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by ixacto 1716 days ago
220k in Roth, early 30s. Should be about 5-15MM USD in the late 2050s with an inflation adjusted rate of return of ~8% and an annual contribution of about $6000, also increasing annually (math works).

This should take me way beyond the point at which the marginal utility of money tapers off. It's really not that difficult to get wealthy(ish) in this country if you think ahead a few decades, but most people are not going to be able to do this. The secret was getting a decent employer match, and living with my parents for a few years to save >100% of my income.
1 comments
randomopining 1716 days ago
How much was your employer's match? I do the minimum to get the match, which is 6%.

How did you save >100% of your income at your parents?

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ixacto 1715 days ago
It was either 5 or 6 match into vanguard, which is ok but not great. I saved 105% of my income for a couple years as they paid for all my living expenses including food, although I went shopping to get groceries and cooked for them. Also this was not the tech industry…

I carpooled to work so that was also free. The only thing I spent money on was a couple new iphones and alcohol/dates/entertainment, which was paid with through churning maaaany credit cards.

I’m very grateful for that, and would show them my retirement account every once in awhile to prove that I wasn’t blowing my paycheck on stupid stuff.

The only real problem is that it didn’t really work because housing prices have increased much faster than the market so now I need like 1-1.5MM if I ever want to buy a decent house by Seattle and don’t really have that.

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throw_this_one 1715 days ago
seriously 1-1.5 mil for a decent house there? Is that even for real?
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ixacto 1715 days ago
Yes. You can get cheaper further out, but traffic can make commuting pretty bad. https://www.redfin.com/city/1387/WA/Bellevue/housing-market

Basically FIRE approach doesn't work in the really expensive parts of the country. You need to be putting a large portion of $$$ income into housing which is not a diversified asset. We are getting 18% YOY growth now, but will not get it for the next 30 years.

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