Since writing this article nearly three years ago, it has become one of the most visited pages on my site; dozens of new readers visit it every day. Although I am thrilled the topic interests so many, I am disappointed in the direction the comments have taken. The comments section has become nothing more than a game of “mine’s bigger” (with regards to net worth, of course).

If you are playing that game, you missed my point.

Saving for retirement is important and it’s good to get ahead of the game. (Statistics show that, on average, Americans don’t do much retirement saving before age 35). And for us ambitious savers, I recommend trying to save roughly a year’s salary before you reach 30. (And notice I say YOUR salary, not a fixed dollar amount).

Still, I emphasize that this is a guideline.

Some people inherit money. Many do not. Some people have parents who pay for college (and law school). Others do not. And even after all of those variables, kindergarten teachers and nuclear physicists are compensated completely differently, and nobody is in a position to judge either person…especially based solely upon his or her bank account balance. This is why it’s called *personal* finance!

To add to the ridiculousness of all this, let us not forget that these comments are anonymous. I could write in: “I’m 22, earn $500k, and have a net worth of $5 million”. That could be true, although it’s probably not (because anybody that rich should have better things to do than read my blog). Then again: Who cares!?

Perhaps if we spent less time comparing ourselves to others and more time contemplating what WE value in life, our OWN hopes and dreams, and how WE are going to get there, we’d all be a little happier.

Not counting equity, our savings position is: $260K in 401(k), $360K in cash/CDs, $35K in stocks. We moved into a large cash position in 2008 and haven’t gotten back into the market yet. Money managers would cringe at our position. We are too cash heavy, for sure. When you add the equity in our house, we have a net worth of about $750-$800K. In 2008, before the crash, we were over a $1M. We were paper millionaires when I was 34 years old.

We don’t feel rich. Here are some secrets: My wife drives a 9 year old car, and I just sold my 7 year old truck. We have a beautiful house, but it is super low taxes ($2,500 a year on $550K appraised) and is financed at 4%. Our monthly housing expense is only about $2K a month. Most of our clothes for us and the kids are bought at Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, and Target. We never, ever, carry a CC balance. We use CCs A LOT, but pay off the balance every month. Cash-back cards are great when you are seeing $3K-$5K go through your card each month. We used to pay our mortgage on our credit card as well, but banks frown on that now. Virtually every large expense we buy is when it’s on sale, last year’s model, etc. Our biggest expense, frankly, is food. Food for a family of 5, when 3 of them are young boys, is crazy.

When my wife goes back to work, which she will probably start doing part-time consulting this year or next, our net worth will probably begin to grow double-digit rates again.

For those that say delay having kids as long as you can, I completely, completely disagree. If I could do it over again, we would have had kids even earlier. We didn’t have kids until I was 28, she 33. We should have started at least 2-3 years earlier. This only applies if you really want kids! My thoughts are that having kids when you are younger, financially, allows you to have a better grasp on your financial health. You will raise your kids during some of your fastest-appreciating wage periods (your 30′s and 40′s) and they’ll be out the door when you have really accumulated some net worth and are prepared to start spending it off (your 50′s and 60′s). We are still thinking about having one more child, but one thing holding us back is that if we have one now (okay, 9 months from now) I’ll be 60 and my wife 65 before the last one is out of college. I’m not sure that’s where I want to be at 60 frankly.