Haha I feel this - was nearly 45 before finally started investing, but NW really started to grow when I did…
Subs like this and others helped build my financial literacy and encouraged a purposeful FIRE goal, and seeing people with this knowledge in their 20s and 30s (even 40s) makes me think they’ve a really good chance to achieve FIRE on their terms.
Good luck - it’s (almost) literally never too late…
I wish my FIL started at 47.... Every year it's the same.. "I'm too old" "social security will be enough with my pension" don't think he could tell you what his pension amount would be.
If he had started investing in his 401k and IRA back then he'd have a good bit saved up, at least to pad the SS and pension a couple hundred a month for a few years.
35, $207k, only started getting serious about it in the last 3yrs, net worth was about $50k 3 years ago. Also I’m from a 3rd world country and only stepped up to a decent salary in the last 4 or so years.
35M - $1.8mil. Been serious about it since 14 yrs old. Our dad told us if we wanted a car we had to work for it but would match any contribution we put into it. So we started working and saving young.
Catch was once we graduated Highschool he revealed he put all of our car savings into a fund and gained interest. Not just what we put in but also his match. So he paid for the car we would’ve paid for and secretly invested the rest.
My oldest sister bought a new luxury car for college and emptied her account. I never touched the money and it’s still sitting in an account for about 20 yrs now. The account was in the $15,000-$20,000 range in High school and today it’s almost $300,000. Still haven’t touched it.
I guess I should say from a financial perspective that's how to raise your kids. Of course fathers should be physically present for their kids too so that sucks to hear for you. But he not only provided you with money but also did a good job teaching you to save so in that sense he was a great role model.
I added to the account for ‘college spendings’ up until college. Same rules applied where he would match. Once we graduated Highschool the deal was over. I might’ve contributed a total of $35-$40k (includes matching so $20k of my own money).
I got a full ride for college so I never dipped into it. Also worked full time in the summer for personal spending during the school year.
$345k, 33, I got really serious about personal finance when I was 26 but I’ve been on overdrive the last 4 years. Covid was surprisingly very good to me.
49, $4.4m. Married 20+ years. Started at about 27-28 when we were both working corpo desk jobs and raising a 2-year old. It was obvious that it was no way to live. I won’t lie, figuring out FIRE wasn’t easy. It was a lot of planning, lessons learned. Moved back to one salary while I went back to school, which was way harder at age 30. Once I finished (doctorate) we worked simultaneously for 2 years to pay off any liabilities other than our house payment. After that we reduced our work commitments. 3 years ago we downsized our house to eliminate that liability also. Now we both do minimal work in non-office environments. It was worth it. My best advice is to embrace the suck, be prepared to adjust your plan on the fly, and never ever stop trying to improve your understanding of financial principals.
Yeah, I know this story well. I had to dump my 401k for medical debts more than 20 years ago. But I built it all back and more. Retired before 60. It can be done.
Same boat kinda. I’m 30, and this gives me hope and inspiration. Glad you made it rocket 🚀. May I ask what field you worked in and what steps you took to get there?
My field was whatever part-time jobs I could cobble together. My negative NW was from:
1) being waaay underwater on a house I'd bought at the peak
2) nearly $50k CC debt
3) student loan from unfinished degree
I started my own small business and kept working PT as well and while I didn't make a whole lot overall (low $50k/yr) I lived like a pauper and always had a roommate paying me rent and paid off the CC debt within about 2-3 yrs. Then I kept living like a pauper and saving my $ and started buying houses. I'd buy one to move into and then rent out the one I just left. Every 2-3 years or so. The house I was way underwater on eventually came back and the new places did great. I sold all my rental portfolio just in the last couple years.
I also eventually found a stable FT job which allowed me to save in 401(k), Roth IRA. No kids or family either, which I'm kind of bummed about, but from a financial perspective was a fantastic move.
You can do it, too.
43 here. Was in same boat in '08, bought in 07 was 130k negative equity on a house, 50k cc debt and cashed out 401k trying to keep the house. 100hrs towards a degree. Had no wife no kids. Short sold the house to avoid BK. Got married, finished degree, zerod cc debt, had 2 kids, got CFP...
Now 1m-ish net worth, with 250k equity in primary, and 250k in former house as a rental that cash flows 1k/mo. 500k in mutual funds. Wouldn't trade the fam for the difference. Find a good one, have a kid... You can do it too! Not too late!
About $6k, 20F. Started getting serious about personal finance when i was 17/18, but my NW is still not so much, due to the fact that I'm still a student (in Sweden).
Moved to the US at 32 with $100k. Got really serious about FIRE a few years later around 35. I'm now 48 and last month I hit $2.44m. should be able to comfortably retire between 52 and 55.
I also moved to the US at that age with around $100k. Currently 40 and up to $750 stock + $750 home equity, hoping to be close to where you are at in the next 8 years. Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks! Currently $240k but had a couple of years there where I was on $300k + $80k/year in RSUs. (My spouse earns an additional $140k so this is joint net worth)
We have a kid and love in a VHCOL area so life is expensive. Most of our investments have come via 401k + match, RSUs and some smart property purchases.
2m, 59 yrs old. I have been investing since I was about 30. I didn't learn about FIRE and self-managing my investments until about 5 yr ago. I probably would have a lot more if I had learned earlier and not had financial advisors, bad advice and their fees along the way.
$6.2M, 52m, got serious about finances from day one (first part time job in college). Married a woman who is wise with money when we were 23. Both of us come from middle class upbringings, so a frugal mindset is baked in. Started investing with my first paycheck from my career job.
36F, $1.2million
I've been serious about saving and investing for the long term since high school. I didn't know about FI/RE until I was in my 20s but I luckily made a lot of good choices that set me up pretty well anyway.
I have a house that is nearly paid off and no other loans, and I am looking to 'retire' to teaching, coaching, or some type of community service work within the next 10 years.
35F. 750k (not including husbands 401k which would put us probably near a million if considered a joint asset). I have close to 300k in my own personal retirement accounts, 210k investments/cash, the rest is real estate equity plus my car which is worth about 10k.
I was serious since graduating college and having 70k of student loans. I hated how much debt I had. I did everything I could to pay those off. I had nothing. No car. No driver's license. Just had debt. Some of my student loans had close to 10% interest and were private loans. The interest was killing me. I only made 35-45k a year the first few years out of college so it was hard. Eventually made 65k when I turned 25. Then 75k at 27. 105k at 28. 135k at 29. From there it got easier and easier to pay the debt down aggressively. I just changed jobs when good opportunities arose. Was recently laid off but was making 330k last year. Now I have a small business I'm building up.
During my debt payoff phase I also supported my partner through vision loss diagnosis. he had a 3 year career break where he had to learn braille and stuff as he learned he was going blind. So when I say I paid off my student debt myself I mean it. He does have a well paying job now though.
Finally got debt free in 2020. My net worth exploded after that. Bought a house with a 3.25% interest rate before those went up. Paying that down while investing more.
A good job — pay was mid to upper middle class for NYC — upper by normal regions’ standards. Paid off my student loan. Bought the least apartment I could see tolerating for at least a decade with 35% down payment, paid off in about 6 years ($166K total). No car. Wasted exactly zero dollars on status-driven purchases. Lived on about 80% of my net salary, banked the entirety of my substantial bonuses. Maxed traditional 401k. Back door Roth once I learned that exists about 4 years ago. Sticking with 3-funds, never gambling on individual stocks or Monopoly money.
32 years old, going to be 33 in a month. I’ve been investing for a while, but I only started to get serious with savings goals around 2018 or so- that was when I said “I am going to save $X” instead of just chucking in whatever was left over at the end of the year. Between my wife and I, we have about $350k CAD in investments, and I conservatively estimate that the equity in our house is about $535k, so our total net worth is about $885k excluding cash, cars and miscellaneous bullshit.
I personally think net worth is a meaningless figure when it comes to FIRE. What really matters is income-generating investments. I’m maybe 1 year away from a $1M net worth at my current savings rate, but I’m still pretty far away from $1M of invested assets, which is what will actually fund our retirement.
Thank you! I'm making 22 an hour (I think that's good? Lol) and I live with my parents, so as long as I do college, I only have to pay for my gas. It's my only expense because I got scholarships for my college, so it's paid for the full 4 years. Already got my roth ira started and a hysa :D
I’ve been serious about personal finance ever since taking personal finance class as a senior in high school! It was a requirement to graduate and I believe it should be a requirement for all high schoolers. I’d been a big fan of saving but that’s where compound interest really clicked for me and with the help of my parents, I made my first investment purchases with money from my part time job at McDonald’s.
I’m currently 25 and my NW is $130k. I have about 10% of my NW in cash HYSA and the rest is allocated amongst my Roth IRA, 401K, HSA, and brokerage. I currently max out all the tax advantaged accounts. I haven’t contributed to my brokerage account in awhile because I am saving the remaining cash for a down payment of my first house. I should be able to increase my income significantly over the next five years to put money in the brokerage in order to save for an earlier retirement than 59.5.
$2.4M. Married and 38. Got serious about finance at about 24. Got my first job for $27,000 out of college in ‘08 after the GR, and knew I needed to swing for the fences rather than try and climb the salaried corporate ladder. Took a commissioned based job and bet on myself at 24 and still in that role today.
Amen to that! For those that wants kids, they’re just a different type of investment that returns love instead of $. Each to their own on what returns people want and in what combinations!
25. $250K, I have worked for 6 years and almost always saved 60% per month because I had poor childhood and I am afraid losing my income/money - so I try to save as much as possible. (This is not good approach to life but I probably need to take psycological support to overcome this)
20, my net worth just broke 28k this month got serious about finances at 16
I've been working since 15 and I was always a saver but didn't learn about fire until 16. Now I go to school full time and work at a variety store part time during the school year and full time in the summer, living at home has been a godsend for my savings.
92k, 24, I don't know? As a child, I mostly read books because of the library and my parents buying them for me. I didn't want to spend my allowance on videogames. By the time I graduated college, I had saved up 15k of allowance + summer jobs money. I first started getting into FIRE when I was 22 but am currently in grad school so not contributing much.
57k, 26m, 21
Getting married next year (our finances are combined now). Would be higher but we had the following:
-Sinus surgery for me this year (out of pocket maximum)
-Transmission replacement last year (sucky Fords, I know better now)
-6k in car repairs (financee)
-Getting her a reliable car Honda CRV Hybrid (never get a used nissan murano, or any nissan with those f tier CVTs or their other issues) we both broke down 3 times last year so hoping things are good now. I take good care of my cars SINCE college and since then I have learned over the years, and do a lot of the maintenance work myself
-buying an engagement ring
-combining finances and getting her student debt
All and all think we are doing alright, wish we could save more but we are paying for our wedding and my ring this year
Since graduating I have to say, a bad car choice will cost you dearly. Toyota, Honda, Mazda or bust
$2m, 36 years old. I'm not sure that I qualify as serious about personal finance still. I know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't do any of it.
I have no retirement accounts set up even though I've been saying that I will set them up since the age of 24.
I have two kids now who both need 529s opened for them and I still haven't gotten around to it.
I'm self employed and have been running my own business since I was 21 and have been mostly focused on that. I've been lucky enough that business is good, but I'm not doing any of the right things that I need to be doing to make retirement easier. All of my investments are purely in the stock market with a bit in real estate and my business.
I always made the excuse that I needed to reinvest into my business to make it bigger so I couldn't spare the funds to set aside into a Roth IRA or retirement accounts (and that with no employer match it's not as big a benefit anyways). But at this point I'm just procrastinating and making excuses. I'm just intimidated by the whole process and uncomfortable with setting money aside that I can't touch because I've always been in total control since I've been 21.
We have a couple of small restaurants (think takeout oriented more than sit-down although we have both). We've opened up 5 total in the last 8 years, but sold 3 of them when they weren't doing so well (but well enough to recoup all the investment costs). It's just difficult to manage everything well as a smaller enterprise without professional management. Things tend to fall apart when we're not there because our systems aren't technically well thought out. We learned by doing and we just adjusted a lot on the fly.
I've thought about pursuing a management/business degree just to see how much more efficiently I could get the places running, but I'm kind of cruising right now and I'm more interested in real estate at the moment.
I’m 40, I have about 500k liquid in stocks and crypto. Also own 50% of a free and clear duplex with my sister, worth about 800k that we are renting. No kids, so I’m trying to hit 1 million without the house in a few years.
$1.1M, 35. i started contributing to my 401k and investing in my 20s… made some good decisions and plenty of bad ones. i could probably always be more serious about my finances to better maximize my portfolios.
With home equity? Maybe 300k
Without it maybe 100k at 33.
I'm maxing out my 401k now that I'm making more money. Essentially my whole last raise is going to 401k
35, $850k, since 21. As my income has gone up and I got married and had kids, I’ve eased off the gas a little over the last few years to enjoy our money a little more.
Equal to 900k usd. Im 42. Found out about fire in 2010 and it became a light obsession to save as much as possible since. My goal was fire at 40-45, turned out ok. Don't need much more to live comfortably.
81k
Age = 22
Started learning about trading when I was 16
Got into investing when I was 17-18
I was into good money habits since I was 16 but didn't get serious about trying to retire early until I was 19 I believe.
I was making sub 5-20k/yr from 16-20 and at 21 got my first higher paying job (62k/yr)
21, $25k, i got serious maybe a year ago, not even. I'm not really a FIRE guy rather a FI guy, I like work and I'm just trying to set myself up to move to Greece where 1/2 my family is and not be too worried about my income
300k, 35, 29.
My condo is paid for, it's the only thing I've got to show for myself.
I'm contributing to a defined benefits pension, but I exclude it here. That by itself could pay for my basic needs in retirement, should I remain in my employer's service.
Graduated late (29) with debts (40k) due to a rough start in adulthood.
I remember being ridden with anxiety when I realized how much of an uphill battle I was in front of.
Took a year off aggressive saving and investing. I'm now considering selling my unit, go back to being a tenant and invest the proceeds (300k).
$3.15m ($2.74 non-house) , 50m . started 25 years ago. most of my money is gains compounded over time. Considering retiring. I made a post about it a recently. you can check my post history. Biggest concern is medical insurance. Medical costs are very high in the US.
If you include home equity my wife and I are at 450k (230k in 401k/annuity, 200k equity on 300k house with 100k mortgage) we are both 26 single income w/ 2 small children, I became interested in finances getting out of highschool.
About 536k at 30 years old (~140k equity in house, 396k in investments, retirement, and savings).
I started getting serious about my finances when I was 28. I'd just started my first full-time job after finishing my PhD and was coming into some inheritances. I therefore knew I needed to start getting serious and invest it wisely.
My goal is to reach 1 million in investment / retirement accounts by 40, with my partner as primary breadwinner until I'm 60 / she's 62 and close to retirement. By then I should have about 2.5 million between my retirement accounts and the brokerage that'll still be earning interest. My partner should get a pension between $6,700-$7,500 a month for life (depending on which beneficiary survival rate she chooses), and I should be getting about $7,900 a month from my accounts, so we should be set. Only thing would be to determine if we need to pay out mortgage off by the time I'm 40 / retire, or if I'd want to get a side hustle to at least pay for the mortgage.
Plans are fun to figure out, but of course it's all subject to change. I'm just going to save as much as I can and hope for the best, knowing I'm at least ahead of where I would be otherwise.
$4.8M, I'm 39, was always pretty serious about frugality and getting out of debt (and then accumulating assets), so I'm gonna say 18-21 or so?
I think far more of my financial success is more a function of ending up with a high income than it was my "seriousness" - although I suppose both helped. When I was making $55k and living in a 4 bedroom house renting out 3 of the rooms that was "serious" and I kept that lifestyle up even when I was making 10x that. The larger income did cause me to raise my targets and eventually my budget however.
Started investing around 16 yrs old when I got my first job. Already understood at that age that wealth would not come from income but from invested assets.
Not gonna share an exact number, but am comfortably FIRE’d in mid-40s.
Only discovered the term FIRE a few years back, but folks have been engaging in FIRE behavior for Millenium.
Just over one million, 38now , 27 ish. I say ish because we had a bumpy start, I got hooked on the Suzy Orman/ Dave Ramsey type advice before I found FIRE.
206K, 35. Got serious at 32. I started investing at 27 but had to pull back when i went back to school at 29. Started back up at 32; at that point, i had about 7K invested. Now it's up to 54K. Goal is 100K by 37.
500k at 27. Got lucky buying a two family in an up and coming area.
FIRE doesn’t like to consider personal property - but shit man. I’ll take what I can get 😂
About 750K (630K investment, mainly retirement | \~140K equity on a house with rest mortgage), 32, around 22 when i started my first job, but I'd always been into investing / frugalness
$245k (combined HHNW, individual is around $100k) 26m and wife is 29F.
I was serious since I was 21 but didn’t really make money until 23. When I met my wife she was around 25 and had no financial knowledge, didn’t even have a 401k set up and her company offered 3% matching. So I got her set up with 15% 401k contributions. She still isn’t interested at all but lets me handle everything and invest a higher percent of my income while she covers a larger portion of bills.
~$190k (wife and mine combined) in investments and some cash.
Currently 28.
Got serious about personal finance when I graduated university at 22. Had to pay off student loans, built an emergency fund, etc.
Started seriously investing at 26.
My greatest financial move has been marrying someone who also likes talking about money.
327k when I calculated in December, I’m currently 30 years old. I’ll run the numbers again in July. I’ve always been a saver and a hustler since I started working at 16. I read rich dad poor dad at 21 in college and I’ve been on the path ever since. Most of my wealth is in the properties I own, but I’m getting close to my first liquid 100k, which I’m very excited about.
My wife and I net worth is 7,550 or so. I am 27 years old. I have a 38k student debt. I started taking personal finance seriously about a year or less ago, after starting my career in nursing.
(Our car has equity but idk the value currently so I have merely excluded that from networth cause it’s not a liquid asset we intend to sell. 7.5k loan though)
500k, 35 year old. I've been somewhat serious my whole life but I graduated college for mechanical engineering at 25.
No financial help from family so I had minimal money at 25 but stayed building from there slowly.
Married w/ 1 kid, 32, combined NW of $1.1M. My parents followed Dave Ramsey when I was growing up, so I was always familiar with basic good money habits. I got more serious about saving and investing at about 25 yrs old when I started reading more personal finance books. I also had a boss who taught me about the value of a 401K in my first job out of college. I’m grateful for her.
my wife and i are 37. nw is 1.1m excluding the house. started getting serious about finance when we were 28. both of us already had our full time jobs, married, lived together and were planning our future, which thinking about kids, house and other goals. Reddit hates financial advisors but without working with one at that age we NEVER would've gotten this far. we never would've sat down to look at our budget, we never would've made Roth accounts, never would've thought about retirement that early.
105k net worth, 22 years old. 19 years old is when i really got into it. Started being really serious about finances the day I found out my girlfriend was pregnant. My son is 2 and a half now and I'm in a really good spot. Was getting too comfortable so I went for a promotion at my job and got it. In training now, wish me luck and best of luck to everyone!
130k CAD. Soon to be 21! Became serious about my finances at about 14 when I got my first job. Dominos pizza :) 3 years working almost full time through school helped kickstart my portfolio. Big thanks to YouTube and Reddit for getting me into this mindset! Life changing
Net worth about $11k
I’m 19 and got really into finance about a month before my 18th birthday. Then on my birthday opened up new bank accounts, investments accounts, and got a credit card
$200… 47yrs old… gonna start getting serious next week
Most real reply I’ve seen on this subreddit
Haha I feel this - was nearly 45 before finally started investing, but NW really started to grow when I did… Subs like this and others helped build my financial literacy and encouraged a purposeful FIRE goal, and seeing people with this knowledge in their 20s and 30s (even 40s) makes me think they’ve a really good chance to achieve FIRE on their terms. Good luck - it’s (almost) literally never too late…
Second Tuesday of next week
I wish my FIL started at 47.... Every year it's the same.. "I'm too old" "social security will be enough with my pension" don't think he could tell you what his pension amount would be. If he had started investing in his 401k and IRA back then he'd have a good bit saved up, at least to pad the SS and pension a couple hundred a month for a few years.
35, $207k, only started getting serious about it in the last 3yrs, net worth was about $50k 3 years ago. Also I’m from a 3rd world country and only stepped up to a decent salary in the last 4 or so years.
Same. 3rd world country. Only 2 years of decent salary after moving to a 1st world country
Curious which country you folks are from! Third world here. Tanzania-Africa. 🫡
I’m from Zimbabwe. Not too many fellow Africans on this sub!
I’m from Nigeria
Great to see you here!
One of my best friends is from Zimbabwe.
Awesome! I would love to connect with many people from Africa-pursuing FIRE
r/africafire - birth of a sub?
This is a good idea. Not sure if we would have enough people though. 😃
Created
Yh that could be really interesting
im from Sri Lanka. moved to Singapore 2 years back. net worth was minus when i moved here. spent every penny to get here.
Awesome! Been to Singapore, very beautiful place though expensive. Seems you are on the right path. Wishing you well.
35M - $1.8mil. Been serious about it since 14 yrs old. Our dad told us if we wanted a car we had to work for it but would match any contribution we put into it. So we started working and saving young. Catch was once we graduated Highschool he revealed he put all of our car savings into a fund and gained interest. Not just what we put in but also his match. So he paid for the car we would’ve paid for and secretly invested the rest. My oldest sister bought a new luxury car for college and emptied her account. I never touched the money and it’s still sitting in an account for about 20 yrs now. The account was in the $15,000-$20,000 range in High school and today it’s almost $300,000. Still haven’t touched it.
I hope to be like your dad.
Awesome. Great idea to do for my own kids
That is dad-of-the-year stuff right there. What a great legacy he has provided to you.
I feel like this is the proper way to raise your kids in a privileged/well-off home. I hope to be like your dad.
Not as much growing up b/c he was working alot and more strict. As an adult we are the closest we’ve ever been.
I guess I should say from a financial perspective that's how to raise your kids. Of course fathers should be physically present for their kids too so that sucks to hear for you. But he not only provided you with money but also did a good job teaching you to save so in that sense he was a great role model.
Dad-O-1 K
This is impressive. Did you add to the account or the $20k grew exponentially?
I added to the account for ‘college spendings’ up until college. Same rules applied where he would match. Once we graduated Highschool the deal was over. I might’ve contributed a total of $35-$40k (includes matching so $20k of my own money). I got a full ride for college so I never dipped into it. Also worked full time in the summer for personal spending during the school year.
$345k, 33, I got really serious about personal finance when I was 26 but I’ve been on overdrive the last 4 years. Covid was surprisingly very good to me.
31, 300k, very similar story 2020 was when I started working towards fire.
49, $4.4m. Married 20+ years. Started at about 27-28 when we were both working corpo desk jobs and raising a 2-year old. It was obvious that it was no way to live. I won’t lie, figuring out FIRE wasn’t easy. It was a lot of planning, lessons learned. Moved back to one salary while I went back to school, which was way harder at age 30. Once I finished (doctorate) we worked simultaneously for 2 years to pay off any liabilities other than our house payment. After that we reduced our work commitments. 3 years ago we downsized our house to eliminate that liability also. Now we both do minimal work in non-office environments. It was worth it. My best advice is to embrace the suck, be prepared to adjust your plan on the fly, and never ever stop trying to improve your understanding of financial principals.
$700k, 35, 30
42. $1.7m. I got serious in 2013 when I created a spreadsheet to track my networth that I update every month.
I do this too. I set a calendar reminder and update my net worth monthly. It's an amazing motivator to keep on track
This works like a charm! I started doing that in Feb 2023, and I have already turned it around from -53k then to +33k now.
About $2mil. 45. Got serious at 31 when I was negative 6 figures.
That’s quite the Uno reverse card. Nice work.
Yeah, I know this story well. I had to dump my 401k for medical debts more than 20 years ago. But I built it all back and more. Retired before 60. It can be done.
I hope retirement has been prosperous and enjoyable!!!
Same boat kinda. I’m 30, and this gives me hope and inspiration. Glad you made it rocket 🚀. May I ask what field you worked in and what steps you took to get there?
My field was whatever part-time jobs I could cobble together. My negative NW was from: 1) being waaay underwater on a house I'd bought at the peak 2) nearly $50k CC debt 3) student loan from unfinished degree I started my own small business and kept working PT as well and while I didn't make a whole lot overall (low $50k/yr) I lived like a pauper and always had a roommate paying me rent and paid off the CC debt within about 2-3 yrs. Then I kept living like a pauper and saving my $ and started buying houses. I'd buy one to move into and then rent out the one I just left. Every 2-3 years or so. The house I was way underwater on eventually came back and the new places did great. I sold all my rental portfolio just in the last couple years. I also eventually found a stable FT job which allowed me to save in 401(k), Roth IRA. No kids or family either, which I'm kind of bummed about, but from a financial perspective was a fantastic move. You can do it, too.
43 here. Was in same boat in '08, bought in 07 was 130k negative equity on a house, 50k cc debt and cashed out 401k trying to keep the house. 100hrs towards a degree. Had no wife no kids. Short sold the house to avoid BK. Got married, finished degree, zerod cc debt, had 2 kids, got CFP... Now 1m-ish net worth, with 250k equity in primary, and 250k in former house as a rental that cash flows 1k/mo. 500k in mutual funds. Wouldn't trade the fam for the difference. Find a good one, have a kid... You can do it too! Not too late!
About $6k, 20F. Started getting serious about personal finance when i was 17/18, but my NW is still not so much, due to the fact that I'm still a student (in Sweden).
Wealth is relative. For someone your age, in a country with a strong social safety net, without a full-time job, $6k is a lot of money!
Moved to the US at 32 with $100k. Got really serious about FIRE a few years later around 35. I'm now 48 and last month I hit $2.44m. should be able to comfortably retire between 52 and 55.
I also moved to the US at that age with around $100k. Currently 40 and up to $750 stock + $750 home equity, hoping to be close to where you are at in the next 8 years. Thanks for the motivation!
So you accumulated $1.5m in 8y? Thats quite good, in what range is your income?
Thanks! Currently $240k but had a couple of years there where I was on $300k + $80k/year in RSUs. (My spouse earns an additional $140k so this is joint net worth) We have a kid and love in a VHCOL area so life is expensive. Most of our investments have come via 401k + match, RSUs and some smart property purchases.
31, 800k, since 24
-50k, 32M, 31
Compounding is a hell of a thing
2m, 59 yrs old. I have been investing since I was about 30. I didn't learn about FIRE and self-managing my investments until about 5 yr ago. I probably would have a lot more if I had learned earlier and not had financial advisors, bad advice and their fees along the way.
$9,000. 28 years old. Started a few months ago
20 teetering on $0 from federal student loans
Honestly a lot at your age are negative so you aren’t that bad lol
Seems to me every person in their 20s here has a net worth of $200k.
That’s the ones who share their net worth (or lie about it). It’s a very biased sample.
It’s even worse when they have a logical story to go with it…
$6.2M, 52m, got serious about finances from day one (first part time job in college). Married a woman who is wise with money when we were 23. Both of us come from middle class upbringings, so a frugal mindset is baked in. Started investing with my first paycheck from my career job.
$600k NW, 34yo, started really paying attention around 25yo.
20, and $6k lol
That’s still good, most people your age have 0 or even alot of debt. Dont compare yourself to people in different settings.
Yes, a positive NW ( and the fortitude to keep it that way) will pay you amazing dividends. Keep it up!
That’s like exactly how much I had at 20, now I’m 26 with about 170k
What do you do for work
I was in the military since 19. Been running my own metal fabrication business since 24.
40k, 24 now, started at 23
36F, $1.2million I've been serious about saving and investing for the long term since high school. I didn't know about FI/RE until I was in my 20s but I luckily made a lot of good choices that set me up pretty well anyway. I have a house that is nearly paid off and no other loans, and I am looking to 'retire' to teaching, coaching, or some type of community service work within the next 10 years.
800k , 45, serious around 30. Very serious after Covid
$310k, 36, got serious around age 32.
$1.1M, 34 years old. I read “The Millionaire Next Door” my senior year of college & never looked back.
26, $300k
52, 3.9M usd
$565k. 38. 28.
35F. 750k (not including husbands 401k which would put us probably near a million if considered a joint asset). I have close to 300k in my own personal retirement accounts, 210k investments/cash, the rest is real estate equity plus my car which is worth about 10k. I was serious since graduating college and having 70k of student loans. I hated how much debt I had. I did everything I could to pay those off. I had nothing. No car. No driver's license. Just had debt. Some of my student loans had close to 10% interest and were private loans. The interest was killing me. I only made 35-45k a year the first few years out of college so it was hard. Eventually made 65k when I turned 25. Then 75k at 27. 105k at 28. 135k at 29. From there it got easier and easier to pay the debt down aggressively. I just changed jobs when good opportunities arose. Was recently laid off but was making 330k last year. Now I have a small business I'm building up. During my debt payoff phase I also supported my partner through vision loss diagnosis. he had a 3 year career break where he had to learn braille and stuff as he learned he was going blind. So when I say I paid off my student debt myself I mean it. He does have a well paying job now though. Finally got debt free in 2020. My net worth exploded after that. Bought a house with a 3.25% interest rate before those went up. Paying that down while investing more.
2.4M plus ~450k in paid-off home. I’m 53. Started getting serious around 37, when I was a renter with negative 30k-ish NW.
Maam, may I get some tips how you expedited your FIRE? Thank you!
A good job — pay was mid to upper middle class for NYC — upper by normal regions’ standards. Paid off my student loan. Bought the least apartment I could see tolerating for at least a decade with 35% down payment, paid off in about 6 years ($166K total). No car. Wasted exactly zero dollars on status-driven purchases. Lived on about 80% of my net salary, banked the entirety of my substantial bonuses. Maxed traditional 401k. Back door Roth once I learned that exists about 4 years ago. Sticking with 3-funds, never gambling on individual stocks or Monopoly money.
27, \~260k, 2022 is when I started focusing on maxing my Roth and 401k
115k, 26m, 17
45 1.2 million 30ish is when i got serious because that's when I started making decent money.
32 years old, going to be 33 in a month. I’ve been investing for a while, but I only started to get serious with savings goals around 2018 or so- that was when I said “I am going to save $X” instead of just chucking in whatever was left over at the end of the year. Between my wife and I, we have about $350k CAD in investments, and I conservatively estimate that the equity in our house is about $535k, so our total net worth is about $885k excluding cash, cars and miscellaneous bullshit. I personally think net worth is a meaningless figure when it comes to FIRE. What really matters is income-generating investments. I’m maybe 1 year away from a $1M net worth at my current savings rate, but I’m still pretty far away from $1M of invested assets, which is what will actually fund our retirement.
Great point on NW. Useful crude number to motivate but as you say yielding investments key
17k, 18, and serious at 18. I wish I would have stayed sooner, but I've heard I'm ahead of a lot of people!
Best advice to young ones is to maximize your earning potential. Don't under-invest in yourself at this point.
This is a great advice to the old ones too. We tend to get complacent/tired at a certain point.
Thank you! I'm making 22 an hour (I think that's good? Lol) and I live with my parents, so as long as I do college, I only have to pay for my gas. It's my only expense because I got scholarships for my college, so it's paid for the full 4 years. Already got my roth ira started and a hysa :D
You are going to be absolutely loaded by the time you’re 30 if you keep it up and major in something valuable
Major is computer science, I'm working as an IT Tech rn, I hope to be loaded by 30, money is amazing 😂
About 1.7 million, 38 year olds, been serious my entire life but really got focused around 24
$559k. 41(single). 2018.
~$980k, 27. First got serious about PF in college (so about 18-19) - fortunate to land a job in IB and transition to PE.
I’ve been serious about personal finance ever since taking personal finance class as a senior in high school! It was a requirement to graduate and I believe it should be a requirement for all high schoolers. I’d been a big fan of saving but that’s where compound interest really clicked for me and with the help of my parents, I made my first investment purchases with money from my part time job at McDonald’s. I’m currently 25 and my NW is $130k. I have about 10% of my NW in cash HYSA and the rest is allocated amongst my Roth IRA, 401K, HSA, and brokerage. I currently max out all the tax advantaged accounts. I haven’t contributed to my brokerage account in awhile because I am saving the remaining cash for a down payment of my first house. I should be able to increase my income significantly over the next five years to put money in the brokerage in order to save for an earlier retirement than 59.5.
$2.4M. Married and 38. Got serious about finance at about 24. Got my first job for $27,000 out of college in ‘08 after the GR, and knew I needed to swing for the fences rather than try and climb the salaried corporate ladder. Took a commissioned based job and bet on myself at 24 and still in that role today.
We have such similar stat, also graduated around the GFC, freaking traumatized me and made me hustle and learn to only bet on myself too.
$90K 24M 18. I learned about investing in a civics/economics class in high school when I was 16 and I knew I was going to invest by 18.
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$250k, 27 and started to become serious about finances on Sept 25, 2021, which is the day I quit gambling. My net worth was -20k at the time.
Good story. God bless you.
$240k, 29, start 401k at 23, also took a year off to travel
$250k NW, 39yo now, started at 30 when expecting first child. Family of 3 balancing now vs later. Win some and lose some. Doing the best we can
You’re way ahead of the curve, in great shape.
Thanks kind stranger! It’s nice to hear when nobody you know talks about fire or finances for that matter.
Amen to that! For those that wants kids, they’re just a different type of investment that returns love instead of $. Each to their own on what returns people want and in what combinations!
3.2 M , 44 , 27
about $60k, 21 years of age, started at 18! I got a long way to go but progress is progress
25. $250K, I have worked for 6 years and almost always saved 60% per month because I had poor childhood and I am afraid losing my income/money - so I try to save as much as possible. (This is not good approach to life but I probably need to take psycological support to overcome this)
20, my net worth just broke 28k this month got serious about finances at 16 I've been working since 15 and I was always a saver but didn't learn about fire until 16. Now I go to school full time and work at a variety store part time during the school year and full time in the summer, living at home has been a godsend for my savings.
92k, 24, I don't know? As a child, I mostly read books because of the library and my parents buying them for me. I didn't want to spend my allowance on videogames. By the time I graduated college, I had saved up 15k of allowance + summer jobs money. I first started getting into FIRE when I was 22 but am currently in grad school so not contributing much.
$1,520,000, 32, Been very serious since I was 20.
$1.1m, 41, 32
23M, $240k, I have always been into saving and investing but I’m introverted so it’s fairly easy for me to save
57k, 26m, 21 Getting married next year (our finances are combined now). Would be higher but we had the following: -Sinus surgery for me this year (out of pocket maximum) -Transmission replacement last year (sucky Fords, I know better now) -6k in car repairs (financee) -Getting her a reliable car Honda CRV Hybrid (never get a used nissan murano, or any nissan with those f tier CVTs or their other issues) we both broke down 3 times last year so hoping things are good now. I take good care of my cars SINCE college and since then I have learned over the years, and do a lot of the maintenance work myself -buying an engagement ring -combining finances and getting her student debt All and all think we are doing alright, wish we could save more but we are paying for our wedding and my ring this year Since graduating I have to say, a bad car choice will cost you dearly. Toyota, Honda, Mazda or bust
Just being net positive is great in your 20s :)
>Transmission replacement last year (sucky Fords, I know better now) Let me guess… Ford Focus, PowerShift transmission?
$2m, 36 years old. I'm not sure that I qualify as serious about personal finance still. I know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't do any of it. I have no retirement accounts set up even though I've been saying that I will set them up since the age of 24. I have two kids now who both need 529s opened for them and I still haven't gotten around to it. I'm self employed and have been running my own business since I was 21 and have been mostly focused on that. I've been lucky enough that business is good, but I'm not doing any of the right things that I need to be doing to make retirement easier. All of my investments are purely in the stock market with a bit in real estate and my business. I always made the excuse that I needed to reinvest into my business to make it bigger so I couldn't spare the funds to set aside into a Roth IRA or retirement accounts (and that with no employer match it's not as big a benefit anyways). But at this point I'm just procrastinating and making excuses. I'm just intimidated by the whole process and uncomfortable with setting money aside that I can't touch because I've always been in total control since I've been 21.
What does your business deal in?
We have a couple of small restaurants (think takeout oriented more than sit-down although we have both). We've opened up 5 total in the last 8 years, but sold 3 of them when they weren't doing so well (but well enough to recoup all the investment costs). It's just difficult to manage everything well as a smaller enterprise without professional management. Things tend to fall apart when we're not there because our systems aren't technically well thought out. We learned by doing and we just adjusted a lot on the fly. I've thought about pursuing a management/business degree just to see how much more efficiently I could get the places running, but I'm kind of cruising right now and I'm more interested in real estate at the moment.
$450k, 27, 28. Been tracking finances and investing in RE for the past 7 years. Working on reducing spending
$115k, 19 currently, got serious at 15
I’m 40, I have about 500k liquid in stocks and crypto. Also own 50% of a free and clear duplex with my sister, worth about 800k that we are renting. No kids, so I’m trying to hit 1 million without the house in a few years.
28 & 30 married. Approx 400k net worth including our house which is approx 100K of the 400k. Got serious during covid.
32, $2m. Since I was 16
35, 1.35m, serious at 24-25
500k, 35m, 23
$550k 25 Started at 21
$4mm NW 52yo, been interesting in the stock market and investing since before the first Black Monday in 1987
$425k, 30 years old, got started at 23years old.
29, ~$1m, 25 upon graduating uni
$1.1M, 35. i started contributing to my 401k and investing in my 20s… made some good decisions and plenty of bad ones. i could probably always be more serious about my finances to better maximize my portfolios.
2.7 million, 33m. 21.
24M, 155k, 21
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25, 55k, got serious in June 2020.
With home equity? Maybe 300k Without it maybe 100k at 33. I'm maxing out my 401k now that I'm making more money. Essentially my whole last raise is going to 401k
35, $850k, since 21. As my income has gone up and I got married and had kids, I’ve eased off the gas a little over the last few years to enjoy our money a little more.
220k ish. 32. Started seriously at 30
Equal to 900k usd. Im 42. Found out about fire in 2010 and it became a light obsession to save as much as possible since. My goal was fire at 40-45, turned out ok. Don't need much more to live comfortably.
81k Age = 22 Started learning about trading when I was 16 Got into investing when I was 17-18 I was into good money habits since I was 16 but didn't get serious about trying to retire early until I was 19 I believe. I was making sub 5-20k/yr from 16-20 and at 21 got my first higher paying job (62k/yr)
800k 39m, got serious in 2021 a year or so post divorce.
$520K, 36M, 28M, path forward is clear, should be able to retire in 9 years with somewhere around $2.5MM.
210k 32, 26
Not counting my home at all since I’m not sure where it fits due to the mortgage. But 430k, 29 years old. Got serious about it after graduation at 24.
1.0mil, 36, started around 27
$560k, 27, 21
About 450k at 37. Lucky to have bought a house in 2011 and that's where most of my net worth is. Got serious at 37.
$400k, 27, got “serious” around 21/22 and then super serious at like 25
$785k, 30, 22
21, $25k, i got serious maybe a year ago, not even. I'm not really a FIRE guy rather a FI guy, I like work and I'm just trying to set myself up to move to Greece where 1/2 my family is and not be too worried about my income
$250k, 25, since I started working full time at 22.
650k, 34 now, Probably 30is when I started getting serious
40k. 24M. 23 (from Spain)
Late 40s, happily coast FI. started investing with my first “adult” paycheck.
$350k, 29 years old, I’ve always been involved in personal finance but probably 24 is when I started investing after graduating college
850k, 35. I always saved but did no investing until 29. Was sitting on 250k in a bank of America account like that YG song
24, $97k. Still need to get more serious and restrict unnecessary spending.
400k, 30, 26
300k, 35, 29. My condo is paid for, it's the only thing I've got to show for myself. I'm contributing to a defined benefits pension, but I exclude it here. That by itself could pay for my basic needs in retirement, should I remain in my employer's service. Graduated late (29) with debts (40k) due to a rough start in adulthood. I remember being ridden with anxiety when I realized how much of an uphill battle I was in front of. Took a year off aggressive saving and investing. I'm now considering selling my unit, go back to being a tenant and invest the proceeds (300k).
46, 3.5M. Opened Roth right out of school and contributed to 401k to get match.
$3.15m ($2.74 non-house) , 50m . started 25 years ago. most of my money is gains compounded over time. Considering retiring. I made a post about it a recently. you can check my post history. Biggest concern is medical insurance. Medical costs are very high in the US.
If you include home equity my wife and I are at 450k (230k in 401k/annuity, 200k equity on 300k house with 100k mortgage) we are both 26 single income w/ 2 small children, I became interested in finances getting out of highschool.
About 536k at 30 years old (~140k equity in house, 396k in investments, retirement, and savings). I started getting serious about my finances when I was 28. I'd just started my first full-time job after finishing my PhD and was coming into some inheritances. I therefore knew I needed to start getting serious and invest it wisely. My goal is to reach 1 million in investment / retirement accounts by 40, with my partner as primary breadwinner until I'm 60 / she's 62 and close to retirement. By then I should have about 2.5 million between my retirement accounts and the brokerage that'll still be earning interest. My partner should get a pension between $6,700-$7,500 a month for life (depending on which beneficiary survival rate she chooses), and I should be getting about $7,900 a month from my accounts, so we should be set. Only thing would be to determine if we need to pay out mortgage off by the time I'm 40 / retire, or if I'd want to get a side hustle to at least pay for the mortgage. Plans are fun to figure out, but of course it's all subject to change. I'm just going to save as much as I can and hope for the best, knowing I'm at least ahead of where I would be otherwise.
$4.8M, I'm 39, was always pretty serious about frugality and getting out of debt (and then accumulating assets), so I'm gonna say 18-21 or so? I think far more of my financial success is more a function of ending up with a high income than it was my "seriousness" - although I suppose both helped. When I was making $55k and living in a 4 bedroom house renting out 3 of the rooms that was "serious" and I kept that lifestyle up even when I was making 10x that. The larger income did cause me to raise my targets and eventually my budget however.
$2.2m 33m always been interested in finance and stocks
Started investing around 16 yrs old when I got my first job. Already understood at that age that wealth would not come from income but from invested assets. Not gonna share an exact number, but am comfortably FIRE’d in mid-40s. Only discovered the term FIRE a few years back, but folks have been engaging in FIRE behavior for Millenium.
Just over one million, 38now , 27 ish. I say ish because we had a bumpy start, I got hooked on the Suzy Orman/ Dave Ramsey type advice before I found FIRE.
206K, 35. Got serious at 32. I started investing at 27 but had to pull back when i went back to school at 29. Started back up at 32; at that point, i had about 7K invested. Now it's up to 54K. Goal is 100K by 37.
28m, $586k NW, got serious about personal finance five years ago. Work as a first responder in CA
190k ~ ,18, at 16
net worth - 1.8m , 42M, started really pushing hard mid 30's but have always had some put away for the long haul.
500k at 27. Got lucky buying a two family in an up and coming area. FIRE doesn’t like to consider personal property - but shit man. I’ll take what I can get 😂
About 750K (630K investment, mainly retirement | \~140K equity on a house with rest mortgage), 32, around 22 when i started my first job, but I'd always been into investing / frugalness
$930k household ... I'm 39 and wife is 42.
30F 266k started at 26 during Covid
$245k (combined HHNW, individual is around $100k) 26m and wife is 29F. I was serious since I was 21 but didn’t really make money until 23. When I met my wife she was around 25 and had no financial knowledge, didn’t even have a 401k set up and her company offered 3% matching. So I got her set up with 15% 401k contributions. She still isn’t interested at all but lets me handle everything and invest a higher percent of my income while she covers a larger portion of bills.
~$190k (wife and mine combined) in investments and some cash. Currently 28. Got serious about personal finance when I graduated university at 22. Had to pay off student loans, built an emergency fund, etc. Started seriously investing at 26. My greatest financial move has been marrying someone who also likes talking about money.
327k when I calculated in December, I’m currently 30 years old. I’ll run the numbers again in July. I’ve always been a saver and a hustler since I started working at 16. I read rich dad poor dad at 21 in college and I’ve been on the path ever since. Most of my wealth is in the properties I own, but I’m getting close to my first liquid 100k, which I’m very excited about.
My wife and I net worth is 7,550 or so. I am 27 years old. I have a 38k student debt. I started taking personal finance seriously about a year or less ago, after starting my career in nursing. (Our car has equity but idk the value currently so I have merely excluded that from networth cause it’s not a liquid asset we intend to sell. 7.5k loan though)
500k, 35 year old. I've been somewhat serious my whole life but I graduated college for mechanical engineering at 25. No financial help from family so I had minimal money at 25 but stayed building from there slowly.
I feel like questions like this are just data scraping for AI.
Married w/ 1 kid, 32, combined NW of $1.1M. My parents followed Dave Ramsey when I was growing up, so I was always familiar with basic good money habits. I got more serious about saving and investing at about 25 yrs old when I started reading more personal finance books. I also had a boss who taught me about the value of a 401K in my first job out of college. I’m grateful for her.
my wife and i are 37. nw is 1.1m excluding the house. started getting serious about finance when we were 28. both of us already had our full time jobs, married, lived together and were planning our future, which thinking about kids, house and other goals. Reddit hates financial advisors but without working with one at that age we NEVER would've gotten this far. we never would've sat down to look at our budget, we never would've made Roth accounts, never would've thought about retirement that early.
105k net worth, 22 years old. 19 years old is when i really got into it. Started being really serious about finances the day I found out my girlfriend was pregnant. My son is 2 and a half now and I'm in a really good spot. Was getting too comfortable so I went for a promotion at my job and got it. In training now, wish me luck and best of luck to everyone!
~450k, 29F. Around 23/23 years old. I want to be able to retire at 38.
130k CAD. Soon to be 21! Became serious about my finances at about 14 when I got my first job. Dominos pizza :) 3 years working almost full time through school helped kickstart my portfolio. Big thanks to YouTube and Reddit for getting me into this mindset! Life changing
20k. I’m 19 yrs old. I started really getting serious about personal finance when I was 18. Im studying finance at school now!
$600k, 30, 27 Targets: $1M before 35, $2M before 40, and $5M+ before 50 and evaluate pulling the FIRE trigger
25. $560k net worth. Started getting serious 3 yrs ago.
$220k 28, 25
Net worth about $11k I’m 19 and got really into finance about a month before my 18th birthday. Then on my birthday opened up new bank accounts, investments accounts, and got a credit card
438k, 31 end of June, 25-26
Age 35. 275. Only started getting serious at 30. I had a negative net worth.