A Million Dollars In Assets

Millionaire Status

After checking my balance sheet for the month of August I realized that the value of all my assets is worth $1,006,200. Great Scott! For the first time in my life I own a million dollars worth of stuff! 🙂

According to the official Oxford Dictionaries website, a millionaire is “a person whose assets are worth one million dollars or more.” The word “assets” is commonly defined as any owned items or properties that have financial value. So according to this official definition I am now technically a millionaire! ? Gosh almighty! Below is my reaction right now.

16-08-owl-smile-aww-yeah-millionaire

I started investing about 8 years ago. I mostly just buy a wide range of investments and use diversification to lower my risk. I also intend to hold my investments until I retire. It sounds like a simple strategy, but it works for me. 🙂 Some readers may think I’m a good stock picker. But that’s not true.

In the last 7 years falling interest rates have pushed up asset prices across the board for stocks, bonds, and real estate. The S&P 500 index in the U.S. returned over 150% to investors since 2009. 😀 Good heavens!

My point is anyone could have randomly invested in a basket of different securities starting in 2009 and would likely see similar appreciation in their assets as I have. 😉 So I didn’t get lucky choosing stocks. But I am lucky to have started investing near the bottom of the great recession in 2008.

I’m also a fan of using other people’s money to work for me. For example, my 8x leverage in farmland has earned me the equivalent of 8 years of returns in just one single year! 🙂 The leverage used when buying my primary residence was even more extreme as my down payment was only 6% of the purchase price.

By maintaining a high savings rate, and borrowing cheaply to invest in a prolonged bull market, it didn’t take long before I saw the effects of compounding returns!

The graph below shows my historical balance sheet. The data for 2016 is only an estimation.

16-08-balance-sheet-2016

Lifestyle Change

There’s no point in having money if we don’t spend it right? 😉 So with my new found wealth I plan to increase my expenses through lifestyle inflation that will create positive experiences. For example, from now on I will say YES to guacamole with my order at Chipotle, even though it will cost extra. I will also choose premium seating at the movie theater for the extra leg room. 🙂

Do you guys remember the classic song “If I had $1,000,000” by the Barenaked Ladies? We don’t need a BMW or a Rolex to be happy. Sometimes it’s the little things in life that can bring the most joy. 😉 Here’s a blurb from the song.

If I had a million dollars
(We wouldn’t have to eat Kraft dinner)

But we would eat Kraft dinner
(Of course we would, we’d just eat more)
And buy really expensive ketchups with it
(That’s right, all the fanciest – Dijon ketchups)

The first verse of the song also claims that you can buy a house with a million dollars. Ah-haha! ? That’s funny because according to the real estate board of Vancouver, the benchmark price for a house around here is $1.51 million, lol. But to be fair the song was produced in the late 1980s. Jeepers. Now I feel old.

Of course having a million dollars worth of assets isn’t necessarily the same as having a million dollars in net worth, or being a liquid millionaire. So my next big goal is to build up 1 million dollars in tangible net worth. 🙂 I think it will take me 6 more years to hit that milestone. By that time I will turn 35 years old and become financially independent, hence this blog’s name. 😀

__________________________________
Random Useless Fact:

Anything can become fascinating if we’re bored enough.

16-08-life-before-smart-phones-air-freshener

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

32 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Vanessa
Vanessa
09/01/2016 7:16 am

Woohoo! I’m not sure I like defining millionaire as a person with $1 million in *assets* but if the dictionary says it, it must be true 😉 CONGRATS!!!

Phil
09/01/2016 7:41 am

Congratulations… although I’ve always understood that being a millionaire was tied to your net worth, because arguably one could go to the bank in theory and borrow to become a millionaire, and we know that ain’t just right 😉 Stay focused on the long term goal, and you’ll get there, I have no doubt – Cheers

Tawcan
09/01/2016 9:20 am

We should start refer you as Liquid the millionaire!!!

Investing Pursuits
09/01/2016 9:55 am

Congrats on achieving 1 million in assets. I am around $870000 behind you in assets lol

Lina
Lina
09/01/2016 10:44 am

Good Job!!Congratulations!

Anon
Anon
09/01/2016 4:08 pm

A few things: i) Good to see you acknowledge your right place-right time luck. Even billionaire Buffett admits as much. ii) Good to see you acknowledge the difference between assets, net worth, and liquidity. $1 million is worth $0 million if you can’t access it (e.g. $1.5M Vancouver crack shack). iii) “By that time I will turn 35 years old and become financially independent…” Nope. Using the same quoted dictionary, Oxford, ‘finance’ is defined as: “the monetary resources and affairs of a…person”. ‘Independent’ is defined as: ‘free from outside control; not influenced or affected by others; not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence’. ALL of your investments and ALL of your money and ALL of your income will be VERY dependent. Unless, of course, you are referring to the NINTH (9th) definition of ‘independent’ which is: ‘(of income or resources) making it unnecessary to earn one’s living’. It would grant you Employment Independence but certainly never Financial Independence. If you are going to use the dictionary to define yourself, at least get all the definitions correct (probably a good thing for all the PF newbs out there to get straight, too). iv) Perhaps your most formidable trait(?) would be… Read more »

Phil
09/02/2016 7:19 am
Reply to  Anon

point iv) is the most important point to learn about yourself… how will you handle loss… not just loss, but a big loss? Our NW took a big hit in 2008… almost 40%… That said it took us 2 years to recover it all back and a little extra. Why, because we understand our relationship with money, and did not panic this time around… We also experienced the 1999/2000 financial issues. Panic is bad. If you invest in quality companies, quality companies make it through tough times we have now learned… I strongly suggest trying to train yourself prior to the next big correction. In the end it’s only money, and most likely if you are making more than an average return, it’s someone else’s who has not learned the lessons you’ve learned 😉 Getting lucky is easy, staying lucky is hard, and that’s where knowledge and experience ensure long-term prosperity- Cheers

Finance Journey
09/01/2016 5:46 pm

Congratulation Liquid !!!! You made it.

It doesn’t take 6 years to bring up your net worth to 1 million, I would say you will hit to the target in less than 3 years because you will experience a big compound effect. Your 1 million assets will keep grow exponentially.

Enjoy and have a big party 😀 .

beth
beth
09/02/2016 5:22 am

Will you know start to decrease your debt or will you always have a certain level of debt because you feel it is better to invest with someone else’s money rather than your own.

Anon
Anon
09/04/2016 5:14 am

“As long as interest rates are kept artificially low…”

What does this mean? What, exactly, is “artificial” about the rate level?

Anon
Anon
09/06/2016 4:02 pm

There is no “natural” rate, thus there cannot be an “artificial” rate. The interest rate is what is — for various reasons — accept it.

Jerry
Jerry
03/14/2017 4:22 am

The central bank has always had control over the level of short-term interest rates. In fact, central banks merely respond to economic conditions and adjust interest rates accordingly. Central banks don’t control the economy, rather the economy dictates what the central bank will do, hence why there are so many models that can accurately predict when the Fed will hike/cut interest rates.

Fee
Fee
09/02/2016 8:56 am

Congrats-and thanks for taking us along for the ride. It makes fascinating reading!

FerdiS
09/02/2016 10:48 am

Congratulations — looking at that chart, you’re well on your way to hit the “true” millionaire mark before you’re 35!

What a fun post to read! Thanks for sharing!

May
May
09/03/2016 3:08 am

Congratulations! Life changes so much once you become a millionaire. The guacamole is just the beginning. We starting using paper napkins (well technically they are paper towels – but don’t tell the kids that.) Now we drink all of our beverages out of our fine crystal wine goblets. Orange juice tastes better in a wine glass. The crystal was a nice wedding gift that has been collecting dust – but we can use them now because guess what! We are millionaires and can buy new ones if they break. But we won’t.
Congrats again and it has been a blast following along.

The Asian Pear
09/04/2016 4:00 pm

Good job! This technically means you made it to your goal of being a millionaire at age 35. *throws confetti*

However, as you live in YVR, the inflation and quality of life there is much higher…. So you have about $1.52 actually. ^__^;

Money Beagle
09/15/2016 6:11 am

You are indeed lucky that you started investing around the bottom of the market. So many people, myself included, saw their investments drop by over half, so a good portion of that 150% increase simply went to get back to square one, and the overall rate of return wasn’t so hot comparatively.

trackback
10/03/2016 6:31 am

[…] this time last month I proclaimed that I had a million dollar in assets. At first I was really happy about my situation because I thought I was unique. 🙂 But as it […]