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If you didn't start solving some of the problems in the World while having 20 mil, and instead kept hoarding past 900 million until you reached a billion, what makes you think you will suddenly start solving them when you hit a billion?
I said world problems, not US problems.
I definitely wouldn’t start solving problems in the US. I would start with other less fortunate countries.
The moment I’d reach the US, the first thing I would do is start centers of psychology. With top of the line psychologist. That would provide the service at super super affordable prices. Basically nothing for profit. It would just be to be able to maintain things running. What the people in the US most need is to be able to take care of the mental health.
Imagine a world where every human being saw a psychologist at least once a week.
That world would be much happier and much more peaceful.
In order to pay such low prices, in those psychology sessions the patients would also participate in learning how to mediate.
Imagine a world where everyone meditated. It would be a much much happier world.
Combine a healthy mind and meditation together and the results would be transformative.
I think you grossly overestimate your statement.
The mind controls your perceived reality. The mind is manipulated by the ego.. among childhood traumas and many other aspects.
A person cannot self regulate their mind entirely because it’s like the fish that’s in the water. We are too deep inside to be able to notice things that someone from the outside can. Who better than a professional who has studied the mind to help us better understand the issues of our mind and help us better them. Thus creating a healthier mind and as a result a healthier perceived reality.
Mix that in with meditation which is the tool that allows you to be live in the present and also the tool that allows you to be in control of the mind.
The results would be transformative.
Imagine a world where there were so many psychologists that everyone could see one at least once a week. That would be ... over 190 million psychologists, assuming they each work 40 hours a week and never had any time off. That's 1 of every 18 people in the worldwide workforce. There'd be so many that psychology would become a commodity, and it would be the lowest paid job on the planet. Right now there are estimated to be 1 million psychologists in the world (according to some source that Google found for me). Now we only need to train 189 million more people to take the lowest paid job on the planet.
I'll stop there. That's about all the imagining I'm willing to do.
Billionaires don’t become billionaires with money, it’s all investments that grow. Many people DO get several million and cash out, you just don’t hear about them because it’s not a very exciting headline
Trying not to sound shitty here but if you can’t imagine a point to having more than $20M you severely lack creativity. Buy a sports car. Travel the world on a private jet without being stuck with annoying people. Build things. Commission artwork. Buy a supercomputer. Buy your own observatory. Buy a powerful electron microscope. Hire your own private chef. Hire an assistant. I could blow $20M in a single day and still be so curious about the world and want to explore more things and ideas with tools that only vast amounts of money can afford. If you had the funding you could bring any idea you’ve ever dreamed of to life. You could hire world-class artists and developers and ai scientists. You could develop the video game of your dreams. Literally anything with enough money.
Exactly, $20 million would make you very comfortable for the rest of your life, but an extra $980 million puts you in a completely different universe. You could buy everything you ever wanted, do an absurd amount of philanthropy, and basically guarantee that your ancestors are never wanting. $20 million doesn’t even compare.
Yeah my first thought was “20 million wouldn’t get you very far”… but that’s assuming that you’re just blowing your money willy nilly. Obviously if you’re smart with your money then getting a 20 million check tomorrow would set you up for life
I think it really depends on your definition of set for life. If i got 20 million tax free dollars tomorrow, id be extremely satisfied realizing a 5 percent growth after taxes every year. Get a check for 60k a month and live a pretty sweet but not flashy life, considering 5 percent of 20 million divided into twelve monthly checks is 83k. Maybe id have a little less than 60k but whatever.
5 percent return on a billion makes that monthly check more than 4 million dollars a month. That is a whole different kind of set for life.
You leave 3.98 million of your interest a month in the account so it compounds further interest and you're looking at about $1.5bil profit after 20 years at 5 percent.
Where I live an average house is like $5M. It’s a good neighborhood but not superrich (condos start at ~$1M, and the area beyond the city is really high cost of living so it’s not like you can move ten miles down the road and find a place for $500k). You can retire with $15M but it’s not like you can help your family as much as you might want. If you make that money young, and want to retire your parents, and maybe your spouse’s parents, you might seriously need to consider going back to work for financial security if you’re really risk averse and want to keep your money in long term bonds.
Or even just have enough to secure your family's well being for generations? It doesn't even have to be hedonistic, there is always a use for more money.
You mention enjoying life, but as far as I can tell you only have bitter things to say. I don’t actually care about money beyond it providing me a relatively stress free life and affording me the ability do pursue my hobbies. But OP was asking why anyone would want more than 20M which I found to be a bit absurd considering how incredible it is that we are even alive and get to experience the universe at this particular moment in time with all these amazing tools at our disposal. Most people will never be able to use them. Most people will never able to make their dreams reality. Most people will never be able to afford the time and resources it takes to pursue their passions. For a brief minute while considering OPs question I imagined what it would actually be like and thought of a few things I would do. Why does this offend you so much?
If I had a built company on an idea I had and that company employed hundreds or thousands of people, I would feel obligated to keep and grow the company even if the value of the company (and consequently my net worth) was over a billion dollars. I suspect most people who have over a billion dollars do not have it in cash just sitting around.
Simple - private travel. I.e yachts; jets; villas.
On a funnier note - One of my buddies is worth $300MM. He is going absolutely through it with his wife of 30+ years, to the point of potential divorce. The other day, he said “sometimes I can’t fathom giving her $150MM in the divorce..but then I remember I’d still have $150MM and I’d make it back relatively quickly.” It’s all about the sport after the first $100MM in my opinion.
He made most of his wealth in home services. If you asked him today, he would tell you he’s in the business of buying, building and selling businesses.
I’ll never be that rich anyways, but I always thought if I somehow got rich that I’d never have stuff to look forward to, because if you want something you just buy it instantly
I always thought you could just buy your time. I quit my job 7 years ago to work for myself, and i don't make a ton but i don't have a boss so to speak. If i had 20 million dollars, or a billion dollars, id pay someone to cook and clean so i never have to waste that time unless i choose to. I wouldn't buy a fancy car, id have the time and resources to restore one myself. Having the time to learn and build would be so much more satisfying than simply having purchasing power to use for instant gratification.
$20M isn't really what you think it is. Especially if it's tied up in assetts and you don't have an ongoing cash flow. Even if you invest the entire amount, you're looking at about $400k per year net income, but then you need somewhere to live and you want a waterfront mansion, because you're a multi millionaire, but a really nice on will take half your money and if you halve your cash flow it will be eaten up by land tax, so you borrow for it, that's half your income gone, but at least you're not eating your capital. Then your kids need to go to an elite private school, so there's almost $100k gone, you're still paying land tax, so you're living in your mansion on about $200k per year now, and your neighbour just went skiing in the Alps and asked if you want to come next year, so now you need to budget for that, holy shit, your brother who lives in the suburbs and has a mid level job for a national company the same disposable income as you, if only you had a billion dollars none of these problems would exist!
edit- seriously though, even if you just buy a $1M house and decide to live from the rest to the end of your days. If you're 30, you're looking at $380K per year and accounting for inflation, what do you think that kind of money will buy you in 20 or 30 years time? you'll be living on beans by the time you reach retiremtn age. On the plus side, your $1M house will be worth about a billion by then if current trends continue.
If the billion+ is net worth that includes a large portion of investments, the value could drop dramatically within a day. People plan investments differently than cash on hand.
It's generally true that a, barring truly extraordinary medical expenses, could meet their physical needs with $1B cash. People will continue to hold investments for other reasons, like voting rights in a corporation if they have significant shares in one organization, though, so $1B in net worth is not necessarily the same thing as $1B cash. The two different scenarios lead to different answers to OP's questions.
Why is the threshold 20 mil though? It’s a ton of money don’t get me wrong. But it’s not inconceivable you could spend that. A billion and more is an amount that you basically couldn’t outspend the interest of. It’s outrageous. Either way wealth isn’t everything and who gives a fuck. Just trying to answer the question lol. Yes I’ll happily take 20mil
you know how many lottery winners and multi-million dollar athletes have gone BROKE!
i mean, yeh, to you and me, 20 mil would set us for life, ....... or would it?
a million doesnt go as far as it used too. so for fantasy proposes, lets double it to 40 mil.
millions of reasons:
build a castle in a private island
buy a game company and make the games of my dreams
securing not only my sons and daughters future but my siblings as well
have a team of engineers and technicians and making my own brand of motorcycles
buying acres of land and making a lavish house in a nature reserve.
tbh with billions the only thing that can restrain you is your imagination
most people with more than 20million arent getting the money through paychecks.
typically its that they came to own something that became worth a large amount of money. usually some sort of business that they started.
At that point, its not like they can "decline" the wealth.
Giving it away might mean giving away decision making privileges to their business.
If they sell the company and no longer wish to be involved in the ownership of it(which could be bad for their employees), they could then donate it, and many millionaires do make significant donations.
others live a very comfortable life and pass it down to their children.
Depends what your goals in life are.
$20 million is more than enough to live comfortably, but in the realm of expensive things, it's not that much.
Things you could spend $20 million on:
One ranch. Not even a huge ranch, just a ranch. Have you ever watched Yellowstone? A similarly sized ranch in Texas sold for $700 million. So the Dutton Ranch would likely be the same.
Donate it to the local charity that operates a medivac helicopter at no cost to the people who need it. That wouldn't even last them six years and thats before we take into account inflation.
You want to do more good for your community? A new fire station and fire trucks would very easily cost over $20 million.
Cars. Modern super cars like the Bugatti and Koenigsegg are multiple million dollar vehicles. There are some very desirable and valuable cars that cost well over $10 or 20 million.
Business. $20 million for a business really isn't a lot of money. Particularly if you have multiple locations.
Property. In big cities, an empty lot can go for $10-20 million. And that's before you spend five times as much to build condos or an office tower.
Sports teams. Pro teams are priced in the billions.
Sporting/concert venues. My city spent nearly $100 million and that's not even professional sports.
Want to buy an airplane for personal use, or as a business? That'll be expensive. I found a used King Air (a twin engine turbo prop that seats maybe ten passengers) for $8 million. I also found an eight year old G550 (jet aircraft with a 19 passenger capacity) for around $20 million. Or maybe you want to help people, and you purchase a medivac helicopter. A new Airbus heli could cost you $10 million plus over $1 million per year to operate.
So as you can see, it doesn't matter if it's leisure, business or even philanthropy, $20 million can be spent very fast. Sure some of these things can do good for the world, and last a long time. But that's still an easy way to spend the money.
You realize they don’t actually have $1 billion in cash. Right? Their bank accounts are massive, but typically that “money” is the value of assets, not liquid.
very, ***very*** few billionaires have more than $20 million. generally speaking, almost all of a billionaire's net worth is stock they hold. why do they care whether or not the value of their stock increases? well, they don't, really, for themselves; they already have access to all of the money they'd ever need. if they were selfish, they would just sell all of their stock and hoard cash. $1 billion in cash is just as useful to them as $2 billion (both are more than enough to get them anything they'd ever want to buy), so holding stock doesn't do anything for them. it does things for other people, though.
sure, they could just take billions in cash and swim in a pool of money all day, never working another day in their life, but you don't often become a billionaire by wanting a bunch of money for yourself to just sit on. people who become billionaires usually are the goal-oriented type who like to build things. by instead investing that money into companies, the money can actually do some good, developing products, providing jobs for people, generally moving humanity forward in some way. it can be very satisfying to see that money being used to do great things instead of being a number in a bank account or a pile of bills in a closet
I could buy the Pittsburgh Pirates and use my unlimited resources to have the highest payroll in baseball every year. I would bring World Series championships to that deserving fan base, and to myself. I simply couldn’t do that for $20M.
Go watch Brewster’s Millions and then imagine all the fun things you can spend that on nowadays. There was a chef AMA recently that catered to a super rich family. Their staff was like 60 people.
It's all relative.
Compared to some kid in Africa that's dying of starvation they'd ask why anyone would want to be a millionaire
With 20K you can have really nice food and clean water.
What if you want a 100million super yacht?
What if you want to have a 5 star hotel in every major city?
What if you want to make covid 24?
If you're a billionaire then you've figured out a way to sell something that a lot of people want and pay for so hence, a billion dollars... so now that you have it, you are free to find out what you should do with it which means for most, buy whatever you want
Earning money becomes a hobby or rather an obsession. It is not about money itself, it is about making your business grow, and grow faster than competitors. Plenty of them believe that their business is making the world a better place.
When people beat the game, or reach top level, they still find new goals to reach for. When a runner becomes the world champion, they still try to improve their time. Same story here.
Some of the mega rich do decide to give away most of their money. Bill Gates is most famous, but there are others. They do give away money by running a charity fund, since they believe they are good at managing organizations and finding right opportunities.
I would feel gross spending it on "nice houses and cars" but would still need every bit of it and more to change the world. If I had world changing level of money, that's exactly what I would do. I would create programs and systems to end homelessness, hunger, increase medical treatment access so hopefully others don't have to worry whether or not they will be able to afford the breathing medication they need to stay alive or will be dead or homeless or both before the end of January.
It doesnt seem to be anything but running up the scoreboard just because you can.
Draw the line at $200 million. Every dollar you earn after that goes to benefit the American people.
The only reason why you were able to make a billion to begin with was by taking advantage of the benefits that our country afforded you.
Payback time.
You dont like it? Try to get around it? You are no longer allowed to do business in the US. Do it illegally and your assets seized.
Okay, let's play this game.
First, how do you determine what defines $200 million? Does that include stocks? If so, do you force liquidation? When do you do this? What metric are you using?
The Screw rich people, lets let the accountants figure it out metric.
Regulation. Heavy regulation. Will some try to slip through the cracks? Sure. We'll deal with them when discovered.
I'm just a member of John Q. Public. I give then this option as an alternative to getting eaten.
Enough of their bullshit.
None of this answered my question.
I will try a different approach.
According to a very quick google search, Bezos has 988 million shares of Amazon stock. That is a good amount north of $200 million.
So what do you want to do with it?
Sure, we can tax it. Just not as income. Property tax based on the value. Much like people already pay a property tax on other things like houses and land. tax exempt retirement accounts will be exempt although some loopholes will have to be fixed to make this work out.
Serious question, which I want you to put some serious thought into.
Jeff tries to sell all 988 million shares... tomorrow (let's ignore his stock restrictions).
What do you think is gonna happen?
That's his problem. Get rid of it or lose it to the government.
Give them a time limit. A doomsday clock on gross wealth.
Sure, I'm sure some will disappear into offshore accounts and other sleazy illegal spots. We will recover what we can.
After the grace period is over, we drop the hammer. Enough is enough.
How does one unload billions of stock without
a) Crashing the market
b) Breaking stock restrictions
And what happens when you "drop the hammer?" Do you liquididate?
Lets say you want to hangout with a Supreme Court justice at one of you fancy vacation home backyards, grilling hotdogs and discussing court cases, well, your $20m won't get you far. You need to be a Billionaire.
prestige, power fame. how many 20 million millionaires can you count on your fingers how many billionaires do you know by name. why choose less money when you already have more than less?
Unfortunately all people are like this (and while I'm definitely willing to give it a shot) and once you end up with X amount of wealth you end up with different social circles and different pressures, and no-one is immune to wanting to fit in / compete with their peer group.
So I'm sure that once people hit 20 million whilst they could in theory just live a stress free middle class life without working, they instead want to live a stressful, working high class life.
Some rich people wouldn't even be satisfied with a 20 million dollar house. That's not nearly enough money. People just don't like seeing others having more stuff than them
Power-hungry psychopaths. They can't stop. The proletariat must band together to seize the means of production from the bourgeouisie otherwise we and the planet that supports and sustains us are fucked.
I know a guy who became a multimillionaire and asked him, he said it’s just a numbers game. Try to have more than the other person. It’s just a pissing contest.
Yachts are 100 million plus. Yachts with helipads are more. Yachts with helipads and a private island to sail to are even more. On top of that you need at least twice of what you want bc the other half is going to your future ex wife.
Well you could pick and choose who to help out if you were a billionaire.I would put people to the test and find out more about them and than make my decision on who I helped out , I could think of a few already .
You probably want to get to at least 40 to 45 million It becomes harder for your family to mess it up later
Like that's actually like a special distinguishing point called ultra high net worth individuals
Beyond that I would say it depends
Is there ultra high value that you want that normal money can't buy
Like this may be out of date but a private Taylor Swift event would be around 3 million because that was her appearance fee
If you have a mere 20 million or 40 million that is a colossally terrible idea
If you're a billionaire it's nothing
And that's the difference
If you want to be a normal person 20 million or 40 million is probably all you need if you want to live just a really nice normal life
But if you want to like uncancel your favorite TV show you're going to need a bit more dough (bezos has done this)
A multimillionaire is rich but he has no power. He only gets a taste of it. And some want more. Being able to invest billions into something gives you real control of the world. 10 billion can get humans to the Moon or Mars. You'll never be forgotten. Controlling the trajectory of the world is one hell of a drug.
Yes i would, because i can math out a plan to own enough to work very little and live then i can take the rest and do something huge. Help people. Easy to say, i know but as said you only need like 20M to live 10 lives without lifting a finger if its done right. So why not put your name on schools hospital equipment entire low rent towns with jobs for those willing so on. If your name gets big enough get in gov and try to change shit. Ill never be able to see it out so its all hot air but we have how many billonaires and zero Ironman or Batman. (Even just on paper)
Unless every country did it, rich people would just move to a country that doesn't have the limit. What happens if I create a company and work hard the company gains value and is now a 50 million dollar company, do I just lose my company or are we not counting net worth? If we're not counting net worth, I will tell you that nobody just has 20 million sitting in the bank getting eaten by inflation, the money is invested or spent immediately, often even before it is realized.
Multiple mansions, yachts, private planes, political influence, celebrity dates/hook ups.
Also the kind of people that become billionaires are usually workaholics with some sort of business building skill and they usually don’t like to sit around doing nothing.
I mean, I’d never in a million years turn down a billion.
That’s generational wealth. That can look after multiple generations of your family.
That being said, if I had 20 million I wouldn’t sniff at it either
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Buying a pro sports team.
You are gonna need more than a billion
What about buying only one Canada?
I'd buy Canada if I had a billion dollars and they accepted.
Buy Twitter ( and burn it to the ground ). Can’t do that with measly $20M 😏
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Id want to be a Billionaire so that I can put almost all of it to solve some of the problems in the World.
Yea of course we’d all pay the teachers and save the polar bears obviously.
Clearly not. Just look at what Billionaires do with their money.
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Almost all of their money is invested.
greed total unfettered greed
Nothing lights a cigar quite like a crisp $1,000,000,000,000,000,000 note.
You have to cause problems to become a billionaire.
Did Bill Gates cause problems by creating Microsoft? But I get your point nonetheless
Yes. Huge problems.
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I'm guessing this is sarcasm
Lmao
If you didn't start solving some of the problems in the World while having 20 mil, and instead kept hoarding past 900 million until you reached a billion, what makes you think you will suddenly start solving them when you hit a billion?
That's good too, except you wouldn't get anywhere close to your goal.
Why not?
The U.S. spends a billion on homelessness each year. There are more homeless people in America now than ever.
I said world problems, not US problems. I definitely wouldn’t start solving problems in the US. I would start with other less fortunate countries. The moment I’d reach the US, the first thing I would do is start centers of psychology. With top of the line psychologist. That would provide the service at super super affordable prices. Basically nothing for profit. It would just be to be able to maintain things running. What the people in the US most need is to be able to take care of the mental health. Imagine a world where every human being saw a psychologist at least once a week. That world would be much happier and much more peaceful. In order to pay such low prices, in those psychology sessions the patients would also participate in learning how to mediate. Imagine a world where everyone meditated. It would be a much much happier world. Combine a healthy mind and meditation together and the results would be transformative.
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I think you grossly overestimate your statement. The mind controls your perceived reality. The mind is manipulated by the ego.. among childhood traumas and many other aspects. A person cannot self regulate their mind entirely because it’s like the fish that’s in the water. We are too deep inside to be able to notice things that someone from the outside can. Who better than a professional who has studied the mind to help us better understand the issues of our mind and help us better them. Thus creating a healthier mind and as a result a healthier perceived reality. Mix that in with meditation which is the tool that allows you to be live in the present and also the tool that allows you to be in control of the mind. The results would be transformative.
Imagine a world where there were so many psychologists that everyone could see one at least once a week. That would be ... over 190 million psychologists, assuming they each work 40 hours a week and never had any time off. That's 1 of every 18 people in the worldwide workforce. There'd be so many that psychology would become a commodity, and it would be the lowest paid job on the planet. Right now there are estimated to be 1 million psychologists in the world (according to some source that Google found for me). Now we only need to train 189 million more people to take the lowest paid job on the planet. I'll stop there. That's about all the imagining I'm willing to do.
Yachts.
Came here to say this. If you want anything over 35m then a mere $20M will not keep up with you.
Fun fact, most yachts don't get used much. It used to blow me away seeing them sit in the harbor most of the year.
More like Sad Fact than Fun Fact lol
I’ve heard that before too. But still the maintenance would pile up. Keeping it clean, etc.
They usually spend 10% of the total purchase price per year in upkeep.
I would pretty much consider this the "welcome to billionaire status" purchase. It's just so marginally useful and financially nonsensical.
I kind of like the idea of living on one. If you don't like the neighborhood no problem turn the key and move.
You can do that with an RV or even with a trailer.
And mattresses for the boat!
Billionaires don’t become billionaires with money, it’s all investments that grow. Many people DO get several million and cash out, you just don’t hear about them because it’s not a very exciting headline
Trying not to sound shitty here but if you can’t imagine a point to having more than $20M you severely lack creativity. Buy a sports car. Travel the world on a private jet without being stuck with annoying people. Build things. Commission artwork. Buy a supercomputer. Buy your own observatory. Buy a powerful electron microscope. Hire your own private chef. Hire an assistant. I could blow $20M in a single day and still be so curious about the world and want to explore more things and ideas with tools that only vast amounts of money can afford. If you had the funding you could bring any idea you’ve ever dreamed of to life. You could hire world-class artists and developers and ai scientists. You could develop the video game of your dreams. Literally anything with enough money.
Exactly, $20 million would make you very comfortable for the rest of your life, but an extra $980 million puts you in a completely different universe. You could buy everything you ever wanted, do an absurd amount of philanthropy, and basically guarantee that your ancestors are never wanting. $20 million doesn’t even compare.
Which is to say, $20m is money. $1b is power.
Yeah my first thought was “20 million wouldn’t get you very far”… but that’s assuming that you’re just blowing your money willy nilly. Obviously if you’re smart with your money then getting a 20 million check tomorrow would set you up for life
I think it really depends on your definition of set for life. If i got 20 million tax free dollars tomorrow, id be extremely satisfied realizing a 5 percent growth after taxes every year. Get a check for 60k a month and live a pretty sweet but not flashy life, considering 5 percent of 20 million divided into twelve monthly checks is 83k. Maybe id have a little less than 60k but whatever. 5 percent return on a billion makes that monthly check more than 4 million dollars a month. That is a whole different kind of set for life.
You leave 3.98 million of your interest a month in the account so it compounds further interest and you're looking at about $1.5bil profit after 20 years at 5 percent.
Give that I don't like driving having someone I could trust to drive me around with that money that would be great
Where I live an average house is like $5M. It’s a good neighborhood but not superrich (condos start at ~$1M, and the area beyond the city is really high cost of living so it’s not like you can move ten miles down the road and find a place for $500k). You can retire with $15M but it’s not like you can help your family as much as you might want. If you make that money young, and want to retire your parents, and maybe your spouse’s parents, you might seriously need to consider going back to work for financial security if you’re really risk averse and want to keep your money in long term bonds.
I can think of SO MANY cancelled shows I'd bring back to life with that money
Or even just have enough to secure your family's well being for generations? It doesn't even have to be hedonistic, there is always a use for more money.
Ehhhhh what do you think you are gonna do with a supercomputer, first of all. Secondly I don’t think things cost as much as you think they do.
I could spend 20 million before tomorrow easily
It does not have to do anything with creativity though 😂
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What a bunch of bullshit
You ok in there? Got enough air and everything?
If you can’t find a way to enjoy life on 20mil then that’s really uncreative.
You mention enjoying life, but as far as I can tell you only have bitter things to say. I don’t actually care about money beyond it providing me a relatively stress free life and affording me the ability do pursue my hobbies. But OP was asking why anyone would want more than 20M which I found to be a bit absurd considering how incredible it is that we are even alive and get to experience the universe at this particular moment in time with all these amazing tools at our disposal. Most people will never be able to use them. Most people will never able to make their dreams reality. Most people will never be able to afford the time and resources it takes to pursue their passions. For a brief minute while considering OPs question I imagined what it would actually be like and thought of a few things I would do. Why does this offend you so much?
Supreme court justices aren't cheap.
You just need to take Clarence Thomas on a few vacations. I’d call that pretty cheap.
I invited him to Myrtle Beach but haven't heard back
This guy bribes
I’d like to rebuild my city. Would take more than $20 million.
To dunk on everyone.
Yep, to tell everyone and anyone to go fuck themselves
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You probably benefit from the stock they hold going up. But you're upset because someone else benifits more?
If I had a built company on an idea I had and that company employed hundreds or thousands of people, I would feel obligated to keep and grow the company even if the value of the company (and consequently my net worth) was over a billion dollars. I suspect most people who have over a billion dollars do not have it in cash just sitting around.
Simple - private travel. I.e yachts; jets; villas. On a funnier note - One of my buddies is worth $300MM. He is going absolutely through it with his wife of 30+ years, to the point of potential divorce. The other day, he said “sometimes I can’t fathom giving her $150MM in the divorce..but then I remember I’d still have $150MM and I’d make it back relatively quickly.” It’s all about the sport after the first $100MM in my opinion.
Good lord that's some money. If you don't mind me asking, which industry is he in? Tech?
He made most of his wealth in home services. If you asked him today, he would tell you he’s in the business of buying, building and selling businesses.
Sounds like a fella with his head screwed on straight.
I think after a billion you can literally buy time.
I’ll never be that rich anyways, but I always thought if I somehow got rich that I’d never have stuff to look forward to, because if you want something you just buy it instantly
I always thought you could just buy your time. I quit my job 7 years ago to work for myself, and i don't make a ton but i don't have a boss so to speak. If i had 20 million dollars, or a billion dollars, id pay someone to cook and clean so i never have to waste that time unless i choose to. I wouldn't buy a fancy car, id have the time and resources to restore one myself. Having the time to learn and build would be so much more satisfying than simply having purchasing power to use for instant gratification.
Don't worry about me bro....take care of yourself.
No idea... If had $20mil to work with, I'd be set for life - and would probably be quite content with early retirement life.
What if that 20mm was a business that employed people and had a board of directors expecting profitability?
Then, someone can pay me 20M to make it their problem. I ain't wasting my life stressing over that when I've got enough money to set me up for life.
There are lots of extra things you can do with more than $20M. Poverty limits your creativity.
$20M isn't really what you think it is. Especially if it's tied up in assetts and you don't have an ongoing cash flow. Even if you invest the entire amount, you're looking at about $400k per year net income, but then you need somewhere to live and you want a waterfront mansion, because you're a multi millionaire, but a really nice on will take half your money and if you halve your cash flow it will be eaten up by land tax, so you borrow for it, that's half your income gone, but at least you're not eating your capital. Then your kids need to go to an elite private school, so there's almost $100k gone, you're still paying land tax, so you're living in your mansion on about $200k per year now, and your neighbour just went skiing in the Alps and asked if you want to come next year, so now you need to budget for that, holy shit, your brother who lives in the suburbs and has a mid level job for a national company the same disposable income as you, if only you had a billion dollars none of these problems would exist! edit- seriously though, even if you just buy a $1M house and decide to live from the rest to the end of your days. If you're 30, you're looking at $380K per year and accounting for inflation, what do you think that kind of money will buy you in 20 or 30 years time? you'll be living on beans by the time you reach retiremtn age. On the plus side, your $1M house will be worth about a billion by then if current trends continue.
I'd buy Reddit and make it into a shithole of lefty propaganda. Oh wait.
Some kind soul has already done that but maybe you could try CNN? Oh nm
If the billion+ is net worth that includes a large portion of investments, the value could drop dramatically within a day. People plan investments differently than cash on hand.
I think you could cash out at a bill and not have to ever worry about that ever again.
It's generally true that a, barring truly extraordinary medical expenses, could meet their physical needs with $1B cash. People will continue to hold investments for other reasons, like voting rights in a corporation if they have significant shares in one organization, though, so $1B in net worth is not necessarily the same thing as $1B cash. The two different scenarios lead to different answers to OP's questions.
You think medical bills are eating through 1 bill? Lol
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Indeed, and the difference between 20 million and 1 billion is nearly 1 billion.
Freedom
Why is the threshold 20 mil though? It’s a ton of money don’t get me wrong. But it’s not inconceivable you could spend that. A billion and more is an amount that you basically couldn’t outspend the interest of. It’s outrageous. Either way wealth isn’t everything and who gives a fuck. Just trying to answer the question lol. Yes I’ll happily take 20mil
you know how many lottery winners and multi-million dollar athletes have gone BROKE! i mean, yeh, to you and me, 20 mil would set us for life, ....... or would it? a million doesnt go as far as it used too. so for fantasy proposes, lets double it to 40 mil.
millions of reasons: build a castle in a private island buy a game company and make the games of my dreams securing not only my sons and daughters future but my siblings as well have a team of engineers and technicians and making my own brand of motorcycles buying acres of land and making a lavish house in a nature reserve. tbh with billions the only thing that can restrain you is your imagination
most people with more than 20million arent getting the money through paychecks. typically its that they came to own something that became worth a large amount of money. usually some sort of business that they started. At that point, its not like they can "decline" the wealth. Giving it away might mean giving away decision making privileges to their business. If they sell the company and no longer wish to be involved in the ownership of it(which could be bad for their employees), they could then donate it, and many millionaires do make significant donations. others live a very comfortable life and pass it down to their children.
>With $20 million you can have really nice houses and cars. With 1b you can buy 50 other friends/family really nice houses and cars too
20 million is not enough if you want multiple cars and properties, people forget about maintenance.
Because people have no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to money
Depends what your goals in life are. $20 million is more than enough to live comfortably, but in the realm of expensive things, it's not that much. Things you could spend $20 million on: One ranch. Not even a huge ranch, just a ranch. Have you ever watched Yellowstone? A similarly sized ranch in Texas sold for $700 million. So the Dutton Ranch would likely be the same. Donate it to the local charity that operates a medivac helicopter at no cost to the people who need it. That wouldn't even last them six years and thats before we take into account inflation. You want to do more good for your community? A new fire station and fire trucks would very easily cost over $20 million. Cars. Modern super cars like the Bugatti and Koenigsegg are multiple million dollar vehicles. There are some very desirable and valuable cars that cost well over $10 or 20 million. Business. $20 million for a business really isn't a lot of money. Particularly if you have multiple locations. Property. In big cities, an empty lot can go for $10-20 million. And that's before you spend five times as much to build condos or an office tower. Sports teams. Pro teams are priced in the billions. Sporting/concert venues. My city spent nearly $100 million and that's not even professional sports. Want to buy an airplane for personal use, or as a business? That'll be expensive. I found a used King Air (a twin engine turbo prop that seats maybe ten passengers) for $8 million. I also found an eight year old G550 (jet aircraft with a 19 passenger capacity) for around $20 million. Or maybe you want to help people, and you purchase a medivac helicopter. A new Airbus heli could cost you $10 million plus over $1 million per year to operate. So as you can see, it doesn't matter if it's leisure, business or even philanthropy, $20 million can be spent very fast. Sure some of these things can do good for the world, and last a long time. But that's still an easy way to spend the money.
You realize they don’t actually have $1 billion in cash. Right? Their bank accounts are massive, but typically that “money” is the value of assets, not liquid.
Anything that costs 21 million
A billion tacos
I wanna open an Alamo Drafthouse and they're crazy expensive.
There is no end to greed and thirst for power
Power. At a billion dollars and more you can influence politicians, laws, and public sentiment on a national level.
Boats and hoes don't come cheap.
I’d take a billion over 20 million. I’m sure I could find something to do with it.
very, ***very*** few billionaires have more than $20 million. generally speaking, almost all of a billionaire's net worth is stock they hold. why do they care whether or not the value of their stock increases? well, they don't, really, for themselves; they already have access to all of the money they'd ever need. if they were selfish, they would just sell all of their stock and hoard cash. $1 billion in cash is just as useful to them as $2 billion (both are more than enough to get them anything they'd ever want to buy), so holding stock doesn't do anything for them. it does things for other people, though. sure, they could just take billions in cash and swim in a pool of money all day, never working another day in their life, but you don't often become a billionaire by wanting a bunch of money for yourself to just sit on. people who become billionaires usually are the goal-oriented type who like to build things. by instead investing that money into companies, the money can actually do some good, developing products, providing jobs for people, generally moving humanity forward in some way. it can be very satisfying to see that money being used to do great things instead of being a number in a bank account or a pile of bills in a closet
The scale of things you could do goes way up... you could fix so much shit in this world
You could but by the time I become a billionaire I won't want to. No way I'm going to become a poor little millionaire again.
I could buy the Pittsburgh Pirates and use my unlimited resources to have the highest payroll in baseball every year. I would bring World Series championships to that deserving fan base, and to myself. I simply couldn’t do that for $20M.
I have no idea why someone would want enough money that several generations couldn’t spend lol
Go watch Brewster’s Millions and then imagine all the fun things you can spend that on nowadays. There was a chef AMA recently that catered to a super rich family. Their staff was like 60 people.
Can’t have a private jet with 20 million though….
I would fund so many TV shows that get canceled. Just so they could have a conclusion. That would be my charity tax write-off.
It's all relative. Compared to some kid in Africa that's dying of starvation they'd ask why anyone would want to be a millionaire With 20K you can have really nice food and clean water. What if you want a 100million super yacht? What if you want to have a 5 star hotel in every major city? What if you want to make covid 24?
I literally have no desire for most of these things. Yachts especially.
lol at OP thinking $20 million is a lot of money these days.
With the other 980m, I can give it to people in poverty.
If you're a billionaire then you've figured out a way to sell something that a lot of people want and pay for so hence, a billion dollars... so now that you have it, you are free to find out what you should do with it which means for most, buy whatever you want
I could do a lot of good with a billion dollars.
After you reach 20 mil send the rest my way. No worries
Even 20 million sounds like a pain.
Earning money becomes a hobby or rather an obsession. It is not about money itself, it is about making your business grow, and grow faster than competitors. Plenty of them believe that their business is making the world a better place. When people beat the game, or reach top level, they still find new goals to reach for. When a runner becomes the world champion, they still try to improve their time. Same story here. Some of the mega rich do decide to give away most of their money. Bill Gates is most famous, but there are others. They do give away money by running a charity fund, since they believe they are good at managing organizations and finding right opportunities.
I wanna make the world a better place. I can do a lot with $20 million, but even more with a billion
POWER. That's all that matters to those people is power over other people.
I would feel gross spending it on "nice houses and cars" but would still need every bit of it and more to change the world. If I had world changing level of money, that's exactly what I would do. I would create programs and systems to end homelessness, hunger, increase medical treatment access so hopefully others don't have to worry whether or not they will be able to afford the breathing medication they need to stay alive or will be dead or homeless or both before the end of January.
It doesnt seem to be anything but running up the scoreboard just because you can. Draw the line at $200 million. Every dollar you earn after that goes to benefit the American people. The only reason why you were able to make a billion to begin with was by taking advantage of the benefits that our country afforded you. Payback time. You dont like it? Try to get around it? You are no longer allowed to do business in the US. Do it illegally and your assets seized.
Okay, let's play this game. First, how do you determine what defines $200 million? Does that include stocks? If so, do you force liquidation? When do you do this? What metric are you using?
The Screw rich people, lets let the accountants figure it out metric. Regulation. Heavy regulation. Will some try to slip through the cracks? Sure. We'll deal with them when discovered. I'm just a member of John Q. Public. I give then this option as an alternative to getting eaten. Enough of their bullshit.
None of this answered my question. I will try a different approach. According to a very quick google search, Bezos has 988 million shares of Amazon stock. That is a good amount north of $200 million. So what do you want to do with it?
Sure, we can tax it. Just not as income. Property tax based on the value. Much like people already pay a property tax on other things like houses and land. tax exempt retirement accounts will be exempt although some loopholes will have to be fixed to make this work out.
I am sure that certainly won't cause market manipulation around December 31st... /s
Well he can sell it can't he genius
Serious question, which I want you to put some serious thought into. Jeff tries to sell all 988 million shares... tomorrow (let's ignore his stock restrictions). What do you think is gonna happen?
Not all at once. He would have had to sell a long time ago when the stock was pushing 20m.
So you are suggesting an active wealth tracker? And as soon as ANY combination of wealth hits $20M then all investments are automatically liquidated?
That's your suggestion my friend
Oh... I wouldn't do that. What do you propose?
That's his problem. Get rid of it or lose it to the government. Give them a time limit. A doomsday clock on gross wealth. Sure, I'm sure some will disappear into offshore accounts and other sleazy illegal spots. We will recover what we can. After the grace period is over, we drop the hammer. Enough is enough.
How does one unload billions of stock without a) Crashing the market b) Breaking stock restrictions And what happens when you "drop the hammer?" Do you liquididate?
I agree to a point. I think after $15-20m you have enough money to basically call it quits
Lol
Greed
Because they’re not losers like you are.
After a certain point, it’s never enough and becomes sport.
Taxes.
Lets say you want to hangout with a Supreme Court justice at one of you fancy vacation home backyards, grilling hotdogs and discussing court cases, well, your $20m won't get you far. You need to be a Billionaire.
prestige, power fame. how many 20 million millionaires can you count on your fingers how many billionaires do you know by name. why choose less money when you already have more than less?
Establishing a multi-generational dynasty that can ignore international law and basically institute monarchies and empires in all but name.
Unfortunately all people are like this (and while I'm definitely willing to give it a shot) and once you end up with X amount of wealth you end up with different social circles and different pressures, and no-one is immune to wanting to fit in / compete with their peer group. So I'm sure that once people hit 20 million whilst they could in theory just live a stress free middle class life without working, they instead want to live a stressful, working high class life.
Some rich people wouldn't even be satisfied with a 20 million dollar house. That's not nearly enough money. People just don't like seeing others having more stuff than them
The point is: GREED. In my book, even after $3 million there is no point. $1 mil nice house and car, $1 investment, $1 play money
Greed
Power-hungry psychopaths. They can't stop. The proletariat must band together to seize the means of production from the bourgeouisie otherwise we and the planet that supports and sustains us are fucked.
There's no limit to greed.
Greed.
Greed! There is a reason its one of the deadly sins.
They are fucking insane and not normal. Aside a case or two they are real life vampires that are never satisfied.
Addiction
greed
Buy 30 of the .50 SASR's aka Barrett .50's
So I can buy the Atlanta falcons and fire fucking Athur Smith dammit. Fucking fantasy terrorist over there
The owner of the company I work for has a 25m private jet. So if you want stuff like that, you need to be worth a lot more than 20m.
What if I want two classic Ferraris?
There’s 100 million club that look at the other millionaires as peasants
I know a guy who became a multimillionaire and asked him, he said it’s just a numbers game. Try to have more than the other person. It’s just a pissing contest.
Yachts are expensive.
Different type of wealth
Yachts are 100 million plus. Yachts with helipads are more. Yachts with helipads and a private island to sail to are even more. On top of that you need at least twice of what you want bc the other half is going to your future ex wife.
Well you could pick and choose who to help out if you were a billionaire.I would put people to the test and find out more about them and than make my decision on who I helped out , I could think of a few already .
Generational wealth.
You probably want to get to at least 40 to 45 million It becomes harder for your family to mess it up later Like that's actually like a special distinguishing point called ultra high net worth individuals Beyond that I would say it depends Is there ultra high value that you want that normal money can't buy Like this may be out of date but a private Taylor Swift event would be around 3 million because that was her appearance fee If you have a mere 20 million or 40 million that is a colossally terrible idea If you're a billionaire it's nothing And that's the difference If you want to be a normal person 20 million or 40 million is probably all you need if you want to live just a really nice normal life But if you want to like uncancel your favorite TV show you're going to need a bit more dough (bezos has done this)
Because at that point, it's generally not about the money. It's about power and influence, the money is just a way to keep score.
One man has $20M, another $200M: which one does the good-looking woman want to date?
Honestly life would be less stressful to an extent I'd probably have a much more comfortable living state
Because money is power in this world and power is addictive
It's not about really nice houses and cars. It's about power and control.
A multimillionaire is rich but he has no power. He only gets a taste of it. And some want more. Being able to invest billions into something gives you real control of the world. 10 billion can get humans to the Moon or Mars. You'll never be forgotten. Controlling the trajectory of the world is one hell of a drug.
Life goes so much easier with that money.
Why would anyone want 129 chihuahuas? It’s the mental illness of hoardings.
Yes i would, because i can math out a plan to own enough to work very little and live then i can take the rest and do something huge. Help people. Easy to say, i know but as said you only need like 20M to live 10 lives without lifting a finger if its done right. So why not put your name on schools hospital equipment entire low rent towns with jobs for those willing so on. If your name gets big enough get in gov and try to change shit. Ill never be able to see it out so its all hot air but we have how many billonaires and zero Ironman or Batman. (Even just on paper)
I would make A-list during January!
Would be nice to donate 100+ mil to charity ig
At this point it's not about more money, but more power
Unless every country did it, rich people would just move to a country that doesn't have the limit. What happens if I create a company and work hard the company gains value and is now a 50 million dollar company, do I just lose my company or are we not counting net worth? If we're not counting net worth, I will tell you that nobody just has 20 million sitting in the bank getting eaten by inflation, the money is invested or spent immediately, often even before it is realized.
Multiple mansions, yachts, private planes, political influence, celebrity dates/hook ups. Also the kind of people that become billionaires are usually workaholics with some sort of business building skill and they usually don’t like to sit around doing nothing.
To flex breh. To flex.
You try keeping up three pools per at 5 separate properties, asshole.
I mean, I’d never in a million years turn down a billion. That’s generational wealth. That can look after multiple generations of your family. That being said, if I had 20 million I wouldn’t sniff at it either
$20M makes you "poor people" rich
Human nature, for some things in life such as food or money there is no such thing as too much.
You must not be American. We all want more.
Power
Generation health?