My husband and I just hit the $1 million mark in our retirement savings – how long will it take to hit $2 million?

A Reddit poster is celebrating a major milestone. She and her husband made it to the $1 million mark a few months ago. Once she had reached that pivotal point, though, she was surprised how quickly her net worth continued to grow. In fact, just a few months later, she found herself with $1.15 million.

She’s now wondering how long it is going to take her to go from $1 million to $2 million — especially given that while her household income is $200,000, she and her husband spend only $50,000 to $60,000 per year. 

So, when will the OP reach her new goal of $2 million in investments?

Compound interest helps you earn the second million a lot faster

The good news for the OP is that once you have a lot of money invested, it’s much easier for you to grow even richer. That’s because your money works for you constantly. As you earn returns, that money can be reinvested and earn you more returns without you even making any additional contributions. And your money can work very hard and earn you a lot very quickly because it doesn’t take weekends and evenings off — compound growth is always happening as long as you’re invested. 

Let’s say, for example, that the OP earns a 10% average annual return on her $1 million, which is pretty reasonable given that’s what the S&P 500 has consistently returned over many decades. If the OP invested nothing else at all, she would hit $2 million in around 7.3 years. Her $1 million will earn enough interest that can be reinvested to enable her to quickly become a multimillionaire. 

Now, the OP said she and her husband spend only a small portion of their $200K income so she’s probably not just going to stop investing and let her money grow on its own. Let’s say that after taxes and expenses, she’s able to invest another $75K per year. This changes her timeline a lot. If she is adding $75,000 per year to her existing $1 million nest egg, she would have just over $2 million in around 4.8 years between her contributions and compounding. 

Saving a lot of money up-front makes ending up rich easier

The Reddit poster was surprised at how quickly her money was able to grow once she reached $1 million because it can be difficult to really understand the power of compound interest until you have a large balance. The reality is that the earlier you get your money invested, the easier it is to build up a huge nest egg.

It can be a challenge to sacrifice and save at a younger age when you are getting started, but it ends up being a lot easier to do that than to try to catch up later when you have less time for compounding to work for you. While not everyone will be able to save up $1 million like this Redditor, most people can start saving something and should do as much as they can because these early efforts will pay off big time later.

The Redditor was able to achieve success because she spends a very small portion of her income, and others may want to try to do the same. Continuing to live like a college student on a stricter budget even as your income grows can help you to avoid falling into the trap of lifestyle creep where your income goes up but not your savings. If you don’t start spending more, you won’t get used to the extra or make commitments you can’t get out of, and you can get that crucial jumpstart on investing

Once you have a good amount invested and working for you, you can ease up and enjoy your money more — but that initial push is going to make a huge difference in setting you up for financial success.