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12-15-2005, 07:54 PM
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#41
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 588
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Great posts and great job BMJ. Striving for the next milestone 1-3 years down the pike is always a lot more tangable and rewarding for me than estimating things 10, 20 or 30 years out. I'm fine with all the long term planning but it always has that "wand waving" feel to it.
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12-15-2005, 08:38 PM
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#43
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 97
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SLC Tortfeasor
Yep, I'm still thrilled by $500 milestones. Right now my cash, stocks, funds, and retirement accounts total about $45,000, so I still have a long way to go.
I think that probably the greatest thing about this forum for me is being able to get encouragement from everyone about savings goals. I could never talk to my friends face to face about my net worth or how much money I'm saving. Thanks everyone.
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I'd also like to add that one of the greatest thing about this forum is to be able for everyone to give their numbers without fear of judgement.
So I'll add my thanks to everyone for that!
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12-15-2005, 09:50 PM
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#44
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 10
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Not meaning to steal a thread, but we too have just reached a milestone, but not quite as significant.
I am happy that we just broke the $25k mark in our 401ks and IRA's. Around $110k if you count home equity, but as we don't intend on selling the cabin any time soon that does not really count to us. Cabin has a loan of $115,000 @ 4.35% interest through a land contract and it is on a 2500 acre lake in Hayward Wisconsin. Although being 29 years old I am happy with where we are for the most part. Hind site is 20/20 and I have really kicked my self for not starting sooner. My biggest mistake is I once cashed out a 401k worth around $6500 six years ago. Just thinking about that now makes me wish I would have listened to my parents as they told me to not cash it out. Anyway, finding this site has changed our life. I have realized that I am not crazy to want to live debt free and that we don't have to work until we are 70 years old if we really don't want to. I have tried to talk about my FIRE strategy with coworkers, but they just don’t get it. All they are interested in is buying the next newest car and the next best plasma TV on the market, and they think I am crazy. So, thank you for all sharing your experiences and helping us young dreamers. It is nice to have a place where you can talk to people who understand you.
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12-15-2005, 09:53 PM
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#45
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 10
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Re: $100k Milestone!
I just noticed the "confused about dryer sheets" thing. Not sure that applies as I cut each one into 3 parts. That way I get 3 boxes out of one box. They work just as well as far as I am concerned.
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12-15-2005, 10:12 PM
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#46
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Lou-evil
Posts: 2,025
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Quote:
Not meaning to steal a thread, but we too have just reached a milestone, but not quite as significant.
I am happy that we just broke the $25k mark in our 401ks and IRA's.* Around $110k if you count home equity, but as we don't intend on selling the cabin any time soon that does not really count to us.* Cabin has a loan of $115,000 @ 4.35% interest through a land contract and it is on a 2500 acre lake in Hayward Wisconsin.* Although being 29 years old I am happy with where we are for the most part.* Hind site is 20/20 and I have really kicked my self for not starting sooner.* My biggest mistake is I once cashed out a 401k worth around $6500 six years ago.* Just thinking about that now makes me wish I would have listened to my parents as they told me to not cash it out.* Anyway, finding this site has changed our life.* I have realized that I am not crazy to want to live debt free and that we don't have to work until we are 70 years old if we really don't want to.* I have tried to talk about my FIRE strategy with coworkers, but they just don’t get it.* All they are interested in is buying the next newest car and the next best plasma TV on the market, and they think I am crazy.* So, thank you for all sharing your experiences and helping us young dreamers.* It is nice to have a place where you can talk to people who understand you.
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You aren't stealing anyone's thread.* Nice job and welcome.* You gotta earn your stripes to move beyond the "confused dryer sheets" rank
__________________
"These walls are kind of funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them"
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12-15-2005, 11:09 PM
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#47
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Mesa
Posts: 3,588
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Re: $100k Milestone!
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12-16-2005, 06:20 AM
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#48
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by doah001
I just noticed the "confused about dryer sheets" thing.* Not sure that applies as I cut each one into 3 parts.* That way I get 3 boxes out of one box.* They work just as well as far as I am concerned.*
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Try this trick.* Dry a load of clothes with a dryer sheet then a load of clothes without a dryer sheet.* Close your eyes.* Mix them together.* Then reach down and try to tell which clothes were dryed with a dryer sheet and which ones were not.
Yes, I am so cheap I do not even use dryer sheets.* *
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12-16-2005, 06:52 AM
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#49
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
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Re: $100k Milestone!
BMJ, I'm late getting in here but let me also congratulate you. I can (vaguely) remember when I started on the road to FI. I've kept a spreadsheet for 28 years and the first entry at age 31 says we had a grand total of $750. And I darned sure didn't get to $100k in 4 years, inflation adjusted or not.
__________________
Numbers is hard
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12-16-2005, 08:56 AM
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#50
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,811
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Congratulatons to everyone that on their way to FI. Some get an earlier start than others and some never start. Count yourselves among the few people that have the motivation, education, and willingness to defer gratification to get the Brass Ring of ER.
My divorce was the begining of my quest to FI. Before that our savings and investments never got over $1000. My divorce happened at age 40. Since that time, my net worth has gone up to the point that FI is possible and ER is scheduled in two years. My first $100k took a couple years due to paying off more than $30k in CC debt, raising a kid on my own, and having to save for a house, car etc. At 44 I had about $200k. A working wife and careful investing and a lot of luck allowed us to hit $1MM at 48. I am still saving the max on my 401k and am still paying down the mortages. Our net worth is still growing.
Money creates money. The more you have working for you, the more it will grow. You gotta love a free economy.
__________________
Work? I don't have time to work....I'm retired.
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12-16-2005, 03:16 PM
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#51
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Kudos from me, too. My 401k just passed $300k...
ONly a mil or two to go... :P :P
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire
...not doing anything of true substance...
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12-17-2005, 12:40 AM
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#52
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,532
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Congrats BMJ! You definitely have more than we did at your age. I would love it if my son would just start a little. Unfortunately, it is still pay check to pay check for him. It is nice to know that there are young people saving for their future!
Dreamer
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12-17-2005, 02:10 PM
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#53
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Nomadic in the Rockies
Posts: 2,720
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Thanks, everyone! And congrats to others hitting milestones, whether it's $1m or a $50 mark. Some replies:
Wildcat: I am sharing...my wisdom.
re: compounding: Getting from $60k to here was surprisingly fast compared to how long it took to get from $35k to $60k. I guess I haven't thought much about how fast it will grow now beyond the double-your-money-in-5-years guideline, but I am still saving and have been increasing my saving lately. It should be fun to watch it grow. (If it does...there are plenty of bears around these days. But I've got a decade or two, so I can weather the bears.)
xprinter, sorry about your physically conservative wife.
re: milestone marks and money we count/don't count: The $10k marks have been what I really enjoy so far, but up until recently I only counted my IRA/401(k) combined balance. Historically I've mentally separated my pretax and after-tax savings because I was handling the pretax stuff well and the after-tax stuff poorly. It is my recent jump in after-tax savings that has me looking at everything as a whole picture now. I haven't previously and don't intend to keep adding possessions as assets, but for the $100k mark I am. Funny, in doing so it throws into better focus the difference between $3k in electronics, $3k in airfare and any given $3k invested. I can give a one-time excuse for the $3k in electronics in one year, but it still feels like I spent too much and am getting little return. The $3k in airfare was worth every penny, but what I really need to do is move to Texas and eliminate that cost. $3k (an arbitrary amount for comparison) saved and invested counts 3% towards my current balance! (More if I count its earnings this year.)
JPatrick, most of my money is in stock/bond funds, but about $7k is in a savings account at 0.75% and needs to be moved to somewhere more generous. Thanks for reminding me.
TargaDave, good point on 2-3 year milestones. Becoming debt free was a big goal, and so was retiring early. But after becoming debt free (a 5-year effort) and having retirement conservatively 20 years away my thoughts were "uh, now what?" I have better answers to that question now.
doah001: The dryer sheet thing is a long-time running gag symbolizing frugality.
SG, thanks! That's a lot of smileys!
By the way, I had a lot of pretax savings prior to being debt free, in case anyone wondered how I got from in-debt to $100k in a year. I've been able to cash out in the black for much of the time I was in debt, but of course it would have cost a ridiculous amount in taxes and penalties. I started saving 15% to my 401(k) at age 21 and didn't cut back until age 30. Currently I'm saving 7% to my 401(k) and about 11% after-tax. (I'm building up cash for an anticipated job situation change right now.)
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12-17-2005, 05:56 PM
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#54
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 38
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Just wanted to add to this great "year end" milestone thread. I just hit $250K at age 29! I was nicely suprised to see that total pop out after updating the spreadsheet for the month. Hope there's no cause for it to dip below that "magic" number!
That's in what another has called the "grand total" account. Includes pension, cash/investments, equity in the home, car, and other depreciating doodads. Realistically that amount isn't really available, but it is a nice number to use for tracking progress.
Keep it up everyone. One day I up to catch up to the idols like Calgary_girl.
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12-17-2005, 07:14 PM
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#55
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,450
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Quote:
That's in what another has called the "grand total" account. Includes pension, cash/investments, equity in the home, car, and other depreciating doodads. Realistically that amount isn't really available, but it is a nice number to use for tracking progress.
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I try to keep my doodads out my calculations, thank you
__________________
- Hurry! to the cliffs of insanity!
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12-18-2005, 04:30 AM
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#56
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,189
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Re: $100k Milestone!
i remember how thrilled i was at the 100k point back in the 80's...it was an amazing feeling....
this year we broke 1.5 million but it wasnt the same feeling as the ole 100k....
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12-18-2005, 05:10 AM
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#57
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,875
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
i remember how thrilled i was at the 100k point back in the 80's...it was an amazing feeling....
this year we broke 1.5 million but it wasnt the same feeling as the ole 100k....
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I don't recall any real milestones, although I tracked my net worth
compulsively for years. Don't do it so much now (it doesn't change
anyway). Don't forsee any milestones in the future either.
Success for me would just be holding steady.
JG
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12-18-2005, 05:39 AM
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#58
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,875
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Re: $100k Milestone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by maddythebeagle
I try to keep my doodads out my calculations, thank you
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Yep. I try to keep my doodad where it belongs also.
Re. net worth calc, I throw in everything that can be converted to cash
(which is to say almost everything). The grand
total still ain't much.
JG
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12-19-2005, 11:34 AM
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#59
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 97
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Re: $100k Milestone!
OP, Thanks for giving young dreamers hope! I graduated from college in Dec 04 (I'm 23) and have been working in the real world for a year. I am at the $17k mark. Just $983000 to go... Well, then again a million in year 2045 will be $3,011,445. So it's more like $2994445 to go...Yikkks!
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12-19-2005, 02:15 PM
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#60
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Houston
Posts: 1,448
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Re: $100k Milestone!
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