Race from 250 to 500k!

[BBub]

I really enjoyed reading the 100-250k thread.  Let's start a race to a half million!

November 2015: $251k

[marty998]

why not try doing 250 to 500 in quicker time than you did 100 to 250?

[BBub]

Ha.  Ok, sounds good to me.  That will be quite the challenge. 

16 months is my goal then.  $500k by Feb 2017.  That's $15,625/mo. I don't see how this will happen, but here goes!

[ahueston]

I am in, No way I can do it in 16 months. I am going to only track invested assets, no house or any thing else

As of the morning of November 11 Investable assets at $267,891.

-a

[BBub]

Cool.  Good luck! I am also tracking invested assets only.  But others can track whatever they want.  On the previous threads most ppl were tracking total NW including home equity.  That's fine.

Yeah the 16 months is probably not going to happen for me either!  marty just suggested that we try to beat the time from 100 to $250.

[Cheddar Stacker]

I'm in!

I'm far ahead of $250K on the total NW, but my "invested/investable" funds are lower, so I'll use that, but even that has some big variables.

I won't be able to keep up with your monthly savings Bub, but I have a few aces in the hole. Might be cashing out $100K in Home equity within your 16 month goal. About to cash out $25K private stock I'm not currently including as invested/investable since there's no ROR. Plus the flips. So I should be able to keep pace with you.

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

This should be fun.

[rufflina]

I will also track invested assets. It happens that I'm at $251k right now in Vanguard! I think 3 years is a realistic goal for me, but let's see how the stock exchange does over that time period...

[JustGettingStarted1980]

Ok, so not quite at 250K (Net Worth), but I want to hold my place in line as BBub and I are on a similar track, and Cheddar is the man!  It's nice to hobnob with the illustrious folk around here.

Why total Net Worth? Because it feels good, that's why! Why else do anything, really?

Updates to follow, I'll be close to 250K on January 1st, 2016

[doggyfizzle]

I'm in.  Currently at 414k (~700k if you include home equity).  I should be at 500k by December 2016, although with the way Silicon Valley real estate prices are going, it could be much sooner (depending on how you value my 10% stake in an LLC that owns debt/equity in two microbreweries and a large commercial building in Saratoga).

[sisto]

I'm in too, my NW is over, but I will also use invested assets. I'm hoping to hit this by the end of the year, but it's going to be really close and obviously depend on the market.

[BBub]

Ok, so not quite at 250K (Net Worth), but I want to hold my place in line as BBub and I are on a similar track, and Cheddar is the man!  It's nice to hobnob with the illustrious folk around here.

Why total Net Worth? Because it feels good, that's why! Why else do anything, really?

Updates to follow, I'll be close to 250K on January 1st, 2016

Aww shucks, thanks JustGettingStarted.  I look forward to our little 'race'!  The great thing is we all win.

[RWD]

We did $100k to $250k in about 22 months and I'm estimating $250k to $500k will take us a little over 2 years.

[TheAnonOne]

I'll join.

Not entirely sure how long it took to get to this point. My NW chart in MINT is all screwed up because I removed some old loan accounts (cars, student, mortgage etc) so it basically shows that I didn't move in NW for 2-3 years, when in reality I was paying down debt.... so the first 250 took 2 to 4 years....

Anyway... I'll throw my name in the ring. We save anywhere from 5k to 10k a month, so it could take anywhere from 2 to 4 years for this one as well, judging from my past 2 years, it will land right at about 3, assuming the market doesn't grow or shrink a single percentile in that time (unlikely)

2015 DEC: 252k

[jorjor]

I'm in. November ended at $249k, so perfect timing to start this up for us. I'm including home equity and cash accounts along with invested assets.

[TheAnonOne]

I'm in. November ended at $249k, so perfect timing to start this up for us. I'm including home equity and cash accounts along with invested assets.

I'm right there with you.

Including the same things.... (which is the real definition... all assets - liabilities)

[bzzzt]

I have a little bit of a cheater head start, we hit $300k NW today!

Nonetheless, I'm in!

[zephyr911]

I am in, No way I can do it in 16 months. I am going to only track invested assets, no house or any thing else

As of the morning of November 11 Investable assets at $267,891.

-a

Invested, or investable?
After the market weirdness of the last few months, I appear to have just crossed 250 for what should be the last time, and am around 260 now. Saving roughly 60k on 90k TH, with rising income and high returns on leveraged rentals, I see best case as two years and worst case as four.

[Cheddar Stacker]

I am in, No way I can do it in 16 months. I am going to only track invested assets, no house or any thing else

As of the morning of November 11 Investable assets at $267,891.

-a

Invested, or investable?
After the market weirdness of the last few months, I appear to have just crossed 250 for what should be the last time, and am around 260 now. Saving roughly 60k on 90k TH, with rising income and high returns on leveraged rentals, I see best case as two years and worst case as four.

I'm counting invested, investable, and real estate. Right now Invested = ~$250k. Investable = ~$30-40k. Real estate = ~$28k.

Everyone seems to be counting different variables. No worries, we will all get to $500k, so we will all win!

[RetirementDreaming]

I'm in.
Dec'15= 352k (updated 367k at 12/31)
Mar'16= 418K
Apr'16= 429K

Reached 250k in Dec '14. Started tracking in Mar'10 with 69k.

Target for 500k is Dec '16. 

[zephyr911]

Everyone seems to be counting different variables. No worries, we will all get to $500k, so we will all win!

I started tracking NW with the idea of being as comprehensive as possible. After finding MMM I was uninterested in reworking years of line item breakouts, so I stick with the more "optimistic" methodology for internal consistency. Makes the numbers a little bigger but depreciating assets reduce effective total returns. Like you say though, we'll all get there.

*****************************

How many people in this thread are planning to actually FIRE or make any meaningful interim changes at or near 500? Just curious.

[Cheddar Stacker]

I might dance a jig, but i won't change a thing. Wife and 2 kids and expenses are high. I'm aiming for about double that before I'm pulling the umbilical chord. That should come fairly quick though.

[BBub]

500 will just be a milestone for me as well.  My FI number is 1.25m.

[gecko10x]

How many people in this thread are planning to actually FIRE or make any meaningful interim changes at or near 500? Just curious.

I'm not quite in this thread yet, but I can answer: At $500k NW, nothing; at $500k in retirement assets, I plan to quit the day job and switch to something I'm in more control of. I figure at that point, contributions won't matter as much anyway, so I can stop worrying about putting anything in :-)

[zephyr911]

why not try doing 250 to 500 in quicker time than you did 100 to 250?

I finally looked up my charts... I busted 100K for the first time in late October 2012, dropped slightly and then went much higher by year-end. I basically did the same with 250K in 2015. Using the final crossover point for each, it's almost exactly 3 years. I'd already estimated 2-4 as the best/worst cases for 250->500, but I'm going to make 2.5 my goal - coincidentally, I turn 40 then.

I'm not quite in this thread yet, but I can answer: At $500k NW, nothing; at $500k in retirement assets, I plan to quit the day job and switch to something I'm in more control of. I figure at that point, contributions won't matter as much anyway, so I can stop worrying about putting anything in :-)

I don't track DW's numbers very closely or count them toward my NW total, since I find I work harder when I focus on just my own savings... she started later but should be near 100K at that point (600K total). With our LCOL area and casual PT work for both of us, we'll be in the ballpark.

[Sonos]

I'm in!

DH is still rounding up his old 401ks, but I think we'll clock in around $230,000 in 401k/Roth/brokerage accounts. We also have a rental, but I'm not going to count that.

Two years? Seems pretty ambitious, but it will get me motivated!

[JustGettingStarted1980]

Ok, so not quite at 250K (Net Worth), but I want to hold my place in line as BBub and I are on a similar track, and Cheddar is the man!  It's nice to hobknob with the illustrious folk around here.

Why total Net Worth? Because it feels good, that's why! Why else do anything, really?

Updates to follow, I'll be close to 250K on January 1st, 2016

Okay everyone, I'm officially on board this challenge as of today! My goal is to complete this stage in 2 years.

July-15   $179,961.40
Oct-15      $207,727.22
Jan-16      $257,514.77

Happy New Year!

[BBub]

We're neck and neck Justgettingstarted!  I am at 258,054 as of Jan 1.

Probably down a few $k today, but whatever.  Two years seems realistic as long as we don't have large negative returns.  This will be fun!

[zephyr911]

DH is still rounding up his old 401ks, but I think we'll clock in around $230,000 in 401k/Roth/brokerage accounts. We also have a rental, but I'm not going to count that.

Why wouldn't you count that? It's an income-producing asset, in which (I assume) you have equity. I count all of mine... with typical returns above stock market levels, they count more than anything! ;)

Okay everyone, I'm officially on board this challenge as of today! My goal is to complete this stage in 2 years.

July-15   $179,961.40
Oct-15      $207,727.22
Jan-16      $257,514.77

Sweet Jesus, you're flyin'. May I ask if that's just your SR, or if you're into something with ridiculously high returns?

[MayDay]

I am in this band.  We are at 380K right now.  Have been flattish for 6 months, thanks stock market!  I am seriously antsy for 500K and we haven't even hit 400k!

I am predicting 2 years but its totally dependant on the market.  Could be 12-18 months if the market does nuts. 

No real estate for us (we rent) so its just retirement and brokerage accounts. 

[TheFirstMan]

I feel like I've found my people!

I'm in the Investable Assets crowd, at 249K as we start 2016.

I will play the tortoise here (or perhaps Eeyore) with a goal of about 4 years from now, in 2020.

Over on the long-term net worth goals thread, I just posted about some of my variables, include pessimistic estimates about spending and income, inflation, and a possible home addition. That's why I'm giving a longer time horizon. If the market is reasonable, and our spending and income are more in my optimistic zone, and we don't do a home addition, the time frame shortens to about 2 years, in 2018.

And that, friends, is motivational. Thanks!

One final thing--some helpful info could be added in here, as we go on this journey together--context like I've shared here, as well as incomes, as those of us who are making 40K shouldn't compare with those making 120K!

I'm married and our combined income in 2015 was 80K. In 2016, it should be close to 120K gross.

Edit 2/18/16: 395K when you add in home equity.

[OurTown]

I've been posting in the $1 million thread but it looks like I should do this one first.

Jan. 2016 = $374k

We should hit 500k within 2 years.

[OurTown]

Okay guys, I'm afraid we might be taking a small step backwards this month because of market losses. 

[JustGettingStarted1980]

This is why I only post every 3 months. Psychologically, it keeps me more even keel. Steady as she goes!

[zephyr911]

This is why I only post every 3 months. Psychologically, it keeps me more even keel. Steady as she goes!

I'm with you there. I only calculate NW quarterly. If it's good enough for the companies I invest in, it's good enough for me.

[bzzzt]

Okay guys, I'm afraid we might be taking a small step backwards this month because of market losses.

This is why I paid off my house first. I couldn't get over being set back months by market losses when I could've "used" the money.

I really only lost a year to investing and 2015 was flat anyway. So, win-win!

[Sonos]

DH is still rounding up his old 401ks, but I think we'll clock in around $230,000 in 401k/Roth/brokerage accounts. We also have a rental, but I'm not going to count that.

Why wouldn't you count that? It's an income-producing asset, in which (I assume) you have equity. I count all of mine... with typical returns above stock market levels, they count more than anything! ;)

I am counting it in general, but for me, this race is all about hitting $500k of investable assets :) The rental income pays for the principle/insurance/taxes (which is awesome). $750k (or maybe $1M) in investable assets is the next step to get us FIREd :) so I'm all about focusing on that right now.

[zephyr911]

I am counting it in general, but for me, this race is all about hitting $500k of investable assets :)

To each his own, I suppose.

Between tax-deferred retirement accounts and real estate, my current split is about 60-40, but the latter is getting 2/3 of new investment and returning higher rates, so my 500 will probably include a minimum of 300 in rental equity. The faster I get there, the higher it'll be.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Can we rename this thread race from 250 to 200K?  Wtf?

Who broke the market when I wasn't looking?

[OurTown]

It is a good opportunity to keep contributing at a lower cost basis.  I suspect my contributions for January won't cover the market losses, however.

[OurTown]

Jan. 1, 2016 = 374
Feb. 1, 2016 = 373

Better than expected, contributions made up for market losses.

[garth]

I'll play. We've been hovering around $250k since November, through we're currently a little below that at $248k. If we can save $100k this year, I'll be pretty happy. It's definitely a stretch goal though...last month we only stashed $4600. It's not impossible though. My wife is about to start working after 7 months off, so March and beyond should look much better.

[BBub]

Nov 31, 2015: $254,178
Dec 31, 2015: $258,054
Jan 31, 2016: $264,247

[dazed]

I'm a newbie to this forum but I'm in!

I think I am around $240K now. I'll have to check more closely. $500 K would be amazing and I think I can do it.

[zephyr911]

I'm not even looking at the stock market with this dogshit going on.

This week I am formally offering to buy two small properties in March that should double my $15K (total) down payment in 18-20 months and pay off completely in 6 years. Also, my partnership is near a deal on a $100K multifamily that should give us a leveraged cap rate around 30% on ~$15K down (1/3 mine).

Every little bit helps. \m/

[doggyfizzle]

I'm in.  Currently at 414k (~700k if you include home equity).  I should be at 500k by December 2016, although with the way Silicon Valley real estate prices are going, it could be much sooner (depending on how you value my 10% stake in an LLC that owns debt/equity in two microbreweries and a large commercial building in Saratoga).

Currently at 433k (758k if you include home equity).

[MayDay]

H checks the mark every day and reports to me.

I pkug my ears and run away.

[BBub]

Ha.  It's crazy to continuously add thousands & see the bottom line slipping backwards.  But that's part of the ride.  I knew what I was signing up for. 

I'm pretty pleased with my emotional reaction thus far. I'm sure I have a pain point, but it's not a 15% pullback on the S&P.  I haven't missed a beat throughout this hiccup.  Ask me if we shed another 15% or more - maybe I'll change my tune.  I doubt it though.  At this point I remain completely convinced that a heavy equity allocation is the best choice for the long run.

But to Ched's point, we really may need to temporarily rename the thread $250 to $200k.

[OurTown]

Stocks are on sale.  Let's all keep dollar cost averaging into the market.  I don't think it's dropped enough for me to hit a rebalancing band yet.

[zephyr911]

I'm trying not to even watch the market. Been humping a 5-pack of rentals (1/3 share via my LLC) and the deal is signed as of today. My commission should be close to $5K, which will probably go into this year's IRA contribution if I haven't done that already. My share of the investment is a little over $10K and should build about $700 equity per month... god bless leverage.

[Libertea]

I'm in too.  Was at $305,000 on 12/31/2015.  Even with the lousy market, I anticipate hitting $500,000 in early 2017 and FI @ $650,000 by mid 2018 (because of high savings rate ~$13,000/month, unfortunately not because I'm a brilliant investor).  Will update again on 3/31.