my husband and i have grown our investment portfolio to $500k+, most of which came from the past 4 years

my husband and i have grown our investment portfolio to $500k+, most of which came from the past 4 years all while balancing paying down six-figures of student loan debt and enjoying our lives now **also noting we are DINKs Net Worth $527,332.89 ^ $84,196.78 (19%) Year to date 1M 3M 6M YTD 1Y ALL we just turned 34 and only started being aggressive with investing at 30. our 20s mostly consisted of 3-5% 401K contributions to get employer match, neither of us earning six-figure during this time (household income $50K-$70K 22-25, $110K-$150K 26-29) right before we turned 30, my husband and i both got new jobs and increased our HHI by $50K/year ($200K then, up to $250K now) we didn’t buy new cars or a new house, we started aggressively investing. i don’t share this to brag, i share this to show you what is possible in a short amount of time. i’m going to share from my POV, but wanted to share it within the context of being partnered and no kids because i know that makes a difference. had no interest in cutting all joy to save or invest/pay down debt/asap, so in my 20s focused on living within my means & increasing my income so i could afford to save/invest for my future, pay down our hefty student loan, AND enjoy life the way i want now. "my" managed investments (everything is shared, but portion i manage) Net Worth $360,248.70 ^ $53,761.80 (17.5%) Year to date 1M 3M 6M YTD 1Y ALL here are the exact accounts we used to get here, what they are, when i opened and why 401K (employer sponsored retirement account) started at 22 with 3% of my $30K salary because that’s what my employer matched. continued to do employer match only through my 20s as i grew my income. around 30 started to max out because my employer matches 25% of every $1 up to the $24,500 max (and we can afford to). my advice? employers usually offer a match of some sort. put at least the % they match in so you can get more of their $$. $24,500 max contributions in 2026. roth ira — ira = individual retirement account roth = post tax $$ started one around 26 because my financial advisor told me to. didn’t understand it, just wanted to build wealth. only did a couple hundred a month if that?? 26-29. me and my husband both started maxing ours out at 30 when we both got new jobs and increased our HHI by $50K at one time and we felt behind on retirement. TL;DR: retirement account outside of employer. good second account bc you don’t pay taxes in retirement. $7,500 contribution limit as of 2026. there are also income limits so need to look into that before contributing traditional ira — individual retirement account, but you can get tax benefits now opened around 26 to rollover old employer 401K to my control. will also use for backdoor roth ira in the future. imo you only need to worry about this rn if you have a pre-tax 401K/403b from an old employer you need to rollover into your control OR you earn over the eligible roth ira limit and want to do the backdoor roth contributions taxable brokerage account — general investing account opened around 27/28, again because my advisor told me to and i didn’t understand it. contributed a few hundred a month until 30, started doing $1K+ with earning increase and began self-managing. we keep this for tbd future wants prior to retirement age. actually paused these last year to focus on our cash sinking funds for emergencies about to start-up again. this account has no age restrictions like retirement accounts. good for any goals outside of retirement in next 3+ years. like it says, taxable income. (still worth it) HSA — health savings account we just learned about and started utilizing this one about 3 years ago to help plan for retirement. why we like it: triple tax advantages triple tax advantage bc the money you put in is pre-tax, you don’t pay taxes on the investment gains, and as long as you use for qualified medical expenses you don’t pay tax when you use it. this one is tied to your health insurance plan and typically paired with a high-deductible health plan. some employers automatically put $$ towards this for you. $4,400 max contribution in 2026 for individuals. if you have more $$ to invest, don’t overthink it. start working to max out your 401K or 403b if you’re stuck in analysis paralysis. you can always reallocate later, but time is the most important thing you have. don’t put off taking action. every seemingly “small” contribution and step helps! if you’re not to this point yet, that’s ok! start a budget to get familiar with what you can do now / work to earn more if needed. my biggest reflection on the past decade is how grateful i am for the small habits i started before i even knew if they’d actually work or were doing anything. because those habits helped evolve and overcome my mindset / limiting beliefs i didn’t even know i had. and they helped lay a solid foundation. hi, i’m paige 🤍 first-gen wealth builder sharing my ~imperfect~ personal finance journey and what i wish i knew sooner about money and mindset. follow along if you’re looking for approachable personal finance content 💛