The concept of $100,000 by 30 has been so popular in recent years. As someone who was mildly obsessed with personal finance, it was an idea I subscribed to too because of how this goal seemed within reach back then as a fresh graduate.
With my ‘always-below-the-median’ meagre salary, finding ways to stretch every dollar became my personal mission. I was a big fan of food discount apps and cashback deals, and would also feel so pleased with myself for not having to fork out the full price for any restaurant meals.
Slowly but surely, I reached the holy number that I (and honestly every other person out there) have set out to reach.
Not gonna lie, seeing that figure in my finance tracking sheet did feel good. It gave me that little ego boost, and I even felt a little smug about it. It showed that even corporate peasants like me could do it.
So what do humans do when they’ve achieved something? They look for a new goal.
If you’re someone who frequently reads financial blogs, you would’ve come across advice that mentioned that the second $100,000 tends to come slightly easier. This is due to the beauty of magical things like compound interest and having a larger base to work with.
Having achieved the first goal after slightly under 4 years in the workforce, I naturally took it for granted to achieve the second in a timeframe that was less than that.
Now that it has been 3 years since my first milestone, I’m here to report that…..
.
.
.
.
.
I have not reached my next $100,000, and I’m not even close HAHA.
Who says the second time would be easier?!?! Hahaha ok lah, I took a while to reflect on the whys and here’s what I have concluded.
#1 Took a pay cut
Shortly after my first $100,000 achievement, I switched jobs and took a 25% pay cut. It was actually quite a drastic cut, especially when I didnt have a high pay to begin with. Since my job was still my main income, having this cut significantly affected my savings rate.
#2 Bad investment decisions
The COVID period was a period of many rash financial decisions. Being surrounded by noise of how the market has bottomed in 2020 fuelled my FOMO and I began investing in many growth stocks, hoping that they would ride the wave and that I would be able to make some money out of it.
Suffice to say, my portfolio has still in the red till this day, and I look at my account from time to time to remind myself to not succumb to human greed.
Besides that, I’ve also joined the crypto world and staked some of the coins on popular platforms that have ceased to exist today. My only consolation was being lazy when everyone was staking LUNA on Anchor Protocol for the juicy rates back then.
Nevertheless, all these bad decisions made have taught me a really painful lesson. I realised how easy it was to be part of the herd mentality, and thinking that I knew better. It took me this to remind myself that building wealth takes time and patience.
“The fastest way to get rich is to go slow.”
- Morgan Housel
#3 Lifestyle inflation
Being a tired working adult, I must say that my desire to stalk sites for deals and discounts have fallen quite a bit. While I still dont frequent restaurants, my cost per meal has definitely increased over the years. Besides that, having friends who are having higher earning power does increase meal costs at times.
Also, working in the CBD now has definitely made it more difficult to have meals below $5. Can’t believe that used to be my budget. I’m happy to get anything below $10 now. :”) And work from office days have definitely increased, which really adds up to my expenses.
While I might not have achieved my financial goal on a timeline that I’ve expected, I think the past few years of financial lessons have helped to shape my views and mindset towards finances better. Sometimes, we learn better from our battered and bruised knees, and in any case, I’m grateful to have had been through this at a relatively early stage in life so I can better prepare myself for the future.
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