The first million takes the longest to achieve

[street]

Just broke 1st million, but fluctuates on the market. Probably would benefit to combine DW's money and mine to compound at a faster rate. The 1 million is just my portfolio.

That is great!!

 

[Harris4crna]

If your and your wife's investments are in similar investments, then combining them into one account would have no affect on compounding rates. If one of you has a conservative investment like CDs or mostly bonds, then just changing the asset allocation would likely increase the earnings and therefore compounded earnings rate.

Good point. My wife will not invest in what I have anyway. I thought the only feasible asset would be combined VTI, but nope. She rather keep it in a TSP and/or savings account. Nothing I can show on ROI will convince her otherwise. This of course, is for another thread.

 

[Safire]

First one was earned last year..... who knows when the next one will be (if at all)?

We're older and had a low salary while living in a VHCOL for our adult lives (longggggggggggg story there).

Given all that, I'm very grateful and maybe some miracle will give us our second million some day... in the not-so-distant future. If anything, our story is motivational in that it CAN happen for everyone - including low wage earners "stuck" in VHCOL.

 

[Davidhelp]

I started with $38,000 in 2009 and retired in Nov 2021 after owning several stocks and had about $2.5 million + then 6 weeks later the stock I now own (AMD) had dropped by 1/3rd then later in the year for a total of 2/3rds loss..... About $158 to $54
The stock is back up to about where I had retired but I have less shares due to taxes etc.
It momentarily hit $227 on March 8th, 2024 then dropped to $143 and now back up to $166+. The future looks good as I do not have any taxes to pay as I have money to live on that was already taxed that will last several years before needing the stock money. Next I may buy nvidia after the split (will see how fast it starts to rise up) and then Starlink when available. I will be making many millions quickly then

 

[Koolau]

I remember you quoting someone who said at age 60, one only has about 15 good years left.
So at age 72, I hope you find that to be untrue.

Heh, heh, at 60, I had 10 good years left. Now at 77, I hope for a few more "acceptable" years.

 

[Koolau]

I started with $38,000 in 2009 and retired in Nov 2021 after owning several stocks and had about $2.5 million + then 6 weeks later the stock I now own (AMD) had dropped by 1/3rd then later in the year for a total of 2/3rds loss..... About $158 to $54
The stock is back up to about where I had retired but I have less shares due to taxes etc.
It momentarily hit $227 on March 8th, 2024 then dropped to $143 and now back up to $166+. The future looks good as I do not have any taxes to pay as I have money to live on that was already taxed that will last several years before needing the stock money. Next I may buy nvidia after the split (will see how fast it starts to rise up) and then Starlink when available. I will be making many millions quickly then

I'm not a big fan of single stocks though I do own a fair amount of Megacorp stock (which has out performed of late.) My preference is for index funds which tend toward more average (rather than out sized) returns. YMMV