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.

[riverwed070707]

I love resurfacing these old threads! It's a lovely reminder of how far we've come. Here's my update for 2026.

2011 joint net income=$3000
2018 primary net income=$4,300
2020 primary net income=$4,900
2026 primary net income=$7,200
Monthly

2011 rental income: $134
2018 net rental income: $2,200
2020 net rental income: $2,700
2026 net rental income: $3,100
Monthly

2011 retirement savings: $28,000
2018 retirement savings: $158,000
2020 retirement savings: $220,000
2026 retirement/investment portfolio: $600,000

2011 savings: $5,500
2018 savings: $13,000
2020 savings: $60,000
2026 cash savings: ~$110k

Not sure why I never included debt/mortgages. I'd be interested to see those over time as well! Fun to watch the investments grow, but I think the most jarring thing for me is simply the income growth I was living on $36k/yr with debt and joint household income and now net almost $125k by myself between my W2 and rentals

[LivingAlmostLarge]

congrats and 15 years is a very quick to rapidly increase your income. But you also 30x your rental income.

[Randomsaver]

I had $210K mortgage debt when I started here in Jan 2014. Terrible. I bought a big house on my first H&L purchase, Looking back, bad debt and bad relationships are similar. Once you gain freedom, you can shout it at the top of your lungs while lying flat on a bench!!!

I mentioned bad debt because there is a good debt, just as there are good relationships. Good debt is when you have personal brokerage cash you could use to pay off debt but instead taking advantage of the debt-stock arbitrage.