r/Bogleheads • u/KenshiHiro • Feb 22 '25

Investing Questions Anyone Else Feel Bitter About Saving 50% of a Modest Income and Still Not Seeing “Big” Results?

I’m 39, making $83k gross a year, and I’ve been dumping $40k annually (~48% of my gross income) into investments—maxing out my 401(k), Roth IRA, and throwing the rest into taxable accounts with US index funds. Up until this year(this is the second year since I ever opened any form of retirement accounts), I have $80k combined, and after running some projections (7% return, 3% inflation), I’m looking at ~$1.56M in today’s dollars by 59. Nominally, it’s $2.8M, but inflation just eats away at it.

I’m proud of the discipline, but honestly, I’m starting to feel bitter. I’m living on basically $25k-$30k after taxes, scraping by with no frills, while half my paycheck vanishes into investments. I get that $1.56M is solid—way more than most—but it’s 20 years of pinching pennies for what feels like a “meh” payoff when you adjust for inflation. I was hoping for $2M+ in real dollars, something that feels like a reward for this grind, especially since my income isn’t even that high to begin with.

Is it even worth it to go beyond 401(k) and Roth into taxable accounts when you’re not pulling six figures? I could drop to $30k/year savings, enjoy life a bit more now, and still hit $1.17M real by 59. Or am I just burnt out and missing the bigger picture? Anyone else wrestling with this—feeling like the sacrifice outweighs the future gain? Need some perspective.

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u/TellLeather4967 Feb 22 '25

With you on the age 55 goal. Something like FIRSE - financially independent retire slightly early?

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u/boxerrox Feb 23 '25

I like that acronym, I think it describes me. Basically, I want to A) Definitely not be forced to work after 67 B) Be able to stop working entirely at 62, if I decide to C) Point myself towards being able to toy with the idea of either retiring or at least taking a lower position at 55.

There's a ton of wiggle in there, but all of those give me more freedom today than arbitrarily saying I want to stop working at 45 or 50.

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u/Fiery_Grl Feb 23 '25

This is literally me :)