Race from 250 to 500k!

[MickeyMoustache]

Net worth, I'm already there but with investments, as long as the market stays flat I should be there by the end of this year.  Unfortunately, the end of the year is when my wife is planning on quitting work after our 3rd is born so my $300k income will drop by $100k for 2016.  Because of that, we're stashing extra hard this year and things will obviously slow down significantly next year... but at least this challenge will be in the books by that time :)

[zephyr911]

First estimate as of December was 2-4 years. Using that as my reference date, range is now 18-30 months. Wages, side work, and investment earnings are all on track for a record year (except for wages, that time in Iraq).

[bkmnky72]

I'm in.  I rechecked our numbers at $361K, including house.  Without house it's about $130K.  Real estate is ridiculously crazy in our area right now. 

Early last month we're at $295K. 

Would love to hit $500K by 2020, so that's about $35-$50K\year.

$391K 3/11/16

Checking in at $402 3/24/16.  Not bad even though my stocks took a big dive yesterday.

[Cheddar Stacker]

...Might be cashing out $100K in Home equity...

Currently around $285K not counting that private stock. Projected around $450K by end of 2016.

This should be fun.

Took a huge step today toward the bolded part, but it won't be $100K net cash out. We just signed a contract to sell our house at $10K over my NW carrying value, off market, no commissions. I might actually cross over $500k liquid/investable for a bit this summer, but it will be temporary as 20% down on the new place will drop us back down. Still projecting $425-450 (maybe more?) invested by 12/31/16. Great things are happeneing so far in 2016 for us.

[Dicey]

...Might be cashing out $100K in Home equity...

Currently around $285K not counting that private stock. Projected around $450K by end of 2016.

This should be fun.

Took a huge step today toward the bolded part, but it won't be $100K net cash out. We just signed a contract to sell our house at $10K over my NW carrying value, off market, no commissions. I might actually cross over $500k liquid/investable for a bit this summer, but it will be temporary as 20% down on the new place will drop us back down. Still projecting $425-450 (maybe more?) invested by 12/31/16. Great things are happeneing so far in 2016 for us.

Oh, you big, fat, greasy, cheesy tease. Two lines is not an update, especially these two! I demand a real update! Hmmm, sorry for that outburst. I will wait politely until after April 18th.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Ok Diane, I'll post a Block update over the weekend. Maybe tonight. I'll be sure to send you a PM as soon as it's ready. Cool?

[Dicey]

No, really, I can wait. I just wanted to bust your chops for calling these two lines an "update", lol. Enjoy your family this weekend. The rest can wait, really.

[BBub]

Nice Ched!  That's awesome news & especially nice you got it done off market.  That buyer never stood a chance - i mean, who could resist that shed?

[sisto]

I too have been shooting to hit this in investments only and had hoped to do so by the end of 2015. The market killed me and I still haven't gotten back to where I was in November and that's with the addition of $11K. For now I will just keep plugging along and investing.

[boarder42]

Well i'm sitting at 325k in invested assets and should add 100k this year.  meaning 2017 will be the year we hit it.  We have over 150k in equity in our home so that will hit this year.

[CorpRaider]

No, really, I can wait. I just wanted to bust your chops for calling these two lines an "update", lol. Enjoy your family this weekend. The rest can wait, really.

Haha.  I was going to say, "post an update or I'm canceling my subscription!"

[bkmnky72]

I'm in.  I rechecked our numbers at $361K, including house.  Without house it's about $130K.  Real estate is ridiculously crazy in our area right now. 

Early last month we're at $295K. 

Would love to hit $500K by 2020, so that's about $35-$50K\year.

$391K 3/11/16

Checking in at $402 3/24/16.  Not bad even though my stocks took a big dive yesterday.

Rounding up the month at $420K, mostly house.  Without house it's $129K.

[BBub]

Nov 31, 2015: $254,178
Dec 31, 2015: $258,054
Jan 31, 2016: $264,247
Feb 29, 2016: $271,241
Mar 31, 2016: $300,034

And I broke $300k liquid.  Woot woot!  FD: as of today, before the market opens.  If any of my core holdings are down by a just few pennies I'll be back in the terrible two's (oh the horror). I'll update my numbers in the journal tomorrow.  They'll be a little higher/lower based on today's performance, but I had to post this milestone somewhere.

[onlykelsey]

December 2013: 142K
March 2014: 178K
June 2014: 191K
September 2014: 205K
December 2014: 231K
March 2015: 232K (I self financed half a wedding this quarter, and began subsidizing now husband)
June 2015: 249K
September 2015: 272K (a new~30K in debt showed in this quarter from the first half of a 60K roof assessment I didn't have cash on hand for)
December 2015: 326K
March 2016: 342K (including some trades that will go through at close of business, I think)

This is definite progress, but it feels a bit unsatisfying, as I've actually paid off ~8K in principal and invested ~20K. 12K has disappeared!  This upcoming month I should pay down 2-3K in interest and invest another 6K, so here's hoping for 352K at the end of April.

[zephyr911]

This is definite progress, but it feels a bit unsatisfying, as I've actually paid off ~8K in principal and invested ~20K. 12K has disappeared!  This upcoming month I should pay down 2-3K in interest and invest another 6K, so here's hoping for 352K at the end of April.

It'll always fluctuate! The more you have, the more those little twitches will move your needle.

On Tuesday, I collected $4K in commission on a partnership buy that should add almost $1K/mo to my NW. I haven't added it up lately but I think I'm close to 300. At present rates, 1.5-2 years... such huge variables... but I'm feeling good. :)

[BBub]

Zephyr - how was the $25 scotch drink?

[zephyr911]

Zephyr - how was the $25 scotch drink?

I don't even know when we're gonna get around to it, TBH. I've been sick for the last two weeks and DW and I are bailing for 17 days in Argentina tomorrow.
We did buy a couple of good craft beers the day of closing, but the scotch will probably have to wait.

[BookWorm22]

Here is our progress as of today:

12/31/15 - 243,200
3/31/16 - 265,500

This includes pre-tax retirement accts ($85,500), Roth IRAs ($52,800), Pensions ($121,700) and the mini stache for a future rental property down payment ($5,500).

Fun to see progress in the right direction. 

[MickeyMoustache]

jan - $415k stash // $590k NW
feb - $428k stash // $598k NW
mar - $445k stash // $620k NW

big month, up across the board.  2nd part of my bonus comes this next month (company withheld 25% for "accounting purposes") so that will keep the momentum going.

[bzzzt]

Ended the month @ $303k NW. Could've stretched more, but I actually spent money on hobby supplies.

After almost no hobby stuff last year to get the house paid off, it hurt to spend the money. I did spend some great time with my Brothers and my Dad, which makes it all worth it.

[Libertea]

Here's my quarterly update:

9/30/2015: $251,681.81
12/31/2015: $305,3330.82
3/31/2016: $344,717.52

Assuming returns continue to not be very good, I should hit $500,000 in about one year.  Which is perfect, because that's when I am planning to quit this job and go do something else significantly less remunerative.

[garth]

We had our 2nd best month in March (since I've been keeping tracK anyway): our net worth increased $22k to roughly $277k. We're now closing in on $250k in equities and could hit it sometime in June.

Oct 15: $247k
Nov 15: $255k
Dec 15: $256k
Jan 16: $241k
Feb 16: $255k
Mar 16: $277k

[Icecreamarsenal]

Hi, I graduated from the other race (100k to 250k) and am now throwing my hat into this ring. 

Liquid assets, not including home equity:
1/15: 88k
2/15: 96k
3/15: 100k
4/15: 115k
5/15: 125k
6/15: 135k
7/15: 144k
8/15: 161k
9/15: 172k
10/15: 186k
11/15: 181k
12/15: 203k
1/16: 297k <---Looks like I made it, thanks to a home sale.  This includes subtracting 120k down on next property.  God bless frothy real estate.
2/16: 314k

Am looking forward to shooting for the FI stars with you guys and gals.

3/16: 329k

[therethere]

Yay! Just crossed the 250k NW during my April 1 roundup. 500k is probably many many years away. But hey, DH doesn't think about our NW so I need someone to share it with! 500k conveniently coincides with what we need to support us with retirement starting at age 60. Once are near that point we're hoping to dial back on jobs/income maybe even to part time or seasonal work so I expect progress to significantly slow at one point. As for a quick background we are DINKS, renters with no RE, and still have student loans.

Our History:
My history:
Jan 2007 - (-242,000)
Jan 2013: (-26,835)
July 2013: 6,019
Jan 2014: 63,670
May 2014: 98,814
Jan 2015: 139,954
July 2015: 191,148
Jan 2016: 221,252
Feb 2016: 213,366
Mar 2016: 227,492
April 2016: 256,226

[onlykelsey]

This is definite progress, but it feels a bit unsatisfying, as I've actually paid off ~8K in principal and invested ~20K. 12K has disappeared!  This upcoming month I should pay down 2-3K in interest and invest another 6K, so here's hoping for 352K at the end of April.

It'll always fluctuate! The more you have, the more those little twitches will move your needle.

On Tuesday, I collected $4K in commission on a partnership buy that should add almost $1K/mo to my NW. I haven't added it up lately but I think I'm close to 300. At present rates, 1.5-2 years... such huge variables... but I'm feeling good. :)

Although a few of the jumps and falls are blips from account connectivity (or lack thereof), it is striking how much more volatile my net worth has become as I've moved from just slowly paying down my mortgage and making equal 401(k) contributions to more aggressively investing in the last few years. I need a more solid stomach.  Or maybe I need to consider paying down debt more aggressively and investing less aggressively to avoid having a heart attack looking at my net worth.

[boarder42]

This is definite progress, but it feels a bit unsatisfying, as I've actually paid off ~8K in principal and invested ~20K. 12K has disappeared!  This upcoming month I should pay down 2-3K in interest and invest another 6K, so here's hoping for 352K at the end of April.

It'll always fluctuate! The more you have, the more those little twitches will move your needle.

On Tuesday, I collected $4K in commission on a partnership buy that should add almost $1K/mo to my NW. I haven't added it up lately but I think I'm close to 300. At present rates, 1.5-2 years... such huge variables... but I'm feeling good. :)

Although a few of the jumps and falls are blips from account connectivity (or lack thereof), it is striking how much more volatile my net worth has become as I've moved from just slowly paying down my mortgage and making equal 401(k) contributions to more aggressively investing in the last few years. I need a more solid stomach.  Or maybe I need to consider paying down debt more aggressively and investing less aggressively to avoid having a heart attack looking at my net worth.

Thats like throwing a wrench in the works.  Just dont look or care about the day to day.  one time or another you will be dealing with these bumps.  Better now, and learning to cope and seeing recovery than paying down your house and still not being comfortable with them right before retirement.  b/c it only appears more volatile as it increases.. the percentage is the same.

[JustGettingStarted1980]

Quarterly Update (without the drama of the dips and recoveries of the last few months):

April-15     $133,400.00 (+23,993)
July-15   $179,961.40 (+46,561)
Oct-15      $207,727.22 (+27,765)
Jan-16      $257,514.77 (+49,787)
April-16    $277,918.06 (+20,403)

-I'm impressed with the rest of you folks. Can't keep up with your impressive rate of gains. What, are you streetwalking at night? Taking the kids out of school and enrolling them in your local sweatshop? Are the lights in your home flickering due to the drain of your marijuana hydroponics system in the basement?

Congrats to all, and keep up the good work!

JGS

[MickeyMoustache]

Quarterly Update (without the drama of the dips and recoveries of the last few months):

April-15     $133,400.00 (+23,993)
July-15   $179,961.40 (+46,561)
Oct-15      $207,727.22 (+27,765)
Jan-16      $257,514.77 (+49,787)
April-16    $277,918.06 (+20,403)

-I'm impressed with the rest of you folks. Can't keep up with your impressive rate of gains. What, are you streetwalking at night? Taking the kids out of school and enrolling them in your local sweatshop? Are the lights in your home flickering due to the drain of your marijuana hydroponics system in the basement?

Congrats to all, and keep up the good work!

JGS

Lol, not quite.  For us, it's just a stupidly high income this year (not a permanent thing) due to a 220% bonus payout for me and selling a ton of crap from the house (pool table, decorations, and video games, mostly) in an effort to downsize.

[frogstomp81]

4/1/15: $389,564.45 (Didn't track it prior to this)
4/1/16: $504,365.34

[MickeyMoustache]

4/1/15: $389,564.45 (Didn't track it prior to this)
4/1/16: $504,365.34

congrats on reaching the milestone!!!

[ender]

Holy crap you guys are adding like $100k-200k/year.

Maybe I should start a "Tortoise race from 250 to 500k!" thread. I think we'll be in that race a while more than what looks like most folks here ;-)

[onlykelsey]

This is definite progress, but it feels a bit unsatisfying, as I've actually paid off ~8K in principal and invested ~20K. 12K has disappeared!  This upcoming month I should pay down 2-3K in interest and invest another 6K, so here's hoping for 352K at the end of April.

It'll always fluctuate! The more you have, the more those little twitches will move your needle.

On Tuesday, I collected $4K in commission on a partnership buy that should add almost $1K/mo to my NW. I haven't added it up lately but I think I'm close to 300. At present rates, 1.5-2 years... such huge variables... but I'm feeling good. :)

Although a few of the jumps and falls are blips from account connectivity (or lack thereof), it is striking how much more volatile my net worth has become as I've moved from just slowly paying down my mortgage and making equal 401(k) contributions to more aggressively investing in the last few years. I need a more solid stomach.  Or maybe I need to consider paying down debt more aggressively and investing less aggressively to avoid having a heart attack looking at my net worth.

Thats like throwing a wrench in the works.  Just dont look or care about the day to day.  one time or another you will be dealing with these bumps.  Better now, and learning to cope and seeing recovery than paying down your house and still not being comfortable with them right before retirement.  b/c it only appears more volatile as it increases.. the percentage is the same.

I know.  You're right.  just need to stop updating personalcapital 2593 times a day.

[YellowCat]

March Update: I'm adding 2015 quarterly (for comparison) and switching over to a monthly update format for 2016...I think this will make it easier for me to track incremental progress. Year-over-year increase from March 2015 to March 2016 is $102,086 (!)

Dec 2014: $190,811
Mar 2015: $238,653 (+$47,842)
Jun 2015: $262,010 (+$23,357)
Sep 2015: $276,420 (+$14,410)
Dec 2015: $310,350 (+$33,930)
Jan 2016: $307,436 (-$2,914)
Feb 2016: $315,430 (+$7,994)
Mar 2016: $340,739 (+$25,309)

My husband inadvertently just set our $500k NW goal by declaring that he wants to be a "half-millionaire" by his 30th birthday. So, we have until August 2017 to hit $500k in investible NW. Given our current trajectory, I think this is very likely! I'm personally aiming to hit $500k in March of 2017...no math here, just sending good vibes out into the universe.

[OurTown]

Jan. 1, 2016 = 374
Feb. 1, 2016 = 373
Mar. 1, 2016 = 379
Apr. 1, 2016 = 391

[Tjat]

I'll track this with invested assets only AND with home equity

Invested Assets
10/1/2015: $252K
4/1/2016: $284K

Net Worth (w/ Home Equity)
8/1/2014: $250K
4/1/2016: $393K

[MayDay]

Wheeee we hit my next milestone (400K) in March!  Of course this was almost entirely H's bonus, not market growth.

Sept '14:  253K
Mar '16:  406K

That is all investments as we do not currently own a house.  If we stayed on track we would hit 500K in 1 year.  Market growth should help us, but some of the past growth was stuff like selling a car (no more cars left to sell, if anything we would need to buy one) and converting an old pension into an IRA.  So I am guessing we will be about right on a year, depending on what the market does. 

[JustGettingStarted1980]

4/1/15: $389,564.45 (Didn't track it prior to this)
4/1/16: $504,365.34

Congrats on completion of the challenge Senor Frog!

[Roadsidetreasurehunter]

I'm in.  I'm at 347000 with investments and cash.  If I include paid off home my total is around 630000.  I hope to be at 400000 not including the house by year end.  I've been selling to de clutter and working a lot of overtime.

Congrats to everyone for all their efforts.

[boarder42]

gonna post my updates in mid april when our company share price gets updated.  Privately so it gets updated once annually.  should push thru or close to the 500k total NW mark.  still about a year or so and a decent market away from the 500k invested mark.

[tightwaddy]

I'm joining the challenge (a bit late, but also with a slight head start, so I think it works out).  This year will be a little slow going because we're finishing off the last $65K of our mortgage, but next year we'll be going gangbusters. December 2018 is the goal.

Invested (& Investable)
April 9, 2016:  $319,737


Net Worth (Including Home Equity)
April 9, 2016:  $619,505

[garth]

I've been using the FV function in Excel to project future net worth, which seems fine for our home value, but a Monte Carlo-type simulation would be much better for our equities. Does anyone know of an online tool like cFiresim that will let you input asset allocation, yearly contributions, and time horizon to project future value? I guess I could just run the FV projects with different expected returns, but a Monte Carlo simulation would be really cool.

Anyway, using 8% annual return with the Excel FV formula, I get $500k NW in just 18 months and $500k equities in 25. Currently sitting at $278k and $230k respectively. Seeing that got me really fired up. By end of year 2021, I'll know whether I get tenure or have been fired. At that point, we could conceivably have over $1MM in equities and perhaps $150k in home equity. That would give us some damn fine options. It's fun to dream...

[boarder42]

NW w/ House 486k
NW w/o House 338k

i think we will reach 500k around this time next year.  we contribute ~100k annually so with modest market gains and my share price of my company increasing at its current rate we will be there in NW w/o house.  NW with house should hit around august if i were to guess.  assuming normal markets .

[OurTown]

Jan. 1, 2016 = 374
Feb. 1, 2016 = 373
Mar. 1, 2016 = 379
Apr. 1, 2016 = 391
May 1, 2016 = 398

[Roots&Wings]

Holy crap you guys are adding like $100k-200k/year.

Maybe I should start a "Tortoise race from 250 to 500k!" thread. I think we'll be in that race a while more than what looks like most folks here ;-)

No kidding! It took me 4 years to go from $250k (2012) to $500k (2016). Sub-$100k salary. Slow and steady tortoise progress will pay off too.

[ender]

Holy crap you guys are adding like $100k-200k/year.

Maybe I should start a "Tortoise race from 250 to 500k!" thread. I think we'll be in that race a while more than what looks like most folks here ;-)

No kidding! It took me 4 years to go from $250k (2012) to $500k (2016). Sub-$100k salary. Slow and steady tortoise progress will pay off too.

I suspect that those 4 years will be faster for you than us though given market increases during that time ;)  We're "only" saving about $30k-$40k a year right now.

I wouldn't be surprised if once we end up here that we get kicked out for a bit for market fluctuations.

[NYCWife]

Wahoo! I finally get to post here for the first time. So excited to see how following MMM has really helped us financially. Definitely not as fast as many of you, but I'm still happy with our progress:

1/15 = $109
2/15 = $113
3/15 = $106
4/15 = $128
5/15 = $125
6/15 = $137
7/15 = $133
8/15 = $162
11/15 = $199
12/15 = $204

1/16 = $209
2/16 = $220
3/16 = $242
4/16 = $262

[BBub]

Nov 31, 2015: $254,178
Dec 31, 2015: $258,054
Jan 31, 2016: $264,247
Feb 29, 2016: $271,241
Mar 31, 2016: $300,034
Apr 30, 2016: $317,839

[Roots&Wings]

Holy crap you guys are adding like $100k-200k/year.

Maybe I should start a "Tortoise race from 250 to 500k!" thread. I think we'll be in that race a while more than what looks like most folks here ;-)

No kidding! It took me 4 years to go from $250k (2012) to $500k (2016). Sub-$100k salary. Slow and steady tortoise progress will pay off too.

I suspect that those 4 years will be faster for you than us though given market increases during that time ;)  We're "only" saving about $30k-$40k a year right now.

I wouldn't be surprised if once we end up here that we get kicked out for a bit for market fluctuations.

Yep, recent market returns have been a huge help. Sounds like you're doing great saving $30-$40k/yr, you'll get there!

[Libertea]

Holy crap you guys are adding like $100k-200k/year.

Maybe I should start a "Tortoise race from 250 to 500k!" thread. I think we'll be in that race a while more than what looks like most folks here ;-)

FWIW, you're doing great, so don't let anyone else intimidate you or make you feel bad about your savings rate.

I look at this "race" thread the same way I look at blogs like MMM and ERE: they provide a source of inspiration, and sometimes I get some amazing specific ideas for improving my own savings rate.  But I'm not trying to actually BE those guys, any more than I'm trying to be you or anyone else on here.  And there's no reason for you to have to be me.  Right now I can save >$100k per year because right now I'm working/earning enough to do that.  It comes at a cost to other parts of my life, however, and it is not a reasonable long term life solution.  I plan to quit within a year.  Next year when I start earning less, the savings rate will obviously go way down, and hopefully the job satisfaction will go way up (and the job hours will eventually be going way down).  But there's more to life than just money, right? :-)

[garth]

Could hit both $300k NW and $250k equities next month.

Oct 15: $247k
Nov 15: $255k
Dec 15: $256k
Jan 16: $241k
Feb 16: $255k
Mar 16: $277k
Apr 16: $290k