“Threshold” – 44, married, DINKs, West Coast tech job with Midwest lifestyle. Senior Software Engineer, $210k household income. Assets: $609k in retirement accounts, $253k between collectibles and a paid-off home, $40k in cash. In 2015 his net worth was basically zero after debt, and he has been grinding ever since, hitting each $100k step on the way to $900k. A careful saver who moved from QA into senior engineering, he has kept a 66% savings rate while still allowing for a few splurges, like a fancy stove after getting married. With an average net worth increase of about $15k a month, he expects to cross $1M by spring 2026, and this last stretch feels like crossing a line between “doing well” and “actually wealthy.”