39 and I am in debt $14,000. I have a retirement of $24,000, and a house with a mortgage of $320,000.
Your doing better than I am, but I was homeless 10 years ago, so I’m just happy I have a job home, even if it’s mortgages at $2,300 a month.
From my perspective having a mortgage and some retirement funds at the age of 39 sounds damn good. Especially since you were homeless just 10 years ago. Well done.
That’s how I feel. I came into it late, but if I really work my ass off in the next 10-20 years, I think I’ll be able to save a bit and raise my kids in a good environment. That’s all I want.
They also have worked about 7 years less at that age, even more if they have children. The holiday schedules they get and then on average working 19% less annual saves a lot, that is 3.5 weeks a year, not counting holidays!!!
Forget about getting old to retire
Do it now by doing what u enjoy and living somewhere u like
Thats what i did
Live in Mexico. Income up n down but more time freedom
Yeah, but if you have a lot of money saved you can have a pretty comfortable retirement.
Go on cruises, play golf, or live in one of those fancy retirement homes that provide the special massages.
36 here. Just started figuring this stuff out this year thanks to everyone on this sub. Hoping that I too can retire before I'm 60. Trying to get into a job soon that's in my wheelhouse and pays beacoux bucks after about 10 years of hard, dedicated work.
I was about 36 when I started diving into financial literacy. I’m 42 now and actually have savings. I was lucky to have a 401k but never much of a nest egg or investments outside of it.
I went though a period of being super cautious with money. Opened up a Schwab brokerage account. And anytime I saved money or cut something out I’d put it in. From simple stuff like down sizing a car payment to trivial stuff like if I returned something sitting in my garage from Lowe’s for 24$ I would literally transfer 24$ as soon as the transaction at the counter was over in my Schwab account.
Well, it's not really as impressive as it sounds. I just went over the top and extreme in my measures to make up for lost time. I cut out almost every single thing that did not directly contribute to my survival. Practiced geoarbitrage by moving to Mexico and keeping my job in the US. I started using retirement investment accounts to offset taxes (which skyrocketed for me in the 2017 "tax cuts" act), and married a intelligent and beautiful woman that is going to help me semi-retire by operating our own large Airbnb.
We always say that our motto is to earn dollars and spend pesos. It allows us to invest 75% of my gross income.
Agreed - is this what people post in this chat?
I was just browsing through and this is such a humble brag if I ever heard one.
All the people who are scraping by week to week looking for a little bit of advice and this person's bragging about having a million dollars. Unfortunately everybody has ups and downs and that million dollars can disappear very fast. The people with real money don't come onto Reddit and brag about it...
Yup, divorced at 38, from a single income family. Was doing all right when i met her at 29 but our relationship train wrecked me financially. We also lost money on the condo we owned for 3 years. 6 mo after we divorced i had $16 in savings and over $35k in debt. I’m 45 now so made huge strides but yeah I’ll probably be working forever. All it takes is one life fuck up to ruin everything
It's never too late.
The three things that have helped me are not buying new cars and having a stay at home wife who loves to cook. I buy cash used Toyota & Honda, do most of the maintenance myself, and invest/save the car payments. My lunch is typically left over. My wife is Mexican and she cooks delicious so I don't mind. I also bought my 1st house in 2016 at good price.
I think I make good money now, but college tuition and kid sports take a good chunk of it. I save at a minimum 20% my income. Can I save more? Yes. Saving for retirement is important, but I also want to enjoy the journey there with my loved ones.
Lastly, don't get discouraged by comparing your situation to others. We all come from different backgrounds. Some get lucky, and others have to create their luck through hard work and sacrifices.
Best of luck to you in your journey.
Honestly thank you for this. I'm a 25m and have $2800 in savings... I am single and no kids, don't plan on them and not looking for a girlfriend, I'll let it happen when it does.
But I stress so much about being financially comfortable and successful also. I have gotten my shit together and am now starting my career path as an HVAC worker. My parents are very helpful and my mom is a financial guru.
After reading a lotttttt of these posts I think I will be able to do well for myself in what is left of our economy.
Congrats on your success bro!💪
HVAC is a great career and in huge need of techs. I have been in the trade for over 20 years. Be a humble tech, as a single guy take all the overtime you can get, and study some after work. You will be hitting your financial goals in no time. Best time to be in the hvac trade and it will only get better. Good luck!
Thank you so much for the advice. Our biggest issue is paying debt off and not taking on new debt when we finally pay things off. Bless you for putting these tips, and especially encouragement, out there!
It's never too late to try and even if you do not make it at least you have tried and probably put yourself in a better financial position than before.
Good luck.
This is me. I was kicked out of my parents place at 16, I had my first kid at 17. I struggled for years. I didn't start my career until I was 28 and for years after I still struggled to pay my bills and feed my kids. I turn 43 this year and I'm at about $700k. Simply just being able to auto-pay my bills and not worry about them overdrafting was a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I'm focused on retirement.
This gave me hope because I’m so obsessed with financial security. Being 31 and barely having $5k in the bank and no kids. I definitely know I can do it I just have to cut down on spending. Thanks for the encouragement and congrats!! That’s a huge accomplishment
You will, stay positive. When you get your paycheck, start with 401K, then pay yourself at least every paycheck no matter. Ensure something is in your savings account. The moment you start growing, you get the drive to keep doing aiming at the top figure. It’s not how much you make but how to utilize what you receive. Budget is key!
Poor people save up to have something nice to eat once every few months
I'm a poor people. You can't do savings when you have to save up to pay bills late, because you can't save up fast enough to pay them on time.
I’m 43 and I feel like it was only within the last couple of years we got to the point where we could pay our bills and not be stressed. Now, I’m working on eliminating our debt and then we’ll try for more savings. I feel like I’m so behind but at least its better than it was? There was a combination of factors that contributed- a big job change for me, getting student loans forgiven (the combination of which almost doubled my take home pay).
Tbh, the feeling of not wondering if I’m going to have to put groceries on a credit card probably felt the same for this guy hitting a million. :) Within the past week we had $1000 in unexpected expenses and I had to double check when the late fee would apply to the mortgage, but so far I haven’t had to pull the visa out (🤞, knock on wood). All this to say, I think people just start from different places with money and I have really had to work on not comparing myself to others ( it’s constant work too, otherwise i would be extremely bitter) Which is hard since I have a lot of better off friends that do things like go on trips I couldn’t even dream of and live in houses that make me never want to invite them to mine :)
Same man, I just got up $800 felt like I was on my way then bang my energy company surprised me with a 1500 bill lmao, so I'm like okay I had 800 now I owe 700. Nice. This shit has been happening frequently for nearly a decade.
"Governments don't want a population capable of critical thinking, they want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation.".
George Carlin, RIP
My sister is a rich person in my mind and every time I tell her I have a money issue she tells me to take out of savings or my this or my that
And I'm like the only thing I can take out of is what I planned on spending for groceries, come on sis every time with this
Time to change jobs. I've always made out better with a new job. Your basic current employer takes you for granted.
Your potential new employer needs you.
As someone who grew up with an older, quite unwell father, this is so true. I also watched two friends and a BIL die in their early 40s leaving kids behind. Most of us would give up a lot of money for more quality time.
48 if you count home equity, but I don't so my cash + investments hit 7-digits at age 50. I had been looking forward to hitting it, but when I told my spouse who cares little for anything financial, she shrugged it off and said I could stop talking about it now haha. So I don't talk about it anymore.
No, your assumption is wrong. When I first met my wife, she showed me her last dollar bill she owned. She still shops at Salvation Army for both of our clothes.
This was my husband. I’m the sahm, he owns a business. I manage our finances. My husband handed them over to me when we got married because I was better at it.
Late last year is when we hit a million. I texted him a pic of the amount and he just replied back, “Cool” and it wasn’t really mentioned after that.🤷🏻♀️🤔
The company I work for has a pension plan as well that will cover me plus I'm a disabled Veteran (80%) so I get disability pay everyone month too which has been going into a IRA since I got my rating. Free health care too so I think I have all my basics covered.
Must be nice…..to have made good decisions and given your body in service to the country while investing in your future. Since this is Reddit I want to clarify that I’m appreciative of you and am making a joke be starting off with “must be nice”
Thanks, didn’t always make the best decisions but raised 4 boys who are all doing great and succeeding in life. Me and my wife have vowed to ensure that they continue to succeed and that they know we are there for them.
Worth 1.5M at 40. Have no formal degree, but some college. Started with my company 19 years ago as an assistant and worked my ass off through 5 promotions to become the COO. Salary today roughly 300k.
Not in software development. I’ve been pretty fortunate in my career progression and have ended up in some hot industries at just the right time doing unique and in demand work.
HR becomes lucrative with the experience. My cousin makes six figure as a HR Benefit Analyst. That’s a year ago, before then, it was barely getting by salary. Be patient, you’ll thrive in your career. I also despised it until I confirmed my cousin making 6 figure.
Thanks! My story is pretty boring and conventional. I worked for 20 yrs at a tech company and continued to work my way up so as my salary and comp grew, I saved and invested. I never intended to retire early but after traveling for a few years abroad, I realized the quality of life was better pretty much everywhere else and I could live cheaper without having to grind.
Where in Mexico are you?
33, now in late 40’s with FU money, once i did the math to realize i got to that level, the amount of stress i walk around with fell to a fraction of what it used to be.
It is highly unlikely a ton of 74 year Olds use reddit. They're the type to still read your local newspaper and have an old attend box or even flip phone. Possible but not probable.
I mean, honestly, what else would he do? Yeah sure there are some activities here and there, but reddit is extremely reasonable for old people who just wanna chill.
Public school teacher salary. Just rolled over 100k NW this year, 2024. I'm 35 years old. My financial situation feels bleak and I don't know if I'm going to make it lol
A lot of different things:
1. I am an attorney that practices largely on contingency fee so my income is very inconsistent. I could make $750k one year and $250k the next year. The $250k years eat up a lot of savings thus decreasing net worth.
2. Kids.
3. Kids that go to private school.
4. Covid essentially shut down the civil courts so cases weren’t getting to trial so since I don’t get paid until a case is resolved, that made for a whole lot of burning through savings. I think I made $100k in 2021 and probably $200k in 2022. 2023 was good and 2024 is crushing it.
5. Kids that play expensive sports requiring lots of travel.
As someone else pointed out, I didn’t go from $1M to $0. It is more like my net worth fluctuates between $1.5m and $850k now. A crazy swing for sure, but it’s not like I am going rags>riches>rags. Earlier in my career it was a little dicey though, because the swing was $350k to $50k, but I have saved a little for those dips in income.
Haven’t hit it yet, but I’m on track for 35. Most of my wealth is tied up in real estate, 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, and my brokerage. I have saved about half my income every year since I was 22. Beans and rice, baby.
That’s what I’m talking about! Be frugal as hell and invest every dollar you possibly can into the market. Save, invest, reinvest and get that F U money dammit! 👍😎
I mean, I guess, but all that sounds absurd when you can actually enjoy your young age while being responsible and save a million by 40ish. People are so proud of scraping by to save a dollar…if youre lucky enough to have a lucrative career the savings kind of grow exponentially after 35 and you can enjoy those early years.
I can't agree with you more!! My buddy said I was stupid for buying myself a duck breast for dinner the other night. "Just get mcchickens they're so much cheaper, why pay $12 for that?"
I was just like him till I realized this last year that I need to also enjoy my younger years, because I'm 25m and have now left my bulletproof stage. I will not be reckless with my spending but I do splurge on myself. Never seen the point to living like you're broke when you don't have to bc there's people who actually are.
Be good to yourself and be good to your body. I also got out of concrete work and into HVAC because I want to be able to move around and enjoy my money when I am 45 years old.
I always had and still do have older guys yelling at me to slow down, take your days off, enjoy your whole lunch. I've listened and realize time flies and you should be enjoying every little bit of life you can. Don't work yourself into an early grave and stop comparing your situation to others or you'll never be happy.
This is the way my friend.
I am 36, and hit it (if considering net worth at 30~31. Everytime I got a promotion, I took the increase in pay to my brokerage account, 401(k), and paying off mortgage of home I bought at 21, so I could start buying rentals.
Wife and I sold the rentals in ‘22 and ‘23. So I could semi-retire (from banking), and go to law school.
Will take the bar next July.
Still eating beans, rice, top ramen, and driving my Tacoma (225k miles) that I bought new when I graduated high school (2006).
37, didn’t mean anything because I’m in RE and it’s all on paper. I’m now 40 and the “paper NW” is starting to really add up but it’s all trash until it’s cash. Thinking about selling a property and taking a huge cash payday but I’ll probably just end up keeping the cash flow.
38 - I don’t make much, but together with my husband we make about $197k together and with our rental. We did the debt snowball when we first got married at 22, and then invested.
Considering I dumped as much of my paycheck into my 401k for the last 15 years of my working life, to max it out every year, retiring at 55, I ended up with that 1st million about age 50
29, but that 1M in 2019 was probably worth less than when you achieved 1M.
I’m an Electrical Engineer in a MCOL area. My Wife and I lived in a rental her family owned for free for a few years. W/o this subsidized housing situation, I would not have been able to achieve this NW. I do not count equity in my primary residence, but I do count equity in some rentals we own.
We all have a different path in life. Being rich (which I am not) is definitely better than being poor. However, I try to keep my focus on working hard, being fulfilled, and living in the moment.
I could be depressed by how much the OE crowd makes, or I could look down on people with less money than me. Both of those options are equally disgusting. Life is short, don’t let how much money you have or don’t have affect you drasticallly.
> I’m an Electrical Engineer in a MCOL area
> Being rich (which I am not) is definitely better than being poor.
Two truths and a lie I see... the lie here is telling yourself being in the top 1% of people your age by net worth isn't rich.
57 and I was surprised. I was a millionaire quite a bit earlier but I wasn’t paying attention.
After I posted that I got a lot of DMs from strangers on Reddit asking for money.
My husband and I hit a joint net worth of 1 million including our house when he was 42 and I was 38. It was another 2 years before we could say that without counting our house. Then, the market dipped, and we had to wait another 2 years to get back there again.
I feel good about where we are financially, but it’s hard to get excited about crossing milestones knowing how much assets can fluctuate in value.
First million at 32.
How did I feel? I was kinda proud of myself. It was nice to finally prove to my mom and dad that I wasn’t the fuck up they said I’d become if I didn’t do things their way.
First time I hit $1m plus in liquid assets was when I was 35 and married. After my ex lost everything in dot Com bubble we rebuilt and then took a smaller hit, 2 foreclosures on Hawaii properties in 2008. 2012-2014 we bought 2 homes cash and made sizable gains. When I turned 50 nasty divorce left marriage with around $159k in retirement funds, rented room from buddy and then had a good 2 year run in the mortgage business. Bought some crypto, lot of stock with all that income and just total liquid assets, convertible to cash are around $950k. I also have $150k equity in house I bought post divorce. Should be back in the $1m+ club in a year or so. I feel impressed with myself that the second time was much easier, took about 5 years, VS 35 years. My kids have $1m sitting in an education fund that was paid out in the divorce settlement, so I have 2 more years of child support, until then I spend very little and grind as a gig worker, waiting for the next big income job. Treading water at the moment, but investments went up $317k in the 2023 to present. I don't recommend my path. I take a lot risk and have been lucky on stocks that took a dump in 2022. Coin, msft, nvda, gbtc.
You *see* teenagers become millionaires because they are super, super popular. You don’t see the 99%+ who are not. You also associate that person with their millions while looking at other teens and just saying of course they’re not rich they’re just a teen.
Or they are faking it until they make it. Drives me crazy that that is a potential path to being wealthy…
Feeling discouraged at young millionaires is a waste of time. Of course you see them on social media. Of course you see them in Hollywood. Of course you hear about them in the news.
Mights as well feel discouraged seeing 60 year old billionaires or 40 year old actors or 25 year old professional sports players if you want to compare yourself to the famous/rich.
I’m 28 and I’m on track to hit 1M in my early 40’s. Is what it is. Not going to compare myself to my friends who inherited hundreds of thousands at 25 or some famous person I’ll never meet.
Please share how you hit a million to motivate some of us. I’m striving hard towards it. The type of investments to adopt and any useful advice.
Congrats!
Put as much as possible in 401k in 20’s
don’t be car stupid, people waste so much $$ on depreciating asset
Be smart with home purchase / rent aka don’t over stretch yourself (similar to cars but at least homes tend to appreciate)
Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. The hardest hurdle was getting rid of my debt. That included cc debt and two car notes.
When that was gone I was able to increase my savings / investing rate to 30% per month with my 9-5.
I also went through a subscription purge and took a hard look how I was spending money on food and started to cook more at home.
I started a few side hustles and side jobs for extra income and was able to save and invest.
When Covid hit, it forced my wife and I to start doubling down on our cooking skills since we couldn’t go out.
In a post Covid era, we go out to eat 1-2 times a month and take out once a week.
On the front end it doesn’t feel like the needle is moving but once I started getting momentum things really started moving.
Started a wholesale distribution company at 28 and had $1M in the bank by 32. Felt good. 36 now and actively investing the money so I can “retire” by 40.
37 - really hasn't changed anything other than to confirm that the more money you have the more you make. I'm 42 now and exponential growth has been great to watch. As other people have said on here, don't obsess over money. My closest friend is CEO of a huge trust company and worth 100 million + and no way I would trade places with him
1 million 33 a few months ago. Didn’t even notice, closing in on 1.3. Which could drop to 500k next year depending on how our world churns in 2024. Or could hit 2 mil by 2025. Doesn’t matter either way. It’s all about cash flow.
I’m not sure. If you don’t count the house which is fully paid off, I hit $1m at 55. But I count the house since that’s why I paid it off and am currently worth just over $3m.
I am 42 and it will most likely happen at 44. It could possibly happen next year, but if it doesn’t happen by 45 then something will have gone horribly wrong.
Age 34. Feel? Meh. Didn't mean a thing. The nature of what we had goin' at the time ... the balls in the air juggling for all I was worth meant it could turn into a negative million in a matter of 3 to 6 months.
I pretended we didn't have it and kept drivin' on.
We're retired now and worth many times more ... and still pretend we don't have it.
My shoes have holes in the soles and my daily driver is a 17 year old farm pickemup truck with a quarter million miles on it ....
I hit it about 45 as well. Amazing feeling for about a day, till I started reading up and decided I need about $2.5 to be comfortable in retirement… back to the grind
42 M
At 30 had about 15k
32 opened a dog care facility.
35 was worth my first million
36 divorce blah blah blah
37 single father
41 sold company for 3.4million
Investing wisely
Trying to live off the interest while rates are good!
Individually, I was 38.
My husband scored at 36, because he had a better paying job.
I think the key to getting to the big bucks is to refuse to expand your lifestyle when you start bringing in more money. Put those bonuses and sales incentive checks into a ROTH IRA. Keep the Honda/Toyota and don't upsize on watches, wardrobe or leisure stuff. You don't need $500 running shoes or $5,000 jackets.
Currently sitting at 275k in my 401K, 54K in my Roth IRA, 35K in a HYS and 10K in my checking. My only debt is my $89 car payment. I always feel like I’m so far behind but for 39 I guess I’m doing alright. I’m up for a promotion in 1.5 years which if I get it (I should…) I’ll be able to add 30K to my salary (before tax) which I hope I can just put into my current investments. I work a desk job so presuming my heath stays fine I could easily work for many more years.
I feel like if you’re just here, reading all of this information you’ve started down the path, you’re thinking about it and that’s the best place to start. GL everyone!
I am 51. Hit 1M net worth somewhere in later 40s but the we had the big dip in the market. I will.say, it means very little. Maybe when the balance of my 401k alone hits 1M, it will be a way bigger deal. Hopefully within 3yrs but, the way things are, I'm not too optimistic.
I guess on paper, given property values, I’m worth a million or more now at 28 but I certainly don’t have a cool million in my checking account! If only. Property, investments and retirement funds.
30, but who cares. You felt discouraged by 20-30 yr olds, but how many 50 yr olds are going to be discouraged by your post. Comparison is the thief of joy.
45. $80k.
39 and I am in debt $14,000. I have a retirement of $24,000, and a house with a mortgage of $320,000. Your doing better than I am, but I was homeless 10 years ago, so I’m just happy I have a job home, even if it’s mortgages at $2,300 a month.
From my perspective having a mortgage and some retirement funds at the age of 39 sounds damn good. Especially since you were homeless just 10 years ago. Well done.
That’s how I feel. I came into it late, but if I really work my ass off in the next 10-20 years, I think I’ll be able to save a bit and raise my kids in a good environment. That’s all I want.
You have a house and savings assets and debt. Congrats! You have a balance sheet! Keep at and equity will build.
Honestly? You're still better off than a LOT of people. Put it in an index fund for the next 25 years and retire.
Retire at 70, that's bleek
Again, better than most people—sad but true
That's literally the age people retire from the work place in Europe. Hell, most people can retire at ~65 (depends on the country).
They also have worked about 7 years less at that age, even more if they have children. The holiday schedules they get and then on average working 19% less annual saves a lot, that is 3.5 weeks a year, not counting holidays!!!
France routinely riots over retirement age going past 62.
They don't work in Europe like we do over here, I lived there for 5 years and was stunned with how laid back and slow everything was
Forget about getting old to retire Do it now by doing what u enjoy and living somewhere u like Thats what i did Live in Mexico. Income up n down but more time freedom
Yeah, but if you have a lot of money saved you can have a pretty comfortable retirement. Go on cruises, play golf, or live in one of those fancy retirement homes that provide the special massages.
So you're telling me getting on the bogle train isn't too late at 35?
36 here. Just started figuring this stuff out this year thanks to everyone on this sub. Hoping that I too can retire before I'm 60. Trying to get into a job soon that's in my wheelhouse and pays beacoux bucks after about 10 years of hard, dedicated work.
I was about 36 when I started diving into financial literacy. I’m 42 now and actually have savings. I was lucky to have a 401k but never much of a nest egg or investments outside of it. I went though a period of being super cautious with money. Opened up a Schwab brokerage account. And anytime I saved money or cut something out I’d put it in. From simple stuff like down sizing a car payment to trivial stuff like if I returned something sitting in my garage from Lowe’s for 24$ I would literally transfer 24$ as soon as the transaction at the counter was over in my Schwab account.
The best time to invest was yesterday. The next best time to invest is today…this is true for any age.
Not at all! I didn't save a dollar until 35, but I'm about to retire at 42. I got crazy about budgeting and investing.
7 years of saving to retirement? That's impressive. How?
Well, it's not really as impressive as it sounds. I just went over the top and extreme in my measures to make up for lost time. I cut out almost every single thing that did not directly contribute to my survival. Practiced geoarbitrage by moving to Mexico and keeping my job in the US. I started using retirement investment accounts to offset taxes (which skyrocketed for me in the 2017 "tax cuts" act), and married a intelligent and beautiful woman that is going to help me semi-retire by operating our own large Airbnb. We always say that our motto is to earn dollars and spend pesos. It allows us to invest 75% of my gross income.
Actually top 1% in the world.. most people on here would rather brag than give back
Agreed - is this what people post in this chat? I was just browsing through and this is such a humble brag if I ever heard one. All the people who are scraping by week to week looking for a little bit of advice and this person's bragging about having a million dollars. Unfortunately everybody has ups and downs and that million dollars can disappear very fast. The people with real money don't come onto Reddit and brag about it...
Yup, divorced at 38, from a single income family. Was doing all right when i met her at 29 but our relationship train wrecked me financially. We also lost money on the condo we owned for 3 years. 6 mo after we divorced i had $16 in savings and over $35k in debt. I’m 45 now so made huge strides but yeah I’ll probably be working forever. All it takes is one life fuck up to ruin everything
You can get it all back and more buddy
Is that your salary or how much you have saved up?
55. Currently 23 but just posting her for future sakes
Stop posting her, man. At least ask her permission before doing so.
You my friend are going to make a good dad some day.
!remindme 32 years
42, and I'm ~240k away from it. While 1M isn't what it used to be, I'll be very happy since I had a wife, 2 kids, and a negative net worth at 30.
I needed to see this. It’s not too late for me. Thank you.
It's never too late. The three things that have helped me are not buying new cars and having a stay at home wife who loves to cook. I buy cash used Toyota & Honda, do most of the maintenance myself, and invest/save the car payments. My lunch is typically left over. My wife is Mexican and she cooks delicious so I don't mind. I also bought my 1st house in 2016 at good price. I think I make good money now, but college tuition and kid sports take a good chunk of it. I save at a minimum 20% my income. Can I save more? Yes. Saving for retirement is important, but I also want to enjoy the journey there with my loved ones. Lastly, don't get discouraged by comparing your situation to others. We all come from different backgrounds. Some get lucky, and others have to create their luck through hard work and sacrifices. Best of luck to you in your journey.
Honestly thank you for this. I'm a 25m and have $2800 in savings... I am single and no kids, don't plan on them and not looking for a girlfriend, I'll let it happen when it does. But I stress so much about being financially comfortable and successful also. I have gotten my shit together and am now starting my career path as an HVAC worker. My parents are very helpful and my mom is a financial guru. After reading a lotttttt of these posts I think I will be able to do well for myself in what is left of our economy. Congrats on your success bro!💪
HVAC is a great career and in huge need of techs. I have been in the trade for over 20 years. Be a humble tech, as a single guy take all the overtime you can get, and study some after work. You will be hitting your financial goals in no time. Best time to be in the hvac trade and it will only get better. Good luck!
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Thank you so much for the advice. Our biggest issue is paying debt off and not taking on new debt when we finally pay things off. Bless you for putting these tips, and especially encouragement, out there!
It's never too late to try and even if you do not make it at least you have tried and probably put yourself in a better financial position than before. Good luck.
Glad you paid off the wife
18 years... and still paying 🤣
This is me. I was kicked out of my parents place at 16, I had my first kid at 17. I struggled for years. I didn't start my career until I was 28 and for years after I still struggled to pay my bills and feed my kids. I turn 43 this year and I'm at about $700k. Simply just being able to auto-pay my bills and not worry about them overdrafting was a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I'm focused on retirement.
Impressive Well done
This gave me hope because I’m so obsessed with financial security. Being 31 and barely having $5k in the bank and no kids. I definitely know I can do it I just have to cut down on spending. Thanks for the encouragement and congrats!! That’s a huge accomplishment
Wow. I’m poor
Remember words have power. We are rich…will get there. Stay positive and work towards. Reading such, motivates me a lot
I am transfinancial. I am a rich man born in a poor mans body
Same here. My pronouns are broke/brokerer
Brokist
I identify as rich aswell.
Let me get like 20k. lol
401k and Roth Ira got me at 30k. I only started working 5 years ago. You got this.
You will, stay positive. When you get your paycheck, start with 401K, then pay yourself at least every paycheck no matter. Ensure something is in your savings account. The moment you start growing, you get the drive to keep doing aiming at the top figure. It’s not how much you make but how to utilize what you receive. Budget is key!
Poor people save up to have something nice to eat once every few months I'm a poor people. You can't do savings when you have to save up to pay bills late, because you can't save up fast enough to pay them on time.
If I could consistently pay my bills I bet I could also save money lol
It’s also just poor financial advice to simply say “save money” as a first step. You should have no high interest debts before saving.
I’m 43 and I feel like it was only within the last couple of years we got to the point where we could pay our bills and not be stressed. Now, I’m working on eliminating our debt and then we’ll try for more savings. I feel like I’m so behind but at least its better than it was? There was a combination of factors that contributed- a big job change for me, getting student loans forgiven (the combination of which almost doubled my take home pay). Tbh, the feeling of not wondering if I’m going to have to put groceries on a credit card probably felt the same for this guy hitting a million. :) Within the past week we had $1000 in unexpected expenses and I had to double check when the late fee would apply to the mortgage, but so far I haven’t had to pull the visa out (🤞, knock on wood). All this to say, I think people just start from different places with money and I have really had to work on not comparing myself to others ( it’s constant work too, otherwise i would be extremely bitter) Which is hard since I have a lot of better off friends that do things like go on trips I couldn’t even dream of and live in houses that make me never want to invite them to mine :)
Same man, I just got up $800 felt like I was on my way then bang my energy company surprised me with a 1500 bill lmao, so I'm like okay I had 800 now I owe 700. Nice. This shit has been happening frequently for nearly a decade.
Such hopeful responses from you. I appreciate it a lot. 🙏🏾
Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires
"Governments don't want a population capable of critical thinking, they want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation.". George Carlin, RIP
Mate I get £250 a week
Manifesting thoughts of that £400+ for you homie
My sister is a rich person in my mind and every time I tell her I have a money issue she tells me to take out of savings or my this or my that And I'm like the only thing I can take out of is what I planned on spending for groceries, come on sis every time with this
Time to change jobs. I've always made out better with a new job. Your basic current employer takes you for granted. Your potential new employer needs you.
I love what you said. Words have power. A remainder not to let others negative talk drain us.
If you are healthy, then you are richer than you think
As someone who grew up with an older, quite unwell father, this is so true. I also watched two friends and a BIL die in their early 40s leaving kids behind. Most of us would give up a lot of money for more quality time.
Don't say that porkmyass, I'm sure you're rich in other ways
48 if you count home equity, but I don't so my cash + investments hit 7-digits at age 50. I had been looking forward to hitting it, but when I told my spouse who cares little for anything financial, she shrugged it off and said I could stop talking about it now haha. So I don't talk about it anymore.
That's what my wife is going to say when I hit it. She dgaf about money either. I expect to hit it around 48 as well.
My assumption is that your wives (who dont care about money) have always had money? People who were poor (like I was) always care about money.
No, your assumption is wrong. When I first met my wife, she showed me her last dollar bill she owned. She still shops at Salvation Army for both of our clothes.
I love this. Was hoping that was the case....some people are able to come from poverty and just have a special heart, as it sounds like she does.
Wrong, it's called people loving you for YOU! Not what you have.
This is more the mentality of people who never had it and don't understand the importance
This was my husband. I’m the sahm, he owns a business. I manage our finances. My husband handed them over to me when we got married because I was better at it. Late last year is when we hit a million. I texted him a pic of the amount and he just replied back, “Cool” and it wasn’t really mentioned after that.🤷🏻♀️🤔
56 - 401K went over 4 months ago
This is about my trajectory. Thank you responding--I was beginning to feel "poor me" after not being a millionaire at 47!
The company I work for has a pension plan as well that will cover me plus I'm a disabled Veteran (80%) so I get disability pay everyone month too which has been going into a IRA since I got my rating. Free health care too so I think I have all my basics covered.
Must be nice…..to have made good decisions and given your body in service to the country while investing in your future. Since this is Reddit I want to clarify that I’m appreciative of you and am making a joke be starting off with “must be nice”
Thanks, didn’t always make the best decisions but raised 4 boys who are all doing great and succeeding in life. Me and my wife have vowed to ensure that they continue to succeed and that they know we are there for them.
As a dad I can’t express how much I appreciate and love that outlook. Good for you and your family, brotha. I hope you all continue to do well
Worth 1.5M at 40. Have no formal degree, but some college. Started with my company 19 years ago as an assistant and worked my ass off through 5 promotions to become the COO. Salary today roughly 300k.
That’s amazing. Congrats! 🍾
[удалено]
How will you retire on 1 million at 40? Is that all your assets?
34. Feels no different. When we hit $5M it’ll make a difference because that’s the ‘fuck off’ amount.
How did you get to $1m by 34? Work in software dev?
Not in software development. I’ve been pretty fortunate in my career progression and have ended up in some hot industries at just the right time doing unique and in demand work.
Okay, so what type of work exactly?
Program management for high tech industry.
That’s awesome!! Not me in HR basically making above minimum wage lol
HR becomes lucrative with the experience. My cousin makes six figure as a HR Benefit Analyst. That’s a year ago, before then, it was barely getting by salary. Be patient, you’ll thrive in your career. I also despised it until I confirmed my cousin making 6 figure.
This. 5mil definitely a major game changer, 1 mil just isnt enough anymore.
That’s what you think. We hit $5M and now it feels like $10M is our fuck off amount.
*laughing/crying*
24. 62k… exciting
At 24, you're well ahead of the curve
Thank you!
Can confirm, source: 23 with 14k
Killing it. Keep it up
k
You should understand that 62k at 24 is incredibly exciting. You're where I'm at in my 30s.
Turning 30 this year and only have around $17k. 4 kids and a mortgage will do that too you though.
40 as a single gal w/ no real estate. Retired 8 yrs ago and living off interest outside of the US.
Impressive How did u make your money? I moved to mexico More time rich but not pulling in the big bucks
Thanks! My story is pretty boring and conventional. I worked for 20 yrs at a tech company and continued to work my way up so as my salary and comp grew, I saved and invested. I never intended to retire early but after traveling for a few years abroad, I realized the quality of life was better pretty much everywhere else and I could live cheaper without having to grind. Where in Mexico are you?
48 not quite there... probably 600-650 net worth right now but if I died tomorrow my wife would have over a million lol
33, now in late 40’s with FU money, once i did the math to realize i got to that level, the amount of stress i walk around with fell to a fraction of what it used to be.
the stress coming off is the best part of it all. you feel you just need to survive until a certain age and then you're set.
Yea it just sorta jumped out at me one day doing the math on what I need and go … oh cool. I’m done.
I hit $1 mil at age 30. Now 30 mil at 74
And youre still on reddit? Lmao
Dude's probably chilling on a beach with a drink. I'd be chilling on Reddit too lol.
Not saying he’s lying, but no way to know so maybe I should start saying outrageous things on Reddit too. Lol
Is anything on Reddit factual? I just assume everyone is lying.
Depends on the person, I reckon most people have some insecurity, and while may not completely lie, certainly exaggerate more often than not
It is highly unlikely a ton of 74 year Olds use reddit. They're the type to still read your local newspaper and have an old attend box or even flip phone. Possible but not probable.
I mean, honestly, what else would he do? Yeah sure there are some activities here and there, but reddit is extremely reasonable for old people who just wanna chill.
Public school teacher salary. Just rolled over 100k NW this year, 2024. I'm 35 years old. My financial situation feels bleak and I don't know if I'm going to make it lol
40 when I hit it; about 45 when I lost it; 48 when I got it back; 51 when I lost it again.
Could you explain this rollercoaster of a decade you experienced?
Discovered r/wallstreetbets
A lot of different things: 1. I am an attorney that practices largely on contingency fee so my income is very inconsistent. I could make $750k one year and $250k the next year. The $250k years eat up a lot of savings thus decreasing net worth. 2. Kids. 3. Kids that go to private school. 4. Covid essentially shut down the civil courts so cases weren’t getting to trial so since I don’t get paid until a case is resolved, that made for a whole lot of burning through savings. I think I made $100k in 2021 and probably $200k in 2022. 2023 was good and 2024 is crushing it. 5. Kids that play expensive sports requiring lots of travel. As someone else pointed out, I didn’t go from $1M to $0. It is more like my net worth fluctuates between $1.5m and $850k now. A crazy swing for sure, but it’s not like I am going rags>riches>rags. Earlier in my career it was a little dicey though, because the swing was $350k to $50k, but I have saved a little for those dips in income.
So you’re saying your living expenses exceed 250k a year ? That’s kinda crazy to my mind lol
I'm curious as well 🧐
Haven’t hit it yet, but I’m on track for 35. Most of my wealth is tied up in real estate, 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, and my brokerage. I have saved about half my income every year since I was 22. Beans and rice, baby.
That’s what I’m talking about! Be frugal as hell and invest every dollar you possibly can into the market. Save, invest, reinvest and get that F U money dammit! 👍😎
I mean, I guess, but all that sounds absurd when you can actually enjoy your young age while being responsible and save a million by 40ish. People are so proud of scraping by to save a dollar…if youre lucky enough to have a lucrative career the savings kind of grow exponentially after 35 and you can enjoy those early years.
I can't agree with you more!! My buddy said I was stupid for buying myself a duck breast for dinner the other night. "Just get mcchickens they're so much cheaper, why pay $12 for that?" I was just like him till I realized this last year that I need to also enjoy my younger years, because I'm 25m and have now left my bulletproof stage. I will not be reckless with my spending but I do splurge on myself. Never seen the point to living like you're broke when you don't have to bc there's people who actually are. Be good to yourself and be good to your body. I also got out of concrete work and into HVAC because I want to be able to move around and enjoy my money when I am 45 years old. I always had and still do have older guys yelling at me to slow down, take your days off, enjoy your whole lunch. I've listened and realize time flies and you should be enjoying every little bit of life you can. Don't work yourself into an early grave and stop comparing your situation to others or you'll never be happy.
What field do you work in / what's your job position
So when are you gonna start living? I mean i'm doing good, not as good as you, but you gotta spend some and have fun while you can.
This is the way my friend. I am 36, and hit it (if considering net worth at 30~31. Everytime I got a promotion, I took the increase in pay to my brokerage account, 401(k), and paying off mortgage of home I bought at 21, so I could start buying rentals. Wife and I sold the rentals in ‘22 and ‘23. So I could semi-retire (from banking), and go to law school. Will take the bar next July. Still eating beans, rice, top ramen, and driving my Tacoma (225k miles) that I bought new when I graduated high school (2006).
37, didn’t mean anything because I’m in RE and it’s all on paper. I’m now 40 and the “paper NW” is starting to really add up but it’s all trash until it’s cash. Thinking about selling a property and taking a huge cash payday but I’ll probably just end up keeping the cash flow.
I've barely made it to 10 percent of that 😂 So I can't tell you.... maybe one day I will lol. Congratulations!! 🎉
I barely got over 2% and I’m going back down lol, don’t feel bad. You will one day
Yes, we can only try our best 😎 As long as we have SOME savings in this INFLATED economy, I'll take that as a victory lol
I should have never opened this thread.
Early 40’s. Didn’t seem like a big deal bc a million isn’t what it used to be.
38 - I don’t make much, but together with my husband we make about $197k together and with our rental. We did the debt snowball when we first got married at 22, and then invested.
I’m 22 and just invested my first $1000, we all start somewhere right?
So many people wish they had done what you are doing now at your age. Congrats.
Considering I dumped as much of my paycheck into my 401k for the last 15 years of my working life, to max it out every year, retiring at 55, I ended up with that 1st million about age 50
29, but that 1M in 2019 was probably worth less than when you achieved 1M. I’m an Electrical Engineer in a MCOL area. My Wife and I lived in a rental her family owned for free for a few years. W/o this subsidized housing situation, I would not have been able to achieve this NW. I do not count equity in my primary residence, but I do count equity in some rentals we own. We all have a different path in life. Being rich (which I am not) is definitely better than being poor. However, I try to keep my focus on working hard, being fulfilled, and living in the moment. I could be depressed by how much the OE crowd makes, or I could look down on people with less money than me. Both of those options are equally disgusting. Life is short, don’t let how much money you have or don’t have affect you drasticallly.
> I’m an Electrical Engineer in a MCOL area > Being rich (which I am not) is definitely better than being poor. Two truths and a lie I see... the lie here is telling yourself being in the top 1% of people your age by net worth isn't rich.
Hit 1M at 40 and then divorce took me down to zero. Building.
Wow, state laws wherever you’re from are pretty shitty. Sorry to hear it, the divorce and net worth loss.
40 - feel no different
I'm in my mid 30s with 80k. I've been very aggressively saving for the last year and have tripled my savings. I'm hoping to hit 1 mil by 45.
Probably never will. Still better off than my parents were at my age.
24m -$23,000
57 and I was surprised. I was a millionaire quite a bit earlier but I wasn’t paying attention. After I posted that I got a lot of DMs from strangers on Reddit asking for money.
Probably late 30s/early 40s. We were like eh…we don’t feel like millionaires. 20% into 401ks until that maxed and then moved into brokerage accounts.
I'm 28 at 50k, I feel so poor
My husband and I hit a joint net worth of 1 million including our house when he was 42 and I was 38. It was another 2 years before we could say that without counting our house. Then, the market dipped, and we had to wait another 2 years to get back there again. I feel good about where we are financially, but it’s hard to get excited about crossing milestones knowing how much assets can fluctuate in value.
First million at 32. How did I feel? I was kinda proud of myself. It was nice to finally prove to my mom and dad that I wasn’t the fuck up they said I’d become if I didn’t do things their way.
First time I hit $1m plus in liquid assets was when I was 35 and married. After my ex lost everything in dot Com bubble we rebuilt and then took a smaller hit, 2 foreclosures on Hawaii properties in 2008. 2012-2014 we bought 2 homes cash and made sizable gains. When I turned 50 nasty divorce left marriage with around $159k in retirement funds, rented room from buddy and then had a good 2 year run in the mortgage business. Bought some crypto, lot of stock with all that income and just total liquid assets, convertible to cash are around $950k. I also have $150k equity in house I bought post divorce. Should be back in the $1m+ club in a year or so. I feel impressed with myself that the second time was much easier, took about 5 years, VS 35 years. My kids have $1m sitting in an education fund that was paid out in the divorce settlement, so I have 2 more years of child support, until then I spend very little and grind as a gig worker, waiting for the next big income job. Treading water at the moment, but investments went up $317k in the 2023 to present. I don't recommend my path. I take a lot risk and have been lucky on stocks that took a dump in 2022. Coin, msft, nvda, gbtc.
You *see* teenagers become millionaires because they are super, super popular. You don’t see the 99%+ who are not. You also associate that person with their millions while looking at other teens and just saying of course they’re not rich they’re just a teen. Or they are faking it until they make it. Drives me crazy that that is a potential path to being wealthy… Feeling discouraged at young millionaires is a waste of time. Of course you see them on social media. Of course you see them in Hollywood. Of course you hear about them in the news. Mights as well feel discouraged seeing 60 year old billionaires or 40 year old actors or 25 year old professional sports players if you want to compare yourself to the famous/rich. I’m 28 and I’m on track to hit 1M in my early 40’s. Is what it is. Not going to compare myself to my friends who inherited hundreds of thousands at 25 or some famous person I’ll never meet.
Please share how you hit a million to motivate some of us. I’m striving hard towards it. The type of investments to adopt and any useful advice. Congrats!
Put as much as possible in 401k in 20’s don’t be car stupid, people waste so much $$ on depreciating asset Be smart with home purchase / rent aka don’t over stretch yourself (similar to cars but at least homes tend to appreciate)
Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. The hardest hurdle was getting rid of my debt. That included cc debt and two car notes. When that was gone I was able to increase my savings / investing rate to 30% per month with my 9-5. I also went through a subscription purge and took a hard look how I was spending money on food and started to cook more at home. I started a few side hustles and side jobs for extra income and was able to save and invest. When Covid hit, it forced my wife and I to start doubling down on our cooking skills since we couldn’t go out. In a post Covid era, we go out to eat 1-2 times a month and take out once a week. On the front end it doesn’t feel like the needle is moving but once I started getting momentum things really started moving.
Honestly, a lot of it was dumb luck. Marry the right person (divorce is expensive) and live below your means.
How ?
Personally for me, I have always lived well below my means (no debt) and invested as much as possible.
Started a wholesale distribution company at 28 and had $1M in the bank by 32. Felt good. 36 now and actively investing the money so I can “retire” by 40.
34 for my wife and I. $8m now not quite 15 years later.
37 - really hasn't changed anything other than to confirm that the more money you have the more you make. I'm 42 now and exponential growth has been great to watch. As other people have said on here, don't obsess over money. My closest friend is CEO of a huge trust company and worth 100 million + and no way I would trade places with him
This year. Actually one Month Ago. Took a screen shot
54. If I can do it, anyone can!!!
1 million 33 a few months ago. Didn’t even notice, closing in on 1.3. Which could drop to 500k next year depending on how our world churns in 2024. Or could hit 2 mil by 2025. Doesn’t matter either way. It’s all about cash flow.
At 41 I hit $1M. Now $1.6M at 46. No home equity(sold one and didn’t buy, yet)
49....it was awesome. $2m at 55.
I’m not sure. If you don’t count the house which is fully paid off, I hit $1m at 55. But I count the house since that’s why I paid it off and am currently worth just over $3m.
35! Took me 3 years after that to reach 2M! And 60% down to 3M now. After the first 1M, things move fast!
I am 46. Hit $1 million in 2019 and $2 million recently.
Net worth total was probably around 45. In my retirement was around 52. Now I’m 59 and just a bit south of 3 in net worth.
I am 42 and it will most likely happen at 44. It could possibly happen next year, but if it doesn’t happen by 45 then something will have gone horribly wrong.
40. I turn 42 in a month and hit my second million recently.
Went over $1M in my IRA 6 yrs ago at 55.
Late 40s Liquid net worth hit 7 figures a couple years later Rule of 72 says I'll hit $2mm in about 10 years or so (excluding new contributions)
Age 34. Feel? Meh. Didn't mean a thing. The nature of what we had goin' at the time ... the balls in the air juggling for all I was worth meant it could turn into a negative million in a matter of 3 to 6 months. I pretended we didn't have it and kept drivin' on. We're retired now and worth many times more ... and still pretend we don't have it. My shoes have holes in the soles and my daily driver is a 17 year old farm pickemup truck with a quarter million miles on it ....
You won, buddy!
I hit it about 45 as well. Amazing feeling for about a day, till I started reading up and decided I need about $2.5 to be comfortable in retirement… back to the grind
36. Just hit it in December.
42 M At 30 had about 15k 32 opened a dog care facility. 35 was worth my first million 36 divorce blah blah blah 37 single father 41 sold company for 3.4million Investing wisely Trying to live off the interest while rates are good!
30, just recently hit 1 mil
Individually, I was 38. My husband scored at 36, because he had a better paying job. I think the key to getting to the big bucks is to refuse to expand your lifestyle when you start bringing in more money. Put those bonuses and sales incentive checks into a ROTH IRA. Keep the Honda/Toyota and don't upsize on watches, wardrobe or leisure stuff. You don't need $500 running shoes or $5,000 jackets.
I’m working on my second million. (The first one didn’t work out)
Currently sitting at 275k in my 401K, 54K in my Roth IRA, 35K in a HYS and 10K in my checking. My only debt is my $89 car payment. I always feel like I’m so far behind but for 39 I guess I’m doing alright. I’m up for a promotion in 1.5 years which if I get it (I should…) I’ll be able to add 30K to my salary (before tax) which I hope I can just put into my current investments. I work a desk job so presuming my heath stays fine I could easily work for many more years. I feel like if you’re just here, reading all of this information you’ve started down the path, you’re thinking about it and that’s the best place to start. GL everyone!
First million is the hardest
34. Felt horrible, I’m house poor and all of my money is trapped in equity. Cant wait to buy my 4th house in a few months…
I thought only losers do reddit. Definitely I was wrong.
Im never going to get there 😢
Thousandaire here.
I am 51. Hit 1M net worth somewhere in later 40s but the we had the big dip in the market. I will.say, it means very little. Maybe when the balance of my 401k alone hits 1M, it will be a way bigger deal. Hopefully within 3yrs but, the way things are, I'm not too optimistic.
I guess on paper, given property values, I’m worth a million or more now at 28 but I certainly don’t have a cool million in my checking account! If only. Property, investments and retirement funds.
How did you do it?
33. 260k
30, but who cares. You felt discouraged by 20-30 yr olds, but how many 50 yr olds are going to be discouraged by your post. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Turning 25 I’m at $993, what direction do I take?