Reached 100k in retirement! What’s next?

I wanted to share this milestone that I’m really proud of myself for reaching. My goal was to reach 100k by the end of the year because I was very privileged in being able to max out my contributions for the first time ever this year due to a raise(which I’m also very proud of because advocating for myself and asking for the raise was way out of my comfort zone and not something I’ve ever done before).

I never thought I’d get here or even make it this far in life, so seeing this number doesn’t even feel real. I’ve struggled a lot with mental health over the years due to physical and sexual abuse from when I was a kid at the hands of some extended family that was living with my family and my pediatrician.

About a year and a half ago, I had the sudden realization that I was nearing 30 and didn’t want to feel like a scared and broken kid anymore, so I took the plunge and started going to therapy. It was really rough at first and actually made my mental health significantly worse for the first couple of months, but I can happily say that after sticking with it for over a year, I’ve made a lot of progress. It’s still an ongoing journey, but I feel so much better than I did before.

I’m also the only daughter to war refugee/immigrant parents, so my whole life the expectation has been that I am my parents retirement plan. I took college classes in high school and then graduated college early at 20 just so I could start my career and earn money earlier to help support my family. Because of this, I’ve always had a lot of anxiety around money.

Next year, my plan is to continue my journey of learning to take care of myself but also to enjoy the fun things life can offer. I probably won’t max out my contributions again due to some larger bills coming up and my health insurance costs going up, but I will still contribute what I can.

Long personal story done and onto the seeking advice part- I’m very new to the concept of FIRE. Are there any resources you guys would recommend for someone who has aging parents to consider when trying to figure out their FIRE number? I also don’t have kids of my own yet, so I’m not sure how to incorporate that into retirement plans either.

Posted Nov 28, 2025, 5:40 PM UTC

8916
Loading comments…