Personal Finance

After Becoming A Millionaire At 44, Spending Money Is Much Harder Than I Thought

Christy Bieber

Published: March 2, 2025 3:20 pm

If you are a millionaire at 44, you are among a very small minority of people. The U.S. does have the highest number of millionaires in the world, as it’s home to 38% of all individuals worldwide who have a seven-figure net worth. Still, UBS reports that there are only 22 million millionaires in the U.S., which is just over 6% of the 340 or so million people living in this country. 

You should be proud of the fact that you achieved this status at such a young age, especially if your business success, hard work, and dedicated investing led you to this point. You should also be able to enjoy the money you have by using it to do things you love or support causes you care about. This doesn’t mean you necessarily have to stop working, although you can, but it does mean you should be able to spend on things that make you happy.

Unfortunately, even people with a big net worth sometimes struggle to enjoy spending — and that seems clearly like your situation. If your unwillingness to spend has you feeling stressed or is stopping you from enjoying your money, it’s worth taking steps to try to fix that situation so your fortune can bring you more happiness.  Here’s how. 

Consider the reason for your money worries

Worrying about spending small sums of money when you are a millionaire is probably not a rational fear, as you most likely have plenty of money to be able to buy whatever you’d like. So, you’ll need to try to determine why you are having such a hard time. 

In some cases, people struggle to spend money because they didn’t always have it, or because they are worried that their wealth could all go away at the drop of a hat if something goes wrong. If you are afraid of running out of money and being poor again, or if you feel guilty spending because you didn’t grow up with wealth and so you’re used to frivolous purchases being treated as a problem, then these are long-held habits and beliefs that you will need to work to overcome.

Sometimes, people are afraid of spending for different reasons. For example, you may just prefer to see your account balance growing, rather than shrinking, even if you are spending on things you like. Or you may feel like your success is directly linked to how big your bank account balance grows. You may also just be in the habit of being really frugal if you had to work hard to save your millions so you may find it difficult to switch your mindset from one where you save all you can to one where you get to spend some of what you’ve worked for. 

You should try to consider what your actual issues are with spending money so you can decide which approach to take to feel better about your situation and be able to buy things that you want. 

Make a budget that incorporates spending

If your reluctance to spend stems from guilt about your wealth or is driven by a fear that you will run out of money in the future, then one of your best options may be to create a budget. You can make a plan to access your millions at a safe withdrawal rate (experts now recommend limiting withdrawals to 3.7% of your account balance). Then, you can work your budget around your current income. 

If you assign each dollar a job and assign some of those dollars to different kinds of spending that you enjoy, then you can feel more confident that you are accomplishing all of your important financial goals first and that the money you are spending is money you can truly afford to use.  

If you can see that you are living on a reasonable amount of money and that you can do things you enjoy while still saving and investing, this could make you feel a lot more comfortable with the things that you splurge on. 

Get professional advice

Talking to a financial advisor can also help you to feel more at ease about letting go of your financial worries and spending on things that you want.  A financial advisor can help you determine how long your money will last, and how much of it you can safely spend. They can work with you to make a comprehensive plan for both your current money management and your future goals so you can have the confidence of knowing you are doing the right things and are still able to enjoy your money. 

If your advisor can’t help you to feel comfortable spending even when you clearly have the money to do so, then you may also want to talk with a mental health professional who can offer you some solutions. You may just need a little bit of professional advice on overcoming your long-held habits and fears so you can enjoy what you worked for.

By taking these steps, you can ensure you’re actually benefitting from the financial success you have achieved — which, of course, is the goal of earning the money in the first place.