Since I cannot share the delight with my neighbors or family, I thought I'd share here.
My wife (28) and I (35) just hit the half point of a major milestone. I looked at our retirement spreadsheets/personal capital dashboard and saw that we've now crossed over the $500,000 threshold! I know that for some of you this isn't that big of a deal, but we all have to start from somewhere
For those interested, this includes his/her 401K, T-IRA, Roth, Pension payout (as lump sum if taken today)[cashed out pension] and home equity.
Happy Saving!
- Working
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UPDATES:
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ORIGINAL (06/03/14): Crossed over $500,000
UPDATE #1 (09/26/14): Hit $585,000 [Huge increase in home value and constant dumping into IRA & 401K]
UPDATE #2 (01/16/15): Hit $620,000 [Moved 'south' for a new job. Renting out the fixer-upper and big increase in pay and 401K match]
UPDATE #3 (11/11/15): Hit $642,330 Plugging away towards early retirement. Hopefully in another 10 years.
UPDATE #4 (11/15/16): Hit $706,503. Sold the house for a nice profit ($180,000). Decided to focus on my career and really work hard this past year. I got rewarded with a ~$20,000 raise when I approached management with other offers. I now have to refocus my attention into getting back to the gym!!
UPDATE #5 (03/03/17): Hit $766,395. Still need to refocus my attention into getting back to the gym!
UPDATE #6 (06/01/17): Hit $847,388. (Including old pension lump sum) Still need to refocus my attention into getting back to the gym (There's a theme here)! Amazing how making the decision to move affected my NW. In two years since we moved we've almost increased our savings by $200,000.
UPDATE #7 (04/16/18): Arrived at $996,729. My second son was recently born and it got me thinking about college, so I looked at my NW and decided to update this post. Almost in the 2 comma club
Looking forward to some sleep as well.UPDATE #8 (05/09/18): Crossed into the "2 comma club"!!!! Sitting around $1,022,500.00 as of right now. Pretty amazing that in 4 years we've been able to double our initial milestone mark
Still looking for that allusive sleep however.UPDATE #9 (12/18/20) [I'm now 42 and my wife is 35] : $1,536,114. Two kids in (5.5 and 2.5). A new house purchase and a major renovation have been ongoing since 2019. Amazon moved to the area and really drove up the home prices, which has really helped our value a lot [The ONLY reason we've seen a $500K increase in NW in 2 years. Previously took 4 to generate that increase]. Company has given me many merit bonuses and increased their 401K match by 4% - now 10% matching. My (company standard) 1.5% yearly raises, which were previously laughable, are now starting to add up to fund our yearly vacations. Looks like we'll have to save the trip for next year due to COVID. Life is good!
UPDATE #10 (04/25/21) Almost out of this COVID stuff... thought I'd check up on the NW. It's now still at $1,702,598. Kids/family is doing well. We ALL are really looking forward to going back to our normal lives.
UPDATE #11 (11/26/21) I got my booster a little bit ago and my oldest son got his first shot. Feeling better and better about what is happening is this crazy world
Since the last post, I've switched my job to another project. I am now working from home and really enjoying it, although working from home not going out has really added a lot to my waistline. I had some extra space in the basement converted to a small gym, so now I just need to get the equipment. On the financial front our Networth rose to 1,950,565.91.UPDATE #12 (03/16/23) I got another booster, Moderna about a year ago, and it knocked me out for about 3 days. I'm still working from home and as much as I would have liked to workout during the day I haven't been. Instead I've been focusing on work and really pushing forward with learning new technologies and applying them to our project. Due to this, I got a really nice raise this year and I'm making close to 270K, which allows my wife to be able to focus on the kids and things that are needed around the house. We've decided to put both kids back into public school, instead of private, so that'll be a nice savings as well. As much as I wanted to retire early I just don't think its possible for me anymore. I LOVE what I'm doing and I cannot imagine giving it up - who would have thought!
UPDATE #13 (12/21/23) I just finished up another year at my company and am waiting on our yearly compensating increase. Last year it was healthy, but given the rate of inflation was not enough.. Oh well, I'm not here to complain
This year I focused on 'me' and losing some of the weight I had gained. I did a great job and lost over 25 LBS and feel really great. Im focused now on how I maintain this and do that through my diet. The exercising was a lot of fun (esp the high after) but def. took away from my - still remote - job. Anyways lets talk numbers!! Currently sitting at 2.21M in all accounts (NOT including kids 529 which we opened last year for the tax benefits - $15K funded so far). What makes this post put a smile on my face is that its been around 10 years now from my original post. Going from $500K to $2.2MM in 10 years is something I would have NEVER thought possible. Originally I wanted to be done working by 50 which is NOW only 5 years away. The more I think about it, the more I feel as though I'll continue to work. It gives me purpose, lines my wallet and pumps up the kids 529 . Lets see what the next 10 have to offer!!!!UPDATE #14 (07/10/24) I (now 46) am writing this at my parents vacation home while I work remotely and my wife (now 38) and kids enjoy what the area has to offer for the month. In preparation for the summer we purchased a new-to-us boat and have been enjoying it for a nice cruise during the evenings and the kids are loving tubing/skiing/knee boarding,etc. I'm NOT loving the non-ethanol gas prices however
I'm slowly gaining some of the weight back that I've lost over the past year due to indulging in the food and drink of "summer" life. Once I get back home, I'll settle back into my workout routine.As for the numbers, we're looking at $2,682,948 which accounts for the kids 529, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, bonuses (merit and time charged to client), and home equity (personal capital net worth). This past year I was able to take advantage of our billable rate bonus and earned an extra 10K and received a 4% increase for our annual raise. I dont want to sound 'out-of-touch', but 4% doesnt really cover anything these days, but I guess it's better than what others have reported. Total compensation is $370,559.82 according to my spreadsheets. I have to admit, my company is one of the best companies I could have ever found (and I owe that to my old college roommate)
The current project I am on is on a one year extension, so it'll either have to be extended or it will end and I'll have to go back on-site to work. I dread the thought of having to go back on-site given my current schedule, but I guess that's life. The boys are keeping us on our toes (10 and 6 right now) and my wife has picked up a part time job which helps supplement the kids sports costs. I am so happy I've been able to work remotely as it's added so much to our family dynamics. I get to walk the kids to the bus stop, pick them up, go for walks with my wife, and help my parents out with anything they need - move trash cans, help put in banister on stairs, grocery shop for them, etc. I know one day all this will come to an end, but for now I'm really loving it!!
