Don't forget that a fair amount of this is relative. Let's say you are a part time burger flipper. You and your roomates all hang with people with similiar incomes. You think to yourself, man if I could only make 50 large a year, I could get my own apartment, I'd be rich! Or say you are pulling half a buck in investment banking. There are no burger flippers in the crew you run with, everybody is DDing multi-6 figures. You are making 10 times what Burger Boy thinks is rich, but you don't feel rich - you feel normal because everyone you are around has similar amounts of money. Rich IMO is wealthy enough to not have to work, still have lots of cool toys and have no idea what the price of eggs or milk might be. 2 million ain't nearly enough.
If you have the money in corp bonds, you would be making 5% right now. On 7 mill that is 350k per year. WOW.... you don't feel rich on that kind of money. We should have 100% death tax because they tools don;t deserve the money. Then there spoiled kids can see what not be rich really means.
I think you people have a problem understanding the definition of rich... "RICH" is when you get to where you don't need to bother to ask "how much" or look at prices tags for the rest of your POSSIBLE life, and can always say "Keep the change" without even giving it a thought, and still have enough extra that you can leave some here and there to worthy charities, friends, or relations, and not need to depend on making anything at all by trying to invest it.
And what will that principal be worth 30 years down the road? 33 yrs ago I bought a brand new Dodge Magnum, completely loaded, for about $4200. Today, your average car is about $25000. So basically, the money you MIGHT get 30 years from now will be WORTH 1/5 of the money you put into the bonds. Will the interest cover the 4/5 that was lost, net of taxes?
I like the definition of rich as being able to maintain your lifestyle the rest of your life should you quit your job today.
Bonds and cars are two very different things. If you are telling me that you could not live on 7 mill, then why is it I can live on 25k per year?
Lots of people in Africa and Asia live with less than 500usd a year so yes THEY would feel rich with your income. I would contemplate jumping from a high bridge (not 15 y ago though). Different folks have different aspirations and needs.
You can do this but you are effectively annuitizing principle. A more realistic idea of the yield you can get in public markets while maintaining wealth is the dividend yield on a diversified portfolio of stocks such as the SP500.
That is not a bad idea. Anyone who wants to cash out with around 7 million should consider becoming an expat. There are some very nice places to live in central and south america, for example, at a fraction of the cost here.
Who is the tool ? The person who managed to get over 7mil net worth, or the one who is struggling for a ridiculous pitance ?