Million Dollar Portfolio

There’s a good article by Ben Stein about being rich. It’s titled “It Ain’t Easy Being Rich” and it got me thinking about money and the power it has over people.

It got me thinking that I really don’t want to be ultra rich like Donald Trump. I don’t want to be super wealthy like Warren Buffet. That’s crazy you are saying to me. Of course you want to be that wealthy. I really don’t.

I want to be wealthy enough to be comfortable. I want to know that if I write a check for $10,000 that it isn’t going to bounce. I want to be able to go buy a new pair of shoes without first logging into my checking acount to check my balance online. I’d like to book a cruise on a whim and know that it’s paid for. I want enough money coming in each and every month that I don’t even have to think about money.

I think what consumes most of us every day is the worries we have about money. Money really can’t solve all your problems. It’s true it makes life easier or more comfortable, but if you aren’t good at managing your money in the first place, having more of it isn’t going to help.

For most people, a couple million dollars should be enough to last their lifetime if they use it right. The problem is in this country it’s just too easy to spend those millions quickly. You want a car, a house, a boat, a second car…poof there goes all your money. Is it any wonder Americans spend so much on lottery tickets each year? The new American dream isn’t owning your home or business, it’s winning the lottery. We have it in our heads that in order to live the life we really want, it takes millions upon millions of dollars. You can blame a lot of this on the state in which I live. California is notorious for being expensive. Sunny, mild California. To even buy a one bedroom house here you have to have half a million dollars. So imagine buying two, three or even four houses. That takes serious cash.

I want to be rich enough to just buy one house with a few bedrooms on a nice piece of land that I can add to if I so desire. I already own an awesome car. It’s a GTI 1.8 Turbo and it kicks ass. Sure, there’s bigger more expensive cars out there but I like this one. It runs well and I didn’t have to spend a fortune buying something that loses half it’s value when you drive it off the lot. I actually don’t even drive the car, my wife does.

So what’s the difference between the ultra rich and the rich? I think the difference is more people get involved in your life when you are ultra rich. You need all kinds of “handlers” for your money because you can’t simply put it all in a checking account. God forbid you spend it. You have to invest it, diversify, buy things that are investments like art. You have to pay a ton of taxes but if you are smart you get around that by having businesses in place that circumvent that for you. You need people for that, and that costs you money.

I just want to be rich. I want to buy the things I want when I want and to have piece of mind that my family is taken care of. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for, is it?

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