We've all heard it before. "He made a ton of money on that deal." Or "She made a ton of money on that trade." Or "They all make a ton of money working for that company."
The expression "A ton of money" is often used as a substitute for an unknown amount of wealth. But what is it really worth, and does having a ton of money make one rich? That's the focus of this article, with facts and illustrations.
Let's start with the unit of measure - the U.S. $100 bill, or as it's known in the parlance - the Benjamin. All illustrations assume we're using Benjies.
Fact #1: all bills printed by the US Treasury weigh the same - 1 gram. That makes it easy to calculate the value of a ton of $100 bills. A ton is 2,000 pounds and there are 907,185 grams in a ton. Ergo, a ton of Benjies is worth $90.7 million dollars. That's a lot of money, which should make you reluctant to use the term "ton of money" casually.
Now let's move on to an illustration of what $10,000 US dollars looks like.
Fact #2: $10,000 can easily fit into your purse or jacket pocket. And it's very easy to spend on things like a vacation or a down payment on a new car.
Next up is an image of what 1 million dollars looks like in $100 dollar bills. It's small enough to fit in a briefcase or a backpack.
https://www.groovewallet.com/what-a-billion-dollars-looks-ike/#:~:text=When%20weighed%20in%20%24100%20bills,dollars%20weighs%20approximately%2010%20kilograms.
Fact #3: Most Americans still think that a million dollars is a lot of money, but it isn't really. Based on the median household expenses of $63,000, a million dollars would last about 15 years. Annual expenses go up, but the million dollars, if invested, doesn't go up as much.
Next up, we look at what a billion dollars looks like. There are about 500 billionaires in the U.S. But this article isn't about billionaires or wealth inequality. It's about understanding what it means to have a ton of money and whether that makes you rich enough to do whatever you want.
https://www.groovewallet.com/what-a-billion-dollars-looks-ike/#:~:text=When%20weighed%20in%20%24100%20bills,dollars%20weighs%20approximately%2010%20kilograms.
Final thoughts
If you really and truly made a ton of money, you are set for life, unless you gamble it all away. $90 million is a lot of money. How fast do you think you can burn through it?
If you only squirreled away $1 million dollars, you'll have to watch your expenses. Or you'll have to invest wisely.
For you billionaires out there, there is no excuse for you to blow your good fortune. Unless your expenses are higher than the income from your investments. A Manhattan penthouse, a house in the Hamptons, an island getaway in the Caribbean, private schools for the kids, your art collection. It all adds up.
This article is about finding a way to wrap your head around big money numbers. We saw that $1 million dollars won't go very far. $5 million will provide a longer pathway to a comfortable retirement.
$10 million will ensure your retirement will be comfortable. But it all comes down to your monthly expenses. We as Americans like to spend what we earn, so nobody is really safe.
And $1 billion or more, the Holy Grail of wealth in the U.S. (500 persons), one can only imagine the amount of influence that stack of money shown above can have on our society.