Need some perspective

[Neva6]

Hey MMM community. I really love the supportive people here and am just looking for some encouragement :). I read the net worth increase thread and feel like "holy crap everyone here is increasing their network by more than my entire yearly income! What the hell am I doing wrong!" I know in my mind that relative to most of America I'm doing great but I just turned 30 and I see all these young people that are just killing it and it is a bit frustrating.

Married with 2 young kiddos. Spouse stays home.
Income around $90k from engineering job (just recently started making this, past few years closer to $70k).
Net worth just over $205k (~60k home equity, ~130k retirement, ~15k savings, no debt besides mortgage).
Savings rate around 30-45% depending on how you calculate it.
Live 4 miles from work and ride my bike often.

Help give me some perspective!
Thanks for reading and here's to a great 2015!

[deborah]

It's not a race. It is a forum where people encourage each other. Part of that is boasting about how bad-ass you are (of course this is an especially macho thing). Just don't give up - remember how many members there are and how few of them are boasting in that thread.

The tortoise actually finishes the course, while the hare may not because it has bounded off somewhere else.

[Workinghard]

I wish I had that NW at age 30! Didn't even come close but we'll still make 1m by the time we retire. It just won't be early.  :)

[r3dt4rget]

You could have a -$76,000 net worth like me :)

Also, 30-45% is a decent savings rate for a single earner household, but 50% seems to be the minimum if you want to retire within 10-15 years. 70-80% is awesome. The more income you save, the faster your wealth will build. Also, someone 7 years into the journey with significant savings is going to be seeing a lot more investment gains. Appreciation and dividends play a big role in the massive wealth increases per year.

[kpd905]

The people with the huge net worth increases are more likely to post in threads like that.  I just broke into positive net worth around July at age 27.  A $200k net worth at age 30 like you have is actually pretty close to my goal.

[MDM]

I'll disagree with deborah here (well, not really, as you'll see): it is a race.  But it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Keep your spending down as your income goes up and soon enough you'll know that you are doing right indeed.

[JLee]

I wish I had that NW at age 30! Didn't even come close but we'll still make 1m by the time we retire. It just won't be early.  :)

No kidding, I think I'm around 75k (being generous) and I'm 31 in 2 weeks...

[ltt]

You are young, you are doing great!  And since you are receiving a nice pay increase, I would look into investing that increase.  You are well on your way!!

[surfhb]

Hey MMM community. I really love the supportive people here and am just looking for some encouragement :). I read the net worth increase thread and feel like "holy crap everyone here is increasing their network by more than my entire yearly income! What the hell am I doing wrong!" I know in my mind that relative to most of America I'm doing great but I just turned 30 and I see all these young people that are just killing it and it is a bit frustrating.

Married with 2 young kiddos. Spouse stays home.
Income around $90k from engineering job (just recently started making this, past few years closer to $70k).
Net worth just over $205k (~60k home equity, ~130k retirement, ~15k savings, no debt besides mortgage).
Savings rate around 30-45% depending on how you calculate it.
Live 4 miles from work and ride my bike often.

Help give me some perspective!
Thanks for reading and here's to a great 2015!

Huh!?   Youre in your 20s, have an education and a good engineering job, a family, live near work, no consumer debt and will have a quarter million dollar net worth by years end.

Talk about complainypants!   Jeesh!  :)

[innerscorecard]

Hey MMM community. I really love the supportive people here and am just looking for some encouragement :). I read the net worth increase thread and feel like "holy crap everyone here is increasing their network by more than my entire yearly income! What the hell am I doing wrong!" I know in my mind that relative to most of America I'm doing great but I just turned 30 and I see all these young people that are just killing it and it is a bit frustrating.

Married with 2 young kiddos. Spouse stays home.
Income around $90k from engineering job (just recently started making this, past few years closer to $70k).
Net worth just over $205k (~60k home equity, ~130k retirement, ~15k savings, no debt besides mortgage).
Savings rate around 30-45% depending on how you calculate it.
Live 4 miles from work and ride my bike often.

Help give me some perspective!
Thanks for reading and here's to a great 2015!

Huh!?   Youre in your 20s, have an education and a good engineering job, a family, live near work, no consumer debt and will have a quarter million dollar net worth by years end.

Talk about complainypants!   Jeesh!  :)

Totally a complainypants. When I started reading MMM my position was worse in literally every way. And yet I and many others in even worse situations than that managed to turn it around.

As Charlie Munger has said, Envy is the worst sin because it's not even fun.

[Neva6]

Yes I realize I'm being a complainypants. I need a few quick smacks across the face!  Thank you!

[gt7152b]

You are doing great. Over the next few years you will hit a nice sweet spot for experience in engineering. Keep working on your craft and eyeing new opportunities to keep your income growing. If you also keep your spending low and avoid lifestyle inflation your net worth will skyrocket. You could even find ways to get your spending down now and increase your savings rate immediately. Go shopping for investments rather than depreciating assets.

[RetiredAt63]

MMM has often said his blog is for people with good incomes.  You have that!  My highest earning year ever was about $80,000, most of my working life it was considerably less.  Just a fact of life for teachers.  This is a "way of life", not just a financial thing - let's analyze our lives to get the maximum meaning/enjoyment out of them without thinking we have to spend a lot of money to do this.  It is all about the journey (after all, the end is the same for all).

[WildJager]

A lot of people who have a ridiculous return rate have dual incomes and no children.  That makes it significantly easier to save above the 50% line (for obvious reasons).

I'm in that boat.  I would never look down on someone for doing as well as you while balancing a family. 

Do what works for your specific situation and don't dwell over comparisons because, frankly, the playing field is not even.

[2527]

I am 51 and have a NW of $2.5M.  When I was your age, my NW was about $75K.  You are doing great.

[Calvawt]

You are ahead of where I was at age 30.  I think you are on a great trajectory, don't worry too much about comparing to others on the forums.

[Yankuba]

A lot of people who have a ridiculous return rate have dual incomes and no children.  That makes it significantly easier to save above the 50% line (for obvious reasons).

I'm in that boat.  I would never look down on someone for doing as well as you while balancing a family. 

Do what works for your specific situation and don't dwell over comparisons because, frankly, the playing field is not even.

Agreed - it's much easier to save when there are two bread winners. One salary pays all the bills (and hopefully there is a bit left over) while the other salary is pure savings. Additionally, it's easy to grow your net worth when the markets have been generating 15% returns over the past five years.

[Davids]

You are doing fine, do not worry about it. Now if you want we can discuss and see how we can get that savings rate up around 60%.

[Neva6]

A lot of people who have a ridiculous return rate have dual incomes and no children.  That makes it significantly easier to save above the 50% line (for obvious reasons).

I'm in that boat.  I would never look down on someone for doing as well as you while balancing a family. 

Do what works for your specific situation and don't dwell over comparisons because, frankly, the playing field is not even.

Agreed - it's much easier to save when there are two bread winners. One salary pays all the bills (and hopefully there is a bit left over) while the other salary is pure savings. Additionally, it's easy to grow your net worth when the markets have been generating 15% returns over the past five years.

Ya that is what I figured. Since 2009 I have wished I had more money just so I could be invested in the market!

Anyway thanks for the encouragement. I see a major national trend of dual income households which I really think is driving up costs (especially housing). This is very apparent in my area (Colorado)  which has had housing prices explode. So I can feel a bit stuck with only my income available. Maybe I will try to do a budget post and see where I can improve.

[arebelspy]

The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

[lauren_knows]

The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Wise quote, grasshopper.

[DoubleDown]

The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Or could it be that you are long, and the end race is within you?

- The Sphinx