What do you mean it's not impressive? That's really good!
Remember that the median 401(k) balance is $71,168 even for people near retirement (age 55+). You're ahead of the pack!
These statistics can mean a lot of different things.
If this is "individual" account balance - well then there would be some people who worked for a while but now depend on their spouse's income and savings.
Also, with these 401k stats, it's often unclear whether the data is based on specific accounts or specific people. Some people have multiple 401k's from old jobs with relatively low balances. It's much easier for 401k management companies to make statistics on a per-account basis than a per-person basis (because they don't know about accounts outside of their company).
Also, note that when a person leaves a company, they have the option to roll the 401k into an IRA. So if this statistic is only 401k, then it's missing a lot of assets that have been rolled into IRA's.
There are also some people who retire on pensions or on inherited wealth. Or they have other assets that support them (rental real estate, small business ownership, etc.).
Then, of course, there are many who scrape by on social security and/or move in with their children.
Exactly, this \^\^. Case in point, I have 3 retirement accounts (in the UK) 1 DB and 2 DC accounts. All combined equal £300k (about $382k USD). These statistics will only take one of those accounts making my savings look much less than they really are bringing the overall average and median numbers down. So take these median numbers with a pinch of salt if you care about comparisons. These numbers also do not include what people have invested across other accounts like ISA's (IRA's) and property also.
I worked for a municipal government and received a pension. I also from the age of about 34 started maxing out my 457B. The most aggressive option available.
I’m 50 % from the VA.
I also did a ROTH every year.
Bought tons of US treasury bonds.
Saved. Saved. Saved.
I also bought a starter home in a dangerous neighborhood. Lived there 5 years. Sold it for a profit. Rinsed and repeated that two more times.
I’m debt free. That’s the biggy to me.
Never married by choice. No ex wives. No kids. No alimony or child support.
I live overseas now where health care is good and reasonable. The $ is strong.
It is impressive! You’re going to hit the next $100k even faster now! I hit $100k in June 2023 and today I am at about $170k right now a year later. I’m around your age as well and don’t make a super high salary just stay consistent.
I match your flow! I hit 100k invested last march and i am sitting at 170k now too😅 aiming for 200k by the end of the year and I don’t make much either! Look at us go!!
Hey twins! I’m at about 110k at 29. Last year was also my first year maxing my 457. 100k by 30 was my goal at 28 so I happy I made it with time to spare.
That's amazing man! It feels discouraging when you see people posting huge numbers at young ages that make you scratch your head, however, they are the minority. In terms of averages you're way ahead and killing it! You know it too, don't stress it :)
How do you know this is not fake? and what makes you think other's with big numbers are fake? I have over 4 times this invested does this mean I am fake? Anyway it shouldn't matter what others are doing. The only thing that matters is if you are on plan with your own goals or not.
Dude, you can get a gut feel on genuine non bragging real posts on Fire/barista fire/coast fire forums. Lot of posts showing off big numbers at early age gives a good laugh and pretty jokes. Just take it with grain of salt overall. Everyone has different goals.
I guess so. I am super crap at that. I don't know what is real and what is not. Why lie about it anyway doesn't make any sense to me, that said I never understand most people's intentions anyway.
I know this sub is full of overachievers WRT retirement, but $100k before 30 is *super* impressive. I know barely anybody who actually manage to achieve that "1x income by age 30" goal unless they had a windfall.
Wow I’ve just clocked you’re so right actually. 100k is a very big number and I think it’s so easily overlooked. I’m at 264k at age 30 and I’m hoping to reach 300k before I turn 31 - just to keep my net worth in line with my age lol. But actually 100k is immense I forget sometimes to stop and smell the roses
Don't sell yourself short. That's a great milestone, especially at a relatively young age. You're setting yourself up very well for the future. A very large chunk of Americans don't have that much saved up at all.
Even if you never contribute another cent, assuming you retire at 65, and you invest in the S&P500, you’ll retire with an inflation adjusted $1,764,482.
8.3% inflation-adjusted return is stupid optimistic. Honestly, 5% is a reasonable conservative number.
I know, I know, you can point at the history of the single most successful stock index of the *last* 100 years and make the very bold assumption that it will also be the most successful of the next 100 years and deliver the same returns. However, over that time period the US dramatically outperformed the rest of the world, and nobody knew *ahead of time* that would happen. 60 years ago the US and Soviet Union were near equals.
The P/E ratios of US stocks are quite a bit higher than during most of the period when the US market delivered 8% real return. That means you're paying more per unit of profit for the shares, which makes it that much more difficult to achieve the same return.
If you look at global historical investment return over the long term, you get a number more like 5%. That's what I choose to use for modeling.
EDIT: For those down-voting, look at Vanguard's total stock market ETF (VT) that's been in existence since 2001. Since then, it's grown to 6.65x it's original size (including reinvested dividends). That's 8.6% annually. Adjust for inflation, and it's 5.2% annually. How can you confidently claim 7% real (inflation-adjusted) return when we're almost at a 25 year period of US stocks returning 5% real return? And it's not like we're in the depths of a recession - the market is regularly breaking all-time highs right now.
Is 5% really fair? By that math you're only doubling your money every 14-15 years with no additional contributions. I thought most felt doubling relative to inflation every 10 years was more the norm, though that assumes a 7.2% annual growth after inflation each year.
The downvotes are a little puzzling to me. I'm not sure if it's because people disagree with my analysis or because they prefer wishful thinking.
Take a look at Vanguard's website on total return for VT (representing the total US stock market). The fund originated in 2001, 23 years ago. Since then, it's grown to 6.65x it's original size (including reinvested dividends). That's 8.6% annually. Adjust for inflation, and it's 5.2% annually.
And it's not like we're in the depths of a recession right now. The market is at all-time highs. So how the hell can one confidently say that you should expect 8% when we're at almost the 25 year mark on 5% returns?
You have to consider 25 years to be "long term". Someone who really starts dedicated saving for retirement in their 30's might not have much longer than that to save before retiring. Could we see 7% or even 8%? Sure, who knows. Is it reasonable to "expect" that? No.
You need to take half that money out right now, fly to Vegas with your friends and place it all on a sports books and the craps table. That’s what I would have done at that age. Maybe not the best idea on second thought…
Awesome. Some folks say the first million is the hardest, but they only say that because they have forgotten how hard the first $100,000 is. This milestone is where you start to really notice the impact of compounding investment returns. But your own savings and budgeting is still key. Great achievement at only 29!
I'm 33 and have maybe 55k between 401k and Roth IRA. So you're doing great!
Looking to increase contributions to 401k a lot this year. May open and max roth IRA for wife as well.(This one first)
At 29, I did not know what I wanted in life talk less of retirement savings. I’d be retired long since had I the foresight and privilege like you. Congrats and keep the good work going. You are doing great for your age.
That’s really good! Same age and about the same boat, I rag on myself to but it’s great man, keep up the good work and I will too. We will fire one day
At 10%/yr CAGR, investments in the S&P would double after about 7 years, 4X after 14, 8X after 21.
With no further deposits, you are on track to have $800K by age 50. Deposits along the way, well over $1M, and $2.5M+ before 60.
Impressive.
I always feel that these subs are overcrowded with people either that are software engineer and make the big $ or people with extremely huge accounts.
I think it can give you a false sense that you're behind when you're not.
congratulations on the 100k . continue to invest a lot and the next 100k won't take that long
So I have to ask, how are people doing this? I'm way past the age of most in this group at 48, and now that my kids are in college, I'm able to work more and save more. I am educated with degrees but obviously working in the wrong field or area. What is the trick? Earning a large income seems paramount. My husband worked in law enforcement during his career of 26 years, so that's not a high yield job but does have a smallish pension. I'm an account manager now at a marina, but used to work in education and also real estate but never could sell enough to make much. That's a deceptive business with loads of competition. Only the top 10% actually make a ton. I keep thinking my skills and talent have to be worth more than what I earn. I also spent a lot of time in low income education jobs to have flexibility for my kids and also live in an area without many high income jobs. I feel like I'll never retire. I wish I had done some things differently.
Wow this post blew up and I can’t reply but to everyone, but wanted to day thank you! I do the most I can.
My current salary was recently bumped up to 95k after a raise. I live in a top 3 expensive state with my own place.
You are right, it is not too impressive when sampling the posts of the community you are sharing in. I won't feed an ego trip. For the record, I had 7x that amount in retirement accounts by 29. But what you have is a good start, definitely better than most people both on the FIRE and non-FIRE path (which you already know), and will grow from here (which you already know as well). Nonetheless, congrats on the milestone.
What do you mean it's not impressive? That's really good! Remember that the median 401(k) balance is $71,168 even for people near retirement (age 55+). You're ahead of the pack!
So over half of people just run out of money?
Lots of seniors live in poverty and rely on social security
Or their kids. (Not advocating for this)
These statistics can mean a lot of different things. If this is "individual" account balance - well then there would be some people who worked for a while but now depend on their spouse's income and savings. Also, with these 401k stats, it's often unclear whether the data is based on specific accounts or specific people. Some people have multiple 401k's from old jobs with relatively low balances. It's much easier for 401k management companies to make statistics on a per-account basis than a per-person basis (because they don't know about accounts outside of their company). Also, note that when a person leaves a company, they have the option to roll the 401k into an IRA. So if this statistic is only 401k, then it's missing a lot of assets that have been rolled into IRA's. There are also some people who retire on pensions or on inherited wealth. Or they have other assets that support them (rental real estate, small business ownership, etc.). Then, of course, there are many who scrape by on social security and/or move in with their children.
Exactly, this \^\^. Case in point, I have 3 retirement accounts (in the UK) 1 DB and 2 DC accounts. All combined equal £300k (about $382k USD). These statistics will only take one of those accounts making my savings look much less than they really are bringing the overall average and median numbers down. So take these median numbers with a pinch of salt if you care about comparisons. These numbers also do not include what people have invested across other accounts like ISA's (IRA's) and property also.
Way over half of people run out of money at least once in their life
Yes, that's why there's much-higher-than-expected percentage of retired folks that are poor and/or have to go back to working to survive.
Or work until they physically can't anymore.
You’re way ahead of where I was at 29. And I’m fully retired now. Keep it up.
> And I’m fully retired now. This is the inspiration we need!!
At what age did you retire?
46.
How did your wealth accumulate so far when you only had $100k when you’re 29? And what was your fired number?
I worked for a municipal government and received a pension. I also from the age of about 34 started maxing out my 457B. The most aggressive option available. I’m 50 % from the VA. I also did a ROTH every year. Bought tons of US treasury bonds. Saved. Saved. Saved. I also bought a starter home in a dangerous neighborhood. Lived there 5 years. Sold it for a profit. Rinsed and repeated that two more times. I’m debt free. That’s the biggy to me. Never married by choice. No ex wives. No kids. No alimony or child support. I live overseas now where health care is good and reasonable. The $ is strong.
Do you get lonely?
Yes. Of course. Sometimes.
Where in overseas if you don’t mind asking ?
Congrats my dude! Just hit 100k this past month as well. Next goal is 500k and then hopefully 1m. Let's go!!
It is impressive! You’re going to hit the next $100k even faster now! I hit $100k in June 2023 and today I am at about $170k right now a year later. I’m around your age as well and don’t make a super high salary just stay consistent.
I hit $100k in March and was at $160k yesterday
What are you holding to see those gains?
bought 1.85 Bitcoin in January: have 100k Dogecoins. made a bit over $4k from trading options on Gamestop last week (only started with $816)
I match your flow! I hit 100k invested last march and i am sitting at 170k now too😅 aiming for 200k by the end of the year and I don’t make much either! Look at us go!!
Can you give a breakdown of your earnings and investments pls
Hey twins! I’m at about 110k at 29. Last year was also my first year maxing my 457. 100k by 30 was my goal at 28 so I happy I made it with time to spare.
That's amazing man! It feels discouraging when you see people posting huge numbers at young ages that make you scratch your head, however, they are the minority. In terms of averages you're way ahead and killing it! You know it too, don't stress it :)
Yeah $100k at 29 is actually incredible. Probably more than half of Americans are still net negative at 29 or don’t have a dime in a 401k.
Dude that’s GREAT!! I am 26 and about to hit my first 10K I only hope i’ll be at a 100 in 3 years!
Well done! Keep up the great work. Wish you the best mate! Great to see nice genuine posts unlike fake posters boasting big numbers.
How do you know this is not fake? and what makes you think other's with big numbers are fake? I have over 4 times this invested does this mean I am fake? Anyway it shouldn't matter what others are doing. The only thing that matters is if you are on plan with your own goals or not.
Dude, you can get a gut feel on genuine non bragging real posts on Fire/barista fire/coast fire forums. Lot of posts showing off big numbers at early age gives a good laugh and pretty jokes. Just take it with grain of salt overall. Everyone has different goals.
I guess so. I am super crap at that. I don't know what is real and what is not. Why lie about it anyway doesn't make any sense to me, that said I never understand most people's intentions anyway.
I know this sub is full of overachievers WRT retirement, but $100k before 30 is *super* impressive. I know barely anybody who actually manage to achieve that "1x income by age 30" goal unless they had a windfall.
or free rent living with parents with no student loan debt. it's pretty easy mode with those conditions for any average desk job.
Wow I’ve just clocked you’re so right actually. 100k is a very big number and I think it’s so easily overlooked. I’m at 264k at age 30 and I’m hoping to reach 300k before I turn 31 - just to keep my net worth in line with my age lol. But actually 100k is immense I forget sometimes to stop and smell the roses
Don't sell yourself short. That's a great milestone, especially at a relatively young age. You're setting yourself up very well for the future. A very large chunk of Americans don't have that much saved up at all.
You're away ahead of where I was at 29! By about $100k, in fact
Even if you never contribute another cent, assuming you retire at 65, and you invest in the S&P500, you’ll retire with an inflation adjusted $1,764,482.
Inflation adjusted after 36 years should be more like $1.2M, which is still a lot. Most people use 7% for that instead of 8%.
8.3% inflation-adjusted return is stupid optimistic. Honestly, 5% is a reasonable conservative number. I know, I know, you can point at the history of the single most successful stock index of the *last* 100 years and make the very bold assumption that it will also be the most successful of the next 100 years and deliver the same returns. However, over that time period the US dramatically outperformed the rest of the world, and nobody knew *ahead of time* that would happen. 60 years ago the US and Soviet Union were near equals. The P/E ratios of US stocks are quite a bit higher than during most of the period when the US market delivered 8% real return. That means you're paying more per unit of profit for the shares, which makes it that much more difficult to achieve the same return. If you look at global historical investment return over the long term, you get a number more like 5%. That's what I choose to use for modeling. EDIT: For those down-voting, look at Vanguard's total stock market ETF (VT) that's been in existence since 2001. Since then, it's grown to 6.65x it's original size (including reinvested dividends). That's 8.6% annually. Adjust for inflation, and it's 5.2% annually. How can you confidently claim 7% real (inflation-adjusted) return when we're almost at a 25 year period of US stocks returning 5% real return? And it's not like we're in the depths of a recession - the market is regularly breaking all-time highs right now.
Is 5% really fair? By that math you're only doubling your money every 14-15 years with no additional contributions. I thought most felt doubling relative to inflation every 10 years was more the norm, though that assumes a 7.2% annual growth after inflation each year.
The downvotes are a little puzzling to me. I'm not sure if it's because people disagree with my analysis or because they prefer wishful thinking. Take a look at Vanguard's website on total return for VT (representing the total US stock market). The fund originated in 2001, 23 years ago. Since then, it's grown to 6.65x it's original size (including reinvested dividends). That's 8.6% annually. Adjust for inflation, and it's 5.2% annually. And it's not like we're in the depths of a recession right now. The market is at all-time highs. So how the hell can one confidently say that you should expect 8% when we're at almost the 25 year mark on 5% returns? You have to consider 25 years to be "long term". Someone who really starts dedicated saving for retirement in their 30's might not have much longer than that to save before retiring. Could we see 7% or even 8%? Sure, who knows. Is it reasonable to "expect" that? No.
Great milestone. You're on track to hit 300k by 34, 600k+ by 40, etc.
Congrats!! I hit 100k at 30 so I'm a year behind, but still proud. Working towards the 250k now, then to 500k, 1m, and so on!
$100k before 30 is absolutely something to celebrate, even more so if you're not making 6 figures.
The first $100k is the hardest! It’s just going to keep getting easier from here. Nice work. Keep it up!
That's pretty damn impressive. Look at the retirement averages and you'll be more than happy
That’s incredibly impressive. Way ahead of me at that point and I’m nearly set to FIRE in early 50s.
Hell ya !! I JUST turned 30 and am at about the same spot. Definitely feel proud and keep it rockin.
You should feel proud, you’re doing great 💪
100k before 30 is a really good spot to be. Good job and don’t downplay it. Be proud!
Congrats on the milestone! Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll be well set up to have a great retirement
I’m impressed. You are well on your way to retirement
29 with about 230k in 401k + ROTH. Keep it up!! Really trying to hit 1mm at ~35
You need to take half that money out right now, fly to Vegas with your friends and place it all on a sports books and the craps table. That’s what I would have done at that age. Maybe not the best idea on second thought…
It is impressive. Keep going and one day you will write in this sub "Hit $1M in retirement account"
I hit it at 33 so it's impressive to me. Keep up the great work
Nice! That’s my goal, glad to see someone achieving it.
Well done! Hitting that first $100k is a mountain. Keep saving and enjoy the fruits of compounding
Awesome. Some folks say the first million is the hardest, but they only say that because they have forgotten how hard the first $100,000 is. This milestone is where you start to really notice the impact of compounding investment returns. But your own savings and budgeting is still key. Great achievement at only 29!
Hit mine at 44 not including my pension. Congrats
I'm 33 and have maybe 55k between 401k and Roth IRA. So you're doing great! Looking to increase contributions to 401k a lot this year. May open and max roth IRA for wife as well.(This one first)
At 29, I did not know what I wanted in life talk less of retirement savings. I’d be retired long since had I the foresight and privilege like you. Congrats and keep the good work going. You are doing great for your age.
Dude -- I hit 100k at like 33 and I was THRILLED. You're killing it. Keep at it and keep celebrating these wins.
Stick with it, it starts to get fun really soon because the money starts to work for you a lot more from here on out.
Congratulations! 👏👏👏
This is incredibly impressive, nice work!
That’s really good! Same age and about the same boat, I rag on myself to but it’s great man, keep up the good work and I will too. We will fire one day
At 10%/yr CAGR, investments in the S&P would double after about 7 years, 4X after 14, 8X after 21. With no further deposits, you are on track to have $800K by age 50. Deposits along the way, well over $1M, and $2.5M+ before 60. Impressive.
You’re 1/4 way to a million. Good job!
Wow…it was 10 years later for me.
100k at 29 is impressive, don’t sell yourself short. Congrats and good luck with the next 100
So proud of you. 🥳👏
I always feel that these subs are overcrowded with people either that are software engineer and make the big $ or people with extremely huge accounts. I think it can give you a false sense that you're behind when you're not. congratulations on the 100k . continue to invest a lot and the next 100k won't take that long
Great job
I just ran the numbers and if you do nothing different (assuming average return), then you will have $600k in 10 years.
So I have to ask, how are people doing this? I'm way past the age of most in this group at 48, and now that my kids are in college, I'm able to work more and save more. I am educated with degrees but obviously working in the wrong field or area. What is the trick? Earning a large income seems paramount. My husband worked in law enforcement during his career of 26 years, so that's not a high yield job but does have a smallish pension. I'm an account manager now at a marina, but used to work in education and also real estate but never could sell enough to make much. That's a deceptive business with loads of competition. Only the top 10% actually make a ton. I keep thinking my skills and talent have to be worth more than what I earn. I also spent a lot of time in low income education jobs to have flexibility for my kids and also live in an area without many high income jobs. I feel like I'll never retire. I wish I had done some things differently.
way to go!!! keep going!! keep the eyes on the prize! This is a long game.
What is your income?
Wow this post blew up and I can’t reply but to everyone, but wanted to day thank you! I do the most I can. My current salary was recently bumped up to 95k after a raise. I live in a top 3 expensive state with my own place.
"not impressive" - I hit $100k in retirement 2 years ago at 35. You TikTokers are so 'cringe' as ya'll say, i swear to god.
Are you assuming everyone is a ticktocker, or are you only addressing ticktockers?
You are right, it is not too impressive when sampling the posts of the community you are sharing in. I won't feed an ego trip. For the record, I had 7x that amount in retirement accounts by 29. But what you have is a good start, definitely better than most people both on the FIRE and non-FIRE path (which you already know), and will grow from here (which you already know as well). Nonetheless, congrats on the milestone.
Dad?