MyMamaSaid said:
Petrino1 said:
Question for the millionaires on this board. At what level of net worth do you allow yourself to splurge on stuff like business class seats, nicer cars, nicer vacations etc? When I reached a million I decided that I would always try and upgrade to at least exit row or premium economy class on planes, having lots of airline miles helps as well.
Great question. For me, it was a combination of NW and age. Influenced by Millionaire Next Door (MND) and Die with Zero (DWZ), I started 'splurging' on experiences once NW hit low 7 digits and I turned 45. Some anecdotal data points:
- I had a total of 4 cars over 25 years (like MND) and have had the same Tahoe since '09 that I've modified extensively as a hobby. Like DWZ, at 45 I then bought an M2 as a second fun car, traded for a GT4 in '19 (made $35k on that car when I sold it!!), then bought another GT4 in '22 and have kept that one. I bought a new X3M Comp when they first came out in '20, then traded it for another LCI X3M Comp in '22, then sold it in early '24. So….4 cars in 25 years, then 5 (expensive & fun) cars in the past 8 years. I'm down to the '09 Tahoe and the '16 GT4, doubt I ever sell either one of them.
- I'm a million miler on UA (going back to CO days from IAH) and 1K every year on biz travel, so have tons of points. I play expert mode on UA's website and almost always buy B our Y to get auto-upgrade to first domestically. I make 1-2 trips internationally (not including Mexico) a year and always buy biz class seats.
- Definitely taking 'trips of a lifetime' since ~2016/turned 45, but my version of these are sometimes inexpensive and more about the time & experience than anything. Rafting/camping down the Snake River in Idaho for a week, hiking/camping in Glacier NP for a week, mountain biking in Ketchum, ID for a week, a week on a catered catamaran in BVI for a week (that was indeed expensive), Cabo for fishing in prime season (fishing expensive, everything else cheap), etc. My wife and I are investing in an Airstream this summer and will base it out of Heber City, UT going forward for camping trips all around the western US and Canada. Why Heber City? Well, that leads me to the biggest splurge…
- A townhouse in Park City, UT. I house hunted with a realtor for almost 10 years and finally found a great place at a great price in May '23. It has been awesome and has already appreciated beyond my wildest expectations. We spent about 13 weeks total there in '23 and '24, planning on about the same in 25. Long-term, we are planning to spend ~6 months a year based there upon retirement in mid-'28. All that to say maybe part splurge/part investment.
Oh hell yeah.
We let our hair down last year @ 36 when we hit 75% of our FI number. By most assumptions it only impacts our RE date by +/- 1 year (45 years old). The stash has returned way more than what we have been putting in the past two years. We still save, but rate went from ~40% to ~10%.
So we're "coasting" to an eventual RE. The wife has gone part-time (1 kido in K, 1 on the way). I'm still full-time, but remote and done climbing the ladder.
But the big shift was a Sprinter Van conversion.
Full-gas time and memory investment. Wife spec'd the entire thing: custom finishes, seats/sleeps 4, shower, galley, fridge, toilet. AWD with bike and ski rack on the back. We spend almost every Friday night through Sunday morning camping/skiing the mountain (6 year old rips already). We also have Ikon this year and have already tripped Deer Valley, Sun Valley and Bachelor over the break. Last summer we did OR coast > NorCal > Tahoe > Bend and back trip. This summer we're going BC > Banff > MT > ID > back. It has Starlink and again, I'm remote working EST from PST. I start at 5 and typically done around 1PM.
New little is due in September. I get paternity (16 weeks) and plan on starting Jan '26. Baby and I are going to get after it in the van.
