s own backup business. Easier said than done tho. My main client slowly b came my only client and now they are demanding W2. So I’m fucking scrambling to get something else going!
Oh I’ve seen dumber. There was this one tradcon who actually called BD a cuck or something for promoting open relationships and open marriages. And then there was a chick who said that BD teaches men how to rape chicks somewhere else. Twas hilarious. Think they’re both banned now with their comments removed for BD’s rules violations.
Nah. Stuff like that shouldn’t be rewarded at all. That’s what caused the trouble the west is in right now; too many “awards.”
tfw you feel like you’re being called out lol. I’ve always been serious about wealth, but I’ve never had any knowledge on how to make money other than “Go to school, get job, work at job, get gold watch when you are old enough.”
Then I move back in with my folks and find that they are struggling on social security, and I’m like “alright that plan is a bust, what now? I don’t want to spend my old age living on $1000 a month by the nanny state (which won’t exist by the time I am retirement age).”
The worse thing is not ONE PERSON in my entire life talked about any ONE thing that some of the people commenting on this post is about. It kinda sucks that I can’t talk to anyone offline about this either (without paying them). I’m hoping BD’s article on Monday answers some questions for me. It really sucks to have no knowledge about any of this stuff. Quite overwhelming really; its so hard to know who to trust when it comes to this kind of stuff. And I’m always worried that I’m not learning fast enough either.
Hey David – good points and best wishes with your business endeavors!
In certain historical circumstances, building wealth with compound interest has worked. The idea of “compound interest”, while stepping back farther from notion of bank-related compounding interest, could also be thought of as continuing to reinvest in things that seem like good “bets”. (And for the record, I’m not a investment professional and past performance does not guarantee future results haha)
Many areas and times throughout history have also seen a negative compounding effect for many years, even decades. Most “modern” US investment knowledge and advice is based on about 100 years of the USA market (one of the longest, biggest bull markets ever?) Until recently, most people didn’t consider other time periods and geographic locations. Ultimately, understanding economics and investing principles will probably help. And continuously maximizing one’s reward/risk ratio will play a major factor.
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I’m checking out Taleb’s ideas – some cool stuff. I’d be interested in what Caleb thinks – does “Black Dragon theory” (don’t worry about things with less than 2% of occurring) conflict/agree with “Black Swan theory”? haha
I like the barbell investing idea, it makes sense in a lot of ways, though it would probably historically underperform in the US markets. Most people probably will want to take into account the risk of inflation.
So what may seem less risky may be still be less risky than other options, but still more risky than at first glance. And there’s the risk of the institution – where you hold the money also has the risk of losing/mishandling it as well. (And make sure you don’t just leave your money in an account for many years without checking on it – the state will take it – it almost happened to a friend)
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But, the same goal ($1M by 50) could be almost be completed in the following way: invest $50k/year starting at 40 with with $0 at 0% interest (2%-2%inflation).
By 55, you’d have $750k, plus maybe a house (say $100k) and business equity (say $50k). Not easily done, but doable if you really wanted to (and with some good “luck”), and somewhat the other end of the spectrum from the previous example (starting at 20 and investing $500/month).
Say a person earned $100k at 40. With a frugal lifestyle, he/she could maybe save $50k/year (check out this, for example). Obviously, earning 100k/year is a lot of money, unless you live in NYC. But it’s an example where someone (highly motivated) could make it happen.
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IMHO, that’s not the worst thing to do for many people. Developing good, marketable skills is very important, though only a part of the whole picture. And, not everyone wants to run their own business.
But, I hear what you’re saying and best wishes!
If you don’t have anyone to talk to, consider speaking with 2-3 high-quality, investing professionals. Learning from them is probably money well spent (it’s always good to get multiple opinions in general, I think).
Also, consider checking out some classic books on investing, etc – It’s probably best to study them for a good while before making any major investment decisions (so you can make sure you get a deeper, broader view of the whole picture)
As I predicted in the second paragraph of this article, some men are going to read this article and get irrationally upset. Like Franco and Andy above, they will say silly things they can’t defend logically if challenged. It’s nothing unusual and just part of the process when you talk about self-improvement.
Read Part Two here.
I wanted a number that was both achievable and significant. One million is a lot of people. That’s a huge impact. At the same time, the Western world is made up of about 1.1 billion people, thus 550 million men. One million is only .2% of that. There should be more than enough betas sick of being slaves and Alpha 1.0s sick of the work and drama to hit that number.
Impossible to measure accurately, but book sales + verified business client results + web analytics can give me a decent estimate.
Believe me, I’ve been tempted, but no.
I agree with you completely, and we discuss exactly that in the SMIC program. But that’s a more difficult concept to convey than “one million.”
You won’t get a specific answer. Because they don’t have one.
What not jake said. Once you’re angry, it’s already too late. You need to sit down and examine why someone saying something on the internet actually makes you angry while you’re not angry. And the kind of person who gets angry by something he reads on the internet is probably not the kind of person with the self-control or self-awareness to do something like that.
I don’t. That’s why A) I enforce the Five Simple Rules and B) I will respond once to an irrational commenter to give the guy a chance to make some factual points that make sense, but I won’t engage in a back-and-forth conversation if its clear he can’t. (And they usually can’t.)
It would be interesting to hear of any specific anecdotal accounts of how someone made it to their first million net worth.
It’s probably too off topic, but…Do you have any examples where they can/did?
Its even more interesting to hear how they lost it. Usually 2% “Black Swan” events or hubris.
This is gonna shock people maybe, but the trick isn’t saving up to $1m, it’s keeping it. Selling the durability of investments isn’t sexy, doesn’t sell books, or get reality TV shows.
Love your blog – but I’ll confess I’m 59 years old and no where near $1 mil. I have about $50K in savings, still working at a soul sucking corporate job and in good health. Should I just give up on the $1 mil, and alpha male 2.0 lifestyle goals?
That’s a very good idea. Noted.
What do you think? Do you think I would give up?
Hi
A question that may be a little bit off topic. You have mentioned many times about $75.000 baseline income. What percentage of that income do you consider a good baseline for usable income? (Usable income=money you use for daily expenses. Does not include money you invest or money you save.)
I can’t answer that since it depends on your age, whether or not you have or want kids, whether or not you’re married, where you live, your debt situation, and other factors.
What do you think? Do you think I would give up?
No you wouldn’t, and neither will I. Thanks for the encouragement BD, you’re a good man!
Look through my comments when I first discovered this blog a couple years ago. I had a pretty bad attitude back then and over the last couple years have calmed down a bit.
Yeah, and I agree with you guys. 1$ million, or some other country’s equivalent, is easily achieveable with minimal effort. What book(s) (as few as possible) I can read to learn about this real estate bussiness? I have very little bussiness knowledge. All I know is that I buy an apartment with mortgage or something and pay for it, then when it’s paid for I can move somewhere else and rent it. Is that correct? I’m pretty sure there’s more to it, but I don’t know where to start.
Maybe. I was hoping that question will get them to stop and think about the whole thing. Even with the SP effect. $1M is always a goal. The problem is that the objective is incomplete, there’s no time frame for it.
~~
I dont suggest using 7% for growth for investments.
I just use 4-5% for the growth of my investments. I’m not 100% equities so it’ll never reach the 7-10% range. Most cant even stomach a 10% drawdown so they’ll need a decent portion of it in bonds.
The ones I like the best are a little outdated. With real estate, I would instead Google around and take a real estate seminar or seminars/courses than read a book, but that’s me.
This is borderline offtopic, but still:
Now that’s controversial as well.
Regardless, I think the OP is right. If someone started working some day during their 20s, and then by the time he’s 50 he doesn’t own much, then most likely he stopped improving himself altogether. He just went to a day job for 30 years.
“that plans to CONTINUE to live in the west, with its high cost of living”
If you’re open to living in digital nomad hubs in Asia with superior quality of life at a fraction of the expenses for such living, this figure seems a bit rich (or the timeline a bit early).
If you’re 50 with digital nomad / remote-friendly skills and clients / expertise but worth $0, you’re almost certainly in a better effective financial situation than a man tied into the Western world with $1mm sitting there but an enormous cost of living.
One million dollars “effective” spending power (relative to where you’re planning on living), amassed by some point in your 50’s: makes total sense to me.
(arguing that “you’ve been working 30 years” gets it backwards–all that matters is the age at which you really need some basic freedom to stop working, or working on your terms fully… which for current health/aging makes total sense to place at some point in your 50s)
For those who can’t or just don’t have the drive to achieve this,another option is to have a euthanasia/suicide plan ready for your old age. Belgium I believe does offer euthanasia for those who have gotten too old and/or disabled. If you can’t get that,a nitrous oxide or heroin/opiate overdose are possible options for self-euthanasia.
Hope this helped. Not everyone can achieve this after all.
I love your stuff, man! But seriously only $1 million by age 50? At least $10 million is what I’m going for. Why so low?
I have already qualified for a pension in the country I live, Japan, which I anticipate will be about $2000/month when I am 65. May I apply that to my current net worth as a type of annuity valued at about $250,ooo?
I think BD is underestimating the amount of student loans people these days have. I work in Wall St ( back office – not the glamorous suspender snapping sales and trading roles) and regularly meet new grads with $250k of student loans from law schools. Im a lawyer too but went the state school route to save money so my debt is only** a quarter less. Even my doctor and dentist tell me the younger generation is screwed with mid 6 figure debt.
Also the new generation is coming out into an inflated housing bubble. Boomers and genx ers who bought property in the 70s 80s even 90s are reaping huge rewards while my generation is looking at inflated rent and sick LTV ratios to buy a home.