What goes through your mind when you read "Millionaire in the Making"?

Every once in a while, although not often enough, CNN/Money posts an article in a series called, Millionaire in the Making.  Mapgirl beat me to pointing out that a new one is up.  Go through Mapgirl's post to get to the CNN article.

Anyway, here's my question.  How do you read these articles?  What do you think when you read them?  I'll tell you what I do.  I think, "how do I stack up to these guys?"  I know my net worth, and now so do you for that matter, and I know my age and income.

The most recent Millionaire in the Making was interesting.

I am two years younger than the guy, and my Fiancee is two years younger than the wife.  So, we are the same age difference, just two years younger.  My Fiancee and I make more collectively than the two of them do, yet their $240,000 in savings and investment is almost double what ours is.

So, here's what's going through my mind:

"Let's see.  They have saved more than we have.  But they're older.  So, can I make up that difference in the next two years?  Dang it, probably not.  That, and they make less than I do, but they have a housing allowance.  But even with the housing allowance, I still make more.  Okay, they win."

But, is this supposed to be a competition?  And is it healthy for me to always go straight to how I stack up against these folks?

Is this another form of "keeping up with the Joneses"? 

Well, check out the post by Fiscal Responsibility, "Keeping up with the Joneses ain't all that bad".  She makes a good point.  Maybe a little competitiveness is healthy.

Comments

[Bronco]

What I notice in viewing "Millionaire in the Making" is that most of these folks have most of their wealth in real estate. They have been heavily aided by the run-up in real estate over the last several years. If you viewed the articles in the late 90's, you would find that a lot of the featured players had most of their wealth in tech stocks. But they are not well-diversified. Similarly, when the bubble bursts they will be a long way from being millionaires....

[Seattle Simplicity]

I must admit, I compare myself to people profiled in those types of articles. Sometimes, I am jealous that they are doing so much better than I am if they are of similar age, and others I feel triumphant if I'm doing better...

[mapgirl]

I agree with Bronco. Most of their folks are in real estate. However, if we went to visit them again in 10 years, I wonder how well they'd be doing. Real estate tends to hold its value over time. And not all of their profiled couples are in overheated markets.

Now how do I feel? For the most part, I feel very, very single when I read these profiles. I feel a little behind, but not really. I didn't get really serious about building up my retirement until this past winter. If anything, I am motivated to try hard to catch up to these folks.

[Bronco]

Mapgirl, sell the condo! you mention it is cashflow negative? the only reason to own a cashflow negative property is if you expected the value to increase substantially in the future. we have already seen the substantial increases in real estate over the last several years. best case, those returns won't be matched-- worse case....

[Fiscal Responsibility]

Yay, thanks LA Money Guy for mentioning my post.

I've read the the back and forth between you and Rags 2 Riches... I am so sorry that he was being judgmental. You've said it clearly in your profile that you have made financial mistakes. That's why I like reading pfblogs... it documents people and their money mistakes, and how they fixed them. I don't want to talk to a financial planner who has everything right, I'd rather talk to someone who can understand and be sympathetic to my fear and misunderstandings, then try to correct me.

You have a great blog with great contents... keep it up!

[Hazzard]

If you've just got to "keep up with the Jones'", I suppose this would be the best way. (By seeing who is saving more aggressively). :)

I find myself doing exactly the same things. I also like to measure backwards. Whenever I see an article saying, "If you had just invested $10000 when you were 18, you'd be a millionaire by the time you were X". I take my current net worth and see where I'm at on that plan...... :)

It beats spending money!!!!

[mapgirl]

Bronco says that my condo is cash flow negative. Well, not really. I still live there. The reason why I'd hang onto a cash flow negative place is to have some property vs no property. In the long term, I am contemplating a move to San Francisco (for family reasons) and I am not going to be able to purchase an apartment there unless divine intervention takes place in the form of a lottery jackpot.

So I'd rather keep a property that is cash flow negative than have nothing at all (well, ok there would be cash from the sale, but I'd have to return that to my parents since it was there money in the first place). I know some ppl think that's foolish, but I think there is still real estate appreciation to be had where this apt is located... But I have made no final decisions on this since it's still a long way off. Just something I'm bouncing around in the brain.