What did different 100k milestones feel like to you?

[retireatbirth]

Here's my recollections:

100k = proof of concept, researched FI after I noticed this and found MMM
200k = satisfaction that net worth is growing quickly
300k = thinking more in FU terms, might quit job, worry less about corporate bullshit
...
TBD

[ixtap]

"Huh, that's kind of cool."

[sol]

The last couple have prompted a response something like "Wow, another 100k already?  I hope this market cools off sometimes soon, or else people are going to be pissed if we get a big crash."

Of course I've been having that thought for approximately 100% market growth, by now. 

[friedmmj]

The last couple have prompted a response something like "Wow, another 100k already?  I hope this market cools off sometimes soon, or else people are going to be pissed if we get a big crash."

Of course I've been having that thought for approximately 100% market growth, by now.

Have you scaled back your asset allocation?

[sol]

Have you scaled back your asset allocation?

Did you mean to ask "are you a market timer?"

No, I am not a market timer.

[Altons Bobs]

Didn't feel like anything at all, they weren't even on my radar, they were non-events.

[PhilB]

Only one of them has ever really been a major event and that was my work pensions hitting £500k.  I got a bit emotionally invested in that one purely because it was such a tease.  I hit £490k in April 2015 and as I stick in £40k pa expected to break £500k shortly afterwards, but the markets had other ideas.  I spent most of the next 5 months in the £485k - £499k  range without breaking the barrier then in Sept dropped to £460k before having another 9 weeks in the £490ks at the end of the year.  On 1 Jan 2016 I finally hit the £500k mark and that was quite a moment.  Of course 6 weeks later I was back down to £457k, but those are the breaks!
Hitting £600k in Dec 2016 and £700k this October were a whole lot less significant.

[Slow&Steady]

This thread is kind of disappointing.  I am sitting at $95k in my 401k and have been really looking forward to seeing 6 figures.

I understand that after it happens and stays above that number it might not seem as awesome but I think the day I notice I will be very excited and tell the entire world about it (okay maybe just you guys and like 1-3 people in my life). 

[Million2000]

100k was good, it proved to me this was possible. My wife and I just crossed a quarter million and are well on our way to 300k. For us it has gone faster than we thought it would.  What's been more interesting for me is noticing when the net worth doesn't go up, even when we put large sections of our pay aside. To us it now means we have a significant chunk in the market relative to our pay (thus getting closer to the portfolio supporting us), that's been the best feeling so far.

[MrMoneySaver]

When my family reached about $250,000 in the markets (and quite a bit more in home equity) it hit me that we need to protect and manage what we have, not only grow it. I started looking at whether our homeowner's insurance was adequate, and ended up buying an umbrella policy. I started looking into adding some bonds, as we'd previously been at almost 100 percent stocks. I got more serious about finding funds with the lowest possible fees. I paid more attention to whether my beneficiary selections were up to date.

In other words I started to focus a lot more on "tending the garden." It struck me that when you have a certain amount of assets, you have a lot of new issues to think about and have to develop some new knowledge and skills to deal with them. #firstworldproblems

[Edit: Typed bonds when I meant stocks. Fixed.]

[tarheeldan]

I was very excited, but it definitely still felt like I was still at the beginning of my MMM journey - even though I'd been working for 5.5 years to go from -$13,600 to +$100,000. It made it much more fun to be "racing" with others here: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/race-from-10-to-100k!!/850/

I'm not sure if hitting 200k was more exciting in the moment (when I tallied up the numbers), but it feels different knowing the compounding power of this kind of money. If you're a normal spendypants it's maybe not such a huge amount, in terms of the passive income relative to spending, but with mustachian spending levels it means I am not only done saving for retirement (based on historical average returns) - but done saving for an early retirement at around 50! Crazy. Hoping a quarter mil' will be a fun milestone too: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/race-from-100-to-250k/1400/

[fattest_foot]

Mostly just an "oh neat" kind of reaction.

I'd say $100k was probably the most notable since it took so long to get there, and it was towards the start of finding MMM.

$250k was kind of fun only because I could say "we have a quarter of a million dollars." I think $500k will be similar, just because it's fun to say "xxx of a million dollars."

Honestly though, the only one that I actually care about is the one that allows us to FIRE. That's the big milestone.

[wonkette]

When I hit $100k it was definitely that 'proof of concept' feeling. Having dug out of a lot of student debt & some credit card debt it felt amazing to see how interest could work FOR me instead of against me.

[big_slacker]

This thread made me actually look at my net worth, it's over $200k now, woohoo! Had no idea, but that's cool. LONG way to go for me.

[Davnasty]

I enjoy the milestones but I don't tell anyone and kind of wish I could. I don't know who to tell though, I'd either feel like I'm bragging if it's someone I trust or setting myself up if it's someone I don't know as well. Plus I grew up in a family that doesn't discuss such things, which I kind of get. I wouldn't want anyone to think differently of me because of net worth.

[Dicey]

Dunno, if people can't take the time to proofread the title of the thread they're starting...

I didn't feel "oike" anything.

[Zikoris]

They all feel like COOKIES!

Example:



But then, I have the maturity of a 6 year old, so feel free to listen to the adults instead.

[PhilB]

I enjoy the milestones but I don't tell anyone and kind of wish I could. I don't know who to tell though, I'd either feel like I'm bragging if it's someone I trust or setting myself up if it's someone I don't know as well. Plus I grew up in a family that doesn't discuss such things, which I kind of get. I wouldn't want anyone to think differently of me because of net worth.

Yep.  That's why this place is so great!

[Slee_stack]

Didn't feel much for the 100k milestones.

I guess at 500k investments each, it was sort of neat...for a moment...but it was still 'nope, not there yet'.

Hoping that at $1M ea, we will be comfortable to pull the plug, but we are still chasing pension and health bennies, so even that may be irrelevant.

Pension is a little over 8 years out though.  Not sure I can make that.  Really want out inside the next 4.

[nawhite]

-$100,000 (student loans): OMG we are so screwed!!! Do all the things to cut spending now!!!
0: Well, now my wife won't be completely screwed if I die, that's good I guess.
100,000: Huh, I guess this MMM stuff kinda works. That's cool.
200,000: Like MrMoneySaver said, "time to start 'tending the garden.'" Stopped paying extra towards the student loans with ~3%. Started watching asset allocations. Started thinking which pots of money I'd need to actually execute a FIRE plan (see the MMM article about "do you have too much in your 401k")
250,000: So that's all it means to be a quarter millionaire? That was easy!
300,000: Didn't register at all.
400,000: Our money is like another member of the family working a minimum wage job all the time and giving us the money. That doesn't seem fair at all. Also, OMG when will this saving thing be over so I can just FIRE already!?!?

[travelawyer]

I love nothing more than checking things off lists, so...  I set various "goals" for myself net worth-wise, and I'm excited when I reach them, especially if early.  I've already hit the EOY goal of $600k, so woohoo!  Next goal is 2/3 of a million by my birthday. After $215k of student loan debt, $0 net worth was the most exciting milestone though. 

[Gondolin]

set various "goals" for myself net worth-wise, and I'm excited when I reach them, especially if early. 

Mmmm, that's good dopamine.

100k was cool. Afterwards, no feelings. Probably won't get jazzed again until I hit a solo million.

[Ladychips]

400,000: Our money is like another member of the family working a minimum wage job all the time and giving us the money.

 

My very most favorite thing on this forum is when someone posts something that makes me think about things in a completely new way.  I'm a little over $400,000 so i paid particular attention to this one.  It'd made me make the Tim the Tool Man sound (or the Scooby Doo sound depending on your age...).  Whipped out my calculator and this is absolutely on target.  Thanks nawhite!!!  I love it!!!

[AlanStache]

The feelings are somewhat mixed, yeah it is really cool to pass a round number but a large percent of my invested net worth is within my 401k so not really accessible.  I think it would feel better and more comforting if the money were more distributed into taxable accounts.  Beyond what I can see on Schwab.com I have home equity in two residences, lending club and company stock so things are a little scattered and I have to take a minute to add it all up some times to remind myself I am doing even better than what is easily seen.

[DumpTruck]

It felt awesome. 100 grand gets a lot of hookers and blow!

[GnomeErcy]

100k didn't even notice.
Inching up on 200k. It's starting to feel good, like I can do this finally. But it's a looong way to go.

[Acastus]

100k - I felt like I had no savings for a long time. Years. Saved up a down payment and bought a house. Felt like Dilbert after paying taxes - sitting in an empty room in my underwear and 1 sock. Finally, my 401k and portable pension accounts topped 100k, and I felt like I had some money.

'Stache was comforting to watch when it was increasing size, but 6 digits. Added digit 7 about 20 years after the 1st 100k. That was a big one. I am surprised how fast it has grown since. I do not plan to add any more zeroes to the 'stache.

[MrMoneySaver]

It felt awesome. 100 grand gets a lot of hookers and blow!

But never enough.

[kork]

Hitting $700k invested and aiming to pay off the mortgage within 5 years was the big one for us.  Everything elset was getting there. At 700k with my wife choosing to work would allow me to semi-fire with 2 young children or provides a lot of FU freedom.  I can’t b liege how many people my age still live paycheck to paycheck! 

[LPG]

I remember 100k being a bit exciting. And I actually hit it twice! Once while I was living and working abroad in Italy, then I came back at pretty much 101k. As soon I wrote that rent check for an apartment in CA (First month + last month + security deposit) I was back below. And with that temporary pull back in Feb of 2016, I was down at 88k for a while. Eventually got back above 100k by year end.

200k was the really exciting one for me. I actually just hit it on Thursday (Fresh success feels sssoooo good). The thing that really excited me about it is that it was only 18 months after the second time I hit 100k. Oh, boy. Can I double my net worth every 18 months*???

*No. But it's fun to think about.

[MayDay]

All my milestones have been exciting. I guess I am easily amused.

It took for freaking ever to reach 100k, and that was with starting with zero student loans. That was exciting.

As our pace has ramped up, and we hit 100k milestones more frequently,I getpre and more pumped at how easy it is to save another 100k. We are almost to 600k. Things got fast feeling at around 300-400k.

[neil]

$100K: Wow, I don't think anyone in my family has ever had this much liquid net worth.  I feel FI knowing I like my career and will have so many options.
$200K: The power of investing is great!  I should have millions when I retire in twenty years!
$100K: ugggh.  Is capitalism broken?

Going through a 50% drawdown puts this all in perspective.  I get more hyped over seeing my saving percentage go up because I know I'm adding more fuel to my portfolio.  The appraised amount of my current investments, I can't do much about it.

[MrMoneySaver]

Going through a 50% drawdown puts this all in perspective.

Stop harshing my mellow!

[TexasRunner]

Not there yet, but posting to follow.  This is good motivation.

[aceyou]

500k NW was fun.

Hitting 100K in the stache 9 months ago was fun.

A couple months ago my stache took 1st place as my larges source of net worth.  It was at like 165k when that happened, I was
super pumped. 

Getting over the 500k NW this summer was the first time I was like "woah, I'm one of the rich people". 

[JoJo]

Big time humblebrag: I just realized my last 100k milestone took 3 months to reach, and I was on paid vacation for 7 of those weeks. 

[pegleglolita]

It felt awesome. 100 grand gets a lot of hookers and blow!

But never enough.

Talk about your hedonic adaption!  Nyuck nyuck nyuck. 

[Loren Ver]

So I noticed the big numbers passing us by even if it was slowly, so I had DH make me a wooden dragon with a hoard to guard.  As we hit 10k it gets another gold coin with the number on it.  We are slowly filling the dragon's hoard.  This gives us a good visual representation of how much we have to go since DH sized it to fit the number of slots for our FIRE number.  We only updated it on the quarters of the year to avoid market fluctuations.  Also, since I know about volatility, the coins are added with sticky tack so I can take them off as needed.  Not a happy reminder, but DH an I are both analytical so accuracy is important to us.  Stupid adventurers stealing from my dragon :(.

LV   

[MasterStache]

Well considering 400K was the point at which I quit my cubicle job and started doing mostly fun side carpentry jobs now, I would say it was awesome! Didn't pay much attention before that. Stache has grown significantly since of course.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

$100K was a big deal for me. When I found MMM and started tracking net worth in mid-2013, I had been out of college and in the workforce for over five years. I tallied up my net worth in the neighborhood of $40,000. I hit $100,000 just a little over a year later. I was dumbfounded that a few minor lifestyle tweaks (and some good luck with raises and bonuses at work) could result in saving $50,000/year vs. the $8,000/year that I had managed up to that point.

2015 was a bit of a struggle (we had to sell a house at a loss of $35K), but we still managed to increase our net worth by several thousand dollars, and that was in a down year for the market.

We finally crossed the $200K threshold sometime in the past year, but I didn't even notice it. Savings and investments are on cruise control at this point, and I spend a lot more time just enjoying life than I do tracking net worth. I think $500K will be a big milestone for me, because that will signal the point at which I feel I could start ratcheting back my career (though not retiring fully) if I wanted to.

[jmechanical]

I don't remember $100k feeling all that special. Right now I am fast approaching $200k with the aggressive market growth lately and my yearly contributions of around $30k. I have 6 different accounts plus some old paper bonds from grandparents on birthdays and don't have $100k in any single one place. The only place I see the full net worth is in a spreadsheet. I am approaching $100k total with vanguard soon and I feel like that will feel special. I can't wait to log in and see six figures on the Total Assets screen.

Of course if I quit my job and roll my 401k over, I would have well over $100k in a single bucket which I also imagine would feel pretty cool.

[DeskJockey2028]

My first $100k was a huge milestone for my wife and I. We'd never, ever in our lives had that much actual money in our names. Combined with our equity in our home, we suddenly had a net worth of a bit over $200k. At that same time our E fund reached the 8 month mark.

We didn't tell anyone else about it, but I distinctly remember telling her at the start of a 20 minute car ride "Oh, we have $100,000 saved up for retirement". There was a moment of silence as this sunk in for both of us. It was pretty huge.

I probably won't even mention $200k to her when we reach it. It'll be awesome for me on a very private, personal level because I love reaching milestones. I will let her know when our net worth hit's $500k. "Heh hon, we're half-millionaires!". That'll be cool.

[rubybeth]

I'm not sure I really registered the first 100K in net worth. We definitely celebrated when we paid off the last of the student loans--our only debt. It was less than a year later that the net worth reached 100k, but we include some items in the net worth that aren't cash, though we don't yet have a mortgage, so if we did, our net worth would go down significantly. I guess I would say it was within the last year that I started feeling more comfortable--no debt, DH got a better job, and we have more of a cushion for emergencies. We started being more philanthropic in the last year, as well--that feels good.

[nawhite]

So I noticed the big numbers passing us by even if it was slowly, so I had DH make me a wooden dragon with a hoard to guard.  As we hit 10k it gets another gold coin with the number on it.  We are slowly filling the dragon's hoard.  This gives us a good visual representation of how much we have to go since DH sized it to fit the number of slots for our FIRE number.  We only updated it on the quarters of the year to avoid market fluctuations.  Also, since I know about volatility, the coins are added with sticky tack so I can take them off as needed.  Not a happy reminder, but DH an I are both analytical so accuracy is important to us.  Stupid adventurers stealing from my dragon :(.

LV   

Seriously!?!?! That is amazing! I want pics!!!

[tipster350]

I don't remember $100k. Around $250k I started to feel that I was amassing a substantial amount of savings. Then $500k was pretty significant. Each $100k after that has been amazing. Now, close to $900k, this threshold seems exceptionally significant, as it feels that I am within striking distance of $1 million. However, I expect a correction to happen soon, so I plan to relish the feeling but also accept that I will be shooting for the $900k threshold more than once.

[katstache92]

I was eager to reach 100k and it dragged out for a little bit.  I finally got there and kept on going.  Nearing 150k now, woo hoo.  I tend to track the first date I hit invested totals (ex. 120k, 140k, etc.) so I can chart them.  Not sure exactly what I'll do when things go down.  Maybe track that too (probably not) or maybe just wait until it gets above my last recorded total and mark the new date.  I probably track too closely for now, it probably won't last, but graphs are fun.

As far as tracking net-worth, I think I took a screenshot with the date when I crossed over 200k, but that's about it.

[eyerishgold]

We recently crossed $1 million net worth. I know it's just a number but I was excited to see that particular milestone. Many people never reach a 7 figure net worth and I've done it before 40. Only a small percentage is equity in our home.

We didn't really celebrate or do anything special once we hit a million but it was a moment I'll remember.

[inline five]

I started casually tracking at most life events vs net worth milestones as I didn't use any sort of financial software until the beginning of 2016. I do remember when our net worth hit $30,000 about 7-8 years ago. I was pretty proud of that because our income had been extremely low.

In Jan 2014 we had around $375,000 when I went to a new job and took a big pay cut, so we had really pushed it up in those five years. It felt finally like we were making some headway. I started casually keeping track once a year.

In Jan 2016 we had $600,000 and I switched to an online aggregator as I switched from mutual funds to individual targeted trades. By early Jan 2017 we hit $1m and today net worth is around $1.4m (knocking on wood, posting it is always bad luck). We are both 36 and have an averaged household income of right around $100k since graduating college.

I'm gonna be honest, for those who younger and starting the climb, after a while the money is almost meaningless and is just numbers on a page. I do feel we have some financial security as we keep about $50k in cash which is a far cry from where we were just a few years ago.

[fattest_foot]

400,000: Our money is like another member of the family working a minimum wage job all the time and giving us the money. That doesn't seem fair at all. Also, OMG when will this saving thing be over so I can just FIRE already!?!?

I'd say this is definitely more satisfying than the arbitrary dollar thresholds we cross. This year being an exceptionally good market year, we'll have earned somewhere between $45-50k on our accounts. Considering my salary just 3 years ago was about that number it's almost surreal.

And I agree with inline five above, that really the money just becomes a number on a page. I don't feel any more financially secure with an extra $100k, even though I know the reality is that it absolutely provides several years of financial stability. It's actually similar to equity in our house. Yeah, we may have more equity today than we did a year ago, but it's still the same house. We can cash it out one day and downsize, but for the "right now" it's kind of just an abstract concept.

Really, the number is more a representation to me of how close (or far, depending on the day) it feels like we are to the goal of not getting up for work in the morning.

[sol]

In Jan 2016 we had $600,000 and I switched to an online aggregator as I switched from mutual funds to individual targeted trades. By early Jan 2017 we hit $1m and today net worth is around $1.4m

This story is great, but I need deets.  How did you add $800k to your net worth in two years on only $100k of household income? 

We've added less, but we earn and contribute more, and we started with a higher baseline so market returns have been more helpful to us than they were to you.  We also "earned" a bunch in leveraged real estate equity in a hot market, but not 400k/year.

Please tell me it wasn't bitcoin.