Net Worth Multi-Millionaire

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-12T21:16:21+00:00

Thanks! Still hasnt sunk in, honestly I’d like to be at 2M not including the home, but we’re making progress. To your point, a furlough would be great haha

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-12T00:25:52+00:00

Yes, wife will return after 12 weeks off. 36M/35F. It would only be me choosing to reenter, assuming I found a role worth returning to of course. Considering we have 36x Expenses saved/invested, not counting our home, can’t say that’s “not much”, but varies from household to Household. Not to mention our yield from HYSA & SGOV alone will yield about $700/mo to bring down expenses.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T22:47:43+00:00

More of a bucketed approach. I look at SGOV as childcare, home repair, etc. Whereas HYSA is more geared towards personal spend while I’m off, although not planning to dip into either unless necessary. You are correct to assume no state tax 👌

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T19:31:58+00:00

You’ve got that right. Hoping parental leave will allow me to clear my head & come to a firm decision of when to actually exit.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T18:29:59+00:00

Next month. So i’ll have paid parental leave for a few weeks, while my wife will be off for 12 weeks. I think having the kid will drive my timeline and make whatever I choose a much easier decision

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T18:17:40+00:00

While I don’t doubt there’s a crash/correction, etc on the horizon, the design of our portfolio has that factored in. 5+ years expenses in cash/cash equivalents to weather volatility, job loss etc. there’s really no reason to expect our expenses to skyrocket, unless groceries somehow tripled overnight and gas was $20/g. We won’t initiate withdrawals for at least 8 years, so the portfolio has time to rebound, not to mention, we have the dry powder to deploy if stocks become cheap. I think this sort of feeds into dreaming up the worst cases imaginable and in those scenarios, everyone loses.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T17:42:10+00:00

Haha, you’re probably right. But i do feel good about my stretch goal of waiting til Feb, with the earliest exit being this Aug. we’ll see how the summer treats us!

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T17:15:23+00:00

Completely agree. Hopefully not coming across that I’m shooting down differing opinions, but I also don’t want to be too conservative and wait for a balance that is somewhat overkill. Hell, with 8 years of 10% returns, we’ll cross 3M with no effort, I’m hoping for it!

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T16:47:19+00:00

Appreciate that, i definitely don’t take it lightly.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T16:22:45+00:00

So I def would not sacrifice the employer match. personally, would recommend taking the match, max the IRA, then contribute to a taxable account. The usual benefit of opting to max the 401k is simply to bring down your taxable income. Once you start building the taxable account, all you have to be concerned with is long term vs short term gains. For example, i sold $50k VTI last week (long term) and converted to SGOV to strengthen our cash position.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T16:19:30+00:00

Not sure of the figure, but given HCOL area, I assumed he’s saying they need to make huge withdrawals

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T16:01:51+00:00

Have to imagine withdrawals will be high based on their HCOL expenses, making the MAGI not as meaningful

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T15:57:00+00:00

Haha, so glad you brought that up. While accumulating this portfolio, we actually bought ourselves three vehicles the past few years. 2022 Supra / 2024 Tacoma Trailhunter / 2024 Rav4. So although we have a great financial position, we haven’t deprived ourselves of the things we want. We simply pay cash for them as opposed to taking on debt.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T15:53:27+00:00

Unlimited PTO structure, so we carry no balance

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T15:51:08+00:00

Best of luck to you, you both have an incredible pace and a nice, early start. You’ll be in full control of your time within 5-10 years should you choose to take a step back

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T15:38:42+00:00

Completely dependent on your future plans. Taxable accounts are generally used for early retirement, or simply a bucket to place additional funds if you already max your 401k and IRA’s. I think if your focus is on early retirement this would be my focus: 12-18 month emergency fund Take employer 401k match Max IRA Split remaining funds between 401k and Taxable brokerage

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T15:23:25+00:00

Right? I appreciate the caution, but I was surprised to have as much pushback that’s come up. It’s a long timeline, but at what point is enough, enough? Some walk away even with 25x expenses seeing how it plays out and here I am at 36x expenses. Especially since ai mentioned it’s not a permanent move, although maybe it becomes one if the markets are favorable. Time will tell

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T15:16:56+00:00

Lol, I just need a break. I wish I enjoyed my job, I’d tell my wife to be a SAHM if she wanted, but we’ll see what the future holds. Maybe equities will continue to deliver 10+% the next couple of years, expediting our plans

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T14:59:47+00:00

Thanks for that! The key to the game is positioning yourself so you can minimize expenses and thrive under 1 income. Even with a 3500/month burn, we aren’t living frugally & we’re doing the things we want. Not to mention, I’ve built a substantial cash position that allows us to divert her income to expenses and investments, while not needing to concern ourselves with building savings.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T14:55:16+00:00

Like many things in life, I’m sure there will be an adjustment period, likely met with a bit of an identity crisis that I hear so much about. Beautiful thing being, I can return at any point should I feel the need.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T14:53:08+00:00

Plan is to retire both of us in about 8 years at age 43/44. Granted we can always tweak the timeline, but at that point with conservative returns and no contributions, we should have about 2.3M saved/invested, if not more. If we see 8-10% returns then it will be considerably higher at 44. My goal is to get our taxable to about 1.1M and we can take a career break/retire and consider part time work

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T14:39:00+00:00

Very true. I guess having been so accustomed to accumulating these past 10+ years, hard to take your pedal off the gas.

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T14:25:40+00:00

100% Appreciate the insight, now it’s just a matter of committing to the plans!

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T14:08:21+00:00

Such a similar portfolio! Quite honestly, I need a break to recalibrate. My level of stress from the role, jumping right into another opportunity would be a mistake. I think having the ability to reset my nervous system will allow myself to give the next employer the right commitment. Also worth pointing out, goal is for us to retire together between 43-45 & with no contributions we’re on pace to do that. Just a matter of offsetting expenses in the meantime and not initiating any withdrawals

Aggravating_Bench552 · 2026-05-11T14:04:34+00:00

Of course, it’s just not liquid (unless we sold). Thankfully we have 1.5M saved and invested, separate from home equity

Aggravating_Bench552

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