Where were you at 31?

[bright eyed]

Hi,
I'm getting milestone envy.

When you were 31 - how big was your retirement stash? When did you start?

I'm 31 and at about $60k and all the calcs say i will be ok if i keep throwing in the $ as well as save more after tax...but just want some verification it can be done!

 

[David1961]

When I was 31, in 1992, I had about $300K. Now at 45, I'm around $2M. Compounded interest is great!

 

[Gumby]

I was in the first year of law school at the time (1990). I had about $50-60k in the bank, but it all got spent on tuition, so I started from zero at the age of 33.

 

[bright eyed]

gosh, but what about after law school gumby?

for now i've decided grad school isn't worth the cost for me since i have a good job, w/ good pay and wouldn't be much higher if i went, but i change my mind every month or so!

i definitely wouldn't go to law school though (but lots of respect for those who do) because i wouldn't actually practice if i went and it is so darn expensive, aside from having to ignore my kids for a couple years!

have a friend who just graduated and makes less than me, me and my sucker friends who all work in nonprofits

 

[happy2bretired]

When I was 31, I probably had $20-$24K and according to the inflation calculator that T-Al provided yesterday, that's in the $60K range today. I started getting interested in $$ when I was in my late 20s.

 

[FinanceDude]

At 31, I had some credit card debt, some little student loans, and a crappy car, but I had $100,000 in investments.........

 

[brewer12345]

Roughly 500k, sitting in a job I was sick of and trying not to lose my mind. Headed there now 3 years later, but with more money.

 

[jIMOh]

34 now and I was around 60k at 31. No debt now... and around 150k saved at age 34.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I had a small amount of "untouchable" money and was marginally employed, lived like a student, sharing an apt. Basically, I was into "eat, drink and be merry." I started travelling seriously the next year.

 

[Andre1969]

I turned 31 in April 2001. At that time I had about $77K stashed away. I also had a first mortgage of around $75000 and a second mortgage of around $11K. And a car loan I still owed around $13K on.

 

[Caroline]

have a friend who just graduated and makes less than me, me and my sucker friends who all work in nonprofits

At 31 I had just graduated from B School, and had my first job making 40K per year. No savings whatsoever, but no debt, either.

My brother, a cop, made fun of me because I made less than he did with my "ig education." Fast-forward 20 years and I've far outpaced him.

So, as regards grad school, starting salary is not as important as ending salary. That said, he's got a nice, fat pension coming to him that I don't have.

 

[VaCollector]

hmmmm...let's see....at 31, I was in the last years of my 1st marriage....not much of anything in retirement accounts, but a NW of about $150K (real estate and self built home).....2 years later, I got my half and started all over again.....21 years later and while I'm obligated to 3 more "tax seasons" as part of he sale of my practice, I'm hoping that the new folks will catch on real quick and decide that they want to keep the $$$ instead of paying me.....and I'm basically FIRE'd as I have only spent 7 (half) days in the office since May....and my NW is north of 3M.....so keep working and stashin' it away....

FI & RE will come if you are a LBYM person (family) and you learn how to invest wisely and at your comfort level!!

 

[73ss454]

Well, that was 27 years ago so not sure what I had but it wasn't much. Maybe 5K, DW and 2 kids and working my butt off. Didn't have a clue about saving or retirement and didn't care from what I can remember.

You guys who know what to do at 31 are in great shape even if you don't have any investments yet. I didn't even think about retirement till 47 and I fired in 10 years.

"old too fast and smart too late"

 

[yakers]

At 31, which is 26 years ago for me, I probably had a negative net worth. Just got picked up by NASA from a job with the Navy, moved to California bought a condo and my first new car. ( A cheap Honda Civic, but my first new car.) The real estate market was a bust, I barely broke even and I know of people who abandoned their houses/condos. Then I got married and got really broke in a divorce. But time has been good to me; new wife, growth in income, paid off the house, and saved as much as we could in her teachers 403b & my 401k type (TSP) account. Kids grown & left (youngest one just started college) and life is looking good, I expect to retire in the next 6 months or so, all because I have the old civil service defined benefit pension plan and because we are good at living cheaply.

 

[HFWR]

Beyond broke...

 

[TexasGal]

Age 31: Bad marriage. Deeply in debt, lousy job with very low pay. A bad decade.
Age 41: My first dollar went into 401k and income began to rise significantly.
Age 60: Retired, comfortable, content.

 

[kumquat]

27 years ago, hmmm what can I remember?

Next to nothing: that's both what I can remember and my NW at the time.

 

[Dawg52]

When I was 31, I probably had $20-$24K and according to the inflation calculator that T-Al provided yesterday, that's in the $60K range today. I started getting interested in $$ when I was in my late 20s.

Ditto. About the same for me.

 

[dgalbraith100]

At 31, I believe my wife and I were about 1 year into figuring out the LBYM, and paying off 20-30K in CC debt along with 2 20K+ car loans for brand new cars... and a brand new house we just bought....

We weren't exactly L Above YM, but right at it... and we didn't have a dime to spare... And then I read "Your Money Or Your Life", and "The Millionaire Next Door"... and everything changed. .

My networth tracking didn't start until about a year after that, but I'm guessing I was negative, or zero at 31. Now I'm about halfway to my retirement goal. Should have about 7-10 years left depending on market returns.

Laters,
-d.

 

[W2R]

Beyond broke...

Ditto! I was at home with a newborn baby, fending off creditors and didn't have a pot to p** in.

I didn't get my head above water until after my divorce, in my 50's.

 

[REWahoo]

Age 31: Married, two young kids, new job, $0 debt...and $0 retirement savings
Age 58: FIRED

 

[Moemg]

I was in the final stage of my first marriage .The only money was 1/2 the equity in my house and a lime green Karman Ghia.

 

[bbbamI]

19 years ago at 31 we probably had around $20k. Just bought a small house, no equity.

 

[ChemEng]

Ill let you know in a few years.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

That was only 4 years ago (I'm 35), combined with DH, our net worth was about $800K give or take a few thousand. No debt.

Today, our net worth is $1.27 million and we still have no debt (unless you count a 17 month old toddler as debt )