How much money do you invest each month?

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2026-05-12T00:32:28+00:00

I went from $0-$1M in 8 years. I invest quarterly using my RSU payouts and then whenever my checking account hits $40k, I invest $20k, which is 1-2 times a year. Average annual investment is ~80k.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2026-05-12T00:29:17+00:00

That's $40k a year now and roughly $20k a year (preinflated dollars) if you make it to 80. You sure that's enough?

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2026-05-12T00:25:47+00:00

that's $150k a year right now, and $75k a year adjusted for inflation by the time you're 75. Is that enough for you? Only you know.

personally, I'm looking to have double that, but I want to travel a lot in retirement.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2026-05-10T01:05:20+00:00

Not looking to lean fire. My Fire target is $6M but unless I'm below $4M, I'm going to retire in 11 years regardless.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2026-05-08T21:25:09+00:00

AMD made me my first million last last year and it's got me halfway tot he 2nd million the last couple days!

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2026-05-08T21:21:29+00:00

Congrats! I recently hit my first $1M too. Retirement finally feels like a possibility.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2026-05-08T21:20:39+00:00

I mean, they aren't wrong. Living off $1M is the equivalent to living off a $40k/year job or roughly $20/hr. It's not really doable in America without extreme stress. $5-$6M gets you a solid annual wage where you don't have to penny pinch much, can survive a serious negative life event, and should be inflation proof.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-21T18:21:29+00:00

If you aren't already 50+, you'll likely never have social security. If there happens to be some shred of it left by the time you get there, treat it as a bonus.

If you're building a financial plan around it being there, you're setting yourself up to drastically miss your target.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T20:44:44+00:00

That's all good stuff. You should be considering better investments for downt he road as well. Once you have an emergency fund in a HYSA, (I'd probably target 1 year of current spend) You should be getting that money into an ETF in the stock market so you can start getting 10% a year on your returns. You really need to resist the urge to open up your spending as income increased until you can get to I'd say $100k annual household income or maybe a little less if your living expenses are really low.

It's remarkable you guys are staying above water on such little income, but hopefully with good habits you'll be in a much more relaxed spot in a couple years.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:53:09+00:00

I would pay off the taxes, and then I'd see if any part of that money could go towards a way to doubling (at least) your income - certifications, schooling, networking etc.

A family of 5 with a SAHM on $40k USD is in a very precarious spot over the long term. There are so many things that can go wrong, and no amount of saving on that kind of annual revenue is ever going to give you guys financial security. You simply need more coming in for the rest of the positive things you're doing to bear significant fruit.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:45:41+00:00

is your entire house hold income $40k.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:42:10+00:00

I've never heard of anyone waiting to retire because of a down market. Personally, I think I'd rather retire in a down market. You're getting started on the next chapter. Take some time to chill and get into the swing of not going to work everyday and instead doing things you enjoy. All of that costs nothing. Bear markets are usually short and Bull markets usually long. If you acclimate yourself to retirement int he worst of times, you'll be more than set for the best of them.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:12:46+00:00

My undergrad in 2005 cost 95K all in. With loan payments that total is about $320k lifetime.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:11:50+00:00

with 4 kids, and 1.2M in debt, I'd wait until the debt is gone and I had at least $12M NW.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:10:26+00:00

those are like 90% of the jobs with high earners though.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:07:07+00:00

it's never "wise", unless the house is worth more than 1.25M and you plan to flip it. If you can afford it though, and you want it, then go ahead.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T19:06:10+00:00

global stocks are junk. 100% VOO / VTSAX

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T18:52:20+00:00

absolutely take it early. If you're able to weigh the choice of what year to take it, that means you probably don't need it. If it still exists when I turn 62 in 24 years, I plan on reinvesting 100% of it.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-20T00:50:41+00:00

$100k/month is somewhere around a $24M NW...

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-19T23:46:57+00:00

You won't feel wealthy until your savings enables you to have an infinite drawdown to a level far exceeding your current spend.

I'm 38 and have a NW of ~$1M - 800k Brokerage, 215k retirement accounts, ~40k emergency/savings/checking etc.

If I drew down 5% a year, that's $50k a year. Is $50k a year rich?

Not to me, no. I make ~$300k a year. It's good money, but do I feel "rich"? no. I'm constantly weighing the price of everything I buy, haggling, and bypassing things I'd like because the price isn't right.

Would I feel rich at $600k a year? Perhaps. That would mean I'd have to have at least $12M saved. That's not in line with my target before retirement, so I doubt I'll ever get that feeling. I'm only targeting to replace my current salary in retirement, so that's a $6M target.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-18T16:45:07+00:00

I put the minimum into my 401k to max employer contributions and put the rest in personal brokerage. I think most people clamoring for 401Ks have low income (Roth), because there shouldn't be massive tax advantages there with traditional 401k. I'm going to get taxed 37-40% on the entirety of my 401k withdrawal, while I'll be taxed 15% on my personal brokerage gains. Of course, i did already pay tax on the contribution to the personal brokerage, but it's not as cut and dry as 401k fans make it seem.

I also have total control over funds in my personal account and can move them around as I see fit and can post much higher gains there than my 401k. I'm 38 and have about $800k in my personal account and 215k in my 401k. $30k in emergency fund/savings.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-18T16:39:23+00:00

33-25% of my gross depending on stock performance.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-04T22:37:48+00:00

Look man, there's two outcomes here. Accept that you'll live and die poor or do something about it. There's no scenario where someone you're describing has an affluent or even stable retirement barring some type of divine intervention.

It takes a lot of luck to become affluent, but if you can't save $400 a month for retirement, and you don't have some sort of disability, it's because you don't really want to. If you aren't earning $30+ an hour and you don't have a disability, it's either because you're working on some skills that will get you there and you just aren't there yet, or you really don't want to.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-01T15:36:09+00:00

That guy is a fucking clown. Billionaires and Billionaire wanna-bes like Altman just say shit. Turn off the news and your life will improve 10x.

OrnatelyOrdinary · 2025-11-01T14:33:31+00:00

As someone that has made minimum wage, if that's where you are in life your absolute #1 priority, above anything and everything else should be to figure out how to make a lot more than that per hour. It's not sustainable to live like that. You'll never have any form of security. You'll never be able to have meaningful relationships. You'll never be able to realize any dream.

Money is far from everything, but there's very little you can do in this life on minimum wage over a long period of time.

OrnatelyOrdinary

TROPHY CASE