So dude..... I am thinking just back on the caffine a bit (I'm just sayin')
I always assumed that Jack's family had their money and that as the Crampton's and Schuler's prospered, the families would take care of Claire and the kids. That there would be trust funds, etc., all the things that the uber wealthy do with their money. I had the Hobart's net worth into the $100 million area between the Hobart money and what Claire would have.
The uber rich have money because you can't help but make money when you have gobs of it. A $20, 000,000 fund becomes $66,000,000 in 20 years at the relatively modest and safe rate of 6% on monthly compounding, $98,000,000 at a more aggressive 8% and even a modest increase in risk to 9% takes it to $120,000,000 without ever having to add to the principle.
But without doing the homework you did today, that was a rough guess. I am guessing the numbers you came up with, upwards of $200,000,000 makes more sense.
And to all you youngin's out there do your own math on retirement savings. If youhave $2,000 in saving now and could put away $4,100 a year for 35 years at 9% you'd have over $1,000,000 when you were ready to retire. the most importand lesson you will ever learn financially is the time vale of money.
http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm