Episode 6 of 6
The Career Re-Entry Trajectory
Dana is 9 months into her return to marketing and gets a performance review with a path to $105k within 2 years. She models her full financial trajectory: salary growth, retirement catch-up contributions after 50, and the date her net worth crosses $500k solo.
Key Insight
At $105k by age 46 and maxing catch-up contributions starting at 50, Dana can accumulate $620k in retirement savings by 65 — combined with her $140k QDRO rollover growing at 7%, her total retirement portfolio reaches $890k, enough to sustain $35,600/year at 4%.
Model This Scenario
Starting with numbers similar to Dana's situation — adjust any input to make it yours.