I love this thread!
2010: I was 37, my wife was 35.
Net worth: ~$500K
~240K in retirement savings (IRA, 401K)
260K in cash (we were saving like crazy to buy our house in VHCOL SF bay area. We used $240K as a 25% down payment in 2011)
No investments outside of retirement, but no loans either.
Today: I’m 46, wife is 44.
Net worth: ~$3.7M
Retirement savings (IRA, 401K): $1,140K
Stocks: $810K (mostly in index funds, but I also invested heavily into Apple, NFLX, MSFT, Google, Amazon starting in 2013)
Home equity: $1.4M (current value $1.9M minus remaining mortgage balance $380K)
REITs: $165K
Cash: $115K
Looking back, I can’t believe these numbers. Einstein was right — compound interest is a powerful force!
This was all due to a combination of (mostly) luck and (some) smart thinking. Both of us got substantial raises at work and although we spent more, we still continued to save over 50% of our salaries. This blog taught me that I had way too much cash, and I moved ~130K into stocks last June.
We’ve a couple of teenagers heading off to college in a few years. I’m not stressing out about tuition. I’ve been exposing them to investing in equities and they know better than spending $100K per year at a private school.
Excited to see what the next decade brings. I feel cautiously optimistic and count my blessings every day.