Zero to $100K in one year

[Scotty T]

Hi all.  I Am trying to get to $100K in Net Worth by the end of 2014.  Does anyone want to join me in this challenge?  I started in September with virtually no assets (no debt either!) and am currently worth about $10K.

The challenge is:

Can you go from being worth between $0 and $25K in February of 2014 to being worth more than $100K by December 31st 2014?

The plan is:

Aggressively expand active income.
Aggressively cut costs.
Max out tax advantaged retirement accounts.
Actively invest in five categories: Large Stocks, Micro Cap Stocks, Residential Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, and Debt.
Pursue ad hoc ventures for short term returns.

I'm down to discuss progress once a month, once a week, or however frequently you think would be beneficial.

-Scotty T.

[ichangedmyname]

I wish you all the best. I make about a third of that amount so I can't do it. Double my 2013 net worth would be more than enough for me.

[Little House]

I like this idea, but it only works for people who earn more than $100K annually. Perhaps, a modified challenge for those that earn less can be something like, save 40 - 50% of your income by December 31st. That way more people can join. Good luck on your challenge!

[windawake]

I just started out with zero net worth at the beginning of this year. I'm currently at about $6k. Hoping to get to $25-30k by the end of the year, but I make $53k so it would be very hard to save double that!

[schimt]

Aggressively expand active income.

Scotty T. mentions aggressively expand active income, meaning increasing his income by job change/ promotion/ side hustles. So the few that mentioned that this not possible for them, are not considering this step of his plan and the challenge.

Not simple, but possible for most.

[ichangedmyname]

Aggressively expand active income.

Scotty T. mentions aggressively expand active income, meaning increasing his income by job change/ promotion/ side hustles. So the few that mentioned that this not possible for them, are not considering this step of his plan and the challenge.

Not simple, but possible for most.

That is true. Or maybe, for me, just find a another job that pays more since I'm not happy with this one.

[windawake]

Aggressively expand active income.

Scotty T. mentions aggressively expand active income, meaning increasing his income by job change/ promotion/ side hustles. So the few that mentioned that this not possible for them, are not considering this step of his plan and the challenge.

Not simple, but possible for most.

Ah, I just started my job which is actually quite well paying for a first job right out of grad school. I have a master's project to finish (hopefully in the next couple months) before I'm allowing myself to do any side hustles. Then we'll see!

[BPA]

Hi all.  I Am trying to get to $100K in Net Worth by the end of 2014.  Does anyone want to join me in this challenge?  I started in September with virtually no assets (no debt either!) and am currently worth about $10K.

The challenge is:

Can you go from being worth between $0 and $25K in February of 2014 to being worth more than $100K by December 31st 2014?

The plan is:

Aggressively expand active income.
Aggressively cut costs.
Max out tax advantaged retirement accounts.
Actively invest in five categories: Large Stocks, Micro Cap Stocks, Residential Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, and Debt.
Pursue ad hoc ventures for short term returns.

I'm down to discuss progress once a month, once a week, or however frequently you think would be beneficial.

-Scotty T.

Good luck!  I am just bookmarking so I can follow your progress.  I admire your drive.  If I weren't feeling so exhausted right now, I might attempt to join you.  :)

[DTown]

It would be quite a stretch, but with an additional $15k in side income I might actually be able to do this. Maybe I should finally start putting together those side jobs I've been meaning to start for the past year but neglected.

$15k is a hell of a lot though. If I made that much in a side hustle I'd probably just quit the day job and do it full time.

[ethereality]

This is probably out of reach for me, but it doesn't hurt to try. I started off December with around $3000 net worth, and I'm currently at $18000. But, I'm young with no dependents, so when better to try? (:

[Scotty T]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

This challenge is certainly not for everyone, and I have a few advantages that may prevent this from being realistic for some:

- Single
- Early 20's
- College degree
- Excellent Health

If some people do not have all of these advantages, perhaps a modification of this goal is needed.

On the other hand, If you have all the advantages that I have, I don't think that the base salary of your current job necessarily prevents you from doing this.  It doesn't hurt, but my job alone certainly will not put me in position to achieve this goal.  Here's why:

- I make less than half of that $100K goal at my full time job.  Side hustles are clearly needed and I already have two.
- I save about $3000 per month.  This helps but won't be enough.
- Maxing out a Roth IRA and a 401k are nice, but won't even get me 25% of the way there.
- Investing is critical.  Putting $$ in the bank won't work for this challenge.  Micro Caps, stock shorts, options, Real Estate.
- Ad hoc projects are necessary to generate cash to invest.  Real Estate license, business ventures, arbitrage, event planning, etc.

I know I'm throwing down a steep challenge.  I'd like to crush it this year.  If anyone is interested in this, PM me and I'd love to discuss the specifics of what you and I have already accomplished, and to brainstorm for the future.

Thanks again everyone!

[Sunflower]

I'll join!! I also got to zero net worth around September when I graduated and used all of the money I'd been saving (plus a nice signing bonus) to pay off my students loans. As of this moment I'm $30K positive. I make a little over 100K and might have some bonuses in my future so the biggest issue for me is going to be keeping spending in line. I keep going back and forth on how much saving vs. spending I want to be doing at this point in my life but it would be awesome to have $100K by the end of the year.

[Retireme32]

Hi all.  I Am trying to get to $100K in Net Worth by the end of 2014.  Does anyone want to join me in this challenge?  I started in September with virtually no assets (no debt either!) and am currently worth about $10K.

The challenge is:

Can you go from being worth between $0 and $25K in February of 2014 to being worth more than $100K by December 31st 2014?

The plan is:

Aggressively expand active income.
Aggressively cut costs.
Max out tax advantaged retirement accounts.
Actively invest in five categories: Large Stocks, Micro Cap Stocks, Residential Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, and Debt.
Pursue ad hoc ventures for short term returns.

I'm down to discuss progress once a month, once a week, or however frequently you think would be beneficial.

-Scotty T.

I'm all over this.  I have the exact same goal.  Although I'm not debt free but I want to have $100k in savings through -cash in bank; 401k; IRA's; and individual investments. I'm at almost $50k now but that was my total for like the past 10 years - pre-Mustachian so I gotta really up my game!  Let's keep each other on track throught the year! Good Luck!

[ethereality]

Just passed $20,000. Hard to be patient, as theoretically I need to find a way to add $7500 to my net worth per month (to meet the halfway point), which is double my salary. Haha. This is definitely a stretch, stretch goal. But it should get easier as the year goes on. I'm trying to remind myself that I'm doing this for "good" reasons, to have more freedom/options with my life, not to be more of a consumerist. Otherwise, sometimes I fear this money counting takes up too much of my daily thinking...

I'm also working on letting go of my fears of investing. Those of you who are also without dependents and in good foreseeable health, how much do you have in a savings account for emergencies? For me, I think I'm going to reduce my $4000 in savings to $1000 and investing the rest. Work in progress!

[Sunflower]

quote author=ethereality link=topic=13954.msg231253#msg231253 date=1393542504]
Just passed $20,000. Hard to be patient, as theoretically I need to find a way to add $7500 to my net worth per month (to meet the halfway point), which is double my salary. Haha. This is definitely a stretch, stretch goal. But it should get easier as the year goes on. I'm trying to remind myself that I'm doing this for "good" reasons, to have more freedom/options with my life, not to be more of a consumerist. Otherwise, sometimes I fear this money counting takes up too much of my daily thinking...

I'm also working on letting go of my fears of investing. Those of you who are also without dependents and in good foreseeable health, how much do you have in a savings account for emergencies? For me, I think I'm going to reduce my $4000 in savings to $1000 and investing the rest. Work in progress!
[/quote]

Right now I have $4000 in a savings account and I'm also trying to figure out what the right value is...I'm pretty comfortable with that amount whereas thinking about dropping it makes me pretty nervous so I'm going to stick with it for now and maybe reduce it later in the year. Right now I'm going through a move and might have 1-2 more coming up in the next year. Work reimburses for most of the moving expenses but it's after the fact so it's nice to have a little cushion.[

[schimt]

I'm also working on letting go of my fears of investing. Those of you who are also without dependents and in good foreseeable health, how much do you have in a savings account for emergencies? For me, I think I'm going to reduce my $4000 in savings to $1000 and investing the rest. Work in progress!

Some more food for thought, an article which i'm sure has already been discussed on this forum elsewhere, betterment's opinion and evidence on how to manage your emergency fund.

https://www.betterment.com/blog/2013/08/06/safety-net-funds-why-traditional-advice-is-wrong/

[ethereality]

Thanks for the link and the reminder. I've just set up monthly transfers to take the emotional side out of it and let logic do its work.

[jb]

Gonna jump in on this... kinda.

I started 01/01/14 with a net worth of about $103k. This is all cash/investments minus the last couple thousand in student loans that I own (subsidized/0% at the moment - I finish school in May). I don't include vehicles in this calculation (depreciating asset), and don't have a house/mortgage. Like the OP, I am also single, so my expenses are minimal. My goal is to have a net worth of over $200k by 01/01/15.

[ethereality]

How is everyone doing? I just passed $25,000 so I'm 1/4 there. I'm self-employed, and my summer months are busiest, so I'm projecting that with my side income, I can get up to $30,000 by June 1st, and $50,000 by mid August. This is still obviously a stretch goal for me, but if I can reach even $75,000 by the end of the year, I'm going to be really proud. With all this focus on my budget and income, I'm shifting my priorities to improving quality of life. Even without dependents, I'm feeling pretty burnt out on the money-making side! Now...to do this without blowing all that hard-earned money!

[Sunflower]

I have $43,000 in 401k/Roth/HSA and ~$10,000 in cash. I just realized that I'm over half way there! :-D

I still need to figure out this cash thing....I have $4000 that I wanted to leave in savings for peace of mind but then I have cash accounts for my HDHP expenses (~$1000 at this point), $1500 for 'vacation/car repairs/etc' and then on top of all that I don't like my 'checking' account to get too much below my monthly expenses (~2.5k/month) I even have $1500 sitting in an account that says "to invest" which I thought would force me to shuttle any leftover cash into and clear out frequently but I keep thinking "but what if I NEEEED that for an EMERGENCY?!". (I have ING so even though each 'account' is labeled differently they're all connected.) Clearly I need to work through how much is sitting in cash and why I'm not comfortable with more in the stock market. I think it's due to the fact that my large paycheck still feels new and while my job is stable, not much about the rest of my life is (moving frequently, figure out how to split expenses with the SO, trying to let myself spend on travel for the first time in 6 years, etc.)

Sorry to ramble! How's everyone else doing??