Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the News

[All-American]

Another thing to consider in this conversation. Millionaire money is quantified. It's real and tangible. Billionaire money is all paper propped by the news of the day. Zuck and Musk will lose 20 billion in a day - and gain it back by next week. Is Musk really worth 220 Billion - or does that number reflect an artificial value propped up by speculation regarding a future date. In my mind Musk is 70% fluff non value - 30% real meat that you can eat now off the bone.

To me - Bezos is real money - and it's just beginning. Amazon is still early and will grow for decades. Just like the Walton's and Walmart.

And now all I can think of is how long it's been since I've smoked a brisket.

Another reason I'll never be a billionaire. At some point, I'd stop worrying about the money and start worrying about the meat.

[BigFatMeanie]

And now all I can think of is how long it's been since I've smoked a brisket.

Another reason I'll never be a billionaire. At some point, I'd stop worrying about the money and start worrying about the meat.

Same. It's not "easy" to become a billionaire, even for a millionaire. Case in point is the number of millionaires we have on this board. Being a millionaire isn't even really much of a brag these days. I'm confident that many people posting on this board are either already millionaires or are well on their way to becoming such, including Northwestcoug.

But to go from 1 million to, say, 5 million - a 500% increase, is very, very hard and takes a ton of work. Very few of the millionaires on this board have what it takes to get to 5 million. Then to consider going up to 1,000 million? It's a massive step that takes even massively more work and more risk. I have zero interest in becoming a billionaire because I don't even remotely want to work that hard or take as much risk as they take.

Some folks think of a billionaire and envision Scrooge McDuck skiing down a pile of gold. I'll admit there are some billionaires like this - your average Saudi prince, for example. And I generally agree that their existence is a moral failing of society. But I posit that those type of billionaires are pretty rare. I posit that the vast majority of billionaires are among the hardest-working, smartest people on the planet with insane drive/passion, appetite for work, and a risk tolerance that dwarfs most folks in the world, and that these billionaires have built things that improved the quality of life for countless people on the planet. And not only that, this type of billionaire is far, far more likely to have established foundations and trusts and have intentions of voluntarily donating vast amounts of their wealth to society. This type of billionaire I see as a moral success of society.

[Jeff Lebowski]

And now all I can think of is how long it's been since I've smoked a brisket.

Another reason I'll never be a billionaire. At some point, I'd stop worrying about the money and start worrying about the meat.

Have you seen the price of brisket lately? Only billionaires can afford it!

[Jeff Lebowski]

Joining the conversation late, but if it's so easy to become a billionaire once you are a millionaire - why are there any millionaires? Why don't they choose to just be a billionaire instead, since it's easier than what they had to do to become a millionaire.

Backing up a bit - even if everyone agrees that it's easier to move from millionaire to billionaire than it is to move from poverty to millionaire - the original point stands that there are some folks who have moved from poverty to billionaire. So if you think getting to billionaire was too easy for them - let's just talk about how they got to millionaire instead?

During the recent election someone had compiled a long series of quotes from Elizabeth Warren. For many years she railed against millionaires and how they "AREN'T PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE!". Then her net worth topped 7 figures and shortly thereafter she kept using all the same quotes but she changed the "m" to a "b".

[myboynoah]

During the recent election someone had compiled a long series of quotes from Elizabeth Warren. For many years she railed against millionaires and how they "AREN'T PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE!". Then her net worth topped 7 figures and shortly thereafter she kept using all the same quotes but she changed the "m" to a "b".

You guys keep moving the goalposts.

[Pelado]

Have you seen the price of brisket lately? Only billionaires can afford it!

I had a similar thought as I walked down the meat aisle at the Costco the other day.

[Paperback Writer]

Same. It's not "easy" to become a billionaire, even for a millionaire. Case in point is the number of millionaires we have on this board. Being a millionaire isn't even really much of a brag these days. I'm confident that many people posting on this board are either already millionaires or are well on their way to becoming such, including Northwestcoug.

But to go from 1 million to, say, 5 million - a 500% increase, is very, very hard and takes a ton of work. Very few of the millionaires on this board have what it takes to get to 5 million. Then to consider going up to 1,000 million? It's a massive step that takes even massively more work and more risk. I have zero interest in becoming a billionaire because I don't even remotely want to work that hard or take as much risk as they take.

Some folks think of a billionaire and envision Scrooge McDuck skiing down a pile of gold. I'll admit there are some billionaires like this - your average Saudi prince, for example. And I generally agree that their existence is a moral failing of society. But I posit that those type of billionaires are pretty rare. I posit that the vast majority of billionaires are among the hardest-working, smartest people on the planet with insane drive/passion, appetite for work, and a risk tolerance that dwarfs most folks in the world, and that these billionaires have built things that improved the quality of life for countless people on the planet. And not only that, this type of billionaire is far, far more likely to have established foundations and trusts and have intentions of voluntarily donating vast amounts of their wealth to society. This type of billionaire I see as a moral success of society.

Agree with most everything, especially the difficulties of going from $1M to $1B. However, going from $1M to $5M is not "very, very hard and takes a ton of work". It just takes time, investment discipline, and risk tolerance. $1M invested in the SP500 in 2001 would equal $5M today. Granted, getting the initial $1M often "takes a ton of work".

Edit Note: The annual rate of return is just over 8%.

[All-American]

Have you seen the price of brisket lately? Only billionaires can afford it!

Alas, yes.

But we managed to pick up a pork belly that wasn't too bad the other day. Bacon on the smoker tonight!

[Jeff Lebowski]

Alas, yes.

But we managed to pick up a pork belly that wasn't too bad the other day. Bacon on the smoker tonight!

Wander over to the bacon thread and share your recipe/method sometime. I want to give it a shot this fall.

[Northwestcoug]

Joining the conversation late, but if it's so easy to become a billionaire once you are a millionaire - why are there any millionaires? Why don't they choose to just be a billionaire instead, since it's easier than what they had to do to become a millionaire.

Backing up a bit - even if everyone agrees that it's easier to move from millionaire to billionaire than it is to move from poverty to millionaire - the original point stands that there are some folks who have moved from poverty to billionaire. So if you think getting to billionaire was too easy for them - let's just talk about how they got to millionaire instead?

never said it was ‘easy’ to become a billionaire after becoming a millionaire. But it certainly doesn’t take 1000X the work to make that million into a billion.

anyhoo, I’ll bow out. I know I don’t have a very receptive audience here for my economic socialism. I would count it as a win if I warmed someone up to the idea of returning to a high marginal tax rate.

[clackamascoug]

I'll let all of you guys who are reading this thread -in on a little secret. Each of you could be worth $100 million in 5 years if you took stock of each other - assigned a leader - picked a project - and then worked in cooperation to launch the business.

You've got the money - you've got legal experience coming out your asses - you've got CEO smarts in two or three of you - you've got accounting - banking - information technology - you've all got business relations that could be mined. All of the pieces of the puzzle are right here - but you don't see it.

This group could scramble a million dollars -identify a need - craft a plan to fill the need - hell - I bet ten of you could come up with two ideas each - that would be worthy of compiling yourselves into a startup. Pick the top two - research the hell out of the two ideas - set some time tables - organize into a legit enterprise - and work you butts off for two years to bring it to market. If you checked your ego's at the door and followed the leader - you could pull something great off.

And there's your answer - if you white male privileged men of education - wealth - and stature can't each make $100 million - how can normal people do it. The answer is you don't want to. You can't work together. There's too many chef's in this soup.

Billionaires bust through all the bullshit and make it happen - and it's not about money - or opportunity - it's about the bloody knuckles - and the deep down desire to succeed when even your wife is telling you to stop - it's not worth it - but you do it anyway. It's all or nothing. How many times did Huntsman go right to the brink? It's all or nothing. You guys don't have that in you and average people have no where near that in them.

[Moliere]

I'll let all of you guys who are reading this thread -in on a little secret. Each of you could be worth $100 million in 5 years if you took stock of each other - assigned a leader - picked a project - and then worked in cooperation to launch the business.

You've got the money - you've got legal experience coming out your asses - you've got CEO smarts in two or three of you - you've got accounting - banking - information technology - you've all got business relations that could be mined. All of the pieces of the puzzle are right here - but you don't see it.

This group could scramble a million dollars -identify a need - craft a plan to fill the need - hell - I bet ten of you could come up with two ideas each - that would be worthy of compiling yourselves into a startup. Pick the top two - research the hell out of the two ideas - set some time tables - organize into a legit enterprise - and work you butts off for two years to bring it to market. If you checked your ego's at the door and followed the leader - you could pull something great off.

And there's your answer - if you white male privileged men of education - wealth - and stature can't each make $100 million - how can normal people do it. The answer is you don't want to. You can't work together. There's too many chef's in this soup.

Billionaires bust through all the bullshit and make it happen - and it's not about money - or opportunity - it's about the bloody knuckles - and the deep down desire to succeed when even your wife is telling you to stop - it's not worth it - but you do it anyway. It's all or nothing. How many times did Huntsman go right to the brink? It's all or nothing. You guys don't have that in you and average people have no where near that in them.

But if we all were worth $100million then NWC would want to tax it all away

[Scott R Nelson]

I'm wondering if I should feel guilty about just enjoying a comfortable retirement instead of trying to turn my investments into five or ten (or 100) million.

What would I do with more than I have now?

But as I frequently tell others: I'm seriously committed to never working again. And I'm happy doing it that way.

[Bo Diddley]

I'll let all of you guys who are reading this thread -in on a little secret. Each of you could be worth $100 million in 5 years if you took stock of each other - assigned a leader - picked a project - and then worked in cooperation to launch the business.

You've got the money - you've got legal experience coming out your asses - you've got CEO smarts in two or three of you - you've got accounting - banking - information technology - you've all got business relations that could be mined. All of the pieces of the puzzle are right here - but you don't see it.

This group could scramble a million dollars -identify a need - craft a plan to fill the need - hell - I bet ten of you could come up with two ideas each - that would be worthy of compiling yourselves into a startup. Pick the top two - research the hell out of the two ideas - set some time tables - organize into a legit enterprise - and work you butts off for two years to bring it to market. If you checked your ego's at the door and followed the leader - you could pull something great off.

And there's your answer - if you white male privileged men of education - wealth - and stature can't each make $100 million - how can normal people do it. The answer is you don't want to. You can't work together. There's too many chef's in this soup.

Billionaires bust through all the bullshit and make it happen - and it's not about money - or opportunity - it's about the bloody knuckles - and the deep down desire to succeed when even your wife is telling you to stop - it's not worth it - but you do it anyway. It's all or nothing. How many times did Huntsman go right to the brink? It's all or nothing. You guys don't have that in you and average people have no where near that in them.

I don't bring much to the table, but I'm in!

[Northwestcoug]

I don’t have an entrepreneurial bone in my body. I’m risk averse, and I haven’t changed my investment strategy of ‘conservative growth’ since I started it. Maybe that’s why I’m jealous of all risk takers and want to tax their riches away