What age did you hit $100,000?

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.

What age did you hit $100,000?

20-25
90
18%
26-30
185
37%
31-35
141
28%
36-40
50
10%
41+
34
7%
 
Total votes: 500

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acejacksingh
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What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by acejacksingh »

Hi Bogleheads,

Just wondering what age you guys hit a net worth of $100,000 (my first big milestone)? I'm projecting I'll be just short this year...assuming 6% return on assets.

Looking for ideas to get there the following year? Any life hacks you guys have come up with over the years? Maybe a second job?

I'm already maxing out retirement accounts (Trad 401k, and Roth IRA). I have a set budget and I am living below my means. No debt.

Thanks,
AceJ
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leonidas
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by leonidas »

about 29 (1999)
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Petrocelli
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Petrocelli »

26, due to an investment in one stock. And this was in 1986, when $100,000 was a lot more than it is today. (To put it in perspective, we bought a house in the Hollywood Hills in 1987 for $250,000 that would be worth over $1,000,000 today.)
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Aptenodytes
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Aptenodytes »

My advice is to focus on the long game, not the short game. There are steps you can take that help you out enormously in the long game but screw up your short game, e.g. advanced degrees. Focus on things you can do to improve your quality of life, your job satisfaction, and your income. You have good savings habits, so the net worth will take care of itself.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by travellight »

Probably 30 when I started my first real job. Paid off all my student loan debt of 25k the first year by age 29 and made 170k my second year so I probably got there then around age 30 considering how frugal I was. It helps to do without and sacrifice and work really hard in your teens and twenties to get into a big salary situation.
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Impromptu
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Impromptu »

Doctors hit the milestones later in life. The bigger incomes start in the mid 30's, and in those early years they are still paying off all their high student loans as well as buying a first home and starting families. So, they tend to start slowly, but typically can catch up to the net worth of others by the time they are in their late 40's.
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pennstater2005
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by pennstater2005 »

I haven't yet. Got a late start and with student loan debt and a mortgage it's gonna be a haul. I'll get there. This forum has helped me immensely.
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MoonOrb
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by MoonOrb »

acejacksingh wrote:


Looking for ideas to get there the following year?

...

I'm already maxing out retirement accounts (Trad 401k, and Roth IRA). I have a set budget and I am living below my means. No debt.

Thanks,
AceJ
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Garco
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Garco »

In agreement with Petrocelli's comment, $100K in 1986, which is also the year (age 42) that I attained that accumulation in my retirement accounts, would be worth about $220,000 in 2015 dollars. I happen to know my accumulation in 1986 because it's my "grandfathered" amount in my 403b. I have no idea when I reached just $100K in today's dollars.
Last edited by Garco on Sun Dec 06, 2015 10:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
guitarguy
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by guitarguy »

29, just a few months ago.

Still dealing with mortgage, a bit of student loan debt, and a small portion of car loan left...but every month with extra payments on debt and money added to savings...net worth goes up. :happy
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dbCooperAir
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by dbCooperAir »

To piggy back on this a little, do people feel the first $100,000 seemed to take long time to reach and or feel like one of the tougher numbers to reach?

I know it was for myself.
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acejacksingh
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by acejacksingh »

dbCooperAir wrote:To piggy back on this a little, do people feel the first $100,000 seemed to take long time to reach and or feel like one of the tougher numbers to reach?

I know it was for myself.
Feels like it takes forever......I was really hoping to hit it this year (2015) but don't think I will :(
investingdad
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by investingdad »

dbCooperAir wrote:To piggy back on this a little, do people feel the first $100,000 seemed to take long time to reach and or feel like one of the tougher numbers to reach?

I know it was for myself.
Yes, it took awhile given that we started at zero. For me, the bigger milestone was 250K in investable assets...because it was the smallest number where I could work in 'million'. As in, a quarter of a million in investable assets. What's remarkable is that while it took us probably 8 or 9 years after graduating from college to reach 100K, one or two really strong (or bloody) weeks on the market today can easily swing us 100K up or down.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by lolbatross »

dbCooperAir wrote:To piggy back on this a little, do people feel the first $100,000 seemed to take long time to reach and or feel like one of the tougher numbers to reach?

I know it was for myself.
It depends on your career path and how you did in the parent lottery. How I got there by 26
  1. Parents picked up college (state school)
    Engineer with hourly job & OT available
    Parents allowed me rent free living from 22-25
Most people 22-25 shouldn't live with their parents, but in my case I was traveling 85% of the time so it was more like I was visiting.
Last edited by lolbatross on Wed Jan 21, 2015 12:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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tnbison
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by tnbison »

26 in 2011
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

About 29, considering that I had a negative net worth just a few short years earlier courtesy of student loans, it felt like climbing a mountain. The first $100K is the hardest and discipline not to spend is key, especially if you didn't have perks or windfalls come your way. One dollar at a time.
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Mitchell777
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Mitchell777 »

I recall that being a milestone for me at the time. Around 30 but that was a few decades ago. Earlier if I include 40% home equity
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by texasdiver »

After college I did the Peace Corps from age 24-26, worked on boats in Alaska for a few years between travel adventures, then went back to grad school from ages 29-31 and didn't get my first professional job with retirement accounts and such until age 31 when I started working for the Federal government as a fisheries biologist. Bought a house in Alaska shortly after that and it was probably until my late 30s that my TSP (Federal 401(k)) and home equity crossed the $100,000 threshold. I wasn't keeping track of net worth enough to know exactly. Each $100,000 since then keeps coming faster and faster.
LateStarter1975
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by LateStarter1975 »

Crossed it at my 39th birthday last year....hoping to turbocharge it from here moving forward!
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AWH_CPA
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by AWH_CPA »

I was fortunate enough to graduate and get a good job in 2008 unlike a lot of people. The job afforded me the ability to max my wife and my roths for a few years and buy a small start home right after the house prices dropped to near lows. I rode that house up 100k in about 2 years and sold/bought a bigger home that will last our lifetime and allow us to raise the number of children we want comfortable.

So net worth might not be the best question as almost 200k of my 350k "worth" is home equity which will not be tapped for many many many years to come. But from an investment asset standpoint, i'm almost there at 28 and wife at 25.
BabylonOrBust
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by BabylonOrBust »

dbCooperAir wrote:To piggy back on this a little, do people feel the first $100,000 seemed to take long time to reach and or feel like one of the tougher numbers to reach?

I know it was for myself.
Man, definitely felt like forever. I only got there a couple years back. I'm looking forward to that first digit moving up faster... but it's up to the gods of the market from here.
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Garco
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Garco »

dbCooperAir wrote:To piggy back on this a little, do people feel the first $100,000 seemed to take long time to reach and or feel like one of the tougher numbers to reach?

I know it was for myself.
To be perfectly honest, I scarcely ever noticed what my total accumulation was when it was in that neighborhood (in mid-1980's). I just kept on contributing to my 401k, and focusing on my career and family.

I only started to take more active interest in it when it was approaching $1 MM in the late 1990's. And that's when I began to make some of my worst investing mistakes.
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gunn_show
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by gunn_show »

lolbatross wrote: It depends on your career path and how you did in the parent lottery. How I got there by 26
  1. Parents picked up college (state school)
    Engineer with hourly job & OT available
    Parents allowed me rent free living from 22-25
Similar to this. Parents covered state school, so never had debts to weigh me down, including grad school in which I paid cash myself. Sales jobs with great commission years and socking away IRA/SEP/401k and clocked OT or 10 hour days. Lived at home 1 year post college, then nicely subsidized family rental at half market cost with a roommate. Probably crossed 100k marker somewhere mid to late 20s. First 100k is always hardest, especially at that age - you are making less, and wanting to spend more in your youth now that you finally have green in the pocket and want to travel and hit vegas and buy a 325i and all that jazz that your fellow post-college mates want to do.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by stemikger »

dbCooperAir wrote:To piggy back on this a little, do people feel the first $100,000 seemed to take long time to reach and or feel like one of the tougher numbers to reach?

I know it was for myself.
Yes. This was my experience. I didn't start saving for retirement until I was 30 and I did everything wrong for the first five years. 100K seemed to be what one million is to me now. For some reason that number was significant and it seemed to take a long time. Once I hit 100K things seemed to move a lot faster. I don't look at the number like I used to, I'm just trying to not look at it and hoping to retire in 10 years.
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TheEternalVortex
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by TheEternalVortex »

24, in 2010. All from earnings (I think my net investment returns were negative at that point).
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Toons
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Toons »

35 -1985 :happy
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stoptothink
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by stoptothink »

The first time, 24, then preceded to lose most of it in speculative real estate development '07-'08. Went back to school, finished MS and PhD, put (ex) wife through dental school, then divorced...finally hit 6-figures again, for good, at 31.
crg11
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by crg11 »

I will definitely hit it early this year (unless the market kills my investments) at age 32. Currently at $96k.
bac573
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by bac573 »

I was 35 when our net worth crossed $100,000.

However, I was 38 when our primary retirement account (TSP) closed for the first time over $100,000.
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fetch5482
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by fetch5482 »

100K in net worth, or 100k in Savings?
If net worth, it was around age 27. If savings, it was around age 29 or so.
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Padlin
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Padlin »

1996, age 40. That was putting away 17% of my income for 10 years. 10 years later it was 500k.
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Carl53
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Carl53 »

I recall putting about all my extra cash into paying down home loans that were I believe always north of 7%. Not counting home equity, age 39.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by tim1999 »

I think I was a senior in college, and it was self-earned.
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acejacksingh
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by acejacksingh »

Thanks for all the feedback!

I feel like I'm slacking some way but I can't possibly save anymore... good to know I'm in similar ranges with everyone here.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Index Fan »

Not to be a killjoy here, but there are far too many variables to get any conclusions from this simple question. Someone making $150,000 a year with a spouse also making 6 figures will generally take far less time to get there than a single person making $50,000 annually. Some people start investing right out of college, others get to middle age before their eyes are opened and they start to invest in a slight panic. Board posters here tend to skew towards professionals with high incomes, though there are some of us who make a much more average salary. Other variables would include people paying off large student loans for years, those supporting family members rather than investing much, etc.
I'm already maxing out retirement accounts (Trad 401k, and Roth IRA). I have a set budget and I am living below my means. No debt.
You are doing better than most Americans- good job.
Last edited by Index Fan on Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by InvestorNewb »

At age 26 due to savings; no investments at the time. I remember feeling "rich" at the $70k mark.

I have significantly more today at 32 but I do not feel rich. Rich is when you have the ability to leave your job, and not worry/stress about finances. I'm not there yet.
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BabylonOrBust
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by BabylonOrBust »

Index Fan wrote:Not to be a killjoy here, but there are far too many variables to get any conclusions from this simple question.
Taxability is a big factor, too. Roth balances are what they are... but other types of accounts eventually will need to pay capital gains and/or income taxes and ultimately become significantly less.
yeledbed
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by yeledbed »

I've been tracking net worth since age 29. Coincidentally, it was the same month as I turned 30 that I crossed the $100k threshold. I agree with others that the first $100k was definitely the hardest! I think it took five years of saving to get there, while more recent $100k increments have been hit within a year or two (market depending.)

Still have a long way to go, though... I'm only 35.
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alpenglow
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by alpenglow »

23 in the late 90's - daytrading. I tripled it from there in two years. Now I'm a teacher - no more daytrading.
Tamales
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Tamales »

Assuming I did this right, this "deflates" $100k in 2014 backwards using the Shiller CPI data.

So you'd find the earliest year where you hit the number shown for that year, and that was when you hit today's equivalent of $100k.

Image
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Cosmo
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Cosmo »

It didn't happen to me until I hit my early 30's and I got married. When we combined our assets, we were immediately well above $100,000.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Logan T »

I should be able to hit $100,000 sometime in the next year, at age 28.
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BW1985
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by BW1985 »

Guessing 24, two years after starting my first 'real' job.
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VAslim16
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by VAslim16 »

Hopefully will happen for me at 38 in two years. But I am thinking of enlisting in the military and if I do that it wont be until my 40s.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by McCharley »

The real mental break for me came when my savings started to give more to itself than I could through working. :greedy

All of a sudden it went from saving to building wealth. Of course, the market could crash and test my mettle. :annoyed

I think for most people this happens at about $350k savings. :moneybag

That's when ~5% growth gives you about the same as the maximum 401(k) contribution.

You get there by saving -- you are on the right path. :beer
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Clever_Username »

I'm assuming for this that I have $0 equity in my condo. I have more than that, but I don't care to even figure out how much it is.

That having been said, I was 30, in 2014. A great market the year before, coupled with solid income, has helped tremendously.

Evidently, as of close of market yesterday, I have $100k in tax-advantaged accounts.

I also don't see why it makes a difference when I hit that value though, in either column.
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Working2notWork
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Working2notWork »

25 years old. Worked two jobs. One as an IT specialist and another as a server. I lived off my tips/wage and packed away my IT salary.
scrabbler1
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by scrabbler1 »

Depends on what I define as net worth. If I include non-retirement assets, retirement assets, and the equity in my co-op apartment, then the age I was when I hit the $100k mark was 31, in 1994. If I exclude the equity in my apartment (the smallest component), then it remains age 31 but is nearly 32. If I also exclude retirement assets, then it becomes age 33 (nearly 34). I always considered the amount in my non-retirement assets as my main one, the one I paid the most attention to.

I didn't start making big payments toward paying off the mortgage until I was nearly 34, in 1997. But with the booming stock market of the late 1990s, the stock market gains more than offset what I was pulling out of those accounts to pay off the mortgage, so there was no real drop in their value. Also, I was in my peak earnings years, still working full-time, greatly accelerating my savings.
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Mudpuppy »

To use a previous poster's phrasing, I did not win the "parent lottery". To say we were working poor as I was growing up was to put it politely. So I had absolutely no financial help from my parents for college. Fortunately, I had scholarships and grants to cover most of my undergraduate education (and I went to college when prices were much, much cheaper), so I had <$10k in student loans from my dual bachelor's degrees.

Graduate school was a more expensive proposition. I got TA positions, fellowships, and RA positions to cover my tuition and some of my living expenses, but still ended up with about $50k in graduate student loans by the time I finished my Ph.D. at 30. So I started at 30 with a Ph.D. and $60k in student loans.... small change compared to the modern college education or what doctors would rack up, but daunting enough for someone who grew up thinking that making $35k a year was really living it up.

Once I landed a job and my co-workers kept talking about real estate, I did finally fall victim to the social pressure to buy a house... in 2007... yeah, that really did a number on my net worth. I spent a couple years feeling like I was financially drowning... a lot of "house poor" sort of feelings, and not really saving much besides the mandatory CalPERS contributions. At the lowest point, I had a negative $145k net worth, most of which was the negative equity on the house.

Then my last surviving great grandparent passed and left me about a small inheritance. It was just a fraction of my negative net worth, but it seemed to be the financial push I needed. I felt like my great grandparents would want me to use the money to secure my future, so I used the money to open up and max out a Roth IRA. Then I reassessed my expenses and made cuts (cancelled cable for example) so I was living below my means instead of exactly at my means.

From that point forward, I started stuffing raises and extra project income into the 457b plan like a squirrel stores nuts. Then I used the HARP refinance program to get my underwater mortgage down to a 20yr fixed @ 3.625%. By late 2013, I'd worked my net worth out of the red and into the black, even though I was still underwater in the house. It felt like a pretty big milestone. I even made a post here about it to share the good news and to encourage others who were just starting out and might still have small or negative net worth.
Carl53
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Re: What age did you hit $100,000?

Post by Carl53 »

Tamales wrote:Assuming I did this right, this "deflates" $100k in 2014 backwards using the Shiller CPI data.

So you'd find the earliest year where you hit the number shown for that year, and that was when you hit today's equivalent of $100k.

Image
Using this deflator chart probably would be better. I am surprised that it only would have lowered my age by 3 years from $100k to $100k equivalent. This was back in the early years of IRA, remember $2000 per year. I seem to recall my 401k having a 6% contribution limit too. My pay was a third of what it was when I retired in 2008 and I had a new mortgage with a principal nearly 2X my annual salary at a interest rate of 9%. With that interest rate I probably should have saved less and put more on the principal. I did pay off the house in 8 years with a couple of refinancings.
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