Reply to How much should I be saving for retirement?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
We make ~$210K per year (two income) and have saved $1.2M for retirement (excludes house equity ($400K) and college savings ($200K)) and our two kids go to private school.  We are 43 years old.

How have we done this? We have always lived below our means.  We buy things off Craigslist/Yard Sales wherever possible but we do not feel deprived.   We have save 25% + of our income for at least the last 15 years maybe more.  We save in aftertax retirement accounts such as 401k aftertax and IRA's.

The sad thing is we don't even feel financially secure but we know we are in a better position then most.  Can't wait until we get to $2M.  Hopefully, we will be there in 5 years.[/quote]

Well done. Did you and DH always make this level of income for the last 15 years (I mean similar - obviously lower in early years)?
For a couple who makes $200K now, but in previous years had much lower level salaries, the 3 x income saved goal by 45 (or whatever advice it is) does not work - makes one feel very behind.

[/quote]

When I started working I made 28k per year and husband somewhere in the mid 30's.  I don't remember how we got from from there to where we are now.  In the late 1990's and mid 2000's we did get good raises.  It wasn't like we started in fields where salary doesn't change much over career.  We worked hard.  We don't have maids or fancy cars. I bought a whole bunch of clothes at a yard sale yesterday for the kids only because they were high quality.  We think differently than most people.

Poster who says they are similiar to me.  Do you find yourself to be different than most of your peers?  Do you feel people look down on you because they take nicer vacations?  While my friends stay at the Disney Grand Floridian, we stay at the All Stars.[/quote]

Pp poster who said I was similar. Yea, we find some people look down at us, but mostly because I don't work for some senator or some stupid shit like that. As for vacations, we don't take many - family houses etc are the norm. Saving $100k a year on $200k income means we live rather lean. No cable, just hulu. No maid. No lawn service. Etc. I have a lot of very highly levered friends - one  couple with no kids is in a $1.5M 5 bedroom town home. I don't get it. I have another friend who makes about $700K between him and his wife - and they live in a dumpy 1 bedroom condo. To say his net worth is growing by $500k a year is probably conservative. By the time he hits 40 he can retire (and that's his plan). To each their own I guess. [/quote]

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