Race from $2M to $4M...and Beyond!

[Taran Wanderer]

Finally building the shop I’ve been wanting for twenty years. Since I’m still working and WFH is becoming increasingly difficult, the shop will include an office. This puts more pressure on to actually finish it, but construction cost inflation is a very real thing. We’re having to make some adjustments. I realized that in the beyond territory, it really is just a capital allocation problem. It’s wild.

Do you mean trading investments for home equity? If so, I'm trying to convince my spouse of the same thing regarding a lake property lol.

@Louise - trading investments for home equity was a possibility, but something that I’d like to avoid.  The investments seem to grow faster than home equity.  We had the cash to build the shop, but then we bought a lot where we eventually plan to build a vacation home.  Still, we have been cash-flowing construction so far.  My original plan was to get the structure built and sided and roofed, and if we had to stop at that point, we could.  I can paint the exterior.  And then, we could build up more cash and pay to have it finished on the interior (electrical, plumbing, insulation, sheetrock, etc.) or I could nibble away at it myself.  However… my construction projects tend to happen really really slowly.

I had some options to just get it done - pull from investments, get creative with 0% credit cards, or open a HELOC. Long story short, we’re opening a HELOC to help flow the remaining work to allow us to move stuff into it.  We’ll hold off on exterior concrete and some other optional pieces until next summer - no sense paying interest on those.

But the interesting thing about the financial aspect of this is not whether we can get the money, it’s what is the most advantageous way of accessing capital to minimize any interest costs, best employ home and investment equity that we have, and manage overall risk.  It’s so different from the mentality from earlier in this journey of, “will I qualify for this loan?”.  And, “can I afford the payment?”

[ixtap]

Mr. Ixtap is struggling with what to tell folks as he arranges his final meetings at work.

"I'm going to have a great time doing the things I choose to do," is a workable answer.  :)

I suggested "sailing sabbatical." It seems he thinks of it as retirement and feels the need to justify that at 40. I reminded him he doesn't owe anyone an explanation.

This https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/post-fire/share-your-enthusiasms!-how-do-you-answer-the-'what-do-you-do'-question/msg2948030/#msg2948030 and other threads give serious and not so serious answers.

Short scan favorite

Some stock answers.

1.  Training to make the 2024 Olympic in (insert hobby) for (insert obscure small country).
For example, "I'm training to make the 2024 Olympic Equestrian team for Djibouti." 

2.  Seeking new opportunities in (insert area of interest)

3.  I was a (blank) and didn't like the way the industry was headed and looking to (insert new industry of interest).

4.  I watched Office Space and decided to follow Peter Gibbons and do nothing.

Too bad the Jamaican bobsled team is already a thing.

Oh, it is specifically his colleagues he struggles with at the moment. Letting the side down and all that.

[SwordGuy]

Oh, it is specifically his colleagues he struggles with at the moment. Letting the side down and all that.

Employee of Wells Fargo went to work one Friday morning last month and died at their desk the same day.  Fellow employees didn't notice until Tuesday.    It was not a 3-day weekend, either.

Food for thought.

[2sk22]

Mr. Ixtap is struggling with what to tell folks as he arranges his final meetings at work.

One of my favorite books is "The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder about a computer company in the 1980s (it's non-fiction). One of the people followed by the author suffers from burnout and quits the company saying:

I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season

[Louise]

But the interesting thing about the financial aspect of this is not whether we can get the money, it’s what is the most advantageous way of accessing capital to minimize any interest costs, best employ home and investment equity that we have, and manage overall risk.  It’s so different from the mentality from earlier in this journey of, “will I qualify for this loan?”.  And, “can I afford the payment?”

I agree. We'll have our HELOC open for a few more years. I'm not sure if we can still get one after my spouse retires, but it's nice to have the option if we need to. Most of our NW is tied up in traditional IRAs. The shop sounds nice!

[ixtap]

Mr. Ixtap is struggling with what to tell folks as he arranges his final meetings at work.

One of my favorite books is "The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder about a computer company in the 1980s (it's non-fiction). One of the people followed by the author suffers from burnout and quits the company saying:

I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season

Saing is kind of the opposite: we deal with no unit of time longer than the next weather window...

We might not get any further than San Diego. Dude (why does that word bring up what appears to be a yerba mate cup?) is so stressed right now that I asked him to drop something off at someone's boat and he could not process the request.

[jeroly]

I hit $3.1mm on Friday (and promptly went back under yesterday) after crossing the halfway point of this race at the very end of the first quarter.
It's a much slower race when you're (a) spending from your stash; (b) using a more conservative asset allocation than most accumulators; (c) not adding to the pile any more.  I see folks here that have doubled their stashes in the last couple of years; in contrast, I've seen mine rise by about 50% over the past decade.

I'm hoping to convince my sweetie to stop working in five years. I'll have finished this race by then if I can average about an 11% return.

In contrast, someone with a 100% stock portfolio who is maxing out their 401(k), with a 100% stock allocation and not making withdrawals, would need the markets to only average 5.9% to get there.

[oldtoyota]

Oh, it is specifically his colleagues he struggles with at the moment. Letting the side down and all that.

Employee of Wells Fargo went to work one Friday morning last month and died at their desk the same day.  Fellow employees didn't notice until Tuesday.    It was not a 3-day weekend, either.

Food for thought.

That is so sad. Long ago, I saw a cartoon of a person dead in their cubicle. The cubicle was in the center (of a grid of nine square cubicles) with walls on four sides. Even though that was a cartoon, the image stayed with me. When I read the Wells Fargo story, I thought it was a farce at first. How people went so long without noticing is disturbing.

[couponvan]

Oh, it is specifically his colleagues he struggles with at the moment. Letting the side down and all that.

Employee of Wells Fargo went to work one Friday morning last month and died at their desk the same day.  Fellow employees didn't notice until Tuesday.    It was not a 3-day weekend, either.

Food for thought.

That is so sad. Long ago, I saw a cartoon of a person dead in their cubicle. The cubicle was in the center (of a grid of nine square cubicles) with walls on four sides. Even though that was a cartoon, the image stayed with me. When I read the Wells Fargo story, I thought it was a farce at first. How people went so long without noticing is disturbing.

This isn’t going to help, but most WF people work only 3 days in office-and F/M are the least populated. Add in high floor and reduced cleaning, and I can see how it happened. The failure was building security….one of them must have failed their rounds. My sibling works at WF. If she were single I doubt anyone would notice her missing. She is not good at keeping in touch. It’s precisely why I make my mom calls M-F and want my aunt to bat signal daily. Being introverted means you might not be missed soon enough to save your life.

[BlueHouse]

Being introverted means you might not be missed soon enough to save your life.

Yep.  I'm single, not good at keeping in touch or returning phone calls, and live alone.  Now that I'm retired, I try to make a point to be incontact more often, but I think after years of doing the introvert hermit thing, even if I went missing, my fam wouldn't really notice for probably a week or two.  I tried to set some type of lifeline thing up a few years ago (like if I don't push a button, that means I'm in trouble) but couldn't really find anything that fit the bill.

I just assume the smell would be the thing that sent people over...but my two closest neighbors travel frequently so who knows.  I am extremeley careful on the stairs though.  I guess that's the big fear for me...falling and not being able to reach out for help.

[Taran Wanderer]

What about playing a daily game like the NYT Mini crossword and sharing the results amount a small group of friends or family?

[Captain FIRE]

What about playing a daily game like the NYT Mini crossword and sharing the results amount a small group of friends or family?

I used to do wordle daily with some friends, and they were concerned when I didn't do it one day. (Turned out it was because my terrible boss had done something again, and it was the trigger for me to decide to get a new job.)

[EscapeVelocity2020]

...
Employee of Wells Fargo went to work one Friday morning last month and died at their desk the same day.  Fellow employees didn't notice until Tuesday.    It was not a 3-day weekend, either.

Food for thought.

That is so sad. Long ago, I saw a cartoon of a person dead in their cubicle. The cubicle was in the center (of a grid of nine square cubicles) with walls on four sides. Even though that was a cartoon, the image stayed with me. When I read the Wells Fargo story, I thought it was a farce at first. How people went so long without noticing is disturbing.

It just goes to show how different our experiences are when we talk about 'work' to each other.  Some people probably resonate with how an employee could be dead at their desk until the smell concerns someone.  All of my work experiences, from my first lawn mowing, fast food, and janitorial jobs all the way to my project engineering now make this story seem completely crazy.

The sad thing to me is that this employee didn't take chances to not show up to work but collect paychecks for as long as possible.  Especially in the Covid and flexible working era, I'm pretty sure there are a significant amount of jobs that people are getting paid full time salaries for part time work...  I'm sure things will change when unemployment goes up and employers regain the upper hand though.

[Fomerly known as something]

Well, I guess I can spend some of the stash on more Backroads tours.  It was active touring which I love, super nice but not uncomfortably so and it was so great to turn the brain off and not have to plan anything for 5 days.  Plus the food was great too.

[LoanShark]

Well, I guess I can spend some of the stash on more Backroads tours.  It was active touring which I love, super nice but not uncomfortably so and it was so great to turn the brain off and not have to plan anything for 5 days.  Plus the food was great too.

Have heard nothing but great things about that outfit.

[Bird In Hand]

I hit $3.1mm on Friday (and promptly went back under yesterday) after crossing the halfway point of this race at the very end of the first quarter.
It's a much slower race when you're (a) spending from your stash; (b) using a more conservative asset allocation than most accumulators; (c) not adding to the pile any more.  I see folks here that have doubled their stashes in the last couple of years; in contrast, I've seen mine rise by about 50% over the past decade.

Congrats on reaching the midpoint!  I reached that milestone earlier this year as well.

It is certainly interesting to see how fast (or slow) the millions stack given different parameters.  I've been maxing pre-tax accounts for 25 years, and my spouse a little over half that.  It took us 18 years to reach $1mm, largely due to the Dot Com bust of the early 2000’s, and the 2007-2008 recession.  Then 4.5 more years to reach $2mm, and 3.5 more years to reach $3mm.

Our salaries and savings capacity are unlikely to increase significantly going forward.  If the next decade is like the 2000’s, FIRE is delayed.  If the next 5 years is like the last five, we’ll be above $6mm nominal and work will be entirely optional at that point (unless there’s hyper-stagflation or some other black swan that comes along).

Good luck convincing your SO to retire in the next 5 years!

[ATtiny85]

Dropped another order to exchange VTSAX to VBTLX in my IRA. First move since mid-July. Continuing the slow march towards a (starting) retirement allocation of about 70% equities that we want to get to within a year or so. This should get us close to 73%, way better than the probably 90% we were at about 18 months ago. It won't be long and my IRA and 401K will be 100% fixed income. Roth is staying in VTSAX of course. Spouse has plenty of room in her tax advantaged accounts to take up the fight next as we keep pouring all available funds into our taxable account.

The market might/will blink and "fix" these last percentage points without having to exchange anything, it's funny like that sometimes.

[Much Fishing to Do]

Dropped another order to exchange VTSAX to VBTLX in my IRA. First move since mid-July. Continuing the slow march towards a (starting) retirement allocation of about 70% equities that we want to get to within a year or so. This should get us close to 73%, way better than the probably 90% we were at about 18 months ago. It won't be long and my IRA and 401K will be 100% fixed income. Roth is staying in VTSAX of course. Spouse has plenty of room in her tax advantaged accounts to take up the fight next as we keep pouring all available funds into our taxable account.

The market might/will blink and "fix" these last percentage points without having to exchange anything, it's funny like that sometimes.

sounds like we are along similar equities allocation thoughts as I slowly moved from a 90/10 during my career to a 70/25/5 recently as I phase out with my part time gig.  Not sure what you mean re: IRA and 401k being 100% fixed (you don't have much in that or you're moving much more conservative over time?). 

[ATtiny85]

Dropped another order to exchange VTSAX to VBTLX in my IRA. First move since mid-July. Continuing the slow march towards a (starting) retirement allocation of about 70% equities that we want to get to within a year or so. This should get us close to 73%, way better than the probably 90% we were at about 18 months ago. It won't be long and my IRA and 401K will be 100% fixed income. Roth is staying in VTSAX of course. Spouse has plenty of room in her tax advantaged accounts to take up the fight next as we keep pouring all available funds into our taxable account.

The market might/will blink and "fix" these last percentage points without having to exchange anything, it's funny like that sometimes.

sounds like we are along similar equities allocation thoughts as I slowly moved from a 90/10 during my career to a 70/25/5 recently as I phase out with my part time gig.  Not sure what you mean re: IRA and 401k being 100% fixed (you don't have much in that or you're moving much more conservative over time?).

I have used my tax deferred accounts to (re)balance our overall portfolio. So over time it has gone from 90+ equity on down to closing on 0%. Our taxable account is almost 40% of our overall portfolio, and growing. We are fortunate to be able to add more to it than we can in tax deferred, plus of course it is all equity. So I have had to just keep shoveling to keep up with our glidepath.

[2sk22]

Dropped another order to exchange VTSAX to VBTLX in my IRA. First move since mid-July. Continuing the slow march towards a (starting) retirement allocation of about 70% equities that we want to get to within a year or so. This should get us close to 73%, way better than the probably 90% we were at about 18 months ago. It won't be long and my IRA and 401K will be 100% fixed income. Roth is staying in VTSAX of course. Spouse has plenty of room in her tax advantaged accounts to take up the fight next as we keep pouring all available funds into our taxable account.

The market might/will blink and "fix" these last percentage points without having to exchange anything, it's funny like that sometimes.

sounds like we are along similar equities allocation thoughts as I slowly moved from a 90/10 during my career to a 70/25/5 recently as I phase out with my part time gig.  Not sure what you mean re: IRA and 401k being 100% fixed (you don't have much in that or you're moving much more conservative over time?).

I have used my tax deferred accounts to (re)balance our overall portfolio. So over time it has gone from 90+ equity on down to closing on 0%. Our taxable account is almost 40% of our overall portfolio, and growing. We are fortunate to be able to add more to it than we can in tax deferred, plus of course it is all equity. So I have had to just keep shoveling to keep up with our glidepath.

I did my first big rebalance in a long time last year. The event that triggered this was the receipt of a substantial amount from the liquidation of my parent's estate. I followed the Boglehead principles for tax efficient funds placement and wound up with an overall asset allocation of 62/30/8 (Stocks/Bonds/Cash). However like @ATtiny85 our taxable brokerage account is entire stock while my IRA has a big chunk of the bonds.

We actually have substantially more money in our taxable accounts than in tax deferred - the result of stock grants received over the years and the inheritance. I have progressively sold off company stock and bought VTI over the years.

[TempusFugit]

I recently was digging out some documents in order to maybe finally go get my super duper secure gold star driver’s license a.k.a REAL ID thingamabob.*  I also just recently received the title to my car from the county clerk.  And I need to renew my passport.  All of this got me to thinking about where I should store this stuff.   

Where do you folks keep your important documents?  Does anyone use safe deposit boxes anymore?  Seems so inconvenient.  I’ve been using just a basic lockbox that promises some fire protection, but I don’t know how well those really protect things, especially paper things. 


P.s.  on a somewhat related note, how many of us use some sort of identity protection service?  Anyone paying for life lock or some analog?   

* and then I read that the REAL ID enforcement is ONCE AGAIN being delayed as it becomes the biggest running joke about a government program that never actually gets implemented

[Taran Wanderer]

While we have a safe deposit box, and it has in it some important things that we rarely need, I keep the car titles and passports in a small between-the-studs safe at home. If the house burned down, we’d have some complicated things to recover, but other than that, I know exactly where they are.

The installation is straightforward. Just cut out the sheetrock and bolt in. If you pick a somewhat hidden place, that’s a bonus. I’ve always wanted to put it behind a hinged painting of dogs playing poker.

[Mustache ride]

Today’s rally finally pushed me over the threshold to join the group! I’ve been lurking here for a while learning from you smart folks, so it’s nice to actually post and not feel like a fraud anymore.

[ATtiny85]

I recently was digging out some documents in order to maybe finally go get my super duper secure gold star driver’s license a.k.a REAL ID thingamabob.*  I also just recently received the title to my car from the county clerk.  And I need to renew my passport.  All of this got me to thinking about where I should store this stuff.   

Where do you folks keep your important documents?  Does anyone use safe deposit boxes anymore?  Seems so inconvenient.  I’ve been using just a basic lockbox that promises some fire protection, but I don’t know how well those really protect things, especially paper things. 


P.s.  on a somewhat related note, how many of us use some sort of identity protection service?  Anyone paying for life lock or some analog?   

* and then I read that the REAL ID enforcement is ONCE AGAIN being delayed as it becomes the biggest running joke about a government program that never actually gets implemented

We are pretty lax with docs. Our passports are in our work laptop backpacks and are what we use for all travel. Car titles, social security cards and those types of things are in a small lockbox (those little ones that have some small level of fire protection, such as able to handle a soggy cigar on top for 20 seconds…) stashed. Certainly a bunch of pain potential in case of loss.


We don’t pay for any service.

[Fomerly known as something]

I’m in CA.  My passport and birth certificate live in my wildfire “go bag.”  I figure most everything else is “recoverable” if I have those 2 things.

[Simpli-Fi]

Today’s rally finally pushed me over the threshold to join the group! I’ve been lurking here for a while learning from you smart folks, so it’s nice to actually post and not feel like a fraud anymore.

lol and congrats!  Was listening to Animals Spirits recently and they came to the consensus that $2.8M LNW is wealthy.

[dividendman]

I recently was digging out some documents in order to maybe finally go get my super duper secure gold star driver’s license a.k.a REAL ID thingamabob.*  I also just recently received the title to my car from the county clerk.  And I need to renew my passport.  All of this got me to thinking about where I should store this stuff.   

Where do you folks keep your important documents?  Does anyone use safe deposit boxes anymore?  Seems so inconvenient.  I’ve been using just a basic lockbox that promises some fire protection, but I don’t know how well those really protect things, especially paper things. 


P.s.  on a somewhat related note, how many of us use some sort of identity protection service?  Anyone paying for life lock or some analog?   

* and then I read that the REAL ID enforcement is ONCE AGAIN being delayed as it becomes the biggest running joke about a government program that never actually gets implemented

We are pretty lax with docs. Our passports are in our work laptop backpacks and are what we use for all travel. Car titles, social security cards and those types of things are in a small lockbox (those little ones that have some small level of fire protection, such as able to handle a soggy cigar on top for 20 seconds…) stashed. Certainly a bunch of pain potential in case of loss.


We don’t pay for any service.

I just put all that stuff in a suitcase in the closet... if it burns or something it'll be a pain but not impossible to get back.

I lost my social security cards years ago... turns out you don't need it for anything. I even became a US citizen since and have never needed to show my social security card. I just have to know the number.

[Allie]

I’m in CA.  My passport and birth certificate live in my wildfire “go bag.”  I figure most everything else is “recoverable” if I have those 2 things.

I’m giving away secrets that I may regret, but our docs like ss cards, passports, marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc. live inside a little fire resistant safe that lives in an unmarked, lame looking plastic tote in our garage filled with other emergency stuff.  In case of a fire evacuation or earthquake related structural issue, I should be able to grab it and pop it in my car or drag it out of the house pretty easily.  I doubt a thief would ever even look into the dirty tote next to garage junk.  Everything that has easy to liquidate value like paper bonds, hangs out in a safe deposit box.

[LightTripper]

Our passports are just in a drawer and birth certificates in a filing cabinet.  Drivers licence here is a credit-card type card so I keep it with me most of the time as it's handy ID - so likely I would be able to grab it on the way out of the door in an emergency, or would have it with me if the house burned down while we were out.

The passports are replaceable within a few days if they got destroyed (it costs extra to get the urgent service: either 1 week or 2 days if you really need it/don't mind paying extra - but I've done it before, as has my Mum when she accidentally put hers in the wash just before a holiday, and it worked well for both of us).  Birth certificate is orderable online and from memory takes a week or so to arrive.  I've never had to do Drivers' licence in a hurry but I don't think it takes more than a week or two with normal service (and in the UK you can legally drive without having it on you - you just have to be able to present it at a police station within 7 days of request if they ask you, so I guess in theory if that happened just after the house burned down it would be bad, but in practice I've never been asked for mine or even been in a car where anyone has been asked for theirs, so I think it would be low on my list of worries post-house-fire).

[Fomerly known as something]

My DL is pretty much always with me, but recently I’ve been able to create a digital drivers license on my phone so I might not need that for much longer.

ETA:  since I don’t take my passport out of the go bag when I travel domestically, I guess I consider it replaceable as well.

[ixtap]

My DL is pretty much always with me, but recently I’ve been able to create a digital drivers license on my phone so I might not need that for much longer.

ETA:  since I don’t take my passport out of the go bag when I travel domestically, I guess I consider it replaceable as well.

Our passport cards live in our wallets, with the DL. The full passports are with the boat docs, as they will be needed for checking in.

[Turtle]

Today’s rally finally pushed me over the threshold to join the group! I’ve been lurking here for a while learning from you smart folks, so it’s nice to actually post and not feel like a fraud anymore.

Congratulations and welcome!  I feel like I only just joined this group and yet the rally pushed me up a third of the way to the next double comma milestone.

[Car Jack]

I don't understand safe deposit boxes.  DW's dad passed.  He had a safe deposit box.  We think it's empty but could have DW's mom's engagement ring in it.  No idea where the key is.  $150 for them to drill out the lock and open it.  I expect it's going to cost more to open than what is inside.

We have a couple fire resistant safe/boxes.  Most everything can be replaced going to the county courthouse anyways then I don't expect passports to be hard to replace.

[felizcortez]

Hit over $4M in the last two weeks. Feels a bit surreal since we have been FIRE'd since 2019 and the stache keeps getting bigger.

[ROF Expat]

I don't understand safe deposit boxes.  DW's dad passed.  He had a safe deposit box.  We think it's empty but could have DW's mom's engagement ring in it.  No idea where the key is.  $150 for them to drill out the lock and open it.  I expect it's going to cost more to open than what is inside.

We have a couple fire resistant safe/boxes.  Most everything can be replaced going to the county courthouse anyways then I don't expect passports to be hard to replace.

I think there are circumstances where a safe deposit box is useful.  I keep jewelry in ours while we're out of the country.  Rental on the box is less than insurance and security is as good as it gets.  When I'm living in the house, I'll probably give up the safe deposit box.  We have a pretty serious safe, but I still wouldn't leave anything in it while we have renters. 

I gather those little fireproof boxes are helpful for protecting things from fire.  I don't think they are much use against theft.  If they aren't bolted down, thieves take them home to open at their leisure.  If they are bolted down, most can be pried open pretty easily. 

US passports are pretty easy to replace.  My experience is that if you lose one you will get quizzed by the Immigration Officer (and maybe pulled into secondary) when you enter the US for many years afterwards. 

[Bateaux]

I'm behind on checking in. I was at the Florida Fortress and had to rush back to Louisiana for hurricane Francine. We took a piece of her eyewall and went without power 3 days
 No house damages, but some trees down. Got that cleaned up just in time for a Colorado trip. Literally put away the chainsaw and grabbed my backpack. Two road days getting there. We spent 5 nights in the wilderness and climbed up to 12,100 feet. We were supposed to summit 14ers Mount Belford and Oxford. Instead we rode out a snow storm above treeline in our tent. The sun did shine the following day around noon. We decided to decend. The snow and ice persisted and checking the peaks driving south on I-25 they are still snow capped
 It was still a blast! Getting out of the tent at midnight wearing Crocs barefoot to pee was interesting. Luckily the snow was dry and we raked the built up snow off the tent before it collapsed. We're crossing Texas now back to Louisiana. I have a flight Saturday from New Orleans to Tampa. It was already scheduled prior to the next hurricane Hulene. The Florida house is now in the cone. I'll miss the storm unfortunately. Saturday afternoon if my flight and rental car are available I'll get to the house hopefully. We're inland about 15 miles and on a high hill. Once that cleanup is done I'll be headed to Fort Lauderdale for a beach week. I don't think the East Coast will see impact. That's all for now as the adventures of Bateaux continues.

[Fomerly known as something]

I don't understand safe deposit boxes.  DW's dad passed.  He had a safe deposit box.  We think it's empty but could have DW's mom's engagement ring in it.  No idea where the key is.  $150 for them to drill out the lock and open it.  I expect it's going to cost more to open than what is inside.

We have a couple fire resistant safe/boxes.  Most everything can be replaced going to the county courthouse anyways then I don't expect passports to be hard to replace.

I think there are circumstances where a safe deposit box is useful.  I keep jewelry in ours while we're out of the country.  Rental on the box is less than insurance and security is as good as it gets.  When I'm living in the house, I'll probably give up the safe deposit box.  We have a pretty serious safe, but I still wouldn't leave anything in it while we have renters. 

I gather those little fireproof boxes are helpful for protecting things from fire.  I don't think they are much use against theft.  If they aren't bolted down, thieves take them home to open at their leisure.  If they are bolted down, most can be pried open pretty easily. 

US passports are pretty easy to replace.  My experience is that if you lose one you will get quizzed by the Immigration Officer (and maybe pulled into secondary) when you enter the US for many years afterwards.

I have decent jewelry.  I honestly see at is easily replaceable as well even if it might be expensive.  I guess jewelry is nice to have, I’ll spend money on it but I’m still more worried about someone breaking into home letting my cat out than it going missing.

[Dicey]

This is probably the best place to share these musings. We are about to head off to Moab in our RV for the Marvelous Mustachian Meetup. We will meander for a couple of days on our way there, and arrive a day early, just because. I have so many things going on before we leave, I'm sure something will be left out. Meh. We can buy whatever we need.* I also don't care one bit about what fuel costs** or any other expenses we will encounter along the way, which is nice, damn nice.

*Except for hiking books. I think I'll go put them in the rig right now.

**Of course, we know where the cheapest fuel stops are and pay attention to price per gallon (it's ingrained), but I don't care one bit about the total fuel expenditure for the trip. Of course, I suppose it helps that fuel is so much cheaper once you cross the California state line...

[Bateaux]

I'm behind on checking in. I was at the Florida Fortress and had to rush back to Louisiana for hurricane Francine. We took a piece of her eyewall and went without power 3 days
 No house damages, but some trees down. Got that cleaned up just in time for a Colorado trip. Literally put away the chainsaw and grabbed my backpack. Two road days getting there. We spent 5 nights in the wilderness and climbed up to 12,100 feet. We were supposed to summit 14ers Mount Belford and Oxford. Instead we rode out a snow storm above treeline in our tent. The sun did shine the following day around noon. We decided to decend. The snow and ice persisted and checking the peaks driving south on I-25 they are still snow capped
 It was still a blast! Getting out of the tent at midnight wearing Crocs barefoot to pee was interesting. Luckily the snow was dry and we raked the built up snow off the tent before it collapsed. We're crossing Texas now back to Louisiana. I have a flight Saturday from New Orleans to Tampa. It was already scheduled prior to the next hurricane Hulene. The Florida house is now in the cone. I'll miss the storm unfortunately. Saturday afternoon if my flight and rental car are available I'll get to the house hopefully. We're inland about 15 miles and on a high hill. Once that cleanup is done I'll be headed to Fort Lauderdale for a beach week. I don't think the East Coast will see impact. That's all for now as the adventures of Bateaux continues.

Hey guys.
Arrived to Louisiana house last night.
Unpacked from backpacking trip and reloading for Florida. We heard from neighbors that everything seems ok. Just limbs down. I'll have to check the roof for damages but nothing obvious.
I'll be driving to Florida tonight and join the clean up and relief efforts. I'm waiting on assignment from Team Rubicon. TeamRubiconUSA.org
I hope anyone that was in the path of the hurricane is safe. I'll check in later.

[jeroly]

@Dicey I hope that your Moab-ish meanderings towards the Marvelous Mustachian Meetup are magnificent!

@Bateaux fingers crossed for your FL stuff and thanks so much for helping out.

[FireLane]

I recently was digging out some documents in order to maybe finally go get my super duper secure gold star driver’s license a.k.a REAL ID thingamabob.*  I also just recently received the title to my car from the county clerk.  And I need to renew my passport.  All of this got me to thinking about where I should store this stuff.   

Where do you folks keep your important documents?  Does anyone use safe deposit boxes anymore?  Seems so inconvenient.  I’ve been using just a basic lockbox that promises some fire protection, but I don’t know how well those really protect things, especially paper things. 

I keep my family's passports, birth certificates, car titles, and Social Security cards in a sealed ziploc bag in a small fire-resistant lockbox. I'm hoping this will protect them against fires and floods, though obviously I hope to never put this to the test.

P.s.  on a somewhat related note, how many of us use some sort of identity protection service?  Anyone paying for life lock or some analog?   

Waste of money, IMO. The best way to protect yourself from identity theft is to keep your credit frozen at all the major credit bureaus unless you specifically need a loan, and that's free to do.

[TempusFugit]

I engaged a CFP recently to review my retirement plans. I'm using a late 2025 retirement date for planning purposes. 

I've been using a pretty feature-rich software package (New Retirement, now Boldin) and I've been educating myself on lots of the ins-and-outs of retirement planning for a few years now.  I've got a solid handle on my spending, and a good idea of how much I want to spend in retirement. Those basics being pretty well understood, I wanted a second set of eyes to review my plan and offer suggestions, catch any glaring omissions, etc. 

I've got to say I was unimpressed with the result.  She gave me a thumbs up, basically, but the recommendations are a bit sketchy as far as some asset changes and that makes me kind of dismiss her resulting opinions about the rest of the plan. 

This person is a fee-only planner, who makes no commissions or anything like that so her recommendations are unbiased in that regard, just the basic Vanguard funds really.  However, when I saw that she recommended that I exchange the 100% stock funds in my Roth IRA for BOND funds, she really lost my confidence.  That makes zero sense, given that I could achieve the same overall AA by moving stuff in my 401k.

This was something I wanted to do for reassurance that I wasn't overlooking something important and that a different algorithm / software package would give me a similar result to what I'm using.  Which it did, so I have that going for me.  I guess that was worth a couple grand (I tell myself).

[2sk22]

...
This person is a fee-only planner, who makes no commissions or anything like that so her recommendations are unbiased in that regard, just the basic Vanguard funds really.  However, when I saw that she recommended that I exchange the 100% stock funds in my Roth IRA for BOND funds, she really lost my confidence.  That makes zero sense, given that I could achieve the same overall AA by moving stuff in my 401k.

This was something I wanted to do for reassurance that I wasn't overlooking something important and that a different algorithm / software package would give me a similar result to what I'm using.  Which it did, so I have that going for me.  I guess that was worth a couple grand (I tell myself).

I'm not sure why you are putting down her advice. It is definitely more tax efficient to keep bonds in a tax deferred account and IRAs usually offer more flexibility in terms of investment choices than a 401K.

With regard to peace of mind: No amount of external validation will help - this is an internal process. I used pretty much every planning tool out there (Pralana Gold being my favorite) and ultimately came to understand just how much uncertainty there is in the results of modeling - a lot :-)

[Mustache ride]

...
This person is a fee-only planner, who makes no commissions or anything like that so her recommendations are unbiased in that regard, just the basic Vanguard funds really.  However, when I saw that she recommended that I exchange the 100% stock funds in my Roth IRA for BOND funds, she really lost my confidence.  That makes zero sense, given that I could achieve the same overall AA by moving stuff in my 401k.

This was something I wanted to do for reassurance that I wasn't overlooking something important and that a different algorithm / software package would give me a similar result to what I'm using.  Which it did, so I have that going for me.  I guess that was worth a couple grand (I tell myself).

I'm not sure why you are putting down her advice. It is definitely more tax efficient to keep bonds in a tax deferred account and IRAs usually offer more flexibility in terms of investment choices than a 401K.

With regard to peace of mind: No amount of external validation will help - this is an internal process. I used pretty much every planning tool out there (Pralana Gold being my favorite) and ultimately came to understand just how much uncertainty there is in the results of modeling - a lot :-)

We’re in agreement that tax deferred is the way to go for bonds, but typically people want the higher expected return (i.e. equities) to be in a Roth account to maximize tax free growth. As you mentioned, there are circumstances where it might make sense, but I look at those more as edge cases.

All that to say, I wouldn’t totally write off all of the advice. I imagine the bigger benefit is having an independent professional confirm your plan.

[TempusFugit]

...
This person is a fee-only planner, who makes no commissions or anything like that so her recommendations are unbiased in that regard, just the basic Vanguard funds really.  However, when I saw that she recommended that I exchange the 100% stock funds in my Roth IRA for BOND funds, she really lost my confidence.  That makes zero sense, given that I could achieve the same overall AA by moving stuff in my 401k.

This was something I wanted to do for reassurance that I wasn't overlooking something important and that a different algorithm / software package would give me a similar result to what I'm using.  Which it did, so I have that going for me.  I guess that was worth a couple grand (I tell myself).

I'm not sure why you are putting down her advice. It is definitely more tax efficient to keep bonds in a tax deferred account and IRAs usually offer more flexibility in terms of investment choices than a 401K.

With regard to peace of mind: No amount of external validation will help - this is an internal process. I used pretty much every planning tool out there (Pralana Gold being my favorite) and ultimately came to understand just how much uncertainty there is in the results of modeling - a lot :-)

We’re in agreement that tax deferred is the way to go for bonds, but typically people want the higher expected return (i.e. equities) to be in a Roth account to maximize tax free growth. As you mentioned, there are circumstances where it might make sense, but I look at those more as edge cases.

All that to say, I wouldn’t totally write off all of the advice. I imagine the bigger benefit is having an independent professional confirm your plan.

Yeah, my issue with it is based on having tax free growth in that account, so wanting it to be the high growth asset class that benefits.  I can increase my bond allocation within my 401k if I need to adjust. 

There was more to my concerns than just that, but it was one that I just don’t see any logic to in my circumstance. 

It was nice to see that the projections she used for rate of return in the future match what I have been using.
With a 70/30 AA, I’m using just over 6% with 3.25% inflation rate netting a real return of 3.2ish%

[Bateaux]

@Dicey I hope that your Moab-ish meanderings towards the Marvelous Mustachian Meetup are magnificent!

@Bateaux fingers crossed for your FL stuff and thanks so much for helping out.

All is good at the Florida house. I need to get on the roof and put some tar around a sky light. Minor leak.
Yard guys came by today and cut the lawn. I gave them each some cash to buy lunch and a beer after work. Those smiles of appreciation were worth much more than that cash in my pocket.
This afternoon I went into Crystal River to help out a flooded family. There is still a couple of feet of water on the road, but I got through. My hands are sore from hauling wet furniture out and mucking wet Sheetrock. I'm headed back there in the morning to help them. Team Rubicon will be in New Port Ritchie. I won't be joining them this time because I'd rather help in my county. I know they will help many. I'm headed to bed now.
Helping others on their worst day is the best dang thing you can do. Take care of each other and love one another folks.

[Dicey]

@Dicey I hope that your Moab-ish meanderings towards the Marvelous Mustachian Meetup are magnificent!

@Bateaux fingers crossed for your FL stuff and thanks so much for helping out.

All is good at the Florida house. I need to get on the roof and put some tar around a sky light. Minor leak.
Yard guys came by today and cut the lawn. I gave them each some cash to buy lunch and a beer after work. Those smiles of appreciation were worth much more than that cash in my pocket.
This afternoon I went into Crystal River to help out a flooded family. There is still a couple of feet of water on the road, but I got through. My hands are sore from hauling wet furniture out and mucking wet Sheetrock. I'm headed back there in the morning to help them. Team Rubicon will be in New Port Ritchie. I won't be joining them this time because I'd rather help in my county. I know they will help many. I'm headed to bed now.
Helping others on their worst day is the best dang thing you can do. Take care of each other and love one another folks.

You're a good egg, Bateaux.

[2sk22]

...
This person is a fee-only planner, who makes no commissions or anything like that so her recommendations are unbiased in that regard, just the basic Vanguard funds really.  However, when I saw that she recommended that I exchange the 100% stock funds in my Roth IRA for BOND funds, she really lost my confidence.  That makes zero sense, given that I could achieve the same overall AA by moving stuff in my 401k.

This was something I wanted to do for reassurance that I wasn't overlooking something important and that a different algorithm / software package would give me a similar result to what I'm using.  Which it did, so I have that going for me.  I guess that was worth a couple grand (I tell myself).

I'm not sure why you are putting down her advice. It is definitely more tax efficient to keep bonds in a tax deferred account and IRAs usually offer more flexibility in terms of investment choices than a 401K.

With regard to peace of mind: No amount of external validation will help - this is an internal process. I used pretty much every planning tool out there (Pralana Gold being my favorite) and ultimately came to understand just how much uncertainty there is in the results of modeling - a lot :-)

We’re in agreement that tax deferred is the way to go for bonds, but typically people want the higher expected return (i.e. equities) to be in a Roth account to maximize tax free growth. As you mentioned, there are circumstances where it might make sense, but I look at those more as edge cases.

All that to say, I wouldn’t totally write off all of the advice. I imagine the bigger benefit is having an independent professional confirm your plan.

Yeah, my issue with it is based on having tax free growth in that account, so wanting it to be the high growth asset class that benefits.  I can increase my bond allocation within my 401k if I need to adjust. 

There was more to my concerns than just that, but it was one that I just don’t see any logic to in my circumstance. 

It was nice to see that the projections she used for rate of return in the future match what I have been using.
With a 70/30 AA, I’m using just over 6% with 3.25% inflation rate netting a real return of 3.2ish%

My mistake - I didn't see that it was a Roth IRA where she wanted to put the bonds. I agree - that definitely doesn't make sense

[Fomerly known as something]

I don’t 100% agree with everything my FA and I talk about.  But I actually am ok when we have differing opinions.  It makes me reexamine my why of it and either I make a change or I’m more of the belief.  I use to have different AAs in my accounts, now for simplicity they are all 70/30.  At the end of the day my dividends from my stocks are pretty equal to my bond earnings so I’m not putting them someplace special because of reason xyz. 

[SEAK]

Since joining this race six months ago we've enjoyed some healthy returns.

LNW
end 2019- $1.08M
end 2020- $1.35M
end 2021- $1.68M
end 2022- $1.46M
end 2023- $1.83M
03/21/24-$2.00M
10/01/24-$2.23M + pensions currently valued at $61k/yr starting at 59.5yo