Reached 500K

A couple of days ago I went to the grocery store to do some shopping. There was insufficient food in our refrigerator and we felt like eating curry that night. It was just another ordinary typical Dutch day in Utrecht. It was februari, so it was a cold, grey and slightly depressing. When I was almost at the store I noticed a middle-aged man standing outside on the sidewalk talking on his phone. It sounded like he was in difficult discussion with someone on the other end, possibly business related. He was wearing a designer jacket as well as designer shoes, so he must be doing quite well for himself. Even though I'm a very curious person I didn't feel like eavesdropping on his conversation. I really wasn't all that interested in his conversation. As I passed him by I heard him say "...well yeah, but who has half a million Euro's in the bank!?".

I didn't pay much attention to what I just heard him say and entered the shop. I grabbed a little basket for my stuff and then it hit me.

Me!

I have half a million Euro's in the bank! Most of that is invested in ETF's, but still it's easily accessible money. I've been so patiently saving money the last couple off years that I hardly even noticed that I just crossed the 500K mark. Now I'm really closing in on my goal.

Feeling better about myself I also bought a bottle of wine and went home.

I always check my 'nest egg' once a month. Usually around the 15th (halfway) of the month, because that gives me the best and most honest result and this month I was way past the 500K mark. It has been about 6 years since I've first started my journey towards financial freedom. It's amazing to see I already got this far.

Please, don't get me wrong. I'm not a money grubber! I'm simply saving money to pay for my freedom.

In the graph below you can see my progress in the last 4-5 years. I didn't create a graph on the very first day of my journey.

Now that my nest egg has grown past the 500K, I can cautiously start planning for my life after 'the office'. Remember, it's not my plan to retire and drink cocktails all day. That would be extremely boring (after a week or so). I already have a registered business so I can do other stuff, fun stuff, and earn a little extra cash. My girlfriend is now following a course in her gym to become an aerobics instructor. That sounds like fun. I might also do something like that (perhaps bodypump) and get fit while doing it (win-win). Like I said ... possibilities for a better and happier life.

Caution! I do keep in mind that one day we will have a recession and my nest egg will shrink significantly. When that happens I will be ready. Just keep calm and stick to the plan. Hopefully this recession will happen soon so I can buy more ETF's on sale :).