Did you know the S&P 500 Index was up 29.6% this year? That is not normal, but it is good! We've been investing for over 20 years. It actually seems we should have more, but only in recent years have we been able to contribute the maximum amount to our Roth IRAs AND contribute to a work retirement plan.
This year we each invested the full $5,500 to our Roth IRAs. My husband also contributed 7% to his TSP. Our total retirement contribution was $16,241.60. This is 17.3% of our gross income.
Our retirement balance at the end of December 2012 was $188,290.18. This year with our $16K+ in contributions and the growth of nearly 30% in the market we end the year with $265,208.05!! I'm humbled. Truly humbled. That is an increase of $76,917.87. Over $50,000 in growth.
I have records of our balances all the way back to May of 2003. At the end of that year we only had $33K invested for retirement. I disclose this so you can see how continually investing can change in a relatively short period of time. There have been ups like this year, and some really bad years. In fact, I did check once in 2009 and our balance had dropped to $67,000. Yep, there wasn't even a 1 in front of that number back in 2009. Stocks are volatile, but retirement is a long term goal. In my short experience, it seems better to be IN the market than out.
Were you invested in the market for retirement? Did you just start investing? Will you invest next year? I know we will!! 
Wow! Retirement in 2013
January 1st, 2014 at 04:23 am
January 1st, 2014 at 01:37 pm 1388583449
I will say that the stock market hasn't done much for us (since 2000) until about the past few years. IT's nice to see some upside. I know there will be more upside for the long run.
January 1st, 2014 at 03:59 pm 1388591953
January 1st, 2014 at 07:07 pm 1388603255