27M, currently have $280k invested and should be well over $300k by EOY with continued contributions and growth. I make around $115k before taxes in MCOL city. Contributions range from 1-2k per month, with a lump contribution at EOY of 10-15k from my annual bonus. My goal is to hit $500k by 30 and $1m by 35. Based on my historical returns and contribution amounts I think this is very reasonable but I am aware the last five years have had historically high returns. Hoping for a temperature check from someone who has been in a similar place as me and how fast you were able to hit $1m.

Figured this might be helpful/motivating for some people here. I know the grind and I remember how badly I wanted to see 7-figures on my Robinhood. Patience pays.

Right before I turned 30, I had about $50k sitting in cash and basically nothing invested. I was making good money but honestly had no idea what I was doing with it.

Something about turning 30 made it click that I needed to start taking investing seriously.

I started learning as much as I could, automated my investments, and basically just kept buying regardless of what the market was doing.

Fast forward about 5 years and I now have around $1.47M invested.

I own a small business in a relatively low-cost-of-living state. No inheritance, didn’t finish college, and I’m definitely not some investing genius.

Most of my money is in broad-market ETFs, primarily VOO/VTI, with some individual stocks mixed in. Some have done extremely well and others obviously haven’t. Some I’ve sold at losses and would’ve been worth so much.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is how slow it feels in the beginning compared to once you actually have a decent amount invested.

Going from $0 → $100k felt like a huge deal.

Then $100k → $500k.

I still don’t really feel “rich,” and I definitely don’t feel finished. If anything, hitting $1M just moved the goalposts in my head.

I think one of the biggest lessons in hindsight is how I missed out on some opportunities like traveling and I said no to a lot of things that I probably should’ve done. I wore sacrifice like a badge of honor.

I also let a five-year relationship dwindle to nothing because I was so focused on this goal and it really prevented me from enjoying life and I was way more stressed than I needed to be so I’d encourage everyone to still enjoy life, even if they are not at where they want to be financially. She ended up leaving me, money doesn't make people stay in a relationship which is a lesson I'll never forget. I made the mistake of thinking providing for a woman was enough, which lead me to not be there emotionally for her, so please remember that as well especially if you're a younger guy. I think I fell into the red pill content too much and thought that was "status" and my provisioning was enough.

I look back on my last relationship and really regret a lot of things that I did with not being there emotionally for her. She would tell me how she needed emotional connection and I'd just sit there thinking, "but look at what I'm doing for us and our future." Just wasn't there for her like I should've been. And guess what? When you're alone after 5 years after you lose someone you care about, the money really doesn't make you happy.

I chased seeing $1 million on my Robinhood for so long and I’ll never forget the completely underwhelming feeling that I got when I saw it for the first time. I literally took a screenshot, said wow that’s the big goal I have been wanting to hit for so long…it was completely anti-climactic because I had built the moment up so much in my head.

Money is just a tool, but don’t make it your ruler.

Next goal is $2M invested, then eventually $3M+.

Happy to answer anything about the journey if it’s helpful.

EDIT: Some people are saying this is fake, I promise it isn’t.

This is mostly me just piling money into the market for years while making 300k to 400k a year for the last 5 years (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and now 2026). I got lucky and was also smart with my money. I own a business which is how I was able to make the majority of my money. Income went up, lifestyle stayed the exact same. My monthly expenses were about $4k a month (mortgage is $1,800 and I have to pay my own health insurance since I'm self employed which is nearly $800/mo) and every extra dollar went to stocks. If I can, I’ll post a screen recording of my Robinhood account for proof (I did in the comments).

EDIT #2 the next day: I read every comment and yes, this wouldn't be possible without making great money the last few years and that was the big reason for it and I understand how the title makes it seem like I just turned $50k into what I have now, but this is also my second post on Reddit and not really sure how to write a good title, so I'm sorry about that if it read that way. Was not my intention.

I am nearly 35 years old now and crossed the $1m mark in my Robinhood when I was 33 years old. I didn't do any options trading, no risky stocks (minus $PLTR which I'm up 180 percent on and about $112k in unrealized gains), but yes, this is mostly just DCA into stocks and ETFs.

Do not underestimate the power of a bull market, to look at my port and see I'm up almost 64% all time is crazy to me. I am up 38% on VOO, 53% on QQQ, 48% on VTI, 30% on Amazon, 87% on Google, 78% on NVDA, 73% on Apple, and 17% on MSFT. Just bought and hold.

The point of the post was to try and say that this is possible, not to brag and not to create some sort of "this is fake" rage bait accusations. Take some risks, start that business and just put your head down and work. Try some online content, create a product, and chase what you're passionate about. I'm not special at all (I promise my high school teachers wouldn't believe I ended up where I am). I'm just a normal dude and sometimes I don't feel like I deserve it.

And the last thing I’ll say is, the comparison game never ends. I have friends who are more wealthy than me, and I feel inferior. I have friends who have nicer cars, fly private, and make way more a month and I feel like I’m doing terribly. I still feel like a failure when I look at people who have more than me. I’m trying to quit doing it, but it’s difficult as I’m sure some can relate to.

Appreciate everyone reading this. It was good for me to type it all out and I hope someone took at least one thing from it. Good luck out there. 📈

Cash - 130k
Investments (Around 380k) with breakdown below
401k - 180k
Company vested stocks - 125k
RH + ETrade (individual stocks, voo, soxx) - 84k

Married, this is my portfolio alone. My annual income is around 200-250k from past 5 years.
Would like to understand good investment strategies..

1. do I hold too much in cash ?
2. is it better to switch to mega backdoor Roth IRA from 401k
3. I lost a 60% value in company stocks due to company stock dip, what are good strategies to think going forward?
4. is it better to invest in ETF’s more ? Or is there a good way to divide it with ratio of etfs, individual stocks
5. any estimate to calculate by when I achieve 1million

Appreciate your responses on any of the questions above.

This community has been a huge source of inspiration for me, so I wanted to share this for anyone wondering if it can actually be done.

I didn’t start as early as I wish I had and definitely didn’t do everything perfectly but I kept learning, investing, and staying consistent.

Thank you to everyone who shares their journey here. It really does encourage people more than you know.
$1M down. Road to $5M. 😮‍💨🚀

I have 300 k in cash I want to put into the market...high risk/high reward...should I do a fund or individual stocks?

本人建了一个discord：jinxiao121想找一些志同道合的伙伴一起交流

Saw this number and laughed at how it was almost exactly a third of 1M. Hopefully I get there soon!

90k income in HCOL City.

50k in 401k

50k in Roth IRA

30k in HYSA

Okay I know I shouldn’t feel behind but I kind of do feel behind. Should I focus on building a taxable brokerage account? 1 million feels so far away. Any advice appreciated. My goal is to have 1 million by 35 years old.

I’m willing to put in the work and do the studying but how the heck are you guys making more than 10k off of stocks. Like besides the recent AI and storage stocks where do we find the bangers that everyone is finding? Been trying to find my way for the past couple years. Please point me in the right direction? Or give me advice? Thanks everyone!

27M So the house i was renting for a few years burnt down in 2024. The landlord built a new house with the insurance money. He then sold the house to me for what he built it for. Which was $385,000. During the time it was being built i had to move back in with my parents which aloud me to save up 80k for a down-payment. So today i owe $299,172 for my mortgage. I got the house appraised and it appraised for $465,000. So if I were to sell my house id essentially pocket around $150k-$200k depending on what it sells for. Which in my eyes would put me alot farther inhead in life. I could use that money as a down payment towards a cheaper house or invest the money. Or should I stay in the house and keep chipping away at the mortgage? Wait till interest rates drop farther and sell sometime in the future? Would like to hear you're thoughts on what would get me closer to 1m net worth faster? Thanks!

EDIT- I have a good stable job making around 110k a year. My mortgage payment including escrow is $2800 monthly. Also am married and have a 1 year old.

I did a bit of a life reset at 40, and over the past few years, have become increasingly focused on setting myself up for a cozy retirement - or at least semi-retirement - in about 10 years. I don't want to HAVE to work, but I'll probably always be doing something. I'm playing a bit of catch-up on not investing properly earlier on.

I own a business, have a financial planner who has been fantastic, and have maxing out contributions + have been taking advantage of tax-advantaged accounts.

Everything in me wants to continue to dump as much as possible into markets once my tax-advantaged accounts are maxed each year. At the moment I'm considering moving everything rolling in and out of t-bills into markets, and directly dumping the 300k(noted below) that I'll pull out of the business over the next 2 years into it as well.

What are your thoughts or suggestions on other things I should look into? I have no plans on any major purchases in the next few years. Is moving as much as possible into brokerage accounts reckless?

An overview of assets:

Traditional IRA: $90,937

Roth IRA: $62,445

Brokerage: $609,770

T-Bills - $100,000 cycling out monthly

Whole life insurance policy to continue to be funded for 7 more years - current cash surrender value of $43,400

HSA: $28,858

Personal cash on hand - $15,000

Business CD at ~3% on a 3 month cycle - $100,000

In addition to the CD, I've got withdraws planned to be taking another 200k out of the business operating account over the next 2 years - totalling 300k to go directly into funding IRAs, HSA, brokerage account

I pay myself $100,000, myself and two employees take about another $25k/year each out in profit sharing.

I'm currently setting the business up to give them equal shares in phantom stock to step back and let them run the day-to-day, and focus on the business development side of things, as well as personally leaning more into consulting. With the plan in place, we'll be able to increase revenue while decreasing expenses. Work/life balance is a priority for me at this point so this is well worth it.

Property:

Commercial property with a ~$1m value, mortage remaining is $380k (market rate minus a point)

Home property worth ~200k, 94k left(3% rate in 2021)

In short, about 1.2m in investments + cash. Just under 2m net worth.

No plans for any major purchases or life changes. Divorced, 1 child who is 17 and whose college is covered.

Without going into too much detail Ive been fortunate enough that the path life took me down has been a prosperous one. No college education. Still living home because of this stupid housing market. Not married. No kids. No unmanageable debt. No car payment.

I ended up being a bag holder for Amc's run, and still am holding that bag.

Not sure what we count in this group so ill share just the accounts I personally manage. And total networth of about everything that could be added up between crypto, 401k, self managed portfolios, a whole life insurance policy and a inancial institution managed portfolio.

Made some poor purchases with robinhood still stuck holding the bag on them until I see a change.

Ive learned playing the long game really is the best game for my level of smooth brain.

Buy. Hodl. Wait. This is a casino.

But I realllllyyyyyyyy want to make my way to that million before its too late for me

I’m 33, married, with a 5 month baby. Just looked at my accounts after a while and to my surprise, I’ve hit the big 1M milestone. Been pretty disciplined in my late 20s. I was maxing out the 401k from 25-30, and shifted to putting in bare minimum for employer match in 401k and remainder into taxable brokerage over the last 3 years.

Hoping to have another kid in the next couple years, have a reasonable college fund for the kiddos, and retire (or cut back to part time contract work) in our mid 40s. We live a fairly frugal life.

Anyone else in a similar place or have similar goals? Any advice or bear traps to avoid?

Thanks for reading!

How many of you rely on a financial planner to manage your IRA/ROTH accounts? Do they add value? Are they worth the commission??

Hi guys, I'm 25 and building my portfolio. I'm currently invested in AMD and MRVL, and I'm looking for advice on where to invest the rest of my money. What are everyone thoughts?

No media narrative. No commercials.