Finally hit my first significant milestone this week!

[skyvue]

I am divorced and not really dating anybody so I thought I would share this news here because it would not seem appropriate to tell family or close friends, but for the first time my net worth (including condo) topped $1 million this week! I also paid off my mortgage earlier this month.

Summary of the stats: (Age 45)
401(k): $687,115
Condo Value: $150,000
Liquid Assets: $68,101
HSA: $8,184
Exercisable (net) Stock Options: $91,650
Total: $1,005,050

I will feel much better when I can say my Net Worth is over a $1 million excluding my condo but neverless it still feels good to hit this mini-milestone.

My goals are to FIRE in 5-7 years with at least $1.25 million in assets minus the condo. 3 years ago after the market collapse that plan looked pretty hopeless but I think I am on track to hit my goal if the markets even just do OK (3-4%). Having recently paid off the condo (was making double payments) I should be able to save about 35-40% of what I make for the next 5-7 years. This should allow my portfolio to grow even without great returns.

For those interested my allocation looks something like : 55% US Equities, 15% Foreign Equities, 20% bonds, and 10% cash equivalents.

 

[Midpack]

Congrats! They say the first $ million is the hardest, it's easy after that.

 

[Gumby]

Congratulations, skyvue. It is a notable achievement and one in which you can justifiably take pride. The vast majority of people in this country will never come close to a million.

 

[jerome len]

SkyView: you're doing great for your age....congrats! Don't get ahead of yourselve, however. you're 45 years old, you may live another 45 years. Go to the library, bring up some newspapers from 45 years ago and look at the ads. In 1967 I was earning about $200.00 a week, gas was under 50 cents a gallon, I had just purchased a nice new home for $19,000 and my new car had just cost me around $3000. My point is you're ahead of the game but you have a long life ahead. So, would you like to get married, could you still have children, does your family live a long time, do you think the market will gain 4, 6, 8 or 10% in the future?

My life is nothing like I thought it would be when I was 45 years old. I have a "new" wife of 15 years, a child just under 14 years of age, I'm in a business I wasn't even thinking about then, been fired from a job I thought I would retire from and live in a different State that I hadn't even visited at that time. Wow! And, I've enjoyed every minute of my life. Hmmmm......who knows but if you keep doing all the "right" things for YOU, as it appears you have done, you'll be fine. But, expect the unexpected, save and live the life you're given.

 

[MDJO]

Way to go skyvue. Good luck!

 

[Alan]

Congrats skyvue, that is a great achievement.

PS
Would you PM your address to me so I can be sure to send the begging letters to the right place.

 

[Aiming_4_55]

Congrats Sky!

 

[scrabbler1]

Skyvue, I had about the same overall NW when I was 44-45 but I had a much larger share of it in my liquid taxable investments and was abe to sell off my company stock (about $300k worth) at low tax rates (NUA) to greatly boost my taxable holdings because I would need to live off that until I could gain unfettered access to my Rollover IRA.

Others here have posted about a 72-t rule which allows penalty-free withdrawals from a tax-advantaged account (I don't know much more about it) so that might be your plan to generate income if you ER before you turn 59.5.

But no matter what, congrats on hitting the $1M mark.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

Congrats! I bet it feels great to be closer to your goals!

 

[Pharmmgr]

Well done, it's definitely a milestone worth celebrating!

 

[lemming]

Hooray for the comma!

 

[skyvue]

Thanks to all for the kind words! I had more than a few beers with friends last night in celebration. One of them even commented that I seemed like I was in a good mood? I just said, "yeah things have been going well at work". It's a strange feeling to hit some personal goals like this and not be able to share with your friends and family. For that I am thankful for this type of community where we all are pursuing similar goals and can celebrate the mini-milestones along the way.

I know the last person I am telling is my 17 year old daughter. I have her convinced it is a struggle for dad to come up with all the money I give her! We are shopping for a used car right now so she can drive to her school (23 miles each way).

I do think she has inherited my sense for money (and not her mom's thank god). Last year on her 16th birthday I took her to the nicest mall in town and told her I didn't want to pick out a present she wouldn't like so we could get anything she wanted within reason. So with pretty much a blank check offer she picked out one pair of $30 jeans and wanted to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and that was it! She said she had enough clothes and didn't really "need" anything else! I think this is one nice outcome of her going to an all girls school. Even though they do not wear uniforms, these girls are not trying to buy a lot of clothes to impress the boys.

As I said in the original post, my next goal is to get to $1 million not including home.

 

[Quantum Sufficit]

sky,

Contratulations!!!!

As you can tell by my name (latin- sufficient quantity ie enough) I am 46 and I need 2M in investable assets. I am currently on track to retire at 52 or so. Currently at 1.3M. Anyway, there is an inner calm with financial independence huh?

Congrats again!

 

[scrabbler1]

As I said in the original post, my next goal is to get to $1 million not including home.

It took me about 2 years to get from $1M including my co-op apartment (worth a little less than your condo) to $1M EXcluding my co-op apartment. This was because the former occurred in the middle of 2008, before the big financial meltdown, and the latter took place in 2010, after I had ERed and the markets recovered enough. I have been around the $1.1M mark since then.

I hope you can get to $1M without your condo more quickly than I did.

 

[Neecy]

Congrats! What is your strategy? Do you max out your 401k and roth every year? Do you make over six figures?

 

[skyvue]

Congrats! What is your strategy? Do you max out your 401k and roth every year? Do you make over six figures?

I have contributed near the max into my 401k each of the last 15 years or so. My company also matches dollar for dollar up through 6% and puts 4% of my gross income into a separate pension account. That has been the bulk of the winning strategy.

I have made over 6 figures for about the last 8-9 years. However, I have not really spent more as I made more. My lifestyle and expenses are equivalent to somebody making about $75K gross.

The last 5 years all of my spare cashflow has been focused on paying off my condo so I could become debt free.

Next up, college for daughter. She is junior in high school now. I hope to be able to retire (quit) when she graduates in 6-7 years.

 

[Neecy]

I have contributed near the max into my 401k each of the last 15 years or so. My company also matches dollar for dollar up through 6% and puts 4% of my gross income into a separate pension account. That has been the bulk of the winning strategy.

I have made over 6 figures for about the last 8-9 years. However, I have not really spent more as I made more. My lifestyle and expenses are equivalent to somebody making about $75K gross.

The last 5 years all of my spare cashflow has been focused on paying off my condo so I could become debt free.

Next up, college for daughter. She is junior in high school now. I hope to be able to retire (quit) when she graduates in 6-7 years.

Thanks! I am loving the match in my TSP. I contributed to the military TSP for about 9 nine years with no match. i put in the max for about 2 years until I separated in Nov.

I hope to have at least a half a million by time I reach 45 years. You are a superstar at 1 million!

 

[YoungSaver]

Wow, how can you retire in 5 years at age 50 if you only have $160k now? (Liquid Assets: $68,101 + Exercisable (net) Stock Options: $91,650)

 

[bssc]

Congratulations and look for that 72(t) withdrawal.

 

[meekie]

Congrats! I managed to hit the big $1 mil for a few days in April and it's pretty exciting! We have most of our money in 401k accounts as well, so I've been starting to focus on putting more in accounts that I'll have access to earlier. Will you be doing that now that the condo is paid off?

 

[Snoozie]

YAHOO for you! Isn't saving EMPOWERING!! I've never felt it to be painful - I am actually thrilled when we save money on something. We aren't impulsive buyers - and are still (2 years) hunting around for a second home out west! So KEEP SAVING!!! But be sure to enjoy the journey, too! It's all about balance!

 

[skyvue]

Wow, how can you retire in 5 years at age 50 if you only have $160k now? (Liquid Assets: $68,101 + Exercisable (net) Stock Options: $91,650)

The plan is to save about $40K per year into taxable accounts outside my 401k over the next 5-7 years. That should be enough to allow me to use those funds as a bridge to 59.5. If not, I will use 72t to access that money.

 

[skyvue]

Congrats! I managed to hit the big $1 mil for a few days in April and it's pretty exciting! We have most of our money in 401k accounts as well, so I've been starting to focus on putting more in accounts that I'll have access to earlier. Will you be doing that now that the condo is paid off?

Yes. "Most" of the money from the double mortage payments will now be going to savings. Some of it will be set aside for my daughters college tuition.

 

[FinanceDude]

The first million is the hardest.......... Congrats!!

 

[obgyn65]

Congratulations.