Growing up, I had no knowledge about investing. I didn’t know anyone who invested, and I never heard stories about people investing for retirement or trading stocks — most people I knew lived paycheck to paycheck.
My lack of financial literacy pushed me to start learning about personal finance in high school and college.
Now, at 34, after 10 years of investing, I have enough money to feel comfortable retiring at 67, even if I don’t add another dollar to my retirement account.
I quickly learned that I would need to begin investing for retirement sooner rather than later
I started researching online, following sites like The Financial Diet to learn about investing for retirement. One of the first things I learned is that time is money when it comes to investing. I knew that with as little money as I had at the time, compound interest could only work once I started the process.
I started looking into platforms like Acorns, which allow you to invest with as little as $5.
After graduating from college, I started investing slowly but surely
I started putting something away every month. In addition to the 403(b) retirement account that came with my job, I opened a Roth IRA to invest on my own.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve continued to make a modest teacher salary or less (I recently went back to school to further my education), but over time, the consistency in my savings has added up to six figures.
I’ve reached this amount even after spending on life experiences that aren’t cheap, like travel. I’ve written previously about how I didn’t want to put my life on pause and wait until retirement to live. Nearly everyone has heard stories about someone who said they would travel once they retired and, for whatever reason, didn’t get the chance.
I knew I didn’t want to be one of those people who waited until retirement for their lives to start
While I never felt fully comfortable with the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, which often prioritizes aggressive saving to retire early, I decided to take my own approach. My version meant investing as much as I could while still traveling, going to concerts, and spending on the things I enjoy.
I started following a pay-yourself-first budget system, where I figured out how much I needed to max out my Roth IRA and then allocated the rest to other expenses. While I could certainly have had more invested by now had I fully embraced the FIRE movement, I have no regrets about the path I’ve taken.
I’ve reached a Coast FIRE amount that I feel comfortable with
Coast FIRE means having enough invested that, with continued compound growth, you may not need to add another dollar to reach your retirement goal. From where I am now, compound growth could do the rest of the work.
I have more than $140,000 invested right now. If my investments earn an average annual return of 7.5%, a retirement calculator estimates that it could grow to about $1.5 million by the time I’m 67, even if I don’t contribute another dollar. I plan to keep contributing, but knowing I have that foundation gives me peace of mind.
Knowing I can retire one day gives me a sense of financial peace
This is significant, as it’s not something that I’ve ever experienced. Knowing that I could still have a foundation for retirement even if I weren’t able to add any more savings to it has allowed me to make more flexible choices.
I feel financially safe for the first time in my life. While I intend to continue investing at the same level for now, I can take more time off, go back to school again, or travel again.
Personal finance is just that: personal
The right retirement goal depends on your income, obligations, priorities, and the life you want to live now and later. Maybe FIRE is important to you and practically possible; maybe you’re a single parent working several jobs, and your goal is to get there when you get there. Whatever your goal is, decide on it and use a retirement calculator to determine what steps are necessary for you to achieve your goal.
In my case, it’s knowing I can continue to travel and do the things I love, while also knowing retirement will be possible when I’m ready.
