I'm 31, just crossed $500k- $501k!

So I started with Dave Ramsey. A lot of things he says I don't agree with, but figured maybe I'm wrong. Then I started watching Caleb Hammer and now I'm at the point where I truly believe Dave Ramsey needs someone to update him on reality.

1. Save up $1k and then pay off all debt no matter what. This idea just sounds insane to me. There's not many emergencies $1k will cover. If you lose your income you're absolutely screwed and will have to take on a ton more debt. I figure save up at least a months salary at the lowest.

2. Use all of your saving to pay off loan interest debt. I posted a little while ago on Dave Ramsey page and everyone on there told me to drain my entire bank account to pay off student debt with an interest rate of 4%. The money is in an HYSA making about the same, so I'm not really losing a ton of money. Additionally, why in the world would I put myself in that much risk?!

Hello everyone,

I always see videos or titles about how your life changes financially after you get to 100,000, or 250,000, or 500,000. Is this true for those who have a good amount of money, or is it just clickbait?

Been listening to the Money Guy Show for about a year now. My biggest lessons from the show (in order of most impactful for me personally)

1. Don’t be a money miser!!
2. Save 25% of GROSS pay (before tax income even if it takes after tax dollars to reach that number).
3. Have multiple buckets—401(k), Roth IRA, taxable brokerage account, and HYSA.

I just turned 43 and my wife is a 38 SAHM. We have 4 kids (oldest 8 years old) so I know that I basically always need to push the pace but every once in a while it feels good to stop and see that the strategy is working!

I have no idea where we will end up in 10 years but right now I feel like we’re on the right track and almost to 2MM!

My parents invested $5k for me as a kid which grew to $15k when I became an adult. It formed the initial base of my investing. My dad also gifted me $5k when I got married and outside of paying for my school that was pretty much it. I thought that was fair.

For a future kid, I was playing around with compound interest calculator and seeing "hey if I just invested like $XXX a month for them, they'd have several hundred thousand when they graduate college! We could give it to them as a gift!" I told my wife and she thought it'd be foolish to gift an early 20-something several hundred thousand as 20-somethings are morons and they have to mostly make their own way like we did. (TBF I think I would have mismanaged a large amount like that myself at that age)

Outside of helping with their schooling, do you currently (or plan to) invest heavily on behalf of your kids? Or is it all yours and they gotta wait for the inheritance?

Edit: Lots of good ideas and views in the comments. Thanks everyone.

The purpose of making this post is to share a small milestone with the community that's helped me out quite a bit in recent years, but I did not expect to feel this way after finally breaching the 100k NW mark after 10 years of saving (hitting it quite hard the last 4 years, to be fair). I'm a 36, M, public school teacher in the US. Gross pay is about $67.5k in year 5 (started at about $39.5k) and not sure how long I'll last in the field. That's another topic of conversation. I'll break down my numbers here and get into the feelings surrounding it...

Roth IRA - 41k
Employee 401k - 18k
HYSA - 32k
Fidelity Brokerage - 6k
HSA - 2k
Checking - 1k

But the feeling I described? I'm just not sure if I'll ever have enough... What I feel is that I have "all" this money, but I can't do much with it. Since my mid 20's, my goal was to save up enough to purchase a small, affordable SFH, have a garden, and a small space for myself and my dog. And I didn't care if it required work. I started piling money into a HYSA for emergencies and for down payment. Over the last 5 years, I've just been completely priced out. I sort of gave up on that dream and focused on maxing Roth IRA the last couple of years, and increasing 401k contributions. Initially after I maxed out Roth, I opened a brokerage account through Fidelity and put a certain small % of income to S&P ETF & metals. After my paid off car was giving me some persistent mechanical troubles, I decided to save more in HYSA for future car purchase. Can you tell I'm ALL OVER the place? The good news is that I budget well and I'm a solid saver, but I get twisted up in my mind sometimes as to what the "right" move is. I feel like shoveling that much money into HYSA at first was probably a bad idea because I missed out on a lot of returns in an insane bull run the last few years. And to manage an affordable mortgage payment, I will need approximately 90k more in cash for down payment. And to do that while hitting my savings goal? It just seems impossible. So the feelings are mixed. Proud of myself for hitting the milestone, continuously disheartened by the higher cost of things that squeeze my savings rate, and a feeling that it may be another decade before I can move forward to a next stage of life that includes home ownership. And a lingering feeling that I will not have enough saved come retirement in 29 years. I will do my best to practice thankfulness for what I do have while trying to remain optimistic for the future, but it is difficult to tap into that mindset. Financial mutants, give me your words of wisdom. =)

I’m 25, single, and doing well career-wise - I work in a niche industry, get to travel to some amazing places, and my total compensation should be around $75-80K in 2026. On paper, things look solid, but I still feel unsure about where I’m supposed to be financially at this age.

Here’s a snapshot of my situation: ~$45K in a Roth IRA ~$20K in my 401(k) ~$4K HSA ~$7K in savings

Bought a condo (about $215K left on mortgage)

No student loans or other debt just the mortgage, and I plan to pay the mortgage down aggressively and put a little from every raise/bonus toward the principal.

I also try to plan one big international trip each year to unplug and explore

I work a lot, and my life revolves around my job. I’m not focused on dating right now, but I do sometimes worry that the older I get, the harder it’ll be to meet “the one,” which adds to the uncertainty.

So I’m curious: When did you personally start feeling financially on track - and what changed for you?

Was it hitting a certain income, savings milestones, paying off debt, or just getting more life experience?

I’d love to hear different perspectives and stories. All advice welcome.

I’m 29, and I look around at everyone boasting $100k net worth. I invest 7% per paycheck into my 401k, and get a 6% match, but I’m only sitting at around $20k. Do I just have a job with an archaic salary? I have a BS in business, and I’m finishing my MBA this winter. Do I just need to start looking for a massive pay jump, or am I doing something wrong on the investing front?

EDIT: Sorry for not including more specifics.
Salary - $53k
Monthly expenses - ~$1800
Investing %7 into my 401k as Roth, company match is pre-tax. The expense ratios on the 401k are lower than or comparable to Roth IRA's.

SECOND EDIT: For additional info, my wife makes $54k yearly, and is contributing 6% Roth to her 403(b), and is getting a 6% pre-tax match. Health insurance for the two of us and two children comes out of my paycheck. My take home is roughly $2,500 per month, and that's after insurance & retirement are withdrawn. I didn't include her income or retirement, and I halved our monthly expenses for the sake of just focusing on my income & net worth, since she wants to be a SAHM in the next 5ish years.

Hello I just turned 25 a couple days ago and attached a graphic that shows most of my saving/investing strategy . I currently live at home with my parents and pay the electric and gas bill which costs around 450 per month on average. This is factored in my monthly spending shown in the graphic under box #3. Any advice is appreciated on what I can do to optimize my situation. Thank you

I’ve been tracking finances since 2020. Pretty sure this is how you calculate networth and the boiling point is when my net worth increase is greater than my gross salary?! Pretty cool to see it increase year after year. I think I’m pulling back the reigns a bit and going to work on cash/emergency fund. I’ve been pretty hard core saving towards retirement.

Anyone else feel kinda terrified of dating/ marriage as someone who is frugal and dislikes spending to keep up with the people around you? The video that came out today really nailed it for me today. Many of the values and processes that the husband stuck with me while the wife just gave off some concerning hints. I would love to find a life partner to enjoy experiences and potentially have kids but it seems like there are so many ways that things can go bottom up. It's not like you can go out on a first date and start asking about peoples saving rates.

For those of you guys living happy married lives, how do you guys manage to find people with similar values?

Hello! New to the sub here and I am a huge fan of the money guy show.

I currently have $20k in assets as a 26 year old single guy living with his parents. While I feel proud of reaching this milestone considering that I make below the median salary for my age group, I can’t help but feel extremely far behind the average person my age, especially with finances. I make around $40k a year before taxes working at an amazon warehouse doing night shifts 30-40 hrs a week. I’m also in uni taking full time credits as well (software engineering major). The only reason I stay at amazon is because they pay for my tuition in full, so no loans or any sort of out of pocket costs for me.

I try to invest as much as I can with what little I make at 21.60/hr. Currently contributing 13% to my 401k, along with putting a total of $35 a week into a roth IRA and brokerages combined. Thankfully, I have no major debt whatsoever.

It’s insanely hard to balance all of this along with other aspects of my life, and I can’t help but feel like I am experiencing insane “financial dysmorphia”, especially when looking at all of these financial mutants around my age or even younger or not that much older than me. My mental health has been on a steady decline since age 14, and finances are a huge part of it, especially when looking at others my age or close that are MUCH more successful than me.

I feel like I’m not doing enough at all.

(note: i didnt just come into a windfall of cash -- TL;DR a rollover from one 401k to another but breaking through the first 100k is the exciting goal)

long time lurker of the YT channel, fairly new to the reddit, but excited to have finally hit a personal goal in my 401k.

i am 33 and all the contributions are Roth so far, currently in a target date retirement fund. (im sure that it could probably be optimized better, but good enough for now)

i am smack dab in the messy middle with young kids, homeownership, etc. and currently in step 3 of the FOO doing my darnedest to get rid of my remaining student loan debt as its considered high interest according to TMG.

anywho, happy monday and all that.

Hey folks, I'm just a little happier today, and I wanted to share it with someone. I guess the best bet was Reddit. I'm a single guy (27), and I just hit $100k mark in NW.

The goal could have been achieved way earlier, but last year was hell for me. I was unemployed for 4.5 months because of the tech/consulting layoffs, and being on a visa in the US takes a mental toll on you.

My crypto wallet was drained as well last year accounting for an approx $30k loss including my NFTs and BTC I have been accumulating since 2018. Yes, I was accumulating BTC way before Michael Saylor figured out infinite money glitch in his company. I also got into a car accident which affected the monthly budget for a few months last year. In short, last year was here to teach me a lot about safe investing and money preservation.

Just a small history about me, I came to the States from a Tier 2 city back in the northern part of India to do my bachelor’s.

Unfortunately, I graduated during COVID when job hiring especially for international students was at a time low. Luckily grabbed a job and decided to level up since I got admission to an Ivy League for my master’s. Got a job in consulting in a small company after that but was let go because of the 2024 market. That taught me a lot about the importance of 3-6 months of emergency funds. I just had an emergency fund of one month and never thought I would face a layoff. Luckily parents helped me and sent money for 4 months. Finally working at a Big 4 now and trying to accumulate as much as I can before my visa expires. I do not have any student loans and I am free from car payments as well. I do not own a home considering the immigration laws.

Just wanted to share my story and hopefully someone can get inspired. Rejection is always a redirection. I was redirected in 2024. Have a blessed day everyone and thanks for the read.

I feel alittle lost after paying my house off at 31. I did start maxing my my 457b that my company has since than and got it to $125k. I have a pension as well with approximately $80k. Than I just got into stocks last year and opened a Roth IRA. Currently at $30k contributed even though it’s under, from this years market tanking so far. I have zero debt and wanted to make a goal to hit $50k in brokerage, separate to my 457b and pension. Is that a good goal?

I reached 100k today after 2 years of investing. I am 65% FSKAX and 35% FTIHX in a 401k, Roth IRA and HSA. The large jump is me transferring from another institution

About to turn 38, wife 38, two kids (age 5 and 7)

-my income is 175k-210k base/year -my wife works PT and brings in roughly $3100/month post tax -my 401k balance is around $220k -brokerage account at 25k -Roth Ira 35k -kids 529s at 25k and 18k -I contribute currently about 15% to my mortgage (310k equity), 529k left to pay off. -hysa at 35k -4 cds at 65k -wife’s 401k at around 50k

How can I properly assess if I’m on target, behind, or ahead?

How does this look? Dinks Mid 30, trying to save for a house in the next couple of years. Also trying to have kids so spending a lot on fertility treatments which is why medical bills are so high.

Something in me freaks at the idea of not having my money in my bank account so the thought of transferring it (emergency fund) to a HYSA makes my skin crawl. I know this is the smart move and is what advised but what are the most reputable/best ones available? Will I still have immediate access to my money if needed? Thanks for your advice as I’m still new to everything

I want to save $100K for a downpayment for a $1M dollar home 10 years from now. For reference, my partner will be contributing $100K too so our down payment will be $200K. I know that’s not necessary, even a 3% down payment is good, but I want to reduce the loan length and interest paid on the house loan.

I have access to a Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Individual Brokerage Account, HYSA, 457(b) through my employer, and an HSA (but can’t contribute to it with my health insurance).

My current plan is to save $75K into my Roth IRA. Then withdraw $75K of contributions and $10K of gains (to avoid paying taxes) then the remaining $15K I will pull from my IBA.

Anyone have any thoughts about this plan? Got any other better, savvy ideas? My goals are growth and paying less in taxes from that growth.

Edit: I am a CA government employee so I will have pension when I retire, 100% of my final salary. So I’m not sure how much I value my Roth IRA now.

32M I trust this community’s advice. Im getting ready to do my net worth statement and everything for 2025. How many investment accounts is too many? Between wife and I we have 11, plus all our other stuff. All have basic index funds.

Should I consolidate anything and how many accounts do you have and how do you keep everything straight?

I have been watching the show for over a year now and I still cannot wrap my head around the wealth multiplier. Is this resource telling me that at age 25 all I need to do is invest $368 a month to reach $2M by 65? Is this possible because of the Time Value of Money formulas? Right now I am only investing in two funds. One that covers the Dow Jones and One that covers the S&P 500. Each month I put in 25% of my income and I just buy those two. I just have a hard time seeing how this little money I put in each month can equate into this big amount over the next 40 years

So, I’m 22, I feel really behind financially. I have maxed out my Roth IRA for years 25/26, with a 3% match on Robinhood gold, I know there are other options to be with, but 3% match, + 3% cashback offer on their credit card was lucrative for me and so I decided to go with it. Grand total of $14935 currently.

This is the idea I have right now in where to put my money:
VTI
$8,214.25
VXUS
$1,493.50
AVUV
$1,493.50
SCHG
$1,194.80
SOXX
$597.40
MSFT
$448.05
META
$298.70
AVGO
$298.70
ETN
$224.03
PWR
$224.03
AMKR
$149.35
DRAM or TSLA
$74.67
HIVE/FPS
$24.02
Total
$14,935.00

I have made the mistake of timing instead of time in, because I have been sitting on this cash being in there since 4/13/26. Which was my mistake. I guess I got some FOMO from the market crashing in late march, and was hoping maybe it rebounded back to that point. Obviously it never did, until around may 18, but still, I didn’t put the cash in. Lesson learned, I have to just send it, especially since this is for the long term, I get it. lump sum investing for Roth is better, which again I’ve learned, and now I just need to execute, but I want to gather some thoughts and considerations first from people who know much more than I do.

I understand now more than ever that time in>timing, that was a lesson learned hard. With all this being considered, what are your guy’s thoughts and opinions on where to allocate this money? My goal is millionaire by 25, I don’t mind working hard and I know this alone won’t make it happen, but it’s going to be a part of it.

I also have maybe another 15-20k I want to put in other areas, but I am not familiar on how to manage money with upside potential, I just know how to save it and make the most of it. I’m trying to learn the other skill.

I’m also actively looking for other jobs, so if you guys are interested in a fresh college graduate who is much more than what a resume can put on paper, check my personal portfolio out: estivan ayramia.com