At what point was saving “enough”?

Hello!

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Right now:

- I am lower enlisted in the Army
- No debt
- I live on a written budget and try to save $1K a month. My salary is not huge right now, but it will increase with time, and my expenses are relatively low.
- 6 months of expenses saved
- my car is nine years old, but fully paid off, and I keep up with regular maintenance.
- TSP Roth at 6%, getting the full match. I plan to increase it by 1% each year until I reach 15%.
- I contribute a couple of bucks to my Roth IRA when I can.
- Once I get my TSP to 15%, I plan to work toward maxing out my Roth IRA.
- Both my TSP and Roth IRA are invested in target-date funds.

I am also using my military state benefits for grad school. I am currently in one master's program and plan to pursue an MSW afterward, with the goal of getting my LCSW while I am still in through a direct commission.

Long term, I want to stay in the military and/or transition to a GS role. Ideally I would do a GS-role and reserves for the dual pension.

I have been teaching myself more about personal finance (Dave Ramsey, Boogle) since I was never really taught about it growing up.

Question

At what point was enough savings enough for you? I know that question is going to vary, but I am curious to any insight others can give.

Posted Sep 5, 2026, 4:01 PM UTC

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