You also don't have to be a millionaire to get a withdrawable margin loan on stocks you own, at not-too-terrible interest rates. I think the piece that's missi

You also don't have to be a millionaire to get a withdrawable margin loan on stocks you own, at not-too-terrible interest rates. I think the piece that's missing (from my scenario and yours) is the assumption that your yearly gains from appreciation of the asset exceed your living expenses. That usually only happens reliably once the asset is worth tens of millions of dollars, at least. Especially if you have a family.