Reading the posts/polls on this bowl seems like hitting $2M in household net worth by 35 years is commonplace amongst the white collar population. $10M seems to be the most common FIRE number too. Wondering if either of those are acheivable in an economy/market that doesnt look like the past 15 years or so.

I don't think it's commonplace among white collar workers. I think it's common for people engaged in FIRE communities. Which is a very small, minuscule portion of the population. I do think it's achievable, but I think it's harder than ever.

This bowl is not representative of society - it’s a group of frugal, highly paid people with a goal of maximising NW.
This does not reflect the broader population.

A couple things to keep in mind:

This board is not representative.

Lots of people lie.

I don’t think it’s that common in the total population honestly. Just people who are working hard at it here and who are confident enough to post about it.

Agree with others that $2m by 35 is not commonplace for most white collar.

I don’t think $10m is the most common FIRE number.

The $2m for household by 35 is much more doable than $10m for FIRE (unless you’re talking about a super late FIRE age)

I can't imagine having $2M in household net worth is commonplace by 35 in today's world. I would assume people are fudging the numbers and over valuing their houses, which is the usually the largest holding. There can be a lot of people doing well by 35, but obviously society is bifurcated. The wealth inequality we're seeing currently makes one wonder how commonplace wealth building really is.

I would stay away from lumping people into groups and making generalizations… I’ve been working in wealth management for 10 years, but my career has really exploded over the last 4 years… the vast majority of my clients are HNW/VHNW with a few UHNW sprinkled in…

What’s important is for you to determine what kind of lifestyle you reserve for yourself… I have clients who have a $1M net, who are happy to retire on a $60K (net) annual spend… I have clients who have a $10M net, who when doing cost redux exercises with them find it difficult to comprehend a $500K (net) annual spend… I have clients who have $50M+ net, who have a god complex’s and legacy anxieties that want to put their names on everything…

It’s easier to figure out what will work for you in terms of annual spend, then do the backwards math to figure out your target… if you’re happy with driving Toyotas, living in a small condo in a LCOL area, and have inexpensive hobbies; you’d might find that number to be much lower than you think… if you’re expectation is to drive luxury and /or exotic cars, attend philanthropic galas, have high cost hobbies and want to live in a VHCOL area in a 6,000 SF mansion; it will be a higher reach…

Some of us have been fortunate to experience one of the greatest technological revolutions and bull market in history. No one can predict the future so use more conservative rate of returns in your own future calculations.

If you try a simplified investment calculator with no dividend reinvestment or inflation adjustment, contributing $1500 a month for 15 years will accumulate to:

$963,890 (14.6% rate of return - this is close to VTSAX historical performance 2010-2025)
$749,370 (12% rate of return)
$621,683 (10% rate of return)
$519,076 (8% rate of return)
$436,228 (6% rate of return)

Using $3,113 monthly and 14.6% return over 15 years gets you to $2,000,392. This is impressive savings for an individual normally and not that atypical for a 15 year FIRE devotee.

No.

$2m by 35 seems to be a high number. We’re close to that but I turn 39 in a few months. $10m is also likely only the goal for those planning to stay in NYC or SF for their retirements.

My goal is $3.5m NW not including our house to feel ready to retire - and that’s planning for a fair amount of travel. What it’s not considering it that that travel be all $15,000 trips. I don’t feel like I have to stay at the Ritz all the time or always fly first class.

People here generally do not represent broader society and also may not even be telling the truth. They also don’t seem to understand what FIRE even means.

$2m at 35 would put you in the top 2-3% of the US. It’s not normal or expected. $10m is an arbitrary goal and you should develop a specific number for yourself based on your own retirement lifestyle ambitions.

if you start working at 15 that gives you 20 years to build net worth. Ain't no way you can make 2 million in 20 years while also going to school, paying taxes, etc. Boomers probly had a million by then in net worth just by being born in the right timeline and not being complete morons.

To hit this you'd need 50K a year EVERY year at 8% returns with no setbacks. My first job out of college in 2010 as a helpdesk guy was 38K.

The only people saying this are either boomers, liars OR they ran their own business from a young age . . . OR they inherited it from womb, tomb or altar

You described me exactly. $2.5M household net worth, 35 and spouse is 32. Goal is $10M, adjusted for inflation going forward.

Good luck if you have kids - they are money suckers. But it’s worth every bit.

It’s not common at all for younger folks.
People like to boast about huge numbers they intend to hit. Vastly more common are smaller numbers, closer to zero or even negative net worth due to student debt.
There is still plenty of opportunity though, perhaps more than there ever was. If you are an expert in AI you can pretty much ask for whatever salary you want.
You have to develop skills that are valuable to employers if you want to earn large salaries.

Those with more regular skillsets can still progress and succeed through consistent dedication to their career.

Coincidentally my goal is $2M by 35 but that’s also my FIRE number. I feel like $10M is crazy unnecessary unless you really value material things that much more than your time

This bowl tends to have people in professional services, which is higher paying than the overall white collar population. I would make 2 points: 1. When thinking about long term NW accumulation, don’t get caught up in current market conditions. I have been through 2001 and 2008 and the current run up. Averages are misleading and it is almost a certainty that sometime in the next ten years we will go through a period of poor performance and almost a certainty that some time after that there will be a period of really good performance. Unless the country goes off the rails and departs from the history.

2. In my view people get too caught up in NW too early relative to others. Particularly in pro services, but also in other white collar, there can be big variations in long term income, however most people don’t their max earning capacity until their 40s or 50s. What happens then and how you save, build a family, etc can actually matter a lot more than what you did pre-35.

FWIW - I don’t have an exact number at 35, but think I was at $650k nw at 34. At 45 it was over $6M.

At a 4% safe withdrawal rate post-tax, $10M nets just $400k to spend per year. Not exactly a huge amount in a medium or high cost of living city.

37 with HH net worth of around $1.8M, a huge portion of which ramped up in the last 3-5 years.

I have no intention of getting to $10M. I'll be lucky to hit $2.5M before jumping out of the rat race.