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General Discussion => Post-FIRE => Topic started by: eyelover83 on May 29, 2019, 04:55:15 PM

Title: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: eyelover83 on May 29, 2019, 04:55:15 PM
Hey Guys,

Looonnngg time lurker and first time poster.



Been a huge fan of MMM, in addition to the many others (millenial Revolution, Mad Fientist, Go Curry Cracker, etc....), I thought I would ask the friendly members in this forum and from the people who are actually FIRE'd and can perhaps give me some guidance and/or expertise.



I'm running into a dilemma of sorts. Probably more psychological than anything I believe, but perhaps I just need a vote of confidence from the smarter than me people on this board.



But first a little about me.



I am 35 years old and currently reside in Canada and am in the healthcare field. Soon after graduating with my professional degree in 2012, I made ~ 120 K to 150 K CAD coming out of school. I Lived with the parents, saved every dime, and worked 6 days/week (some days consisting of 10-12 hour days - moonlighting) and was lucky to pay off all of my student debt in 2 1/2 years (close to 130 K School debt).

Soon after paying that off, I was lucky to meet someone that was on the same board financially and we got hitched. We have continued to live off of my wife's income ($70 K) and saved all of my income. We continued to do this for the past 5-6 years, which still consisted of me working 6 days/week, with many days still consisting of 10-12 hours/day.

Currently, my wife and I are bringing in close to $220-240 K / year (last years net total).

We have done really well with our investments (actually invested in Canopy Growth when it was around 2 dollars) and thus has helped us propel our investments forward. I know individual stocks are risky, but we were very lucky with our investment after having just watched a special on CBC about this up and coming company.



After the many years of saving, working, investments, we are looking at having a net worth of 1 million by the end of this year (crossing our fingers). Were currently sitting at 967 K (CAD).



Details:

TFSA (Mine): 150,000

TFSA (Wife): 147,000

Taxable Account (My Business Corporation) : 620,000

RRSP: 30,000

Joint (Chequing account) : 20,000



Our expenses are:

$42,000.00 / year (Mortgage, No car payments, food, utilities, etc...)



Thinking that it may be bumped up to possibly $55,000 to $60,000 in 4-5 years after a kid.



We do live in a condo:

Paid off: 80 K

Mortgage: 220 K



*Haven't included it in our FIRE plan since it is not liquid*



I am seriously burned out! Going full blast 6 days/week with long hours has me at a breaking point. I should also say, we are expecting our first child later this year and am at the cross road of : continuing the same route since we don't know our future expenses with the baby or decreasing my hours (and pay), but will ultimately allow me to be at home more with family



We are actually not planning on touching any of our investments for the next 10 years at least. Calculating things, we are looking at a big drop in income by going part time with our work, but hopefully calculating that we will still be able to save at east 50 K per year for the next 5-8 years.



The fear of a market correction that is looming, in addition to walking away from such a healthy income, has for some reason been playing with my mind. My wife tells me we should be okay.....I plug in things into FIRE calc, but am really worried about future costs that I may not be calculating.



Is Coastal Fire a possibility? Am I worried for no reason? Should I be worried?



Thank you
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: APowers on May 29, 2019, 05:08:34 PM
Hey Guys,

...[snip]...

Is Coastal Fire a possibility? Am I worried for no reason? Should I be worried?

Coastal FIRE is really only a possibility if you live near an ocean, or maybe a very very large lake. ;)

More relevantly, yes. You've made it. Don't break yourself. set up your life for success at the things that are more important to you than work-- your family, your health (mental health especially), and listening to your wife. She will not only be happy for you to take her advice, she'll be happy that you're ready and able to help her with childcare-related stuff.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Parizade on May 29, 2019, 05:14:41 PM
Don't break yourself. set up your life for success at the things that are more important to you than work-- your family, your health (mental health especially), and listening to your wife. She will not only be happy for you to take her advice, she'll be happy that you're ready and able to help her with childcare-related stuff.

+1. If you are burned out now having a baby will push you over the edge. Do what you have to do to take care of your physical, mental and emotional health before the stress of a newborn enters your life.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Mr. Green on May 29, 2019, 05:37:07 PM
Seems to me like going part-time is a no-brainer. You're making over 200k a year and can live on less than half of that. That's a whole lot of room for reduction of hours and that is completely independent of FIRE. If you have 1 million on the bank you're not going to touch for a decade I don't know how concerned I would be about saving at this point. Slow down. Go part-time. Enjoy your life and your family. Let your investments ride and if you need more 5-10 years from now then go back to work full-time later.

If a significant percentage of your assets is in one stock, you need to fix that ASAP.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Goldielocks on May 29, 2019, 06:16:14 PM
Coastal Fire is a definite possibility, especially if you don't mind "rural" or "town" coastal -- think north island, Sunshine coast rural areas, Powell river, or even Bella coola, Prince Rupert, etc.   More expensive areas are also possible, if you save... just note that the best living areas withing 5 miles of the coast cost a lot more money.

I was able to do it on $60k expenses per year, easy, with two kids under 7... but that was over 10 years ago and in Calgary.

Myself, I may suggest that $60k with kids is a bit low today.. it is fine to generous while you stay in a 2 bd apartment, but most people with finances look to move from that apartment by the time the kid is 2yrs+ or another one comes along.  This may or may not be you, but baby carriages and groceries (high volume because of all those diaper packs) on the elevator kind of suck if you try to do it in one elevator run.



The coastal rural areas tend to have a bit more costs for fuel (because you drive everywhere and everywhere tends to be farther away) and for food costs than the cities.     
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: ysette9 on May 29, 2019, 07:21:01 PM

If a significant percentage of your assets is in one stock, you need to fix that ASAP.

This a thousand times over.

You got lucky with one stock but one or few stocks are very risky, and that is an uncompensated risk. Your plan is solid if you are invested in a broad index fund or funds. If you are in a few stocks then your plan could completely blow up in your faces as single companies can be very volatile and go to zero, unlike an index fund.

I’m sure there will be a market correction in the next ten years. It may very well be a big one. But that is totally fine provide 1) you are living within your means and 2) you don’t change your investing strategy when the market does it fluctuating thing.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: BicycleB on May 29, 2019, 07:37:21 PM
Based on your expenses stated, you're proposing that you "coast" by having a savings rate over 50% for now and maybe 30-40% after a child enters your world. Looks pretty safe to me!

Presumably you are almost certain to reach FI sooner or later, barring unexpected changes. For that reason, maybe each earner in the family should get enough life insurance that, if the earner in question dies (think auto accident), the family reaches FI more or less immediately. You're already close, even if we take 56k as the target, so premiums should be low.

Strongly support the idea of focusing on family, rest, health, parental bonding, etc. You have earned the ability to be a relaxed parent, but now you have to relax. I think that you need to start the relaxing phase ASAP to have any real chance of attaining that mode prior to Baby Arrival.

Diversify to maximize safety.

If you're going part time, can you safely reduce the cash allocation in your business account? Long term, you're probably safer with a higher stock % and lower cash, assuming you are emotionally able to maintain the stock % during downturns. Maybe someone with more knowledge of Canada specifically can give a wiser comment though.

A downturn while continuing to invest is by definition positive, not negative, because you buy stock more cheaply. So start coasting.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: kei te pai on May 30, 2019, 01:27:33 AM
You might have been lurking, but have you been reading?  What are your goals? How do you and your wife see your lives evolving?
You have accumulated a lot of money, and I like many others would urge you to look hard at your investment strategy.
As a health professional you have a responsibility to your patients as well as your family and yourself. Your current work life balance is neither healthy or sustainable. Sort it out before your child arrives.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Kay-Ell on June 18, 2019, 05:05:53 PM
Maybe it would help to think of it this way.  Untouched, your 1M portfolio should essentially double in 10 years.  If you completely forget about your portfolio, completely forget about savings, and ALL you do is earn enough through part time work to meet your 45-60k in expenses, then yes you can "coast" to whatever number you want.

My personal advice is to take a generous amount of leave prior to and after your child is born.  Companies tend to be very forgiving of this (for legal and personal reasons), and then when the time comes ask for part time.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Missy B on June 18, 2019, 09:24:43 PM
Any particular reason you need to wait to FIRE to move to the Coast?   We're not exactly swamped with excess medical staff out here. I would point you to Vancouver island as having the best combination of better affordability, lifestyle and proximity to services. Also, the culture there is more supportive of 'work to live, not live to work.'
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: happy on June 18, 2019, 09:30:42 PM
Nothing additional to add really, just posting to concur with others.
1. make sure you are in a diversified investment , whether you are downshifting or not. If you've done good out of risk, and are at 1mm, don't dally - thank the investment gods and get diversified.
2. you really only need to cover expenses from now on, whilst your stash grows, depending how greedy you are and how long you or your wife want to be in the workplace.
3. if you are burnt out now, you will disintegrate with a newborn and your work schedule. Try to move to part-time /take some leave and max out any parental leave opportunities. Trust me, as others have said, this is the period thats most acceptable socially and from a HR point of view, and they are only little for such a short time.
4. No point in having kids if you aren't around to enjoy your relationship with them - in fact that would also be grossly unfair to them and your spouse
5. you can always work part-time and then increase your hours again as the kids grow if you really want...in my experience employers usually expect this request too

Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Metalcat on June 19, 2019, 04:12:11 AM
Feel free to PM me, I'm a medical professional in Canada and I dropped to part time 3 years ago.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Much Fishing to Do on June 20, 2019, 01:41:30 PM
Hey Guys,

...[snip]...

Is Coastal Fire a possibility? Am I worried for no reason? Should I be worried?

Coastal FIRE is really only a possibility if you live near an ocean, or maybe a very very large lake. ;)


Long before I heard of FIRE I dreamed of Coastal FIRE..... or beach bum as we called it then.. didn't seem feasible after the kids...
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: eyelover83 on July 03, 2019, 01:25:19 PM
Thanks for the replies everyone!! Very helpful.

I'm starting to get anxiety of letting go of my full time schedule. Just even the thought of reducing hours has me pull out my calculator to determine how it would change things financially for us moving forward :S

The thought of having it good right now and leaving....only to find out s*$# hits the fan and I have to go back, but not to the same job that is tiresome but does provide $$$, has me worried at night. Especially with a new kiddo on the way, the thought of weddings, college, new cars, etc... brings anticipated fear and anxiety.

How do you "turn it off" and just trust the process? How long did it take?
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Parizade on July 03, 2019, 01:42:22 PM
How do you "turn it off" and just trust the process?

Well, you could just keep pushing yourself past the burnout until you have a physical/mental breakdown and HAVE to quit. Since you are in Canada your medical expenses will be covered right? Of course your partner might resent having all the responsibility for child care in addition to caring for her disabled baby daddy.

Seriously, if you are burned out now it will be many times worse after the baby comes. Accept that you are a human being with human needs for rest and relaxation before it's too late.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: eyelover83 on July 03, 2019, 02:28:10 PM
I agree!

Just gotta take a deep breath and take the plunge. I'm planning on letting my employers/colleagues know of my decision this weekend. Will keep people posted on how that goes!
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: happy on July 03, 2019, 05:15:11 PM
Thanks for the replies everyone!! Very helpful.

I'm starting to get anxiety of letting go of my full time schedule. Just even the thought of reducing hours has me pull out my calculator to determine how it would change things financially for us moving forward :S

The thought of having it good right now and leaving....only to find out s*$# hits the fan and I have to go back, but not to the same job that is tiresome but does provide $$$, has me worried at night. Especially with a new kiddo on the way, the thought of weddings, college, new cars, etc... brings anticipated fear and anxiety.

How do you "turn it off" and just trust the process? How long did it take?

Change is scary isn't it? Especially if you are like me, and earning excess money is in the background as a form of security or crutch. But you are only going part-time, not retiring and if the SHTF you can find a way back.

When I separated from my ex many years ago, I was already part-time, and had to raise the kids on my wage. That first year was pretty scary because I didn't know what I could afford day to day, all I knew was I had to spend a lot less. I got through it by tracking and running projections. And after a year I knew it was all fine and I never did return to full-time work. And 20 years later I am retiring at 60, after being part-time all those years. I've had so many, many offers of full time work over the years...staying part-time has been an active choice of mine.

Even so at 60, I'm a little twitchy at times, and my firehose of cash will be turned off in the next few weeks (I've been using up leave). Retiring so late is both easier and harder: I don't have so long to plan for - likely <40 years so thats easier, but I've been working for good money for over 35 years and having a pay check once a fortnight is all I've ever known for decades and decades.

When I feel anxious ( less and less often now):
- I re-run the math. The figures are incontrovertible.
- I remind myself of the freedom of frugality. I can live on and be happy spending very little money. I know I can do this, I've done it at various times in my past, and for the last 7-8 years since finding ERE and MMM I've been actively practicing this over the long term.



Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: aGracefulStomp on July 05, 2019, 07:12:24 PM
Your figures are fantastic, there is no financial reason why you shouldn't now drop to part-time and start living it up.

Hoarding money is not a means to an end, it's to provide you with choices and freedom and improved quality of life.

You are 35 years of age with close to a million dollars in investments. Your hard work is done. Now is the time to enjoy.

Congratulations!

Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Financial.Velociraptor on July 06, 2019, 04:26:01 PM
You live entirely off the wife's salary and save 100% of your own take home pay?  You could go to zero hours and end up stupid wealthy in 10 years.  *Facepunch*  Slow the fuck down already!
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Classical_Liberal on July 06, 2019, 10:01:35 PM
I'm medical field in the US and am doing exactly this.  I don't have kids, but live with my SO very frugally, I know I'm not FI yet (about 17 years of expenses saved), but I'm cutting back to half time.  It'll be 6 months of the year on and 6 months off, divided, mostly, however I want.  I'll still have a 50%ish savings rate.  This starts in September for me, so I can report back in 6 months or so and let you know how it feels.

So, obviously, I'm 100% pro down-shift.  The medical field is booming, there will never be a problem up-shifting if you change your mind.  So try it out.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Abe on July 07, 2019, 09:33:48 PM
Concur with down-shifting. My wife was getting burned out with full-time clinic and is going to part time for at least the next year. Raising a kid and having both of us working 60 hours a week is not fun, even in a nice location! I'm not in a specialty that is really conducive to part-time, but am going to try to take a less stressful job once I'm done with training.

With regards to unplanned future costs - if you have proper disability, life and property insurance you should be fine. Unlike the US, healthcare costs can't bankrupt you. If you end up underwater with your mortgage for whatever reason, your savings far exceed the total cost of the house. Your only real risk at this point is having too much money in one stock. Try to diversify out from under this in a tax-efficient manner and you'll be fine.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Caroline PF on July 10, 2019, 11:23:08 AM
I just wanted to chime in to agree with everyone else. You should cut back. You won the race, cut back now and enjoy life.

It sounds like you will be able to cover your expenses and still be saving money, so FI is not very far off.

Congratulations!
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Parizade on July 10, 2019, 12:15:36 PM
@eyelover83, enquiring minds want to know if you've taken the leap of faith or not!
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: eyelover83 on July 10, 2019, 12:52:48 PM
@eyelover83, enquiring minds want to know if you've taken the leap of faith or not!


Not gonna lie....I'm sorry to say....I have not. I was thiiiiiiiiis close to let the employers know, but close to getting up and asking for a meeting, I started having anxiety and what I believe was a possible panic attack and chickened out :(

I was not courageous to take the leap as of yet my friends.  I have talked to my wife about it and she has asked me to do what is comfortable for me moving forward.....but I know she wasn't too pleased about it....she knows how worn out I am, but she also knows how hard of a decision this is for me moving forward.

Walking away from $$$ is psychologically a huge mind f$%* for me. I know that I should be fine since we have been living off of my wife's income for many years and invested all of mine.....but to take the leap has me playing all of the following scenarios in my head:

-stock market crashes (or enters a recession) and timed this thing all wrong
-we underestimated how expensive a baby is going to be
-to add to the above, we are planning on having possibly two kids, not even having the first, it's gotta be more expensive?
-I'm only 36, but what if I am at the peak of my earnings and am foolishly walking away when I could go a little bit longer till 40?
-Is COAST FIRE even a thing? What if I had this all wrong and I should have worked towards actual FIRE?







Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: kei te pai on July 10, 2019, 01:58:56 PM
I dont think money is actually the issue here. Have you read some of the other threads and journals discussing the anxieties of FIRE?
While you continue to focus on finances, the added pressures of parenthood are approaching and I fear your current situation is unsustainable.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: ysette9 on July 10, 2019, 04:36:30 PM
I really appreciate the writing of Dr Doom at LivingaFI.com. He writes about a lot of anxiety he had with the decision of quitting his job and what mental blocks he had to overcome to get comfortable taking that leap of faith. He even worked with a counselor for a while on that specific challenge.
If you go to the website, look under “The Quit Series”.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: eyelover83 on July 10, 2019, 04:56:50 PM
I really appreciate the writing of Dr Doom at LivingaFI.com. He writes about a lot of anxiety he had with the decision of quitting his job and what mental blocks he had to overcome to get comfortable taking that leap of faith. He even worked with a counselor for a while on that specific challenge.
If you go to the website, look under “The Quit Series”.

I'll def take a look at that. Thanks!
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: A Fella from Stella on July 19, 2019, 07:49:59 AM
Coast F.I.R.E. might be like fat F.I.R.E. where your costs are just higher. It's been done.

Dough Roller is a podcast run by a guy who is Virginia near DC, for instance.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: soccerluvof4 on July 24, 2019, 04:25:06 AM
You can easily do it so why push yourself to the point you start having medical issues from the stress etc..? is that not what you have been working to avoid?.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Extramedium on November 19, 2021, 11:11:55 AM
Well, eyelover83, let's hear an update, please!  How is/are the kid(s)?  What FTE basis are you now working?  Are you pleased with your decision?

I am hoping to follow your example in a year or two and want to hear.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: CanCD on November 29, 2021, 09:55:26 AM
I would also like to know! I am not in the field as OP so maybe there is an obvious reason but if he were to quit, why. Couldn't he just return to work if FIRE wasn't working for him for whatever reason?
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: shuffler on November 29, 2021, 10:57:39 AM
Well, eyelover83, let's hear an update, please!
Please don't necropost when the person hasn't been active in over 2 years (July 2019).
You can see it in their profile-page.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Extramedium on November 29, 2021, 05:44:02 PM
Well, eyelover83, let's hear an update, please!
Please don't necropost when the person hasn't been active in over 2 years (July 2019).
You can see it in their profile-page.

Sorry, never heard the term necropost before.  Certainly didn't think to check a profile page in order to ask for a reply; I was only curious to know something.

Was what I did harmful in some way?  If it was, and I don't understand it, I'd like to learn from it.
Title: Re: Coast Fire a possibility?
Post by: Metalcat on November 29, 2021, 06:51:14 PM
Well, eyelover83, let's hear an update, please!
Please don't necropost when the person hasn't been active in over 2 years (July 2019).
You can see it in their profile-page.

Sorry, never heard the term necropost before.  Certainly didn't think to check a profile page in order to ask for a reply; I was only curious to know something.

Was what I did harmful in some way?  If it was, and I don't understand it, I'd like to learn from it.

When you necropost, it looks to everyone else like a new thread with a lot of responses, and it's not clear it's an old post when you open it unless you specifically check, so it's very easy to get sucked into responding to an old dead post when someone necroposts a dead thread.

Sometimes it's great to bring a dead thread back, but one like this is just rotting digital flesh, so to speak.