Life Situation: Single (medium term girlfriend), no kids, 30 yrs old – work in construction and travel effectively full time for work from site to site. No home base as such, travel light and have some of my more bulky items with long term friends around the country..
Gross Salary/Wages: $100K salary, 20% bonus. Additional ‘profit share’ bonus of approximately $20K/yr, and a non-taxable per-diem (travel basically fulltime for work) of $35K. Company vehicle, but gas is currently not expensed (but should be deducted if I was tracking it properly?) I’m not super experienced with tax deductions so have probably been missing out here.
Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions: Contribute $18K to 401K each year, and my employer matches 50% (so additional $9K). No separate IRA. Existing 401K sitting at just over $42K.
Other Ordinary Income: Just started renting my unused personal car to a work colleague for $125/wk, uncertain if this will be for the entire yr, but optimistic that I can make $2500 out of this in 2018
Qualified Dividends & Long Term Capital Gains: ~$2500/yr from my Vanguard funds, also have some stock in my company which should provide ~$1500 in dividend returns in 2018.
Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation: No rental property to date, but have considered it and oohed and ahhed about the wisdom of it for someone in my position and relative fluidity
Adjusted Gross Income: ~$180K all said and done (pre-tax - but remember that the $35K per diem is not-taxed)
Taxes: 28% federal, 5.75% state (home base is in NC)
Current expenses:
Accommodation: $250/wk = $13,000/yr (somewhat difficult to improve, as I travel a lot for work so have to rent short term airbnb’s etc.) If I can keep it to below $250 that would be a win. When we get longer term jobs and I nab a 2-3 person apartment with others then this can drop as low as $100/wk.
Food: Definitely a weakness that I aim to improve in 2018 – I enjoy cooking and prefer to eat in, but a fair amount of travel and general laziness means I eat out at least twice a wk = $75/wk groceries, $75/wk dining out = $150/wk = $7800
Work Truck Gas: $50/wk = $2600/yr (company truck – Construction work – and I have to travel a fair bit for work itself, to and from the job-site etc. Wouldn’t normally have such a low gas mileage vehicle, but the pro’s outweigh the cons as I don’t have to pay for maintenance, tires etc and it’s a newer vehicle than I’d personally have purchased)
Personal Vehicle Insurance: $75/month = $900/yr
Personal Vehicle Upkeep: $750/yr (budget estimate, I just put $1000 into new tires, new battery, oil change etc)
Shopping: Pretty low on consumer spending, but estimate of $2000/yr for various toys (in 2017 for example I purchased a $250 wetsuit, approximately $750 in clothes, no new electronics, $350 in various books
Amazon Prime: $12/month = $144/yr
Travel: Frequently go for various adventures during the weekends – normally hiking or camping, so relatively low expense once I get there, but the travel and other items eat up some cash – budgeting $5K for various adventures in 2018 (want to climb Mt Hood and check out a bit more of the PNW, get to New Orleans, hike another few 14ers in Colorado)
Miscellaneous: $2000 – gifts/flights to see my girlfriend, unexpected items etc
Phone Bill: paid by company
~$35K/yr
Expected ER expenses: (optional, if relevant): -
Assets:
$136K in Vanguard funds
VGENX : $18K
VASGX : $78K
VGPMX : $30K
VBLTX : $10K
$8K in various stocks on Schwab, none of which are huge performers and I should probably consider dropping and picking up index funds instead
2005 Hatchback that I paid $8K for in 2014, probably worth $3500 now
~$20K invested overseas in term deposits paying about 3.5% p.a.
Liabilities: None I don’t think?
Specific Question(s): Although I’m enjoying my work (I work in the renewables industry as a Construction Manager/Quality Rep – and am moving up the ladder relatively quickly, I have a wide range of different activities that I want to do in my life (lots more climbing, as much hiking as possible – PCT/Appalachian etc, potentially do some time in Europe living low cost in a van, get back to SE Asia/Indonesia to surf – the list goes on). I’m pretty good at budgeting when I’m travelling (spent 6 months in India in 2013 and spent approximately $10k including flights).
In an ideal world I would achieve financial freedom well before 35, but even if this is unrealistic I suspect I’ll take time out around 32/33 and come back to things down the track in a consulting or advisory role rather than the 60hr wk lifestyle. Some potential of launching my own business but that’s a serious commitment!
Would be interested on feedback on whether my asset mix and general plans are in ok shape, if there would be any other easy wins for cost reductions, if I’m missing out on anything obvious like an IRA or some form of tax benefits – just a general gut-check to see if I’m on track.
Long term, would be interested in children, but subscribe to the idea that you can bring up a healthy and happy child on the road (campervan or even sailboat) and teach them how the world works in interesting and effective ways.
Very interested to hear back from you fine folk who have managed to make it to the promised land!:)