The first million takes the longest to achieve

[NgineER]

This is our trajectory

Started working a real job in 2007 after graduate school and goofing around (age 32)...
We had enough savings to buy a first house, but we were house poor. My wife worked for three years and then called it quits and is now taking care of our brood of four.

Took us 9 years to hit $1M net worth (Using this metric because we've spent investments to buy and fix rental properties, but excluding our home)
Another 5 for number two
Still waiting for number three excluding the home equity (passed it including the home)

 

[AginMS]

I've found compounding personally interesting and have been tracking it for myself for awhile to see how long it took to reach $100K, and then how long it took me to double it to $200K, then double $400K, and so on. Using these numbers, this was my road:
1992 started investing
13 years to reach $100K (2005)
7 years to reach $200K (2012)
3.75 years to reach $400K (2015)
2.5 years to reach $800K (2018)
2.9 years to reach $1.6M (2020)

Looking at Street's $1M goal:
27 years for the 1st (mid 2019)
2.5 years for the 2nd (late 2021)

Hoping to reach $3M by Jan '27 then FIRE!

BTW, by 2012 I was pretty demotivated to learn that after 20 years of diligent saving and investing, we only had $200K to show for it. Luckily we stuck with it and 7 years later we were able to reach our first $1M. That felt pretty great.

 

[LateToFIRE]

...by 2012 I was pretty demotivated to learn that after 20 years of diligent saving and investing, we only had $200K to show for it. Luckily we stuck with it and 7 years later we were able to reach our first $1M. That felt pretty great.

I hear yah. Funny how the journey is hard to predict, but the end result is fairly predictable. Back in ~2005 I had done a forecast of the next 20 years. Today, I am remarkably close to that (fairly aggressive) forecast. But, during the in between years things took a lot of twists and turns, especially due to the 2008 Great Recession. Back in that 2008 timeframe, I felt completely thrown off course - portfolio decimated, job earnings on the decline. It took a long time to make up that ground, but make it up I did. Also, the gains came from different places than I had forecast with real estate making up a much larger portion than I had expected. Anyhow, I'm back on track and then some. Was it luck, skill, or somewhere in between, I'm not sure. I'd like to say it was mostly hard work and good decision-making. But, you know how it goes. Now, how well can I predict the next 20 years? At least my market return assumptions are somewhat more conservative than what I had used previously.

 

[Gumby]

My painfully obtained 2008 Great Recession lesson was that I should build a bigger buffer in my retirement plan.

 

[LateToFIRE]

My painfully obtained 2008 Great Recession lesson was that I should build a bigger buffer in my retirement plan.

During the Great Recession, there was a saying that kept reverberating in my head:

"Assets are Soft, Debt is Hard"

Cause I had a lot of debt backed up by a lot of assets, but suddenly my assets had shrunk by a whole lot, while my debt just stayed exactly the same.

That gave me a real sick feeling in the stomach. Well, I didn't exactly learn my lesson, I have even more debt today, backed by even more assets, such is the nature of r.e. investing, but I did learn to keep a lot more cash on hand!

 

[treeofpain]

28 years for first $1M, which we hit in mid-2018.

Very close to $2M now, which we hope to hit by year-end, so that would be 6-1/2 years.

The first one was most definitely the hardest, since we started with debt and did everything on our own (no family help or inheritances so far).

 

[luckydude]

Some great success stories!!

aja8888, as you illustrated life can always change things in a hurry. I thank you for sharing your story and how we all need to keep on, when thing might be going as well as planned. Thanks

luckydude and Onda >>> very impressive!!! Thanks

Thanks street. I was just very lucky I definitely didn't earn it.

 

[street]

Thanks street. I was just very lucky I definitely didn't earn it.

I think it is great and my plan is to be able to leave a legacy for my son and his family. I have my first Blood GD and I already told my son the ranch will never be sold, and she will be the Principal of it someday. I was not a recipient of an inheritance. My parents died with nothing but the cloths they were wearing.

Life changes but a portfolio and the ranch are my wish to pass down to them. Inheriting is a wonderful thing to be able to pass to loved one.

 

[Onda]

I think it is great and my plan is to be able to leave a legacy for my son and his family. I have my first Blood GD and I already told my son the ranch will never be sold, and she will be the Principal of it someday.

Life changes but a portfolio and the ranch are my wish to pass down to them. Inheriting is a wonderful thing to be able to pass to loved one.

My plan is to enjoy life and this stunningly beautiful planet on which we live, and maybe one day drive down something like Route 66 and stop by your ranch for a cup of coffee

 

[street]

My plan is to enjoy life and this stunningly beautiful planet on which we live, and maybe one day drive down something like Route 66 and stop by your ranch for a cup of coffee

That would work!

 

[AZsniper]

My investable assets hit 1m last year in 2023 at age 44. Yay!
I have a paid for house (800k) and a paid for cabin(700k) that I am not including. I have owned these properties (fixer uppers) for a long time and most of that value has come from the market rise. I took out 15 year loans and paid a little extra along the way. I plan to sell one when I retire next year and cash out, which will put me over 2m.
I do have a 70k pension, and contributed 11.5% into that system over the past 23 years, which caused me to put a little less into my 401k/457. I have had a few side hustles that have been good, like some real estate flips, restoring classic cars etc.
We have always lived within our means and I never made over 100k until 7 years ago.
I started 2023 with 809k investable and today have 1.3m.
Good thread.

 

[street]

My investable assets hit 1m last year in 2023 at age 44. Yay!
I have a paid for house (800k) and a paid for cabin(700k) that I am not including. I have owned these properties (fixer uppers) for a long time and most of that value has come from the market rise. I took out 15 year loans and paid a little extra along the way. I plan to sell one when I retire next year and cash out, which will put me over 2m.
I do have a 70k pension, and contributed 11.5% into that system over the past 23 years, which caused me to put a little less into my 401k/457. I have had a few side hustles that have been good, like some real estate flips, restoring classic cars etc.
We have always lived within our means and I never made over 100k until 7 years ago.
I started 2023 with 809k investable and today have 1.3m.
Good thread.

You have done exceptionally well! It really comes down to, not how much one makes but how much one can save early and stay that course.

 

[scrinch]

I find interesting that you retired in 2016. So last 5M came after you retired. What is you allocation and withdrawal strategy?

It's about 60:30:10, plus one rental property. DW also inherited a little bit a couple of years ago. Withdrawal strategy is DW that went back to work when I retired, so no withdrawal yet. We lived overseas for the 5 years before my retirement, and so when I retired and we moved back to the US, DW felt like she wanted to go back to the job market and "contribute." I'm hoping that this will be the last year that we have her W2 to deal with at tax time.

 

[mathjak107]

it took me until age 50 to hit a million .

only a decade to multiply it many times in manhattan real estate

 

[LateToFIRE]

it took me until age 50 to hit a million .

only a decade to multiply it many times in manhattan real estate

+1, NYC real estate is a thing of beauty.

 

[street]

+1, NYC real estate is a thing of beauty.

I have enjoyed the benefits from buying land/selling. I always got my eyes open for an opportunity..

 

[tmitchell]

+1, NYC real estate is a thing of beauty.

Another boat I missed.

 

[Laggy]

13 years to reach $100K (2005)
7 years to reach $200K (2012)
3.75 years to reach $400K (2015)
2.5 years to reach $800K (2018)
2.9 years to reach $1.6M (2020)

Looking at Street's $1M goal:
27 years for the 1st (mid 2019)
2.5 years for the 2nd (late 2021)

I like this format! Here are my numbers:
11 years to reach CHF100K (2012)
1.75 years to reach CHF200K (end of 2013)
2.5 years to reach CHF400K (2016)
3 years to reach CHF800K (2019)
4 years to reach CHF1.6M (2022)


Looking at Street's $1M goal:
19 years for the 1st (mid 2020)
3 years for the 2nd (mid 2023)

 

[sengsational]

In my big family, they know I retired early and sometimes a niece or nephew will ask me about saving and compounding.


I usually say "when it come to compounding, the first 100 years are the hardest"

 

[street]

I like this format! Here are my numbers:
11 years to reach CHF100K (2012)
1.75 years to reach CHF200K (end of 2013)
2.5 years to reach CHF400K (2016)
3 years to reach CHF800K (2019)
4 years to reach CHF1.6M (2022)


Looking at Street's $1M goal:
19 years for the 1st (mid 2020)
3 years for the 2nd (mid 2023)

I may have said something that didn't make sense but I'm not sure of this quote.
When I retired in 2016 I have been adding a million every 2 years and 10-month average in time. This is in the 8 years since I retired.
When I retired, I already had numerous millions.
Maybe this will clear the quote up. I didn't see anywhere that I said anything like that but I hope this makes more sense.

 

[AginMS]

I like this format!

Thanks Laggy. I just found comparing the time it took to earn $100K, to the time it took to double that amount over and over to be pretty unbelievable. Your numbers bear that out as well. As I'm sure most of the people's numbers here do as well.

Street, Laggy is just giving his measure of reaching his first million (which took 19 years) and second million (3 years and 2 months).

We don't mean this was your goal to reach, we just meant the 'goal' of this thread. Poor wording on our (my) part.

 

[street]

Thanks Laggy. I just found comparing the time it took to earn $100K, to the time it took to double that amount over and over to be pretty unbelievable. Your numbers bear that out as well. As I'm sure most of the people's numbers here do as well.

Street, Laggy is just giving his measure of reaching his first million (which took 19 years) and second million (3 years and 2 months).

We don't mean this was your goal to reach, we just meant the 'goal' of this thread. Poor wording on our (my) part.

OHHHH!!! Lol I'm slow and old and I was the one not understanding. Thank You! Lol

 

[HI Bill]

13, 5, 2, 4 (the 4 would have been a 1 if not for spending in ER)

Corrected: 20, 5, 2, 4

 

[LateToFIRE]

Another boat I missed.

Yah know, each and every time I bought r.e. in NYC, without fail, all onlookers told me I was setting a new record and buying at the peak. Yet, at minimum I have at least doubled my equity within 5 years, often much more than that. My way of saying, it's never too late, but yee must have faith, a potentially long investment tenor, and a reasonably high tolerance for risk.

 

[Route246]

It is all about compounding and present value for us as the 1 million becomes cheaper with inflation and "easier" as compounding contributes. Our gains track S&P and it helps to have some big winners (CDNS, NVDA, EQIX, HD, MSFT, AAPL, some of which respresents the "good" members of the Magnificent 7) in the mix. 2021-2022 was a roller coaster, though, and our net worth took some wicked whipsawed swings during that time. We were/are also 85%+ equities.

2012 - first
2015 - second
2017 - third
2019 - fourth
2020 - fifth
2021 - sixth
2021 - lost over 1 million
2021 - gained back 1 million
2023 - seventh-eleventh (2023 was a huge year with 80% gain)

One thing to note, because we live well below our means and my W-2 income more than sustains our lifestyle we basically had zero sales and redemptions during this run and were/are 100% buy and hold so there is a lot of capital gains tied up here so it is not as much as it appears to be.