The fucked up thing about plain money is that even if you have a million today, that million will be worth less than half when you retire, due to inflation and nrtions that keep printing more money to cover their expenses.
People with money usually don’t keep it as plain money though. On average, if you just invest it in S&P500 (assuming historical returns), it’ll be worth at least 4 million after adjusting for inflation after 30 years. 3 million dollars reward for having 1 million dollars. But even if you’re like a gold-standard fanatic and just put it in gold, the same applies.