I was just a nice number I was shooting for! It doesn’t need to be quite that high obviously. But, I just wanna play some catch-up, to have the biggest bank for my buck when it comes to retirement. The retirement fund is 2045. I am definitely a managing my Fidelity portfolio by myself! I have been watching tons of videos, I ordered a couple of books… and then I’m so grateful that I found this forum! Thank you so much for responding and taking time out of your day to do so I really do appreciate it!yes, maxing out the 401k is smartGood evening:)
I am just starting to get into the retirement groove (early 40's) a little later in life. I have a 401k with almost 90k in it, but my employer no longer does the matching. However, I am thinking about upping my amount to completely max out my 401k at 23,500 starting in 2026. The 401k is a retirement fund and has given 17%YTD and 14% this last year. Looking at a 401k calculator, if I start maxing that will help me catch up quickly even without the match. Do you think that is smart? Or should I do something else?
I literally just found about the Roth IRA and maxed that out last year and plan on maxing the 7k out every year from here on out. MAN I wish I new about this stuff WAY earlier! I do have some money in crypto that I will not be touching, and I have no plans to put anymore in it either.
With leftover funds I'm looking at a taxable brokerage account as well, but that is after all of the above is taken care of.
Am I being smart here? Or is there a better way to do this? I'm 44 and want at least 2.5 mil in 20 years. I would like to retire in 20 years if possible
yes, maxing out the Roth IRA is smart.
here's the thing. Don't count on 17% or 14% returns.
The average return of stocks has been 10%.
If I were to guess, I'd bet you'd be in a 2040 fund (or thereabout) because that fund is up 14.24% YTD
That fund is 75% stocks and 25% bonds (right now).
But as it moves closer to the year 2040 it will lessen the amount of stocks and increase the amount of bonds.
which means you may earn higher rates of return the farther you are from 2040 and likely lower returns as you move closer to 2040. I.E., the more you have in stocks the higher the expected return and the less you have in stocks, the lower the expected return.
And of course stocks can lose money too. Like in 2022, that fund LOST 17.18%.
So returns are going to be uneven. Don't worry so much about it. Just know that if stocks have returned 10% per year (on average) in the past, you should expect LESS than 10% CAGR because you're not just holding 100% stocks; you're holding bonds which usually reduce returns. Typically for every 10% in bonds you hold, you reduce your returns by 0.5%.
Anyway, just focus on your savings rate. Saving 30% of your income is better than saving 10% of your income. Try to increase your savings over time, i.e., when you get raises invest that money (don't spend it). If you max out retirement accounts and can still save, open a taxable brokerage. That gives you tax diversification in retirement (pretax/401k, tax free/Roth, taxable).
So look at the past allocations, run the calculations for worst case scenarios (low growth) and how much money you need to contribute to get to your $2.5 mil.
Why $2.5% mil?
best of luck.
Statistics: Posted by jam81 — Tue Oct 14, 2025 7:31 pm — Replies 14 — Views 388