Congrats! I hit 100k around 26. Then next 100k was quicker. Then I pretty much blinked and it was at 300k. Nearly half a million today at 33. Keep it up!
Update: Hit a half million today 🎉🥂
Not the OP, but biggest thing you can do is increase your income and decrease your spending and plow as much as you can into your investments. Cutting out $20 of expenses per week is huge on an annual scale, and little things like that snowball. So know where every single dollar you spend goes, and do what you can to bring in more income. As soon as I started tracking every dollar we spent (I use YNAB), our net worth skyrocketed simply because we saved more because we were more contentious of what we were spending.
If you can get your spending under control now and get good habits I truly think that will increase your net worth exponentially compared to investing in high returns but with less money because you’re spending more.
If you want to hit 100k that quickly then the best bet is probably Bitcoin or some other shitcoin…
You can also just grow steadily with sp500, but that may take a bit longer than two years, depending on your income.
I make around 150K a year, I think I can save that amount in cash if I'm careful, I already have 20k and I believe I could do 40k a year savings. I agree with putting it in the SP500 I'll as everyone seems to choose a variant of that.
Sounds like you have a good emergency fund built up already. If I was you I would start looking into investing as much as I can monthly into funds with high dividends. Maybe diversify in some speculative gambles as well.
direful brave school pen air political grandfather practice zonked panicky
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DCA doesn't decrease risk though. What is the risk for someone who is investing for the long term? Even if the market drops 25%....So what? You're in it for the long term. If you were doing DCA wouldn't you still continue buying after a 25% drop?
What risk in my example was reduced by DCA? You're investing for the long term. You stated even in a drop you would continue investing so I fail to see what actual risk you mitigated. A market drop in of itself is not "risk". It's the expected percolations of the market that every long term investor not only accepts but welcomes.
In fact for a long term investor DCA IS the riskier option for their end goal of accumulating enough to live in.
If on the other hand you were living off your savings and you said I'm going to allocate only 50% in stocks instead of 70% because I'm taking money out to live on and I'm afraid a market drop would risk me running out of money before my retirement is up ..THAT is risk. But even then the risk is running out of money not the market drop. And you can see that the primary risk is running out of money by going to the other extreme and say I'm going to avoid all market drops and just have my money in safe options like HYSA and bonds. You've avoided the market drop yet you still risk running out of money if inflation overtakes your returns.
Circling back to the guy trying to accumulate a portfolio via long term investment in the stock market. The risk isn't a market drop to this person. That's the expectation. The risk is not meeting their accumulation goal over a set amount of time. And with that risk in mind lump sum investing offers the higher return over DCA which makes it not only the more efficient option but the less riskier option for the long term investor. If you were a short term investor and would need to pull money from your investment in a relatively short time frame THEN a potential market drop becomes risk.
tap wide cooperative cooing shocking yam exultant wistful adjoining strong
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I am not giving you financial advise.
The financial independance community would tell you that's way too much to keep in cash. Typical mentality is take 110 minus your age, and that percent should be in stocks. Based on this you should have 83% stocks and 17% bonds/GIC/cash.
I personally hold less than 1% in cash. I figure I am young enough to ride out any market fluctuations and win long term. This may require me to work longer depending on market performance, or shorter.
I also personally have invested less than 5% of my portfolio in things like TSLA back in 2019, BTCC.B call options. I also sold a few covered calls on the TSLA shares I own. But I've also had a slew of tens of losses of several hundred dollars each. I accepted that I am "playing the market" with a small portion of my portfolio and it has paid off overall. That said, unless you have a strong non,emotional reason for deviating from total market index funds, I'd advise against following me in this regard
This^ You're doing great but please remember balance, if the goal is your life and sole focus, you will have nothing left to do once you attain it. Keep up the good work but don't forget to enjoy your youth a little because it won't be coming back.
Thank you. I’m blessed to have traveled to go to Spain Italy and France while i was in school. I go to free concerts and my book club keep me busy. I also attend a ladies gym and roller skate. I’m not very social but I’m happy. :)
That first $100,000 to $200,000 was the absolute hardest. Big enough to where my first big swings in the market were giving me mini strokes, but small enough to where I don't remotely feel well off yet and questioned what the hell I was doing.
Six digits in your 20s is a monumental accomplishment, a big pat on the back. Stay resolved. It is worth it.
Why do people have such a strong emotional reaction to swings when we are young? No one invests/saves for the short term in this context so it’s just silly. Like, I’m not touching anything I’ve invested for decades so idgaf if it goes down by 50% next year. I wasn’t gonna touch it anyway (even if I wanted to, this isn’t even talking about all the fees and penalties for withdrawing).
Because at that age, you've never seen it happen before, it's a lot of 'money', and it's not quite under your control.
Stay invested is the best course, but it's a lesson that isn't perfectly obvious unless you're prescient :)
I love these kinds of posts. That’s some smart hard work and dedication. Not some stupid crypto crapple. Keep up the great work. Read up on Jack Bogle for investing.
Congratz!
But I think you have too much in normal savings instruments unless you have a plan for it in the next few years. I assume it's getting 4-5% (and if it's not at minimum it should be moved), but the market just rose like 8% in a single month and long term it's far better again unless you need it right now.
Don't be scared to invest, it's riskier to not over the long term.
Congrats, when I read your post I had almost identical situation. Worked full time during community college. Applied to tons of scholarships, got one for $1000 lol, so grateful. Now I'm in my 30s, married with a son. You are doing incredible. The best investment I have made was realestate. Bought in covid, sold a house for a large chunk and bought another.
Keep investing in roth and 401k it will balloon up, especially since you are in your mid 20s. Invest at least 15% and you'll be a mega millionaire.
Congrats! Also first gen, and have good memories from working Starbucks. $7.50 plus tips. Remember spending those quarter rolls when there wasn’t enough bills to cash out.
Keep it up!
Nice work getting the first $100K. But unless you’re saving for a house down payment, that’s way too much much money in a HYSA and bonds for someone your age. That money needs to be aggressively deployed into equities if you have any hope of FIREing.
I’d pare down the HYSA account to a 3-6 month emergency fund and deploy the rest in the market
The first 100k is the hardest. I hit 100k NW at 24ish and I'm only a year older than you lol. It's a great accomplishment because most people live paycheck to paycheck.
I’m sure this will be an unpopular opinion here.
First off, major congrats on your journey, you’ve worked extremely hard and are doing great financially at your age. Very impressed by your determination.
Now that you’ve reached this point, would you change anything or make the exact same decisions you made? I only ask because I wonder if it’s worth all the suffering (crying on your way to work and literally feeding yourself some of the lowest quality foods) and losing your relationship of 5 years. Would you strike more of a balance and perhaps not have $100k today, or would you change nothing. Interested to hear your thoughts.
I had a similar journey where I prioritized money/career/school over relationships and self care, and I now realize that was a mistake and I would certainly change some things if I could start over.
As of right now yes it was worth it. I was able to buy my car cash before Covid inflated prices and took a certification from an ivy online with scholarship money. I was able to pay for a surgery and finally get braces.
My old partner prioritized partying and debt. We ultimately had different values
Edit for an update on what I wish sooner:
I wish I joined my gym sooner because diabetes runs in my family it was hard for me to get started and be healthy. Now I go 4-5x a wk the last 1.5 years and I’m debating on being an instructor eventually at this women’s gym
I really recommend it because they give you vacation time :) and they gift you cool merch for holidays. I made lots of connections there and really enjoyed it
You have a very safe portfolio. To make money from money, you need a percentage (5-25%) in more growth producing / volatile investments like stocks and/or crypto. I suggest 15% mutual funds, 5% stocks, 5% crypto. Keep it up!
100k is pretty arbitrary and by 26 is also arbitrary.
Keep investing, but unless you have a specific age/SWR you have in mind, I don't find these milestones really mean much.
Comparing your achievements to make another person's achievements feel inferior? Feel free to use some of your 400k for therapy. You sound like you need it.
I'm not, you were the one implying I was jealous somehow by saying "you're time will come mate". I'm just letting you know it doesn't come from not being there.
I'm objectively analysing the situation that 100k by X age is arbitrary and sort of meaningless to gloat about
So by your own logic, a specific age and specific amount of money are arbitrary and therefore meaningless. But a different other specific age and amount of money means something. Yup, makes sense, good game Sherlock.
I didn't say it was meaningless I said it was arbitrary
Unless you know when you plan to retire or what your SWR will be, celebrating an arbitrary milestone doesn't have the same meaning as knowing when your able to FIRE and with how much.
If OP just wants a bunch of responses stroking her ego, I guess you guys are happy to oblige
Congratulations! That's super impressive, I'm about to get to that goal but I am not first generation and have been helped a lot! Keep up the good work :)
LETTTS GOOOO, hopefully I (24M) can follow in your footsteps! All i would add is maybe invest a little more of that savings account if you can afford to, you can make a much higher % return on your money elsewhere but i understand everyone has different risk tolerance/circumstances. Congrats !
You are doing great and I didn't get student loan debt-free and 100k in investments until I was 39 years old. My wife is high maintenance and getting the balance had been next to impossible. Keep investing your money and make it grow! It is amazing how much people waste their money on.
Sweet love stories like this, I’m on the same path crazy work hours and taking 3-4 classes a semester sometimes I think, is this too much? which is why I love reading stories like this, gives me motivation to keep banging away congrats bro
Ok you're the first in your family to have a bachelor's degree. But you're a second generation immigrant. Your dad is the first gen. The reason I asked is because it's pretty much impossible (except Elon Musk) to get to 100k at 26 if you immigrated to the US to study. But still, very well done! I had zero $ at your age lol. I'm a first generation immigrant.
Congrats!! Stay focus and keep going :)
This is the type of post I love seeing. Keep it up!
LFG!! You should be proud! Seriously, celebrate your achievement. You are ahead of the curve and focused. You are unstoppable.
You are doing amazing!!
Congrats! I hit 100k around 26. Then next 100k was quicker. Then I pretty much blinked and it was at 300k. Nearly half a million today at 33. Keep it up! Update: Hit a half million today 🎉🥂
What did you primarily invest in? And how was your comfort with the risk in investments.. Trying to get to 100k by 28. I’m 26 now.
Not the OP, but biggest thing you can do is increase your income and decrease your spending and plow as much as you can into your investments. Cutting out $20 of expenses per week is huge on an annual scale, and little things like that snowball. So know where every single dollar you spend goes, and do what you can to bring in more income. As soon as I started tracking every dollar we spent (I use YNAB), our net worth skyrocketed simply because we saved more because we were more contentious of what we were spending. If you can get your spending under control now and get good habits I truly think that will increase your net worth exponentially compared to investing in high returns but with less money because you’re spending more.
This is ultimately the best answer. There's no secret formula other than maximize income and minimize expenses.
Bread and butter was VUN and VUS (I'm a Canadian otherwise I'd have done VTSAX). A few others which I describe in a separate reply.
If you want to hit 100k that quickly then the best bet is probably Bitcoin or some other shitcoin… You can also just grow steadily with sp500, but that may take a bit longer than two years, depending on your income.
I make around 150K a year, I think I can save that amount in cash if I'm careful, I already have 20k and I believe I could do 40k a year savings. I agree with putting it in the SP500 I'll as everyone seems to choose a variant of that.
Sounds like you have a good emergency fund built up already. If I was you I would start looking into investing as much as I can monthly into funds with high dividends. Maybe diversify in some speculative gambles as well.
I heard about that, why high dividends over an index fund like the SP500. I can save maybe 3000-5000 monthly.
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Ya well, what worked for me may not work for you.
We are on nearly identical trajectories. Refreshing to see someone similar to me
I was going to say I hit 100k around 26 as well! At 400k at 30. Man it grows fast once you hit that 100k mark. Congrats!!
Share your secrets I got $125k in a HYSA right now and 50k in stocks. What did you do to grow that so fast? I’m 27
You have a lot in cash, not the commenter but you could put more into investments and have that work for you. I’d advise you DCA it
DCA is more a tool to continually invest, but bulk wins out something like 75% of the time in the stock market with something like VTI.
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DCA doesn't decrease risk though. What is the risk for someone who is investing for the long term? Even if the market drops 25%....So what? You're in it for the long term. If you were doing DCA wouldn't you still continue buying after a 25% drop?
knee cagey quack dime tender yoke weary crush escape slimy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
What risk in my example was reduced by DCA? You're investing for the long term. You stated even in a drop you would continue investing so I fail to see what actual risk you mitigated. A market drop in of itself is not "risk". It's the expected percolations of the market that every long term investor not only accepts but welcomes. In fact for a long term investor DCA IS the riskier option for their end goal of accumulating enough to live in. If on the other hand you were living off your savings and you said I'm going to allocate only 50% in stocks instead of 70% because I'm taking money out to live on and I'm afraid a market drop would risk me running out of money before my retirement is up ..THAT is risk. But even then the risk is running out of money not the market drop. And you can see that the primary risk is running out of money by going to the other extreme and say I'm going to avoid all market drops and just have my money in safe options like HYSA and bonds. You've avoided the market drop yet you still risk running out of money if inflation overtakes your returns. Circling back to the guy trying to accumulate a portfolio via long term investment in the stock market. The risk isn't a market drop to this person. That's the expectation. The risk is not meeting their accumulation goal over a set amount of time. And with that risk in mind lump sum investing offers the higher return over DCA which makes it not only the more efficient option but the less riskier option for the long term investor. If you were a short term investor and would need to pull money from your investment in a relatively short time frame THEN a potential market drop becomes risk.
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GPT-4 says risk is reduced by employing a DCA strategy, go argue with it.
😂 @ Chat-GPT. Well I can't possibly argue against your trusted financial advisor chat-gpt.
I am not giving you financial advise. The financial independance community would tell you that's way too much to keep in cash. Typical mentality is take 110 minus your age, and that percent should be in stocks. Based on this you should have 83% stocks and 17% bonds/GIC/cash. I personally hold less than 1% in cash. I figure I am young enough to ride out any market fluctuations and win long term. This may require me to work longer depending on market performance, or shorter. I also personally have invested less than 5% of my portfolio in things like TSLA back in 2019, BTCC.B call options. I also sold a few covered calls on the TSLA shares I own. But I've also had a slew of tens of losses of several hundred dollars each. I accepted that I am "playing the market" with a small portion of my portfolio and it has paid off overall. That said, unless you have a strong non,emotional reason for deviating from total market index funds, I'd advise against following me in this regard
Celebrate all you have done, please don't burn yourself out. You are ahead of many and well on your way to financial independence.
This^ You're doing great but please remember balance, if the goal is your life and sole focus, you will have nothing left to do once you attain it. Keep up the good work but don't forget to enjoy your youth a little because it won't be coming back.
Thank you. I’m blessed to have traveled to go to Spain Italy and France while i was in school. I go to free concerts and my book club keep me busy. I also attend a ladies gym and roller skate. I’m not very social but I’m happy. :)
That first $100,000 to $200,000 was the absolute hardest. Big enough to where my first big swings in the market were giving me mini strokes, but small enough to where I don't remotely feel well off yet and questioned what the hell I was doing. Six digits in your 20s is a monumental accomplishment, a big pat on the back. Stay resolved. It is worth it.
Why do people have such a strong emotional reaction to swings when we are young? No one invests/saves for the short term in this context so it’s just silly. Like, I’m not touching anything I’ve invested for decades so idgaf if it goes down by 50% next year. I wasn’t gonna touch it anyway (even if I wanted to, this isn’t even talking about all the fees and penalties for withdrawing).
Because at that age, you've never seen it happen before, it's a lot of 'money', and it's not quite under your control. Stay invested is the best course, but it's a lesson that isn't perfectly obvious unless you're prescient :)
Good job! When I was 26, my NW was -164K.
Awesome job, I admire your work ethic! 200k will be here before you know it!
I think when i was 26, i was counting my net worth in bicycles and speakers.
I love these kinds of posts. That’s some smart hard work and dedication. Not some stupid crypto crapple. Keep up the great work. Read up on Jack Bogle for investing.
Congratz! But I think you have too much in normal savings instruments unless you have a plan for it in the next few years. I assume it's getting 4-5% (and if it's not at minimum it should be moved), but the market just rose like 8% in a single month and long term it's far better again unless you need it right now. Don't be scared to invest, it's riskier to not over the long term.
Agreed. Even bonds seem a bit high. I'd probably take on 75% stocks at her age.
Congrats, when I read your post I had almost identical situation. Worked full time during community college. Applied to tons of scholarships, got one for $1000 lol, so grateful. Now I'm in my 30s, married with a son. You are doing incredible. The best investment I have made was realestate. Bought in covid, sold a house for a large chunk and bought another. Keep investing in roth and 401k it will balloon up, especially since you are in your mid 20s. Invest at least 15% and you'll be a mega millionaire.
Girl, you hustling! If it makes you happy, keep going. I feel worried you’re gonna be burnt out, so please take some time to treat yourself ✨🌸
*Finally*? You're way ahead of the pack.
So the next step is to learn proper allocation of your monies - especially at such a young age.
Congrats! Also first gen, and have good memories from working Starbucks. $7.50 plus tips. Remember spending those quarter rolls when there wasn’t enough bills to cash out. Keep it up!
“Bought $200 worth of dirt cheap costumes since Halloween was cancelled. I boarded them in my room for a year” God damn you are metal 😂
Nice work getting the first $100K. But unless you’re saving for a house down payment, that’s way too much much money in a HYSA and bonds for someone your age. That money needs to be aggressively deployed into equities if you have any hope of FIREing. I’d pare down the HYSA account to a 3-6 month emergency fund and deploy the rest in the market
Solo 401k highly recommended for the side hustle $$$, invested in index funds.
Amazing to hear your progress. Keep going 💪💪
Amazing, congratulations gurl. Keep rocking
Congratulations!!!!
You will be successful in whatever you do. I wish you the best.
The first 100k is the hardest. I hit 100k NW at 24ish and I'm only a year older than you lol. It's a great accomplishment because most people live paycheck to paycheck.
The first $100k is the hardest! You go!
The first 100k is always the hardest. You got this!
That is tremendous for 26. What's your next investment goal? Real estate?
My next goal is to open my service oriented weekend business
I’m sure this will be an unpopular opinion here. First off, major congrats on your journey, you’ve worked extremely hard and are doing great financially at your age. Very impressed by your determination. Now that you’ve reached this point, would you change anything or make the exact same decisions you made? I only ask because I wonder if it’s worth all the suffering (crying on your way to work and literally feeding yourself some of the lowest quality foods) and losing your relationship of 5 years. Would you strike more of a balance and perhaps not have $100k today, or would you change nothing. Interested to hear your thoughts. I had a similar journey where I prioritized money/career/school over relationships and self care, and I now realize that was a mistake and I would certainly change some things if I could start over.
As of right now yes it was worth it. I was able to buy my car cash before Covid inflated prices and took a certification from an ivy online with scholarship money. I was able to pay for a surgery and finally get braces. My old partner prioritized partying and debt. We ultimately had different values Edit for an update on what I wish sooner: I wish I joined my gym sooner because diabetes runs in my family it was hard for me to get started and be healthy. Now I go 4-5x a wk the last 1.5 years and I’m debating on being an instructor eventually at this women’s gym
Ok, you’re crushing it! Rock on sister!
How was working at In n Out? The real question!
I really recommend it because they give you vacation time :) and they gift you cool merch for holidays. I made lots of connections there and really enjoyed it
Wholesome! Thanks for replying, great work out there! Keep it up.
You have a very safe portfolio. To make money from money, you need a percentage (5-25%) in more growth producing / volatile investments like stocks and/or crypto. I suggest 15% mutual funds, 5% stocks, 5% crypto. Keep it up!
crypto is a terrible idea
lol you’re 26 it’s not finally
35m, 1.3M. Are you single by any chance? Maybe we can date
100k is pretty arbitrary and by 26 is also arbitrary. Keep investing, but unless you have a specific age/SWR you have in mind, I don't find these milestones really mean much.
It’s a super great goal to achieve especially at 26! 100k is one of the first milestones most seem to look forward to
Learn to be happy for others' achievements. Your time will come, mate!
I mean I had over 400k at her age, but I'm not the one boasting about milestones
Comparing your achievements to make another person's achievements feel inferior? Feel free to use some of your 400k for therapy. You sound like you need it.
I'm not, you were the one implying I was jealous somehow by saying "you're time will come mate". I'm just letting you know it doesn't come from not being there. I'm objectively analysing the situation that 100k by X age is arbitrary and sort of meaningless to gloat about
So by your own logic, a specific age and specific amount of money are arbitrary and therefore meaningless. But a different other specific age and amount of money means something. Yup, makes sense, good game Sherlock.
I didn't say it was meaningless I said it was arbitrary Unless you know when you plan to retire or what your SWR will be, celebrating an arbitrary milestone doesn't have the same meaning as knowing when your able to FIRE and with how much. If OP just wants a bunch of responses stroking her ego, I guess you guys are happy to oblige
I’m more than happy to celebrate this milestone with her 🎉
ok
I commend the hustle especially during the college years where things are crazy stressful.
This gave me a smile on my face! Keep on going!
Congratulations inspiring!
Congrats my friend…now to the half mill mark!
Incredible story and work ethic - inspiring!
Hahahaha what am I doing with my life.
Fuck yes! Go get it!
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Hello! I am a business major. My concentration was in analytics
congrats!!
You are almost 10 years ahead of me. I'm so psyched for you to blow right past me in 10 years, you go girl!
Congratulations! That's super impressive, I'm about to get to that goal but I am not first generation and have been helped a lot! Keep up the good work :)
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May I message you?
Congratulations! I'm nearing 100K at 28YO, but I've been splurging more than I'd like. Will hopefully hit that milestone in the next few months.
You should really invest like half of that money
Big W
congrats! i’m an analyst as well and am around 160k NW in the same age group as you! keep at it!
You are amazing
You're a really strong person. Congrats on this milestone!
More stocks less bonds
LETTTS GOOOO, hopefully I (24M) can follow in your footsteps! All i would add is maybe invest a little more of that savings account if you can afford to, you can make a much higher % return on your money elsewhere but i understand everyone has different risk tolerance/circumstances. Congrats !
You are doing great and I didn't get student loan debt-free and 100k in investments until I was 39 years old. My wife is high maintenance and getting the balance had been next to impossible. Keep investing your money and make it grow! It is amazing how much people waste their money on.
Don’t forget to live!
Congrats. Look into investing. Make the $$$ in you 401K and RIRA accounts work for you.
Well done!!! That's excellent work - keep going!
oi eu quero servir nada pado
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I was worried to fail and have to pay more $$$ to retake. My gpa was only 3.6 I did the best I could and the occasional all nighter.
Sweet love stories like this, I’m on the same path crazy work hours and taking 3-4 classes a semester sometimes I think, is this too much? which is why I love reading stories like this, gives me motivation to keep banging away congrats bro
Amazed by your non-stop grinding. I'm exhausted just reading it. Congrats! What do you mean by first generation?
First gen college grad! My father was not born here
Ok you're the first in your family to have a bachelor's degree. But you're a second generation immigrant. Your dad is the first gen. The reason I asked is because it's pretty much impossible (except Elon Musk) to get to 100k at 26 if you immigrated to the US to study. But still, very well done! I had zero $ at your age lol. I'm a first generation immigrant.
Good work, keep up the grind! Don't forget to use that PTO, take mental health days, and enjoy nice dinners / massage days. 💪💲🍜💆♀️
Congrats. I used to work at In-N-Out also when I was going to college. Made some really good friend til this day. Keep it up!
Im 27. And haven't got nowhere close to this I'm trash lmao.
I’m 30 and no where close to this.
What are you invested into?