How much did you have invested at 30? And how much do you now?

I am 25 and from what I can tell… If I get to $100k in investments by the time I’m 30 and just let it sit for 35 years, that will almost be enough to retire on in itself ($3.2M assuming 10% growth, $1.4M assuming 7.5% growth).

Any flaws in that strategy?

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At 30, I had near zero invested, but had bought my first condo, had bought a slightly used car without taking on debt, and had paid off my student loans. Now I’m 42 with $650k invested, another $650k in property equity (one rental, one primary), and no debt outside of the two mortgages. If I did it again I probably could have invested more earlier, but I also don’t regret getting rid of debt and prioritizing home ownership either.

I think it’s important to just keep the perspective that everyone’s life scenario is going to be different so comparing yourself to others is tricky. We all just try to make the best decisions we can with the information we have and the situations we’re in.

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I typically use 5 percent growth to understand the value in today's dollars, and even that seems ambitious with new inflation concerns. A real analysis might want to use 4-4.5 percent. We are not living in the golden age of the empire any longer. There was a lot of real economic growth in the post-war period and mostly scavenging since then via consolidation and tax plays. It's going to get harder and harder to get those types of returns with limited population growth and urbanization seemingly tapped out due to price of land. All I'm saying is history is a nice guide, but 75 years is the blink of an eye in the history of the world and what worked for two generations is not assured for the next.

Counting on it for 35 more years is not sufficiently conservative. But as you can see, I'm simply not optimistic about the fundamentals of our economy. Doesn't mean it will be true but you will want to account for in your planning.

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To answer your question, 27 and 200k. Will probably be a bit shy of 300k at 30 or the market could take a tumble and I'd be way shy.

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I would let say flaws but things to think about. Inflation. Just remember that in 40 years 1.4 or 3.2 million will not be worth what it is now. Also there is no guarantee the market will return what it historically has. Not saying it won’t but you never know. Don’t forget about taxes also

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Agree but my other point about assuming historical returns still applies

At 25, I had nearly zero. But around then is when I decided to really focus on investing with a goal to eventually begin maxing my 401k, HSA, Roth IRA, and mega back door Roth IRA. At 31 I made enough to finally max everything. At 32, I currently have $400k across all accounts. Additionally, I purchased a 1BR Beach Condo rental this year (~40k equity). A lot can happen in a short time.

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I’m 25, with a little over 100k saved in my 401k. At the end of the day, I make it a goal to max my 401k, Roth IRA up to 6K, 10% in ESPP and then a 529 plan for my cousins. Whatever I have left over I use for bills/rent. Rarely have more then 1k in my account. Heavily invested in my future. The compound effect is a great book if you want to learn a bit more. Really helped me jump start and appreciate the value of compound interest. I like the strategy a lot, but don’t get too comfortable! 🙃

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You just made my day. Means a lot, thank you for your kind words.

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Dream bigger friend. Try to get to at least $1M by the time you’re 30.

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CoastFIRE afterwards

Flaws would be not hitting those growth numbers until 65, especially as you taper down risk close to retirement, and that in 40 years what you can withdraw and live off after higher inflation and higher taxes on that $1-3M will be a hell of a lot less. But overall, yes, continue to invest early and often and let compounding do the work!

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Also lifestyle inflation. If you’re spending 100% of your salary between 30 and 65, you’ll have a hard time retiring on those numbers.

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It’s definitely an interesting perspective. And the S&P500 has returned 10% or more over any 30 year period (average return per year) in its history if you just hold. Overall I’d say target the 100k by 30, but don’t stop investing then. You might have a spouse that has student loans, potentially kids that you want to fund to college, or even parents you have to take care of that require drastic measures. And our generation people say will require $3M or so to retire.

Don’t plan on social security being there, and consider your tax bracket in retirement may be a bit hard to predict

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