A Midlife Plan, a Big Dream, and a $15,000 Goal

Unfortunately, I still have a few years left before I hit 50. I’m 47, to be exact, and I’ve realized — a bit late, honestly — that I’ve been lazy in certain parts of my life. Experts say that until around 30, we all feel immortal and believe we still have every chance to become wildly wealthy and retire comfortably. Well, I stretched that period until I was about 40… And even now, I’m not entirely convinced I’m not immortal. What I am convinced of is that the wealth I dreamed about in my youth feels a bit less certain today.

Given all this, I’ve been thinking it’s time to get serious and start building that wealth myself. As I said, I’m almost 50, so accumulating extra money for retirement won’t be as easy as it might have been twenty years ago. Instead, I’m choosing a more practical goal.

A while ago, I wrote that a vacation in the US is quite expensive — for three to four weeks I’d need at least $15,000, and that’s without flights or visa fees. The plan is for four people, because I definitely don’t want to visit America alone. I’d go with my wife and our two daughters.

Just to be clear, it’s not like we’re broke. My wife and I own two apartments in Bucharest, plus a house in the countryside where we’ll probably retire someday. We have savings, investments in the stock market, and even our daughters have their own accounts, each with a few thousand dollars that we fund monthly. And most importantly, our loans could technically be paid off with our current savings — we’re just not in a hurry to do that. All in all, life is good.

This summer, a friend’s American wife visited Europe for the first time, and while staying with us she actually pointed out that we really do live a good life here in Romania. And yes, I read and look around, and in certain ways, we do have it better than many Americans. But that’s another story for another time…

Right now, I’ve decided what I want to do with my small stock portfolio — the one I’ve been contributing about $150 to each month for the past year.

I’ll turn 50 in October 2028, so I thought the perfect gift for myself — a kind of midlife celebration — would be a vacation to the United States. Because my daughters will still be in school then, summer 2029 is the goal. For that, I want to grow my portfolio of US stocks to at least $15,000. As of today, November 28, 2025, the portfolio is worth $3,680. Theoretically, to reach the target I need roughly 300% growth. These are the numbers I’ll be working with. I’ll try to increase my monthly contributions and look for companies with real potential. Basically, I need to put in the work. So… may God help us.

I don’t know how many people will actually read these lines, but if you’d like to give me a hand with this plan, you can make a small donation through my Revolut link.

All donations will go directly into my stock portfolio.

Thank you!