Personal Finance

My goal is to grow my net worth by another $2 million before I retire - what's the smartest way to do it?

Maurie Backman

Published: January 27, 2025 3:34 pm

When it comes to growing a large amount of retirement wealth, patience is often key. Holding investments for many years is a good way to enjoy strong gains over time. But so is having the right investment mix in the first place.

This Reddit poster, however, is wondering whether their investment mix will lend to their savings goal. They’re in their late 40s with about a $3.5 million net worth, and they’re trying to get to at least $5.5 million before they retire. Their household income is between $500,000 and $600,000, but not shockingly, they lose a fair amount of money to taxes.

They also recently bought a rental home to generate income, and eventually, it could gain a lot of value. Outside of that rental, the bulk of their portfolio is in cash and ETFs — specifically, S&P 500, muni bond, and large cap ETFs.

The poster is clearly in a great place financially, but they’re not thrilled with their portfolio’s performance. And they want to know how to get to another $2 million to meet their goal.

A strategy tweak may be in order

What I like about this poster’s investment mix is that it’s pretty nicely diversified. By loading up on these types of ETFs, they’re getting exposure to a big part of the market. The fact that they also branched out into muni bond ETFs means they’re trying to balance risk and reward.

The investment property, meanwhile, gives them a dual opportunity to grow wealth. In addition to price appreciation, they can potentially take in a nice amount of rental income that they can, in turn, reinvest as they see fit.

But I’m curious as to how much money this poster has in cash, and whether it’s too much given their age. I also wonder what sort of rental income their property has the potential to generate.

It’s clear that they’re getting antsy about growing their portfolio to the tune of another $2 million. And given their income, I’d say it’s more than feasible to retire with $5.5 million all-in. But if they’re looking to retire within the next few years, then things get a bit more iffy.

The S&P 500 is coming off of a couple of years of supercharged gains. But it’s hard to know whether we’ll see a repeat performance in the next couple of years.

In light of this, one thing I’d tell the poster to do is perhaps add some growth stocks to their portfolio — but only if they’re willing to stay invested in them for a good number of years. A handful of growth stocks that beat the broad market could get them to their goal, but it’s not a good idea to invest in stocks within a short timeframe.

I like to tell people not to add a new stock to their portfolio if they’re not willing to hold it for at least five years. And I prefer a 10-year window.

Professional help may be in order

The thing that strikes me the most about this poster is that they don’t seem content with their portfolio’s performance. So in that case, regardless of how much wealth they’ve accumulated already, I’d love to see them talk to a financial advisor.

A financial advisor can review their investment strategy and make recommendations that could possibly lead to stronger returns between now and when they want to retire. An advisor can also help them set a realistic retirement date if they’re insistent on hitting the $5.5 million mark before ending their careers.