$100k Roth at 30

[Civex]

Wohoo!

Thanks to the market being up, I have officially crossed into six figure Roth IRA territory! 100% VTSAX.

Account history:
I opened my Roth IRA when I was in high school, but unfortunately through Edward Jones(fees ate up basically all of the earnings). I read an article ( I really think it was on get rich slowly) about how if you saved $6000 in a Roth in high school you would be a millionaire by retirement age, so I tried and ended up contributing about $3k. Was unable to add to it through college, but after graduating moved it to Vanguard and have maxed it out every year. In 2015 I had access to a mega backdoor Roth and contributed $30-40k (maxed the 401k contribution of $52k; I don't have great records on breakdowns for that year between 401k/Roth/MegaRoth.)

According to Vanguard, I've contributed $68k and had $33k in returns.

Next goal is $500k invested!

[FIREball567]

Congratulations! I wish I had started in high school too.


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[Chris Pascale]

Totally excellent. I am positive that I did not have $10,000 in my Roth at 30.

[Valvore]

A 47% return?! That is stellar. The fact that it is a Roth IRA makes it that much more sweet. I'm sure you know you don't have to wait until your 59.5 to utilize your contributions. Whats your next goal? Do you have other accounts you are working on?

[Zamboni]

Congrats, and great for you for opening a Roth in high school!

[A Fella from Stella]

This is why I am adamant to have all my kids started early. You're awesome, dude.

[Civex]

A 47% return?! That is stellar. The fact that it is a Roth IRA makes it that much more sweet. I'm sure you know you don't have to wait until your 59.5 to utilize your contributions. Whats your next goal? Do you have other accounts you are working on?

Next goal is $500k in investments between my wife and I-we are currently at a little over $400k invested. Because I changed jobs since graduating, I haven't actually hit $100k in a single 401k, so I will hopefully hit that on the way. If the markets are kind, we should hit $500k sometime in the next 6-18 months. If they aren't, the next milestone will be paying off my student loans.

This is why I am adamant to have all my kids started early. You're awesome, dude.

Congrats, and great for you for opening a Roth in high school!

Congratulations! I wish I had started in high school too.

Thanks for celebrating with me! This account was/is a bit of a gamble-I had the opportunity to make hay in 2015 and could either stash it in the Mega Roth or pay down student loans at 5%. I went 100% in on the Roth and so far it has been a financial win.

[JSMustachian]

I figured you started early with that balance at such a young age since the contribution limit is so small. Congratulations! Compound interest is a wonderful thing.

[imadandylion]

Congratulations!! Smart kid. This is one thing I wish I knew about in high school, but I wasn't savvy enough to read about alternative ways to saving money other than in a bank account at that age. :) I've been encouraging my little sister to start early, though!

[Raeon]

Congrats!  I'm in a very similar situation. Opened a roth with EJ at 19 and put in the max for 10 of the following 14 years. Unfortunately it took me until 33 to realize EJ was a ripoff, so I'm still "only" at 95k in it.  First world problems...

I learned the value of compounding interest in a little 2 week block of time in my American History class in high school.  My teacher used the subject of the stock market/depression as an excuse to teach us the importance of financially planning for our futures.  He felt so strongly about the importance of starting early (something he failed to do) that he made it part of his curriculum.  I still say those 2 weeks in history class paid off more than anything else I learned in high school.  I owe a lot to that man's willingness to share a hard lesson learned with a bunch of students who mostly couldn't be bothered to listen.