Hey everyone. Looking for a general gut check on my savings and investment approach as a relatively recent high earner.
I’m a 35-year-old professional, finished residency about 4 years ago, and income has ramped up meaningfully over the last 5 months. My monthly income fluctuates but typically lands in the$65k–$80k/month gross range depending on production.
Current Snapshot:
- Taxable brokerage: ~200k
- Old Retirement accounts: ~155K
- Primary investments: VTI (70%) / VXUS(20%) / QQQ(10%)
- Savings rate: targeting 35–40% (~15-20K) of net monthly income into taxable brokerage account
- New 401(k): contributing through employer (6% with 3.5% match = ~$6,500/month)
- Backdoor Roth: starting annually beginning this tax season (~$580/month)
- Fixed monthly expenses: ~$8k–$9k
- Debt: none other than monthly credit card spend (paid in full every month)
- Current net worth: ~450K
Strategy going forward:
The goal is to keep things boring and repeatable:
- Continue aggressive monthly investing into the taxable account
- Max tax-advantaged space first (401k + backdoor Roth)
- Avoid lifestyle inflation beyond what genuinely improves quality of life
- Accept volatility in exchange for long-term growth rather than trying to optimize or time markets
Long-term outlook:
- Target net worth: ~$10M sometime in my late 50s
- Marital status: not married yet, but will be within the next year
- Future household income: my soon-to-be wife is expected to earn ~$450k starting in 2028, which should further accelerate savings if lifestyle creep is controlled
I’m very aware I’m fortunate income-wise, but I also still feel squarely in the “high earner, not rich yet” camp. Curious if others in a similar phase think this approach is reasonable, too conservative, or missing something obvious.
Appreciate any perspective.
/r/whitecoatinvestor
You’re playing life on easy mode. Leave everything alone and you’ll be rich in a few years. Don’t get divorced if/when you get married.
I get the sentiment, and I don’t disagree that I’m in a very fortunate position. That said, I try not to take it for granted. A lot of this only works if I stay disciplined, keep lifestyle creep in check, and make good long-term decisions both financially and personally. The goal is exactly that: keep things simple, stay the course, and not mess up the obvious stuff. I seen/heard of too many horror stories.
Can't tell you how severe the lifestyle creep can be. Talk to your future partners, nod and listen and pretty much do the opposite of what they all say is worth it.
I have seniors where I work who swear having an enormous wine collection is a solid way to spend a quarter of retirement savings on. Don't get me started about the endless cars, watches, private school and expensive hobby treadmill most docs end up in.
Fight it all.
Fight private school?
That seems silly.
Why downvotes for OP’s sane position? Am I missing something here?
Vote Fuzzing makes it look like some comments are downvoted, just to some. This is for bot prevention.
Where is the rest of the money going? You make 800k+ so feel like you’re spending more than you think. Generally people talking about savings rate in terms of their gross comp so you’re roughly a touch over 20%. That’s fine but just keep in mind you’ll need to save a bit more if you want to retire early.
That’s a fair. Thank you.
A key piece of context is that this income level is very recent for me. I only started consistently earning at this range around September of this year, so earlier in the year my gross was meaningfully lower (but not "low", 520K), which drags down the YTD savings rate.
If I assume a $70k/month gross average (~$840k/year) going forward, the intended breakdown looks more like this:
That puts total savings around $22k–$27k/month, or roughly 31–38% of gross, depending on the month.
Fixed expenses are fairly stable (~$8k–$9k/month), and now that income has stabilized there’s definitely room to tighten further. I’m not necessarily aiming for extreme early retirement, but I do want strong optionality in my 50s, so pushing closer to the upper end of that range makes sense to me.
Appreciate the perspective.
Ok ya that looks much better, you do that for 5 years and you’ll be in a very good spot
Your 401k will be maxed fast. You’ll hit limit in May and after that this money is no longer saved so should go to taxable / backdoor.
yup. agree.
Slow contribution down to max employer matching
Brother, 10 million by retirement is a wild objective given your savings rate.
That should be easily achievable. There's really not much you can do to go wrong other than blowing it all on a boat or going through a messy divorce.
Set it and forget it and enjoy the next however many years!
Haha fair point. I agree, the biggest risks at this point are mostly self-inflicted. The plan is to keep it boring, avoid doing anything dumb (already got rid of the VUL and managed investment account thankfully), and actually enjoy the ride instead of constantly optimizing. Appreciate the sanity check.
What’s your student debt
Zero. Paid that off aggressively once I started working. Maintained a "resident lifestyle" the first two years out to make that happen.
Well done, respect the discipline there.
thank you. rented a small 2BR for 1200/month for two years. Fixed expenses for those first two years were around 4k total. The rest went to pay off loans and investing in taxable brokerage.
That's incredible! Huge kudos! How much did you end up paying off, if you don't mind?
just over 300k.
Oh gotcha this is after 2 years attending. Good work. I’m currently doing that. Banking $10k/month in investments while paying $1000 in my share of rent
Love it. Keep at it. Hack away.
My calcs are that if I live like a resident for 3 years I’m gonna have 500k in my brokerage account
Dang what specialty
you should be saving about 40% without breaking a sweat.
yup. That's my intention.
then nothing else really matters. Enjoy.
You will be fine. Stop overthinking. Enjoy life.
You’re thinking way too much into this for two people who make 1.5M a year.
My partner and I make half that, and we’re able to save by not really thinking about finances and just living life,
Most people here will encourage you to “spend less” … I am just going to encourage you to “work less.”
By actuarial tables, nearly half of your healthy life is over. Now is not the time to piss the next best part of it away by worrying how much you’re going to work to achieve X, Y, or Z financial milestone. The worst financial mistake is to spend time you don’t have working for money you don’t need.
I am also here to tell you, that unless you’ve got a big*** inheritance coming, the biggest factor in the compound interest equation (PErt) is the TIME. That compound interest doesn’t really kick off until 20-30 years down the road, when there’s a much higher chance you won’t give a **** about that $$$.
Spend your time wisely now. Marry well. Enjoy life with your spouse and if applicable children. Develop hobbies. Maintain relationships. Spend money on comfort. Don’t stress the little things because you’ve won the income lottery at this point and it’s hard to screw it up too badly. It makes no difference whether you save 20% per year or 40% per year. Both are risky in their own way.
Am doc, 3 years out fellowship. HHI 450 (spouse doesn’t work). Mortgage 4k. 1 baby. Savings/investments for 2025 was $250k. Just some perspective on how I think you could easily put away 600+ per year after combining your spouse’s income.
That’s helpful perspective.
Yeah, I agree. the combined income is really the unlock. Once my spouse finishes training and starts working, the math changes a lot if we keep lifestyle creep in check. I’m still early in the ramp right now, but longer term I don’t think putting away $500k–$600k+ a year is crazy at all. Definitely motivating to see real examples like yours.
Your spouse working isn’t as much of a cheat code as you may think, especially if you have kids and live in a more expensive area. It’s definitely a little overrated.
I make 1.5m, my wife is a doctor who would earn around 500k if she worked full time.
But…
1) tax rate on that marginal income is over 40%. So even if she earns 450k, she may only bring home 250k. 2) her going to work = full time nanny, plus day care, plus additional expenses for comfort that eat up another ~100k in POST-tax income = as a result of her going to work all year you’ve got an extra $100,000 to save… ouch.
Just a tiny bit of lifestyle inflation will blow that extra 450k in a heartbeat AND one of you will have to work all year and add all of that marital stress.
There are some crazy stats on why so many women in medicine cut down to part time within a few years of graduating, and this is certainly a realistic factor to consider.
Your plan is similar to ours and it works. Wife and I are both MDs as well (late 30s, less than 5 years out of training).
One thing I’ve done outside of my W2 job ($750k/yr) is found a side hustle that offers 1099 income to allow me to open a solo401k/mega Backdoor Roth. Can be a big game changer for physicians who want to supercharge or catch up on retirement $.
Otherwise, as you’ve pointed out, the taxable brokerage account absorbs all excess savings. I put around $350k this year. All index funds; nothing fancy.
That makes a lot of sense, and I like that approach a lot.
I’m already moving a bit in that direction on the non-W2 side. I’ve started investing in STRs and currently have a 25% stake in an LLC with a couple of properties. Right now all profits are being recycled back into the business with the goal of adding a couple more properties in 2026, and ideally letting that side grow steadily over time.
I agree the 1099 angle is powerful, especially for opening up a solo 401k / mega backdoor Roth. As that side of things matures, that’s something I’d like to layer in rather than having everything flow only into taxable. Until then, like you said, the brokerage just acts as the overflow bucket and stays boring with index funds.
Helpful to hear from someone a few years ahead running a similar playbook.
Can you lay out your investment accounts in a year?
So you have a 401k or 403b with your w2. I'm guessing HSA. Standard backdoor Roth.
Then you have your 1099 income. How much can you put into a solo 401k? Is it a completely separate investment limit?
How are you working mega backdoor into all this or is that through the spouse's work? Thanks as another dual income doc household.
Once you have a side gig (1099 income) that permits you to open a solo401k which you can specifically design to allow after-tax contributions. How much you’re able to contribute will depend on how much 1099 income you have. There’s a spreadsheet floating around that allows you to plug and chug. I believe it’s profits minus 1/2 self employment tax, or something to that effect.
Fantastic thank you for this. Was it simple to set up the solo 401k for the MBDR? My father has swapped to contracting work in his last decade of work so familiar with 1099 and setting up things part.
Yeah, it was pretty straightforward. I used mysolo401k dot net and they had lots of information and how-to guides. They also have daily webinars. I recommend them
You're good dude. Enjoy it a bit.
I agree! and I do. I just want to be deliberate about setting these things in motion now. Residency does very little to financially prepare doctors how to manage money.
Am 4 years ahead of you with 2.5m NW but pretty comparable otherwise. I max out 401k and HSA, backdoor Roth 22.5k per year and weekly auto invest 8k right now I think. Other than that 2k per month 529 to have it fully funded when our boy is 5 or 6. House, cars etc paid but we have a full time nanny.
I’d try to invest as much as you possibly could per month for now to try to not even let the lifestyle creep. That said, we still enjoy life and want to splurge every now and then. At this level of income, you just pause the auto invest for a month or two and are good for practically all (or our) type of splurging. If it needs to be now now, I’m sure your credit card limits are high enough to facilitate, just pay the full statement when it hits a month later.
That’s super helpful, thanks for sharing.
I like that mindset a lot. Keep the baseline investing aggressive so lifestyle creep never really sets in, and then just pause or slow things down for a month if you want to splurge. That feels very realistic. Good to hear from someone a few years ahead that it actually works.
Your next 10 years will be include some significant expenses including weddings, kids, and house. We’re also dual MD income…this accumulation phase is indeed boring and slow. We are 39/36 with 2 kids. Our HHI is ~950, aftertax ~600. Try to invest 400. Our lives are not flashy, just rent/childcare/some discretionary. I’m still in residency so most of the time it’s just survival mode.
Making $80k/month while DCAing your backdoor Roth 🤣
I’d run your numbers through chatgpt as a first pass sanity check. Congrats in no loans. Your NW should rapidly scream upward. Gut feeling is that you can get to 10m slightly sooner than that (or enjoy life on a trajectory to your target).
One tip - slow down your 401k contribution. Once you hit the individual contribution limit ($24500 you’re likely to not get employer match). I would set it to 3.5% (or whatever maxes match), then monitor. You can raise the percent later in the year to max.
Set it and forget it! Don’t touch bonds for at least 3 decades and make sure you don’t forget to live life to the fullest as well!
At this level of NW / income, you really need a prenup before you get married. You never know where life will take you or your marriage.
I highly recommend you spend $3k on hiring a good lawyer to draw up a pretty standard prenup!
Totally fair advice, and it’s already something we’ve discussed and plan to do before getting married. We’re in the same profession and her income will eventually be in a similar range to mine (possibly a bit lower if she stays in a more academic role in the mid-$500k), but even then it feels like basic planning rather than a trust issue. With two high earners and long careers ahead, spending a few thousand upfront for clarity and protection just makes sense.
If smart she may not want a prenuptial..Just facts
You’re going to be very wealthy sooner than you think. Key thing is to STAY THE COURSE.
I started with 0 at 21, my income ramped significantly in my mid 20s and now I’m at ~2.2mm NW at 30. I had a savings rate of ~80-90% of my net income, but even with yours + partners savings rate, you could hit 2mm within the next 4 years very easily.
If you really want to super charge things, lock down for 5 years and then live with 0 worries money wise.
Appreciate that, and congrats! that’s an impressive trajectory.
I agree the biggest lever is really just staying consistent and not over-engineering things. I got stuck with a financial advisor affiliated with an insurance company and got pulled into a VUL and a managed investment account which both no longer exist thankfully. The fees were ridiculous. I probably won’t push to an 80–90% net savings rate, but I do like the idea of being a bit more aggressive over the next few years while income is strong and fixed costs are still reasonable. Even a focused 3–5 year stretch could meaningfully change the long-term picture.
You’re killing it no need to change anything. Stay the course and emphasize total market index funds like VTI.
We are HHI $870K and 38/39 and we do the same. We save and invest $250K out of $870K or 28% of gross, but we live extremely luxuriously and spend extravagantly ($18K/month for 2, inclusive of $4383/month rent)
That’s reassuring honestly. I’m aiming for a similar balance: keep the investing simple with total market funds, hit a solid gross savings rate, and still enjoy life along the way. Helpful reminder that you don’t have to live like a monk to make the math work at these levels.
Those three ETFs have zero bonds/fixed income. Not wrong per se but just curious why not add something there?
Bc they’re 35 with a ton of human capital. I would not own any bonds at their age/situation either
Got it, thanks. When would you start? Even just a small % as a hedge and to help w rebalancing?
I am 38 and have a similar setup to the OP. I own 0 bonds and don’t mind that it’s relatively more aggressive.
Fair question. It’s mostly a time horizon and risk tolerance call. I’m 35 with runway, high savings rate, and stable cash flow, so I’m comfortable staying equity-heavy during accumulation. I don’t see it as a permanent allocation. more of a deliberate delay tbh. As net worth grows and the focus shifts from growth to preservation, I fully expect to add bonds/FI later.
Yeah definitely don’t get bonds. You are too young and make too much to worry about swings in equities.
When and if the market dips 20, 30, 40% it’s a great buying opportunity for us and does not affect our standard of living in the slightest seeing our net worth (on paper) temporarily dip from $450K to $270K (let’s say). It does not matter right now, and funny enough it doesn’t matter later either because your net worth will almost certainly be significantly higher at 55-60 being equities heavy now versus owning bonds.
And to your point about potentially owning bonds later, I’ll give you an N=1 anecdote on that. My dad has been equities only his entire life and just hit $30M in liquid net worth (his current income is $1.5 million, but his income over his career has ranged from $40K all the way up to over a million now). He and my mom spend maybe $150K-$200K per year.
If his $30 million drops to $20 million or $10 million (unlikely), he’s still chubbyfire.
Being equities heavy now you will eclipse $10 million very quickly.
FWIW I’m in a very similar situation at 38 in a vhcol area and have lower income ($450k) but higher nw and a bunch of cash I’ve been slowly deploying into VTI/VXUS and trying to decide if I should add some bonds. It’s a tough sell these days tho.
Your biggest wildcard will be kids. With two demanding careers, you'll need a lot of help. Expect to spend $50-100k a year on childcare, and possibly need to dial things back at work.
Totally agree. Big wildcard. With two demanding careers we’re assuming higher childcare costs and more help, not trying to pretend it’ll be cheap or easy. Part of saving aggressively now is to buy flexibility later if we need to dial things back.
This looks pretty sensible to me. Keeping it boring and repeatable is usually the hardest part, and you’re already doing that. You’re saving aggressively, diversified, maxing tax-advantaged accounts and not trying to time anything, which is basically the whole game.
Feeling “high earner, not rich yet” at this stage is normal. It usually just takes time and consistency for the numbers to catch up. I don’t really see anything obvious missing here, assuming lifestyle creep stays under control.
You shouldn’t have to worry, you are already aware of the potential lifestyle creep! I think that’s the biggest thing. We are a family of 2 MDs, ages41/42, mostly optimized jobs in terms of hours (me- no call, 25ish hrs/wk, him- lifestyle cardiology job -for what that’s worth, haha). Income with these easy jobs is about 700k+ combined, net worth is >3 million. We got here by diligently paying off med school debt (600k combined), aggressively saving- we did this basically until it hurt just a little, cheap rent until fellowship ended, affordable house after that. We buy cars with cash, home renovations we pay cash, we travel a lot but that’s only ramped up the last few years as our net worth really increased. We also have 4 kids 8-15 years old but they don’t go to private school, they get the things they need but not everything they want, we talk to them about finances and money, the oldest already got a job…. The biggest hit financially for us related to kids is I really cut back at work when our fourth was about 3. Yes, the nanny etc was expensive. But I have had a lot of years where my earning has been nowhere near maximum. And honestly, my husband took this job because he wants to coach, be home for dinner, minimal calls. So I guess the other big thing to think about is what your future wife is like not just in terms of spending and also what it would look like if you guys have kids.
This is really helpful, thanks for sharing. Honestly reassuring to hear how intentional you’ve been and that it was more about consistency than extreme moves. The flexibility piece really resonates. My future wife and I are aligned on saving, but also on being willing to dial work back at certain stages, especially once kids are in the picture, even if that means making less for a while.
The point about kids being the real variable hits. We’re planning on kids in a few years and aren’t thinking private school, but we know childcare and one of us cutting back could be the biggest swing. Helpful to hear you don’t regret those choices at all. Also a great reminder that it’s not just about spending habits, but how your partner views time, work, and family long term. Really appreciate the perspective.
No regrets here for sure! We are so thankful for all we have and feel like we are able to really enjoy our lives, our kids, our extended family, take awesome trips and just have so much fun in the day to day stuff with the kids too (sports etc)! Find what matters to you and make it happen :)
Amazing work paying off the loans and aggressively saving. As you know, saving and compounding early is so important.
We are a few years ahead, we also paid off loans aggressively, lived modestly, cars in cash, etc.
In the last few years, our lifestyle creep has been pretty insane. We’ve also chosen a mid 60s retirement versus targeting 50. My husband loves his job and even semiretirement is him working a few days or teaching. I’ll retire in my 50s mist likely. Saying that, it’s all about balance (and your balance not someone else’s). And, we have deliberately made this decision versus it happening and we can’t get off the train.
So, my questions to you- 1. Is your soon to be spouse on the same page? Do they also want to save aggressively and keep lifestyle costs low? 2. Kids - are you thinking about kids? What will the set up be? We are in private and we spend a lot on school, extracurricular activities and 529 savings. This is easily $100k swing. And would either of you potentially want to work less with kids? 3. Assuming you want kids and will both maintain full time hours, you are going to need help. While you probably could do it all, you will run yourself ragged and we have found spending on quality of life measures is totally worth it to us - for our sanity and mental health. Also can add up. 4. Travel- we have really amped up traveling so that’s been a big increase to our budget. Do you have that factored in? When/how are you going to recharge? Burnout is real. Some people recharge by hiking and camping. Others want the resort with service and amenities. One is wayyyyy more expensive than the other. How do you recharge? 5. Hobbies- do you have things you like to do outside of work? People say they want to retire early, but then have no idea what to do with themselves. My dad went back to work in his mid 70s because he doesn’t know how to do anything else or have an identity outside of work. It’s a real challenge for many high achievers.
6. Are you going to buy a home? Where, how much, etc? We bought big during covid. So glad we did. We have a ton of equity and won’t need to move. However, where we live, taxes, insurance are extremely expensive. And, we have a 2.6% rate. Can’t imagine buying big with current interest rates. House projects can add up quickly. 7. Giving Back. While not a focus for everyone , we aim to give 10% and we have a lot of satisfaction by helping others, organizations and projects we are passionate about. This can also help battle the lifestyle creep.
You are doing amazing! Keep grinding but enjoy it - your time with friends, family is not guaranteed. Balance is important. A boatload of money doesn’t matter if you have no one to share it with.
Really appreciate this perspective. It’s helpful to hear from people a few years ahead who’ve been intentional about these decisions rather than letting lifestyle creep just happen.
My soon-to-be spouse and I are totally on the same page. She actually started investing before I did, so we’re aligned on saving aggressively while still spending intentionally on things we value.
We do plan on having kids, just not for a couple of years. We’ve talked through a lot of the implications already. We’re in an area with strong public schools, which helps, and we’re realistic that kids will be a big financial swing. I could see either of us cutting back a bit at different stages, likely paired with a nanny, rather than trying to white-knuckle two full-time schedules nonstop.
Travel is definitely something we prioritize. We usually aim for around two bigger trips a year. Nothing crazy in terms of luxury hotels, that’s not really our vibe, but the trips do add up. I don’t regret spending on experiences at all, and we’re comfortable splurging selectively, like first class on longer flights, because that’s how we actually recharge.
We both have plenty of hobbies outside of work, which I think is huge, especially long-term. I don’t see early retirement as “do nothing,” more like having flexibility and optionality rather than walking away from purpose entirely.
We already own a home and have most of the major renovations done. The kitchen is the last big project and that’s planned for next year. Totally agree that housing costs, taxes, insurance, and projects can quietly become a big line item if you’re not paying attention.
Giving back is important to us too. We do it in a few different ways and I agree it helps keep perspective and fights mindless lifestyle creep.
Really appreciate the reminder that balance matters. We’re trying to be deliberate about enjoying the process and the people around us, not just optimizing the spreadsheet.
Sounds like you are on fantastic shape!
I was in a much inferior spot to you when I was 33 and finished fellowship. Give it like 3-4 years of savings, watching how rapidly your net worth goes up and all your questions will be answered. For the first 3 years I was constantly thinking about my investing plan and seeing where my money was going. Now I'm on cruise control and dont think bout it much anymore up until lately when I'm thinking about splurging on a brand new 911.
Work with a well known, trusted financial advisor.
While I am not against safe investments, they’re amazing such as INDEX funds, your advisor can guide you on where to put funds that can make significantly more capital(with risk) but at your age and income it is considered a very viable option.
Since your net worth is projected to be Over 1 million soon, you will be what is called an “accredited investor.”
Which opens up more options for investment with bigger returns such as private equity and hedge funds.
Proper investments such as these can skyrocket your net worth outside of just working your career.
If you have any questions, shoot a DM.
Source: Banker