Data and numbers are everywhere. Numbers drive decisions and milestones reflect meaning. Even 67 became such a cultural phenomenon that Dictionary.com selected this as the 2025 word of the year. It’s a nonsensical slang term that Gen Alpha gave meaning to.
Numbers, however, are only meaningful within the context they are used. They can fluctuate like the stock price on the open market, remain stagnant like the year of the vehicle you drive and methodically repeat hour after hour, day after day.
We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and assign significance to certain ones. According to several sources, the 50th birthday is the most iconic of all milestone celebrations. It’s considered the “golden” birthday as a significant marker of life achievement and is the most celebrated among adults.
So, what if your 50th birthday was the worst one on record? It was the height of Covid in Los Angeles. The only event that was still open was a drive through holiday lights display at Six Flags followed by takeout that was truly not good. Am I destined for birthday monotony for the next 25 years until the next significant, milestone birthday arrives?
I think not. The next year was far more significant and meaningful closing on our current house, one that was never even in my wildest dreams.
We do the same with investment milestones, assigning significance to certain numbers and when we reach them, it momentarily feels great but eventually fades. The early ones are needed and keep us going on the journey. Reaching milestone after milestone eventually becomes anticlimactic because it is the means to the end, not the end itself.
If your investing goal is to amass milestone after milestone, you will stay on the hedonic treadmill for the rest of your life. At some point, you need to plan an exit. One that will allow you to chase other milestones and other goals.
Numbers are insignificant. They only become significant when we add value to them.
Reaching Goals, Anticlimactic? – Bogleheads.org