A bit of background: Recently turned 30, living in NYC for the last 8 years after college. I’ve been financially independent my entire life (hence moving to NYC), I financially support my mother (I’ve spent over $30,000 on her since 2009 when I was 18...), and I’ve consistently contributed across my employer 401Ks for the last 5 years, with about $75,000 in traditional 401K contributions to show for it. I literally JUST opened up my Roth IRA this year (major rookie move why didn’t I do this in my 20s while I was living it up with oyster happy hours and bottomless brunches?! Oh that’s right, New York.) I’ve maxed out my Roth for 2021 (ETFs, growth and dividends) and I’m ready to hit the ground running for 2022. However I can’t shake the sneaking feeling I’ve set myself back a decade by not accumulating assets and having to financially support my parent (which came to an end, blessedly. I imagine that people with kids have similar cash sinks, so I’m just chalking that up to “the child I never had,” almost like I adopted someone for a decade.

Just started a new job that pays $145,000 a year (a far cry from the $15 an hour I made when I first moved to the city!), health insurance is free/ not taken out of my check at the new job, and I anticipate having at least $2,000 a month for the next year to actively invest while contributing the same amount to my emergency fund and maxing out the 401k. When those RSUs best in 4 years...whooo boy. (However I already have shares of my employer in my 401k portfolio so I won’t go in further.) My FIRE number is $2.6M, and I’m confident that with a combination of tackling new financial instruments, I can make a dent in that by the end of 2022. I don’t own a house but would love to buy a farm or farmland in my home state.

My question: What would you do? Have you ever found yourself in a position where you felt hog tied financially and worried about your future? I assume that 59 1/2 year old me will be happy that I rocked my 401k in my 20s and 30s, but 30-year-old me feels like something is...missing. Halp.