Ok, so, started very late. (was in my mid 30s - now I am 44) Long story. Just was never taught any level of financial literacy from my parents, and had to learn it all through my own research and relying on savvy friends.
Anyways, the screenshot is from my Vanguard account. That dip you see if when I rolled over my former employer's 401k to my new employer's 401k (with Merrill). Here is my current status:
- 130k in VG from two former employee 401ks that was converted into an IRA / Roth IRA account. Long story, wish I had rolled everything over, but again, I was dumb. And I just let it sit there for years, doing nothing. Anyways, fast-forward to today.
- 110k in the IRA (BND and VTI)
- 20k in the Roth (S&P 500, VTIAX)
- I also have $66k in my current 401k with my current employer. Details on that, because it's a very generous retirement & savings plan from my current employer.
- They contribute 5% of my salary no matter what I do.
- If I contribute 5%, they match another 5%.
- So all in all, it's like a 10% match
- Investment strategy there is a little limiting in terms of what I can invest in, but it's basically the following:
- 5% Stable Value
- 15% Bonds / Fixed Income
- 80% Equities (50% US Equity, which basically follows the Russell 3000, and 30% INTL which follows the MSCI ACWI)
- I contribute 7% myself, but I am thinking of going MUCH higher to max my employee contribution, I just haven't pulled the trigger yet because me and my wife are going to be moving to a much HCOL area (for my job, and to be closer to her family - since we have 2 kids).
I want to max this thing out, and catch up. My salary is good (200+). I just also need to reserve some $$ for the family cause my wife will likely not be working for the next year, and where we are moving to is just more expensive than where we currently are (TX). Not sure if we will buy or rent. But likely selling our home in TX.
Should I just bite the bullet and max this sucker out, and just cut spending? I feel like that is the smart option so I can hopefully retire with $2m before I drop dead.