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REWahoo · 10-03-2007, 11:59 AM

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

Moemg · 10-03-2007, 12:03 PM

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 · 10-03-2007, 12:52 PM

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

ChemEng · 10-03-2007, 12:57 PM

Ill let you know in a few years.

Calgary_Girl · 10-03-2007, 01:03 PM

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

)

ziggy29 · 10-03-2007, 01:11 PM

I found a printout I made at year-end 1996 (when I was 31). The only retirement account I had at the time was my first employer's 401K plan worth about $85,000.

In 1999 we opened two Roth IRAs, and in that same year I changed jobs so the above 401K became a rollover IRA. Between those three accounts and my current employer's 401K, what was $85,000 in 1996 is a tad over $500,000 today.

SecondCor521 · 10-03-2007, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

)

Yeah, but those are Canadian dollars...wait a minute...

2Cor521

Martha · 10-03-2007, 01:33 PM

In debt and budgeting to buy socks.

Calgary_Girl · 10-03-2007, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521

Yeah, but those are Canadian dollars...wait a minute...

2Cor521

Yup

We're not dealing with monopoly money any more!

CyclingInvestor · 10-03-2007, 01:55 PM

age 31 : $150k, halfway thru 6 year marriage
age 49 : retired 1 year

**Gumby** · 10-03-2007, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

I have posted before that my calculations show it took me at least 12 years after law school to break even financially.

A combination of getting a good paying job at a big law firm, not changing my lifestyle to match the increased income, and investing wisely, means that the young wife and I have been able to accumulate a tidy sum.

Khan · 10-03-2007, 02:06 PM

I turned 31 in September '81.

Unemployed, recent graduate school dropout, driving '73 car, savings: ~$5000.

Was married with working spouse, I got a job within a year, drove the car 3 more years, marriage fell apart in early '84.

Retired in '04, living on pension; about $400K in net worth (sans house).

Fireup2020 · 10-03-2007, 02:11 PM

Age 31...divorced...on active duty in the USN with maybe 5K in my TSP. This was also the year I discovered the house we did not properly sell was foreclosed (he got the house/mortgage, and I got the 20K misc. credit debt) PLUS - had a 18K car note at a horrible interest rate (lousy credit at the time)

Fast forward six years: 25K in TSP, 10K in deferred comp, 19.25 years towards a military pension I'll collect at 60 and 13.5 years towards a 25 year pension with civil service - bailing from here at 50 or 55 with pension and medical (military time buyback)....and a credit score in the low/mid 700's!!!! No car payment, less than 5K in other debt...time can heal financial wounds! Choose your occupation/jobs with RE in mind - and all will work out as long as we live long enough!

You are doing fine!

SLC Tortfeasor · 10-03-2007, 03:00 PM

I'm 31 right now. I've got $142K in various investment accounts, about $90K of which is in dedicated retirement accounts.

This is actually a problem, because the money that's not in retirement accounts is sort of burning a hole in my pocket. One month I'm fantasizing about using it to buy a plot of land somewhere for a remote cabin. The next month (i.e., this month), I'm shopping around for new sports cars. Please someone talk me out of buying a Lotus Esprit before it's too late!

Part of me keeps telling myself, hey, you earned that money, you've been a good saver, now reward yourself! Very dangerous thoughts, I know, but I still have them.

CuppaJoe · 10-03-2007, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLC Tortfeasor

I

Please someone talk me out of buying a Lotus Esprit before it's too late!

Part of me keeps telling myself, hey, you earned that money, you've been a good saver, now reward yourself! Very dangerous thoughts, I know, but I still have them.

I love the look of red Jaguars. Thank god, I don't have access to parking. But I would go easy on myself at 31; well anyway, I did, and still won't be destitute at 65.

toofrugalformycat · 10-03-2007, 03:51 PM

At age 31 I was underwater on my mortgage (housing crash in Anchorage), with a net worth of about zero. But DH and I both had decent jobs and were soon saving about 50% of take home. When all you do is hike in the woods or canoe, and eat granola for fun those nickels really add up.
I ERed 14 years later.

HobbyDave · 10-03-2007, 05:03 PM

I'll be 31 in 9 months-ish, and we have almost exactly 300k saved (mostly in 401k/IRAs).

We're saving a bit over $40,000 per year right now between 401k's & stock plans. Hopefully that will be enough to put us over $1,000,000 in our accounts by age 40. That's the plan at least

aaronc879 · 10-03-2007, 06:00 PM

I have 3 more years 'til I reach 31. By then I should pass the 200K mark. Not bad considering my income is and still will be under 50K per year. I started saving at 21, seriously at 25.