10 years on this site

[cypher1]

I just realized its been 10 years today since I joined this forum. I was 29, new home owner of 11 months (bought at 219K on a salary of 65K), had about 20K in savings, and only started contributing to 401K at 5% with 5% match in that year. Crazy how much time has gone by, and how much I've learned and continue to on this forum.

Currently I still owe 150K on my house, but have about 150K in equity. Current 401K balance at 123K (contributing 18%), with Roths and other investments at 134K, cash (EF) at 24K. I didn't start Roths until 6 years ago, and only in the last 3 years I really got serious about understanding investing and upping my contributions.

Prior to the pandemic, my goal was to acquire 500K in net worth by age 40, which has now shifted. I still remain focused with health, school, work as my main investments.

Looking back from where I started at 28, to where I am now, I really don't have many regrets besides not starting earlier. Time is our greatest commodity, which I wish more of my friends understood and took advantage of.

I just wanted to say thanks for everyone on this site for sharing and discussing these topics in order to learn more.

[disneysteve]

Happy anniversary!

[kork13]

It's always nice (and quite encouraging) to look back at your growth & progress. I've been here for just over 12 years now. I was a college senior a couple months from graduating with almost nothing to my name. I think maybe $6k in a Roth IRA, a $12k/11% car loan ( ::shudder:: ), a $20k/0% personal loan, and probably $3k-4k in my checking/savings. At the time I earned ~$10k/yr. I gratefully had a secure job in the military waiting for me to make ~$40k/yr, while the world was on the cusp of teetering over the cliff of the mortgage crisis.

At that point in time, I knew very little, and was mostly just focused on building up a basic emergency fund & still figuring out mutual fund investing.... This site has served as one of my primary classrooms for learning what I know about finance.

Fast forward to present, I'm 33y/o, married + 2 young boys, earning ~$180k/yr, and we've got somewhere around $1M net worth -- around $450k in retirement (down probably ~15% in today's markets), $350k in equity between our current home and a rental, and $200k in cash & taxable investments. Small regrets certainly abound, but overall, everything has very gratefully gone fairly well for us. We're in a great position at a young age, which has already given us alot of flexibility -- last year DW was unexpectedly medically retired from the military & became a SAHM. She's now taking pre-req classes ahead of going back to school as a Physical Therapist. Another 8 years, and I'm planning to retire from the military, and by then we'll likely be in (or approaching) a "work optional" financial situation.

I fully credit everyone around here with teaching me a great deal toward our financial successes, and I'm always immensely grateful for both the advice and community that we've got here.

[disneysteve]

I've been here for 14 years this June. In 2006, I was 41. Our daughter was 9. Our financial portfolio as of 6/4/06 stood at $319,661. As of 4/8/20, it was $1,233,032. We are also completely debt-free having paid off our mortgage last summer.

I've learned a lot here and tried my best to help others along the way too.

[Singuy]

I honestly feel like there are 10 active members on this forum, what happened to Corn18? Haven't seen his post in awhile.

7 Years for me. 2013 was when my wife almost paid off her student loans and I was still working on paying off my house. With savings, retirement, and equity minus all liabilities, I would say we had about 400k to our name at 30.

Total we are looking at about 1 million in equity, 1.4 million in stocks/savings, and 500k in retirement as of today given the circumstances.

[Scallywag]

Joined here in April 2018, in our 40s. Unfortunately, we started late and are paying for it. We're still renting and not likely to buy until our early 50s - so that we can pay it off by our mid / late 60s.

Our networth is a measly 600K. Retirement is roughly 25 years away - so we'd likely be at 1.2 million, and a paid for house by then.

How I wish we'd started in our 20s!!!

[kork13]

I honestly feel like there are 10 active members on this forum, what happened to Corn18? Haven't seen his post in awhile.

Folks often drift in & out of activity here on the forums. There's also many folks who are just as active (or even moreso) over on the blogs side of the site. I'm generally just happy to get who we have, the less active users will post on occasion, and periodically someone from way back will check in again, or there's always new folks joining.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Ten years! Okay, where's that dancing, celebrating emoji?

Ah, here it is . That's some frenetic rhythm he's got going!

James, isn't there a gold star or a set of wings or something for ten years?

Oddly, I think the way this forum's conversation has slowed down so much in recent years is partly due to the success of so many of the regulars. I wonder if new folks see all the old folks who are so solid in their personal finances and have accomplished so many goals that they (the newbies) feel out of place. We need an infusion of forumites with not ten years, but ten minutes history on the forum.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Happy anniversary. I joined only a couple of months after Steve and Joan. We need new blood. I guess people like the FIRE forums more. I can't believe it's been 14 years. That would have put me at 27 and okay. I had no kids and little direction. I also wonder what happened to some older people who used to post.

There was a guy phil who used to own homes and buy SFH and buy and cash out to 30 year fixed and he'd get long term rentals. He had like 30-40 of them. He'd buy solid investment properties.

There used to be a woman grandma sal?

There used to be a quite a few others. My how time has flown.

[Petunia 100]

Happy anniversary. I joined only a couple of months after Steve and Joan. We need new blood. I guess people like the FIRE forums more. I can't believe it's been 14 years. That would have put me at 27 and okay. I had no kids and little direction. I also wonder what happened to some older people who used to post.

There was a guy phil who used to own homes and buy SFH and buy and cash out to 30 year fixed and he'd get long term rentals. He had like 30-40 of them. He'd buy solid investment properties.

There used to be a woman grandma sal?

There used to be a quite a few others. My how time has flown.

Did he post here, too? He is a long time contributor at Your Money and More on Proboards, formerly the financial message board forum on MSN.

[cypher1]

I think it's great a lot of us are reflecting on when we first started, and hopefully will inspire new readers to be more open and motivated to follow their goals. I understand its a very personal discussion for a lot of us, but feel others should talk about it more.

A few of my friends recently have been asking investing questions, admitting they don't know where to start. I've pointed this site and others to them, but they feel its intimidating. Since I avoid most social media, I've been debatingabout doing simple emails with a bunch of them on tips/articles that have helped me get started.

[Scallywag]

A few of my friends recently have been asking investing questions, admitting they don't know where to start. I've pointed this site and others to them, but they feel its intimidating.

What do they find intimidating about this site ?

[disneysteve]

What do they find intimidating about this site ?

I can totally understand that. We do tend to be an over-eager group when a newbie shows up. It's out of a sincere desire to help but it can easily come across as too much too soon.

Part of the problem is people often ask the wrong question or they don't provide the details needed to answer their question. Then we ask a slew of personal details and they get scared off. Folks don't want to come to some random site and rattle off their income, expenses, debts, etc. as soon as they get here but that's always what everyone asks for right away.

[kork13]

What do they find intimidating about this site ?

Many of the most active folks here are very knowledgable, and as demonstrated, have achieved significant successes over time. That can be intimidating to someone who's struggling, ignorant, and possibly behind the curve -- staring up at a mountain always makes you feel small.

[Scallywag]

Many of the most active folks here are very knowledgable, and as demonstrated, have achieved significant successes over time. That can be intimidating to someone who's struggling, ignorant, and possibly behind the curve -- staring up at a mountain always makes you feel small.

Keywords: OVER TIME! People achieve material goals OVER decades, rarely overnight, unless they inherit or win the lottery!

Given my age & need, I am very behind. But that is why I need this site - esp now that all hell has apparently broken lose! Unless you're retired / already retired, there's no reason to feel hopeless by reading the forums / blogs here. In fact, I personally need the hope that even though i am likely older than many people here, I still have 20 - 25 years to retirement, and my goals can still materialize, despite the current mess!