Race from $1M to $2M

[Bird In Hand]

My NW went over $1.5 million today...again.

Nice!

October was obviously a big downer, but the last week+ has erased almost half those losses (in my case at least).

[brooklynmoney]

It was feeling almost too easy before and I was very close to my goal. More fun this way! Of course I’m still in accumulation mode.

[Cornbread OMalley]

It was feeling almost too easy before and I was very close to my goal. More fun this way! Of course I’m still in accumulation mode.

Where do you stand now, brooklynmoney?  We still have the friendly race between ourselves!  :-)

[brooklynmoney]

Cornbread this race is not friendly it’s dead  serious haha. I got bumped back about $70k so I’m at 1.4 and change. In reality I will never catch you because you have your well deserved pension and I am a corporate drone with no pension.

[Cornbread OMalley]

Cornbread this race is not friendly it’s dead  serious haha...

Whoa!  This is getting serious!!  :-)

I got bumped back about $70k so I’m at 1.4 and change.

$1.4 is damn good and only going to get higher.

In reality I will never catch you because you have your well deserved pension and I am a corporate drone with no pension.

Isn't this like comparing apples and oranges?  I keep my pension amount separate from my net worth.  Net worth is just net worth.  Then there is the amount of passive income produced from the net worth.  This is when I take that amount and add the amount of the pension to come up with a dollar amount.

You probably will overtake me in NW soon.  In about nine months, my accumulation phase most likely will be put on hold indefinitely as I decide on my FIRE options.

[brooklynmoney]

Thanks for the support, Cornbread. I likewise am thrilled for you receiving permission to retire.
It’s funny what people do or don’t count on net worth. I actually dont count my home equity as I feel like it’s not real until I actually sell. They are shutting down my subway line and I’m sure the value is tanking right now but I’m hopeful it will recover at some point.

No matter whose net worth is higher we both win because we will have the freedom to live life as we choose as FI individuals.

[Cornbread OMalley]

No matter whose net worth is higher we both win because we will have the freedom to live life as we choose as FI individuals.

Amen!!

[muckety_muck]

We just passed $1M for the first time this month, and plan to work another 5-6 years based on our vested retirement balances, healthcare at current jobs continuing in retirement, etc. so we're not really trying to hit $2M necessarily, but it likely the number we will be very close to mid-2022 when we plan to FIRE.

Count us in! :)

Quick update, we're halfway there, $1.5M approaching the end of 2018. It's a long, boring slog but only took us about 27 months to increase our NW by 50%! Faster than I thought. Just some encouragement to keep us all going :)

[Acorns]

We just passed $1M for the first time this month, and plan to work another 5-6 years based on our vested retirement balances, healthcare at current jobs continuing in retirement, etc. so we're not really trying to hit $2M necessarily, but it likely the number we will be very close to mid-2022 when we plan to FIRE.

Count us in! :)

Quick update, we're halfway there, $1.5M approaching the end of 2018. It's a long, boring slog but only took us about 27 months to increase our NW by 50%! Faster than I thought. Just some encouragement to keep us all going :)

Just wondering if you could share how much of the increase is from savings and how much is from market growth?

[talltexan]

props to you guys for a $500,000 increase in NW in less than three years!

[muckety_muck]

Quick update, we're halfway there, $1.5M approaching the end of 2018. It's a long, boring slog but only took us about 27 months to increase our NW by 50%! Faster than I thought. Just some encouragement to keep us all going :)

Just wondering if you could share how much of the increase is from savings and how much is from market growth?

I'm not exactly sure, but this is maxing two 401k's each year, and sending average of about $35k to Vanguard after-tax per year... kids college fund investments (about $3k/year is gifted from grandparents for kids college). I haven't been on this board in a while, but I did update my journal with the numbers I could get my hands on quickly. Switched computers late 2017/early 2018 so I'm missing most of 2017's numbers. There was quite a bit of market growth between 2016 and Jan 2018, so I can't take credit for all of it :) We didn't get any inheritances or huge windfalls from house sales, etc. This was all grind it out, save it and invest it. Two full time working parents with all the normal expenses (ridiculous daycare, groceries, mortgage pmt, utilities, etc). If I had to guess, I would say about $80k/year is what we saved, some of that was before tax though so it's misleading.

[AccidentalMiser]

Congrats, Muckety.  Well done.

We almost hit 1.1M last week but have fallen back some.  We first hit 1M in July but the market's been a little rough and we eliminated a investment property from the balance sheet with zero to show for it (long story).

I love your description as a long, boring slog.  I know what you mean.  Our NW was about 750k at the beginning of '17 and I can't believe we've grown so quickly.  It sure doesn't feel like we're making progress until we look back at the road we've travelled!

UPDATE:  2-20-19: Hit 1.2 M for the first time.  Yay!

[Cornbread OMalley]

4th quarter dividends and capital gains distros are coming up.  I'm wondering how my numbers are going to look for 2018 with the tax law changes and the wildly fluctuating stock market.  In 2017, my non-retirement accounts generated $26K in income, and I am hoping to surpass $30K in 2018.  The answer will come in a few more weeks!

[Bateaux]

Taking heavy losses.  Glad I've OMY, OMY to 2020.  I'm getting ready to sell some taxable stocks at a loss and then toss what money is left to fully fund our 2018 Roth IRAs.  I quit funding them in April to build cash.   It's not nearly as fun losing money.

[Car Jack]

I expect some of the people in the $2M+ thread are going to drop in here.  I'm a bit afraid to update my spread sheet.  With the losses yesterday, I know I'm only a hundred k or so away from dropping back in the under $2M territory.

[Bateaux]

Total NW is still 2M but investment assets have dipped below.

[Car Jack]

Well, I went and updated the spread sheet.  I guess the combination of all the money I've put into the market over the year and the fact that I'm 50/50 meant that the number I look (total investment assets) hasn't really changed. 

[2Birds1Stone]

I'm sure some of you will be joining us in the $500k->$1M thread at some point.

It's safer over there, income makes a bigger dent in the forward trajectory.

[omachi]

Haven't done a total tally yet, but in my easily assessed after tax account, returns are negative and new investments are larger than those losses. May be that I'm still making enough that we're moving forward, even if not fast. That's fine, since I'm accumulating I'd prefer to deal with losses while I still have income, buy things on sale, and hopefully have a nice sequence of returns after I retire.

[dogboyslim]

Well, I went and updated the spread sheet.  I guess the combination of all the money I've put into the market over the year and the fact that I'm 50/50 meant that the number I look (total investment assets) hasn't really changed.

I dropped back.  Not too worried about it since I'm not living off my stache yet.  Was painful to see the amount of the drop though.  Should come back by 2030.  ;)

[dougules]

Well, I went and updated the spread sheet.  I guess the combination of all the money I've put into the market over the year and the fact that I'm 50/50 meant that the number I look (total investment assets) hasn't really changed.

I dropped back.  Not too worried about it since I'm not living off my stache yet.  Was painful to see the amount of the drop though.  Should come back by 2030.  ;)

I'm excited to see a discount on my next purchase. 

[Car Jack]

I'm excited to see a discount on my next purchase.

I put in a limit order at a price I thought SCHB would never get to again.  Already planned to pull the money back out of Schwab and throw it into my Ally account.  Then I get an email.....a buy has been made.  Oh, cool. 

[TempusFugit]

I have been reluctant to check balances this month for obvious reasons.  I peeked at them over the weekend and to my surprise, I was still ensconced in the (very nice) vestibule of this thread. 

Then...today. Merry Christmas, indeed.    Well, perhaps several of us can set up a transient camp in the parking lot until this little bear market thingy blows over. 

[MM_MG]

I'll play. 

Investments and cash ~$1.2, total net worth around $1.8 counting personal property and home equity (the latter doesn't really factory into my retirement equation). 

A Bateaux post about target numbers brought me to this thread, but I'll stick around for motivation.  Doubt we'll cross $2M in net worth this year, but than again I didn't expect to get the returns I've been getting this year either.  I keep waiting for a "correction" but I'll enjoy the numbers while they last.   Still have a ways to go to meet our goals, and we expect a 10-17 year work horizon in front of us...so far.  :)

To my surprise we crossed over $2 million net worth sometime this year.  But it includes real estate that I don't factor into my target number.  Fun to watch, but plan to still grind it out.

[bgfoot]

My update
Still over $1M The last quarter has not been good. But I have maxed out my 401K, Roth and H.SA for 2018. Still on target for an exit strategy in early 2019

[brooklynmoney]

Ignorance is bliss. I keep buying but refuse to open personal capital. Might see how long I can keep this up. I usually check at least 1x a week. Right now I’m more concerned with spending less than last year. I’ve got about $100 left to carry me through which includes NYE.

[talltexan]

Haven't done a total tally yet, but in my easily assessed after tax account, returns are negative and new investments are larger than those losses. May be that I'm still making enough that we're moving forward, even if not fast. That's fine, since I'm accumulating I'd prefer to deal with losses while I still have income, buy things on sale, and hopefully have a nice sequence of returns after I retire.

This was my position in my 401K. Just gotta keep stuffing the pillow.

[omachi]

Haven't done a total tally yet, but in my easily assessed after tax account, returns are negative and new investments are larger than those losses. May be that I'm still making enough that we're moving forward, even if not fast. That's fine, since I'm accumulating I'd prefer to deal with losses while I still have income, buy things on sale, and hopefully have a nice sequence of returns after I retire.

This was my position in my 401K. Just gotta keep stuffing the pillow.

Yes, definitely keeping up the buying. Got through the tally of retirement accounts in addition to after tax and balances are up over the year, but only by about 1/3 of what we contributed. So losses, but not a decrease in net worth year over year.

[ozbeach]

Having done my end-of-year numbers, it's nice to see I'm still in this club!


I FIREd at the beginning of the year, so unlike others here I'm not able to keep buying :(

[Roboturner]

Well, we finally lost money Q/Q, and probably not the last time - ah well, looks like we'll have some sales for the next couple years to pump into

Q2 2016:
LNW: 528k
TNW: 720k

Q3 2016:
LNW: 652k
TNW: 845k

YE 2016:
LNW: 685k
TNW: 893k

Q1 2017:
LNW: 800k
TNW: 1001k

Q2 2017:
LNW: 845k
TNW: 1060k

Q3 2017:
LNW: 921k
TNW: 1142k

YE 2017:
LNW: 1,012k
TNW: 1,230k

Q1 2018:
LNW: 1.09 MM
TNW: 1.33 MM

Q2 2018:
LNW: 1.16 MM
TNW: 1.45 MM

Q3 2018:
LNW: 1.28 MM
TNW: 1.57 MM

YE 2018:
LNW: 1.14 MM
TNW: 1.43 MM

[Allie]

I’d like to join the race!  I’m tracking household NW, since DH and I have combined finances.  Really, he does the work and I sit around and watch the accounts.

I’d love to get to 1.6 this year, but with the stuff we have planned (like surgeries and house repairs) 1.5 is more likely.  Fingers crossed for nice, steady investment growth and no unexpected emergencies!

So, as it stands now:

1/19 - TNW 1.47; LNW 1.33

[Arbitrage]

I'm including home equity; planning to sell the house and move to a lower COLA.

12/31/2011: $244k
12/31/2012: $344k
12/31/2013: $446k
12/31/2014: $541k
12/31/2015: $674k
12/31/2016: $822k
12/31/2017: $1071k
1/31/2018:  $1092k or so after today's drop
12/31/2018: $1152k

Definitely not what I hoped for, but my investments performed very poorly and I was up $80k YOY, so I can't complain too much.  Just need to keep plowing money in to reach FI!

[HappierAtHome]

Starting 2019 on $1.1M. Slow progress since we entered this race - dropped our income by 40%, and the markets haven't been helping.

[CanuckExpat]

Hit ~$1.0M  in 05/2016 when we sold our house
At  $1.17M in 10/2016 we quit our jobs
At $1.18 at end of 2016

Might be a slow race to two million with no jobs, but hope to join you, doing it while sitting around drinking and hoping the markets do their magic. Slow and steady...

At $1.36M  at end of 2017
NW increase of almost $180k without jobs. I'll take that for markets doing their magic

At $1.24M at end of 2018
Not really a forward race at this point, but I guess it's still better than working :)

[Bateaux]

Back over 1.9M again.  Hope to be back over 2M in coming months if the economy holds.  Just can't see FIRE happening on less than 2M for my mental well being.  I'm going to try and keep spending down to 3% maybe increase to 4% eventually.  Hopefully by our golden years we can give more to charities annually than we spend.

[desk_jockey]

Back over 1.9M again.  Hope to be back over 2M in coming months if the economy holds.  Just can't see FIRE happening on less than 2M for my mental well being.  I'm going to try and keep spending down to 3% maybe increase to 4% eventually.  Hopefully by our golden years we can give more to charities annually than we spend.

I’m back in the race, after briefly & barely graduating when I checked numbers at the end of the 3rd Quarter.   While I don’t bet [much] on my ability to do market predictions, I feel this is a race where I’ll cross the line a few more times in both directions before I fire sometime in 2020 to 2022.  At the current PE10 ratio range, to FIRE I would like to have a 3.5% WR for normal expenses plus an supplemental medical expense fund to help bridge any major costs until we have access to Medicare.

[oldtoyota]

Well done, all!

I'm planning a little bit of spendy activity. A trip to Europe. Possible schooling for child.

My work life changed over the past few years. I work for myself from home most of the time. The stress is low. My clients are fun and smart, and I love working with them. So I'm probably going to be someone who is FI but maybe not officially RE according to the internet retirement police. =-) I can increase or reduce my workload if I want more money or want to travel more, so I'm feeling good about things.

I'm entering a period of wanting to work on some personal projects. If I can do that *and* the business, then I will be a happy camper.

Overall, life is good.

[talltexan]

the talltexan household has fallen backwards with the market downturn, so we still have most of the second $million in front of us.

[JoJoP]

Well done, all!

I'm planning a little bit of spendy activity. A trip to Europe. Possible schooling for child.

My work life changed over the past few years. I work for myself from home most of the time. The stress is low. My clients are fun and smart, and I love working with them. So I'm probably going to be someone who is FI but maybe not officially RE according to the internet retirement police. =-) I can increase or reduce my workload if I want more money or want to travel more, so I'm feeling good about things.

I'm entering a period of wanting to work on some personal projects. If I can do that *and* the business, then I will be a happy camper.

Overall, life is good.

It seems like you've got a perfect plan. 

[ynotme]

My progress from $1M to $2M

2014: $1,008,000
2015: $1,191,000 (18%)
2016: $1,353,000 (13%)
2017: $1,561,000 (15%)
2018: $1,659,000 (  6%)

Last year was the lowest $ and % increase to date. Hard work when you don't have those investment returns adding to your net worth.

[marty998]

I haven't posted in this thread in a while (can't actually find my last one!) but I just went over $1.2m for the first time yesterday.

Market rebound in the first few weeks of January has helped, but I wouldn't be sad if it dipped down again over the next few months in order to buy some more :)

[Unique User]

Total NW went over $1.5 again due to the market.  Our target is $1.6 by April 2020 when we both give notice.  We're almost there!

2011: $506k
2012: $594k
2013: $757k
2014: $835k
2015: $979k
2016: $1138k
2017: $1389k
2018: $1467k

[DavidAnnArbor]

Congrats.
I wonder if the unwinding of the federal holdings of treasuries and mortgage backed securities is in part to blame for lowered asset valuations.

The Hot Topic in Markets Right Now: ‘Quantitative Tightening’
https://nyti.ms/2GbIplo

[talltexan]

The unwinding you describe is a "tight" monetary policy, but we also have a very "loose" fiscal policy to the tune of our $1 trillion budget deficit, so that should be offsetting things a little.

[oldtoyota]

Well done, all!

I'm planning a little bit of spendy activity. A trip to Europe. Possible schooling for child.

My work life changed over the past few years. I work for myself from home most of the time. The stress is low. My clients are fun and smart, and I love working with them. So I'm probably going to be someone who is FI but maybe not officially RE according to the internet retirement police. =-) I can increase or reduce my workload if I want more money or want to travel more, so I'm feeling good about things.

I'm entering a period of wanting to work on some personal projects. If I can do that *and* the business, then I will be a happy camper.

Overall, life is good.

It seems like you've got a perfect plan.

Thank you.

It's been a long road. Before I came here, I used to be on the Fool.com forum. I had the savings/frugality part down before coming here. This forum helped me learn about some additional areas that helped me reach my goal. =-D

[AccidentalMiser]

Hit 1.2 M today for the first time.  Market is scary but I'm going to hold fast and keep pouring it in every two weeks.  1049 days to RE.  Maybe sooner but I think I should wait until the year I turn 55.

[talltexan]

I'm a little disappointed in myself for not having taken advantage of the dramatic dip between Christmas Eve and early January. I got spooked and had new money going into bonds during that period. It was only perhaps $3-$5K, but it would have been nice to get that stuff on sale.

[PathtoFIRE]

Yeah, because of job changes plus topping off the 401k at the end of November, we had only a trickle entering the markets during December and January. Sucks but will be totally unnoticeable in a few years.

[chasesfish]

Getting really close.

If I include the value of my pension...its really, really close.

I think DFW housing market softening is going to whack me a little then the sustainable withdraw rate starts

[Money Badger]

Stuck just under $1.3M since end of 2017 due to personal decisions on investments (market timer anyone?)... Starting to recover from moving/downsizing expenses after achieving debt freedom though...   Just paid off the last expense from that last day of Feb.

So the good news is now the budget for March amazingly has almost $1500 more in free cash flow.   All going into the after tax investments.   The bad news is work drama is ongoing after a re-org... So an income interruption (or FIRE call) is likely this year.  But the stash is going to get a bump in early 2021 with a family windfall...    So the plan is to just do what has to be done until 2021... Then after that, Bring on RE baby...  Money Badger don't care.