Author Topic: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.  (Read 249509 times)

depogrig

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 7
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #50 on: February 11, 2016, 08:20:52 AM »
Awesome way to think of it!  Thanks OP


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Vertical Mode

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 529
  • Location: Central MA
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #51 on: February 11, 2016, 08:25:01 AM »
Or put even another way: A perpetual $1 annuity costs only $25. After you buy 25 of these annuities, they will automatically purchase another one of themselves every year (compounding). Rinse repeat.

This is another fun one.  Well said.

We could communicate this to non-Mustachians by saying "Buy 25, get 1 free!" ;-)

CheapskateWife

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1410
  • Location: Hill Country, TX - Being a blueberry in the Tomato Soup
  • FIRE'd and Loving it!
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #52 on: February 11, 2016, 08:42:04 AM »
Love this idea OP, but like others I've used the idea against the 4% SWR...

For us, we need $1643 invested for every annual day of freedom (on top of pension income).  Currently sitting at 230 days paid for! 

Amasa

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Our cost of $2,465 per forever day seems little bit high, compared to some of the other replies on this thread. You guys are doing a lot better than we are, it seems!

dandarc

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5454
  • Age: 41
  • Pronouns: he/him/his
Our cost of $2,465 per forever day seems little bit high, compared to some of the other replies on this thread. You guys are doing a lot better than we are, it seems!
If it helps, one forever day for us is about $4K.  Do have about 80 of them saved up at this point at least.

HPstache

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2858
  • Age: 37
I'd only make it to Feb 24 :(

Basenji

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1031
  • Location: D.C.-ish
Love this! Will have to fuss it to take out mil pension, but great idea! The calendar date formula is awesome. Can't wait to get to New Year's Eve!

2Birds1Stone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7916
  • Age: 1
  • Location: Earth
  • K Thnx Bye
77 days paid for 288 to go -_-

dividendman

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1900
... but 25/365 is irrational ...

25/365 is definitely rational

MVal

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 844
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Missouri
I need to figure this out for my rate. This will be a more motivating method for me this year, I think, since I'm not focused on growing my liquid savings and am directing most of my savings energy on pre-tax accounts right now, which have been dragging their feet so far this year. At the moment, I'm living on about $16,000/year, so with my current stash at about $50K, I'll have to evaluate where I fall currently on days "paid."

So I've discovered every $1100 invested buys me 1 "forever-day." That means I've got about 45 days covered so far. By what I anticipate to save this year, I should have about 72 days total paid for at the end of 2016...that'll be close to being 20% retired for me!

Now at almost halfway through the year, I've got 57 days covered.

forummm

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7374
  • Senior Mustachian
... but 25/365 is irrational ...

25/365 is definitely rational

The fact that it took 4 months for someone to point this out speaks poorly of our math skills :)

MrsDinero

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 933
Asking for a math check

My current NW (including 401k)= $200k (approximately)

My current annual expenses (not counting the nanny*) = $25k (approximately)

$27,000 * 25 = $675,000/365 = $1849 needed to save to buy 1 day of FI

With my current NW I have 108 days bought.

The nanny adds to the current annual expenses right now, however we are not planning to have this expense in early retirement.

Do I count my 401k into my total NW for these purposes?

dandarc

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5454
  • Age: 41
  • Pronouns: he/him/his
Count 401k, but not your house (if you are counting it there, and unless your plan is to sell it or cash-out refinance to fund part of your retirement spending) - basically just add up the assets you will actually use to fund your retirement.

MrsDinero

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 933
Count 401k, but not your house (if you are counting it there, and unless your plan is to sell it or cash-out refinance to fund part of your retirement spending) - basically just add up the assets you will actually use to fund your retirement.

Thanks!  Nope I'm not counting my house.

desk_jockey

  • CM*MW 2023 Attendees
  • Bristles
  • *
  • Posts: 326
... but 25/365 is irrational ...

25/365 is definitely rational

The fact that it took 4 months for someone to point this out speaks poorly of our math skills :)

Rational but not rounded.  For those that need a more simple formula, calculating 7% of your expected annual spend in retirement will give your daily purchase rate using a 4% SRW (rounded slightly conservatively). 

Jolly1

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
  • Location: PNW
This is an awesome idea! Sometimes it is hard to stay focused on such a large and distant goal, but thinking of it by the day really puts in into perspective vs other possible expenditures. A yearly wall calendar is a great way to visualize the progress!

kpd905

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2029
I love having this new metric in my spreadsheet.  Unfortunately we have been saving up a down payment for a house, so I have only been buying myself about 1 forever day per month lately.  Currently sitting at 55.

Riff

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 116
  • Location: West Michigan
I love this way of looking at the stash.  I had to make a spreadsheet to play around with the numbers.  Currently, we're up to May 9 :)

CheapskateWife

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1410
  • Location: Hill Country, TX - Being a blueberry in the Tomato Soup
  • FIRE'd and Loving it!
Oh!  6 months later and we've made it to September 23rd

2Birds1Stone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7916
  • Age: 1
  • Location: Earth
  • K Thnx Bye
I'm up to March 21st! Woohoo Spring is here ;)

mr_orange

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5611
  • Age: 44
  • Location: Round Rock, TX
Added to spreadsheet. 

We're currently at 299.7 out of 365.25 days based on our lower-bound FIRE total. 

Metric Mouse

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5278
  • FU @ 22. F.I.R.E before 23
... but 25/365 is irrational ...

25/365 is definitely rational

The fact that it took 4 months for someone to point this out speaks poorly of our math skills :)

If you want poor math skills, look at the some of the 'why biking is better than driving' threads...

marty998

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7372
  • Location: Sydney, Oz
oh man... I think I would find 4c a day to be a little bit depressing to be honest. Even if it had a grain of truth to it...

Metric Mouse

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5278
  • FU @ 22. F.I.R.E before 23
Except that saving 80% would mean you spend $100 dollars a day. At that rate you'd need 7 years of work get there, or 2500 days....

Just incase you didn't depress people enough. :D

RMD

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 159
  • Location: Overland Park, KS
Well. Crud. We're only through March 13th. Feels like a long way to go...

MVal

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 844
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Missouri
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #75 on: December 16, 2016, 09:50:37 PM »
Wow, I just realized I exceeded my expectations for this year. I predicted I'd have 72 days covered and now I have 73...and the year is not over yet!

mr_orange

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5611
  • Age: 44
  • Location: Round Rock, TX
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #76 on: December 17, 2016, 06:58:53 AM »
I am tracking to 328.9 at the end of the year. 

Phryne

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 79
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #77 on: December 28, 2016, 04:00:01 AM »
Love this idea!! I'm at August 10th :-)

financialfreedomsloth

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 198
  • Location: Belgium
    • financial freedom sloth
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #78 on: December 28, 2016, 06:36:49 AM »
I also like this way of calculating or tracking your progress!

What I have done in the past and is a bit similar was to calculate how much time I needed to spend in the office to buy something. Like, hmm a new tablet would cost XXX euro, which would mean working X days, is it really worth that? A lot of times it stopped me from making the purchase. Or have me looking for cheaper alternatives.

Another guy who was into dividend investing matched dividend income from individual stocks to regular expenses he had. Example: ‘the amount of dividends I will receive from company X are enough to pay for my annual Spotify subscription’; starting small with the Spotify subscription of 8 eur a month and then going up: internet subscription of 35 eur, car insurance, food, .. Stuff like that.

Ok, the math might have been fuzzy on some things (dividends can go up or down in time, costs will also vary from year to year). But I think it motivating him a lot to save because in a – strange way- he was not saving by buying X amount of stock but he was actually buying future Spotify subscriptions with it … investing 10.000 euro was investing it, but also buying breakfast for the rest of his life … it made it all the more tangible …

MichaelB

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 130
  • Age: 36
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
  • FIRE goal: April 2032
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #79 on: December 28, 2016, 07:29:46 AM »
What a great concept. You magnificent bastard.

Vertical Mode

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 529
  • Location: Central MA
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #80 on: December 28, 2016, 08:01:10 AM »
I also like this way of calculating or tracking your progress!

What I have done in the past and is a bit similar was to calculate how much time I needed to spend in the office to buy something. Like, hmm a new tablet would cost XXX euro, which would mean working X days, is it really worth that? A lot of times it stopped me from making the purchase. Or have me looking for cheaper alternatives.

Another guy who was into dividend investing matched dividend income from individual stocks to regular expenses he had. Example: ‘the amount of dividends I will receive from company X are enough to pay for my annual Spotify subscription’; starting small with the Spotify subscription of 8 eur a month and then going up: internet subscription of 35 eur, car insurance, food, .. Stuff like that.

Ok, the math might have been fuzzy on some things (dividends can go up or down in time, costs will also vary from year to year). But I think it motivating him a lot to save because in a – strange way- he was not saving by buying X amount of stock but he was actually buying future Spotify subscriptions with it … investing 10.000 euro was investing it, but also buying breakfast for the rest of his life … it made it all the more tangible …

I've actually thought of doing something similar, although in my case it was making a game out of using only Lending Club interest to fund bar tabs/entertainment fund items. I don't use Lending Club (yet?) so obviously this scheme never made it off the ground, but I definitely see where he is coming from. It's like the expression 'playing with house money'.

Cookie78

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1888
  • Location: Canada
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #81 on: December 28, 2016, 08:02:45 AM »
I'm up to Nov 26!

Close enough!! Let me out!

OurTown

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1372
  • Age: 54
  • Location: Tennessee
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #82 on: December 28, 2016, 12:49:29 PM »
My jealousy burns with the heat of a thousand suns.

sisto

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1084
  • Age: 55
  • Location: Sacramento, CA
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #83 on: December 28, 2016, 01:23:48 PM »
This is definitely a cool new way to look at it. I also liked the idea someone posted on compounding and how stealing from yourself now really robs your future self. While I've always known this seeing the numbers is very eye opening. This new calculation confirms what I already knew which is that I'm halfway there. I sometimes wish I lived in a LCOL area instead of where I live so I can be done now, but this is where my friends and family are and you can't beat the weather. I've still got at least 6 more years of work, but I plan to not work too hard and try to travel at least once a year to somewhere new.

minority_finance_mo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 784
    • Minority Finance
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #84 on: December 29, 2016, 09:38:01 AM »
Wow, this is a great way to look at it. With my current stach (and accounting for compounding by retirement age), it looks like I've purchased 35-52 days (depending on my retirement spending). Looking at it this way is way more motivating (especially because it accounts for the compounding effect over time.)

mr_orange

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5611
  • Age: 44
  • Location: Round Rock, TX
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #85 on: December 30, 2016, 08:05:55 PM »
I'm closing out the year with 324.4 days out of 365. 

minority_finance_mo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 784
    • Minority Finance
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #86 on: December 30, 2016, 11:58:17 PM »
I'm closing out the year with 324.4 days out of 365.

That's awesome!

Metric Mouse

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5278
  • FU @ 22. F.I.R.E before 23
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #87 on: December 31, 2016, 03:57:16 AM »
I'm closing out the year with 324.4 days out of 365.

Fantastic!

aspiringnomad

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 956
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #88 on: December 31, 2016, 04:01:56 PM »
Great thread. I'm always up for new ways to chart and graph my stash, and this one is very cool. I'm at day 211, or July 31 on the calendar.

But really once you've figured out how to get the percent of your FIRE number, you can represent it any way you want. Perhaps the most resonant to me is to think about how far into a work day I am, metaphorically speaking. So I figured out where I am in a standard 9-5 workday, disregarding that I often work different hours. That's 480 minutes total, but you can use any time frame that works for you (including the entire day if you prefer) by figuring out how many minutes are in that time frame. From the 9 to 5 perspective, my stash currently puts me at 1:38 PM, just getting into the mid-afternoon slog but with the end almost in sight when I can retire "for the day."  I've gained just over an hour of freedom per year during each of the past couple years, so if that trend holds (market willing) I should hit 5pm quitting time in about three years.

Urchina

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 198
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #89 on: January 03, 2017, 07:17:08 PM »
Our cost of $2,465 per forever day seems little bit high, compared to some of the other replies on this thread. You guys are doing a lot better than we are, it seems!
If it helps, one forever day for us is about $4K.  Do have about 80 of them saved up at this point at least.

You can feel even better knowing that one forever day is $5k for us. HCOL area means housing is our biggest expense and is larger than all our other costs combined.

powskier

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 382
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #90 on: January 12, 2017, 01:22:21 AM »
All these different ways of looking at numbers are great! Thank you all.

MVal

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 844
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Missouri
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #91 on: February 02, 2017, 09:32:37 AM »
I need to figure this out for my rate. This will be a more motivating method for me this year, I think, since I'm not focused on growing my liquid savings and am directing most of my savings energy on pre-tax accounts right now, which have been dragging their feet so far this year. At the moment, I'm living on about $16,000/year, so with my current stash at about $50K, I'll have to evaluate where I fall currently on days "paid."

So I've discovered every $1100 invested buys me 1 "forever-day." That means I've got about 45 days covered so far. By what I anticipate to save this year, I should have about 72 days total paid for at the end of 2016...that'll be close to being 20% retired for me!

I now have 80 days paid for. Come on, 100!

2Birds1Stone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7916
  • Age: 1
  • Location: Earth
  • K Thnx Bye
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #92 on: February 02, 2017, 11:40:52 AM »
164 days paid! w000h00000

TheStrenuousLife

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 278
  • Age: 33
  • Location: Canada
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #93 on: February 02, 2017, 12:19:07 PM »
Very cool concept.  I have 24.5 days paid off! 

Slow&Steady

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 698
  • Location: Midwest
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #94 on: February 02, 2017, 12:54:47 PM »
I just had to go calculate this.  It looks like we have 17 days in the 401k right now.  I back calculated for a couple years, based on the end of year balance and we are not moving very fast, probably due to focusing on debt over investing.

I also back calculated NW of the same couple of years and those numbers are much more motivating right now and probably will continue that way until we switch our focus.

I guess I could get the best of both worlds if I used NW to calculate # of day but since I will always need a place to live I don't usually use that number for anything but making myself feel good about paying down debt.

afuera

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 565
  • Age: 32
  • Location: Charm City
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #95 on: February 02, 2017, 01:29:45 PM »
Our investments put us at 34-38 days so right around 10% of the way there!

FrugalSaver

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 832
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #96 on: February 02, 2017, 01:47:51 PM »
Since I'm around 7+ years away from my ideal FIRE I've realised it can be more motivating to look at what your day to day actions are worth.

My current cost of living is 25000 per year.

That means my cost per day is $68

I just invested $2000.

Assuming 7% returns over the long term (10+ years), without even taking into account compounding, the return on $2000 will be around $140 per year.

That's two days of financial independence, every year, for the rest of my life.

For every $1000 I save I have instantly bought 1 day of financial independence, every year, forever

Mid you get 7% that's close to double almost tue last 20 years. I do keep hoping we revert back to the mean.

yachi

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1141
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #97 on: February 02, 2017, 03:10:16 PM »
I like this calculation.
Stache growth will have me FI in 12 years.  With a 4% withdrawal rate, it'll be enough to continue making all the student loan and mortgage payments I'm making now.

A minute of Forever Freedom today costs me $2.  A minute of Forever Freedom in 12 years costs me only $0.85

So every $1 saved brings me one more minute close to FIRE!

mr_orange

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5611
  • Age: 44
  • Location: Round Rock, TX
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #98 on: February 02, 2017, 05:11:09 PM »
I'm up to 335.7 now.

spectre

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: I just bought 2 days per year of free life, indefinitely. 363 to go.
« Reply #99 on: February 02, 2017, 08:00:47 PM »
Probably want to reduce your real return assumptions to 4-5%