- $360K from savings, after working for about 9 years.
- $90K from stock investment.
- $260K from owning a small condo.
- $200K from my company stock option.
- $90K from my parents' gift.
No, I didn't win a lottery. But I was fortunate in many small and big ways, such as a good-sized cash gift from my parents, and an upward ride with the California housing craze, and quite a substantial fortune from my company stock option. However, without my consistent savings and consistent investing efforts, I couldn't have completed the other 45% of the million dollar dream.
By the common definition of the wealthy millionaire, having a million excluding the primary residence, I was not qualified as one. However, I must say that the common definition is too loose on the primary residence part. I suppose that you should subtract the amount of the home mortgage loan from your asset. And even that, there can be a million dollar difference easily in the value of one's primary residence. I almost think that the loose definition is precisely for Wall Street marketing department where they don't really care how much you have, but how much money that you can invest. Whether it's from the proceeds of home loan or not, it doesn't really matter.
