Hey everyone - long-time lurker and former poster here (under a long-forgotten username!). Wondering if I can get a bit of career+financial advice from everyone!
Life Situation: Single (but working on it), no dependents, midwest, 29 years old
Gross Salary/Wages: ~$80k/year
Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions 401k, HSA, FSA, IRA, insurance, etc. - Max out IRA, HSA, 401k (usually, but I've cut back on the 401k early this year to 10% in order to improve cash position a bit - I'll talk more about this later).
Other Ordinary Income: Nope. But I'm expecting a bit of a windfall (house flip) shortly.
Net Monthly Income: $4k
Taxes: Federal/state/local/FICA: $9k/1.5k/3k/7k
Current expenses:- Rent: $320 (House share with a couple friends. Long-run, I'll probably buy a duplex closer to my next job, but it's cheap for now)
- Cell: $30 (my share of family plan - can't complain too much here...especially since I can't do Sprint in my area)
- Food: $400 (too much, but a few dates a month will do this. Facepunch-worthy and an area I should reduce!)
- Travel: $300 (this is my "non-negotiable")
- Charity: $200 (I target ~10% of spend to spend on others. Potentially could cut back, but I don't have a hair on fire emergency here, so I don't see a strong need to)
- Car: $300 ($100 insurance, 150 gas, 50 maintenance. Discussed below)
- Other: $250 ($50 renters/umbrella insurance, $50? clothes, $50? household goods, $100? entertainment - could reduce a bit, but this is usually how it works out without any attention on it)
- Net savings: $2200 (going into house flip, brokerage, cash reserves, and IRA)
Expected ER expenses: Should be able to save a bit on car expenses, other, and food, but it'll be countered by increased healthcare spend. Let's assume no net change ($1800/mo)
Assets:Invested/Investable: $230k (90%+ in index/target date funds)
- IRA/401k: $170k
- Brokerage: $25k
- HSA: $10k
- Cash: $25k (emergency fund + buffer for job uncertainty)
Real Estate: $100k (House flip ARV. Almost done)
Car: $8k (25mpg SUV with 100k+ miles. Could be an area to optimize, but I use the space enough (house flip) that renting when I need it would cost more than gas mileage improvements). Besides, it's great for hauling stuff + people when camping (I'm justifying here, I know!)!
Random stuff: $5-10k. Have a pile of stuff I need to sell, but otherwise, this is furniture, kitchenware, tools, clothes, etc. Nothing really of note here to improve other than getting off my butt and selling my sell pile.
Liabilities: Nothing of note. Just ~$1-2k in rolling credit card debt (paid off in full when due)
Specific Question(s): Looking for some financial and career advice! I'm not really looking for expense optimization, but if there's anything I didn't point out above, feel free to do so!
- What should my FIRE target be? Expenses are likely to increase in the long-term (hypothetical kids). Right now, it would be $540k with the 4% rule, but what should I plan on for future hypotheticals (kids? anything else I'm not considering?)?
- What should I be planning on for future healthcare expenses? I've been using Liberty Health Share costs in my budget, though I'm not sure if that's the best option? Should I be looking at long-term care insurance? What should I be modeling for increases in health care costs?
- Career-wise, how bad would a break look this early in the workforce? My work situation has gotten pretty bad recently and has been affecting my mental and physical health. I'm looking to get out, but haven't found the right fit yet (been searching ~4 months now). If I went off and pursued an entrepreneurial idea right now, would that kill my marketability in the future as an employee?
- How bad would getting laid off twice in a row look to a potential employer? My last job had significant downsizing, and this one's likely to can me in the not too distant future. Assuming I don't find anything beforehand, would it be better for me to quit in this scenario or just stick it out and get unemployment?