Have you hit the ‘wealth plateau’?

For many families, hitting your 40s with a strong income feels like success. You’ve worked hard, bought a home, and life is busy with school runs, weekend sport, and the occasional family holiday.

But here’s the surprising thing: even with a household income of $400,000 or more, many families aren’t wealthy.

They’ve reached what I call the wealth plateau. Good disposable income but not building wealth as well as they could.

Let’s meet one such family…Bandit and Chilli

Bandit (42) earns $260,000 a year as an IT contractor, while Chilli (40) brings in $140,000. Together they earn $400,000. Their Brisbane home is worth $1.4 million with a $400,000 mortgage. They’ve got $700,000 in super between them, and they can easily manage to put $5,000 a month into their offset which is a healthy $120,000. They could increase this to $10,000 if they tried.

On paper, they look set. But after school fees, family holidays, groceries, and the daily juggle of raising Bluey (15) and Bingo (9), Bandit and Chilli often feel like they’re running hard but standing still.

Why the Wealth Plateau Happens

1. Lifestyle creep. As income grows, spending often follows. New cars, more travel, and the best for the kids — all good things, but they eat into wealth-building.
2. Focusing only on debt. Paying off the mortgage feels safe, but it doesn’t grow wealth by itself.
3. Investing too little. With money sitting in cash or offset accounts, families miss out on compounding growth.

This isn’t laziness or mismanagement — it’s just the natural result of busy, successful family life.

Breaking Through the Plateau

The good news? With discipline and a clear plan, families like Bandit and Chilli can break through the plateau and aim for a $5 million portfolio (including super) by age 55. Here’s how:

Step 1: Define the end goal. For Bandit and Chilli, it’s financial independence at 55 — enough to choose whether to keep working or not. That means building $3.5m in today’s dollars which in 13 years will be about $5 million. That’s more than enough for them to clear the mortgage and provide a tax-free income of $120,000 a year for life.

Step 2: Put the mortgage in perspective. At $300,000, their home loan is manageable. Yes, keep paying it down, but don’t let it stop you from investing.

Step 3: Save and invest consistently. By investing $5,000 monthly into Exchange Traded Funds held in Chilli’s name (and starting with $100,000 from the offset account) they will be able to retire at 55.

Getting an 8% annual return (and reinvesting it), this will grow into more than $1.3m in 13 years. This will be more than enough to pay off the rest of the mortgage and have enough left over to fund their lifestyle until they reach 60.

Step 4: Supercharge super. With $700,000 already in super, salary sacrificing up to the concessional cap can grow this to over $2.8m by the time they are 55. Even more if they used the unused concessional contributions this year instead of investing the $100,000 into ETFs!

If they were able to save and make an additional after-tax contribution to super of $50,000 a year, their super would be worth $3.8 million in 13 years. Job done!

The Bottom Line

High incomes don’t guarantee wealth — intentional strategy does. Bandit and Chilli show that even with swimming lessons, weekend playdates, and family holidays, a $5m future is within reach for most professionals.

If you’re in your 40s, the next decade is your most powerful wealth-building window. Don’t waste it.

We specialise in helping professionals and executives grow and protect their wealth so they can live an abundant life. If you would like to discuss how you could benefit from independent financial advice, book a chat via the button below or contact us on 02 6269 3339 or at team@constructwealth.com.au.