30M, ~$1.2M net worth and on pace for ~$700k this year. How freely can I actually spend?

Income and Expense

I just turned 30 and live a VHCOL city. I’m a partner in a client-service business, so my income is variable and depends heavily on retaining clients.

I’ve made about $485k through September 12 after removing client pass-through money. At my current pace, I should finish the year around $700kk. My business overhead is roughly $7.5k/month.

Current assets, rounded:

  • $815k in taxable brokerage and crypto accounts
  • $240k across personal and business checking. The money in the business account is entirely my profit, not client or pass-through money, although I still owe taxes on it.
  • $170k in real estate equity
  • Roughly $1.2M net worth overall

My current personal spending is approximately:

  • $4.5k/month rent
  • $2.5k/month car payment
  • $6k–$7k/month on everything else
  • Total personal spending of roughly $14.5k–$15.5k per month, or around $175k–$185k per year

I know that is already a high level of spending, but I still find myself second-guessing discretionary purchases and feeling like I should save almost everything because the income isn’t guaranteed. At the same time, I don’t want to spend my highest-earning years endlessly accumulating money without enjoying any of it.

For people with similar income and net-worth levels, how do you decide what you can spend guilt-free?

Would you consider my current spending comfortable, aggressive, or actually conservative relative to my numbers? Could I reasonably spend more on travel, clothes, experiences, etc. as long as I invest a certain amount every year? Would you set an annual savings target first and freely spend whatever remains, or keep lifestyle costs lower because the income is variable?

I’m not asking whether I can technically afford one particular purchase. I’m trying to understand what a responsible but enjoyable lifestyle looks like at this level without accidentally building one that only works while I’m making $700k.

How much would you personally aim to save or invest each year, and how freely would you spend the rest?

Posted Sep 12, 2026, 9:29 PM UTC

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