About one year ago I (29M) started my FI journey after having a realization that my 30th birthday was quickly approaching and I did not have an adequate grip on my personal finances. Despite getting a business degree, I had the mentality of "I make good money for my age so I'll just worry about this stuff later". On the day of my 29th birthday (late June 2023), I decided I was going to track my spending, savings, etc. in an effort to see what kind of progress I could make before my 30th birthday. Now, just a few weeks away from my 30th, I wanted to share my progress as this community inspired me with valuable insight, book recommendations, etc.
Before jumping into the numbers, I wanted to share a little background on where I started. I grew up in a small farm town in the Midwest to a middle class family. Mom and Dad both worked solid jobs but didn't have the resources to pay for me or my sibling's college. They also did well enough that I didn't qualify for significant financial aid. When I decided to attend a private college, I knew graduating would result in nearly $100K in student loan debt. Still, 18 y/o me loved the school and chose to attend despite the cost. I graduated with a finance degree in four years.
After graduating, my first job out of college was near my hometown working in banking. My starting salary was $43K. Given my student loans were nearly $1,000 per month, I moved back in with my parents to save some money. I spent the next year and half working that job and saving cash while paying the minimums on my loans. I didn't track my net worth until last year but it was probably -$100K or so after graduation.
In spring 2018, I was offered a new job in a related field to move to Seattle. After moving to Seattle at 24, I spent most of the next 4 years with my head buried in the ground regarding my finances. I knew I made roughly enough to save a little every month and make my minimum monthly student loan payments. My life was spent mostly socializing and traveling. My idea of budgeting and investing was checking my bank account once a month and investing in my company's 401K which had a match up to 5%.
A few changes at my company resulted in two sizeable promotions and pay raises that resulted in my total comp jumping from $80K in 2018 to $180K in 2023. My plan was to take some of what I had read and track my savings, spending, and investing each month until my 30th birthday. Below are the results:
June 2023
June 2024
Cash
$45K
$66K
Brokerage Account
$11.6K
$22K
401K/ROTH IRA
$61K
$105K
Automobile
$18K
$15K
Total Assets
$137K
$209K
Credit Cards
$2.1K
$0
Student Loans
$47K
$16K
Car Loan
$11.7K
$8K
Total Debt
$60.9K
$24K
Net Worth
$76K
$185K
Major increases were attributed to three items:
* Most of my investments are held in S&P500 mutual funds. After years of not seeing significant return, the second half of 2023 obviously resulted in great performance in both my retirement and non-retirement accounts
* I received about $10K from a family member's estate after they passed in early 2023. That was immediately used to pay down student loan debt
* For the first time, I received a 20% annual bonus in 2024 rather than the 10% bonus I had received by my company between 2018-2023. This bonus was also used to pay down student loan debt
My major takeaways the last year are that I feel an immense amount of gratitude for having a job with a great salary in an industry that is stable. I also feel a little embarrassed it took until my 29th birthday to get serious about this stuff.
I turn 30 in a few weeks so I guess it is a good thing I have a much better plan for the next decade than I did in the previous one. My goal is to see my net worth grow to about $250K by my 31st birthday next June. I also hope to be debt free by this time next year so I can get serious about buying my first house.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far and any advice/thoughts are welcomed. Cheers! submitted by /u/sshrty47
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Before jumping into the numbers, I wanted to share a little background on where I started. I grew up in a small farm town in the Midwest to a middle class family. Mom and Dad both worked solid jobs but didn't have the resources to pay for me or my sibling's college. They also did well enough that I didn't qualify for significant financial aid. When I decided to attend a private college, I knew graduating would result in nearly $100K in student loan debt. Still, 18 y/o me loved the school and chose to attend despite the cost. I graduated with a finance degree in four years.
After graduating, my first job out of college was near my hometown working in banking. My starting salary was $43K. Given my student loans were nearly $1,000 per month, I moved back in with my parents to save some money. I spent the next year and half working that job and saving cash while paying the minimums on my loans. I didn't track my net worth until last year but it was probably -$100K or so after graduation.
In spring 2018, I was offered a new job in a related field to move to Seattle. After moving to Seattle at 24, I spent most of the next 4 years with my head buried in the ground regarding my finances. I knew I made roughly enough to save a little every month and make my minimum monthly student loan payments. My life was spent mostly socializing and traveling. My idea of budgeting and investing was checking my bank account once a month and investing in my company's 401K which had a match up to 5%.
A few changes at my company resulted in two sizeable promotions and pay raises that resulted in my total comp jumping from $80K in 2018 to $180K in 2023. My plan was to take some of what I had read and track my savings, spending, and investing each month until my 30th birthday. Below are the results:
June 2023
June 2024
Cash
$45K
$66K
Brokerage Account
$11.6K
$22K
401K/ROTH IRA
$61K
$105K
Automobile
$18K
$15K
Total Assets
$137K
$209K
Credit Cards
$2.1K
$0
Student Loans
$47K
$16K
Car Loan
$11.7K
$8K
Total Debt
$60.9K
$24K
Net Worth
$76K
$185K
Major increases were attributed to three items:
* Most of my investments are held in S&P500 mutual funds. After years of not seeing significant return, the second half of 2023 obviously resulted in great performance in both my retirement and non-retirement accounts
* I received about $10K from a family member's estate after they passed in early 2023. That was immediately used to pay down student loan debt
* For the first time, I received a 20% annual bonus in 2024 rather than the 10% bonus I had received by my company between 2018-2023. This bonus was also used to pay down student loan debt
My major takeaways the last year are that I feel an immense amount of gratitude for having a job with a great salary in an industry that is stable. I also feel a little embarrassed it took until my 29th birthday to get serious about this stuff.
I turn 30 in a few weeks so I guess it is a good thing I have a much better plan for the next decade than I did in the previous one. My goal is to see my net worth grow to about $250K by my 31st birthday next June. I also hope to be debt free by this time next year so I can get serious about buying my first house.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far and any advice/thoughts are welcomed. Cheers! submitted by /u/sshrty47
[link] [comments]
(Feed generated with FetchRSS)