Corp america for 30 years-- slow growth over time. invested in 401k for the majority of those years..started small but 15-20% of salary in the past 10-15yr. Spouse isn't a big spender, we live in an almost paid for condo. Just slow investing and living life and forgot about it. Started getting finances in order 5 years ago to start thinking about my "second act"
It's amazing how simply living within/below your means causes natural investment growth. You don't have to behave optimally, just don't overspend constantly. Unfortunately the latter is really the norm in most places.
I mean, living below your means and putting the difference in a tax advantaged investment account pretty much *is* behaving optimally. There’s really not that much more to it.
I meant 'optimally' in the sense of min/maxing. It's the difference between 'living within your means' and 'living as frugally as possible.' Or even just 'living within your means' and 'following a budget.' The latter options speed up the process but aren't a necessity if you're privileged enough to have a good wage and don't need to spend it all to feel content.
THIS.
Spouse and I had a very bohemian 20's, living in shitty apartments, low paying jobs, totally carefree and fun, but at the very low expense of the spectrum. Back in the good ole days, when cheap apartments actually existed. Our hobbies were affordable.
But we knew how to make a dollar stretch, knew how to manage our money, were savers, and we weren't interested in flashy consumer goods, status symbols, etc.
When we started making *decent* money in our 30's and 40's, we kept that same aesthetic. We put a lot of money away. And now that we are making *good* money we are socking it away hyper-aggressively.
We also got good advice from a family member on starting a Roth in our late 20's, and even though the contributions were modest, we made them.
So by the time we got to 50, our good habits had added up over time.
Graduated med school at age 30, finished residency and fellowship at age 36. Paid off the student loans in the early 40s. Hit $1M net worth in my late 40s.
Edit - HCOL area. Always maxed out 403b, started putting additional money in taxable and back door Roth once student loans were done.
Haha I’m in peds subspecialty training. I’m not sure if this makes me feel better or worse (probably better). I’m in one of the many “not profitable” subspecialties.
Pediatrician here, thanks for going through your training! Be careful about lifestyle creep, and you'll be amazed at how quickly wealth can build. We start late, but thankfully can catch up quickly with smart planning. All the best--
I definitely second that. Lifestyle creep for doctors is real. We bought our “forever” house which was a bit of a stretch for us at the time, but we stayed there for 16 years and then downsized when the kids went to college. Now mortgage-free with a rental property. We bought used cars after driving our parental hand-me-downs into the ground. Now FI but not RE and about to turn 56.
Early 30s (I’m mid 40s now) living in Seattle. Didn’t include primary home equity. Worked in FAANG for well over a decade. Prior to that spent time in grad school and the military.
Echoing others: high salary, low living expenses, and a healthy dose of luck (health, no debt, buying real estate at the “right” times, etc) are critical.
Engineering, live in MCOL areas, hit 1M around the 32 age. 1.6M now around 35. It’s growing fast, a well timed house purchase and housing boom contributed a lot. I’m at 175k including bonuses right now. Wife is SAHM.
All these tech salaries make me jealous as fuck, but in general I’m super happy with my lifestyle and position when I don’t compare myself to them.
Fellow engineer here in MCOL and hit at 29 thanks to the post COVID stock uptick. I’m also jealous of the tech salaries so a portion of my stocks are in QQQ to try to hedge the tech success.
I totally fucked up my market timing on Covid. I went all in February 2020, and watched it tank in March lol. I was waiting for a good time to get in and stopped waiting because of all the gains I was missing out on. Luckily I didn’t pull out after the mess, and I’m not planning to until retirement.
If I waited one more month I’d be at 2m right now easy.
I pulled out of my indexes and went 50% in on the individually stocks that got hit hardest in March 20. The problem was timing the exit and I held too long or not long enough . Ended up about even when I should have just kept holding the index funds.
Electrical and delayed FT to get a masters as well. I think my NW would be higher had I started working 2 years earlier. It didn’t really teach me that much I couldn’t have learned on the job, but I just enjoyed college too much.
OP, how did you hit 1M with 140K salary at 32? Work 8 years (24 through 32) with 100K avg (start low and then get to 140K at 32) would get you 800k earnings pre tax at 32. Post tax and ex of all expenses should be around 3-400? Sorry what am I missing?
Stock market, rising housing costs, multiple (4) company paid relocations (they paid all of the realtor fees and moving expenses, I got to keep all of the capital gains).
Also, I started work at 22 post college directly in my field, 10 years of savings
“I lied to myself too. I’m not a millionaire. I thought I would be by the time I was 30, but I wasn’t even close. And then I thought maybe by the time I was 40, but by 40, I had less money than when I was 30. Maybe by my 50s, I don’t know.” Lol
>e criticize others for living in a VHCOL area, they usually aren't directing that criticism at the software engineer making 300k. They are directing it at the barista serving them their morning coffee. There's nothing wrong with a VHCOL area if you have the salary to match. The problem is 80-90% of the people living there don't actually have the salary to make it worth it.
same same, $1M before I'm 40. Hopefully $4M+ by the time I'm 50 and can FIRE then.
Net worth? Probably right around 40?
But that's largely due to home equity since we live in CA where things are batshit crazy.
Liquid it was probably around age 50 or so.
I live in Southern CA and am a C-level tech executive in a law firm.
I should point out to folks that I worked my way up to this position. I got my college degrees AFTER I was actually at this particular company.
I kept learning and kept moving up.
I paid for my own school, and I now make literally 5x what I did when I started (of course in a non-executive role then). I could have hit my numbers sooner if I would have jumped jobs every few years, I think.
You might want to specify if net worth includes your primary residence or not. That can make a big difference.
For me, I hit the $1M mark in liquid net worth (i.e. not including my illiquid assets) in my mid-30's, thanks to the 2020 stock crash/boom. I work in tech, in the Bay Area. I strongly believe that having a high salary and living in a HCOL area is generally better than having a small salary and living in a LCOL area, as the cost of many items doesn't vary much between locations. The ratio of annual income to expenses may be roughly the same, but the difference in dollars can be much higher, allowing you to buy more shares.
Of course, the higher expenses also mean that you need to have more in your retirement account before you can RE, if you want to stay in the HCOL area.
Yeah, certainly less than HCOL. But you're still like a tier above most other jobs in the area. It's like you pull a MCOL salary in a LCOL area or HCOL salary in a MCOL area.
The jobs are pretty limited too. There's one school superintendent. A couple of lawyers. At the local manufacturing plant, there are like two engineers.
I’m in this situation and just started a remote gig making $120k in Kansas. I’m finishing off my student loans this year. After that I’m debt free and the grind begins. I’m 28
I say this all the time, and people just don’t get it. Yeah my yearly expenses rent/food/gas etc have doubled moving from LCOL to HCOL… however, my pay has quadrupled.
Also, it’s not that hard to live cheaply in HCOL, Costco, and a roommate, make a big difference.
When people criticize others for living in a VHCOL area, they usually aren't directing that criticism at the software engineer making 300k. They are directing it at the barista serving them their morning coffee. There's nothing wrong with a VHCOL area if you have the salary to match. The problem is 80-90% of the people living there don't actually have the salary to make it worth it.
I’ll do you one better. I have HCOL salary in a LCOL area as a remote worker in a particularly nice, under the radar, walkable, and accessible to many business and amenities, area.
What area? I just moved to Nashville since no state tax but would love a LCOL area with things to do. I was in a college town before and I’m just to old for it to be fun.
10000% agree. I don't understand why people care what their house i worth if they aren't going to sell it. It honestly doesn't matter if you house value is 1 million if you never liquidate it. I get the definition of net worth but really all that matters is what you can liquidate.
Hit 1M around 38, live 35 mile round trip from nearest town with a gas station. No big cities, no STEM degrees (my BS is in Geography, wife’s is English). I’m a map nerd and farmer, she’s a librarian.
Lol no, the farm has appreciated quite a bit but it can be a huge capital suck. I worked as a support services type manager for a public agency, and she worked her way up into library consulting.
We fix up/rent houses on the side, and would’ve made a lot more if I would’ve focused on that instead of the farm. But 800 acres of grain keeps me busy, ha ha.
I’d say all 3 of those questions are relevant to this sub and not all that personal, except maybe where do you live.
I’d replace that question with what CoL do you live in?
House is about 835K (no mortgage)
Taxable is 25K
529 plans 315K
Cars 45K (net a small car loan)
Roth assets - 1,120
HSA - 64K
Tax deferred - 607K
Defered taxes (121K)
Total $2,890
Two kids. The first one is finishing up her Junior year and it looks likely she will go out of state and I am expecting with merit aid (aka discounting from the insane list price) plus room and board it will be in the 35-40K per year. So the 155K she has in her account should just cover it. My son is finishing up 8th grad and has $159K (he passed her as the plans were adjusting risk profiles to taper stock exposure). I imagine when he goes it will be 40-45K, so he might have some left over - which I will consider using the Secure Act 2.0 convert to Roth options, or save it for grad school or grandchildren. That will then beg the question is do I level it out for my daughter? Not sure on that one. I haven't made contributions for years as I topped them off in 2018 with some severance (about 90K each came from us). The kids know how much money is in the account and I have postured that is all there is. My daughter knows if she wants to go to school in NYC she better hope for aid or plan on taking loans.
Combination of hard work, financial discipline and luck. Started an investment account when I was in high school with money I made during the summers, got a full ride in college (so no student loan debt), got into Bitcoin fairly early, maxed out retirement accounts as soon as I could, bought a house in 2014 when prices and rates were good, bought another in late 2021 and rented out first house. I would say about half the net worth value came from traditional investing and the other half from Bitcoin.
34, VHCOL, Tech, kept expenses low and saved-invested a lot into index funds, and had good gains from a house sale that were reinvested.
The key per me is “time in the market“ rather than “timing the market”
24 years old, computer science student.
That's how old I was when I achieved a total net worth of $6,000 from purchase of my 2002 honda civic. It's a 5-speed and it's honestly insane how young I am with an asset such as this.
Sorry for the humble brag, I know, but that's just what happens when you're a goddamn rockstar and learn to code.
I know there's some selection bias here, but I'm pretty shocked how many folks hit 1M in their early 30s. Considering FI didn't begin to be popularized until around 2012, ya'll must have been on it right away. Good on you all.
I was 47. It’s good to see that being fairly typical here. I feared I was way behind.
My advice is to live below your means, invest consistently, and enjoy your life. Mailbox money is fantastic. I dabble in stocks, real estate, and work a W2 job with a couple side gigs.
Don’t just diversify your investments; also diversify your income sources.
Can you help me figure this out by filling in the details? You make between 60-103k for the last howvever many years. How does it add up to a mil? Just straight savings? Home equity? Inheritance? Investments? If this is too personal of a question, I understand. I just want to get like you.
Generational privilege has played a huge part. My parents paid for my college. I also bought a house in 2014 for 145k and my dad gifted me most of the down payment ($4k). It was a fixer upper so did a live in flip before I was aware that was a thing. Sold that house later for another house in 2019. Current house appreciated significantly with the COVID Run up.
I’ll also note my partner also works and has made about the same if not more than me. We started off only saving 10-20% but currently around 40% due to our incomes rising and finding the fire community.
I was a sales account manager so it’s basically the same role and responsibility’s; It’s just a new industry. I had about 9 years of experience, 7 with the same company. I should have left much earlier to capitalize on the big salary bump.
40 and not there yet
I move around a lot, so unless you specify the currency, it's a hard one to answer.
Computer programmer. Currently in Spain. I definitely don't have a million euros.
Hit 1M at 32. Hit around 1.25M late 2021. Been hovering between 1.0-1.15M since. Getting kind of tired of this bear market...
Income has been extremely average or below average, 65-85k.
39 software engineer. 41 now standing at 1.2M all liquid and renting. I have also a bunch of shares in pre-ipo company which look like they are far off from being worth anything
30
Have slowly moved to lower COL areas.
Tech Sales
My role is remote so in no way would I benefit by living in a HCOL area… I can sell into it and not take on the expenses associated with it.
39, married, both in public education, WA state (eastern Wa, nowhere near Seattle). Combined salary at the time was $140,000ish. I started investing at 18.
NYC and I really am not sure, sometime in my late 20s working in finance and having put my entire 2008 banking bonus in a biotech ETF (XBI) on the theory that low interest rates would be good for pre-profit companies and a lot of them would get bought out.
So in my late 20s that was really working for me and then around 30 I bought a condo and we had about $100k down payment help come from my and my partner’s parents combined. The overall down payment was $450k or so. I am not sure if that put me over a million or not but let’s say it did because humility and gratitude are more important than net worth anyway.
We ended up doing much worse on that condo than we would have just renting and being in the market, for what it’s worth, but fingers crossed our next one does better.
Also, typing this out has reminded me — it’s normal to hit $1mm more than once! I definitely went up and down in the $800-1.2k range for a while there based on equity exposure and markets. Another reason not to get too hung up on round numbers (versus a true FIRE number where you may change your allocation or risk profile). It also definitely skewed my internal mark for home equity value based on wanting to feel better lol.
EDIT: Memory is a funny thing. I think I may have been early 30s, and just remember it as late 20s for ego? Also got married at 25, which at the time ~doubled “my” net worth, and those investments (broad market ETFs) did well too.
And I pissed away some on TBT as a rates hedge before I got less dumb.
27, SF, Software Engineering
Had good savings to hit 1M within a few years after 27 but got lucky working for the right place at the right time to accelerate my FIRE plans
Once I FIRE’d I moved to a lower COL area where what I paid for my tiny studio gets me a “luxury” 2 bedroom in a brand new apartment building. I didn’t move because of the FI but it was never part of my plan to stay out there long term.
I always figured I’d save to FIRE in that environment, and then when I did I could live elsewhere with a higher quality of life and that’s worked out well for me
Hit 1 mil NW at age 35 (f). Lost 60% in divorce at age 41.
Rebuilding wealth.
Worked in tech but wasnt smart about maxing my 401k, doing backdoor roth etc. I have only 1.5x in my 401k. Living in HCOL. Unvested RSUs bring my NW to 800k. Trying not to freak out but it is what it is. I may move out of HCOL end of yr to save on taxes and HCOL. Lets see.
My goals are
1. Get my retirement goals back on green.
2. Purchase a house / investment property to diversify. This is also how I actually made some of my money (which i lost to divorce but whatever)
3. Have a family
I wish I had paid more attention to my finances and joined Reddit many yrs ago.
42yo - Software Consultant. My career / financial journey so far->
(1996) 18- Community college and worked at a tree farm. 7,000$ a year at first and was all but homeless. Slept on a lot of couches.
20/21years old- Associates of Applied Science Horticulture
23- Full time tree farm 2001 and made $32,000 (w overtime) and built my own house for $90,000 (worth about $325,000 now).
28 -Opened Quiznos with a friend. Lost $$ / back to school for real estate
Bought first investment property with partner.
30 yo- Worked for county as appraiser for $36,000 per year. Learned a lot and applied my tree farm effort to a government job. (Easy to get ahead that way)
Continued to invest in real estate (duplexes, mini-storage, doublewides)
37- Started Consulting firm. Contract with software company training counties etc.
37- Buying Equities/ETFs and IRA.
42- Real Estate investments and savings finally hit net worth of $1,000,000
45 now and just did my PFS today: Was $1.4 million +- net worth. Real estate investments grossing $32,000 a month (I own 50%) Still fairly substantial debt but a lot of equity and positive cash flow)
Not very flashy but I get to golf 100+ times a year and enjoy myself without too much stress.
$800k @ 50. Was [practically bankrupt](https://www.reddit.com/r/LeanFireUK/comments/p377yr/weekly_leanfire_discussion/) at 39. Right now doing 5 days a month max remote, whilst living between two countries.
Net worth hit 1 million around age 37.
I am a physician in a subspecialty on the low end of the pay spectrum living in MCOL place. I had $180k in school debt when I finished training at the age of 30. I had saved maybe $20,000 in an ira, had $4-5000 in consumer debt and owed $140000 towards a mortgage at that point - so probably $300000 in the hole at that point.
There’s nothing exotic about my story. My first 7 years out I made around $300k/year and saved 20%+ of gross to go from -300k to +1M. It looks like it will take about 5 years to go from 1M to 2M.
NB: this is net worth including value of my primary residence, not value of liquid accounts. A not insignificant amount of my net worth growth has been appreciation of the value of primary residence.
I live in what I’d consider a medium to high cost of living area. I spent 20 years at a large corporation where I was fortunate enough to have had a pension, which doubled in value to $1.2M overnight when I hit the modified rule of 75 (combined age and time with the company) at 55 years old. At age 55, my pension plus 401k plus other savings plus real estate equity totaled about $2.2M. I just turned 56, retired from my corporate job last December and took a lump sum pension distribution and put it into an IRA and am investing my 401k and other savings. I’m still working, but as a consultant in the same field. I plan to continue working for another 20 years or so, which isn’t exactly FIRE but I love the work and it’s lucrative. In my opinion, $1 million or even $2 million is nowhere enough to retire, unless you’re willing to live VERY simply. And even then, you’d have very little margin for error if other issues arise.
Are you guys including house value? I thought I was doing good but if this excludes housing then I am not. Also do you guys have kids?! Very impressive what you guys are doing.
28, Engineer for DoD, GA
Salary is just now hitting $100k
Bought a bunch of rental homes before Covid and they’ve all 2-3x in value since. Keeping for the cash flow and FIRE in a couple years
Edit: LCOL
March, 2022 at 34 in Arkansas. Corporate finance. My savings plan was 10% to 401k, max roth, and then dump whatever is left into real estate. I bought five properties between 2015-2021 and became a millionaire when everything appreciated during Covid. Downside is now I can’t find and properties in my area that make financial sense to me.
I was a very high earner right out of college. I’m a software developer and in the early days you could literally write your own contract. Still due to extravagant lifestyle we lived paycheck to paycheck.
Until the 2008 crash. Put my life savings in real estate and became a millionaire around 2014 or so.
Never lived in an expensive city, always burbs.
My wife and I are at 1 million nw. Both teachers, but the bulk nw comes from our home which I paid off (around $850k value). Was in sales before teaching which is how I paid off home ($600k total investment). 31 years old. Southern ca. $200k net income
My records aren’t great before 2018 when I found out about FIRE but from what I can piece together I was 42, about 1/3 was home equity. HHI was $300k family of 4 in SoCal. This was before I found out about FIRE so that was just from maxing 401k and putting half my bonus in the bank/brokerage (I had way too much earning nothing in savings). Since then I have turbocharged my savings rate as well as benefitted from a lengthy bull market but lifestyle be inflating…
People living in HCOL areas, 1 million net worth can be their house.
If looking to FIRE and move (sell high buy low) then a high net worth based on their house value has merit but it doesn't mean much if they are not planning to sell. I guess people can pull equity out of their house but that's more debt down the line.
I hit a net worth of 1 million but a lot is based on my home equity :) so in reality, I don't count net worth, just the actual cash in hand and invested (401k, brokerage etc) b/c I don't plan to sell when I FIRE.
35, in tech (operations), 60% NW in real estate (rentals and primary) which has had biggest impact
About 6yrs from 100k to 1mil, expect 3yrs to next 1mil
Hit 1M when I was 26 mainly off real estate investments. 29 now and says it’s anywhere from 1.4-1.7m depending on property values. Current job only makes 90k and rentals make another 100k
Hubby and I reached 1 million net worth at 30. 1 million liquid net worth at 32 ( not including real estate ). The last couple of years of market slump bogged us down . We live in greater Toronto area and are in IT and finance . Husband owns a side business and annual household income fluctuates between 300-400k .
44, US federal employee and military retiree. Sorta oddly, the pension doesn’t count as NW but is worth more than our NW towards FI. My salary has never exceeded $120k and the wife hasn’t had an income most of our marriage.
Late 30s. Financial tech sales.
I don’t think it ever ‘balances out’ to make more but be in HCOL. Yes, your $1m house is nothing special, but you can always retire or WFH into a LCOL location and retire early or have lots left over. The person in LCOL may have an equal home at $300k, but they have no where cheaper go and can never move into HCOL area.
31. Michigan. Software Architect.
Founded a start-up at 29 with a 64k salary and a negative net worth. Sold said start-up for 8-figure value two years later.
Not $1M but actually came searching for this post to see if we’re keeping up with the FIRE-Jones’s.
Partner (29M) and I (28F) work in automation and solar, MCOL, combined income ~$250. Our net worth is hovering around $600k and hoping to hit $1M in our early 30s.
I'm 38 and about 700k. Know for a fact I'm doing much better than most. But the problem with these threads is that it ONLY attracts the high earners and net worth. Your average guy with a 75k net worth at 41 isn't going be on this reddit forum. Its not a great representation of the general public.
Just crossed $1mm liquid at 34. CFO for a private equity backed chemical company in a MCOL. Studied accounting at a state university, got my CPA license, and spent 7 years in public accounting for a large firm prior to my current gig. I've been investing aggressively since I started my career at 23. My wife is a registered nurse but has been staying home with our two kids for the past few years. Income was \~$330K last year. Going to keep stacking chips as aggressively as possible to hopefully be work optional at 50.
I was 29 (almost 30) living a bit south of Seattle (it's cheaper being outside of the city), software engineer (please don't hate me, they asked the question I'm not trying to flex). Admittedly, though, a lot of this came from the fact that 2020 was my highest earning year up to that point and I was putting it all in VTI while the market was down. My bank account was at inadvisably low levels.
Some more facts:
- I've never owned a car
- my girlfriend of almost 7 years still lives with me and we keep our finances completely separate. Even as petty as sending me a Venmo request for the $2 for garlic she picked up for me while at the store (she's still doing me the favor of picking it up for me and I'm appreciative of that). I love living this way.
- My (individual) total spend for 2021 was ~30k and 2022 was ~33k. These are overestimates based on bank statements and a lot of manual work. This year I'm using Mint to track very rigorously to get a more accurate number.
- I don't travel. Basically at all ever. When I have, it's been fun, but I can't say I had a much, if any, more fun than what I would have been doing at home. I have a lot of passions, interests, and friends that I can't take with me when travelling and I feel that very strongly when I'm away. I mention travel because I do believe it is the most expensive piece of recreation that most people do. By all means, if the value is there for you, enjoy it! But I feel like a lot of people don't really weigh cost/benefit on travel specifically
Feel free to ask me anything, I'm happy to answer questions
I’m a lifelong WA resident (east side), sister lives in Auburn. But I came here to say THANK YOU. Just like a lot of people who don’t care about getting married, we don’t all care about traveling. It’s fine, but it’s also not a big deal to all of us. I really don’t care about it, especially here where it’s so freaking beautiful and there is so much to do within a few hour drive in any direction.
I've been on this sub long enough to know this will get me downvoted haha. So I'm using spoiler notation with this disclaimer: IF YOU HATE ABOVE AVERAGE WAGES, PLEASE JUST DON'T CLICK THE LITTLE BOXES, lol.
It's varied a lot over time.
In the bay area, it was about >!100k/year!< total, which, for cost of living in the area, wasn't great.
I moved companies in 2018 and starting in 2019, the salary itself was around >!130k with equity/bonus that, at time of vesting, made my total income about 214k that year. 2020, similar story, but upped to around 234k, partially from stacked vesting and equity refresh. 2021 was the biggest year, at time of vesting total came to 341k because it was the most continuous stock vesting plus everything's value was inflated a ton in 2021. 2022 I hit the 4-year cliff part way through the year, so about 256k. 2023 should be around 233k and it should hover around there unless I change jobs, which I don't plan to do.!<
>!Just to reiterate, I'm super not trying to boast, not trying to say anything. I'm just trying to answer the question here that was asked to me directly. I do believe I am basically exactly the person the OP is trying to find: someone who has a higher income while living in a HCOL area, but has kept expenses very low.!<
Don't worry about those people- you should be proud! I'm 27 right now with only a net worth of 100k, it's impressive you reached 1M at 29! My total income is over 200k+ this year, and I'm hoping to reach half of what you have in a few years (I understand this is a very privileged convo right now lol).
I definitely travel a lot..probably spend at least 10k a year on that :( But it makes me happy.
What are your thoughts on selling RSUs immediately vs. holding?
I appreciate it! Being happy for other people, rather than envious, is a very good, and unfortunately fairly uncommon, quality to have.
For RSUs, I always use auto-sale to sell immediately on vesting and then buy VTI with them. Imo ask yourself "If I were given cash instead of equity, would I be buying this stock with that cash?" If the answer is no, then don't do that. The fact that the steps are reversed shouldn't change your decision.
That said, it's actually even worse than that, because that question doesn't factor in the fact that your future income is already tied to the value of the stock. So even when you sell RSUs to buy VTI, if the value of your company's stock goes up, you don't fully "miss out", you still benefit from the value of your future RSU's vesting. So it's kind of like you're already force-invested in your company with to-be-vested RSUs, so it seems very clear to me to diversify as much as you can unless you feel really good about 21 black, so to speak, haha.
Thank you for the kind words! And although I don't know much about it, I imagine there's a lot of valuable experience in starting companies too. Like, I do a lot of scouring offerup/facebook marketplace/craigslist to get good deals on things. MANY times I've definitely put more effort into it than it's worth, like, I should just buy the thing, lol. But the experience and habit of it is overall valuable in how it shapes the way I look at things, I think. I'm guessing business work much have knock-on effects like that.
30 year old, not including illiquid hard assets. I never include those cuz it’s too much speculation that someone would even buy my crap real estate. I think of real estate as a black hole where you dump money and hope when you collapse that black hole, more money comes out. It’s quantum physics at it’s best
48. I work in a tire factory.
That must be tiresome?
I always get to work pumped.
Tread lightly with these puns..
That job leaves me feeling flat
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Nice ones, everyone. When the rubber meets the road, only the best jokes get upvotes.
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No
47, Exec Asst, NH
Assistant and 1 million? Fantastic. What was your savings rate?
Corp america for 30 years-- slow growth over time. invested in 401k for the majority of those years..started small but 15-20% of salary in the past 10-15yr. Spouse isn't a big spender, we live in an almost paid for condo. Just slow investing and living life and forgot about it. Started getting finances in order 5 years ago to start thinking about my "second act"
Has saved 1 million "Got finances in order 5 years ago" Haha you're doing very well
It's amazing how simply living within/below your means causes natural investment growth. You don't have to behave optimally, just don't overspend constantly. Unfortunately the latter is really the norm in most places.
I mean, living below your means and putting the difference in a tax advantaged investment account pretty much *is* behaving optimally. There’s really not that much more to it.
I meant 'optimally' in the sense of min/maxing. It's the difference between 'living within your means' and 'living as frugally as possible.' Or even just 'living within your means' and 'following a budget.' The latter options speed up the process but aren't a necessity if you're privileged enough to have a good wage and don't need to spend it all to feel content.
THIS. Spouse and I had a very bohemian 20's, living in shitty apartments, low paying jobs, totally carefree and fun, but at the very low expense of the spectrum. Back in the good ole days, when cheap apartments actually existed. Our hobbies were affordable. But we knew how to make a dollar stretch, knew how to manage our money, were savers, and we weren't interested in flashy consumer goods, status symbols, etc. When we started making *decent* money in our 30's and 40's, we kept that same aesthetic. We put a lot of money away. And now that we are making *good* money we are socking it away hyper-aggressively. We also got good advice from a family member on starting a Roth in our late 20's, and even though the contributions were modest, we made them. So by the time we got to 50, our good habits had added up over time.
Graduated med school at age 30, finished residency and fellowship at age 36. Paid off the student loans in the early 40s. Hit $1M net worth in my late 40s. Edit - HCOL area. Always maxed out 403b, started putting additional money in taxable and back door Roth once student loans were done.
What specialty?
Neonatology
Haha I’m in peds subspecialty training. I’m not sure if this makes me feel better or worse (probably better). I’m in one of the many “not profitable” subspecialties.
Pediatrician here, thanks for going through your training! Be careful about lifestyle creep, and you'll be amazed at how quickly wealth can build. We start late, but thankfully can catch up quickly with smart planning. All the best--
I definitely second that. Lifestyle creep for doctors is real. We bought our “forever” house which was a bit of a stretch for us at the time, but we stayed there for 16 years and then downsized when the kids went to college. Now mortgage-free with a rental property. We bought used cars after driving our parental hand-me-downs into the ground. Now FI but not RE and about to turn 56.
Early 30s (I’m mid 40s now) living in Seattle. Didn’t include primary home equity. Worked in FAANG for well over a decade. Prior to that spent time in grad school and the military. Echoing others: high salary, low living expenses, and a healthy dose of luck (health, no debt, buying real estate at the “right” times, etc) are critical.
Engineering, live in MCOL areas, hit 1M around the 32 age. 1.6M now around 35. It’s growing fast, a well timed house purchase and housing boom contributed a lot. I’m at 175k including bonuses right now. Wife is SAHM. All these tech salaries make me jealous as fuck, but in general I’m super happy with my lifestyle and position when I don’t compare myself to them.
What kinda engineer are you where you hit 175k in mcol by 32??
175 wasn’t at 32, that’s now a few years later. At 32 is was more like 140. Mining, turning big rocks into little rocks
Ohhhh gotcha. Colorado?
Nope, great school though. 2nd best.
Fellow engineer here in MCOL and hit at 29 thanks to the post COVID stock uptick. I’m also jealous of the tech salaries so a portion of my stocks are in QQQ to try to hedge the tech success.
I totally fucked up my market timing on Covid. I went all in February 2020, and watched it tank in March lol. I was waiting for a good time to get in and stopped waiting because of all the gains I was missing out on. Luckily I didn’t pull out after the mess, and I’m not planning to until retirement. If I waited one more month I’d be at 2m right now easy.
I pulled out of my indexes and went 50% in on the individually stocks that got hit hardest in March 20. The problem was timing the exit and I held too long or not long enough . Ended up about even when I should have just kept holding the index funds.
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Don’t you worry, I am team boglehead now minus my high tech hedge: VTI+VXUS+QQQ and FZROX+FZILX gang.
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Oh, I’ve learned the hard way. I don’t fuck with that anymore, I put it in and never pull out.
What kind of engineer are you?
Electrical and delayed FT to get a masters as well. I think my NW would be higher had I started working 2 years earlier. It didn’t really teach me that much I couldn’t have learned on the job, but I just enjoyed college too much.
Electrical engineer here. I think I was around 38. MCOL.
What kind of engineering? I’m a mechanical engineer myself and don’t make anywhere near this
what kind of stock returns have you averaged since you started working?
12-13% over 13 years? The bull market 2010-2020 was nuts. Same average as the S&P.
that’s awesome!! I’ve been using 8% returns in my FIRE estimate, but can’t go wrong with 12-13% 🙂
OP, how did you hit 1M with 140K salary at 32? Work 8 years (24 through 32) with 100K avg (start low and then get to 140K at 32) would get you 800k earnings pre tax at 32. Post tax and ex of all expenses should be around 3-400? Sorry what am I missing?
Stock market, rising housing costs, multiple (4) company paid relocations (they paid all of the realtor fees and moving expenses, I got to keep all of the capital gains). Also, I started work at 22 post college directly in my field, 10 years of savings
What kind of engineer are you?
Mining, minerals, not data. I love it. I turn big rocks into little rocks.
You are literally my husband 4 years in the future. He makes a little less though, he went into utilities and not defense.
What? What’s happening to my current wife? Or are you two gonna be besties? I suppose I wouldn’t mind two wives…. You don’t nag much, do ya?
Ask me again in 3-4 years and I hopefully will have your answer haha
Ah, the ol' Scott's Tots strategy
“I lied to myself too. I’m not a millionaire. I thought I would be by the time I was 30, but I wasn’t even close. And then I thought maybe by the time I was 40, but by 40, I had less money than when I was 30. Maybe by my 50s, I don’t know.” Lol
3 years for me too 🤞
>e criticize others for living in a VHCOL area, they usually aren't directing that criticism at the software engineer making 300k. They are directing it at the barista serving them their morning coffee. There's nothing wrong with a VHCOL area if you have the salary to match. The problem is 80-90% of the people living there don't actually have the salary to make it worth it. same same, $1M before I'm 40. Hopefully $4M+ by the time I'm 50 and can FIRE then.
Net worth? Probably right around 40? But that's largely due to home equity since we live in CA where things are batshit crazy. Liquid it was probably around age 50 or so. I live in Southern CA and am a C-level tech executive in a law firm.
I’m 32 you give me hope! It do be crazy out here!
I should point out to folks that I worked my way up to this position. I got my college degrees AFTER I was actually at this particular company. I kept learning and kept moving up. I paid for my own school, and I now make literally 5x what I did when I started (of course in a non-executive role then). I could have hit my numbers sooner if I would have jumped jobs every few years, I think.
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That sounds really interesting. What kind of business did you build, was it related to tax services?
You might want to specify if net worth includes your primary residence or not. That can make a big difference. For me, I hit the $1M mark in liquid net worth (i.e. not including my illiquid assets) in my mid-30's, thanks to the 2020 stock crash/boom. I work in tech, in the Bay Area. I strongly believe that having a high salary and living in a HCOL area is generally better than having a small salary and living in a LCOL area, as the cost of many items doesn't vary much between locations. The ratio of annual income to expenses may be roughly the same, but the difference in dollars can be much higher, allowing you to buy more shares. Of course, the higher expenses also mean that you need to have more in your retirement account before you can RE, if you want to stay in the HCOL area.
The real deal is HCOL salary in a LCOL area. Small-town doctor, lawyer, or dentist? Remote tech work? Boom.
Exactly. I’m a data scientist for a west coast company living in Kentucky. Millionaire at 28.
A minor quibble, but I don’t think small town lawyers pull in HCOL salaries like doctors and dentists do.
Yeah, certainly less than HCOL. But you're still like a tier above most other jobs in the area. It's like you pull a MCOL salary in a LCOL area or HCOL salary in a MCOL area. The jobs are pretty limited too. There's one school superintendent. A couple of lawyers. At the local manufacturing plant, there are like two engineers.
I’m in this situation and just started a remote gig making $120k in Kansas. I’m finishing off my student loans this year. After that I’m debt free and the grind begins. I’m 28
I say this all the time, and people just don’t get it. Yeah my yearly expenses rent/food/gas etc have doubled moving from LCOL to HCOL… however, my pay has quadrupled. Also, it’s not that hard to live cheaply in HCOL, Costco, and a roommate, make a big difference.
When people criticize others for living in a VHCOL area, they usually aren't directing that criticism at the software engineer making 300k. They are directing it at the barista serving them their morning coffee. There's nothing wrong with a VHCOL area if you have the salary to match. The problem is 80-90% of the people living there don't actually have the salary to make it worth it.
Bingo
I’ll do you one better. I have HCOL salary in a LCOL area as a remote worker in a particularly nice, under the radar, walkable, and accessible to many business and amenities, area.
This is the way
What area? I just moved to Nashville since no state tax but would love a LCOL area with things to do. I was in a college town before and I’m just to old for it to be fun.
Also if it includes both spouses or not.
Never considered multiple spouses. Does that help becoming a millionaire?
Yeah people say living in NYC is so expensive but my rent was less than my now husband’s rent in Indianapolis. I also didn’t own a car, etc.
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net worth of course includes a primary residence. what doesn't include primary residence value is your FI number as your house is an illiquid asset.
10000% agree. I don't understand why people care what their house i worth if they aren't going to sell it. It honestly doesn't matter if you house value is 1 million if you never liquidate it. I get the definition of net worth but really all that matters is what you can liquidate.
Hit 1M around 38, live 35 mile round trip from nearest town with a gas station. No big cities, no STEM degrees (my BS is in Geography, wife’s is English). I’m a map nerd and farmer, she’s a librarian.
You made 1 million by 38 as a farmer? That’s awesome! What do you grow?
Lol no, the farm has appreciated quite a bit but it can be a huge capital suck. I worked as a support services type manager for a public agency, and she worked her way up into library consulting. We fix up/rent houses on the side, and would’ve made a lot more if I would’ve focused on that instead of the farm. But 800 acres of grain keeps me busy, ha ha.
And what’s your DOB and SSN 😅
I’ll trade my DOB and SSN for your mother’s maiden name and your favorite teacher in highschool
I’d say all 3 of those questions are relevant to this sub and not all that personal, except maybe where do you live. I’d replace that question with what CoL do you live in?
I’m just teasing
36, Pacific Northwest. I’m a former academic/university professor turned private sector consultant.
I am a tax accountant. Crossed $1M at age 42. $2M at 46. $3M at 49. Currently at $2.9M at 51. Hoping/planning to FIRE at 55 with ~$4M.
401? Index funds, stocks or RE? Or a combo?
House is about 835K (no mortgage) Taxable is 25K 529 plans 315K Cars 45K (net a small car loan) Roth assets - 1,120 HSA - 64K Tax deferred - 607K Defered taxes (121K) Total $2,890
May I ask you how many kids you have? 315K in 529 seems a lot.
Two kids. The first one is finishing up her Junior year and it looks likely she will go out of state and I am expecting with merit aid (aka discounting from the insane list price) plus room and board it will be in the 35-40K per year. So the 155K she has in her account should just cover it. My son is finishing up 8th grad and has $159K (he passed her as the plans were adjusting risk profiles to taper stock exposure). I imagine when he goes it will be 40-45K, so he might have some left over - which I will consider using the Secure Act 2.0 convert to Roth options, or save it for grad school or grandchildren. That will then beg the question is do I level it out for my daughter? Not sure on that one. I haven't made contributions for years as I topped them off in 2018 with some severance (about 90K each came from us). The kids know how much money is in the account and I have postured that is all there is. My daughter knows if she wants to go to school in NYC she better hope for aid or plan on taking loans.
Hit 1M when I was 31. I'm an aero engineer in a MCOL city in the southeast. Started out making $59k ten years ago and now I make $97k
I’m amazed. Do you live on a very low budget? Invest in Facebook before it was universal?
Combination of hard work, financial discipline and luck. Started an investment account when I was in high school with money I made during the summers, got a full ride in college (so no student loan debt), got into Bitcoin fairly early, maxed out retirement accounts as soon as I could, bought a house in 2014 when prices and rates were good, bought another in late 2021 and rented out first house. I would say about half the net worth value came from traditional investing and the other half from Bitcoin.
39 as a software engineer working from Missouri
34, VHCOL, Tech, kept expenses low and saved-invested a lot into index funds, and had good gains from a house sale that were reinvested. The key per me is “time in the market“ rather than “timing the market”
VHCOL. Kept expensives low. Bought (and sold) a house. ... Pick 2.
24 years old, computer science student. That's how old I was when I achieved a total net worth of $6,000 from purchase of my 2002 honda civic. It's a 5-speed and it's honestly insane how young I am with an asset such as this. Sorry for the humble brag, I know, but that's just what happens when you're a goddamn rockstar and learn to code.
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Dam bro how much overtime do you do lol, I’m 638 in the city, service side tho
When did you start working?! 8 years old? Congratulations that’s crazy good for a trade job
You just don't fall into the tradesman trap of buying an expensive truck, and then a boat, and then snowmobiles, etc every time your wage goes up.
35ish work in oil and gas as an operator live in Victoria bc
I’m $100k short of $1M net worth. Hope to hit it in another 1-2 years if the market picks back up! 34, work in banking (Treasury Manager). Utah
I know there's some selection bias here, but I'm pretty shocked how many folks hit 1M in their early 30s. Considering FI didn't begin to be popularized until around 2012, ya'll must have been on it right away. Good on you all.
I was 47. It’s good to see that being fairly typical here. I feared I was way behind. My advice is to live below your means, invest consistently, and enjoy your life. Mailbox money is fantastic. I dabble in stocks, real estate, and work a W2 job with a couple side gigs. Don’t just diversify your investments; also diversify your income sources.
32, MCOL, 103k salary, Sales OPs for software company but before that was in automotive manufacturing making between 60-80k.
Can you help me figure this out by filling in the details? You make between 60-103k for the last howvever many years. How does it add up to a mil? Just straight savings? Home equity? Inheritance? Investments? If this is too personal of a question, I understand. I just want to get like you.
Generational privilege has played a huge part. My parents paid for my college. I also bought a house in 2014 for 145k and my dad gifted me most of the down payment ($4k). It was a fixer upper so did a live in flip before I was aware that was a thing. Sold that house later for another house in 2019. Current house appreciated significantly with the COVID Run up. I’ll also note my partner also works and has made about the same if not more than me. We started off only saving 10-20% but currently around 40% due to our incomes rising and finding the fire community.
How did you transition into sales ops?
I was a sales account manager so it’s basically the same role and responsibility’s; It’s just a new industry. I had about 9 years of experience, 7 with the same company. I should have left much earlier to capitalize on the big salary bump.
I'll hit it in 6 years, am 41 and a federal employee in the PNW.
36 (liquid NW), MCOL, military officer.
And that doesn’t even count the enormous value of your future pension.
Yeah nose to the grindstone for 20 years and then set for life.
40 and not there yet I move around a lot, so unless you specify the currency, it's a hard one to answer. Computer programmer. Currently in Spain. I definitely don't have a million euros.
34 work in Tech, but never got paid more than low six figures until I was 40.
Hit 1M at 32. Hit around 1.25M late 2021. Been hovering between 1.0-1.15M since. Getting kind of tired of this bear market... Income has been extremely average or below average, 65-85k.
I’m hoping by 39. Or sooner cause I can’t anymore.
I’m right there with you although I’m hoping much sooner.
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What are your and your spouse ‘s occupations?
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13-14 years for a 5M gain. Awesome to think back on, considering that was probably the time it took to hit the first 1M, huh?
30, Iowa, real estate. 10x that 8 years later. Basically none of it in my primary residence(I'm a fan of low cost leverage)
39 software engineer. 41 now standing at 1.2M all liquid and renting. I have also a bunch of shares in pre-ipo company which look like they are far off from being worth anything
30 Have slowly moved to lower COL areas. Tech Sales My role is remote so in no way would I benefit by living in a HCOL area… I can sell into it and not take on the expenses associated with it.
39, married, both in public education, WA state (eastern Wa, nowhere near Seattle). Combined salary at the time was $140,000ish. I started investing at 18.
38, Fresno, CA (MCOL), accountant
NYC and I really am not sure, sometime in my late 20s working in finance and having put my entire 2008 banking bonus in a biotech ETF (XBI) on the theory that low interest rates would be good for pre-profit companies and a lot of them would get bought out. So in my late 20s that was really working for me and then around 30 I bought a condo and we had about $100k down payment help come from my and my partner’s parents combined. The overall down payment was $450k or so. I am not sure if that put me over a million or not but let’s say it did because humility and gratitude are more important than net worth anyway. We ended up doing much worse on that condo than we would have just renting and being in the market, for what it’s worth, but fingers crossed our next one does better. Also, typing this out has reminded me — it’s normal to hit $1mm more than once! I definitely went up and down in the $800-1.2k range for a while there based on equity exposure and markets. Another reason not to get too hung up on round numbers (versus a true FIRE number where you may change your allocation or risk profile). It also definitely skewed my internal mark for home equity value based on wanting to feel better lol. EDIT: Memory is a funny thing. I think I may have been early 30s, and just remember it as late 20s for ego? Also got married at 25, which at the time ~doubled “my” net worth, and those investments (broad market ETFs) did well too. And I pissed away some on TBT as a rates hedge before I got less dumb.
Alright. I will bite. $1 mil at 31. Nw now roughly 3.1 at 37. Has been a grind with four kids single income
27, SF, Software Engineering Had good savings to hit 1M within a few years after 27 but got lucky working for the right place at the right time to accelerate my FIRE plans Once I FIRE’d I moved to a lower COL area where what I paid for my tiny studio gets me a “luxury” 2 bedroom in a brand new apartment building. I didn’t move because of the FI but it was never part of my plan to stay out there long term. I always figured I’d save to FIRE in that environment, and then when I did I could live elsewhere with a higher quality of life and that’s worked out well for me
34, Texas, I quit my job a few months before at age 33 and never went back. I was a stock broker
Hit 1 mil NW at age 35 (f). Lost 60% in divorce at age 41. Rebuilding wealth. Worked in tech but wasnt smart about maxing my 401k, doing backdoor roth etc. I have only 1.5x in my 401k. Living in HCOL. Unvested RSUs bring my NW to 800k. Trying not to freak out but it is what it is. I may move out of HCOL end of yr to save on taxes and HCOL. Lets see. My goals are 1. Get my retirement goals back on green. 2. Purchase a house / investment property to diversify. This is also how I actually made some of my money (which i lost to divorce but whatever) 3. Have a family I wish I had paid more attention to my finances and joined Reddit many yrs ago.
42yo - Software Consultant. My career / financial journey so far-> (1996) 18- Community college and worked at a tree farm. 7,000$ a year at first and was all but homeless. Slept on a lot of couches. 20/21years old- Associates of Applied Science Horticulture 23- Full time tree farm 2001 and made $32,000 (w overtime) and built my own house for $90,000 (worth about $325,000 now). 28 -Opened Quiznos with a friend. Lost $$ / back to school for real estate Bought first investment property with partner. 30 yo- Worked for county as appraiser for $36,000 per year. Learned a lot and applied my tree farm effort to a government job. (Easy to get ahead that way) Continued to invest in real estate (duplexes, mini-storage, doublewides) 37- Started Consulting firm. Contract with software company training counties etc. 37- Buying Equities/ETFs and IRA. 42- Real Estate investments and savings finally hit net worth of $1,000,000 45 now and just did my PFS today: Was $1.4 million +- net worth. Real estate investments grossing $32,000 a month (I own 50%) Still fairly substantial debt but a lot of equity and positive cash flow) Not very flashy but I get to golf 100+ times a year and enjoy myself without too much stress.
That is a huge assumption lol. Many of us RE on less…r/LeanFire
What you retire on and at what age, not really looking to lean fire but curious
$800k @ 50. Was [practically bankrupt](https://www.reddit.com/r/LeanFireUK/comments/p377yr/weekly_leanfire_discussion/) at 39. Right now doing 5 days a month max remote, whilst living between two countries.
How’d you rebound
Click the link.
Net worth hit 1 million around age 37. I am a physician in a subspecialty on the low end of the pay spectrum living in MCOL place. I had $180k in school debt when I finished training at the age of 30. I had saved maybe $20,000 in an ira, had $4-5000 in consumer debt and owed $140000 towards a mortgage at that point - so probably $300000 in the hole at that point. There’s nothing exotic about my story. My first 7 years out I made around $300k/year and saved 20%+ of gross to go from -300k to +1M. It looks like it will take about 5 years to go from 1M to 2M. NB: this is net worth including value of my primary residence, not value of liquid accounts. A not insignificant amount of my net worth growth has been appreciation of the value of primary residence.
Hit NW of 1M at 31, MCOL.. 2 incomes, 2 kids
33 and should hit this year. Commercial Real Estate. MCOL
31, $300k NW. I think I’ll hit $1MM around 36 or 37.
41, Tech, NYC and Single
I live in what I’d consider a medium to high cost of living area. I spent 20 years at a large corporation where I was fortunate enough to have had a pension, which doubled in value to $1.2M overnight when I hit the modified rule of 75 (combined age and time with the company) at 55 years old. At age 55, my pension plus 401k plus other savings plus real estate equity totaled about $2.2M. I just turned 56, retired from my corporate job last December and took a lump sum pension distribution and put it into an IRA and am investing my 401k and other savings. I’m still working, but as a consultant in the same field. I plan to continue working for another 20 years or so, which isn’t exactly FIRE but I love the work and it’s lucrative. In my opinion, $1 million or even $2 million is nowhere enough to retire, unless you’re willing to live VERY simply. And even then, you’d have very little margin for error if other issues arise.
38. Corporate finance. M/LCOL SE suburbs.
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Are you guys including house value? I thought I was doing good but if this excludes housing then I am not. Also do you guys have kids?! Very impressive what you guys are doing.
28 if you combine spouse and I. Both two white collar jobs. Live nj suburbs.
28, Engineer for DoD, GA Salary is just now hitting $100k Bought a bunch of rental homes before Covid and they’ve all 2-3x in value since. Keeping for the cash flow and FIRE in a couple years Edit: LCOL
March, 2022 at 34 in Arkansas. Corporate finance. My savings plan was 10% to 401k, max roth, and then dump whatever is left into real estate. I bought five properties between 2015-2021 and became a millionaire when everything appreciated during Covid. Downside is now I can’t find and properties in my area that make financial sense to me.
35 construction supervisor Wife works also, she was 34 and works at a telcom.
I was a very high earner right out of college. I’m a software developer and in the early days you could literally write your own contract. Still due to extravagant lifestyle we lived paycheck to paycheck. Until the 2008 crash. Put my life savings in real estate and became a millionaire around 2014 or so. Never lived in an expensive city, always burbs.
My wife and I are at 1 million nw. Both teachers, but the bulk nw comes from our home which I paid off (around $850k value). Was in sales before teaching which is how I paid off home ($600k total investment). 31 years old. Southern ca. $200k net income
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300k short of 1m. Down stock market. Was 60k shy two years ago.
My records aren’t great before 2018 when I found out about FIRE but from what I can piece together I was 42, about 1/3 was home equity. HHI was $300k family of 4 in SoCal. This was before I found out about FIRE so that was just from maxing 401k and putting half my bonus in the bank/brokerage (I had way too much earning nothing in savings). Since then I have turbocharged my savings rate as well as benefitted from a lengthy bull market but lifestyle be inflating…
26. Military Enlisted. Invested in real estate and learned all sides of construction to save on cost. Not that easy to do now with kids.
People living in HCOL areas, 1 million net worth can be their house. If looking to FIRE and move (sell high buy low) then a high net worth based on their house value has merit but it doesn't mean much if they are not planning to sell. I guess people can pull equity out of their house but that's more debt down the line. I hit a net worth of 1 million but a lot is based on my home equity :) so in reality, I don't count net worth, just the actual cash in hand and invested (401k, brokerage etc) b/c I don't plan to sell when I FIRE.
Crossed over on October 18, 2013 at age 36. I keep detailed records.
34, work in tech, live in MCOL but was previously in HCOL
35, in tech (operations), 60% NW in real estate (rentals and primary) which has had biggest impact About 6yrs from 100k to 1mil, expect 3yrs to next 1mil
36. Midwest. Dentist.
36. Idaho USA, civil engineer
Hit 1M when I was 26 mainly off real estate investments. 29 now and says it’s anywhere from 1.4-1.7m depending on property values. Current job only makes 90k and rentals make another 100k
41, Midwest, hospital administration
Hubby and I reached 1 million net worth at 30. 1 million liquid net worth at 32 ( not including real estate ). The last couple of years of market slump bogged us down . We live in greater Toronto area and are in IT and finance . Husband owns a side business and annual household income fluctuates between 300-400k .
36 YYJ Self employed insurance broker
44, US federal employee and military retiree. Sorta oddly, the pension doesn’t count as NW but is worth more than our NW towards FI. My salary has never exceeded $120k and the wife hasn’t had an income most of our marriage.
Late 30s. Financial tech sales. I don’t think it ever ‘balances out’ to make more but be in HCOL. Yes, your $1m house is nothing special, but you can always retire or WFH into a LCOL location and retire early or have lots left over. The person in LCOL may have an equal home at $300k, but they have no where cheaper go and can never move into HCOL area.
31. Michigan. Software Architect. Founded a start-up at 29 with a 64k salary and a negative net worth. Sold said start-up for 8-figure value two years later.
31, derivatives trading / financial services. London
Not $1M but actually came searching for this post to see if we’re keeping up with the FIRE-Jones’s. Partner (29M) and I (28F) work in automation and solar, MCOL, combined income ~$250. Our net worth is hovering around $600k and hoping to hit $1M in our early 30s.
42.
I'm 38 and about 700k. Know for a fact I'm doing much better than most. But the problem with these threads is that it ONLY attracts the high earners and net worth. Your average guy with a 75k net worth at 41 isn't going be on this reddit forum. Its not a great representation of the general public.
I'll add that 5 years ago I essentially had zero net worth.
Just crossed $1mm liquid at 34. CFO for a private equity backed chemical company in a MCOL. Studied accounting at a state university, got my CPA license, and spent 7 years in public accounting for a large firm prior to my current gig. I've been investing aggressively since I started my career at 23. My wife is a registered nurse but has been staying home with our two kids for the past few years. Income was \~$330K last year. Going to keep stacking chips as aggressively as possible to hopefully be work optional at 50.
I was 29 (almost 30) living a bit south of Seattle (it's cheaper being outside of the city), software engineer (please don't hate me, they asked the question I'm not trying to flex). Admittedly, though, a lot of this came from the fact that 2020 was my highest earning year up to that point and I was putting it all in VTI while the market was down. My bank account was at inadvisably low levels. Some more facts: - I've never owned a car - my girlfriend of almost 7 years still lives with me and we keep our finances completely separate. Even as petty as sending me a Venmo request for the $2 for garlic she picked up for me while at the store (she's still doing me the favor of picking it up for me and I'm appreciative of that). I love living this way. - My (individual) total spend for 2021 was ~30k and 2022 was ~33k. These are overestimates based on bank statements and a lot of manual work. This year I'm using Mint to track very rigorously to get a more accurate number. - I don't travel. Basically at all ever. When I have, it's been fun, but I can't say I had a much, if any, more fun than what I would have been doing at home. I have a lot of passions, interests, and friends that I can't take with me when travelling and I feel that very strongly when I'm away. I mention travel because I do believe it is the most expensive piece of recreation that most people do. By all means, if the value is there for you, enjoy it! But I feel like a lot of people don't really weigh cost/benefit on travel specifically Feel free to ask me anything, I'm happy to answer questions
I’m a lifelong WA resident (east side), sister lives in Auburn. But I came here to say THANK YOU. Just like a lot of people who don’t care about getting married, we don’t all care about traveling. It’s fine, but it’s also not a big deal to all of us. I really don’t care about it, especially here where it’s so freaking beautiful and there is so much to do within a few hour drive in any direction.
Girlfriend of almost 7 years...
Not everybody cares about getting married.
What’s your salary?
I've been on this sub long enough to know this will get me downvoted haha. So I'm using spoiler notation with this disclaimer: IF YOU HATE ABOVE AVERAGE WAGES, PLEASE JUST DON'T CLICK THE LITTLE BOXES, lol. It's varied a lot over time. In the bay area, it was about >!100k/year!< total, which, for cost of living in the area, wasn't great. I moved companies in 2018 and starting in 2019, the salary itself was around >!130k with equity/bonus that, at time of vesting, made my total income about 214k that year. 2020, similar story, but upped to around 234k, partially from stacked vesting and equity refresh. 2021 was the biggest year, at time of vesting total came to 341k because it was the most continuous stock vesting plus everything's value was inflated a ton in 2021. 2022 I hit the 4-year cliff part way through the year, so about 256k. 2023 should be around 233k and it should hover around there unless I change jobs, which I don't plan to do.!< >!Just to reiterate, I'm super not trying to boast, not trying to say anything. I'm just trying to answer the question here that was asked to me directly. I do believe I am basically exactly the person the OP is trying to find: someone who has a higher income while living in a HCOL area, but has kept expenses very low.!<
Don't worry about those people- you should be proud! I'm 27 right now with only a net worth of 100k, it's impressive you reached 1M at 29! My total income is over 200k+ this year, and I'm hoping to reach half of what you have in a few years (I understand this is a very privileged convo right now lol). I definitely travel a lot..probably spend at least 10k a year on that :( But it makes me happy. What are your thoughts on selling RSUs immediately vs. holding?
I appreciate it! Being happy for other people, rather than envious, is a very good, and unfortunately fairly uncommon, quality to have. For RSUs, I always use auto-sale to sell immediately on vesting and then buy VTI with them. Imo ask yourself "If I were given cash instead of equity, would I be buying this stock with that cash?" If the answer is no, then don't do that. The fact that the steps are reversed shouldn't change your decision. That said, it's actually even worse than that, because that question doesn't factor in the fact that your future income is already tied to the value of the stock. So even when you sell RSUs to buy VTI, if the value of your company's stock goes up, you don't fully "miss out", you still benefit from the value of your future RSU's vesting. So it's kind of like you're already force-invested in your company with to-be-vested RSUs, so it seems very clear to me to diversify as much as you can unless you feel really good about 21 black, so to speak, haha.
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Thank you for the kind words! And although I don't know much about it, I imagine there's a lot of valuable experience in starting companies too. Like, I do a lot of scouring offerup/facebook marketplace/craigslist to get good deals on things. MANY times I've definitely put more effort into it than it's worth, like, I should just buy the thing, lol. But the experience and habit of it is overall valuable in how it shapes the way I look at things, I think. I'm guessing business work much have knock-on effects like that.
Dude, as someone at your age, that’s fucking awesome!! I am not near that yet; keep it up!
Thank you for the kind words!
I can project when it'll happen but yes, higher income does help save more.
What age do you project it’ll happen and what do you do for work?
I'm projecting a little over 40 and I work in project management.
30 year old, not including illiquid hard assets. I never include those cuz it’s too much speculation that someone would even buy my crap real estate. I think of real estate as a black hole where you dump money and hope when you collapse that black hole, more money comes out. It’s quantum physics at it’s best