35, and on track to retire by 50

[zekeboz]

You are on your way! It is amazing how the past 7-8 years this market has benefited folks that avoid the temptation to sell when "bad news" hits.

Feel free to tell me to pound sand, but what sort of industry / job areas you guys are in that support such a dramatic compensation increase?

It’s crazy how much the market and salaries compound when things are going well. We’re now up to $3.9M in net assets, and $1M in compensation (stock run up + wife got a new job w/ a 50% comp increase). At our current savings rate we have a lot of options: we could probably retire now on $100k, we could retire in 3 years on $150k/year, or retire in 2030 w/ $10M+. It feels good to have a bunch of hard work, thoughtful planning, and luck pay off.

 

[CSdot]

Ha, yeah. Not sure what that was all about.

I'm in software, she was a liberal arts major that's been hustling for 15+ years. Both in management now. Helps to be in a big city, and to be in growing industries (software, biotech).

Sounds like a great career choice.

I am in law in a medium size coastal southern town. I struck out on my own in 2017, which surprisingly resulted in doubling, then a tripling, of what I was earning at the big multi-state law firm I left.

With the extra income I have been squirling as much money as I can by setting up a Sep IRA ($56K max in 2019, $57k max in 2020); putting away an additional $5k month into after tax savings/investments, and paying off the home mortgage because there is no reason to have any debt when I am earning what I do.

 

[BoredAtWork]

Congratulations lucky2030. Impressive stats and you have a ton of flexibility on what you decide to do.

 

[livingalmostlarge]

congratulations! I'm with you for 2030 (probably 2034 just because of OMY) not because of money.

 

[lucky2030]

New Years 2022 Update: chugging along, with $4.5M NW and $1.2M/year income. [emoji409]

 

[lucky2030]

New Years 2023 Update: bad news is our investments were way down last year. Good news is new savings basically replaced that and kept us a bit better than even. Income is down some, and we're worried that the money train is slowing down in big tech, but we're still in good shape for 2030.

As of today (including January's market jump):
$4.7M NW. $3.1M investable assets earmarked for retirement spending. $1.1M/year income.

 

[Love This Community]

Congratulations Lucky2030. Just read this complete thread. Agree some tough early responses but those are the ones that keep us from thinking unilaterally and open up what if scenarios. You’re doing great and achieved the FI point. RE is a matter of time. Especially with high incomes, lifestyle creep is a reality and my only recommendation is to keep an eye on that. Have fun and good luck in your journey.

 

[HI Bill]

New Years 2023 Update:...
$4.7M NW. $3.1M investable assets earmarked for retirement spending. $1.1M/year income.

Congrats! So, you're only 6 years into this since your first post, and about 41 years old! Any plans to ER sooner than 50 now?

 

[Golden sunsets]

So if you both were to retire today with a 3% WR, you could withdraw $93,000 from your Investment assets. Could you live on $93,000?

 

[lucky2030]

Congrats! So, you're only 6 years into this since your first post, and about 41 years old! Any plans to ER sooner than 50 now?

Not at the moment, but it could happen. Kids are young and in grade school, so that really limits where we can live and how much we can travel. We'll see if big corporations have different ideas for us.

 

[lucky2030]

So if you both were to retire today with a 3% WR, you could withdraw $93,000 from your Investment assets. Could you live on $93,000?

If forced, probably. But that's not really what we want, especially with kids in the house. We're both enjoying our jobs at the moment. When I started this thread and was getting obsessed with ER I was feeling much more like I didn't want to be working.

 

[lucky2030]

2024 update: net worth is up to $6.4M with the market recovery and tons more saving. $1.2M in the house, $500k for kids education, and $4.7M earmarked for retirement. Income will be $1.4M this year, far more than we ever thought possible. Our expenses have remained stable so savings each year is huge. We’ve both managed to survive several rounds of layoffs, so who knows how long this will last.

 

[street]

Well, 8 years from first post of our goal and 7 more years to ER at 50. I would say you have won the game, and the game was called. In my opinion you could ER right now.

You're a prime example of a family with a goal/plan and you expedite your goal and voila!

Great job thank you for your update.

 

[Koolau]

Thanks for the update. It's great to watch a plan come together like yours. Admittedly, most of us here never had incomes that high, but it seems you are an excellent saver. Good on you and best luck going forward.

Have you run FIRECalc lately? It may reveal just how close you are to FIRE and what you need to tweak to get there.

 

[lucky2030]

We're spending close to $250k/year now, so we can't fire without cutting costs. If we both got laid off, we'd do that, but we're both enjoying our jobs.

Of the $250k, $25k is childcare and $45k is mortgage. If both didn't work, and moved to mcol, spend would be $180k. Thats about 3.8% of our retirement nest egg.

We are saving $700k+ year, so each year adds a ton of lifestyle and/or safety to our retirement.