Fairly rough calculations, may be off by as much as 20% except the bold, which are accurate
Date Age Net Worth
Sept 1997 18: 4K
Sept 2001 22: -$55k
Sept 2004 25: -$35k
Sept 2007 28: -$200k
End 2009 30: 0!
May 2012 32: $825k
End 2013 34: $1M
My journey may not be quite what you're seeking, as I married into it (I'll give you one guess when above).
1997: I graduated from high school. I had probably $2k in a checking account and $2k in a Roth IRA from babysitting, summer employments, and grad gifts.
2001: I graduated from college. My parents paid for a chunk of college, I had scholarships, a gift from my grandfather, and worked, but the rest went on loans. I don't have the figures in front of me, but my recollection is $12,500 in an interest free 5-year loan, about $50k to my parents and about $12,000 in other loans.
2004: I accepted a $50k/year job in 2001, but with the economy, most of our offers were reneged. (Apparently Harvard was able to force the company to still take their students or they'd never be permitted to recruit on campus again.) Mine was canceled 10 days before I was to start my job - and the same day I had signed a lease. Also days before 9/11 so jobs were harder to get. I took a $29k/year job in 2002 (temp for a few month prior). I paid off almost half of the MOAA loan and I had continued to contribute to my Roth IRA though, perhaps $10k and had a few thousand in my checking account. I headed off to grad school, incurring more debt.
2007: I graduated from law school, with 8.5% interest on my student loans and an offer from a big law firm - again into a bad economy. During law school, I continued to contribute some to my Roth IRA, and rolled over about $2k from a 401k into it. But, I paid for school mostly through loans and didn't have much in the way of scholarships (I was granted $9k the first year, but they had a big screw up and I had to argue to keep it, I was not given it the following year) because they counted my parent's money and didn't consider losses from my dad's new business, only income.
2009: During my 2.5 years at the law firm I tried not to go crazy with my $160k+ salary (and bonus) and poured a lot into my loans. (Although I did live alone with no roommates for the first time...in a place that cost me $1600 per month. At least it was near work so I could walk/take the T.) I got my first car in June 2007, a gift from my parents - a 1989 Corolla they were going to give to me or to charity. Giving it to me meant I'd visit them 2 hrs away more often. Put about $1k to get it to pass inspection, got about $1k back 4 months later when someone ran into me and totalled the car. 6 of those weeks I was overseas and not even driving it, so I had it useable for about 10 weeks...and didn't bother to replace it. At the end of 2009, I finally had a zero net worth again (and a law degree)! I maxed out my IRA each year, and in 2008-9 saved about $25k in my 401k. (Flaw - I should have saved more, but I stopped because the following was coming...) But the writing was on the wall regarding the job unfortunately, and I was one of many that needed to find employment again in the beginning of 2010. Unfortunately, I stuffed away about $50k under the mattress for my emergency fund due to fear over the job situation, rather than putting it towards loans (now under 3%) or in the market.
2012: I worked part-time poorly paid employment and was on unemployment for over 2 years. At the end of 2010, I moved in with my now-husband. He had a paid off condo, so my expenses were pretty low (I paid groceries, cable, my loans, etc), allowing me to continue to save a little despite the very low wages. In March 2012, I started a full-time job again. In May 2012, we got married, suddenly bringing me (us) to about $800-850k in net worth.
2013: At the very end of 2013, I tallied up our accounts and one day realized we had just over $1 million. In part this was due to increasing value of the condo. We bought a house in December.
2014: In March we sold the condo for more than expected, locking in $425k after fees, and put half into the house. (For those curious, "my" net worth alone today is about $125k, although we have somewhat blended finances.)
DH's story is that he graduated from college in 1997 and was paid a lowly stipend while getting his phd from Harvard through 2005, of about $16k initially. He earned some money editing on the side that helped supplement his income through around 2010, when he took a different job which had some ethical issues with continuing, and his source for work dried up. In 1998 he bought a very small condo mortgage free with help from his mom, which he sold in Dec 03, when he bought the above mentioned larger condo mortgage free. Their records are really unclear on who put in what (his mom continues to insist it was a gift), but best guess is his mom paid in about $250k to the condo and he paid the rest with downpayment/renovations of about $100k, with increase of about $100K in value outside the renos (got $425k after costs of about $20k). Living mortgage free and being frugal helped him amass quite a stash. He also made some good investing choices. He's always had cheap cars, the current one a 2002 Honda Civic he's owned for 10 years.
We have a little over a million now, with approximately 29% liquid but not tax-favored, 14.5% in Roth IRAs, 20% in other retirement (including traditional 401ks, 403bs, a traditional IRA, and the present value of my pension I would be given if I walked away today of $13.5k), and 36% in our house. The mortgage/value of the mortgaged part of the house is not included in the above figures. I still have ~$90k in 0, 2.5% and 2.75% interest student loans.
My next goal: $1 million in liquid net worth.
(Oh, and DH still feels "poor" because he has too many I-banker/MBA friends, including his brother. He has money concerns about having kids, although the clock is ticking away on that decision.)
