Tracking our Investment Portfolio from Zero to $4 Million by 2032

The Delva-Gonzalez Household is back with a $4 million (USD) investment portfolio goal by 2032.

Why 2032? That’s our earliest retirement deadline. After that, it will be harder for me to we will pack up our bags and go on a solid year of traveling. The likely destination is Western Europe. Traveling with a dog is easier in Western Europe via rail or car. But to do so comfortably, we need capital and plenty of it. Contrary to influencers, travel expenses don’t pay for themselves. We are currently planning a 14-day trip to Switzerland, the hotels alone came up to $5,000. It ain’t cheap anywhere.

After crunching the numbers, we set our target retirement income from $150,000 to $250,000. This should be enough to cover our annual expenses of around $100,000. Currently, our portfolio hit $1,019,000 as of December 31, 2024. With 7 years to go, it doesn’t seem like enough room to make it but we will try.

The real question is, How?

Table of Contents

The Need for a Million-Dollar Investment Portfolio

The competition improved, and so should you.

Prices are going up and they aren’t going down. Such is the nature of a capitalist system or better yet, the nature of humanity. It comes down to supply and demand. The world has a finite amount of resources. Though plentiful, it is and will always be finite based on our consumption.

While the US enjoyed over 50 years of relatively low prices due to a lack of global competition, the good/bad news the world has caught up.

No longer are you simply competing against other Americans. With the advent of the internet age and social media, the world’s middle class is clamoring for the same items from the same suppliers.

The competition is heating up. Vivek Ramaswamy’s comments about America prizing ‘mediocrity over excellence’ upset a lot of Americans. Ironically, he wasn’t wrong. You can be mad about what he said, however under scrutiny, it holds. We need to read more, learn more, and engage in daily discipline to win.

The world is more competitive now and the lack of conscious productivity is getting expensive.

The High Inflation is an Investment Wake-Up Call

Prices haven’t been the same since 2019. According to data from the USDA, the cost of goods in the United States has risen significantly, with food prices increasing by approximately 25.99% between 2019 and 2024.

If you paid $80,000 to maintain your household in 2024, by 2032 that price would escalate to $103,000. By 2045, when millennials start to retire, those expenses would exceed $150,000. While I know that sounds surprising, however, consider this. $80,000 in 2004 is now worth $132,860 in 2024. This is an average inflation rate of 2.58 percent and cumulative inflation of 66.08 percent. The numbers aren’t so far-fetched.

With so many retiring broke with less than $250,000 in savings, NOW is the best time to start a financial plan that marries tax efficiency and wealth accumulation. Time is your best resource. The goal is to work today while letting your dollars and efforts compound.

You MUST invest the difference – It’s MANDATORY

As for our household, my wife and I start the year with much-needed introspection. We added +$200,000 to our net worth in 2020 and 2021 respectively. 2022 slowed down to less than +$100,000 while 2023 clawed back a massive +$360,000. For 2024, we added an extra $518,000 (rounded up). Most of the heavy lifting came from our investments.

If you were tracking with us, we hit average millennial millionaire status in August of 2023. Our takeaway is that it’s perfectly fine to start small. The goal is to start. When quality stocks are on sale, you should lean in a BUY. As long as you have a long-term perspective in line with your risk profile, you should edge out 10 percent annualized gains.

Now, we are setting bigger and bold goals for the future.

If you need more information on how to process wealth building, check out the Money Guy Show video below.

Building a Million-dollar Investment Portfolio via Strategy

Like everyone else, we experienced our first big investment drop of $50,000 in March 2020. Unlike most people, we stuck in through and found that long-term investments favor wealth. Once you establish your financial foundation and stability, the next part is just having fun.

If you do nothing else, invest in an ETF stock like $VTI or $VOO. I found it beneficial for people to be in the game versus waiting for the right time to jump in. Don’t get cute with trying to stockpick or cryptocurrency your way to financial stability. It doesn’t work.

Try my patterned tips for increasing your household’s investment potential by 111%.

In truth, it helps immensely that we have solid careers and low overhead expenses. As such, we use our cash inflow wisely by investing on the front end and bucking the trend of waiting for someone to tell us to start. Better yet, we stop diluting ourselves to think that saving 10% will be enough to furnish our future lifestyle. Additionally, we have added encouragement since my wife has type 1 diabetes and I have a terrible case of Sinnitus.

These issues complicate ($$$) retirement.

Invest in a SMARTER Strategy to Grow Wealth

Unfortunately, Dave Ramsey would disapprove.

	S&P500 Annual Returns	TNFG Annual Returns	Difference +Favorable/ -UnFavorable
2014	+13.52%	Not Tracked	N/A
2015	+1.38%	Not Tracked	N/A
2016	11.77%	Not Tracked	N/A
2017	+21.78%	+13.61%	-8.17%
2018	-4.42%	-1.38%	+3.05%
2019	+31.46%	+27.23%	-4.23%
2020	18.35%	+27.04%	+8.69%
2021	28.66%	+22.10%	-6.56%
2022	-18.15%	-14.55%	+3.60%
2023	+24.00%	+28.61%	+4.61%
2024	+23.31%	+39.37%	+16.06%

*Avg. Annualized Return from 12.31.19 to 12.31.24: 33.81%

When people are hyper-focused on paying down debt, they neglect the areas where they could have reduced their taxes, increased their assets, and secured their financial future.

Just like having the PSLF pay off almost $90,000 for me, it was a better play to buy my time and invest the difference. In the end, I think I paid around $40k in student loan debt. The rest was wiped clean from my slate with no tax repercussions.

The definition of working SMART+ER, not harder

Our goal is to reach wealth velocity while avalanching our way up. To beat inflation and prepare for the future, your wealth outlook should be measured in cash flow.

This means that our 401ks, ROTH IRAs, and HSAs take center stage.

Cash flow management is one of the focal points of financial literacy. Unfortunately, it’s not covered nearly enough. To simplify it, just consider your expenses and how much savings buffer you need to pay them. If your future monthly expenses are $5,000 per month, your safety income need should be 1.75x that amount. Why the overage? Health care as you age is more expensive. The house needs a new roof, new AC, new heater and appliances. Most people don’t factor that. My wife and I rather have more money than we need versus not enough.

Here’s our annual investment portfolio trajectory. This should help us get to at least $200,000 annual retirement savings withdrawal using 5%.

Annual Investment Portfolio Tracking

	Average Monthly Contributions	Total Annual Contributions	Value Growth/Losses	Year-End Balance
2014	$949.33	$11,392	+$7,714	$8,214
2015	$1,797.00	$21,564	+$30,667	$38,881
2016	$2,305.25	$27,663	-$5,889	$32,993
2017	$2,718.67	$32,624	+$13,149	$46,142
2018	$2,632.75	$31,593	+$76,571	$122,713
2019	$2,740.42	$32,885	+$84,041	$206,754
2020	$6,775.58	$81,307	+$149,414	$356,167
2021	$6,995.83	$83,950	+$170,373	$526,540
2022	$6,837.50	$82,050	-$53,678	$472,863
2023	$6,875.00	$82,500	+$216,921	$689,784
2024	$5,833.33	$70,000	+$329,216	$1,019,000
2025	$8,500	Est. $102,000	+$497,500	$1,500,000
2026	$9,000	Est. $108,000	+$500,000	$2,000,000
2027	$9,000	Est. $108,000	+$125,000	$2,125,000
2028	$9,500	Est. $114,000	+$750,000	$2,875,000
2029	$9,500	Est. $114,000	+$100,000	$2,975,000
2030	$10,000	Est. $120,000	+$420,000	$3,395,000
2031	$10,000	Est. $120,000	+$105,000	$3,500,000
2032	$10,000	Est. $120,000	+$650,000	$4,150,000

*Total as of 1.23.2025
**With a 5% withdrawal rate, we should be able to live comfortably on $200,000 starting in January 2033

Here are a few more ways we are growing our Wealth this year:

Boost bank savings to $7,500 to start January and keep 10% dividend cash reserves in investments to buy opportunities in 2025.
To begin with, Invest an Average of $1,250 per month in M1 Finance Brokerage focused on Growth and Dividend Income that generates at least $2,500 in passive income in 2026.
- Check out my portfolio in real time for pointers. If you like the platform and want to start investing, I have the $10 for $10 referral for added motivation – https://m1.finance/SYdqDJ2SyADC.
- Some deals for $30 or $50 match drop sporadically.
Shooting for a sustained investment rate with the push for a $2,000,000 net worth by Year End.
- To help monitor your savings, cash flow, net worth, investments, retirement, and more. FREE with Personal Capital! Sign up with my link & get a $20 Amazon gift card. *Terms apply. https://pcap.rocks/lawrencegonz
Work on blog consistency.
- It’s all about doing the right things the right way.

Disclosure:

This post is brought to you by the Neighborhood Finance Guy. We highlight financial literacy information, resources, and more on your way to money management goals and personal wealth. Our goal is to help you make S.M.A.R.T.+E.R. decisions with our money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. Your ‘personal finance’ is up to you. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we won’t earn a dime as of 5.2022. We operate independently.

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