When I originally set my $100,000 by age 30 goal I needed to sort of cheat and I made the goal to have $100,000 in principal (money I contributed) in my retirement accounts by Dec 31 of the year in which I turn 30. My birthday is in August and well according to my original calculations I would need at least those extra 4 months to reach my goal.

Well since I set my goal a few things have changed. I’m actually a little ahead of schedule due to the fact that I’ve gotten some unexpected bonuses and raises part of which was automatically invested into my Roth 401k for me. The other major thing that happened to me was I got a job and am now making more money so I figured I could raise the bar on my goal a little higher. Plus now it’s really $100,000 by age 30, not $100,000 while I’m still 30.