How Much Should High-Income Earners Have Saved by 35? Realistic Investment Goals Explained

[@BGS22202]

The other part that doesn’t make sense is that if they are saving $45k per year, they only need $255k, not $300k in retirement when they no longer need to save. Which also shows why using income to select savings targets doesn’t make sense. It’s spending that determines how much you need to save. Someone who makes $250k but spends $100k needs to save the same amount as someone who makes $125k but spends $100k. Not twice as much.

[@thehomeless_trucker]

Has nothing really to do with "need".. it's wants. My "low" spending and high savings at 30 won't reflect my 40-50 year old self and my older self will like need/want to spend 100% of my current (solid) annual income. Plan early and properly, and you can have a annual spend that's higher than you ever made pre-retitrement.

[@dh1743]

Exactly ! Plus at retirement age, most don’t have a mortgage anymore and are dome raising children etc. Many expenses go away

[@thehomeless_trucker]

@dh1743 unless you plan to sit on the couch and do nothing, those expenses will get replaced with traveling and purge retirement activities.

[@eddiemalvin]

I agree. Why assume that everyone spends 100% of their earnings (minus what they save for retirement)? My wife and I are very high earners but only spend about 20-25% of our pre-tax income on all expenses. That's enough to afford a very comfortable lifestyle where we travel, dine out and shop whenever we want. Even if we double our current spending (which definitely wouldn't double our happiness), we still don't need anywhere near 80% of our pre-tax income during retirement.

[@brute_force_and_ignorance]

In some cases, super-savers plan on spending a lot more in retirement. Things like business class or better hotels, which we would never pay for pre-retirement are a no-brainer in retirement, because we can easily pay for something like that. So, when we can truly enjoy and need the comfort of lie-flat seats, we don't have to make any agonizing decisions to justify and absorb the cost. Additionally, we are now being made painfully aware that a certain segment of our demographic will wind up in assisted-living or memory-care facilities, and those are non-trivial, costwise; having the wherewithal to only blink a little bit at seeing a price range of $40k/yr to $120k/yr is very comforting. Not having to depend on or burden our offspring with the care requirements or cost is even more comforting.

[@FaintAura]

Erin, I always appreciated your no-frills financial content and I respect that you don't promote shady sponsors in your videos. Happy Thanksgiving!

[@Corey25]

Pretty aggressive for sure. I make around 250K a year now at age 30 but that required grad school so my earning years were delayed. I started making money at 24 heading towards 25. 25 - 125K, 26 - 145K, 27 - 200K, 28 - 230K, 29 - 240K, 30 - 250K projected. Invested assets are around $600K. I saved very, very aggressively (>50% of my take home) to the point where I basically just worked and slept. I am now relaxing my saving habits because there’s other things to enjoy in life than just saving. I still feel like I over saved.

[@j10001]

That’s a helpful real-world reference point. Thank you!

[@a10072]

What kind of work do you do? Your salary growth has been very fast and most people do not have salaries that grow this fast.

[@Corey25]

@@a10072 I am an OD!

[@thehomeless_trucker]

​@a10072 Who cares about most people? Most people are overweight and refuse to leave the comfort of their low paying job. I personally had two years of 50% income increases, and one year of 100% all back to back. A year or so of flat and this year will be about 20% more than last year. It almost always comes with long hours and actually planning out a career path that pays well. Job hopping and moving states can pay very well.

[@benjaminchaston7202]

My eyes did more than roll in the back of my head when I heard the author's number. I felt like I needed oxygen.

[@ErinTalksMoney]

😂😂😂

[@LearningFast]

Great video! You did a great job breaking down why the initial analysis was unrealistic.

[@robertrodriguez3614]

You’re almost to 100k!!,🎉

[@schlehke]

Just always save as much as possible as early as possible. As you start a family the dynamics of saving money changes, more money and attention goes to the kids. We were lucky to know the importance of saving early, maxing out our 401ks in our mid 20’s and taking advantage of other savings vehicles. We get frustrated watching others be financially irresponsible, but just remind each other to stay the course and it will pay dividends down the road. We are also fortunate to have friends with a similar mindset, helps to keep each other accountable. Great video, as always!

[@05Steveoeast]

This was a great video. I have been focused on my retirement planning and have been aggressively saving. You are correct that people don't earn that high income right away. Me and my wife's income was 125k/year 15 years ago. We have just recently been able to double our income in the last 3 years to 250k/year. We are 36 years old with 900k in 401k. We earned most of our value in the last 6 years. It's a long hard road of sacrifice which I believe will pay off in the end. This video helps show that compound growth will ensure we meet our goals. That is if the return stays on track with 6-10% of annual growth.

[@ErinTalksMoney]

You and your wife sound like you are on great track!

[@dstevens518]

Well done! We weren't doing nearly as well as you two when we were your age. The best wealth is a slowly, hard earned wealth, cause it's the most appreciated, and the least likely to lose or waste. I would have never agreed with that 20 years ago, but having arrived here now, and looking around at the foolishness we see, I don't see it any other way. Keep doing what you're doing!

[@ld5714]

Hi Erin. I feel your analysis and discussion of this article are spot on. I feel the author failed to communicate the point they were trying to communicate. That is a problem with so much of the material in the financial arena of podcasts, articles, vlogs etc., some people are very knowlegable and effective at communicating, others are not. It takes a while to seperate the wheat from the chaff so to speak. Unfortunately, people who are early in their financial journey can be negatively affected and that's a real shame IMO. Fortunately there are folks like yourself out there that can be a voice of reason, knowlege and provide valuable instruction. You are very effective at what you do and I always look forward to your videos. It's like enjoying a cup of coffee with a friend and having a good discussion. Keep up your great content Erin. I hope you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving and I'll see you on the next one. Larry, Central Valley, Ca.

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Thank you so much Larry!! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 😊

[@Whiskey11Gaming]

Yup! Definitely have goals. I'm 37 now, plan to be CC debt free by January at the latest, have a construction window loan paid off by July/August, House by 43, contribute more to 403b, and investment account to retire at 55, investment account carry me to 67 and retire officially. Should be a ride, but totally doable for me!

[@TheRestrictedgamer]

When I saw that number my first thought was that this hypothetical couple must have been making that 300k/year income since their first year out of college, and it looks like I wasn't wrong. This article assumes people have 45k of discretionary income at the age of 21, but I didn't even have 45k of total income until I was 24. And I was doing pretty good for someone my age.

[@JBoy340a]

Yes. I agree the numbers seem very high for a 21 year old. When I was 21, I was still in school and was doing "well" and made the equvalent of $15K/year.

[@thehomeless_trucker]

100k invested for 8 years at 8% will get you there million... so that's not reaching that income until age 27. If starting at age 21, you'd only need to invest $3,500/mo to get that million at age 35. It's definitely reachable for someone who is money hungry from an early age and actually takes action. 85-100k in annual income is doable if you're intentional.

[@TheRestrictedgamer]

​@@thehomeless_trucker it is incredibly difficult and extremely rare for any 21-year-old to make 87-100k per year.

[@thehomeless_trucker]

@TheRestrictedgamer so we're sending kids to college for crap money? Many trades can get you that money on the first year or two. Lol 4 years of college to make only 45k...

[@TheRestrictedgamer]

​@@thehomeless_trucker The average salary for a skilled tradesman in the US is 40k per year. With less than 3 years' experience, that goes down to 30k. Also, half of surveyed tradesmen had at least an associate's degree. Not sure where you're getting the numbers you're using to pat yourself on the back, but the vast majority of trades will NOT pay anyone that kind of money in the first year.

[@jwong7316]

This was such an amazing video and brought so much clarification to this confusing topic. So much literature saying you should have "2x, 3x, 4x" of your income, doesn't clarify which "income level" you should be basing that on. As you said, income levels can change over time. I love your advice on taking time to celebrate milestones such as promotions, and continue to save and put money away, vs being fixated on the 2x, 3x, 4x...etc number as it may not be realistic given your individual situation (e.g. you've only been earning your relatively higher income for the past couple years, so why would it make sense to have 4x of that amount saved if you've made significantly less before that). Love this practical and very relevant advice. Thank you KZbin algorithm for leading me to this video! Great job Erin!

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Welcome to the channel! 🙏😊

[@kellyodell3249]

I really appreciate you addressed the pay raise disappointment for your retirement. I went from feeling great about my retirement. To getting married with dual income, felt like I was now average. Got a large pay raise and suddenly by all metrics I'm significantly behind at age 41.

[@Bygkydcmc]

I always give a thumbs up on your videos when I watch them, but I wish I could give 10 on this one because you nailed the problems I have with these savings recommendations. My wife and I met in the military when we were 20 and 22 making something like 40K combined. We both separated in our mid-20s and have had very big spikes in incomes around the same time throughout our careers. Although we are objectively well ahead of our peers with regards to investments, we've never met the Fidelity "recommendations." We are in our 40s now, and will likely retire well before 60. We've both had more than one 40% jump in our incomes which threw the numbers off big time compared to the guidelines over the years early on. We are just now getting in line / ahead compared to the Fidelity recommendations.

[@Waggie2121]

Congrats Erin for hitting 100k Subscribers!

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Thank you so much 😀

[@RufusWesley55]

I'm glad you made this video it reminds me of my transformation from a nobody to good home, $34k monthly and a good daughter full of love

[@furbabies867]

Great video. I can say 100% that if my husband and I started making 300k a year, our savings and investments wouldn't grow one penny for 3 years. But at the end we would have a paid off house 😊

[@DanielFooHello]

Bad idea. You will have no cash to handle emergency, end up getting into high interest loan. You will also miss out investment return higher than the interest saving from your mortgage. Paying off a mortgage is a marathon, not a sprint.

[@TheRealEdStoner]

I agree if your loan is 7% but disagree if it’s 3%.

[@FLking727]

Personal finance is personal. If a paid off house is your plan I say do it. Then invest the mortgage amount and more if possible into the market. God blees

[@Darlhim89]

depending upon the interest rate of your mortgage that may or may not be a horrible decision.

[@mysterio5837]

Id youre married, you need to have 2x the amount than i a single person. More than 2x if you have kids

[@dbdouglas]

I 100% agree with having 'stretch goals' for saving, as opposed to 'unrealistic goals'. Simply taking a calculator & doing the math, and challenging ones self and having self-discipline will produce better-than-expected results more often than not, IMO! BTW, congratulations on your first 100,000+ subscribers! No one is more thorough when you tackle a subject and you combine elite-level video production quality! 🏆

[@Andre-qo5ek]

these articles are so often not transparent as to what they really mean , their presumptions, and their calculations. great to see you deconstruct the article and address it yourself.

[@tHebUm18]

I'm 35. Had a net worth of approximately $0 at 28 after getting my first real job and paying off student loans as fast as possible. Been saving/investing diligently and have a bit over 3x my 6-figure annual gross income saved. Hoping to be able to retire by 50.

[@Peteliao]

I am 38 years old and I am retiring next year March 2025! I have saved my money since I was 17 years old and lived below my means every year since. Retiring with 2.8M net worth and 130-150k yearily passive income with me Amazon buisness and rental properties.

[@ThrowedTexan]

Congratulations! I don’t need to know you to be happy for you! 🎉

[@Peteliao]

@@markandrewkoval8920 I am going to be traveling the world for a year and possibly start a KZbin channel. I always wanted to do it.

[@plantingseedstv5138]

Geez! That number is insane. I’m 33 and it took a lot of aggressive saving to have $650K in investing assets and $350K equity in 2 homes It def is a process and I am now trying to scale down on saving and enjoy life a bit!

[@BowlerActuary]

Currently saving 60% of gross income while I am sharing an apartment with my dad out of grad school - debt free (other than really low interest student loans - down to

[@nathanyoder4509]

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving Erin! Thanks for another great video!

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Thanks so much, Nathan! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well 😊

[@nathanyoder4509]

Thanks!

[@ColinAdventures]

I think the major problem with most financial advice is it revolves around someone making an unusually high income at a regular 9-5 office job. Most people don’t make anywhere near that and don’t work in office jobs. A lot of the appeal of someone like Dave Ramsey is that he’s one of the few people that has a plan, even if flawed, for people at normal income levels and that have a variety of jobs and careers.

[@justinbprice]

One should also account for differences in Cost of Living that will vary dramatically across the world and even from state to state within the USA. For instance, a household income of $300K USD in NYC would be the equivalent of $171K USD in Nashville, Tennessee.

[@jar145022]

My wife and I make about 72k a year we still plan for 1 mill. We do 22% currently plus 1% every year assuming we get a raise up to 50%. Whether we make it or not is not really the point. It’s more about setting a higher goal to keep us motivated. Who doesn’t want to be a millionaire.

[@wordsareavenues]

Erin, does this also include investments in property rather than just stocks and 401k?

[@richardgannon8292]

Great video you are right you don't want to make your goals too high to stress you out .

[@martinyeager7948]

WOO HOO!!!! 100,000 subscribers!! Congratulations!! Happy Thanksgiving. I hope Subscribers will continue to SHARE your channel and it outstanding content.

[@langanct]

how would you quantify rental real estate passive income into the equation? if a 35 year old has rental property with lets just say $1,000 per month of cash flow right now, how does that equate to investment account value? not including the real estate equity for net worth.

[@DR-fr7ur]

What about inflation? Shouldn't we account for that in the retirement total?

[@chrisryan9986]

Hi Erin, will you consider naming the publication and author of the article you are referencing here. Thanks

[@freddybie]

There is only 1 flaw I find with retirement investing videos, they talk about target funding as of a specific time. After 35 your salary should increase, especially if it is already high now, so in 30 years you will probably be making 400-500k a year or more. Also, inflation will be a factor over 30 years along with health costs. Not saying that all the math is correct/incorrect , but expecting that less money than you make at 35 will be OK for retirement is maybe a little flawed too.

[@djcoolrule]

Hi Erin. I pray you and your family have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Thank you! You too!!😊

[@kirklandphil]

99.9K Let's Go!!!

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Refresh!!! We hit 100K!!! 🙏🤯😁 Thank you so much for being here for so long!! 💙

[@kirklandphil]

@@ErinTalksMoney WooHoo! Congrats Erin!! Thank you for the great content.

[@chrisforker7487]

Certainly starting early on the savings can allow you to then enjoy the fruits of your labor. Enjoying things while you’re in your 40s and 50s worked out great for us. Now in our 60s and still do a lot of, but enjoy more time working in my woodworking shop.

[@jpcarsmedia]

$1 million is literally insane and not feasible for most. The $600k target is realistically acheivable by 35, but you'll need to both earn a lot and sacrifice (less spending).

[@thehomeless_trucker]

Article never claimed it was feasible for most.... it's literally for a couple in the top 10% of US income..... 100k invested for 8 years at 8% would get you there. That leaves about 137k/yr to live on.

[@MrPizzaman09]

I've averaged maybe $75k income since graduating from college as a single person and at age 33 I'm real close to $1m. I haven't done anything too crazy from an investing standpoint and have low to medium expenses ($20-25k/year probably).

[@ezyryder11]

It’s not that insane, and telling yourself that it’s too unrealistic and you can’t do it can comfort yourself but isn’t going to help you succeed. Making half this income, I’m halfway to $1 million in net worth by age 32, and honestly am a bit spoiled and not as frugal as my immigrant parents who have accomplished way more.

[@Intotheunknown89]

It is aggressive, but can be done without extreme stress saving. Don’t be afraid of “stretch” goal - start while time is your ally. We achieved this goal while enjoying life.

[@jaredgates4310]

I think trying to use your current household income to determine if you are on track is flawed. For instance my household income is 205k but we have only been making close to that for the last 2 years before that it was only 120k. How could I possibly have 2x my current income saved at 35 if if I just only start making close to that much money. I think a better gauge would be to use multiples of your current household expenses by age.

[@davidshin2688]

Great Video. Thank you. But something else to consider is the inflation. Need to prepare for the potential inflation into calculation. (hard to predict the future) 35 years later, cost of milk and electricity and medication and healthcare price will likely go up. If government keep spending, our dollar value will keep dropping.

[@michaelb1369]

It’s worth mentioning that $300k won’t have the same buying power 30 years from now due to inflation

[@seanstack180]

Just turned 34 last week. I’m only a couple hundred thousand away from that $1.03m figure 🎉 looks like I have a year to go to stay on track!

[@davedeboy5726]

save as much as you can until you hit a million. Then cut back and enjoy life a little while you work. When you hit 2 mil-relax and work only if you want to or need to. I quite at 40 after working 2 full time jobs-or retired rather-and had 2.7m after only putting in 350k of my own money.

[@web2road9341]

Awesome video!!! Can you provide any insight of the 401k retirement related to employer contributions concerning fully vested. Example: If a company goes out of business before an employee reach the 5 year target of becoming fully vested with the company contributions. What is the employee 401k entitlement?

[@ElijahGartin]

One thing that I'm curious about (and maybe I missed it multitasking and listening) is the factoring in of inflation to the equation. Especially as we seem to be consistently entering "unprecedented" events more frequently it would seem that must be factored in. A $300k/year income will probably feel closer to $100k/year income now when a 35 year old gets to retirement age, or maybe even worse since everyone likes to play marketing psychology games with inflation rates. My goal is to pay off my home and hold on to it until I die and consistently do things to reduce bills. Even with that though, my property taxes went up almost 150% this past year, thankfully a 150% of a lower number, but if that keeps going too the need to target a higher and higher retirement number seems to be prudent.

[@jdgolf499]

Thank you for continuing to call out rhese "one size fits all" articles and studies. A couple earning $300,000 in Oklahoma City can save far more than that same couple in San Francisco, and the same for retirement. If you retire in Oklahoma City, you would need far less saved than retiring in SF. Also, as you have rightly stated in other video's, it's really not about a specific savings number, it's about how much you spend, and that will lead you to your needed savings!

[@dstevens518]

Never mind the varying costs of living geographically, what about the varying personalities of people? Some will be sowing their wild oats while they're young, and worry about saving when they're beyond middle aged, and others will be socking it away religiously, dreaming of early retirement with multi-millions fueling their carefree lives... $300K income in your mid 30's gives you a different view than most, you're probably not all that concerned with having enough for retirement when making large incomes over the next few decades seems inevitable...

[@JBoy340a]

On the flip side the percentage of number of couples earning $300K in OKC is likely much lower than in SF.

[@SammieOlin]

I Hit 110k today. Thank you for all the knowledge and nuggets you had thrown my way over the last months. Started last month 2024. Financial education is indeed required for more than 70% of the society in the country as very few are literate on the subject. thanks to Charlotte Grace Miller for helping me achieve this

[@masterotrunks]

Waking up every 14th of each month to 210,000 dollars it's a blessing to I and my family... Big gratitude to Charlotte Miller

[@GertonTootle]

The very first time we tried, we invested $1400 and after a week, we received $5230. That really helped us a lot to pay up our bills.

[@bennettross1]

She is my family's personal broker and also a personal broker in many families I'm United States, she's a licensed broker and a FINRA AGENT in United states

[@anatolyivan]

I'm new at this, please how can I reach her?

[@stephaniebeddis8069]

I just withdrew my profits a week ago, To be honest it was an amazing feeling when the profits hits my wallet I wish I could reinvest but, too much bills

[@rffinances8567]

The number they gave is definitely high. As you say, the couple probably didn't start of with this type of income. If they're making $300k a year, they very likely spent a lot of time in school, meaning there's a lot of years where they weren't making much and possibly going into debt with student loans. Then they have all the other "start of adulthood" expenses, like buying a car and potentially a place to live, which is likely more debt. Hopefully, by this point, they're out of any non-mortgage debt, but this takes time and money they can't spend investing to do so. Then with as with most things in personal finance, how much money they should have invested depends on the couple and their goals. Do they want to replicate their working income when they retire? Or are they willing to be more frugal. There's also the fact that in retirement they will probably be paying lower taxes, and won't need to save for retirement anymore, which will be a couple big expenses. The numbers from Fidelity seem like a good start to figuring out where you should be, but definitely not the end of the analysis.

[@N90mat]

Was the 300k in retirement assuming 100% of pre-retirement income consider for inflation? I would imaging, if not, after retirement income is lower than 100%

[@tfh-rw9vb]

Erin is jacked 💪

[@BrianW211]

What really should be used to determine a person's appropriate retirement savings by age is their actual spending by age. Just because they earn $300K/year doesn't mean they spend that much (even after saving 15%). A graph that tracks both income and spending and predicts both would be ideal. Unfortunately, it's much easier to track income than spending.

[@oldtimeharmonica8560]

36 years old. Wife and I make about 90k each. Have just over 700k saved (invested) and about 300k in home equity My immediate goal is to reduce work to 32 hours/ week once the 2 little ones are out of daycare

[@mikedelrossi6981]

How do you factor in a traditional pension? My company pays 100% of pension and they match my 401k 100% up to 4%

[@NiranjanBendre]

We were around half way there but the income wasn’t at that levels at that age but reached that number by age 37ish. Eventually the compounding also pushes far more than what we can contribute. It just takes over.

[@motofreak2772]

A lot of kids are making over 6 figures right out of school at age 22. It is not “too aggressive” to assume they will max out the 401k limit for 13 years. That would put them around $500k at 35, assuming they met someone similar they’d have $1M combined. But the reality is that this type of person wouldn’t only have a 401k but taxable investments as well. $1M at 35 as a single person is crazy but as a couple not so much.

[@tHebUm18]

Surprised this video just said they're outside the Roth IRA income range without mentioning they could and should do a Backdoor Roth IRA. Also, realistically, most households earning that kind of money should probably be saving more unless in a very high cost of living area.

[@Blubbha]

One example from germany. 37, family of 5. Huusehold income 150k gross. Net worth 780k. 450k house and 330 in portfolio value. I believe we are doing pretty good. But its an exception in germany so more the top 10%.

[@j10001]

Excellent, as always.

[@WealthyChronicle]

appreciate the honesty in this video, but can we agree that real-life financial journeys aren’t this linear? One day you’re making $50k, the next you hit $300k-and now you’re supposed to have a million?

[@brianjnemec]

300K today is a lot of money... but people who are 35 will have significant expenses at 80. If you go back 45 years, we're talking about 1979 prices. The dollar is about $0.24 based on the CPI and some purchases like rent increased by almost 6x. Average apartment today is $1,400/month... you need 50K to afford that with a 1/3 Rent/Income guideline most landlords require. Another 6x in cost would put that couple right on the edge of the rental limits by the time it's 2070.

[@karihosny9420]

Happy Thanksgiving Erin.

[@ronsegura4526]

If you are a couple making $300,000 a year at 35 years old, with a 3 percent annual increase, your total house hold income at age 65 is around $728,000. Your target of $9.2 million with 4 percent withdrawal rate would give you about 1/2 your retirement age salary.

[@drz400sy8]

Agree there is more to this story, not to say it can't be done but there are typically living expenses (house, kids, etc). This is not a typical couple. Say they are both tech and started out at 100k (200k couple), and 6% is conservative, they would still be up there. Yes, I have specific goals based on age but the basis for them is weak (like you say, they are stretch "perceived fear of coming up short" goals). I am beginning to wonder if CFPs are pressing too much retirement savings especially with being paid a percentage of the portfolio? Other related question: they now have time on their side for growth, would catch up contributions really be worth it if one has saved and will be retiring soon? Should any extra money be used for conversions instead since the tax will be more later? It all comes down to running the numbers and being aware changes will happen in life, with taxes, and investment options......

[@andrew40]

Why do expenses go down in retirement? While working, the bulk of health insurance is covered by my employer, and all the time working means I have less time to spend my money. I fully expect my expenses to go up.

[@BrandiLove-m8q]

I have a $90,000 portfolio that I've been working on for 5 years, but lately the volatility in the market scares me... Is the bull market over? I'm thinking about moving my investments to safer options like a hysa or T-bills. What do you think?

[@LaurelHouskeeper]

It depends on your goals-whether you're looking to grow your money, earn income, keep your savings safe, or how much risk you can handle and how close you are to retirement.

[@MillerSusan-w1f]

Accurate asset allocation is crucial with an Experts guidance. I have 850k in equity, 75 cash earning 5.25 interest, 685k in roth ira, 120k in 401k, Gold and silver bars. age is 48. My advisr helped me realign my portfolio to my risk tolerance and it boomed shortly.

[@MillerSusan-w1f]

Kimbery Grace Flanagan as always been on the top of my list. She is regarded as a genius in her area and well knowledgeable about financial markets. I highly recommend you look her up if you want excellent collaboration.

[@marksmallwood4938]

Don’t be an idiot. Stay invested. No one can time the market.

[@Bobventk]

Your channel is good.

[@ErinTalksMoney]

I appreciate that!

[@xXxCh0n1cxXx]

Good video but where are the bloopers? They are always so funny and I love them 😂

[@zeldyrrolorin9962]

I don't want to be rude to the author of this article but the way the scenario is set up is very silly. You hit upon it at about the 4 min mark in your video. How long have the couple been making a high income? If you really have been making $300,000 since 21 and weren't forced to live in CA or NY hellhole with outrageous costs of living then saving $1M+ by age 35 should just happen naturally. It would happen with straight contributions not even considering growth. But, as would be the case with most people, you didn't start earning a high income until later then the goal is too aggressive. Sorry but I feel like you clicked on the wrong reality show this time. The premise is too unrealistic to be useful or interesting. In happier news, 99.1K subs! You are going to hit 100K soon. Congrats!

[@ErinTalksMoney]

so close!!! It's so exciting!

[@zeldyrrolorin9962]

@@ErinTalksMoney and so well deserved. I hope you celebrate in the a completely un-fiscally responsible manner ;-)

[@a10072]

Most of these authors are very stupid. They don't even take some moment to think about their assumptions before they write. This is what happens when people lack basic critical thinking skills.

[@vinyl1Earthlink]

How many people making $300K at age 35 are doctors who just started practicing, loaded down with hundreds of thousands in med school debt? Even if you are a lawyer or IT wizard, you probably didn't make much when you started out in your career at age 24 or 25. It's not like they've been making $300K ever since they graduated from college.

[@05Steveoeast]

It is rare to earn this high of an income at an early age, but is possible. I was lucky enough to get an engineering job earning 100k/year at 22 with only a 2 year degree. I was able to work and prove to the company I work for that I was worth the value they pay me. This has only grown since which has been 15 years later.

[@JBoy340a]

In tech it is not uncommon to be making $300K+/yr by 35 once you factor in pay, stock options, and bonuses at a big tech company.

[@TheRealEdStoner]

Erin please be honest. Was the actual words “holy cow” or did you edit yourself.

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Common swear words that are uttered in my house: Holy cow! What the Frick? What the heck? Frick on a sick Occasionally, rarely, the actual swearword slips out. But truly speaking it’s not that often.

[@TheRealEdStoner]

@@ErinTalksMoney great.

[@TheRealEdStoner]

@@ErinTalksMoney People that make high income often make the mistake of not saving a larger percentage of their incomes. High income even one that feel secure can end quickly.

[@christiansailor2880]

Great video!

[@mattb.7464]

What if you didn’t become a high income earning individual until age 35(me)?

[@trackguy4038]

Can you do a show on how you find Black Friday specials? At times people camp out for a week to be the first in line at Best Buy.

[@MOTrav]

Keep moving forward with sensible investing and don’t stress out! Get out and get some physical exercise to stay calm and focused. 😎

[@richardwysocki7490]

I like the fidelity rule of 600k but haven’t done any analysis. That’s a huge family income at 35…. I could have only dreamed that amount

[@vijayanbalasubramanian8837]

In my opinion 250k in retirement account, 80k in savings, 200k in brokerage with low cost index funds should be good

[@charletfoster8917]

👍🏿 video, so helpful😊

[@misssophiamae]

Strange article, for sure. In my situation, my household is likely to need less than half the gross income once we retire. This is because we save for retirement, kids cost something, save for college and all that. I’m under 40 so things could change though.

[@onewizzard]

at 42, I am at 700k, is that good or bad? I do feel ashamed about my youth and reckless spending.

[@Atrus999]

I wasn't aware we were watching a Fantasyland video today. 😂

[@pdxmusl1510]

300k income level getting 1 million saved wouldn't remotely be challenging. Your probably getting above 200k in pay every year. Even without compound interest savings account million would take 10 years saving 100k at a time. If your agressive..you could probably do 150k easily is savings. It would still give you well over 50k for expenses. Which is almost double of my annual spend. If you invested 150k per year during a bull run. 1m in 4-5 years with an average of 10% return. There's literally no valid excuse for not being able to save 1m on a 300k salary if youve had approximately that for 10-15 years. Except maybe major health problems.

[@dstevens518]

@@pdxmusl1510 I'd agree in principle, but if you're mid 30's making $300K, you're probably thinking you'll make millions over the next few decades, and retirement savings isn't your priority or concern. Also, if you're aggressively saving like your scenario, you'd have to ask what for, given you're comfortable enough to live on so much less?

[@mattcanterbury]

​@@dstevens518this just depends on your values. My wife and I make 280k. We spend between 75k-85k per year. We invest a little over 100k a year. We hate wastefulness and over consumption, so we try to buy and do the things that actually make us happy. Our home is 1800sqft and cost 300k in 2021. Much smaller than the 2400 sqft, 600k homes we could have easily afforded. We were big on cars years ago, but even then we wouldn't spend anymore than 400-500 per month on leasing. Now we just simply purchase them outright. We like the freedom that comes with no debt and large safety net if needed. Don't get me wrong, we do spend money on things, but it's extremely minimal compared to our income. Having kids definitely changes where your priorities are at and make you decide the type of example you want to set for your kids.

[@TheFirstRealChewy]

I was still in college at age 21. $300K would have been awesome! Also, I'm assuming that this is income made in a HCOL area if they are saving 15%.

[@markwilkins1544]

Hi Erin, interesting video. Thank you for sharing. And I love your hairdo. With it up or down, you are so gorgeous. I hope you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving 😊

[@ErinTalksMoney]

Thanks so much Mark! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! 😊

[@fredswartley9778]

1 million at 35 seems completely unrealistic. Most people aren't able to start saving aggressively at age 21. In fact, most people haven't even started saving by 31. The important factor is that this person started saving what they could. Maybe they only had 200k saved at 35, but increased their savings rate over time...I like Fidelitys metrics better, but still think they are a little high.

[@appleztooranges]

I’m 37 with over $720k in net worth. House paid off at 31.

[@bzrkr842]

I'm half your age and double your net worth.

[@appleztooranges]

@ is your house paid off? Debt free?

[@bzrkr842]

@@appleztooranges don't have a house. Don't want one.

[@appleztooranges]

@ I don’t blame you

[@plfreeman111]

There is this repeated "myth" that after tax contribution to a Roth is better because you can withdraw it tax free. Only if you think your tax bracket will be higher in retirement, which may be a bad assumption for a high earning family. Try the math out. Put 15% of gross in a tax deferred account and tax the remaining amount at 25%. Let the savings grow for 30 years at 7%, then withdraw it at an effective tax rate of 25% (just as an example). Now, take the same gross amount. Tax it at 25% up-front. Assume expenses are the same, and save what you can after taxes so that your income after saving is equal in both scenarios. Now grow that tax free for 30 years at 7%. It will be exactly the same amount. Exactly. Here's an example. Suppose you have $100k in gross income. You put 15% in a tax deferred acct. and have $85k taxed at 25% for a net income after savings and taxes of $63,750. You let the $15k grow for 30 years to about $114k, and then it gets taxed at 25% for a net withdrawal of $85,637.87. If we instead save it as a Roth contribution, we first tax the $100k at 25% and have $85k to work with. *However* to have the same income after taxes and savings, we only save $11,250. We grow this at 7% for 30 years and get...$85,637.87. To the penny. Savings should be based on your budget. If you can save 15% after taxes and manage on that budget, then you can save more on a before tax basis and end up with the same budget. If you tax bracket doesn't change, then it's a wash whether you go Roth or Traditional. If you think your tax bracket will be higher in retirement than it is now - pay the taxes now and go Roth. If you think your tax bracket will be lower in retirement than it is now (which is very likely for high earners), then go Traditional and pay the taxes in retirement when they are cheaper. Or mix the two according to your future spending strategy. But this idea that Roth is "better" because the earnings aren't taxed is just bad math.

[@lberhold]

Income is arbitrary. My wife and I live off of less than 70% of my income. If we planned to "make" the same equivalent income as my personal income in retirement we would be increasing our lifestyle. We don't need to increase our lifestyle, we currently travel about 3x per year, and will have our house paid off in retirement. We will only need at most 50% of my personal income in retirement, so investments that return in excess of 100% of present value personal income + keeping up with inflation would be excessive.

[@Azel247]

My income is 200k/yr and I have 1.01mil liquid saved at age 38.... Looks like I'm a bit behind.

[@keyster747]

$1m at 35. i guess if you have rich parents, live in their basement, have no kids, and ride a bicycle to work.

[@Cormin]

Shoulders? On Thanksgiving? Heating that house is an opportunity cost Erin. You should be investing more

[@chicarbiomed]

Also the author,” it’s illegal to keep your lifestyle creep in check going into retirement “

[@deanomiles9686]

I’ll be 32 in March by 35 I plan to have anywhere between 50k-80k in my investment portfolio that is realistic to me

[@leprechaun3677]

When I heard 300k; I stopped watching. Congrats to the people in the comments, but let’s get real 99.9% of Americans aren’t making that.

[@alvilcas]

Interesting enough median household income is $80,610. Over 60% of the people in the US make less than $99,999 (combine) income household. IMO not only the math is not right but the actual example with earners of over $200k which is only 15% of the entire country is quite pretentious and misleading.

[@yogazoe1922]

Fidelity's 2x salary is the average salary for the past 10 years. So they're not saying $600k is what you should have.

[@Donkeyearsa]

Something that I have never seen someone ever cover is instead of funding a childs collage but instead funding a childs retirment. How much would you a rich lets say a grandparent or great great grandparent have to invest at a childs birth so they can retire at 65 with a middle class income without the child having to add anything to it during their life or considering any additional sourses of income from things like social security or a pension. To keep the child from being able to raid that account llbefore 65 lets put it into a trust that they can't access until they are 65.

[@kirklandphil]

Setting goals like this are reason people do not have kids. My goal was to have three kids and a happy wife, and I would do whatever it took to make that happen. The key, as you said, is good habits. We saved for everything like vacations, when we had our second kid, it just made sense for her to stay home, but once the third kid got to junior high, it was time for her to go back to work. Were 66 now and we look back and see how good of a call that was. We did get lucky and my business took off giving us all we needed and much more but when you set goals be careful that someday you will look back and say we based all of our goals on, money!

[@paytonreid5077]

We save 75% of our income and have ~$1.5M saved. It’s possible!

[@clartro]

This article is absurd. Was it written by a gen Z who just got their first job and reality hasn't hit them yet.

[@kylen6430]

More realistically it was probably written by AI

[@toooldforthisshte1681]

It's not difficult to Google who the person is. Click on the article Erin has in description and look him up. Basic critical thinking. He is more from the useless Gen X generation, or the ladder pulling Boomer generation, than a millenial or Gen Z. Gosh. Took me 2 min, while listening to her video, to find out.

[@just_another_bot0110]

​@@toooldforthisshte1681 You're asking too much from people who can't finish a tiktok video on the first try

[@kylen6430]

@ cool story

[@Whineboy]

Been following you for a while, Erin. Your production quality has soared, great work!

[@DontAtMeh]

6:20 I would hope you don't have the same amount of debt in your mid 60s as you do your mid 30s to have the same amount of monthly spending lol. Anyway, great video. I like the high earner centric vids

[@duneme]

If your in your 30’s and have saved $1,000,000 you are saving more than 15% of your income! As long as you Don’t save anything the 5-yrs leading up to Retirement and get used to SPENDING that way! In other words, don’t train yourself to be a spender leading into retirement!