Savings milestone today.

[JohnDoe]

Ok. I had to go dig this thread up. 300k for the 2nd time.

Well, I'm still holding above 200k, barely. This is hard to take but I still have at least 12 more years until retirement while dumping in 25k yearly.

How is everyone else doing?

 

[retire@40]

I'm said in an earlier post in this thread that I now mark my net worth interval changes each $100K.

Well, I'm down over two intervals.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I have enough left to buy a pineapple and two carrots.

 

[Khan]

I'm said in an earlier post in this thread that I now mark my net worth interval changes each $100K.

Well, I'm down over two intervals.

To tell the truth: I haven't been looking.

 

[DangerMouse]

I'm another that is not looking at retirement account balances. There is still a considerable amount of time before we can draw on them without penalty, so I would prefer to bury my head in the sand and worry about that another day.

 

[ziggy29]

On 5/6/08, I wrote:

LOL. I recently did the same thing at the 500K mark. Dropped below it around last December, rose above it again a couple weeks ago.

And looking at Quicken today, back down to $370K. Ouch.

Where's my bailout?

 

[bbbamI]

Instead of a milestone, I feel like I have a kidney stone.

 

[Ronstar]

On 5/6/08, I wrote:


And looking at Quicken today, back down to $370K. Ouch.

Where's my bailout?

I've discontinued Quicken until this blows over

 

[Tempesta]

Well, I'm still holding above 200k, barely. This is hard to take but I still have at least 12 more years until retirement while dumping in 25k yearly.

How is everyone else doing?

what? you lost 100K in 4 months?!?!

that is scary

 

[statsman]

From 5/8/08 (post #42):

One month ago, I was surprised to find we had accumulated $550K ...

This was for our 401(k)s. Heading into today, we are right at $550K. This means our 401(k) contributions and company matching were offset by our losses for the last 6 months (~$24K). Of course, our 401(k)s are 100% fixed income as of 4 months ago (30% Broad Market Bond, 30% D&C Income, 20% VG GMNA, 20% Stable Value).

 

[JohnDoe]

Ok. I had to go dig this thread up. 300k for the 2nd time.

3rd time's a charm?

 

[Finance Dave]

Can you explain this to a newbe?

Maurice, one thing people don't often explain is that the 4% rate (some people say 4.5%, it's debateable) is the INITIAL withdrawal rate that SHOULD cause you to not run out of money during a 30+ year retirement.

In other words, if you have $1M in the bank, and take out $40k the FIRST year, then adjust for inflation each year, you should not run out of money.

 

[Finance Dave]

Congrats to the OP on the $300k achievement. When you get "up there", something really interesting starts happening....

When you have small dollar amounts, your contributions are what makes your account grow.

However, when you have large amounts, it's the GROWTH within the account that really makes it go.

For example, if you have $50k, and invest $10k/year and earn 10%, you're additions are double your earnings.

however, if you have $1M and invest $10k/year and earn 10%, your earnings of $100k/year totally dwarf your additions.

It's the simple law of compounding, but it really amazes you when you get a large balance. We're at about $900k, and when the S&P has a good week, it's not uncommon for us to see $30k growth IN ONE WEEK.

Granted that won't continue week in and week out...but it really is amazing when there's a quick runup.

Dave

 

[statsman]

Glad to see a lot of people starting to recover. My wife and I are highly risk averse, so we bailed on the stock funds in our 401(k)s in the spring of 2008, with a short spell over the summer of 2008 with stock funds in our taxable.

The good news is our 401(k)s have gone from $550K a year ago to $680K now. Contributions and company match accounted for $45K, with investment gains accounting for the other $85K. My wife and I are trying to play catch up in our 401(k)s before we retire in 3-5 years.

The bad news (I guess) is that we did this with all of our 401(k) investments in a couple of bond funds, an income fund, and a stable value fund. We just can't seem to commit any investments to stock funds (markets are still at least 25% away from when we sold off most of the stocks).

 

[tuixiu]

Congrats to OP, gotta love a milestone!

I think our first big milestone was a positive net worth, as my wife came out of law school owing 65k.

 

[Meadbh]

Congrats to the OP on the $300k achievement. When you get "up there", something really interesting starts happening....

When you have small dollar amounts, your contributions are what makes your account grow.

However, when you have large amounts, it's the GROWTH within the account that really makes it go.

For example, if you have $50k, and invest $10k/year and earn 10%, you're additions are double your earnings.

however, if you have $1M and invest $10k/year and earn 10%, your earnings of $100k/year totally dwarf your additions.

It's the simple law of compounding, but it really amazes you when you get a large balance. We're at about $900k, and when the S&P has a good week, it's not uncommon for us to see $30k growth IN ONE WEEK.

Granted that won't continue week in and week out...but it really is amazing when there's a quick runup.

Dave

And, as the city of Leipzig, Germany has recently discovered, the power of compound interest over time is your enemy when you owe....

Historical Debts: Pre-War Bonds May Cripple Leipzig Budget - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

 

[NW-Bound]

...and they say money doesn't buy happiness.

I'd rather be unhappy and rich than unhappy and poor. And don't tell me about being happy and poor. I have seen poor. I have seen happy. I have not seen them together.

Found on the Web:

“Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.” - Bo Derek

“Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.” - Helen Gurley Brown

“What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money.” - Henny Youngman

“Money can't buy friends but it can get you a better class of enemy” - Spike Milligan

 

[Milton]

I'd rather be unhappy and rich than unhappy and poor.

Agreed.

And don't tell me about being happy and poor. I have seen poor. I have seen happy. I have not seen them together.

You can't have looked very hard.

 

[NW-Bound]

Or could it be that I did not recognize happiness when I saw it?

Oh boy! I might have opened a can of worms here. How does one define poverty? What is happiness? Is there an absolute definition or is everything relative?

I will say that very few people in the US are truly poor, compared to residents of 3rd world countries. And about happiness, wouldn't you say a prisoner in the gulag is happy when granted a beating reprieve from his sadistic guards? I knew I was happy when I passed that "monumental" kidney stone.

On the observation of happiness and money, or rather lack of the latter, I recently stumbled across some pretty sad blogs.

I was surfing the Web for blogs of RV'ers, and happened to run across a couple in California who were RV'er wannabes. They had an old RV which they hoped to use for full-time travel. They had a rented warehouse full of old surplus electronic parts, from which they made a living by selling on eBay. They slowly ran out of money, then tried to save on living expenses by living in the warehouse. It worked until someone turned them in for violating the city ordinance. Their RV was too old to be allowed in an RV park that they liked. Another park that would accept them had scary residents that they would not want to be near. They now had to find a place to live, and the extra expenses were just killing them. Their only recreation activity was to take the RV out for short jaunts, but they soon could not afford to put gas in it. The RV then developed mechanical problems that were too costly to repair.

It was very sad to read their blogs to see them slipping into destitution. They never asked for any handout or welfare, and tried the best they could to stay afloat. Their blog eventually stopped about 2 years ago, which corresponded to the start of this Great Recession.

I had to conclude with an understatement: These people were not happy.

 

[Milton]

"I lost the nest-egg"

I remember that movie.

You can't even SAY the word "egg" any more. When you go into the woods, you see a bird's round stick. For breakfast, you have THING'S with ham.

 

[nun]

Saw $500k a couple of times, but savings and the recent run up have taken me past my previous high and just over $600k. I'm taking gains from my after tax accounts to pay down the mortgage and hope to be ERed in 4 years when it is paid off. My annual income will be $15k from rent, plus $30k from investments.

 

[NW-Bound]

I remember that movie.

The blog of the RV'er wannabes I described was not at all comical like the movie you quoted. Yes, I saw that movie. Though I doubt any of us here would be so unfortunate to have such an air-headed wife as the movie character, a watcher of that comedy would be reminded that his "nest egg" must be pampered with utmost care.

 

[JohnDoe]

Bumping this thread 1 year later. I enjoyed seeing the progress of folks over the last few years.

How is everyone doing now with their milestones? We're at an all time high 350+.

It's hard finding a yield on cash, though. I don't trust increasing my bond exposure.

JD

 

[obgyn65]

Congrats John.

We just passed 300k in retirement savings for the 1st time. That's a 50% increase in 2 years since we got our act together. Aren't there boards wonderful?

Hoping to retire in 12 more years.

 

[FreqFlyer]

Thanks for bumping this up and giving an update. I liked reading the thread and following along.

Just this week actually I was looking at my investment statement and thinking about my progress. It feels good to see my progress but gosh it was a rough time back then.