Tex117 said:
You don't know me. (minus the kid).
The pattern is remarkably reliable. Everybody is playing with the same math and the same tax code in the same market.
millionaires
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Last: 5 days ago by techno-ag
The pattern is remarkably reliable. Everybody is playing with the same math and the same tax code in the same market.
yep. We are 40, soon to be 41 on Saturday. We moved from our stater home in 2019 but we didn't over extend. At 40 we finally put in the pool. At almost 41 I finally bought my first off the lot new truck. My 20s and 30s were about building the foundation. In my 40s the plan is to live more. I've got nearly 10 year of kids and while we did take them to Disney and other trips they were more absolute dollar focused - don't let the cost get away from us. We just did a week in Yellowstone and Tetons and didn't once think about how much we were spending. Because we did the work early being diligent with building that foundation.Tex117 said:sockerton said:
- key is to never keep up with Jones when your young. Do the hard work early on. Now I'm able technically able to retire at 40.
It is this right here. The world is absolutely begging for you to spend all of your money, especially in the 30 year old range when you may be buying houses and starting a family. It is here, right here, when instead of keeping up with the Joneses, you invest as heavily as possible. By the time your are 40(ish), you are in an incredibly strong financial position. You have all the options in the world. Want to work more to get more cushion for your retirement? Go for it. Want to stop putting money away for retirement and spend what you make? You can do that too (as your retirement is funded and will keep growing).
Ragoo said:Tex117 said:sockerton said:
- key is to never keep up with Jones when your young. Do the hard work early on. Now I'm able technically able to retire at 40.
It is this right here. The world is absolutely begging for you to spend all of your money, especially in the 30 year old range when you may be buying houses and starting a family. It is here, right here, when instead of keeping up with the Joneses, you invest as heavily as possible. By the time your are 40(ish), you are in an incredibly strong financial position. You have all the options in the world. Want to work more to get more cushion for your retirement? Go for it. Want to stop putting money away for retirement and spend what you make? You can do that too (as your retirement is funded and will keep growing).
yep. We are 40, soon to be 41 on Saturday. We moved from our stater home in 2019 but we didn't over extend. At 40 we finally put in the pool. At almost 41 I finally bought my first off the lot new truck. My 20s and 30s were about building the foundation. In my 40s the plan is to live more. I've got nearly 10 year of kids and while we did take them to Disney and other trips they were more absolute dollar focused - don't let the cost get away from us. We just did a week in Yellowstone and Tetons and didn't once think about how much we were spending. Because we did the work early being diligent with building that foundation.
Hell yeah man. So many folks just go full tilt in their 30s with "having it all" spending alot of money to look successful. Its about mid-40s where those folks (if they do at all), look up and realize they need to save for retirement or worse, actually in bad financial shape.
However, take that boring guy/family, who dumped money in investments that track the S&P since they were 30 (or younger), now have over 15 years in the market. That family has a TON of financial options.
I went all in on the FIRE mindset at the onset of my career in 2013. Started paying off my student loans aggressively, even with a relatively small income. (At the time my debt was bigger than my salary.)
Lived in NY, so I was in a fairly HCOL area, but lived with roommates and was extremely frugal. Drove a beater, stuck to the subway when going to the city, and tried to minimize eating out.
Moved to Florida in 2018, with a fairly nice pay bump, and was able to cut out NY state taxes. Finished paying off loans in 2019. Opened my 401k and immediately started maxing it, as well as did mega backdoor Roth contributions for several years.
That's when things really started taking off for me. I had all the habits I needed, but now had a decent income, no debt, and kept more of my paycheck.
Was pretty much on autopilot for the next few years, invested heavily in index funds, and got lucky with a few good stock picks during COVID.
Around 2022, I got into trading leveraged ETFs, and took some hits for a while. Once I figured out what I was doing though, I made it all back and then some. Then things absolutely exploded for me in 2026. Increased my NW about 60% between March and July. Hit the $1M mark for a couple weeks, but took a hit with the semis/memory dip since then.
Still having a solid year overall, and I consider the milestone achieved. Not too bad for a single income and considering where things started for me.
Lived in NY, so I was in a fairly HCOL area, but lived with roommates and was extremely frugal. Drove a beater, stuck to the subway when going to the city, and tried to minimize eating out.
Moved to Florida in 2018, with a fairly nice pay bump, and was able to cut out NY state taxes. Finished paying off loans in 2019. Opened my 401k and immediately started maxing it, as well as did mega backdoor Roth contributions for several years.
That's when things really started taking off for me. I had all the habits I needed, but now had a decent income, no debt, and kept more of my paycheck.
Was pretty much on autopilot for the next few years, invested heavily in index funds, and got lucky with a few good stock picks during COVID.
Around 2022, I got into trading leveraged ETFs, and took some hits for a while. Once I figured out what I was doing though, I made it all back and then some. Then things absolutely exploded for me in 2026. Increased my NW about 60% between March and July. Hit the $1M mark for a couple weeks, but took a hit with the semis/memory dip since then.
Still having a solid year overall, and I consider the milestone achieved. Not too bad for a single income and considering where things started for me.
Tex117 said:Ragoo said:Tex117 said:sockerton said:
- key is to never keep up with Jones when your young. Do the hard work early on. Now I'm able technically able to retire at 40.
It is this right here. The world is absolutely begging for you to spend all of your money, especially in the 30 year old range when you may be buying houses and starting a family. It is here, right here, when instead of keeping up with the Joneses, you invest as heavily as possible. By the time your are 40(ish), you are in an incredibly strong financial position. You have all the options in the world. Want to work more to get more cushion for your retirement? Go for it. Want to stop putting money away for retirement and spend what you make? You can do that too (as your retirement is funded and will keep growing).
yep. We are 40, soon to be 41 on Saturday. We moved from our stater home in 2019 but we didn't over extend. At 40 we finally put in the pool. At almost 41 I finally bought my first off the lot new truck. My 20s and 30s were about building the foundation. In my 40s the plan is to live more. I've got nearly 10 year of kids and while we did take them to Disney and other trips they were more absolute dollar focused - don't let the cost get away from us. We just did a week in Yellowstone and Tetons and didn't once think about how much we were spending. Because we did the work early being diligent with building that foundation.
Hell yeah man. So many folks just go full tilt in their 30s with "having it all" spending alot of money to look successful. Its about mid-40s where those folks (if they do at all), look up and realize they need to save for retirement or worse, actually in bad financial shape.
However, take that boring guy/family, who dumped money in investments that track the S&P since they were 30 (or younger), now have over 15 years in the market. That family has a TON of financial options.
You just hit on one of the crappiest things, financially speaking, about going into medicine. For me, it was 4 years of medical school, 6 years of residency, one year of fellowship, coming out with student debt, and then having to save up $100,000 to buy in as a Partner into a medical practice. I was already 35 years old before I could start to do any significant saving. That is a LOT of compounded money I missed out on. I don't think these kids going into medicine these days, often taking a year or two of a "gap year" before ever starting medical school, have a good understanding of what they are giving up financially.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Kool said:Tex117 said:Ragoo said:Tex117 said:sockerton said:
- key is to never keep up with Jones when your young. Do the hard work early on. Now I'm able technically able to retire at 40.
It is this right here. The world is absolutely begging for you to spend all of your money, especially in the 30 year old range when you may be buying houses and starting a family. It is here, right here, when instead of keeping up with the Joneses, you invest as heavily as possible. By the time your are 40(ish), you are in an incredibly strong financial position. You have all the options in the world. Want to work more to get more cushion for your retirement? Go for it. Want to stop putting money away for retirement and spend what you make? You can do that too (as your retirement is funded and will keep growing).
yep. We are 40, soon to be 41 on Saturday. We moved from our stater home in 2019 but we didn't over extend. At 40 we finally put in the pool. At almost 41 I finally bought my first off the lot new truck. My 20s and 30s were about building the foundation. In my 40s the plan is to live more. I've got nearly 10 year of kids and while we did take them to Disney and other trips they were more absolute dollar focused - don't let the cost get away from us. We just did a week in Yellowstone and Tetons and didn't once think about how much we were spending. Because we did the work early being diligent with building that foundation.
Hell yeah man. So many folks just go full tilt in their 30s with "having it all" spending alot of money to look successful. Its about mid-40s where those folks (if they do at all), look up and realize they need to save for retirement or worse, actually in bad financial shape.
However, take that boring guy/family, who dumped money in investments that track the S&P since they were 30 (or younger), now have over 15 years in the market. That family has a TON of financial options.
You just hit on one of the crappiest things, financially speaking, about going into medicine. For me, it was 4 years of medical school, 6 years of residency, one year of fellowship, coming out with student debt, and then having to save up $100,000 to buy in as a Partner into a medical practice. I was already 35 years old before I could start to do any significant saving. That is a LOT of compounded money I missed out on. I don't think these kids going into medicine these days, often taking a year or two of a "gap year" before ever starting medical school, have a good understanding of what they are giving up financially.
Yeah, this is a big hidden cost of medicine that doesn't get talked about enough. Someone sees big salaries at mid career, and conclude thats how to get rich. (Which, in some cases, does work out).
Salary is of course important, but becomes less important with every passing year as one matures in their career. Savings Rate over time is really the key factor.
We all know plenty of folks who make 200-300k a year, and spend it as soon as they get it (for lots of reasons, and many not whole-sale irresponsible, but still a choice). Saves little. Take another person, makes something like 100-150K, has a 20% savings rate (or more). Lives simply. Stays disciplined. In the not so distant future, that investment is matching their salary a year. With decades more to grow. Person 2 will end up much more wealthy than person 1. And didn't make half of what that other guy did in terms of salary.
Person 2 leverages the single most important asset there is. Time.
You sound like me, although we did live a little more than what you seem to be doing. I hit $1MM net worth in 2016 when I was 43. I'm now sitting at $5MM at 53. I can retire but my youngest is only a sophomore in HS so I'd like to get her off to college before I quit my job which pays me between $300-$400k/year (leans closer to $400k).
We bought homes that were far beneath our means. We drove our cars for at least 100,000 miles before we upgraded, etc. Our vacations have been very modest, and we invested in absolutely every savings vehicle we could and even still the excess was invested in money markets to boost my rainy-day fund. Feels good now to feel secure. If I get laid off, that's okay. I no longer worry about losing my job.
We bought homes that were far beneath our means. We drove our cars for at least 100,000 miles before we upgraded, etc. Our vacations have been very modest, and we invested in absolutely every savings vehicle we could and even still the excess was invested in money markets to boost my rainy-day fund. Feels good now to feel secure. If I get laid off, that's okay. I no longer worry about losing my job.
RightWingConspirator said:
Our vacations have been very modest,
I feel like we might stray from the norm on this.. wife and I both like to spend money in this category for our family vacations.. mostly because we want to spoil the kids a bit. We still do road trips to national parks and go camping in our RV, but we regularly mix in a yearly vacation where we splurge. Sometimes on the hotel, sometimes on first class, sometimes on concierge level. We have airport lounge access, we stay in luxury tier hotels often, we have a timeshare at a ski in/ski out in Breck, etc.
I went to Patagonia with the wife back in 2024 and that ran me $20k. That's the only expensive vacation I've taken in 20 years. We intend to do some traveling once I retire.
I've definitely been on the boring trajectory for a long time. Simple investing at a high savings rate, modest cars, etc. But we've realized that we are in that inflection point where our investments are starting to do a lot of the heavy lifting in building our retirement portfolio.
My wife and I have had a lot of conversations about what we want retirement to look like and we really don't want to look up and have a pile of money that we didn't enjoy, so we've stretched ourselves a bit and took a really nice trip this year for our anniversary. We've also wanted to move to the country before our kids got too old and pulled the trigger on a pretty awesome property (with a very grown-up price tag). So we haven't stopped investing, but we have started to deploy more of our cashflow to things we wanted to do "Some day".
It's kind of uncomfortable for us. We feel a lot of safety/security in having a lot of margin, but I think it was a good conscious effort for us to live a little bit more, especially with our kids getting older. The interesting part is that when I run our projections on net worth, I'm not sure we moved the needle a whole lot. Maybe a 10% difference in 20 years (and who knows what that really looks like). I really think the work we put in to get us to this point was worth it and set us up well. But time to enjoy it a little bit.
My wife and I have had a lot of conversations about what we want retirement to look like and we really don't want to look up and have a pile of money that we didn't enjoy, so we've stretched ourselves a bit and took a really nice trip this year for our anniversary. We've also wanted to move to the country before our kids got too old and pulled the trigger on a pretty awesome property (with a very grown-up price tag). So we haven't stopped investing, but we have started to deploy more of our cashflow to things we wanted to do "Some day".
It's kind of uncomfortable for us. We feel a lot of safety/security in having a lot of margin, but I think it was a good conscious effort for us to live a little bit more, especially with our kids getting older. The interesting part is that when I run our projections on net worth, I'm not sure we moved the needle a whole lot. Maybe a 10% difference in 20 years (and who knows what that really looks like). I really think the work we put in to get us to this point was worth it and set us up well. But time to enjoy it a little bit.
Been trying to figure this out for myself as well.
BenTheGoodAg said:
I've definitely been on the boring trajectory for a long time. Simple investing at a high savings rate, modest cars, etc. But we've realized that we are in that inflection point where our investments are starting to do a lot of the heavy lifting in building our retirement portfolio.
My wife and I have had a lot of conversations about what we want retirement to look like and we really don't want to look up and have a pile of money that we didn't enjoy, so we've stretched ourselves a bit and took a really nice trip this year for our anniversary. We've also wanted to move to the country before our kids got too old and pulled the trigger on a pretty awesome property (with a very grown-up price tag). So we haven't stopped investing, but we have started to deploy more of our cashflow to things we wanted to do "Some day".
It's kind of uncomfortable for us. We feel a lot of safety/security in having a lot of margin, but I think it was a good conscious effort for us to live a little bit more, especially with our kids getting older. The interesting part is that when I run our projections on net worth, I'm not sure we moved the needle a whole lot. Maybe a 10% difference in 20 years (and who knows what that really looks like). I really think the work we put in to get us to this point was worth it and set us up well. But time to enjoy it a little bit.
IMO, best to do things to have memorable experiences with family and/or get home setup better. My view is that the money is for enjoyment as well, dying with millions isn't the goal.
Part of why I chose emergency medicine over ortho even though I still love ortho. 3 year residency no fellowship, chose a group that had a low buy-in and just saved aggressively. At 37 and 8 years out of residency I'm about 6 years out from being able to retire outright based on projected living expenses (got a baby on the way) and average index performance. My goal has always been to go PRN (another great thing about EM) in my late 40s and outright retire in my early 50s. Currently helping start up a residency program though, so maybe that will change the timeline a bit as I'm nearing closer to a 50/50 split of admin&academics/clinical medicine. EM is exhausting to do full time.
I do get a bit jealous of hearing my ortho spine buddy talk about his salary. I think he pulled in $1.2 million in the past 12 months, although he just finished fellowship 2 years ago and took a year off for research in med school and another in residency. He also still works like a resident, so not particularly envious of that part. I like to joke with him that it will still take him another 5-6 years to catch up with me which is basically my timeline to financial independence.
I do get a bit jealous of hearing my ortho spine buddy talk about his salary. I think he pulled in $1.2 million in the past 12 months, although he just finished fellowship 2 years ago and took a year off for research in med school and another in residency. He also still works like a resident, so not particularly envious of that part. I like to joke with him that it will still take him another 5-6 years to catch up with me which is basically my timeline to financial independence.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Sounds like a good plan. Just don't do the "hey I'm smart at science, I can do this business stuff in my sleep" thing a lot of doctors do.
I have an ER doc client who has a grading company as a side business. And also a child day care. My ortho friend has a side IV hydration business. That may work out, who knows, but last time I checked, you guys don't have a lot of free time! These things require attention.
I have an ER doc client who has a grading company as a side business. And also a child day care. My ortho friend has a side IV hydration business. That may work out, who knows, but last time I checked, you guys don't have a lot of free time! These things require attention.
Docs in 2026 love their "side hustles". They all think it's going to lead to them leaving the bedside, but for the overwhelming majority it either leads to them breaking even when compared to working the same number of hours (which is probably best case scenario for most), ending up adding on a ton of stress and debt for less compensation, or potentially even losing money if their hustle is opening a business that fails. My radiologist neighbor just opened a "medical spa" last year and sounds like it's not doing well because clearly what a major US city needs is another medical spa run by a non-dermatologist/plastic surgeon. I'm happy to just VTI and chill with only about 25% of my portfolio used to pick individual stock.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Yeah I'm a lawyer and it's widely known that doctors often make bad "business" people. Extremely smart, skilled and succesful in their craft...but somehow tend to make terrible "business" decisions, deals, etc. Obviously that's not true across the board - but we see it time and time again. I've seen it first hand with very close friends and family.
Yeah. Lawyer too. They make good, paying clients but they do get out over their skis on some of these deals.
I have a Nigerian doc. Great guy, philanthropist, and he's trying to collect a bunch of equipment to send back to help his country out. But you just can't store huge equipment and containers at your house or in a random city lot.
I have a Nigerian doc. Great guy, philanthropist, and he's trying to collect a bunch of equipment to send back to help his country out. But you just can't store huge equipment and containers at your house or in a random city lot.
Dentists lead the way
Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:
Docs in 2026 love their "side hustles". They all think it's going to lead to them leaving the bedside, but for the overwhelming majority it either leads to them breaking even when compared to working the same number of hours (which is probably best case scenario for most), ending up adding on a ton of stress and debt for less compensation, or potentially even losing money if their hustle is opening a business that fails. My radiologist neighbor just opened a "medical spa" last year and sounds like it's not doing well because clearly what a major US city needs is another medical spa run by a non-dermatologist/plastic surgeon. I'm happy to just VTI and chill with only about 25% of my portfolio used to pick individual stock.
I've thrown some Vegas money at a couple of startup things, but in general I agree. "Side hustles" don't work well for doctors. The only thing that has paid off well was an investment (alongside the hospital) into a surgery center.
Do what you know how to do and invest the rest.
As for going into Emergency Medicine, it can definitely give you a lot of options for slowing down as you age and want to work less. But the two months I did as Pit Boss as a second year Surgery resident at Parkland were probably the two worst months of my life. I'm glad someone else is doing it.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Doctor and business owner with multiple side hustle business gigs,
No complaints
No complaints
OasisMan said:
Doctor and business owner with multiple side hustle business gigs,
No complaints
Not all docs get out over their skis. But just a casual observation over the years. Sometimes a lot of disposable income, arrogance and hubris don't mix.
Some people who inherit a chunk of money are the same way. And they don't even have a reason to be arrogant. Docs do.
Good job.
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I think it also has a lot to do with practice in investing. A lot of MDs spend most of their lives broke and completely focusing on school/residency then all of a sudden the big Dr salary starts pouring in so instead of making investing mistakes early with smaller amounts like most of us, they are in a hurry and get themselves in a position to fail spectacularly. Fortunately the ones I've known like this still have the big Dr salary as a cushion so it's still ok in the end
BenTheGoodAg said:
I've definitely been on the boring trajectory for a long time. Simple investing at a high savings rate, modest cars, etc. But we've realized that we are in that inflection point where our investments are starting to do a lot of the heavy lifting in building our retirement portfolio.
My wife and I have had a lot of conversations about what we want retirement to look like and we really don't want to look up and have a pile of money that we didn't enjoy, so we've stretched ourselves a bit and took a really nice trip this year for our anniversary. We've also wanted to move to the country before our kids got too old and pulled the trigger on a pretty awesome property (with a very grown-up price tag). So we haven't stopped investing, but we have started to deploy more of our cashflow to things we wanted to do "Some day".
It's kind of uncomfortable for us. We feel a lot of safety/security in having a lot of margin, but I think it was a good conscience effort for us to live a little bit more, especially with our kids getting older. The interesting part is that when I run our projections on net worth, I'm not sure we moved the needle a whole lot. Maybe a 10% difference in 20 years (and who knows what that really looks like). I really think the work we put in to get us to this point was worth it and set us up well. But time to enjoy it a little bit.
That's cool to see the mindset shift. We are in a similar spot. I turned 35 last month, retirement is at $1 million. Left a paid for house in July to go in on a larger home with a pool and a great play room space for our two daughters. They've got friends over 1-2 days a week. To come home from work to kids laughing and playing upstairs or splashing in the pool with our house being 'the place to be' is pretty surreal
Definitely used to having more margin but we're still saving what we need to just living more and enjoying life. Good to have the retirement as a huge snowball that's starting to roll on its own.
Dill-Ag13 said:BenTheGoodAg said:
I've definitely been on the boring trajectory for a long time. Simple investing at a high savings rate, modest cars, etc. But we've realized that we are in that inflection point where our investments are starting to do a lot of the heavy lifting in building our retirement portfolio.
My wife and I have had a lot of conversations about what we want retirement to look like and we really don't want to look up and have a pile of money that we didn't enjoy, so we've stretched ourselves a bit and took a really nice trip this year for our anniversary. We've also wanted to move to the country before our kids got too old and pulled the trigger on a pretty awesome property (with a very grown-up price tag). So we haven't stopped investing, but we have started to deploy more of our cashflow to things we wanted to do "Some day".
It's kind of uncomfortable for us. We feel a lot of safety/security in having a lot of margin, but I think it was a good conscience effort for us to live a little bit more, especially with our kids getting older. The interesting part is that when I run our projections on net worth, I'm not sure we moved the needle a whole lot. Maybe a 10% difference in 20 years (and who knows what that really looks like). I really think the work we put in to get us to this point was worth it and set us up well. But time to enjoy it a little bit.
. To come home from work to kids laughing and playing upstairs or splashing in the pool with our house being 'the place to be' is pretty surreal
.
Hah; I'm going on about year 7 of this, and trust me there are days where you will be tired of the neighbor kids over.
Luckily our boys have baseball practice twice a week for about 3/4 of the year, so it breaks up that pattern.
But otherwise, we have the outdoor tv/seating area, the tv in garage for winter, the pool, the fun basement… sometimes in late summer between baseball seasons, it's every single day.
I don't care what your 401K says, that's real wealth.
Yep - love havng the neighborhood kids at our house.
MAS444 said:
Yeah I'm a lawyer and it's widely known that doctors often make bad "business" people. Extremely smart, skilled and succesful in their craft...but somehow tend to make terrible "business" decisions, deals, etc. Obviously that's not true across the board - but we see it time and time again. I've seen it first hand with very close friends and family.
Every time I walk past the doctors parking at the hospital I note the Porsches and other expensive cars. Then there's the Ford Maverick or some old pickup and I think "Aha! There's the smart one."
The left cannot kill the Spirit of Charlie Kirk.
Sounds like a modern update on The Millionaire Next Door:
https://www.wsj.com/business/entrepreneurship/the-american-dream-is-alive-and-its-minting-millionaires-3903775b?st=5D6YDa&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
https://www.wsj.com/business/entrepreneurship/the-american-dream-is-alive-and-its-minting-millionaires-3903775b?st=5D6YDa&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
The left cannot kill the Spirit of Charlie Kirk.
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