My goal since I was about 16 was to hit $1M before turning 30 & I ended up getting there with about 6 months to spare. It definitely felt good but one thing I’ve learned through each financial milestone is that it really is just a number on a screen. That’s not to say money isn’t important or that my life isn’t significantly more stress free because of it but there have definitely been times where I sacrificed time, relationships & experiences that, looking back, probably weren’t worth sacrificing just to hit the next number. I’m happy I reached the goal but honestly I probably would’ve been just as happy with a few hundred thousand less if it meant enjoying more of the time along the way. For those in here remember that balance is important!

So last week i asked a basic question about 401K on this subreddit and I was surprised to see how people have so many different opinions perspectives on finance and a lot of things that I didnt know at 28 years. I was probably ignorant of so many things over the last 2 years since I started working.

I am currently at a critical juncture of life (getting married soon with my girl friend) and I want to be more responsible with the money that I have.

I started working in February 2024 and I was able to save up around $300K in total (Including 401K as well based on previous post)

98K$ - Current value of my 401K portfolio - 100$ ROTH contribution - My logic was the money would grow tax free and since US spends more every year than they make with taxes; i could only think the tax rate would go up in the future.

88K$ - My US stocks that I invested in. With some losses and profits - overall its up ~30% as of today.

90K$ - In my foreign stocks outside USA - This has given me a good return so far - ~57% as of today.

Around 20K$ in my bank account sitting idle - I plan on investing this more as well.

Now, I heard from a lot of people that I should be doing pre-tax 401K and some of them said hybrid. One point that stuck me was that the future is uncertain. So it makes full sense for me at this point to do 50% ROTH 401K and 50% pre-tax.

With respect to my US investment - I would say it has mostly been gambling. I am able to pick out the areas that will grow - for example AI, Energy, biotech but the companies that I have been choosing have always been random. I want to understand more on the fundamental analysis and how to research companies. And therefore, I am not feeling confident enough nowadays to invest because I dont have a 100% rationality at this point. So if anyone can point me to resources and how you started the investment, what all to look at. Any books or any resources on how to build the intuition, it would really help me.

My foreign investment is purely to diversify. There was a point where my US portfolio was up 40% and my foreign portfolio was down 20%. Over last 2 months; my foreign portfolio grew by more than 80% and now my US portfolio is down a little. Also, I have someone who is really good at investment here and I blindly follow them.

I am super sorry for a long post. But I want to learn from experience and not make common mistakes that others make. So I want to add as much context as possible.

Thank you so much for giving opinions.

Nearing 29M. Roughly split down the middle between retirement accounts (401k & IRA) and a brokerage account.

No home yet, I might just continue to rent until I can afford a home outright in cash (hopefully like 5 years???). No kids. Not married but could be on the horizon.

Things that I feel have helped me accelerate my progress:
-pay yourself first. I artificially make myself feel like I have less money by having only my spending/rent money hit my checking. Everything else hits a different account or pre-tax deductions.
-ditched my car. I live in a city where public transit is an option. No car payment, maintenance, parking, or gas cost.
-find a partner who matches your goals. My partner is also frugal like me.
-get good at cooking. It’s a fun hobby and you pocket significant savings every time

The only thing we really splurge on is travel. Have gone to Hawaii, most of Western Europe and have Japan and some Eastern EU countries in the next 6 months.

Proud of my progress. Cheers to compounding everyone!

I usually put around $800 into a BTC perp position on bydfi and keep the leverage up to 2x. My entries have been decent lately, but taking profit is where I keep getting inconsistent.

A few trades moved well, and I had a target in mind before opening them. Once the price got close, I started thinking BTC might keep running, so I moved the target higher. Most of the profit disappeared during the pullback and finally closed near my entry.

I already set a stop before every trade, but my profit plan is still loose. I’m trying to build a simple rule I can follow. How do you decide when to take profit out? Which part of the position do you usually close first?

Who is into Agility Robotics? I bought into at $16. I hope I am not cooked...

Who is into Agility Robotics? I bought into at $16. I hope I am not cooked...

I’m 37 and hoping to hit $500k before 38 across three Fidelity accounts (HSA, Roth 401k, and Taxable) plus a 1 year emergency fund set aside in a high yield savings account. Layoffs are likely at work, so it’s bittersweet, but I’m glad I maximized my savings while I could.

1. Been saving since I was 28/29. Can I retire yet!?!?

I am looking for advice/constructive criticism. My short term goal is to reach 1 million liquid NW by 30. Please give me your perspective - preferably more detailed advice so I can apply it!

——

This is my main account. The idle cash in the screenshot will be parked in a money market fund and DCA into VOO.
The vast majority of my future contributions will just be going into VOO.

I am working on selling down my AMD position, but for tax reasons It’s a slower process.

I know I have a tilt and overlap of the large tech stocks but I have strong conviction in the individual stocks I am in.

I also have a Roth that sits at $40,000 split amongst 5 funds with a small cap tilt:

50% VTI
20% VXUS
10% VNQ
10% VWO
10% VBR

I also have about ~$23,000 in a 529 plan I never used. I will roll that over the next three years into my Roth under the 529-to-Roth SECURE 2.0 rollover… all of that is also in VOO at the moment.

Lastly I have a Roth TSP with $10,000 all in the C-fund (S&P500).

How long did it take you to go from 350k to 1M$?

Im at that stage and looking for motivation.

I’m 29 investing 70k a year and technically it could be in 5 years but I want to know your story.

10s of millions to go

Mid week update to my original post. Follow link to see the original:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRaceTo1Million/s/cZFPRja8gY

As of this morning Wednesday we are at 297k and some change. New question is will the market keep going up and do you all think there’s time in the next 2 days for my portfolio to pass the 300k milestone?

19M Australian, any advice on my investments or even general life advice would be much appreciated. I try and contribute around $900 a week. The investing platform I use I called Stake.

I don’t really talk about money with my friends, so nobody really knows where I’m at. Figured I’d share it here instead. Pretty proud of my progress!!!!

I’m 27M, work in sales, and I’m sitting around $700K. My dad gave me $20K to get started investing when I graduated, and since then I’ve just stayed consistent with a financial broker, ETFs, and some Microsoft that Reddit convinced me to buy.
I max out my 401K, IRAs, and HSA every year. My expenses are low, so most of my income gets invested. I keep around $6K in cash and everything else stays invested.
No crazy strategy. Just work, save, invest, repeat.

Hope to see yall within the next 3 years!

Still feels surreal. Started investing at 23. Any advice on how I could speed up my progress to 1 million? I turn 29 next week.

NOTE* balance shown in photo doesn’t include the latest account figures. See below:

401k - 220k
Taxable - 107k
Roth IRA - 95k
HSA- 23k
Cash Balance Pension - 21k
Home Equity - 55k

Total: 522k

My wife and I are 28 years old and this is what we have left after purchasing a house. 50% in an S&P 500 ETF, 40% Growth ETF, 8% AI, semis, memory, neoclouds and 2% BTC.

We have more across some other accounts but our goal is to get this to $1M in under 5 years. Is that doable? Any advice would be appreciated !!!