Share your net worth progression

[TheMoneyRat]

Didn't get going until late in life (early 40s)

The Money Rat

[RandomDude]

Professional DINK's 40/45, lived below our means, saved between 50 - 60% of take home pay for last 10 years and still feel like we have quite a splendid lifestyle compared to how we both grew up.

Year
2007 - $234,854
2008 - $242,182
2009 - $378,481
2010 - $507,362
2011 - $606,665
2012 - $780,017
2013 - $962,760
2014 - $1,139,504
2015 - $1,295,683
2016 - $1,511,995
2017 - $1,819,313

[RandomJoe]

2014 -$150,000
2015 -$25,000
2016 $167,000
2017 $269,000

Nice jump from '15 to '16! Physician?

High tech

[dziuniek]

Year Age Net-Worth Investments Comments

2011 YE 26 $(20,000.00) $- Graduated B.S. w/ student loans.
2012 YE 27 $(10,000.00) $7,000.00 Got my first "big boy job"
2013 YE 28 $(40,000.00) $31,500.00 Got married (more student loans!), bought a house, new car. Started at BIG4.
2014 YE 29 $(15,000.00) $68,000.00 Finished my MSAT and started to tackle student loans seriously.
2015 YE 30 $26,500.00 $84,500.00 NW positive(finally!), dang student loans. We have a kid now! Started MBA & State job.
2016 YE 31 $94,000.00 $110,000.00 A good year, methinks, made some progress, primarily due to debt payoff. Wife got a new job-$$$.
2017 YE 32 $147,500.00 $153,500.00 Sold house(ouch) bought new construction (ouch x2), paid off 2 cars, 1 to go. 43k left on student loans!

Not bad at all in 2017:

NW increased by 57%, Investments increased by 40%. (helps when you start with nada)

Aiming to pay off all sorts of debt in 2018.

Only on Bogleheads do I feel behind on savings.

Q1, 2018 Update:

2018 Q1 32 $159,000.00 $157,000.00 Debt snowball in progress. Pulling a Ramsey this year.

[SeaToTheBay]

2006: 47k. Graduated college, bought condo 50/50 with parents (bad timing, good location - still have it and renting out). Had saved all money from birthdays, Christmas, etc. since I was 5, mutual fund since 10, usually $300/mo from HS/college side jobs into a Roth IRA. My parents set me up well with regards to a saving mindset!
2007: 81k (age 23, first full year of employment, four-figure college debt due to parents' help, working during college, and low in-state tuition)
2008: 89k (I remember 2008 I saved 39k and lost 40k in investments... like pouring water into a strainer )
2009: 109k
2010: 164k
2011: 157k (started full-time MBA)
2012: 72k
mid-2013: 56k (graduated MBA along with now-wife, started work again, 110k in student loans )
2013: 95k
2014: 161k
2015: 270k single / 432k married
2016: 657k married (bought townhouse in HCOL area)
2017: 1,125k, finished paying off student loans

We are now accumulating much faster than we were before. Jobs are paying better (+60% since graduating MBA), investments doing well, RE doing well, student loans done, cars paid off. We are very fortunate, especially with wife getting a full ride to undergrad and MBA. Would be a lot more difficult if our student loan debt was doubled.

Updated for 2017 - great year.

[latesaver]

I didn't pull my head out of my a** until 2017, at which point I really reduced our expenses and conscientiously put all excess $ into our investment portfolio.

Wife and I are both in our 30s and fairly high earners. I am excited to see where we are in a few years.

Figures exclude home equity.

1/1/17: ~$1.0M
5/1/17: $1.55M
12/31/17: $2.17M

[letsgobobby]

Deleted

[latesaver]

I wonder how popular this thread will be at the bottom of our next major market correction.

Is there any predictive value to NP/day? The more new posts there are the lower future market returns are expected to be?

Agreed. my unofficial goal is to keep my invested $ level vis a vis contributions in case of a major correction.

[letsgobobby]

Deleted

[herpfinance]

I’m an obsessive recordkeeper like many Bogleheads and have tracked quarterly net worth since I was 25 years old. I stopped tracking everything for about a year in 2008 and 2009 because it was so painful. I only know my numbers because years later I went back and filled in the blanks.

It was very painful and I have ten times as much at risk now. So... I think this thread’s popularity may be peaking around the same time as the market. Now, if someone will just tell me when that is.

Find your local fortune teller. Her guess will be as good as that of anyone else.

Joking aside, perhaps it's time to consider reducing your risk if you're very concerned about the next bear growling?

[hdlnr2001]

Intriguing exercise. Good to see the numbers in one list. All values as of December 31. Includes home equity but not vehicles; does not include government pension (probably about $35k in value today but vested so leaving it be).

2008: $12,927
2009: $53,670
2010: $73,499
2011: $111,558
2012: $147,361
2013: $141,177
2014: $218,935
2015: $246,488
2016: $313,314
2017: $440,108

Took a loss on a house sale in 2013. Spent $120k on two adoptions in 2015-2016 (cases turned out to be super complex and involved lots of legal steps). Income doubled between 2015 and 2017. Now age 34, so have lots of time. Appreciate all of the perspectives that are posted on these forums!

[Bacchus01]

Just the last few years or so of good records measured at year end, or YTD for 2015


2006 $425
2007 $500
2008 $345
2009 $592
2010 $796
2011 $918
2012 $1,129
2013 $1,435
2014 $1,622
2015 $1,861
2016. $2,121
2017. $2,639

Updated. 2017 was a good year.

[DarkNyte]

May 2009 -$106k Finished Med School
Aug 2014 -$26k Finished fellowship
Dec 2014 -$9k
Dec 2015 $210k First year of positive net worth since college, all student loans paid off
Dec 2016 $444k First year debt free since college
Dec 2017 $646k

[slalom]

(These are all EoY and include home equity)

2001 - ~$0 - broke, just graduated college - no loans but wanted to be in the arts
2002 - ~$0 - making enough to get by, zero savings after rent etc
2003 - “
2004 - “
2005 - ~$? - got a job in tech, but it was a small company run by a miserly CEO. No records from back then.
2006 - “
2007 - “
2008 - $12k - raises, better job,, had been putting in 6% to 401k heavy intl risk (still wasn’t much) but lost most of it in the crash
2009 - $70k - finally saving, some Paid OT/bonuses - promptly bought a fancy car like most young idiots
2010 - $77k - took me a while to get back what I spent on the car
2011 - $144k - more raises, really rolling with the saving by this time
2012 - $190k - bought a house near the bottom, which would prove to be the game changer
2013 - $300k - house went up in value hugely, plus lots more saving
2014 - $423k - more of the same
2015 - $507k - a bit of a holding pattern
2016 - $711k - big bonuses regularly, more forced saving/investing, bull market, maxing 401k
2017 - $879k - “

Hoping to hit $1m this year, a bit late at age 38 but I’m single (well, unmarried) which doesn’t help. Potential wife is kind of spendy.

[minesweep]

I wonder how popular this thread will be at the bottom of our next major market correction.

Is there any predictive value to NP/day? The more new posts there are the lower future market returns are expected to be?

I suppose you could have said the same thing back in May of 2013 (the date of this initial posting). And yet here we are today (over 3 1/2 years later) with a much higher stock market (and no major stock market correction). You're correct about this thread not being popular at the bottom of our next major stock market correction. Good luck predicting when that will happen.

[minesweep]

I’m an obsessive recordkeeper like many Bogleheads and have tracked quarterly net worth since I was 25 years old. I stopped tracking everything for about a year in 2008 and 2009 because it was so painful. I only know my numbers because years later I went back and filled in the blanks.

It was very painful and I have ten times as much at risk now. So... I think this thread’s popularity may be peaking around the same time as the market. Now, if someone will just tell me when that is.

Perhaps you need to redefine your risk level. After all, it’s all about ones need, ability and willingness to take risk. Lighten up on your stock exposure and sleep better at night (works better than a "My Pillow" ).

[letsgobobby]

Deleted

[TomatoTomahto]

This represents our progression over the past two decades or so. I've intentionally obscured the amounts. What is important is that patience and LBYM works. Progress was slow in the first decade. The funny bumps in the line are due to my wife's bonuses, which are a considerable part of her compensation. Some of the dips are due to kids' tuition, home renovations, market setbacks, etc., but I think that the overlapping dots do a nice job of showing the steady progress.

[marcopolo]

This represents our progression over the past two decades or so. I've intentionally obscured the amounts. What is important is that patience and LBYM works. Progress was slow in the first decade. The funny bumps in the line are due to my wife's bonuses, which are a considerable part of her compensation. Some of the dips are due to kids' tuition, home renovations, market setbacks, etc., but I think that the overlapping dots do a nice job of showing the steady progress.

I like this approach. Is that on a log scale? I am surprised it does not show more of an exponential growth pattern.

Here is mine dating back to 1994:

[TomatoTomahto]

I like this approach. Is that on a log scale? I am surprised it does not show more of an exponential growth pattern.

No, not a log scale

We have always had a larger bond allocation than most people, and have been putting 4 kids through college at full pay, two of them also in private HS at almost equal tuition. I was mostly protecting against a black swan; slow and steady was good enough for me. You’ll see that we didn’t do badly during the unpleasantness in 2007/8.

Not to get political, and my wife has done well recently (some years after I became a SAHD), but her earnings have been affected by the still existing gender discrimination. It’s better than it was, but your earnings don’t ever catch up.

[marcopolo]

I like this approach. Is that on a log scale? I am surprised it does not show more of an exponential growth pattern.

No, not a log scale

We have always had a larger bond allocation than most people, and have been putting 4 kids through college at full pay, two of them also in private HS at almost equal tuition. I was mostly protecting against a black swan; slow and steady was good enough for me. You’ll see that we didn’t do badly during the unpleasantness in 2007/8.

Not to get political, and my wife has done well recently (some years after I became a SAHD), but her earnings have been affected by the still existing gender discrimination. It’s better than it was, but your earnings don’t ever catch up.

From other posts, all indications are that you and your wife have been very financially successful, so slow and steady sounds just fine! And it also appears that the high education investments have been well worth it (i agree). Glad to hear progress is being made a closing the gender gap at higher echelons of companies (where i assume your wife is employed), hopefully that will trickle down as well. Happy New Year to you and your family.

[straws46]

Have not seen this mentioned when discussing net worth. I am retired and my only liability is deferred taxes, but it is a substantial sum. I add up all tax deferred accounts and used to factor 34% federal taxes plus 4.8% state taxes to determine my differed tax liability. With the new tax rates, my federal incremental rate went down to 24% which resulted in a substantial bump in net worth on January 1st. Do other bogleheads consider deferred taxes when calculating net worth?

[mhc]

Have not seen this mentioned when discussing net worth. I am retired and my only liability is deferred taxes, but it is a substantial sum. I add up all tax deferred accounts and used to factor 34% federal taxes plus 4.8% state taxes to determine my differed tax liability. With the new tax rates, my federal incremental rate went down to 24% which resulted in a substantial bump in net worth on January 1st. Do other bogleheads consider deferred taxes when calculating net worth?

Most probably don't because one just does not know how much one will have to pay in taxes just as you have proven.

Some take it into AA considerations. There is a wiki page on it.

[LadyGeek]

Here's the wiki page: Net worth

A net worth statement reports the market value of your assets and the balance owed on your debts at a MOMENT in time (compare to an income statement and/or budget). For example, you might create a net worth statement for yourself as of December 31, 2014. The difference between the total value of your assets and the total balance of your debt is your net worth.

"Unpaid Taxes" are listed as a liability, but I think that applies to taxes that are due and payable on the date of the statement.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

[jory1804]

I don't have detailed yearly records, but my general progression is:

2004: $100k (graduated from college, made some money while there)
2007: $200k (changed jobs)
2011: $1200k (got married, career has been pretty good)
2016: $7000k (career has been really good, the market has gone up)
2017: $9000k (more of the same)

I've been fortunate to have a career in a successful industry, and to have done well in it.

[straws46]

Here's the wiki page: Net worth
A net worth statement reports the market value of your assets and the balance owed on your debts at a MOMENT in time (compare to an income statement and/or budget). For example, you might create a net worth statement for yourself as of December 31, 2014. The difference between the total value of your assets and the total balance of your debt is your net worth.
"Unpaid Taxes" are listed as a liability, but I think that applies to taxes that are due and payable on the date of the statement.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong.)


You are absolutely correct according to the Wiki. The example used clearly shows 401K and IRA assets without any corresponding deduction for deferred taxes. I guess my issue is with the Wiki information itself. Treating tax deferred accounts the same as taxable accounts or Roth accounts ignores a significant difference in the actual value of those accounts. Without accounting for the deferred tax liability net worth is overstated.

[MiddleOfTheRoad]

Deleted

[MARFEE]

Middle 40s, me (wife) + hubby + 3 cost centers (known as children)

Net worth includes liquid assets and house

1995 - No debt, minimal savings

2000 - $100,000 to $200,000

2010 - $500,000 to $700,000

Jan-2018 Current - $1,400,000 (conservative estimate) to $1,600,000 (when "we want to feel richer" estimate) - tad over $1M is liquid assets

It seems our growth is typical. Very linear at the beginning and then the market takes over. God willing, we always save and invest.

[MARFEE]

[ThreeBears]

I suppose this is like anything else, where the people who respond are the people with the best stories . . . like the vacation posts that have the people who take amazing vacations.

So, many of these posts are "well, i started like, but I saved hard for the last 3 years and I can retire in 4 more years."

I save a lot by most standards. I have about $300k in liquid assets. I don't think I'll reach $1 million for another 10 years. And that's a decent amount of money, but I doubt I'll retire for a long time after that (assuming I have the option . . . as Mr. Klang likes to remind people).

[MARFEE]

I suppose this is like anything else, where the people who respond are the people with the best stories . . . like the vacation posts that have the people who take amazing vacations.

So, many of these posts are "well, i started like, but I saved hard for the last 3 years and I can retire in 4 more years."

I save a lot by most standards. I have about $300k in liquid assets. I don't think I'll reach $1 million for another 10 years. And that's a decent amount of money, but I doubt I'll retire for a long time after that (assuming I have the option . . . as Mr. Klang likes to remind people).

For our story ...

Your are correct ... No major life issues - divorce, medical, etc.

But not all roses ... We were very conservative (more bonds, 60%). Our net worth could be closer to $3M.

[Go Blue 99]

Hoping to hit $1m this year, a bit late at age 38 but I’m single (well, unmarried) which doesn’t help. Potential wife is kind of spendy.

You know you're on Bogleheads when 38 is considered late to hit 2 comma status

[LadyGeek]

Consider that very, very few members of the total population are posting in this thread.

[herpfinance]

You know you're on Bogleheads when 38 is considered late to hit 2 comma status

No kidding! I hit $200k last year and being in my early 30's, I think I'm doing very well as compared to the general population.

[Count of Notre Dame]

34-year old married couple with two kids. I'm in investment operations for a mutual fund complex and she's an OB-GYN doc.

https://imgur.com/a/Ax4I2

[bligh]

Hoping to hit $1m this year, a bit late at age 38 but I’m single (well, unmarried) which doesn’t help. Potential wife is kind of spendy.

You know you're on Bogleheads when 38 is considered late to hit 2 comma status

Lol.. I thought the same thing when I read that.

That is 96th percentile based on the DQYDJ net worth percentile calculator for that age group. If that was a grade, it would be an A+.

Even half as much (500K) would have you at 92%. Which would still be an A.

[nguy44]

My progression - these are year-end values:

1982, age 25: -750 (three years out of college, just got engaged, first serious look at my expenses, holy cr*p I need to make some changes)
1986, age 28: 55,306 (but 77% of that is home equity, have 1 kid with another on the way, I need to make more changes)
1989, age 31: 102,118 (home equity percent of net worth down to 67% have 401K, now looking at investing outside of 401K)
1995, age 37: 207,808 (household salary crosses $100K for the first time)
1997, age 39: 311,521 (thank you, dot-com boom)
1999, age 41: 526,396 (thank you very much, dot-com boom)
2006, age 48: 1,107,184 (we are paper millionaires! But with kids in and about to go to college, and the 2008-2009 recession coming, it won't last long)
2009, age 51: 1,329,514 (the recovery from the depths of our net worth falling below $1million)
2014, age 56: 2,098,447 (hit the paper multi-millionaire level; home equity now less that 20% of assets)
2017, age 59: 2,648,352 (cash + investments cross $2 million level, I think I am ready to retire)

[Downtown]

With about 200 respondents, I plotted up some of the data for your review (at least for those which it was straightforward to understand the entries). I used the starting and ending net worth along with period intervening to calculate average increase per year and to calculate a CAGR.

The CAGR seems to converge to around 20% after 25 years or so. Note that this figure includes anything which contributed to (or subtracted from) your net worth - savings, investment return, real estate appreciation (if included), inheritances/windfalls, etc.



Plotted on log scale, it is interesting that the maximum CAGR drops over time from about 200% to less than 40%. The CAGR floor stays constant around 10%. I highlighted some of the larger ending numbers (>$4 million net worth).

snackdog - I found your analysis to be very intriguing, especially the convergence to a 20% CAGR after 25 years or so (which matches my personal CAGR exactly). I appreciate the effort you put into compiling and analyzing the data. Nice work!

Downtown

[sambb]

is there an easy google sheets template where one can map dates and worth for the progression mapping

[18_bank_accounts]

2003 $0 - graduated college, no debt, went to tiny tech startup
... 10 years of maxing out my 401k, but no record of net worth, did buy a condo in 2008...
2013 $405k - startup cashed out stock options after 10 years ($250k)
2014 $608k
2015 $641k
2016 $875k
2017 $1,029k - inheritance ($75k)
2018 $1,559k - retention bonus ($50k)

Target is $5M by 50 years old (13 more years), and retire. DW and I started out making about $70k combined, making $325k combined now.

[Incendiary]

34-year old married couple with two kids. I'm in investment operations for a mutual fund complex and she's an OB-GYN doc.

https://imgur.com/a/Ax4I2

What are non taxable investments?

[kenoryan]

1990 $200 Age 30 finished grad school and advanced training
1993 $20,000
1997 $240,000
2000 $380,000
2001 $260,000
2005 $1,000,000 Age 45
2010 $3,600,000
2015 $5,900,000
2018 $9,100,000 Age 58
Goal is to retire at 63 with hopefully NW>>>$10,000,000

Update September 2020
NW $14,000,000 Age 60

[rexhat]

2011 $-27k
2012 $8.9k
2013 $77.5k
2014 $102k
2015 $294k
2016 $610k
2017 $1,037k
2018 $1,214k

[schachtw]

Two years in particular stand out:
End of 1998 - 1 million
End of 2017- 5.2 million

Feel very fortunate.

[sc9182]

Two years in particular stand out:
End of 1998 - 1 million
End of 2017- 5.2 million

Feel very fortunate.

Kudos very-special Penta Millionaire!

Presume most of the amounts came from post-tax investments and/or home-equity?

Typical Pre-tax/401k etc have little chance of crossing $1-$2 million based on time period (double that if both spouses save aggressively)

[perfin]

I started tracking my net worth in 2008. 40s, two kids. I live in HCOL, fwiw.

2008 - $530,000
2009 - $720,000
2010 - $880,000
2011 - $1,200,000
2012 - $1,200,000
2013 - $1,700,000
2014 - $2,400,000
2015 - $3,500,000
2016 - $4,100,000
2017 - $5,800,000

[sc9182]

I started tracking my net worth in 2008. 40s, two kids. I live in HCOL, fwiw.

2008 - $530,000
2009 - $720,000
2010 - $880,000
2011 - $1,200,000
2012 - $1,200,000
2013 - $1,700,000
2014 - $2,400,000
2015 - $3,500,000
2016 - $4,100,000
2017 - $5,800,000

Awesome Penta Millionaire again! It's close to $600k/year new monies injested into market each year. Very successful indeed !

[Edie]

Decided to share even though not as impressive as others. I only have approximate #s in the earlier years, since I didn't actually track until 2012 when I became eligible for 401k at work. Loans and investments only, mortgage/equity is left out of the calculations because our house is where we live, not an investment (we have lots of equity from buying near the bottom of the market, but no desire to move), and there's another small chunk of money in our HSA, but with spouse's health issues I don't count that as part of our net worth either. It's just accumulating to be spent.


1996 - 2006 (first marriage) 18 to 28, assume +/-2k depending on time of year, tax refunds or CC debt

2006 - age 28 - 0 (left abusive marriage with nothing to my name but the best thing to ever happen to me, my 3 girls, net worth was actually probably negative with credit card debt from my ex, but I don't even remember/care anymore, calling it zero, game over, hard reset to last save point of HS grad (I'm obviously a product of the Nintendo generation , a few years older maybe, but still!))

2007 - age 29 - (8k) (started school at community college, had to pay out of state tuition rate first year, but my amazing mom paid a year's rent up front to let me focus on my girls, my studies and my psyche)

2008 - age 30 - (13k) (started receving merit scholarships and grants this year and in-state tuition rates, but still large loan increase to pay for living expenses and rent since working two part-time jobs wasn't covering it)

2009 - age 31 - (19k) (switched from CC to university, more loans)

2010 - age 32 - (25k) (year of home purchase, not included in calcs)

2011 - ages 33/47 - (35k) (graduated and started great job a week later , leased new car , remarried <3 and gained a son, a few months younger than my oldest)

2012 - ages 34/48 - (31k) (investments EOY 9k, loan balances 40k, purchased car for my mom to drive to help pick up kids from school was a trade off between gas for her gas-guzzling tank (suburban), or this, which the kids would then be able to drive eventually)

2013 - ages 35/49 - 0!!! (investments EOY 27k, loan balances 27k)

2014 - ages 36/50 - 35k (investments EOY 51k, loan balances 16k, paid off "mom/kid car" loan, bought out the lease on my Prius, spouse put on disability )

2015 - ages 37/51 - 72k (investments EOY 83k, loan balances 9k, new great job, oldest started college)

2016 - ages 38/52 - 104k (investments EOY 110k, 6k loan balance, final student loan paid off a couple months before 5 years out of school, son started (and stopped ) college this year, permanent disability for spouse per insurance but still waiting on SSDI application/appeal)


Hoping to increase the investment/loan payoff amounts this year past 30k with only one kid in college again, but single income (+ small disability insurance for spouse) and spouse's health are limiting factors.

2017 - ages 39/53 - 138k (investments EOY 166k (36k contribution, pretty proud of that), 28k loan balance (different loan than last year, paid off that one, but had to buy replacement vehicle after accident totaled spouse's, 3 years too early in terms of saving up for it), still waiting on SSDI application/appeal for spouse)

[stoptothink]

Hoping to hit $1m this year, a bit late at age 38 but I’m single (well, unmarried) which doesn’t help. Potential wife is kind of spendy.

You know you're on Bogleheads when 38 is considered late to hit 2 comma status

Lol.. I thought the same thing when I read that.

That is 96th percentile based on the DQYDJ net worth percentile calculator for that age group. If that was a grade, it would be an A+.

Even half as much (500K) would have you at 92%. Which would still be an A.

I am truly curious to know if people making statements such as that - "hoping to hit $1m this year, a bit late at age 38" - realize how out of touch they are with reality or if it is kind of a humblebrag? FWIW, I'm currently 36 (wife is 31) and we'll likely be just a bit short of $1m in 2yrs and we feel absolutely fabulous about our current position, and without really having a clue about our networth (but, I believe, actually greatly underestimating it), we are (not so secretly) viewed as the "rich ones" among our family and circle of friends.

[alfaspider]

Hoping to hit $1m this year, a bit late at age 38 but I’m single (well, unmarried) which doesn’t help. Potential wife is kind of spendy.

You know you're on Bogleheads when 38 is considered late to hit 2 comma status

Lol.. I thought the same thing when I read that.

That is 96th percentile based on the DQYDJ net worth percentile calculator for that age group. If that was a grade, it would be an A+.

Even half as much (500K) would have you at 92%. Which would still be an A.

I am truly curious to know if people making statements such as that - "hoping to hit $1m this year, a bit late at age 38" - realize how out of touch they are with reality or if it is kind of a humblebrag? FWIW, I'm currently 36 (wife is 31) and we'll likely be just a bit short of $1m in 2yrs and we feel absolutely fabulous about our current position, and without really having a clue about our networth (but, I believe, actually greatly underestimating it), we are (not so secretly) viewed as the "rich ones" among our family and circle of friends.

I think it's mostly the fact that people on boggleheads are not an even cross-section of society, and people are comparing themselves to other people on the site and in their social circle rather than society at large. Perceptions of wealth are extremely context dependent.Traveling in a rural part of a developing country, I would feel fabulously wealthy. Sitting in a room full public company CEOs, I would feel rather poor.