Share your networth progression.

[Dicey]

This thread intrigues me.  I can't remember, and I can't be bothered to look it up. Posting to say: it doesn't matter. Just start, wherever you are in life.

Continually look for ways to:

Spend less.
Earn more.
Invest wisely.

The rest will happen, in time. #askmehowiknow

I agree with your three principles, but I also think it's no issue to share especially among this group. I haven't seen any comments being envious of other members.

I look at this thread as more of an encouragement to others that compounding is working. It's interesting to see the changes due to economic conditions if the graph goes back far enough.

1. LOL, I never said anything about qualms over sharing. I said I'm too lazy to look them up! I just hit Walrus this week, my numbers are all over the place here, but a perfectly charted history since the beginning? Nah.
       1a. Pre-FIRE, I tallied everything monthly and I used Quicken for a few years.
                 1b. I did a no-spend February for years, long before it was a thing.
2. For sure I didn't say anything about envy either.
3. The only graph I need post-FIRE is a quick peek at my statements, once a month at most.
4. I don't want anyone to think if they don't graph like this, they won't get there.

My post was my way of encouraging people, so I hope we can agree that encouragement is good.

[Bumperpuff]

Year           Net worth
1/1/2015 $47950
1/1/2016 $98090
1/1/2017 $159080
6/1/2017 $192340

Never have been much of a spender and I've tracked expenses for years, but I only really started saving when I found out about FIRE in 2014. I'm hoping to be FI within 10 years.

[Civex]

Household-late 20s

Year           Net worth
6/14          -$160k (100% student loans)
6/15          -$90k
6/16           $20k
6/17           $160k

Not including primary home potential value increase; just bank accounts and debts. My SO and I have taken slightly different paths- I've focused on investing as much as possible and she has been going scorched earth on her SLs. I'm hoping (goal) we will be debt free other than our mortgage with close to 1M portfolio by 35.

[Mazzinator]

Year                     NW
End of 2012         -$102k
End of 2013         -$28k ($130k net income)
End of 2014          $55k ($141k net income, $77k saved)
End of 2015          $94k ($140k net income, $37k saved)
End of 2016          $156k ($154 net income, $59k saved)
Current                $198k

[Rife]

I know where we started when we got married five years ago, but only recorded net worth at the end of last year as a snapshot. The timing is a bit deceptive with the market up so much recently.

Dec 2012: 50000
Dec 2014: 200000 (estimating)
Dec 2016: 502000 (this is the year my wife got serious about retiring early)
Current: 630000

Now the reason for the disclaimer should be clear. The housing market is on fire in Seattle right now, and the market is high. Both have boosted our current net worth but it helps having the assets to boost. We are saving over 100k a year but our net worth is a bit inflated right now.

[Taran Wanderer]

Here's mine thanks to 22 years of Quicken.

What I really like about this is that your NW didn't change much during the 2008-2009 crash.  I'm assuming this is just because you kept dumping more in.  There was a dip - but it doesn't look like it was much to worry about.  I'm sure you were freaking out at the time though. 

You've recovered really nicely.

I was thinking about this the other day, and I think this can probably serve as a good example of how a buy-and-hold strategy can work in your favor. During the 2008 downturn, we didn't sell anything, and we kept putting money into the market. At one point, we had lost (on paper) about a third of our net worth and nearly half our invested assets. It was definitely a little freaky at the time. But by not selling what we already had and continuing to dollar cost average into the down market, we came out really well. Buy and hold with a diversified equity portfolio has worked really well for us.

[fuzzy math]

Year          NW.         Salary

2005.        - 30k.        54k
2006.         -25k.        60k
2007.         - 20k.       68k
2008.         - 20k.        72k
2009.         - 14k        75k
2010.          -10k.       78k
2011.           0.           80k
2012.           8k.         90k
2013.           17k.       105k.     
2014.           22k.       107k.       MMM discovery year
2015.           30k.       115k
2016.           65k        133k
2017 June.    130k.     133k.     


Married with 3 kids (born in early working career), 1 income family.

It's great to see how many people's numbers jump 60, 70, 80k every year as they get into the hundreds of thousands NW. I have to wonder how much is growth vs new savings...

[Julard]

I've not been keeping track all that long.  Numbers are for a one-parent family with 2 kids.

2013  $310,654   
2014  $349,934   
2015  $390,044 (discovered MMM etc)
2016  $424,045   
2017  $489,280 (dropped back to part-time, so currently low income and the increase is down to investments, not to me saving)

[dreams_and_discoveries]

Some great progressions here everyone, well done.

Here are mine: estimates for years when I didn't keep records

2002 - £0k - graduation, £15k student loans, but also £15k equity in flat
2007 - £25k
2012 - £95k  - mix of pension and equity, and moved to London

And when I started tracking

2013 - £175k - equity in outer London house, pension and ISA's
2014 - £276k - massive increase due to leaving permanent job and going contracting to triple my income
2015 - £393k - keeping expenses under control, cut expensive holidays
2016 - £550k - a bit of a brexit 'boost', as the pound is devalued...

And aiming for
2017 - £710k

[K-ice]

Thanks for sharing everyone!

[Goldy]

Some of you have great records! 

2008 Finished school, got married and both got jobs for 65k each.  Focused during these years on paying down debt (student loans, car) and saving for a house.  Negative net worth for 2008.

2013 $632,000
2014 $859,000
2015 $924,000
2016 $1,229,000
Current $1,400,000

[FiguringItOut]

$105K in June 2015 right after my divorce
$188K today

[Rubyvroom]

I like scanning through to see all the awesome graphs. I too have a graph, however we're leaving for vacation this morning so I'm going to get off this site before I derail my morning. PTF and will contribute info later :)

Also, I love to see all the folks hitting or beyond the $1M mark... gives me hope!

[rantk81]

Monthly net worth graph since mid-2006 until present.
Single, software engineer, no stretches of unemployment.




Can you spot the market crash of 2009?  Me either ;)  At the time, it seemed like such a big deal. Hah.

Updated, a couple years down the road!  Volatility has certainly picked up, and market movements are the biggest reason for NW changes month-to-month now, instead of my regular income...

[use2betrix]

In January 2016 we had $90k saved, but also about $90k in debt. I considered that our month of basically breaking into a positive net worth.

This month we’re at $432k between savings and investments. 31, married, SINK. We took 8 months of sabbaticals over that period as well. We should hit $500k this year.

[londonbanker]

All NW and salaries have been translated in GBP although I have been paid in USD until 2011.

Date - NW - Age - Salary -

4Q04 - £(20)k - 24 - £30k - small student loan my parent wanted me to take to put sense into me

2005-2011 - goofing around for 5years w my salary which averaged £75k a year.

4Q12 - £210k - 33 - £270k - household income explodes and I discover MMM
4Q13 - £616k - 34 - £340k
4Q14 - £1,019k - 35 - £375k
4Q15 - £1,285k - 36 - £395k
4Q16 - £1,509k - 37 - £420k
4Q17 - £1,738k - 38 - £430k
4Q18 - £1,915k - 39 - £490k
2Q19 - £2,138k - almost 40 - £500k (expected)

Thankful for having discovered MMM

[SpareChange]

Year    Networth     Income
2011    -50k            13,078
2012    -41k            37,783
2013    -10k            60,970
2014     33,726        74,018
2015     90,497        89,449
2016     146,590      84,464

Blast from the recent past. Always cool looking back. NW is now ~$349k. Income never hit 6 figures.

[Sciurus]

Salary is combined with future wife/wife, only 1 salary in 2010.

Year (age)      Salaries    Year end NW   
2010 (22)        $35k        $-15k   Both graduated college from small state school
2011 (23)        $75k       $10k   Paid off student loans, purchased a small house
2012 (24)         $85k       $40k   
2013 (25)         $95k       $80k   
2014 (26)     $105k       $135k   Married
2015 (27)       $120k       $220k   Purchased a large house, started renting small house
2016 (28)       $160k       $383k   
2017 (29)       $175k       $512k   Child #1
2018 (30)       $175k       $680k   Discovered MMM
2019 (31)      $180k       $1036k  Child #2, Purchased modest house, in process of selling large house

[Rdy2Fire]

I enjoyed seeing some of these and wish I had tracked mine better. I know my NW in 2011 was around 1m and I FIRE'd or think I did (still not really sure) last year (2019) currently sitting around double that so I guess I did ok

[browne497]

Year Age Networth Notes
2014 20  $5-7k      Just enlisted in the Air Force (10 mo. in by end of year)
2015 21  -$27k      Financed a brand new Mustang fulfilling the young enlisted stereotype (even put $3k of it on a credit card)
2016 22  -$23k      Smart enough to trade in Mustang for Camry and begin paying off loan rapidly (via Dave Ramsey)
2017 23  $19k       Paid off car then sold car, PCS'd to UK for 3 year assignment, began to read/implement MMM principles
2018 24  $45k       1st Full year of bike commuting, maxing out TSP (401k) and IRA
2019 25  $106k      Promotion to E-5 pay grade, 3 mo. deployment, re-enlistment bonus (not tax-free location)

[Daisyedwards800]

I don't have each year but I have a few years:

2004 - Graduated college, $-75,000 NetWorth- yes that is negative - I had student loans.
From 2007-2012 I paid my way through graduate school while working, so progress was a tad slower than I'd like but I did manage to accumulate about what I had in student loans in my 401k ($50,000 to $50,000)
2010 - $-10,725
2012 - $8,000
2016 - $80,000
2019 - $303,000
2020- $313,000

[Zikoris]

Sure, why not. Net worth is at the end of the year.

2011 - Around zero. This is when we first started. I worked in a warehouse shipping boxes and I think my boyfriend worked at the grocery store across the street. This was actually the most important year because we laid all the groundwork for FIRE.

2012 - $31,834. After a few temp jobs and stints we both got proper office jobs sometime in July or August.

2013 - $71,007. No notable changes, same jobs, COL raises.

2014 - $124,462. Same jobs, though I worked a lot of overtime that year.

2015 - $168,993. Same old shit.

2016 - $244,341. Boyfriend jumped ship to a new company for substantially more money in the summer, and I quit my job at the end of the year to join him.

2017 - $317,972. Same jobs, and we got to have lunch together every day.

2018 - $356,419. My job situation didn't change, but my boyfriend started a side gig editing video game novels, which he found more enjoyable than his day job, so he quit in the summer to go fully self employed.

2019 - $462,553. I'm still at the same job, doing great, and he's loving being his own boss.

Our income has ranged between about 40K-90K combined over the years, and we've basically just maintained a low spending rate and high savings rate throughout.

[Eco_eco]

Resurrecting this thread again as it’s so helpful to see compounding work out in practice.

Here’s our story:

2001 - $7,500 just married and first property investments made. At the time I predicted we would have NW of $536,000 in 2011 and $3,000,000 in 2030. Household income was $40k net of tax

This went surprisingly to plan and in 2014 our net worth was $635,000. Our income was around $70k net of taxes.

In 2016 our net worth had jumped up to $815,000. Our take home pay was $114,000. We were Lean FI at that time.

In 2018 we came in at $1,459,000. Our take home pay was about $140,000 per annum.

In July 2020 we are at $1,980,000. Take home pay is $170,000 per annnum. It looks like we will exceed my old 2030 target from back when I was in my early 20s. When we had $7,500 to our name the idea of $3m seemed nuts. But the spreadsheets didn’t lie :).

[helloyou]

load of very straight up progression.

I wonder how it would look like after FIRE?

[julia]

2012 (age 18): 45k saved (Started university)
2016: 80k saved (Worked as a TA throughout uni, summer savings, Graduated university)
2016-2017: 67k (traveled to 32 countries around the world for a year... only spent about 13k CAD)
2018: 100k saved, which turned into 110k when my boyfriend and I moved in together and combined finances)
2020: 30k cash, 225k sitting in stocks (this is basically without any interest because I invested almost everything before the crash and it only just went back into the green; this also includes a 70k gift)

Fiance makes 50k (40k after tax), my income is variable (30-50k before tax). In 2019 we had a 65% savings rate but so far this year we're at around 70% savings rate.

[Travis]

Year   NW    Income 

2003  $5k       $42k   - graduated college
2009  $180k   $81k   - I just remember having $150k in cash and $30k in investments. Income in 2004, half of 2006, and all of 2007 tax free plus bonuses.
2014  $364k   $111k - a couple years after finding MMM and Bogleheads. Half of 2010 and 2011 tax free plus bonuses.
2015  $458k   $111k -  another tax free year
2016  $650k   $120k - DW started working
2017  $727k   $120k - Today. The last two years I've done enough per diem work travel to equal an extra $1k per month not counted here. I won't have that any more after this summer.

Savings rate has been 50-60% since 2012. We move every two years so expenses fluctuate with each new location.

mid 2020 $1.23MM $138k salary, savings rate 70%

[Much Fishing to Do]

Here's mine thanks to 22 years of Quicken.

Heh, Yeah, Quicken definitely has me locked in with all this data (and me not wanting to learn anything else at this point.....)...

My big business years helped make up for market downturns in the past (when I didnt have a ton invested anyway), and my bad ones happen to coincide with good markets, so it looks like this could actually be the first year I'll have a drop in networth since its been a positive number (I've made a downshifting move that has significantly reduced income on the way to FIRE)

[mathlete]

Man I wish I kept a detailed records as you guys!

My story is pretty straightforward though. SigOth and I graduated college debt free with probably around $20K saved up. We were both frugal from the get go and read Suze Orman in college. We were lucky enough to both start full time jobs out of college and over the next ten years, we’ve been on a pretty predictable path to a little over half a million dollars.

[dignam]

I last posted about 3 years ago and have more than doubled.

[use2betrix]

In January 2016 we had $90k saved, but also about $90k in debt. I considered that our month of basically breaking into a positive net worth.

This month we’re at $432k between savings and investments. 31, married, SINK. We took 8 months of sabbaticals over that period as well. We should hit $500k this year.

Nearly 1 year later, we’re currently at about $630k

[Jack0Life]

Very conservative investor.
Didn't know about 4% rule until 2015. That's when I calculated my net worth and was surprised at how much we had which then I took FIRE more seriously.
Was never a big earner until 6 yrs ago.
Wife didn't get a job until last year(She just graduated) so I started listing when we got married in 2011.

Year    Age   Salary        Net Worth
2011   38    $49,000      ????? Maybe $300K ? Wife was 28.
2012   39    $65,000      ?????
2013   40    $73,000      ?????
2014   41    $111,000    ?????. Never thought in my lifetime I would ever hit $100k salary.
2015   42    $101,000    $550,000. This was in Oct. I was really surprised at how much I was worth.
2016   43    $110,000    ?????. At this point I made a 5 yr goal to FI.
2017   44    $122,000    ?????
2018   45    $119,000    ?????
2019   46    $99,000      ?????
2020   47    $34,000      $991,000. Feb 18th when the market was at its highest before it plunged. I was @$34k when I got furloughed in March 19.

2020 was suppose to be a great year. Wife got out of school. Making $50k. We as a DINK were making $170k. Well on our way to $1.5 million before we FIRE.
Then I got furloughed in March. Luckily wife is still working. Unlucky as she hates her job.
If I was still working I would have told her to quit her job but she's job is covering most of the expenses so we don't have to touch our stash. Plus I'm getting $875 each week of unemployment before it runs out end of July.
$1,037,000 NET WORTH as of today.
Trying to find a scenario where she can quit her job.
I think we need to just cover our expenses for a few more yrs and let our stash grow before we can pull the plug.

[Much Fishing to Do]

Very conservative investor.
Didn't know about 4% rule until 2015. That's when I calculated my net worth and was surprised at how much we had which then I took FIRE more seriously.
Was never a big earner until 6 yrs ago.
Wife didn't get a job until last year(She just graduated) so I started listing when we got married in 2011.

Year    Age   Salary        Net Worth
2011   38    $49,000      ????? Maybe $300K ? Wife was 28.
2012   39    $65,000      ?????
2013   40    $73,000      ?????
2014   41    $111,000    ?????. Never thought in my lifetime I would ever hit $100k salary.
2015   42    $101,000    $550,000. This was in Oct. I was really surprised at how much I was worth.
2016   43    $110,000    ?????. At this point I made a 5 yr goal to FI.
2017   44    $122,000    ?????
2018   45    $119,000    ?????
2019   46    $99,000      ?????
2020   47    $34,000      $991,000. Feb 18th when the market was at its highest before it plunged. I was @$34k when I got furloughed in March 19.

2020 was suppose to be a great year. Wife got out of school. Making $50k. We as a DINK were making $170k. Well on our way to $1.5 million before we FIRE.
Then I got furloughed in March. Luckily wife is still working. Unlucky as she hates her job.
If I was still working I would have told her to quit her job but she's job is covering most of the expenses so we don't have to touch our stash. Plus I'm getting $875 each week of unemployment before it runs out end of July.
$1,037,000 NET WORTH as of today.
Trying to find a scenario where she can quit her job.
I think we need to just cover our expenses for a few more yrs and let our stash grow before we can pull the plug.

Ah, its a shame you were doing what it took and then things derailed.  What do think your odds are at being returned to that job that furloughed you?  (Though I hear how silly that sounds as I say it given things seem to change every week right now).

Well, I guess my 2 cents is if your wife's job is bad (boring/aggravating/etc) then time for you both to start looking for another one and then she can quit when one of you gets one.  Of course, if its BAD (demoralizing/abusive) she should leave immediately and start looking elsewhere, 'cause if you can't leave a horrible work situation I don't know what point there is in being a millionaire....

[Eco_eco]

Year   NW    Income 

2003  $5k       $42k   - graduated college
2009  $180k   $81k   - I just remember having $150k in cash and $30k in investments. Income in 2004, half of 2006, and all of 2007 tax free plus bonuses.
2014  $364k   $111k - a couple years after finding MMM and Bogleheads. Half of 2010 and 2011 tax free plus bonuses.
2015  $458k   $111k -  another tax free year
2016  $650k   $120k - DW started working
2017  $727k   $120k - Today. The last two years I've done enough per diem work travel to equal an extra $1k per month not counted here. I won't have that any more after this summer.

Savings rate has been 50-60% since 2012. We move every two years so expenses fluctuate with each new location.

mid 2020 $1.23MM $138k salary, savings rate 70%

That’s a awesome update! Around 75% increase In 3 years is awesome.

[facepalm]

January 31, 2016: 23,769

July 15, 2020:     500,730

All equities/bonds, no real estate.

[SpareChange]

EOY      Networth     Income
2011    -50k            13,078
2012    -41k            37,783
2013    -10k            60,970
2014     33,726        74,018
2015     90,497        92,149
2016     146,590      88,489
2017     224,985      88,975
2018     282,015      95,215
2019     381,913      83,161

Updated numbers, and went back and added in estimated 403b matches to income. I went PT last year at the end of summer. Now at about 430k.

[Jack0Life]

Very conservative investor.
Didn't know about 4% rule until 2015. That's when I calculated my net worth and was surprised at how much we had which then I took FIRE more seriously.
Was never a big earner until 6 yrs ago.
Wife didn't get a job until last year(She just graduated) so I started listing when we got married in 2011.

Year    Age   Salary        Net Worth
2011   38    $49,000      ????? Maybe $300K ? Wife was 28.
2012   39    $65,000      ?????
2013   40    $73,000      ?????
2014   41    $111,000    ?????. Never thought in my lifetime I would ever hit $100k salary.
2015   42    $101,000    $550,000. This was in Oct. I was really surprised at how much I was worth.
2016   43    $110,000    ?????. At this point I made a 5 yr goal to FI.
2017   44    $122,000    ?????
2018   45    $119,000    ?????
2019   46    $99,000      ?????
2020   47    $34,000      $991,000. Feb 18th when the market was at its highest before it plunged. I was @$34k when I got furloughed in March 19.

2020 was suppose to be a great year. Wife got out of school. Making $50k. We as a DINK were making $170k. Well on our way to $1.5 million before we FIRE.
Then I got furloughed in March. Luckily wife is still working. Unlucky as she hates her job.
If I was still working I would have told her to quit her job but she's job is covering most of the expenses so we don't have to touch our stash. Plus I'm getting $875 each week of unemployment before it runs out end of July.
$1,037,000 NET WORTH as of today.
Trying to find a scenario where she can quit her job.
I think we need to just cover our expenses for a few more yrs and let our stash grow before we can pull the plug.

Ah, its a shame you were doing what it took and then things derailed.  What do think your odds are at being returned to that job that furloughed you?  (Though I hear how silly that sounds as I say it given things seem to change every week right now).

Well, I guess my 2 cents is if your wife's job is bad (boring/aggravating/etc) then time for you both to start looking for another one and then she can quit when one of you gets one.  Of course, if its BAD (demoralizing/abusive) she should leave immediately and start looking elsewhere, 'cause if you can't leave a horrible work situation I don't know what point there is in being a millionaire....

No hope in ever making $120k again until we find a vaccine.
I'm in Florida and our Governor is doing jack shit to minimize the situation so my company won't be back to full capacity anytime soon. Lucky for me as we are unionize so I can't be laid off while furloughed.
I wasn't really complaining. I'm luckier than most to be in the situation I'm in.

[duyen]

Jan 2016: 300k
Jan 2017: 445k
Oct 2017: 500k
Sep 2018: 670k
Oct 2019: 885k
Jan 2020: 1.07m
Jul 15th 2020: 1.3m

[bownyboy]

Started tracking joint finances 5 years ago when we were at £250k.

We’re now at £660k with forecast of £740k by the end of the year.

After which we’re going to take a long break!

[helloyou]

Started tracking joint finances 5 years ago when we were at £250k.

We’re now at £660k with forecast of £740k by the end of the year.

After which we’re going to take a long break!

Are you firing at £740k? What would be your planned monthly expense?

[norajean]

I would but these fora are not as anonymous as one thinks. In my experience your net worth, once you have worked about ten years should be working years times current salary. That assumes no major events like lawsuit or divorce, no major windfalls like inheritance and no outrageous 10000% stock returns or crypto.

[bownyboy]

Started tracking joint finances 5 years ago when we were at £250k.

We’re now at £660k with forecast of £740k by the end of the year.

After which we’re going to take a long break!

Are you firing at £740k? What would be your planned monthly expense?

Yes. Pretty much I think.

Our monthly expenses are around £2.5k to £3k of that £1.5k is must have (mortgage, food, gas electric etc).

Typically you’d aim for x25 that so we’d need £750k to £900k.

However we both will also have full UK state pensions which is £9.5k a year which will kick in 12 years and 20 years.

We also have the option of renting our house out and slow travelling (if / when Covid calms down...) staying in Airbnb’s and house sitting for much less than the rent we would get therefore allowing the stash to continue to grow.

It’s great to have options. We’ll see what the next 6 months brings!

[Michael in ABQ]

I didn't really start tracking our net worth until we got serious about paying off our debt around 2014. It was definitely negative at that point as we had about $30k in debt and assets of maybe $10k.

These are best estimates as I didn't record anything specific at year end all the time. This doesn't include $5-6k in cash and inventory in a side business and some kids savings accounts that total another $2k or so.

2014 - $8k
2015 - $27k
2016 - $52k
2017 - $80k
2018 - $75k
2019 - $102k
7/2020 - $142k (big jump in income while deployed)

[Michael in ABQ]

I would but these fora are not as anonymous as one thinks. In my experience your net worth, once you have worked about ten years should be working years times current salary. That assumes no major events like lawsuit or divorce, no major windfalls like inheritance and no outrageous 10000% stock returns or crypto.

I wish. 12 years x $80k means my net worth should be about a million by your formula. Even on this forum which is self-selected for high achievers (and high incomes) that would be at the far right end of the bell curve.

[Taran Wanderer]

I would but these fora are not as anonymous as one thinks. In my experience your net worth, once you have worked about ten years should be working years times current salary. That assumes no major events like lawsuit or divorce, no major windfalls like inheritance and no outrageous 10000% stock returns or crypto.

I wish. 12 years x $80k means my net worth should be about a million by your formula. Even on this forum which is self-selected for high achievers (and high incomes) that would be at the far right end of the bell curve.

It's a mustachian problem, but in our case, our net worth has been growing, but our income has been growing faster, so our net worth is nowhere near work years x salary.

I actually like the Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth (PAW) formula from The Millionaire Next Door:  Net worth should be higher than age * salary / 10.  Through this formula, we are firmly in PAW territory, and even as our earnings grow, we have stayed ahead of the PAW line.  We are about 1.5x PAW based on our current earnings.  We could survive just fine on a quarter of what we make today, and then we'd be at 6x PAW.

In the earnings cut scenario, we would also be well ahead of the work years x salary formula, too.

[Much Fishing to Do]

I would but these fora are not as anonymous as one thinks. In my experience your net worth, once you have worked about ten years should be working years times current salary. That assumes no major events like lawsuit or divorce, no major windfalls like inheritance and no outrageous 10000% stock returns or crypto.

I wish. 12 years x $80k means my net worth should be about a million by your formula. Even on this forum which is self-selected for high achievers (and high incomes) that would be at the far right end of the bell curve.

It's a mustachian problem, but in our case, our net worth has been growing, but our income has been growing faster, so our net worth is nowhere near work years x salary.

I actually like the Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth (PAW) formula from The Millionaire Next Door:  Net worth should be higher than age * salary / 10.  Through this formula, we are firmly in PAW territory, and even as our earnings grow, we have stayed ahead of the PAW line.  We are about 1.5x PAW based on our current earnings.  We could survive just fine on a quarter of what we make today, and then we'd be at 6x PAW.

In the earnings cut scenario, we would also be well ahead of the work years x salary formula, too.

Those are interesting.  Given my income bounces around so much from year to year I like the "Lifetime Wealth Ratio" which is a simpler to visualize concept for me as far as the meaning of the result (what percentage of what you've made in earned income over your lifetime are you now worth), and with your SS statement is pretty easy to figure out.  It took me about 20 years of work to exceed 100%.

[Taran Wanderer]

I think I like the Lifetime Wealth approach. That’s an interesting idea. We’re definitely not super savers. We have saved something like 35% of total pre-tax lifetime income, or 50ish% of post tax income. With good early savings and normal market returns, we are getting close to 100%. I’ll have to figure out where our target is right now and see where we stand.