when you started here...

[MonkeyMama]

We are boring and have always been very anti-debt. So I can't say that much has changed. I probably expected our house would have been paid off by now, but life has thrown us a few curveballs. The big surprise/change is that we still have debt?

2006:
Age 29
Cash/Investments: $60,000
Home Equity: $430,000
Debt: $218,000 mortgage

2026:
Age 49
Cash/Investments: $910,000
Home Equity: $540,000
Debt: $60,000 mortgage

Lately I find myself doing a double take when I see my mortgage balance. It wasn't at $70K or $80K. But as we get down below $60K... Maybe it's because we could just write a check and be done (without tapping retirement funds). Or because it's a few more years, as opposed to a few more decades. Or as it becomes a smaller fraction of my annual salary. All of the above.

[kork13]

I posted up above back in 2020 when this thread was new ... But alot has changed even in just the last 6 years.

First post was in March 2008 (shortly before I graduated college), and I reportedly had $13k in my Roth IRA (and would have also had $1k-$2k in cash savings) but $32k in debt ... I was trying to decide between Roth vs. Traditional for retirement savings.

In 2020 (at the time of my original post up-thread), we had just recently bought our home in a cash purchase, making July 2020 the last time we've had any debt. Our retirement accounts totalled $650k, other investments $250k, and net worth was about $1.3M.

I haven't tallied everything since my semi-annual update at the beginning of July, but close enough.... Today, in 2026 (18.5 years later): We've got $1.5M in retirement, $1.25M in various non-retirement investments, and $60k in a few cash/equivalent accounts -- totaling roughly $2.8M, with zero debt. We're 40 y/o, and have come a very long way.

Time + focused attention can & will do incredible things for you. Wherever you direct your time & attention is also where you'll see the greatest growth, whether for good or ill.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

bjl incredible accomplishment in 20 years.

Monkeymama wow also!

Kork that's incredible!

2006 - $60k in our portfolio. and had put down 20% down on our townhouse for $120k home equity.

2026 - 20 years later
-we had a windfall an embarassement of riches. this year was luck but i would say previous years was lbym and investing consistently and we were well on our way to doing fine.