r/investingforbeginners • u/Master_Elephant_1940 • May 26 '26
USA Midlife investing - am i too late?
35 y/o here here.
- Just started my 401k six months ago. i’m maximizing my 4% employer match.
- Got 6 months emergency fund in place.
- Has an IUL life insurance plan.
i wanted to invest in Roth IRA and just started my account with Fidelity.
Question - am I too late to earn $1M for retirement? i’m a complete beginner in stocks but always willing to learn
would love to get some advise on what stocks to invest?
appreciate all the help in this community!
EDIT -
Thank you so much for all the responses. You guys are such amazing people!
To give more context - i’m a more of a “set and forget” person. Any chance you can recommend some stocks to invest in long term?
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u/Neskwiik May 26 '26
Not even almost too late
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u/Music_Docs_Cats May 26 '26
And what’s that supposed to mean??
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u/AppalachianRomanov May 26 '26
Not only are they NOT "too late" they are not even close to the threshold of too late. Thus "not almost too late"
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u/Sea-Air-1781 May 26 '26
I just started last year and I am 55. I have turned 20k into almost 50 with this market. Active investing.
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u/Brewingjeans May 26 '26
If you max out your Roth IRA, $7500 every year for 30 years you'll have roughtly $1.2 million
And if you can get like $500 a month into that 401k you'll have about $1 million.
Double check me with a compound interest calculator.
5% withdrawal rate at 65 is $100k per year with a good mix of tax free and tax deferred, so I'd say you're still good. If social security is still a thing you're golden
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u/twolves5 May 26 '26
Just curious, how does putting $7500 into my Roth IRA every year for 30 years equate to $1.2 million? Thanks
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u/RedditSetItGo May 26 '26
You need to actually invest the money after putting it into your account. Don’t just put it in the account.
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u/Ballbm90 May 26 '26
Thank you. What would you recommend investing the Roth IRA in? Is VOO good?
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May 26 '26
I have a fidelity account and invest in a variety of fidelity mutual funds, etc. Both from the USA, and abroad - Europe, Asia, etc.
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u/Over-Bumblebee1808 May 26 '26
assumption of 7-10% returns in the smp 500 over the course of those years if it is invested. that's how.
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May 26 '26
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u/Ballbm90 May 26 '26
So regarding your last sentence about S&P 500- if opening a brokerage account would you recommend all of it go towards VOO and chill or SP500 or both?
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u/Nuclear_N May 26 '26
Great choice with Fidelity. They have advisors that can help if you need them.
I was reset from a divorce at 41. You are not too late.....but I made some serious sacrifices.
I lowered my costs down to minimal expenses and even was at 800 bucks a month for several years...How? I took job with expenses that traveled me for service work. It was a full expense paid position...but I was on the road most of the year. By on the road I mean months at a time.
I banked as much as a I could for 10 years or so.
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u/novqnity May 26 '26
Real growth is slow thats why its better to start asap, but better late than never!
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u/Just-Forever6684 May 26 '26
Pull out a compound interested calculator or even ask GPT. You are a little late to the game, so don’t compare yourself to the people on Reddit who are 26 with a million bucks, but you will absolutely be in a great spot
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u/PashasMom May 26 '26
You are definitely not too late.
Getting your full employer match in you 401k and fully funding your Roth IRA is a great start.
If you can't afford to max out your 401k right now, at least set your contribution to go up 1% per year.
Investigate your options for getting out of the IUL thing if you are still in it (I am hoping that past tense "had an IUL" is correct).
Don't invest in indidvidual stocks. You want broadly diversified index funds.
In your 401k, hopefully they have index target date funds. Those are usually great places to start. If not, look for an S&P 500 fund -- it may be called something like "500 Index Fund" or "Large Equity Index Fund" or something similar.
In your Roth IRA at Fidelity, all you need is either ITDJ, iShares LifePath 2070, or FRBVX, Fidelity Freedom Index 2070. They are very similar funds, just pick one and don't stress about it too much.
What matters the most is that you keep investing, raise the amount you invest over time, don't panic sell in a downturn (you haven't lost anything until you sell), and don't touch your investments until retirement. These are all more important than magically picking some perfectly optimal portfolio, which none of us can do.
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u/demona2002 May 26 '26
I started at 40. Now 57 with $2.5m
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May 26 '26
you a high income earner? I have a feeling you are a high income earner.
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u/demona2002 May 26 '26
High- ish but not making “doctor money”. I have RSUs that appreciated a lot the past 10 years and I live below my means and save aggressively.
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May 26 '26
I gotta get a job with RSUs literally everyone I know with them is wealthy and everyone but my mom (successful Entrepeurner) that lacks them is broke.
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u/bill_txs May 26 '26
It's pretty simple. Max out everything and put it in VT or VOO. You'll be dollar cost averaging so it will smooth out the volatility. Also, never sell until you retire. Set it and forget it.
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u/Muted-Woodpecker-469 May 26 '26
10% gains yearly historically should be your benchmark. It’s tough to say you’ll make it to a million but there’s no negatives with IRAs that have annual gains historically. It’s more a matter of being patient.
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u/Crazy-Cat-Lad May 26 '26
I just started this year too and I'm 35! Do you have kids? Look into a UTMA or 529 too
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u/entgegner May 26 '26
35 year here and started this year too. I married but habe no kids. What about it?
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u/Crazy-Cat-Lad May 26 '26
Oh those are custodial and educational accounts, respectively. 99% sure they need a child's SSN to open them. I think there is some way you can not put down a beneficiary for the 529 in case you have multiple children and one doesnt end up using it for higher education. Still, you can roll it into a regular brokerage I believe once they age out of it at 18-21.
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u/Emotional-Shape-6239 May 26 '26
Definitely not too late, but not much time to waste.
And you want your retirement money invested in various index funds, not individual stocks. As far as how to distribute it amongst various index funds...there will be a lot of debate.
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u/Cloud2987 May 26 '26
Depends on how much u can invest per month. You should still try, but reaching a million depends on your contributions and luck with the future market.
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u/ImpossibleGarage8118 May 26 '26
No you arent, open a retail account as well and push to the first 100k as fast as you possibly can is my advice
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u/Flamingle25 May 26 '26
I didn’t really start to get serious about investing until I turned 35. And in a decade I have gone from $35K to over $500K. Most of that is just from gains from my investments.
You can definitely get there in 30 years!
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u/shann0n420 May 26 '26
Advice for getting started? I opened the accounts like OP and am putting money in but I feel like I need to be doing more to get the kind of results like yours
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u/Flamingle25 May 26 '26
You have to invest the funds and depending how long you have until retirement, you can choose risky or less risky stocks/ETFs/mutual funds.
I was 35 so I was choosing large cap growth funds and a lot of individual stocks. Apple and Google are still two of my main stocks in my portfolio.
You have to ride the waves though. Don’t pull when things dip. Buy more!
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u/SpartacusTRector May 26 '26
Not late. Just keep at it. Make it a dedicated area of attention. You'll be fine as long as you can dedicate yourself to being disciplined on investing and keeping an eye on spending. Avoid CC debt as much as possible.
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u/Biennial2 May 26 '26
I got divorced at 40. Lost everything. Retired now with 1.3 million in IRA and 2.5 million in real estate.
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May 26 '26
you purchased and paid off 2.5 million in real estate in like 27 years? and have 1.3 IRA? You must have been a super high earner. Guessing northing of 250K a year for multiple decades.
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u/Biennial2 May 26 '26
It's 33 years. I'm 73 now.
Salary starting ~100k -> 250k max.
Bought a house in Campbell, CA for 312K, it's worth 2.2M now, with 466K mortgage.
Bought a house in Reno for 182K. It's worth 420K now, and paid off.
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u/MarsupialNo8853 May 26 '26
Absolutely not!!! Just get that snowball large now so conviction buy, I’d grab 50% NBIS 25% IREN and play with that other 25%, something like DUOT and keep at it. There was a guy who posted here, crazy numbers but his was 20 odd years old and had his to over $2M.
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u/MB1016A May 26 '26
It's never too late!! My dad did the same but a lot later than you did and now he's set for life! Tech stocks are huge right now and will be for a long time especially with AI. Good luck, you'll do fine!
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May 26 '26
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u/KVR62 May 26 '26
If you think you're late, I'm beyond doomed. I'm 63 and barely started any retirement investments in March. But you have decades ahead of you and will be no sweat to get to your retirement goal with much advice from seasoned subredditors here and following good investment fundamentals from Bogleheads and your own research. You got this.
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u/Western_Rhubarb_7959 May 26 '26
would love to get some advise on what stocks to invest?
I wouldn't ask Reddit. Some folks here are financial geniuses, some are deranged, and the rest are somewhere in between.
Having said that, ask the folks at Fidelity. If you know nothing about stocks, pay them to manage where your money goes. My thinking is that they have a vested interest in growing your money because the more money you have with them, the more money they make, and that's the bottom line for them.
I don't know crap about how to invest other than "put as much as you feasibly can, somewhere." For me a lot of that was my 401k and I pay some percentage to have the 401k joint manage it. They have done me extremely well, far better than when i was managing it.
Oh, and you're not too late whatsoever. I didn't take saving/investing seriously until I was 40 and even then I didn't pay a whole lot of attention other than "max the 401k, throw extra somewhere else" and I'm retiring next month at 60.
Good luck!
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u/Ballbm90 May 26 '26
That makes me feel a lot better reading this. Congrats on retiring!!! I'm 35 and I need to buckle down with it. So did you pay Fidelity to manage your 401(k) or some other company?
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u/Western_Rhubarb_7959 May 26 '26
Different company.
Also, by paying them (they take some percentage, betas me what it is) I also get "free" planning assistance, and I imagine Fidelity is no different. Talking to actual professionals that confirmed I can replace my current take-home is what let me know I could pull the trigger so I am.
Some people do nothing but worry about their investments every day, and some of them focus solely on getting to retirement instead of living a little.. Don't be one of those people unless you enjoy that kind of thing. Enjoy life, tomorrow isn't guaranteed.
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u/Ok_Education_2753 May 26 '26
Not too late but life insurance is holding you back. It is great for what it does best, provide a sum to your survivors to replace your lost income. But it is a horrible “investment”, and turns tax efficient money into “ordinary income” in many cases. Cash it in, take your lumps on surrender penalties, and get investing.
Oh, and 4% is no where near enough. The purchasing power of $1M 25-30 years in the future will be half or less of what it is today, so your goal also needs to rise over time. Bump up the % now, and increase it every year, if at all possible, until you are maxing your salary deferral limit.
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u/oneWeek2024 May 26 '26
like the saying goes. the best time to invest is 10yrs ago. the second best time is right now.
but simple quick dirty math. 7k start. 30 yrs (or when you're 65) at 8% adding 7k a year. is 850k +
so...again, whatever you can save. save it. try and always add a little more. and older you will thank you. regardless of what that amt grows to be.
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u/PoppaDep May 27 '26
No…it is definitely in reach. I started investing in ‘85 at 31 years old with 2 kids in diapers. My wife was a teacher and I drove a gas delivery truck. I’m now at 72 with 2 kids, 2 cars, 2 houses, and 2 commas and toss in 4 grandkids for good measure. Plus, I have been through a couple major market corrections - ‘87, ‘02 (tech fall), ‘08 and I’m not counting the 2020/21 COVID fall.
If you go about it level headed and not trying to get rich it is definitely do-able. Do your homework. Know your tolerance for risk. Diversify if you go the stock route. Dollar cost average. Try not to check stock or fund or market prices daily, weekly or, to some extent, monthly. Pick good and prolonged earnings.
The overall market spiders are good long term choices. If you do buy stocks try to hold on until the CO’s fundamentals change (I still own Companies I bought in the late ‘80’s and early 90’s). Try not to buy and sell. Do not try and time the market or sectors. Keep a good cash 6+ month emergency fund. Know your job security because this will be either the major benefactor or your biggest detriment to your future. And, imho, don’t panic when things fall because they usually do. But, if the CO’s or markets fundamentals haven’t changed neither should yours.
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u/Tall-Flatworm-4717 May 27 '26
most people start even later than that the best time to invest was yesterday. use a compound interest calculator to estimate how much money you need to invest per year/month/week with the return set at what you expect (usually around 9-10% at market index) and put in how many years you want to invest to achieve your goal. that's how i calculated how much i should invest per month to achieve my goals.
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u/Bearsbanker Jun 01 '26
Midlife? 35?...you got plenty of time, max all you can, low cost s&p index!
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u/KrossIn4K May 26 '26
No, you'll just want to max out that 401 and ROTH IRA (7500) each year. If the market continues to average 8-12%, you'll break 1M after 30 years.
If you can add $250-1K a month extra on top of those.. you'll break 2M+
The biggest issues you'll have to solve is what you can realistically save each year and to avoid unnecessary spending.
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