Bogleheads.org

davidferrer31 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 11:37 am I recently accepted a job offer in a city with poor public transit, thus I will need to buy a car. However, I only have enough cash to buy under 15k. Gas mileage is important to me, for my job isn't that well paid. I was looking at some used toyota prius models. Is there a certain mileage limit that you wouldn't go over for buying a car? Are there other cars that you recommend that get over 40 mpg and less than 15k?

I have a Prius with 90,000 miles on it. I’ve seen ones with 150+ that are still running fine. I’d be ok with around 100,000 miles if it’s in good condition.

It means you’ve reached your goal and don’t need to take on risk any more - generally meaning going to a portfolio that manages risk, such as being heavy in bonds and fixed income, while having some capital appreciation for inflation. Presumably, your goal is such that continuing to spend the same amount of money you do now will lead to your savings essentially being around forever. Whether that means in perpetuity or your lifetime is a matter of what your personal goal was.

This is really a myth. Debit cards have the same de jure protections as credit cards when run as credit. The difference is practical. When someone does a fraudulent debit purchase you’re at the mercy of dealing with the bank to put the money back while it’s all settled. With a credit card you just don’t pay. And even if the credit card company sides against you, you always have the option to never pay. You always have the option to never pay? This seems odd to me. Is this possibly true? I can't see how you are not liable if you are lose a dispute. He means you can simply refuse to pay and default on it… Not recommended but I’m sure people do it out of principal. To OP’s question - as an elder millennial, I only use a CC. Once I discovered ...

How much do you have to invest? Retiring at 45 requires either a large income now, outsized investments gains (and taking on more risk), or being ok with living in near poverty voluntarily. Remember most of the FIRE bloggers are not really retired, they became professional bloggers. To answer you question, many would say at your age, start with VTI only. I’d contend you need some bonds or you can’t rebalance which can have the effect of locking in earnings. I'm not sure exactly how much I would need to invest, it's not necessarily a solid plan but rather an option that I'd like to keep on the table and avoid making any mistakes that would take that option off the table, if that makes sense. I currently have a decent income and reasonably l...

How much do you have to invest? Retiring at 45 requires either a large income now, outsized investments gains (and taking on more risk), or being ok with living in near poverty voluntarily. Remember most of the FIRE bloggers are not really retired, they became professional bloggers. To answer you question, many would say at your age, start with VTI only. I’d contend you need some bonds or you can’t rebalance which can have the effect of locking in earnings. I'm not sure exactly how much I would need to invest, it's not necessarily a solid plan but rather an option that I'd like to keep on the table and avoid making any mistakes that would take that option off the table, if that makes sense. I currently have a decent income and reasonably l...

I tell my kids, whose personal capital is larger than their financial capital, that there's no reason to invest in bonds at this point in their lives, but 10% or 20% isn't that big a deal. Given that I'm in my mid-20s and pursuing FIRE, would it make sense to invest around 15% in bonds with the hope of retiring around my mid-40s? Since my understanding is that you want to invest more in bonds the closer you are to retiring? Or does this guideline not apply to FIRE? How much do you have to invest? Retiring at 45 requires either a large income now, outsized investments gains (and taking on more risk), or being ok with living in near poverty voluntarily. Remember most of the FIRE bloggers are not really retired, they became professional blogg...

Heads up: The moderators are now seeing active member posts which are using ChatGPT to provide investment advice. Some of those posts contain incorrect information. This is a financial forum. Incorrect information will put your life's savings at risk. Our first priority is to ensure the information is accurate. If a member is using AI to generate a post and does not disclose that fact , the moderators will take action. We're working with the site owners on this. Until a path forward is found, we'll do what we can to mitigate the situation. I asked chatgpt how to tell if someone on a message board is using chatgpt and pretending they are not… straight from chatgpt’s mouth - 1. Consistency in tone and language: ChatGPT generates responses th...

I've been thinking about just consolidating everything at Fidelity and no longer chasing bonuses/etc. If I'm xferring low 7 figures (across multiple accounts) to Fidelity, does anyone know whether they may provide some un-advertised xfer bonus? I assume I'd need to call them and see, but wanted to check others' experiences first. I only started this bonus chasing last fall. I often ponder if it’s worth vs. the benefits of consolidating, especially to make things smoother for my wife in the event something was to happen to me. But for now, chasing seems to win. If I may ask, what was the main factor for you to want to consolidate? It's a part time job. But pays well. All that matters if your wife needs to step in is what you have currently ...

My latest strategy, besides sign up bonuses/churning is to get cards with 15 months 0% APR on purchases. Instead of paying off the balance each month in full, I pay the bare minimum payment .. say $50 to $100 per month. By doing this, I instead deposit the cash I would of used to pay off the balance, into a money market account yielding 4.4%. Say the credit card limit is $8000.. I might keep the card close $8000 for 12 months or more since it's 0% interest.. so I'd instead be getting 4.4% income on $8000 for a year for free. Then I pay off the credit card in full just before the 15 month APR intro offer expires. I'm assuming this lowers your credit score? It certainly would. That said, it doesn't matter unless you're applying for a mortgag...

You don’t have to but I just drove a Prius halfway across the country (almost 1200 miles) and averaged 54 mpg the whole way. The gas savings is dramatic.

neilpilot wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 1:36 am

gtrplayer wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:47 pm

I’ve often wondered what the advantage is to owning a timeshare vs simply booking a vacation on Expedia?

This week we’re staying in a TS that we often trade into. I don’t have precise figures, but we pay about $1250/yr TS maintenance fee, and then another $200 or so to trade into this unit.

After I read your comment I went to Expedia, and they list this unit for $2661/wk.

I’m not familiar enough with the timeshare industry to understand what you mean by trade into.

Did you also have to pay a lump sum upfront?

We are timeshare owners and we have actually been very pleased with our ownership, until the pandemic hit. We bought our 3 weeks all on the secondary market starting over 20 years ago, with one costing only $1. Our maintenance fees were reasonable and we never went to our home resorts, exchanging into some nice resorts using RCI, mostly in the northeast US. The pandemic changed everything. We had been exchanging every year into Lake Placid, NY in February for a winter vacation and Smugglers Notch, VT in October for fall foliage. Since the pandemic started we haven’t been able to find any exchanges to anywhere that we want to go, even though we have a ridiculous amount of trading power. Our resort where we had two weeks needed to raise thei...

Financial success is one thing, but happiness is another. And we/me need to be reminded that it is critical to invest in relationships. Wish I had done. Well, at least I probably don't need to worry about longevity planning to age 100. :oops: The main takeaway from the 80+ years of the Harvard Study of Adult Development is that good relationships can make us healthier and happier. The authors of the book explain: People who are more connected to family, to friends, and to community, are happier and physically healthier than people who are less well connected. People who are more isolated than they want to be find their health declining sooner than people who feel connected to others. Lonely people also live shorter lives. The people who we...

Gundy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 08, 2021 6:34 am

finite_difference wrote: ↑Sun Nov 07, 2021 8:26 pm Toilets every 12 months: $200

wait . . . what?

Holy crap!

Personally, I install a pristine new toilet every time I go.

Hi, my company is offering long-term care benefits through a partnership with Trustmark. Here's what I gather from it: - If I choose death benefit amount, i.e. $200K which is then multiplied 2X for LTC benefit so total LTC benefit = $400K - for this example, it's $385/month - premium should stay the same through my lifetime - there's always the caveat it may go up but from what I gathered, low probability - can use up to 100 years old (don't plan on living that long!) - I'm currently 54. Am single with no children so health care maintenance is a lingering concern esp when I'm older. - My current investment portfolio is ~$2.5M. I put this in here because I'm sure one school of thought is should I just invest that $385/month? I look forward ...

Hi! I'd like to invest more in the stock market (esp during times like this) but I am also saving for a down payment. What % of my net pay should I use for investments vs house down payment? Would it be silly to delay purchasing a house so I can invest more of my money in the stock market? Here are the pros/cons I see. Pros Flexibility. Who knows where my career might take me? I can always sell my stocks if I want to purchase a house (stock market could tank when I want to buy a house though) I can take more risks with my career Cons I live in a VHCOL area. House prices may continue to go up. I like having a home of my own FOMO. Friends are buying homes. Stocks and houses are vastly different things. Stocks are numbers on a computer. A hou...

I’m not an expert on either school. Ohio State University is definitely well-known in my part of the country and Northeastern is not as well-known. That may not matter if he wants to live in that region.

But I’m a firm believer that excessive college debt is harmful. I went to a private school and it may have had some advantages but if I could go back, I likely would have chosen a cheaper public school. And the college I went to has doubled in price since then.

Without knowing the prices, and knowing that Ohio State is a well-respected public university, I’d go with Ohio State. If NEU comes back with a competitive financial aid package, then I would compare the two programs and decide based on that.

So I know predicting the stock market is extremely challenging but I am having a hard time staying calm and continuing to invest free cash flow month after month into an 80/20 portfolio (equity/bond) given the market results of 2022 and now presumably a potential recession of some magnitude in 2023 due to rising rates and a regional bank crisis. This is especially hard as our portfolio is sizable ($1.7M invested) so the volatility can be pretty material. Looking at history it is fairly uncommon to have 2 consecutive down years in the S&P but clearly this has occurred most recently during the dot com bubble of the early 2000s and also during the 1970s. How do other Bogleheads view the current market outlook? Are you doing anything diffe...

I think what the question was getting at is whether the rule is that the total amount in the account is less than what they put in, or if any investment had earnings.

For example, if I had 90% in VTI but I also happened to put 10% in a single stock that did earn something last year. The total account value is less than I put in but the single stock does have earnings.

My understanding is it has to do with the total value, so in this case I have no earnings.

AvocadoDeliberator wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 9:59 pm Thank you, from my reading as well I concluded that the price discovery is well and alive due to the trading volumes. Still curious if there is some simple arithmetic composition that can equate price of an index fund to the individual stocks with their weight factor per that index?

Price of stocks in the index fund times * market weight of each individual stock / shares of the fund?

Should preface by saying I’m not a math whiz… but most index funds discussed on here are market weighted and the market weight of a stock is exactly how much the stock price influences the index.

BND has a duration of 6.6 years. Price high low of 2016 $84.70 07/08/2016 $80.02 12/15/2016 Distributions in 2016 were $1.99 so 2.35%-2.49%, roughly. Using the regular 'hold till duration' rule, you'd expect the return to be $10,000 plus the interest over 7 years, so around $11,645 - $11,741 How did BND perform? $10,000 $10,635 0.86% We had hikes from 2016-2020.. and now again. Hence why maybe the 2x duration - 1 rules makes more sense... Scary. Given this, why would anyone invest in a bond fund vs individual bonds? Pricing bond funds makes sense until it doesn’t… In a 401k, it makes sense given limited options but I’m tempted to go with a bond ladder outside of a 401k unless I can understand how getting less than the value of a bond + int...

MrJedi wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 2:01 pm I didn't see it in the fine print either. I'm familiar with the old terms too. I'm not going to risk it though. I will just do the deposit and withdraw song and dance for a few months to avoid the fees and then close after 6 months total.

What do you have to keep in the account? If you withdraw everything but the minimum to avoid fees, are you still good? I got the bonus but don’t want to leave that much in there for six months…

trustquestioner wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:34 pm People want to be outraged but the system is working. Executives and the board are fired, the equity gets nothing, they’ve contained systemic risks.

When people said they didn’t think the banks should have been bailed out in 2008, I never thought people meant the depositors should have been left holding the bag. This thread makes me think they thought the banks should truly fail and everyone loses everything.

This bank was not bailed out - the bank is done, investors will lose everything. Is that really not enough to say we didn’t bail them out?

I see the issue, your reading opinion pieces in the WSJ like it's a fact based report - it's not. Anyone can write a Oped and that one isn't even good. At the beginning it says " The Treasury and Federal Reserve stepped in late Sunday to contain the financial damage from Friday’s closure of Silicon Valley Bank, guaranteeing even uninsured deposits and offering loans to other banks so they don’t have to take losses on their fixed-income assets. This is a de facto bailout of the banking system" As far as I understand it that statement is false. The Fed took over a failed bank and is in the process of restoring FDIC insured bank accounts they are not restoring investment accounts as those people took the risk knowing full well how r...

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/13/wall-street-not-taxpayers-will-pay-for-the-svb-and-signature-deposit-relief-plans-.html CNBC Article says wall street will pay for SVB uninsured deposit losses not the taxpayer. This is just another way of saying that we will charge them in some way and they will pass on the charge to you in another way. Ultimately the common man pays for all the bad business decisions made by the leveraged financial/systemic institutions Does this mean any un-insured deposits will be bailed out by FDIC going forward in case of any bank failure so basically the 250K threshold does not exist anymore From what I can tell, the math doesn't work out for the DIF to cover all uninsured de...

There are some fintech companies (assuming they don’t go out of business due to the collapse of SVB) that partner with multiple banks to offer more than $250,000 of FDIC insurance. I believe wealthfront is one.

I don’t do that because I wouldn’t personally keep more than $250,000 in cash, but that’s a personal preference. I would use multiple banks if I did.

So when people on this forum are saying "don't time the bond market" they are plain wrong. I did careful research, as did you, on this forum before I invested a large amount in BND. It was a mistake and I am not blaming others. I failed to truly understand what the posters were saying on this forum and bought into the mantra of "don't time the market", "buy and hold", "as long as hold to maturity you can't lose" etc etc. It's more nuanced than that and I hope that future investors on this forum realize some of the pitfalls. You‘ve said this in a number of threads, but you don’t back it up with any justification besides your experience over a time scale much less than the duration of BND, and just bas...

I know in a vacuum a HSA is better, but this just seems like I would be paying more for worse insurance. I'm in my 20's but I do some high risk activities for injury like skiing as well. I have fairly good retirement benefits as well, 15% defined contribution to my 401k that has vanguard index funds. HRA Plan: - $22 semi-monthly - $1,000 in the HRA per year, unlimited rollover to the next year - $1,500 deductible in and out of network - OOP max $2,500/$3,500 out of network - 10% coinsurance in network/40% outside network HSA Plan: - $28 semi-monthly - $1000 in HSA per year - $2,500 deductible in network/$5,000 out of network - OOP Max $5,000/$10,000 in and out of network - Most services 20% coinsurance in network/ 50% outside network How l...

Considering their young ages and the myriad of things that can happen to a person over a lifetime, making the money completely inaccessible before age 60 seems like a big risk. If one of them gets cancer at age 30 and you’re no longer around, would you really want the money completely inaccessible to them?

In my mind, the Roth seems like a good idea. If you really want them not to have ownership over the money, could a trust be set up that allows the money to be accessed prior to 60 in certain situations (like for medical reasons or to avoid foreclosure).

So as I've transitioned to all-index portfolio and I have a question. I have S&P 500 index funds in my taxable accounts which I'll be leaving be. However, I also have the S&P in my 401k. I have the Vanguard total market index in my rollover IRA. I could easily sell all the S&P 500 in my 401k and buy Fidelity's total bond, and then sell the equivalent Vanguard total bond in my IRA and buy total market index there. Is it worth it? I know returns are very close. And I'm wondering if I'm just itching to "do something." The only time this will create an inconvenience is on the one or two days per year when you are thinking about tax loss harvesting the S&P 500 fund in your taxable account. You don't want to be buying &...

I bought an older house but I did buy one well below what I could afford on paper. In addition to fixes, I’ve made some “optional” fixes because I didn’t like everything in it already. The house is definitely the biggest part of my budget. That said - it can be fun to make things how you want. My backyard has been an ongoing experiment and I like it. I don’t see myself renting any time soon even though I tend to think I’d save more money that way. The other issue is the interest rate. The Fed is trying to discourage home buyers right now. You won’t pay much in principal for a while so unless you stay for a while, you won’t actually save over renting. I think home ownership can be fun and isn’t just about finances. It’s just more expensive t...

Good afternoon all. We have 3 US large cap growth funds in our portfolio that we would like to neutralize for a total US stock market effect. Large cap growth took a beating and has a larger recent loss than US total market. For example (TRBCX or VIGAX large growth funds). They seemed good at the time before we welcomed our 3 fund index portfolio. US/INTL/Bonds. Our Large cap growth funds are in tax deferred and represent about 20% of stocks. We plan to move the funds to a total market like VTSAX when the market goes back up whenever, but until then, are there any funds we can add to the portfolio to rebalance the assets to a total market? I didn’t want to sell now and lock in losses. I thought of small cap and medium cap but not sure abou...

My wife and I are turning 50 next year and are thinking of celebrating by going on a Disney Cruise. We’d be going as a family with our daughter who will be 10 by then. There is a chance that other family/friends will join us. My wife has wanted to do this for several years and I think it would be fun as well. We’re looking at 5-7 day cruises and estimate the cost to be around $7k or so. I have a couple of questions and understand that not everyone may be able to chime in on the second one. 1) Spending this much on a trip is not the norm for us so I want to make sure it’s not ill-advised. Can we afford to do this? (financial details below) 2) If you’ve been on a Disney cruise, what did you think of it? Any pointers or recommendations would ...

I was in BND.. BND isn't short term, though. Maybe I'm not understanding. Let's say at the end of December 22 I sold $1 million of bnd and bought a 1 year Treasury with that money yielding 1%. Right now I would be down about 100k if I was still in bnd, but instead am getting small interest amount on the Treasury and will roll over the 1 million+ and buy a similar note at a higher rate, likely, in December of 23. I know bnd is longer duration, but it seems to me, bottom line, I'm better off financially. I guess in theory I'm not? I don't know. I just like seeing that million stay a million. The comparison of a medium term bond fund with short term treasuries isn’t a good one. The point is that if you bought a bond maturing in 8 years and yo...

TropikThunder wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:48 pm

VoiceOfReason wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:47 pm There will be things left off the build that you had no idea wouldn't come with a house. (grass, landscaping, appliances, toilet paper holders, towel racks)

A brand new house doesn't come with toilet paper holders? Seriously?

To be fair, the toilet paper holder did break in my house but I haven’t replaced it yet. Toilet paper sits on the edge of the sink for the time being.

I only saw one fund listed in this thread. Is he going to sell and buy into other funds? Unless these funds are very risky, they may be similar to the index funds he buys instead, albeit with a higher fee… but at this point, is the lower fee going to make up for the huge tax hit on money he doesn’t need?

Unless he needs the money now, I don’t think we have enough information. We’d need to know the funds and what he intends to do with the money. If he’s going from an actively managed broad market fund that pretty closely matches the market and incurs a huge bill to transfer it to VTI, I’m not sure that’s worth it. If he’s in some risky funds that could easily collapse in the next year, that might be a different matter.

Maybe it’s a moot point now, but what was the point of buying the house when he was already beneficiary of the trust and the funds for the sale went into the trust?

What was he trying to gain by doing this? To the extent there was a clear purpose, that may help determine the next steps.

Don’t rush. You can get safe investments that pay 5% right now. This isn’t a few years ago where the money would sit and do nothing.

That’s more money than I may ever have (and 2.5
million more than I had at 22). If you can avoid lifestyle creep, you’ll never have to worry about money again. Avoiding that will be the hard part. There are many people with million dollar homes who are broke.

I’m sorry for your loss. That’s quite a gift they left you.

We received monies that were ear marked to be used starting within 5 years for college. After reading wikis and lurking on BH I lump summed into the 4 fund portfolio in Aug 2020. A 30/70 portfolio was set up with the bulk of bonds as BND . A bond heavy portfolio was determined to protect the funds since the timeline for when the first withdrawal started was fairly close. Now that I’m 2 years from our first withdrawal I’m pondering on how to handle my NAV dropping so much… I’d be appreciative of any advice on how to think through withdrawing with a minimal realized losses as possible. 1. first these two statements side by side are the part that stands out to me. BND is an intermediate term bond fund which has an average duration of 6.6 year...

Correct me if I’m wrong but if you’re looking up only the share price of BND, it’s not showing the reinvested dividends. Portfoliovisualizer shows a much smaller drop which should continue to decrease as the interest payments continue to pay out.

The overall school academic performance doesn't matter. What matters are the course options for students at a similar level to your child. If there are no students at a similar level to your child, don't choose it. Also the overall sports strength doesn't matter. What matters is if they have the sport(s) your child wants to play, if your child can make the team, and if the level of the team is good enough for your child. Music can be continued outside of school although of course it is convenient if it can fit in the school day. Are there four years of challenging math with decent instruction and classmates at each school? Depending on where he’s from, music in schools can be just as competitive, if not more, than sports. Band competitions...

My city is in the top 3rd. Midwest has its advantages. Winter is not one of them.

Right now, it’s bitter cold and the air feels like daggers poking into every pore. I could definitely go for some Miami time right about now!

I had this thought until I realized that the Boglehead-style of investing didn’t need an advisor and if I became an advisor, I’d only make money by telling them a different way to invest. I wouldn’t want to do any job where I sold someone something I wouldn’t buy myself.

Having said that, there are types of financial advice that don’t involve making investing fund choices that may be beneficial, like how to set up trusts, managing trusts, dealing with inheritances, getting out of debt… things like that.

It seems like the money is going to be in sales but if the desire is to help people and not to get rich, there is financial advice people need. Plus, the industry needs some honest people in it.

M1 makes mutual funds irrelevant because it allows purchases of any amount of an ETF and lets you set up automatic purchases. I suspect this model will become increasingly popular until it’s the standard.

Hello, Searched and read through probably 10+ threads on Bogleheads on this topic, as well as several websites/blogs, and still can't come to a decision. Looking for maybe some guidance in decision-making for our specific situation. Basically, came into an unexpected windfall of about $300,000. Question now is what to do with this money given the following situation. Us: Dual income couple, mid to late 30's. Household income $700k. two kids < age 4, no plans for more. Fully funding 401k/457s, Roth IRA. good amount in taxable. 529s well funded for both kids and probably will have leftovers. Plan to "FI" around age 53 with current trends. Probably wouldn't mind continuing to work albeit fewer hours. House: VHCOL. Currently entering...

BigDaddyRich wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:24 pm

Admiral wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 5:06 pm Why not just get term life insurance?

Funny, I've never worried about how my funeral expenses will be paid: I'll be dead. My spouse or kids can figure it out. Plus: cremation is cheap.

Put the money you'd pay for Whole Life into a taxable or Roth account and it will be there to pay for the casket and flowers.

We've already got term life. Just considering getting something extra to help with final expenses and (perhaps) building cash value.

Guaranteed issue is usually a last resort for people who can’t get insurance any other way. If you have term insurance, I don’t see why you’d want this…

We put a contract to purchase a home. It was built in 2006. Although we got a good amount off asking price (5%), I’m still convinced it’s way over priced. Unfortunately my wife is in love with the place and is extremely emotionally attached. It’s in a fairly rural area with about 12 acres. IMO, it’s hard to value. It has been on the market 6 months. It does have beautiful mountain views, so I’m not sure how to put a price on that. We should have the appraisal back tomorrow, but I will be skeptical if it appraises for our agreed upon price. Now on to the point. We are in our due diligence period. The disclosure stated the age of the hvac and water heater which are original to the home. We knew this when we made our offer. Our home inspectio...

I know it feels good to retire debt, but average return of S&P 500 is >10% annually. I would encourage you to consider opening up a brokerage account and put your extra car payments towards buying VOO. Once you have enough to pay off the car, make a decision from there. You aren't going to change your cash flow until you pay off the loan in full anyway. Disagree. You aren't going to get a guaranteed 6.34% after-tax return from the stock market. You are guaranteed to get 0% return on extra car payments. Paying the car early reduces interest paid. There is a return to paying off debt early. Whether it’s a good idea comes down to expected market returns vs interest rate in the loan. OP is going to be paying a lot in interest on this car. ...

Physician101 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:54 pm is it possible that chatGPT(future more refined models, not as of current one ) could come up with ways to accurately pick individual stocks by incorporating immense mathematical knowledge and historical data on stocks in a way that is far more accurate than active investment managers? And then it becomes a historical scenario never seen before where the average investor picking individual stocks via chatgpt yields greater returns over index funds over 30 + years, effectively shifting people away from index funds?

There will be competing AI’s, all trying to outdo each other. They can’t all pick the same stocks or they won’t outdo each other. Somewhere in there will be an average of all the AI’s, and indexes will continue to track that.

Maverick3320 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 07, 2023 10:28 pm I guess I'll be the curmudgeon here...is there anything actionable about this thread other than to compare yourself to others?

Posts with titles like this could be misconstrued by those that aren't Bogleheads.

Feels an awful lot like a humblebrag to me. “Your first million” implies we’ll have an eventual “I’m 45 and just now reached eight figures, am I doing ok…” This isn’t a get-rich-quick forum.