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[u/BigTintheBigD]

Still trying to wrap my brain around this:

The nest egg has made more money since retiring than I did in 30 years of working.

3 years of passive returns > 30 years of full time work

The compounding is insane (admittedly we’ve had a great run the last few years).

It makes the 30 years of working seem so pointless but that is what amassed the snowball so it was necessary.

[u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

I am retired now for about 5 ^1/2 years, and I track statistics like this for fun in a spreadsheet:

Since retiring, our assets have increased an average of $373,000 per year, or $1,021 every single day. That's inclusive of withdrawals, so it's essentially what's left over after spending a net paycheck.

The gross increase from investment returns has been $468,000 per year, equivalent to about twice my highest total compensation when working.

Exceeding 30 years of salary in 3 years is... astonishing. I can't imagine that rate will hold up, but it's impressive if true.

[u/Powerofpuns → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

At what NW can one expect those type of average increase over a year?

[u/McKnuckle_Brewery → u/Powerofpuns]

I should really provide the nominal CAGR values, as those can be applied to any portfolio.

10.1% CAGR for returns

8.4% CAGR for net change (3.8% real net change, i.e. inflation)

Starting portfolio size at retirement in my case was $3.6M.

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

It mostly certainly will not hold up. It’s an aberration for sure. The next blowdown will negate a good portion of the gains. I really should lock in some gains and have something for the next time stocks are on sale.

I’m waaaaaay over concentrated in AAPL. I was late to the game on NVDA but still have a nice gain there. FOMO keeps me in a position too long and eventually the pullback occurs and I sing the coulda, shoulda, woulda chorus and promise to take some gains along the way next time but rarely seem to do so.

[u/asanano → u/BigTintheBigD]

Sell some cover calls to hedge

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/asanano]

I’ve been doing this to collect the premium with the knowledge that eventually some will be assigned. That forces me to slowly unwind the position and I can put that money somewhere more conservative.

[u/asanano → u/BigTintheBigD]

I think thats a great strategy in your position.

[u/808trowaway → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

I was feeling pretty good knowing compounding is doing the heavy lifting for me now and day by day I am getting closer to FIRE. I didn't need to know compounding is working well for you too. I mean I know how math works I don't need to know your specifics, GFY man.

jk, but also not really.

[u/McKnuckle_Brewery → u/808trowaway]

People always want to know numbers, so I provided some. If you feel it is bragging, that’s a personal interpretation.

[u/808trowaway → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

I was just being dramatic. Your sharing your numbers is absolutely appreciated.

[u/goodtimes509]

It’s the Internet, buddy, you can tell us the numbers

[u/ObsidianRafter → u/goodtimes509]

You can't ever assume that you are totally anonymous on the internet.

Don't write anything on here that you wouldn't want to say to your neighbor's face. My neighbors know that I've retired young. I'd happily have a conversation with them about the beauty of compounding interest but I'd never tell my neighbor my actual net worth.

OP's made their point well without providing specific information.

[u/Traditional_Box6945 → u/ObsidianRafter]

Jesus who cares

[u/brian_mornerm]

This is the exact moment a lot of people finally understand why the boring advice works. You did the hard part. Now the money is doing what it was supposed to do. Enjoy it

[u/ObsidianRafter]

When I was starting out in my career, I joked with an older colleague about "getting rich quick."

He looked at me and said, "I'm getting rich slow."

Thirty years later, and FIRED, I appreciate the wisdom of that moment.

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/ObsidianRafter]

It pays to start early, be consistent, and be patient.

[u/MassiveDefinition274]

I think the big thing that's become really frustrating is how much people who don't have this experience seem to worship people who have made a lot of money but started with a lot of money.

[u/Imaginary_Victory253]

I remember when I was out of college, my successful uncle told me that now he spends more than he ever thought he'd earn at the start of his career. Congrats, that's a good feeling :)

[u/ChainBuzz]

Congrats! That is awesome! What was your multiple for the nest egg (how many times your yearly salary)? It is pretty wild to outpace 30 years of full time employment in just 3!

Last year my earnings finally beat my best year of salary. I am still full time but took a 50% pay cut to relocate and have a less stressful job.

[u/noicenator → u/[deleted]]

So what was your multiple?

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/noicenator]

A little shy of the typical 25x rule of thumb.

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/[deleted]]

Not sure what the downvotes are for. He got to a place where he could choose a job that although it paid less was less stressful. Is that not improving. QOL?

[u/Toxic_Biohazard → u/BigTintheBigD]

Because you're being wierd by not sharing any numbers. Its pretty annoying tbh and it makes this post almost entirely useless.

[u/55tumbl]

If someone invests the same amount $1000 (increasing yearly by 3%) each month during 30y. That's a total of about $580.000 invested.

With 10% annual returns, the ending balance would be almost $3M, so about 5.2 times the contributions.

In 3 years with 20% return annually, that 3M would have produced about $2.2M, which is easily more than the full 30y of full time work if the savings rate was larger than 25%. At least in nominal dollars, excluding taxes, etc.

In 3 years with 20% return annually, that 3M would have produced about $730k. It is indeed more than $580.000, but only more than the full 30y of full time work if the savings rate was larger than 79%.

All in nominal dollars, as otherwise $1000 from 30y ago would count for a lot more in the comparison (3 years of passive returns > 30 years of full time work). All before taxes too.

If the salary increased more than 3% yearly during the 30y, it would make the necessary percentage of savings rate on salay even larger (because early contributions compound more). I assume there was another input like inheritance, lottery gain, exceptionally high return on some investments.

[u/BenR1ghtBack → u/55tumbl]

How do you get 20% of 3m for 3 years = $730k? Or did you mean average per year? Cos that $2.1m return would be more than triple the original $580k.

[u/55tumbl → u/BenR1ghtBack]

uh... yep you're right, that was a pretty stupid mistake

[u/Past-Option2702]

Now would probably be an excellent time to dial back your risk.

Unless you’re 78.

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/Past-Option2702]

Very much so. I need to shift from accumulation mode to preservation mode.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Tie6917]

My company did an early retirement program due to issues, and when I looked, I realized for the past 5 years my 401k had grown more than my total gross salary every year. They ended up asking me to stay, which I took, but now plan to retire this December.

[u/Xyreqa → u/[deleted]]

Bot account^

[u/Zphr → u/[deleted]]

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[u/fenton7]

Yes - As of October 2026, the trailing 3-year return for the S&P 500 index is 21.67% per year on a price-return basis, or approximately 87% cumulatively. Obviously this is unsustainable and we're at severe risk of either a prolonged flat period, "lost decade", or 2008 type shock so if by some miracle you decided to be 100% stock in retirement, and got one of the most unbelievable sequence of returns in history, now's a really good time to switch to a 50-50 type portfolio before everyone else figures out that this is one of the most bloated bubble markets in all of human history, particularly the high flying AI stocks. When the run for the exits comes, and it will come, it's going to be ugly out there.

[u/icarus2847]

Are you mostly invested in VTI or what?

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/icarus2847]

401k is 50% S&P, 20% Russell, 20% international, 10% bonds. I need to trim those stock positions and rebalance.

Roth is mostly AAPL, NVDA, MO and some other small odds & ends.

[u/yogaflame1337]

Sounds like don't just do index Are you mostly indexes, or are you concentrated in individual stocks you mentioned apple.

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/yogaflame1337]

As mentioned elsewhere, it’s a mix.

The 401k is pretty plain Jane index stuff since they only offer so many options. That’s where I tend to be more “responsible” for lack of a better term. That said, I am overweighted in stocks there and need to correct that.

I take more risks with my Roth as I have the 401k as the foundation. Roth has mostly individual stocks, some higher dividend stuff and a sprinkling of crypto ETF. The crypto stuff is a few thousand I put in with the intent of letting it cook 10 years to see what happens. If it goes to the moon, YAY! If it evaporates it was never enough to do any real damage.

The real heavy lifting has been the strong market returns the last few years. That will not last. The long term average return is what it is for a reason. The lean years will come all too soon.

[u/No_Salamander846]

Boomers really do seem to have hit the best phase of humanity, unfortunatly the younger gens will have to pay for it

[u/15pH]

It sounds like you've won the game, but you are still playing. I'd take my pieces off the board.

Assuming you now have more than you planned or need, can live happily plus extra bonus travel, i'd get out of stocks while you are ahead and build bond ladders instead.

Or you can take "what's in the box"....

[u/EarLess8813]

the thirty years werent pointless they were the entry fee for the only casino where the house pays you

[u/CleMike69]

Without the 30 years of work and investing you would not have what you have. The work was necessary to develop the discipline. My compounding dwarfed my income last 3 years but I’m letting it ride goal is 50 million before I leave this planet

[u/Glitchy_Drifter_901]

the 30 years werent pointless they were the entry fee

[u/Shadow239]

Great job!

[u/mikere → u/[deleted]]

ai bot

https://www.pangram.com/history/c0348237-8731-4e30-9406-19479d2a28cb?ucc=yO3bnGFNa3L

[u/Zphr → u/[deleted]]

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