On 2010-07-10, wrote:
On Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:05:45 -0500, Ignoramus7096
wrote:

On 2010-07-10, wrote:
On Sat, 10 Jul 2010 01:16:05 -0400, "Buerste"
wrote:


I'm by no means wealthy.

Too funny.

Buerste, last September: "I'm worth millions"
http://groups.google.com/group/misc....8f4b0b649a5bbf

The link does not work.

Oops, missed it by an 8. :-)
http://groups.google.com/group/misc....f4b0b649a5bbf8

Which should readers believe - fall Tom, or summer Tom?

I am not sure how much he is worth. But I can tell you for sure that
being worth one million does not really amount to much,

Well, a million might not last a celebrity or a lottery winner very
long, but it's 5 times the average net worth of somebody 55-64.

http://www.bargaineering.com/article...an-family.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-bud...ealth-Spectrum

And I'm thinkin' it would put the owner somewhere around the 95th
percentile.

Yep. But that is not as huge as it sounds. Basically most people who
try to get there, can, if they do not suffer from major bad luck. Most
people do not even try, which is completely fine, by the way. Not
everyone needs or wants money that badly. The millionaire next door is
a great book that sheds a lot of light on the subject.

or allows any kind of extravagant lifestyle.

I don't see where that's a requirement. I imagine Tom's ideal
lifestyle as living in a bunker, hunkered over a keyboard complaining
full time about "libtards" getting "cheese checks". Well affordable on
SS alone as proven thousands of times daily. :-)

I would really like to retire, personally.

I would surmise that two millions (which is the lowest for saying
"millions") probably is the same as one.

What? Modest interest income on that would be ~$100k per year.

At current short term rates, it is more like 10k per year. (0.5%).

Not bad, especially with SS on top. And it might put the holder at
about the 99th percentile. Whittle down the principal during one's
declining years and it should be an even sweeter ride.

I would double check your math.

Longer maturities pay 3+ percent annually, but carry a lot of interest
rate and inflation risk.

That said, I do not really believe extraordinary claims on usenet,
unless they are backed up with at least something.

I looked at commercial RE recently and my guess as to the value of
Tom's building, after looking at google maps, is 200-400k depending on
location, more likely towards the low end of the estimate.

Some real estate isn't selling at all. Tom's "ghetto" is very likely
one of those where you can buy property seriously cheap.
http://www.realestatedecline.com/Housing_Crash_Bottom_Homes_For_$1000.htm
In some such markets one can have property that's only saleable for a
small fraction of most would consider its "value". Now consider that
when property is expropriated for highways, the owners frequently moan
about not receiving fair market value. But in this case, Tom is
*hoping* he can sell to the taxpayer, which is a pretty strong clue
about the market in his area.

Selling property in high crime areas is difficult, which is why I
leaned towards the bottom of the range that I gave.

The value
of equipment is hard to pin down, my best guess is $100k tops, due to
large quantity of old or shop made equipment. Inventory, probably not
much. So, any value in excess of liquidation price, would be due to
business profits, which are hard to estimate. That's hard to estimate.
It may well be a very profitable enterprise.

He says that he's turned down multiple offers for big money. But he
sure doesn't talk like any multi-millionaire I've ever known, which
includes more than a few. For example, I've never known one to say
"I'm worth millions" at all, never mind on Usenet. :-)

many people do not even know how much thye are worth.

i