MT: Keeping The Course

quote:

---

All in all I want to say thanks to the board for your help and I feel that I would not be where I am today without feedback and the countless threads posted across here.

---

Totally agree! One of the best boards for Money talk I have found. Love the different opinions on pretty much everything that gets posted. Hard to find a thread where everyone agrees.

quote:

---

For the MT, how are you doing on keeping the course?

---

The wife and I hit $100,000 earlier this year and are around $113,000 now in our Savings and Retirement accounts. It was a big milestone for us to hit, considering we have only been married for 6 years and that is pretty much when we started our path to financial freedom. She cares, but pretty much relies on me when it comes to saving and investing. I received a raise this year but I have kept my salary the same, as I have in years past. She also increased her contributions 1%. When I started my career some 8 years ago, I was putting $50/month into my 401k. That number is at $880/month today. If I had any piece of advice for the young ones on this board (31 myself, so I guess I am still young) is never quit putting money away as I did when first started. The market was tanking, the money I was putting in was quickly evaporating and it freaked me out, so I temporarily halted my contributions. The rest is history.

quote:

---

Has there been much success in your life to this point?

---

Man, a question I have thought about a lot and I am conflicted on. I look around and feel like where we are is great. Combined salary of just shy of $100k, and have a little over that saved up. While I feel we are doing great judging by other around me, I wonder if we will ever be able to get to a million, retire comfortably, etc. I see numbers being thrown around here and other places that make me doubt just how good I think we are doing.

quote:

---

What hardships have come up which made you stray from the investing path you defined?

---

Picked up a car note this year, but it hasn't really stopped our saving and investing. Just slowed it, if you will. Also, gave in and got my wife a privacy fence and we put a pergola on our back deck, which knocked our Savings down around $4,000. But hey, what is the point of having money if you don't spend it. And it made the wife happy which is always good!

BTW, great idea for a thread!

quote:

---

I'm hoping to restablish my strategy once the new income settled out and savings get back to where I would like. Would love to have a Net Worth of >$500k at 30 ($250k now at 28).

---

500k by 30 would be incredible, and set you on the path to the future. Its pretty unrealistic goal, 250k is incredible.

I got great advice 20 years ago from my step father, never give yourself a raise. Every raise you get, save it and live on what you earned before. Its worked very well for me.

This year was the first time I gave myself a raise since 2008, I gave myself an extra $200/month in March. So far, I haven't used it.

I'm in a similar position...we have around $125,400 in checking, savings, college savings, home equity, and retirement accounts. I'm 32 and she's 27. Not great but I feel like we're doing ok. I wish I would have start a little earlier as well.

Thanks Rick, I appreciate the kind words!

quote:

---

Does this include kids in the picture, or are kids perhaps on the horizon?

---

We have two kids, 10 and 5. Daycare is a drain monthly, anywhere between $800-$1,000 a month depending on how many Fridays there are, but it has gotten a little better since my smallest started school. Not wishing my kids younger years away at all, but I cannot wait until I cut the daycare off the payroll!

Recently, and again something I should have started earlier, I set up savings accounts for my kids at the local credit union. Whenever they get money, I make them put 15% into the account, since that is the number suggested by most as what it takes to retire. I tell them that is what my wife and I put in, so they should as well. I am hoping that by getting them into the habit early of paying themselves first, they will not be where I was when I started working.

I also bought my kids stocks. I was tired of getting 0.7% interest for the college money I was putting away, about $2,500 per kid and wanted to teach them about the market. My 10 year old (boy) is a huge gamer. Loves his 360. So, naturally I invested in MSFT for him. I show him periodically how much we started with and where it is at now, up 23%!

For my daughter who is 5, she loves chocolate and her "chockie milk" so I bought her HSY. She is still way to young to try to get the point across, but I made a little money on it and have since bought KO, which is up around 12%.

Both have paid off well so far, and have been a good lesson to my 10 year old. He thinks its cool that he has earned an extra share so far (DRIP) for doing nothing.

quote:

---

I've been fortunate to start while the market is climbing up. If it was steadily going down, I don't think I would have invested anything and just loaded down my savings. Neither are wrong (with regards to paying yourself), but at least now I have perspective on how to invest money into a Roth IRA, 401k and taxable accounts and an emergency fund to hang onto if the markets did dip.

---

Man, I cannot tell you how frustrated I got when I was putting $50/month and getting a quarterly statement that showed my contributions of $150/quarter and my account value had dropped $175 for the quarter. I was completely ignorant to how the markets worked, the history of the markets, etc and hit a span when I just quit putting money in there. So stupid looking back.

quote:

---

I'm hoping to restablish my strategy once the new income settled out and savings get back to where I would like. Would love to have a Net Worth of >$500k at 30 ($250k now at 28).

---

I would take solace in the fact that - you are a 1%, peer wise.

If you do not save another penny, don't touch what you've already pust aside ($250k) when you're 58, that will be $600k - at 63, it will be $750k, and at 70 years, the money you've already saved will be well over $1 million (these assume an average of 6% rate of return) - which can generate a six-figure income until the end of your life expectancy, or roughly $40k annual income, in perpetuity and leave the principal to your heirs.

Not lifestyles of the rich and famous, but wealthy in the sense of this represents financial security that 99% of your peers do not have.

So, keep saving and raising the bar for your self. You may not have to work until you die, like some of us have as plan b -

quote:

---

So we're starting late, but I feel inspired by the fact that so much can be done if you just work at it.

---

Better late than never (I was way later than you). I went from $3k to $60k in retirement savings in 4 1/2 years. I value my military retirement at roughly $600k - so, I will have gone from negative $250k in net worth to a positive $1.5 million in about 24 years, along my current glide path at right at $100k gross income.