When I got my first raise at a real job after college, I put all of it into my 401k. Then I kept that same percentage investment each time I changed jobs and/or my income went up. We have a decent start on 401ks. Hers is maxed out and mine will be next year. The combined 401k balance is somewhere around 200k.
When I mentioned thinking about investments next, I really meant more flexible investments than traditional retirement accounts. We'll keep contributing to 401ks for tax purposes, but we're looking for something to use for our other savings. Maybe REITs?
We certainly have an above average income for the area. Although the law school debt was rough, the degree has more than paid for itself already. DW also really likes what she does. We don't suggest a career in law to the average person, but it has worked out well for her. For people with less financial discipline, it's got the potential to bring on more debt than you can imagine.
People couldn't understand why we didn't have cable or buy new clothes all the time. We also rarely went out to eat and generally managed one reasonably cheap vacation per year. There's a slight amount of lifestyle inflation now - we have cable to watch football and we have been going out to eat a little more lately. We've done some experimenting over the years and determined what we enjoy using our money for. We don't feel guilty about spending money on things we really enjoy. The funny thing is the less debt we have, the less money we want to spend on foolish things.
The next step is downgrading from iPhones to plain cell phones. I'm trying to wade my way through the communications guide to reduce costs there. Oh, and trying to be relatively minimalist parents. No mountain of crappy plastic toys or a million single-use items here.
