Can you be well off following an index?

[corn18]

Better yet, provide a fee schedule for a whole life policy. I have read my MIL's and for the life of me cannot figure out how much you idiots charge for her policy. I know it ain't free and I know it's more than the .005% I spend on my stock index fund. Insurance is insurance, investments are investments. Insurance is NOT an investment.

I'm surprised the auto / home insurance folks haven't latched on to the idea of whole life policies for cars. I'm sure the salesman could come up with some snake oil to sell that, too. Give me 10x what you pay now but you are guaranteed to earn more than the market and you get money back at the end vs. just throwing it away with nothing to show for it. Where do I sign?

[sv2007]

I hate to point out but I know a Ton of people in software development and all will tell you they dont leave college at 22 making $150k. They also don't get married till later so this mysteries joint income of $300k usually doesnt start till 30. So it's sort of hard to save $72k a year when you are t making that much
Most software guys aren't making $150k until 30s.

Second to be a specialist Dr you will be pushing 30 or older with usually some student loans. And not all Dr marry each other mostly because landing residencies together is very difficult. But assuming you do most don't make $200k first year out. And those specialities usually ha e malpractice and loans to pay off. Not to mention usually Dr haven't been making any money on their 20s to buy a home or a save a penny.

So how in either scenario do these people suddenly have $5m by age 40? Unless you have rich parents to pay for medical school and residency free it's a bit hard. I say this as someone whose in my late 30s and I have a ton of well educated friends in many different fields and most dual income. One millions easy, two million sure. But your numbers are due to a lot of luck. Lots of speculation.

I've friends who retired with 5+million but they were in private equity and finance jobs making bank from the get go. And these three people all have said it's Not easy and most can't do it.

I must say at least I get Texas and his claim to money is business he started and real estate. Sv2007 I think your way of making money needs a lot of factors breaking correctly to succeed

I post based on my own experience. In 2012, a new college grad with masters degree makes $120k or similar at Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Oracle. However, to go pass $150k based, you're right, generally it is somebody 30-32 age with a masters degrees. HOWEVER, note that $150k is not the actual pay, the actual pay (for experienced engineers) will include bonus (which can be pretty significant, like 30% - 80% on base) and stock incentives (which can be even higher). Except for NCGs, You do have to be in the top rankings though, excellent performers.

As for doctors, my numbers are a bit old but very accurate. I think many meet in med school and carry out a long distance relationship during residency; as least these are the cases that I'm familiar with.

As for saving $5m (which I have no idea where this particular number came from) by age 40, salaries and savings alone will NOT get you there. That's what this thread is all about, mentioning that even investing into index funds (which many think SP500 is pretty good) will not get you there. That's all this thread says.

It got digressed into how anybody can save $70k/yr, and I just supplied some examples. And another key thing a lot of people seem to miss that is income isn't always going to be from jobs/earned income. We get more from investments than job many years ago.