Two Comma Club

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VictoriaF
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by VictoriaF »

sscritic wrote:
TravelforFun wrote: No no no! From a financial standpoint, one comma represents any number that contains one comma; Hence the range $1,000 to $99,000. Therefore, negative one comma is any number from -$1,000 to -$99,000.
I do my finances in excel. In excel, there is no such thing as a one comma number; all numbers have zero commas. I type in 100000000 and excel knows what to do.
You cannot input commas into Excel formulas, but you can configure how the computed numbers are displayed in the cells. But you already know that.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
sscritic
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by sscritic »

I often do my work without using commas in the display. Here are the numbers of shares I own in various mutual funds copied directly from my spreadsheet:

4048.670
2398.428
864.376
527.4416
349.0841
998.4090
283.8520
1210.8618
1444.522
9167.400
4670.581
4001.251

There isn't a comma in sight. For those who might be wondering, mutual funds and share holdings are within the realm of finances. Note: I do align the comma in the display.
sscritic
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by sscritic »

More "financial" commas:

Most financial statements remove one or two commas and report results in thousands and millions. From the prospectus:
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $4,819
Only one comma for 4 billion dollars.
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VictoriaF
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by VictoriaF »

sscritic wrote:More "financial" commas:

Most financial statements remove one or two commas and report results in thousands and millions. From the prospectus:
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $4,819
Only one comma for 4 billion dollars.
It's a psychological trick to avoid comma envy.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
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HueyLD
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by HueyLD »

All these "comma" posts really make me feel bad about being in a "no comma" club. :shock:
FedGuy
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by FedGuy »

SGM wrote:FedGuy... well noted. Might you be a little :wink: obsessive-compulsive? H is also not a home key.
I'm a little obsessive-compulsive, and I did note the thing about the H key. But I took typing myself and clearly remember the teacher repeating, over and over and over again, the home keys in order, three times each, much as your teacher did. It ended with, "jjj space kkk space lll space semi semi semi space [pause] -- Return!"
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VictoriaF
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by VictoriaF »

HueyLD wrote:All these "comma" posts really make me feel bad about being in a "no comma" club. :shock:
Don't feel bad. Comma avoidance is a sign of independent thinking and a contrarian spirit :wink: .

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

In Zimbabwe, most are in the 4+ comma club. I hope we don't go down the path of needing to spend 2 commas to buy a loaf of bread. :oops:
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
peppers
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by peppers »

sscritic wrote:
TravelforFun wrote: No no no! From a financial standpoint, one comma represents any number that contains one comma; Hence the range $1,000 to $99,000. Therefore, negative one comma is any number from -$1,000 to -$99,000.
I do my finances in excel.

I do my finances using my old TI calc, spiral notebook, and no.2 pencil w/eraser. It helps with my hand eye coordination. Cognitive decline and all that.
"..the cavalry ain't comin' kid, you're on your own..."
livesoft
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by livesoft »

There's another Two Comma Club. How many of y'all have lost a Two Comma amount in the stock market?
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VictoriaF
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by VictoriaF »

How many new commas have we acquired after today's market rise?

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
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Dale_G
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Dale_G »

VictoriaF wrote:How many new commas have we acquired after today's market rise?

Victoria
A 2 comma loss or gain is mere noise in some 2 comma portfolios. To some it is a rounding error.

But, I will take what I can get, rounding error or no.

Dale
Volatility is my friend
gkaplan
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by gkaplan »

VictoriaF wrote:How many new commas have we acquired after today's market rise?

Victoria
I am very close.
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ResNullius
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by ResNullius »

livesoft wrote:There's another Two Comma Club. How many of y'all have lost a Two Comma amount in the stock market?
I lost two commas on paper during the 2008-2009 crash, but I didn't sell, and I've recouped all of the losses, plus a nice additional amount. Buy and hold is the way to go.
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stilts1007
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by stilts1007 »

robocop wrote:I recently just joined a different club (the positive net worth club) after aggressively paying down my student loans for 3 1/2 years, and am always inspired by stories of people who are at a different stage than I am. It helps me "stay the course"!
Am a couple years ahead of you..it isn't always fun when your post-college friends are living it up on borrowed money while you are paying off loans with every paycheck, but trust me, I think it will make the next 40 or 50 years a lot easier. In 5 or 10 years you will be the one they come to for money advice.
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

stilts1007 wrote:
robocop wrote:I recently just joined a different club (the positive net worth club) after aggressively paying down my student loans for 3 1/2 years, and am always inspired by stories of people who are at a different stage than I am. It helps me "stay the course"!
Am a couple years ahead of you..it isn't always fun when your post-college friends are living it up on borrowed money while you are paying off loans with every paycheck, but trust me, I think it will make the next 40 or 50 years a lot easier. In 5 or 10 years you will be the one they come to for money advice.
No, they will likely come to him for :moneybag
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
cherijoh
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by cherijoh »

Joe S. wrote:Congratulations.
Buy one of these on E-bay and you can be in the 4 comma club...
Image

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Trillion-Zi ... 19d83a8947
This reminds me of a business trip I took to Argentina during their hyperinflationary period in the early 90s. I stayed in a nice (but by no means extravagant) hotel in Buenos Aires and had a bill of over 1,500,000 Australs per night. Yikes! And the rate was re-computed each night since the MONTHLY inflation rate was in the double digits edging up towards the triple digits.
FedGuy
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by FedGuy »

I realize the whole "two comma club" thing is just a fun shorthand for having a certain level of assets, but when people think of the term that way, to what extent do they account for whether or not the money is in a retirement account?

I'm not a member of the two comma club, and wouldn't say that I'm close, but I would say that I'm close to being close, and I can see some plausible scenarios that might get me there in the next 5-10 years. But with roughly 40% of my assets currently in 401(k)s and Roth IRAs, I almost feel like I'll consider it a larger milestone when I reach $1,000,000 excluding my retirement accounts--that is, having $1,000,000 in my savings account and regular brokerage accounts--than when I reach $1,000,000 counting everything. Does anyone else feel that way?
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linuxuser
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by linuxuser »

I don't differentiate between 401K + IRA and taxable accounts.
It is all money and all yours.
Bacchus01
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Bacchus01 »

We joined the 2-comma club in 2007. I was 33 at the time.

Then the meltdown occurred and we lost 40% by 2009. Ouch.

It took us until early 2012 to rejoin the club and have been riding out of it pretty consistently since.

From 2009 to 2012 our net worth nearly doubled. We're running at a 19% CAGR steadily for the last 14 months.
Bacchus01
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Bacchus01 »

FedGuy wrote:I realize the whole "two comma club" thing is just a fun shorthand for having a certain level of assets, but when people think of the term that way, to what extent do they account for whether or not the money is in a retirement account?

I'm not a member of the two comma club, and wouldn't say that I'm close, but I would say that I'm close to being close, and I can see some plausible scenarios that might get me there in the next 5-10 years. But with roughly 40% of my assets currently in 401(k)s and Roth IRAs, I almost feel like I'll consider it a larger milestone when I reach $1,000,000 excluding my retirement accounts--that is, having $1,000,000 in my savings account and regular brokerage accounts--than when I reach $1,000,000 counting everything. Does anyone else feel that way?

Hmm. I include everything in our net worth. Our home equity in 2 homes, retirement, and after tax. Even our cars (which I depreciate 2 X a year).

I can see where that 2-comma in non-retirement accounts would be good. However, I look at my non-home equity as BEING my retirement accounts, whether tax advantaged or otherwise. That said, about 50% of my non-equity net worth is in taxable indexes or individual stocks. And it is growing significantly faster than the tax preferred "retirement" accounts.

I'm shooting for 2.1 commas, which we should hit by the end of 2015 if things stay on track.
Rajsx
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Rajsx »

Congratulations !!!

The next comma will be easier than the first one.

Way to go
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tadamsmar
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by tadamsmar »

My retirement fund has joined the Two Comma Club at least twice, perhaps more times I did not notice.
Default User BR
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Default User BR »

ResNullius wrote:I lost two commas on paper during the 2008-2009 crash
Presumably you mean that your losses had two commas, not that your losses were such that you went from holdings that had N commas to ones with N-2 commas.


Brian
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baw703916
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by baw703916 »

If I have only one comma, do I need to worry about it getting lonely :?:
Most of my posts assume no behavioral errors.
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VictoriaF
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by VictoriaF »

baw703916 wrote:If I have only one comma, do I need to worry about it getting lonely :?:
You need to worry about missing an opportunity to have two large loving commas and many little ones.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
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baw703916
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by baw703916 »

Joe S. wrote:Congratulations.
Buy one of these on E-bay and you can be in the 4 comma club...
Image

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Trillion-Zi ... 19d83a8947
Oddly enough, there aren't any commas on the bills
Most of my posts assume no behavioral errors.
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steve roy
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by steve roy »

I can tell you MY mistake.

Having a broker/manager who took 2% off the top for twenty years. If I had been a Boglehead then (1970s, 1980s, 1990s) I would have been far better off. Happily, I was not stupid forever, just a quarter of a century.
mm9811
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by mm9811 »

steve roy wrote:I can tell you MY mistake.

Having a broker/manager who took 2% off the top for twenty years. If I had been a Boglehead then (1970s, 1980s, 1990s) I would have been far better off. Happily, I was not stupid forever, just a quarter of a century.
Wow, Ive been stupid for nearly 40years (but only at 1%) so am I more or less stupid? Or More stupid and cheaper? I'll have to think that over! :oops:
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mickeyd
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by mickeyd »

steve roy wrote:I can tell you MY mistake.

Having a broker/manager who took 2% off the top for twenty years. .

Yea, but think about how well he was able to provide for his family. There's that... 8-)
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Rajsx
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Rajsx »

Whole hearted Congratulations, keep up the good work
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VictoriaF
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by VictoriaF »

After a recent market rise, everyone here must be commatose.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
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stemikger
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by stemikger »

CarlZ993 wrote:At end of market day 1/23/2013, I joined the 'Two Comma Club.' One million dollars. Wow!

I was always a saver. I didn't always know exactly what I was doing. But, I kept saving. I learned so much from this forum. It helped me 'Stay the Course' through it all. Thanks to all the learned posters & authors on this forum. If I started to recognize people individually, I'd screw it up and leave someone worthy off the list.

To celebrate, I think I'll take my wife out for a steak dinner this weekend. Cheers!
Congratulations!!! Enjoy the steak dinner. What a great accomplishment. I am far away from that milestone, but I have the dream. Thanks for posting, it inspires others.
Choose Simplicity ~ Stay the Course!! ~ Press on Regardless!!!
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baw703916
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by baw703916 »

VictoriaF wrote:
sscritic wrote:
TravelforFun wrote: No no no! From a financial standpoint, one comma represents any number that contains one comma; Hence the range $1,000 to $99,000. Therefore, negative one comma is any number from -$1,000 to -$99,000.
I do my finances in excel. In excel, there is no such thing as a one comma number; all numbers have zero commas. I type in 100000000 and excel knows what to do.
You cannot input commas into Excel formulas, but you can configure how the computed numbers are displayed in the cells. But you already know that.

Victoria
Here's a handy formula: If A1 is the account value, then the number of commas is =INT(LOG10(A1)/3)

Happy commas to all!

Brad
Most of my posts assume no behavioral errors.
reggiesimpson
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by reggiesimpson »

A little less pain in the belly......yes?
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Boglenaut
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Boglenaut »

baw703916 wrote:
Here's a handy formula: If A1 is the account value, then the number of commas is =INT(LOG10(A1)/3)
Makes intuitive sense, and I tested it in Open Office with various values and it seems to work (but not valid for negative numbers, so stay out of debt to use Boglehead formulas... maybe =INT(LOG10(ABS(A1))/3) for debt?).
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baw703916
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by baw703916 »

Yes, if you're in debt, your commas will have real and imaginary parts, and will have multiple values!
Most of my posts assume no behavioral errors.
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VictoriaF
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by VictoriaF »

baw703916 wrote:
VictoriaF wrote:
sscritic wrote:
TravelforFun wrote: No no no! From a financial standpoint, one comma represents any number that contains one comma; Hence the range $1,000 to $99,000. Therefore, negative one comma is any number from -$1,000 to -$99,000.
I do my finances in excel. In excel, there is no such thing as a one comma number; all numbers have zero commas. I type in 100000000 and excel knows what to do.
You cannot input commas into Excel formulas, but you can configure how the computed numbers are displayed in the cells. But you already know that.

Victoria
Here's a handy formula: If A1 is the account value, then the number of commas is =INT(LOG10(A1)/3)

Happy commas to all!

Brad
Hi Brad,

Your formula computes the number of commas, which is fine. What I was alluding to is that when you try to input numbers with commas into an Excel formula, it strips commas off in the formula view. For example, if I input
= 4,000 + 5,000
Excel will change it to
= 4000 + 5000

The cell will display the result as 9000. I can then change the display to read $9,000. But when I look at the underlying formula, it's still = 4000 + 5000.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
Winthorpe
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Winthorpe »

A few times each year I do a quick net worth calculation. Sometime since July I find that I graduated to the 2 comma club!

Nothing fancy. Just aggressive saving, paying off debt (except mortgage), keeping costs super low with index funds/ETFs, and mostly frugal living.

My family net worth in 2006 was about zero.

I think the second million will be easier that the first.

Cheers to the helpful Boglehead community! :beer
technovelist
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by technovelist »

FedGuy wrote:
SGM wrote:FedGuy... well noted. Might you be a little :wink: obsessive-compulsive? H is also not a home key.
I'm a little obsessive-compulsive, and I did note the thing about the H key. But I took typing myself and clearly remember the teacher repeating, over and over and over again, the home keys in order, three times each, much as your teacher did. It ended with, "jjj space kkk space lll space semi semi semi space [pause] -- Return!"
Unless you use the Dvorak keyboard, of course. :D
In theory, theory and practice are identical. In practice, they often differ.
travellight
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by travellight »

A few times each year I do a quick net worth calculation
because of mint.com, I get this calculation weekly.
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goodenyou
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by goodenyou »

peppers wrote:
sscritic wrote:
jojay wrote:My wife and I are 1.
Wait until after the divorce. Then try counting your commas.
After the divorce you might be in a coma.
You will have a hard time being in the two comma club if you are in the two mama club!
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Garco
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Garco »

livesoft wrote:There's another Two Comma Club. How many of y'all have lost a Two Comma amount in the stock market?
I'm one with two in the stock portfolio of my retirement accounts. I remember the day I lost my second comma (from total investment) in 2008. With good fortune and much better management on my part, I wouldn't likely fall below 2 commas overall if the same level of crash happened this year.
abracadabra11
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by abracadabra11 »

+1 member to the club as of yesterday.

Thanks to bogleheads for the help getting there.
TravelforFun
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by TravelforFun »

abracadabra11 wrote:+1 member to the club as of yesterday.

Thanks to bogleheads for the help getting there.
Congratulations and welcome to the club!
rene
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by rene »

Congrats to the op!!!

I joined the 2 comma club this week ...

BUT it's 2 commas for the total of my taxable, 401K and Roth investments. It does not take into consideration $15K student debt, $13K car loan, $20K company stock loan and 460K remaining mortgage (nor does it add home equity to the total)

Next goals :

1) within 12 months : 2 comma club with car/student/company stock debts paid off.

2) within 2 years : 2 comma club just for the 401k portion

3) within ?? years : 2 million club for 401K
ryman554
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by ryman554 »

rene wrote:Congrats to the op!!!

I joined the 2 comma club this week ...

BUT it's 2 commas for the total of my taxable, 401K and Roth investments. It does not take into consideration $15K student debt, $13K car loan, $20K company stock loan and 460K remaining mortgage (nor does it add home equity to the total)

Next goals :

1) within 12 months : 2 comma club with car/student/company stock debts paid off.

2) within 2 years : 2 comma club just for the 401k portion

3) within ?? years : 2 million club for 401K
Congrats!

I've got 2.07 commas today, yet I've got only 1.97 commas in investments and 1.97 commas in home equity....

I'd love to get my second comma in either....
Sagenick48
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Sagenick48 »

The two digit and two comma club, that means something. And I'm not there yet.
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integrity
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by integrity »

According to the Europeans, I was in the one comma club from my first dollar.
Hey, I just paid 12,50 for lunch today!
Stan Dup
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Re: Two Comma Club

Post by Stan Dup »

Personally, I am working on my second million. The first one was way too hard! :D
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