Thank you for the kind words - I'm about 1.5 years out of college at this point. Combination of mostly luck and some skill is how I got to this point financially.

@@celestial_sphere3 Thank you! Though as I say in the video, it was only possible because of a series of fortunate and unfortunate events. Turned 22 this year.

My Roth IRA is invested in the same way as my standard brokerage account is - 90/10 split between a total market S&P500 fund and an ex-US international market fund. There's not a super logical rationale behind this split - it's really just what I'm comfortable with.

@@raymondwzeng Thanks for sharing!!

@@DWAnton I turned 22 this year! Graduated from college a year early - there's a long story behind that haha

@@raymondwzeng nice man, keep on doing your thing. You're in a great place at 22. I know your debt is low, but when you finally become truly debt-free, the world just opens up that much more. I became debt-free 3 years ago around your age and my net worth multiplied greatly. Just subbed to your channel, look forward to seeing your growth!

Thanks for the question, and thanks for stopping by! The reason why I (and others) invest more in the markets compared to paying off debt comes down to personal comfort as well as the interest rate of the debt. My student loans have an interest rate of 2.5%, and my medical bills have 0%. The S&P500, on average returns ~10% per year, and about 6-7% after average inflation (based on CPI). We're essentially making a bet - a good bet, but a bet nonetheless - that we'll make more money in the stock market than we would if we first paid off our debt and then invested. There is definitely an argument though that it feels *really* nice not to have any debt. And I wouldn't fault anyone who pays off their debt early, even if it meant being slightly less efficient with their money, if it helps them sleep better at night.

@@raymondwzeng I understood that perfectly clear, and it makes sense yes! Thanks for answering! And cheers to making stock market gainsss 😃💸💸

Somewhere in the realm of $1.5M. My number (based on real current spending) is closer to $1M at a 3.5% withdrawal rate, but that's not necessarily accounting for things like increased healthcare costs.

@@sahilpatel5298 I appreciate the sentiment. I don't think that this is something they can recover from, but I hope my presence provides some comfort for them. Who knows? I suppose stranger things have happened before.

@@raymondwzeng I completely understand. I went through something similar with my late grandpa. Just being there made all the difference for him, and for me too. Your presence will absolutely provide comfort, even in the hardest times. Sending strength to you and your family🙏🏾

@@LegoStarWars217 We'll see! Definitely a lot of unknowns around partner + children, and just general lifestyle inflation.

Not at the moment for a few reasons: 1. The prices and rates at the current moment aren't super attractive to me. If I wanted to buy though, I could probably overlook this. 2. I'm not currently interested in buying a home in my area - I don't expect to stay here super long-term, and owning property (even renting it out) would be something I'm not too keen on. 3. I am very, very, _very_ privileged to have a house on my inheritance. I don't expect to sell it anytime soon even if that inheritance kicks in prematurely, and I like the location enough that I'd likely keep it as my primary residence.

My primary "bank" account is my Fidelity Cash Management Account - I technically have another American Express checking account (opened for a bonus, forgot to close 💀) but beyond that I try to keep a fairly simple setup. As for 401k, I'm maxing it out and putting as much as I can while keeping enough after to spend and save! My 401k plan automatically stops after hitting the max, so there's no need for me to worry about that. I use a paycheck calculator to see how much I would take home after taxes and contributions.

...huh. You're right. I guess that's what happens when your contributions are a majority of your net worth increase, the stock market goes crazy, and you get quite a bit of help from your parents.

22 - graduated a year early from college. I was lucky to find out about FIRE pretty early on, but wasn't able to make a ton of progress on it before I started working full-time haha.

@@raymondwzeng great work! Keep it up and great vid.

@@marielamfa93 A lot of luck haha I started with Fidelity with my "core" Cash Management Account and Roth IRA. My company has Fidelity as their 401k and HSA provider, so everything worked out in the end.

@@raymondwzeng Yeah that's amazing I wish my employer have everything at least in one place, but all their benefits programs are in different accounts. Thank you, good luck on your financial journey, doing amazing.

@@sahilpatel5298 I'll definitely add it to my list of videos to get to! The Mega Backdoor Roth is on the more complicated side. If I had to guess off the top of my head, I would assume each rollover is its own "conversion" which requires a 5-year holding period in order to withdraw without penalty, but I might be wrong on that.

@@raymondwzeng sounds good thanks man!!

Is it M1?

@@DomoSZN I actually use Fidelity's Cash Management Account! It's a brokerage account with a special set of features for things like ATM cash withdrawals. They recently (June) added an option to set your default holding to a 4.97% APY money market fund instead of the FDIC insured account, so I get my paychecks directly deposited and earning interest. It's a nice setup.

I don't have a hard FIRE number, but it's somewhere in the realm of $1.5M - $1.8M (biased towards the lower end) at a 3.5% withdrawal rate due to retiring at such a young age. I also have a separate "$2.5M or 40 years old" rule for myself to encourage walking away and living life on my own terms completely. Theoretically, I could RE with less than that, but I probably wouldn't mind adding a little bit more buffer room in case things get out of hand. I wrote about this on my blog a while back, it might explain my thinking a little better (or make things more confusing): www.engineeringretirement.com/enough-the-magic-phrase-to-financial-independence-and-early-retirement/

For sure! I'm not *quite* at an ideal setup currently (and probably never will), but it's definitely something I've gotten requests for in the past. That annual fee brings up questions pretty often 😅