"Your First Million is the Toughest" How long did it take you?

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh 15 years to the first $m 5 years to the third (estimated)

I am impressed.

[gindie]

20 years to the first ('86-'06)

Already over 10% of the way to the next

[unclemick]

33 years, 1966 - late 99/2000, 7 years After ER.

Made it 3 times, late 99/2000, again after the 2000 - 02 dip, again in 2006 after Katrina.

Those dips are the pits!

heh heh heh - actually retired Jan 1993 with roughly 250k his and 100k hers not counting any home equity.

[kcowan]

20 years to the first M
divorce = divide by 2 and keep going
real estate reversal
8 years to get there again

another 8 years to $2m - no house just renting - but also retired with SWR=4% for 5 years

The divorce got me into renting and I think that has helped to get back on track more quickly.

[Sandy]

Slow and steady wins the race

We are on track to have our first million in about 4 years - around 54.

[maddythebeagle]

somewhere around 13-14 years....professional job, little debt out of school, LBYM (sometimes a cheap bastard), some side income, minimize investment expenses, remodeled modest house doing a lot of the work myself in a moderate market....Did buy a new vehicle (at dealer cost) but plan to keep for 15-20 years...

[yakers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandy Slow and steady wins the race .

Even slower & steadier. After 34 yrs for me (expect to retire in next 6 mo) DW retired last year we have all of maybe $750K in taxable/deferred/tax free funds, a house @maybe $550k and COLAd pensions with a NPV of maybe 2M. Not the descretionary assets of the self employed but enough to not worry about how the market goes. Took a long time, fortunately love the work, DW still teaches but for nothing now.

[Milkman]

Great answers! As Milton suggested, there are a lot of motivated people on this site. I am impressed by how quickly some people achieved this goal (and beyond) and how everyone with their unique circumstanses, took advantage of their own situation to make things happen.

I suspect the one characteristic trait on this board is discipline.

Milkman

[Tandemlovers]

We passed the 1 million mark January of this year, and are almost 20% along the way to the next million.
We started 20 years ago.
I am 45 and my husband, the wage earner, is 54.
Our figure excludes the value of our home.
We have always maxed out on 403b contributions, and have always made a non-deductibel IRA contribution (remember when non-working spouses could only contribute 250.00 yearly?!!?)

[tryan]

15 years to the first million. 7 to the second. Nearly all real estate.

[retire@40]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milkman ...I suspect the one characteristic trait on this board is discipline.

Along with persistence and determination.

[bright eyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webzter Started minimally saving 4 years ago. Started saving in earnest three months ago.... Bankrate: Calculator: How long until you're a millionaire? says that it'll take us another 6-8 years to get there if we get our savings where I want it (70% of our salary) edit: Excluding a townhouse that isn't appreciating at all.

this calc said in about 17 years but that's w/ a flat contribution rate - i will at least increase to the max every year so that's a little nudge up and hopefully whatever else i can get a hold of (raises, bonuses, lottery winnings )

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmart We passed the 1 million mark January of this year, and are almost 20% along the way to the next million. We started 20 years ago. I am 45 and my husband, the wage earner, is 54. Our figure excludes the value of our home. We have always maxed out on 403b contributions, and have always made a non-deductibel IRA contribution (remember when non-working spouses could only contribute 250.00 yearly?!!?)

20% gain since January, 2007? Your portfolio seems risky - mostly international or emerging market equities?

[kcowan]

The Toronto stock exchange index is up 25% YTD in USD. About half from exchange gains. Not too risky.

[Tandemlovers]

20% gain since January, 2007? Your portfolio seems risky - mostly international or emerging market equity?

About 23% European and Emerging market mutual funds.

We've also done well with Vanguard's Energy Fund the last 12 months.

We plan to shift even more of our assets into overseas funds, due to the cost of the war and the falling dollar.

[Tandemlovers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky 20% gain since January, 2007? Your portfolio seems risky - mostly international or emerging market equities?

Sorry about the double entry...still learning how to navigate the site!

Part of the ~18% gain includes principal contributions to our retirement accounts, of course, so the actual gain is somewhere around 15%.

Still, it's been a thrilling ride!

[Milton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan The Toronto stock exchange index is up 25% YTD in USD. About half from exchange gains. Not too risky.

The steady decline against most other major currencies is something to behold ... and seemingly no end in sight, as long as the massive trade and current account deficits continue.

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmart We plan to shift even more of our assets into overseas funds, due to the cost of the war and the falling dollar.

I thought about shifting more $ into emerging markets and overseas back in March in which the market took a dive. My return would have increased had I acted. Anyway, it makes no sense to dwell on the past. I think international stocks will continue to perform well.

[kumquat]

The first took about 20 years, the second 7 more (assisted by small inheritances), third about 3 more and the 4th (this month) 1 more. 3 & 4 came from mega-corp stock options, mega-corp up 500% in last 4 years.

Joining mega-corp was the luckiest think I ever did.

[chinaco]

If one starts with $100k in year 0 at an 11% return it take about 7.5 years for the money to double. $100k has to double 3 times for $800k So it will about 23 years to reach $1MM. To reach 2MM only requires it to double 1 time. But the proportion is off. The same period of time would take $1MM to $10MM.


If one starts with a small amount of savings, it is likely to take 25-30 years to reach $1MM.