Hello,
I'm a first time poster here. I don't actually have a man bun, FYI. I discovered this site in late August and have been crazy obsessively busy optimizing my financial situation (see all my progress below), and I want some advice on some best "next steps". I currently live in a high cost-of-living city on the west coast and plan to stay here for at least the next five years. I am not a tremendously high earner, and that combined with my desire to stay here does not equal "early retirement." However, I have been very lucky financially, and progress is progress, and I believe I'll be in a good position to potentially move out of here and retire early when the time is right. Or maybe stay! But what to do in the near term?
Assets
$870,000 Townhome ($246,100 owed)
$ 5,000 2009 Honda Fit
$ 3,000 Honda Motorcycle
$218,000 Investment Account
$ 105 Roth IRA (just opened)
$1,096,105 TOTAL
Liabilities
$246,100 Mortgage (2.93%, 26 years left, 5/1 ARM adjusts in 14 months)
$ 561 iPhone Upgrade Program (0% interest, bought 11/2017)
$ 0 Credit Card Debt
$ 0 Student Loans
$246,661 TOTAL
NET WORTH
$849,444
Net Monthly Income (from 54k gross annual salary):
$3853.33 Job
$ 800 "Rent" from my partner
$0 "Art (breaks even)"
$4,653.33 TOTAL
Expenses
$1733.72 Mortgage (P $541.25/ I $543.11/ T+I$649.36)
$92.85 Water/Sewer/Trash
$85 Internet (switching soon)
$45.10 Natural Gas
$44.27 Electricity
$26.01 Sewer Connection Fee (15 year fee by city)
$4.58 Backflow Test (required by city)
$110 Art Studio
$50 Gas
$57.57 Auto/Moto Insurance
$56.16 Phone payment (10 months left)
$45.83 Tax Preparation
$35 Mobile Phone Service
$15.44 Vehicle Registration
$12.10 Netflix
$500 Roth IRA contribution
$144.48 Extra mortgage payment
$850 Groceries / booze
$0 Health Insurance ($0 for now)
$3,908.11 TOTAL
$745.22 Theoretical Surplus*
*Usually doesn't happen with travel, gifts, art, etc
What I've Done In The Last Four Months Since Discovering This Blog (thanks!):
Sold a boat (saved $325/mo in moorage, got $1,000), sold some luxury goods (allowed me to buy Honda Fit), sold a newer Subaru Outback (allowed me to payoff a ~$35k personal loan @ 4% interest [$127/mo] and save $50/mo on gas), cancelled housecleaners ($295/mo), earned $500 from that Capital One Savor card, earned $100 for referring someone to my credit union, cancelled Spotify/Amazon Prime/Showtime ($30/mo), changed my phone bill from $87 to $35/mo, reduced my monthly auto insurance by $56/mo, reduced my homeowner's insurance by $25/mo, reduced my annual vehicle registration by $20/mo, asked my partner to move in with me (+$800 mo - but it's for the right reasons as well). All this has allowed me to be able to afford the $500/mo towards Roth IRA and the equivalent to a 13th payment on the mortgage.
What Do I Do Next?
My investment account was $257k four months ago, and my plan was to pay off my mortgage right before the ARM adjusts. Although the amount is down to $218k right now, I still like this plan as it would make me feel at ease, and vastly reduce my living expenses, allowing me to throw a lot more into retirement and investment monthly. Would it be better to keep the mortgage and throw money in retirement as I'm doing? Some place in between? Sell my stock portfolio and get high dividend REITs or something?
What am I missing, and how can I speed this up?
We are also able to AirBnb out a portion of the townhome, and I did earn $6k from that last year, but with the partner moving in, we've been liking the extra space. We are open to doing that at least part time, however, and I think we could earn up to $1k/mo doing that.