Mr. ODA’s retirement account surpassed $1 million last month!

Mr. ODA and I worked for the federal government. Our retirement account is called the Thrift Savings Plan, but it’s essentially a 401k, and includes a 5% salary match on contributions. My parents were adamant that I put at least the amount in to get the full match, and to increase my contributions as I received raises. Mr. ODA entered into my life and said I was to max it out no matter what, and so I did. The point here being he’s maxed it out from the beginning. I worked for about 11.5 years, and he worked for about 16 years. My last contribution was May 2019, and his last contribution was October 2025.

I share this background to make the point about compound growth. The max I could have contributed over my working time was about $190k. The max Mr. ODA could contribute was about $305,000. So that means that based on $305,000 of his own money, he now has a valuation of over $1 million.