\
  The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
BackRefresh Options Favorite

getting to your first million in investing is by far the hardest, right?

once you hit 1 million the money starts compounding pretty w...
Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner
  06/27/25
Yea, but watch your overhead and reserves. Dipping into it ...
naked green idiot
  06/27/25
what
Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner
  06/27/25
Do not decide that you’re wealthy now and then start s...
naked green idiot
  06/27/25
good point. I think stuff like this gets easier though, a...
Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner
  06/27/25
I logged into my brokerage account today for the first time ...
naked green idiot
  06/27/25
and how much higher was it than last time?
Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner
  06/28/25
Probably +30% in appreciation plus maybe another 10% in new ...
naked green idiot
  06/28/25
damn, that's pretty impressive. especially since the market...
Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner
  06/28/25
...
Spectacular Elastic Band National
  06/28/25
When you poast on XO people pretty much stuff money in your ...
confused cracking gas station
  06/27/25
yes we are clearly all chads here.
Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner
  06/27/25
🍑🌊🌊
Gold swashbuckling skinny woman
  06/28/25
Compounding really starts taking off after 3-5 million
mind-boggling school
  06/28/25
Yes I hit 1m in Nov 2019 And now I have 1.27m and a couple m...
Spectacular Elastic Band National
  06/28/25
Easiest way to get to a million investing is to start with $...
Razzle-dazzle Infuriating Affirmative Action Station
  06/28/25
Hardest for me was the first $100k. Not saying $1M is easy, ...
unhinged mad cow disease home
  06/28/25
r u a momentum trader or do u algo?
trip tanning salon alpha
  06/28/25
Neither. My investment strategy is simple and stupid: pay of...
unhinged mad cow disease home
  06/28/25
that's a nice rate of return over the years for buy and hold...
trip tanning salon alpha
  06/28/25
I don't time the market; I just buy VTI mechanically when I ...
unhinged mad cow disease home
  06/28/25
are you a "Boglehead"
sickened pistol rehab
  06/28/25
There's some overlap, but I don't follow many of their forum...
unhinged mad cow disease home
  06/28/25
QQQ usually outperforms VTI, but it's more volatile FYI
sickened pistol rehab
  06/28/25
I've looked into this. The extra volatility risk and relativ...
unhinged mad cow disease home
  06/28/25
You also don’t check your portfolio everyday and obses...
Razzle-dazzle Infuriating Affirmative Action Station
  06/28/25
I have to admit I was obsessive about it for about the first...
unhinged mad cow disease home
  06/28/25
who needs more than a million dollars
Gold swashbuckling skinny woman
  06/28/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:40 PM
Author: Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner

once you hit 1 million the money starts compounding pretty well and you are less stressed about how your portfolio is doing so you just let it do and don't do stupid stuff like move it around when the market flutters. thoughts? experiences?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055467)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:43 PM
Author: naked green idiot

Yea, but watch your overhead and reserves. Dipping into it will really set you back.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055472)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:45 PM
Author: Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner

what

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055476)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:50 PM
Author: naked green idiot

Do not decide that you’re wealthy now and then start spending too much. And don’t fail to maintain cash reserves for normal life events. Don’t dip into that brokerage account.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055485)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:57 PM
Author: Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner

good point.

I think stuff like this gets easier though, as you get to that million. you feel less pressure to "over" save... so you maintain a healthy reserve and never need to touch it. basically ur at the point where you can completely forget you have the million in the bank and let it compound.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055500)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:59 PM
Author: naked green idiot

I logged into my brokerage account today for the first time in over a year to check my 401K balance for that other thread. My bank lets me yeet money over and into an ETF with a single click, which I do every month or two when the reserve cash drifts above what I think is needed.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055503)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 12:09 AM
Author: Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner

and how much higher was it than last time?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055513)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 12:17 AM
Author: naked green idiot

Probably +30% in appreciation plus maybe another 10% in new cash flow I’d put in. The last time I checked it was in November 2023 when I did some tax loss harvesting.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055519)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 12:36 AM
Author: Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner

damn, that's pretty impressive. especially since the market is barely up this year.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055534)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:25 AM
Author: Spectacular Elastic Band National



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055709)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:52 PM
Author: confused cracking gas station

When you poast on XO people pretty much stuff money in your pockets.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055490)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 27th, 2025 11:57 PM
Author: Shaky flatulent cruise ship gunner

yes we are clearly all chads here.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055501)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 6:36 AM
Author: Gold swashbuckling skinny woman

🍑🌊🌊

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055672)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:20 AM
Author: mind-boggling school

Compounding really starts taking off after 3-5 million

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055706)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:25 AM
Author: Spectacular Elastic Band National

Yes I hit 1m in Nov 2019 And now I have 1.27m and a couple months ago I was at 900k, massive compounding but I'm an investermasterman so results may vary

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055708)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:45 AM
Author: Razzle-dazzle Infuriating Affirmative Action Station

Easiest way to get to a million investing is to start with $2million.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055728)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:49 AM
Author: unhinged mad cow disease home

Hardest for me was the first $100k. Not saying $1M is easy, but cutting back on expenses and making lifestyle adjustments was hard as fuck because I used to spend nearly everything I made. $200k was a challenge, but by then I was mostly adjusted to lifestyle changes I made to save more. Once I hit $300k, I started to like saving because that growing financial cushion meant I wasn't as tied to my job. Currently I'm a little over $700k. $1M will be a huge milestone obviously, but I still think it was a much rougher path to the first $100k.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055739)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:51 AM
Author: trip tanning salon alpha

r u a momentum trader or do u algo?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055745)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:54 AM
Author: unhinged mad cow disease home

Neither. My investment strategy is simple and stupid: pay off all bills with each paycheck, and put the rest in VTI. I don't really check the markets unless I'm bored, or there's some news, etc.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055748)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:57 AM
Author: trip tanning salon alpha

that's a nice rate of return over the years for buy and hold-- maybe u are reading the right newsletters to time the market for huge allocations

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055752)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 8:03 AM
Author: unhinged mad cow disease home

I don't time the market; I just buy VTI mechanically when I get paid regardless of where the market is. But I have to admit that I did get lucky when I started buying VTI, because that coincided with a somewhat significant dip that recovered slowly.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055760)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 8:04 AM
Author: sickened pistol rehab

are you a "Boglehead"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055764)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 8:10 AM
Author: unhinged mad cow disease home

There's some overlap, but I don't follow many of their forum/wiki suggestions because I think they're way too conservative with bonds, and I don't expect international markets to outperform VTI (at least, during my lifetime).

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055772)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 8:15 AM
Author: sickened pistol rehab

QQQ usually outperforms VTI, but it's more volatile FYI

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055776)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 8:22 AM
Author: unhinged mad cow disease home

I've looked into this. The extra volatility risk and relative lack of diversity compared to VTI is why I just keep it simple and stupid with 100% VTI.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055788)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 8:17 AM
Author: Razzle-dazzle Infuriating Affirmative Action Station

You also don’t check your portfolio everyday and obsess over it like a Boglehead.

If you can handle the volatility by not looking at your portfolio there’s really no role for bonds at least while you’re still working.

I disagree on international exposure, but you could get that by buying VT instead of VTI.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055782)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 8:27 AM
Author: unhinged mad cow disease home

I have to admit I was obsessive about it for about the first year. But these days, I rarely check the markets outside of payday.

I don't even think about the volatility anymore. I'm holding this for the long-term, so fluctuations from last year won't matter a decade from now.

What's your reasoning on international exposure? I view it this way: the only comparable international markets are Europe, which is far less pro-business than the US, and parts of Asia, which are more corrupt apart from Japan and South Korea, which are small markets. The US is the global business leader, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon. I could be wrong, though.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055791)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 28th, 2025 7:58 AM
Author: Gold swashbuckling skinny woman

who needs more

than a million

dollars

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5744004&forum_id=2E#49055753)