Question about Cfiresim

[JSMustachian]

I am a little confused on the portfolio value field right abobe the initial assets section. Should I enter what my current value of my portfolio is or the expected value of my portfolio when I FIRE?

[boarder42]

i only use cFIREsim to determine how safe my FIRE plans are - i use my own spreadsheets to project when i will FIRE as cFIREsim is incapable of accounting for some of my assets that grow much faster than market rates.

so that being said depends on what you're trying to use it for - to test different AA's and withdrawal strategies and mortgage vs no mortgage just use your expected total at FIRE  and assume this year is the year you have that amount of money - dont project it out over 40 years or you'll start to lose data points like the 1966 year that killed off most portfolios regardless of what you did.

[Eric]

I would enter your projected retirement amount, and use 2018 as the start of your retirement.  This will show you how your projected retirement numbers would've fared in the past.  The calculator is more likely to give useful results if you're looking at it from a "what happened in the past" as opposed to a "what will the future hold" viewpoint.

[JSMustachian]

Got it. Thank you both!

[ysette9]

I use it starting today to model everything, accumulation and retirement. To do that I put in today’s portfolio value and then input how much I am saving per year in the “extra income/savings” section. Then I model retirement fluctuating expenses in the “extra spending” area to show that my mortgage will eventually be paid off, etc.

Typing this out makes me wonder if I’m doing this correctly. I’ll chew on this a bit more...

[boarder42]

I use it starting today to model everything, accumulation and retirement. To do that I put in today’s portfolio value and then input how much I am saving per year in the “extra income/savings” section. Then I model retirement fluctuating expenses in the “extra spending” area to show that my mortgage will eventually be paid off, etc.

Typing this out makes me wonder if I’m doing this correctly. I’ll chew on this a bit more...

you need to input what you earn every year in the extra income savings section it saves the difference between what you spend and what you earned.

this was actually a fun exercise for me

i can retire in 3 years with a 96% chance of success and its just using market returns.  25% of my portfolio makes over 20% a year
4 years is 100%
5 years is 100%
2 years is 75%

this is pretty nuts when i look at it this way. 

was currently planning on 6 years as my easy reach so i guess its not that crazy.

[ysette9]

I need to go back to the drawing board and re-do my simulations because I realize I have been using the tool wrong now. In an unexpected twist, it looks like I have been using it wrong in a way that underestimates my savings at retirement. I’m eager to re-do the numbers and see where they take me.

[dabears847]

Anyone getting errors with login for cfiresim? Been going on for a little over a week.

[StockBeard]

Same here. I emailed the admin, to no avail. It still "works", but you can't save/load simulations since you can't sign-in anymore. Bummer. Are there any free alternatives out there?

[Mgmny]

Same here. I emailed the admin, to no avail. It still "works", but you can't save/load simulations since you can't sign-in anymore. Bummer. Are there any free alternatives out there?

Not quite the same, but useful and created by someone on these boards:

http://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/?utm_source=mmm

[Retire-Canada]

Anyone getting errors with login for cfiresim? Been going on for a little over a week.

The auto fill start date is 2017. That throws an error since we are in 2018. Just enter a start date of 2018 or higher and the site works fine.

[StockBeard]

The auto fill start date is 2017. That throws an error since we are in 2018. Just enter a start date of 2018 or higher and the site works fine.

I don't think what you mention is addressing the issue we've been talking about though? The issue is an impossibility to sign-in, meaning we can't load/save our simulations.
Given that mine was getting pretty advanced, I'm a bit annoyed that I have to copy/paste all my numbers, every single time

[Retire-Canada]

Apologies. I missed that. I thought you were having trouble making the simulation run. Sorry my mistake.