Anonymous wrote:For me it was a combination of high income (>200k at 22 yo) and low expenses (still was living in my college shared apartment), a little luck in investments and maxing out everything I could. Now 32, looking to cross $1.2M this month.

IT?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, I started saving for retirement at 26 and maxed out what the rules allowed, which at that time was $7,500 per year. I'm the PP who made it to first million at 38. I did always max out, plus maxed out a nondeductible IRA.

You must have got amazing returns on your retirement funds(?)

Not really, pretty much in line with the market. What really helped besides maxing out every year (this is 21 years' worth now) is having a good employer match in my jobs plus very little change in investments. I am the quintessential buy and hold investor, sticking to my predetermined asset allocation.

Oh 21 years makes a difference for sure, I thought you were saying 12 years of investing (from age 26 to age 38).
Good job either way.

For me it was a combination of high income (>200k at 22 yo) and low expenses (still was living in my college shared apartment), a little luck in investments and maxing out everything I could. Now 32, looking to cross $1.2M this month.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, I started saving for retirement at 26 and maxed out what the rules allowed, which at that time was $7,500 per year. I'm the PP who made it to first million at 38. I did always max out, plus maxed out a nondeductible IRA.

You must have got amazing returns on your retirement funds(?)

Not really, pretty much in line with the market. What really helped besides maxing out every year (this is 21 years' worth now) is having a good employer match in my jobs plus very little change in investments. I am the quintessential buy and hold investor, sticking to my predetermined asset allocation.

Yeh, that "compounding interest" concept has not been working with my IRA. I know that all the sharp folks on DCUM beat the market but I'm pretty much moving up and down with the average:

14 years ago I rolled over an old employers' 401k into my IRA and have been putting money into it ever since. The DOW was around 9,800 in early 1999. Today the DOW is around 14,000. A stunning 2.5% average annual interest rate.

Maybe I'll balance that with my timing of the real estate market that had me buying a house in 2005.

Anonymous wrote:When I started investing in 1999/2000 the funds offered at work, at that time, were Putnam and I lost perhaps 50% over the next several years.
Too bad, really lost that advantage of investing early on completely!

ugh, Putnam. I was in a dog of a fund around the same time. Took me far too long to get out of it.

Anonymous wrote:PP, I started saving for retirement at 26 and maxed out what the rules allowed, which at that time was $7,500 per year. I'm the PP who made it to first million at 38. I did always max out, plus maxed out a nondeductible IRA.

You must have got amazing returns on your retirement funds(?)

Are people counting the full value of their 401ks toward net worth or just the projected after tax value?

Obviously this only applies to the borderline millionaires.

I'm a non-millionaire, but hope to get there by mid-40s. In the mean time, I always figure about 35% of my 401K is actually Uncle Sam's.

Anonymous wrote:PP, I started saving for retirement at 26 and maxed out what the rules allowed, which at that time was $7,500 per year. I'm the PP who made it to first million at 38. I did always max out, plus maxed out a nondeductible IRA.

This was to 14:56.

PP, I started saving for retirement at 26 and maxed out what the rules allowed, which at that time was $7,500 per year. I'm the PP who made it to first million at 38. I did always max out, plus maxed out a nondeductible IRA.

Age 29, DH was 35. Big law and high savings rate.

When I started investing in 1999/2000 the funds offered at work, at that time, were Putnam and I lost perhaps 50% over the next several years.
Too bad, really lost that advantage of investing early on completely!

Anonymous wrote:This is very informative for me, although this is far from a fair statistical study.

I would have guessed that many/most people would cross that threshold in their 50s as their income peaks, they pay off their mortgage and the kids move "off the books."

Instead, it seem like most people who make it to the $1 million level do it in their 30s. If you don't make it, maybe the way to do is to have a steep trajectory rather than counting on a slow and steady climb.

I wonder how much of it is that those who start saving in their 401(k)s at the start of their career never miss having the money and hence contribute the max allowed each year? If you start saving at 30, you'd miss the money more than someone who always saved for retirement. And let's not discount the power of compounding...

That said, that's just looking at 401(k). Seems most folks here have a combination of 401(k) funds with home equity and extra investments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very informative for me, although this is far from a fair statistical study.

I would have guessed that many/most people would cross that threshold in their 50s as their income peaks, they pay off their mortgage and the kids move "off the books."

Instead, it seem like most people who make it to the $1 million level do it in their 30s. If you don't make it, maybe the way to do is to have a steep trajectory rather than counting on a slow and steady climb.

have a steep trajectory, how?

Have a six figure income in your 20s and either save/invest heavily or rapidly pay off your debts (mortgage). What I'm thinking is that if one of your life goals at age 25 is to achieve a net wealth of $1 million at age 45-50 and start progressing toward that goal, that you have a good chance of not making it because too much can happen during such a long period. But if you structure your life to achieve it in 10 years (age 35), you'll probably have better odds of getting there.

Of course, as others have pointed out, it really helps to finish your advanced degree with little or no debt, to get help buying a house, to get really lucky in your timing of the housing market, enjoy good health in your family or (obviously) have a fat paycheck.

Anonymous wrote:This is very informative for me, although this is far from a fair statistical study.

I would have guessed that many/most people would cross that threshold in their 50s as their income peaks, they pay off their mortgage and the kids move "off the books."

Instead, it seem like most people who make it to the $1 million level do it in their 30s. If you don't make it, maybe the way to do is to have a steep trajectory rather than counting on a slow and steady climb.

People used to say you needed to make it by age 40.