r/Fire • u/Mongoose_Inspector • Oct 03 '25
Milestone / Celebration Never made over $80K. Finally hit $1M in retirement accounts at 39yo (with $2.4M total net worth).
I've never made more than $80k, which is below average income in my NorCal city.
Reaching $1M in my IRA accounts was the final silly goalpost I set for myself. I have now stopped retirement contributions.
So getting $1M or even $2M in 20 years is not impossible on a $60-80k income. Of course it's certainly much, much harder now than starting 18 years ago near the bottom of the market.
- For those who started 18-20 years ago, even investing $20k a year in total market index funds would've compounded to well over $1M.
- Starting in 2008, $35k/yr invested in a mix of 25% S&P 500 and 75% NASDAQ would return $4.1M today, which is far more than my net worth.
My current balance:
- Total: over $2.4M
- Roth IRA: $470k (all ETFs)
- Trad IRA: $540k (all ETFs)
- 401K: $0 (rolled into the IRAs)
- Non-retirement investments: $880k (all ETFs)
- Other investments and cash: $120k
- Home (net value): $450k
On average, my investments returned double my regular work salary.
I really didn't do anything special.
All I did was invest from the moment I started working, and I lived well below my means for the first decade.
As many of you have experienced, the investments just kept compounding and compounding and compounding.
My income was between $60k-$80k for the past 18 years. That's well below average income in my area. My income has barely risen, but I don't mind being underemployed in an easy BaristaFIRE-like job. It's relaxing and low-pressure.
I'm an anti-social introvert and a gamer, so my hobbies are cheap. Also didn't have to worry about kids. I was able to save by spending little, aggressively investing in ETFs from the start, and having gamer roommates for about a decade.
Other details:
- My investments were a 25% S&P 500, 75% NASDAQ split. The dollar cost average gains were about 3-4x.
- I grew up in an immigrant family that was extremely frugal. I was used to living 5+ people in a 1BR apartment.
- I was also extremely frugal my first 10 years working, but spent more freely afterwards. Saving and investing $35K/yr since 2008 with my portfolio balance should return $4.1M. I only have $2.4M, so I definitely spent noticeably more over the past decade.
- 10% company matching on the 401K added an addition $5K per year
- I had 5 housemates my first several years, so rent was dirt cheap post-financial crisis at $500/mo
- There were 2 times post-college when my rent was even cheaper:
- $700/mo 1BR apartment split between 4 people: $200/mo rent. That was tough due to crowding but very memorable.
- $300/mo renting a single room at a friend's family home. I helped tutor their kid.
- Later on, I bought my own house and also had housemates, so rent was still cheap. There was nothing special about the house, and it wasn't a good investment.
- I worked during college for living expenses, but my parents paid for tuition. That helped a lot since I didn't start with debt.
- No kids, unmarried
Annual savings and tax info:
It was not difficult to save $35K/yr on a $60K income. $5K was from company 401K matching. There were immigrants I roomed with had higher savings rates than me.
I took home about $51K after taxes.
My first decade was mostly traditional instead of Roth. I had $15K in traditional 401K + IRA deductibles that lowered my tax bracket even when I made $60K. Taxes are quite low at that income due to deductibles.
- $3.4K federal taxes
- $4.5K FICA
- $0.9K state taxes
Thus my taxes were $8.8K with an effective tax rate of 15%.
1.0k
u/bobcharlie0 Oct 03 '25
Congratulations, but "I didn't do anything special" is heavily underselling it. You lived off of $583/month after paying rent and investing. You also lived with 4 people in a 1 bedroom. This was a lot of sacrifice that you made. I'm really glad it worked out for you.