Author Topic: 2023 FIRE cohort  (Read 202887 times)

Spiffsome

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #50 on: January 01, 2018, 03:16:20 AM »
2017 was an absolute bastard of a year. Long story short: my job is now a rolling trash fire, I took 6 months unpaid leave, we bought an investment duplex only for both sets of tenants to stop paying rent, trash the place and have to be evicted. The good news was that due to a low-consumption lifestyle, we could pay the investment mortgage and the regular bills on DH's salary alone. Unfortunately, since my salary was the savings one, our savings rate is almost 0%.

Current asset base: 300k house, 75k equity in duplex, 120k superannuation - about 495k all up. Here's to a better 2018.

PhrugalPhan

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #51 on: January 02, 2018, 07:39:20 PM »
Well another year in the bank & another year closer.  Time for everyone to check in and brag about how well they did.   Like everyone my investments went crazy last year...

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Investments
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I started the year with my investments at US$670k.  This year I am including 2 new "accounts" - An outstanding loan to my GF (currently @ $5k), and a new HSA account (currently @ $4k).  To those I add the totals of my 457 account, Roth IRA, brokerage account & DRIPs.  As of the end of the year for everything I came up with a few hundred over $841k.  I added about $53,000 for the year so the growth for the year was $118k, more than my current salary by a nice margin.  The rate of return may have been in the 17% range, another banner year.

Don't know what to make of my dividends.  My 457 plan account shows "dividends" of over $31,000.  That's a rate of over 5.5%, which can't be right.  I'm thinking that may be calling stock splits or spinoffs as dividends.  I don't know, but in any case, given that amount my total dividends came in at $40.5k.

And my pension is another year funded/vested.  I am now vested for $29k/year, but if I left I would have to wait 10 years for it to start.  If I stay I will get it in 5 years and it should be worth $40k/year at that point.  5MY syndrome I guess.

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Everything Else
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No major expenses in 2017. The GF & I went on a two week vacation to DisneyWorld - spent 7 days in the parks, stayed at nice time shares, had a great time, and we paid total about $1,600 for the two of us (and each came back to a nice paycheck).  I have zero debt with a paid off house & car.  Haven't spent anything on home repairs, but they'll come sooner or later.  And the car is a year closer to needing to be replaced but still chugging along.

My GF is down to ONE(!) year to go to retire & get an immediate pension.  She is now much less stressed at work at her new position, which is great.  Even with cutting back on her TSP contributions this year (and despite taking out a TSP loan for her son's college costs) she has more than ever as her TSP is hitting new highs and may hit $1Mil later this year, so she is doing fine even if she doesn't think so from time to time.  And she does wonder how much she would have if she didn't take out the loan.

I completed a year of doing two-a-day workouts at work, lunchtime and after work (probably averaged 3.5 times / week over the year).  Weight loss is minimal at this point, mostly just adding muscle.  I've been concentrating on getting rid of more excess junk at home, but not getting too far with it.  Though... last year my ebay sales were over $1,500 so not too shabby.  In fact I came back from New Years weekend with my GF and found I had 7 sales to pack up.  Now that's a plus, but I need to keep it up.

At work I have been put on a new project, what I call the project from hell.  It seems management tried to do everything they could to make this as hard as possible to work on.  I mean.... they like me and they're nice to me, don't give me grief about my going to the gym at lunch, so its good, right?  But still, many days I wonder who I ticked off to be put on a project this much of a poorly designed mess.  Sigh.

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Random Thoughts
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In two years I have gone from $540k to $841k.  That's over a 50% increase.   When you're used to living on $22k/year (and without a mortgage that isn't hard for me), and can live large on $36k how I am I going to keep myself motivated without a target amount?  This is a big concern for me.

How am I going to feel if the market goes down and I end the year where I started (that is, my contributions only cover up the down draft)?  I did fine during the last downturn, though really I was too occupied with other concerns then (and my investments were only 5 digits large).  Now if it goes down, its going to be my main thought daily I am afraid to say.

I can now say I am just a little over 5 years to retirement (5 yrs, 3 mo.).  At least that's a positive.

OK, lets hear from the rest of the 2023 Cohort.

garyjames8

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #52 on: January 03, 2018, 01:59:15 AM »
Hi all,

Here is my end of year report for 2017.

1. Made the final payment on my mortgage on December 29th.  I am now mortgage-free.  My mortgage broker advised me today via email that the mortgage paperwork should be completed in approximately 14 days.

2. Spent 2017 living as frugally as possible.  I haven’t worked out my Savings Rate for 2017. I will post this in the next few weeks after doing the numbers.

3. In 2017 I found out about the concept of “Once a Month Cooking” (Jody Allen) as a way to save time and money in regards to food expenses.  I have so far experimented with cooking 4 portions of one meal, eating 1 portion, and freezing the other 3.  It is such a simple idea, I can’t believe I never thought of it myself. Looking to do this more often and to attack my monthly food bill in 2018.

4. At the end of 2017 I stumbled upon the idea of flipping businesses for profit. This is something I plan to experiment with in 2018, and if it proves to be lucrative, I will do this as an extra stream of income.

5. A financial goal for 2018 is to put an offer in on a terraced house in the North of England.

All the best for 2018 for everyone in the 2023 FIRE cohort!

Kind Regards,

Gary


« Last Edit: January 04, 2018, 05:52:29 AM by garyjames8 »

Stache-O-Lantern

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #53 on: January 08, 2018, 01:40:58 PM »
Our investable assets are currently 41.5% of our target amount.

As of 1-Jan-18 our investable assets are exactly 50.0% of our target amount.

The second half should go quicker due to the nature of compounding.

Stache-O-Lantern

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #54 on: January 08, 2018, 01:43:16 PM »

1. Made the final payment on my mortgage on December 29th.  I am now mortgage-free.  My mortgage broker advised me today via email that the mortgage paperwork should be completed in approximately 14 days.



That's gotta feel really, really good.

Arbitrage

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #55 on: January 09, 2018, 01:10:23 PM »
I'll jump in here.  Gives me a goal.  39 now, will be 45 at the end of 2023.  Right now, I'm shooting for > $1.5M liquid with a paid-off house.  I'm not sure if it's doable if we stay where we are in coastal SoCal, but if we move someplace reasonably priced, it probably is. 

PVkcin

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #56 on: January 10, 2018, 08:24:56 PM »
We are shooting for hitting our FIRE number by 2023. I will be 39, wife would be 38. We have 2 young kids so we shifted to both working part time last year. We know we could have got to full FIRE sooner if we worked more, but once we hit close to 45-50% of the way to our target FIRE number, we downshifted to spend more time with our kids. I'm posting here to keep us on track and keep up with the goal. We have just under 40k left on our mortgage to pay off.

Wanttobehome

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #57 on: January 11, 2018, 02:09:45 PM »
Year one- 2017 planned to pay off mortgage, travel, try going car free, maintain health, go sim only.
Mortgage paid off, been on holiday, planned the next. Did not go car free but car share with my youngest daughter. Received a new unlocked phone for Christmas so will be similar free once contract ends.

Year two - 2018  save, travel, maintain health
Savings set up on auto pay, continue pension contributions, losing weight and eating healthier. Cruise planned for this year, nearly paid off. Now mortgage paid I can ramp up my savings. Started getting some of the larger jobs done on the house new boiler fitted in 2017 need to pace myself with work on the house.

Year three- 2019 save, travel,maintain health

Year four- 2020 save travel,maintain health

Year five - 2021 save, travel, get all outstanding jobs on house completed,maintain health

Year six -2022  live as if retired make sure I can do it, ensure all training up to date, in case want to go part time,maintain health

2023  - retire

Still on track

grantmeaname

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #58 on: January 12, 2018, 02:50:06 PM »
I’ll join the class of 2023! It’ll take some outrageous optimism and a 2022 bull market to get me there, or else you guys may have to boot me out into the class of 2024.

I’m 25 and hoping to be done by 30. I’m aiming for the bog-standard MMM-level FI of about $750k of assets/$30k annual spending. My current NW is about $50k and I’m hoping to double that in 2018 and again in 2019. Then if I can keep up the pace of at least $100k in new assets a year for the four years after, plus market returns, I’ll have a decent chance of getting to FI at 31.

“Man plans, and god laughs.” I’m pumped to look back on this thread over the next couple of years and see how far off things actually turn out!

friedmmj

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #59 on: January 12, 2018, 04:46:39 PM »
I’ll join the class of 2023! It’ll take some outrageous optimism and a 2022 bull market to get me there, or else you guys may have to boot me out into the class of 2024.

I’m 25 and hoping to be done by 30. I’m aiming for the bog-standard MMM-level FI of about $750k of assets/$30k annual spending. My current NW is about $50k and I’m hoping to double that in 2018 and again in 2019. Then if I can keep up the pace of at least $100k in new assets a year for the four years after, plus market returns, I’ll have a decent chance of getting to FI at 31.

“Man plans, and god laughs.” I’m pumped to look back on this thread over the next couple of years and see how far off things actually turn out!

Just curious if you are single and if so do you plan to stay that way?  It sort of blows my mind (as a 51 year old with 3 kids) to call it a career at 30, but I wish you the best!

friedmmj

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #60 on: January 12, 2018, 05:08:21 PM »
Looking to pull the cord June-2023 at age 56.  Wife does not work.

 Three kids will be thru college by then (hopefully).  Current NW (including home equity) just hit $1M this month with about $650k of that in tax deferred 401k, ira and roth retirement accounts and the rest in employer stock options and 529 plans for the kids. 

Saving about $50k per year.  Hope to end with $1.6M including 250k in home equity.  Plan to sell the house shortly after retirement and rent in various locations for first 5-10 years of retirement.

Have been focusing on not accumulating stuff and de-cluttering our house in preparation.

Year end update.  Still plugging away at work.  My remaining work days countdown is down as of today to 1231 this week.

Net worth hit $1.25M with $800K of that in retirement funds, mostly 401k and IRAs and cash value of pension.  My company's stock went up 80% this year.  Damn I wish I hadn't chased in as many stock options over the past 5 years! Still, can't complain.  I've been toying with the idea of moving my retirement up a year, but I sort of doubt it will work out that way.  There's going to be a correction somewhere in this 5.5 years.  Can't be too optimistic, but ya never know.

Just paid the last tuition bill ($26k) for the oldest of my 3 kids; she graduates in May.  One down, two to go!  The next one starts this Fall and then the youngest a year later.  So, the plan is to have a college graduation / retirement party in 2023!

Had a few nice vacations in 2017.  Took the family to Alaska in late August.  Tip:  if you are going to Alaska, go in June.  It rained and was cold the whole time, but it was still beautiful. 

My biggest challenge right now is getting back into the exercise routine.  I lapsed over the holidays, then got a cold, then got really lazy.  Need a kick in the ass!

grantmeaname

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #61 on: January 13, 2018, 12:58:26 AM »
Just curious if you are single and if so do you plan to stay that way?  It sort of blows my mind (as a 51 year old with 3 kids) to call it a career at 30, but I wish you the best!

Nope! Happily married and hoping to stay that way. The goal is to retire and then have kids like Pete did.

I’m lucky enough that I found MMM at college so it’s been the framework my whole working life.

PhrugalPhan

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #62 on: January 13, 2018, 09:34:48 PM »
My GF is down to ONE(!) year to go to retire & get an immediate pension.  She is now much less stressed at work at her new position, which is great.  Even with cutting back on her TSP contributions this year (and despite taking out a TSP loan for her son's college costs) she has more than ever as her TSP is hitting new highs and may hit $1Mil later this year, so she is doing fine even if she doesn't think so from time to time.  And she does wonder how much she would have if she didn't take out the loan.
Well that didn't take long.  As of Friday my GF's TSP crossed into 2 comma territory.  Who knows if it will stay there, but it was damn impressive to see it for at least one time.  She's still fretting about an upcoming drop, so we're going to have to work on her fund allocations.

OurTown

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #63 on: January 18, 2018, 10:28:16 AM »
I think we are still on track for 2023, maybe OMY into 2024. 

What I think I will need is $1m invested and a paid-for house.  That would break down approximately as follows:  Stock index funds, $600k, bond funds, $400k, home equity, $250k.

In round numbers here is where I am today:  Stock index funds, appx. $250k, Bond funds, appx. $200k, home equity, appx. $100k, cash, appx. $25k.  IOW, we are a little under halfway there.   


RedHotLama

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #64 on: January 18, 2018, 12:56:41 PM »
Joining in. Looking to target my 40th Bday that year.

Looking to double our NW to $3M by with our remaining $200k mortgage paid off by then.

FI Curious

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #65 on: January 20, 2018, 01:21:19 PM »
This is (hopefully) my year too.  College tuition for my kid may delay it.  We'll see.  But I love having this goal!!!

another saver

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #66 on: March 10, 2018, 08:31:02 PM »
Hello!

I just gave my run down on the introduce me page and don't feel like going through all of it again at the moment, but suffice it to say I'm predicting 2023 to be the year we will be FI.

I'll be 36, my husband will be 56 (you read that right), progeny will be 7.

My husband has already been retired for 5 years and is now stay at home Dad.  We are able to work and save off my salary, and have about 400k in cash based assets (this does include my sons college account, just a taxable account in my name).  Our house is paid off (everything is paid off, no debts).

We did spend a (scary) 40k on the credit card last year in addition to about 10k in expenses we wrote checks for.

So my estimate for FI is to be spending about 50k per year.  However, I do not plan to retire completely as I want to keep up to date in my field.  I should be able to work on a per diem basis averaging about 3 days a month, which would bring in about 20k, assuming some modest pay increases in the next 5 years.  So, at least until I'm ready to FULLY retire I should only need to generate about 30k off of assets and investments, and luckily have a profession that should allow me flexibility if I need to generate a few thousand more here and there.

Hoping for the best!

beer-man

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #67 on: March 12, 2018, 03:12:01 AM »
In 2023 I'll be 38yrs old and hoping to partially retire(2 shifts a week) and hold that rate for 20yrs

Currently:
   70k taxable
   230 IRA
    10k 401K(Just started)

Gross Earning 110k
Spending 45k
Spending in Semi-retirement- 36k

Goals 300K taxable
          500K IRA/401k for laddering purposes


 Income in pre-retirement:
   1. 6K farm rental income
   2. 10-15k Air Force Reserves
   3. 10K Dividends from Taxable
   4. 20-30K from part time job

Just a rough plan, thanks for letting me share and get these concepts and ideas out in writing. Any thoughts? I love my job but to be able to save for retirement and fund current spending I have to work 60+hrs a week. I can keep that intense pace for now, but may not be able to in 10yrs. I don't want to be like some of my decrepit coworkers who are miserable and harely able to do their job .

Valvore

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #68 on: March 15, 2018, 05:52:18 PM »
I’ll join the class of 2023! It’ll take some outrageous optimism and a 2022 bull market to get me there, or else you guys may have to boot me out into the class of 2024.

I’m 25 and hoping to be done by 30. I’m aiming for the bog-standard MMM-level FI of about $750k of assets/$30k annual spending. My current NW is about $50k and I’m hoping to double that in 2018 and again in 2019. Then if I can keep up the pace of at least $100k in new assets a year for the four years after, plus market returns, I’ll have a decent chance of getting to FI at 31.

“Man plans, and god laughs.” I’m pumped to look back on this thread over the next couple of years and see how far off things actually turn out!

Hi @grantmeaname! I was reading through this thread but didn't want to post because everyone else is so much older than me, but you are exactly my age. I'm 25 (soon to be 26) and would like to FIRE in 2023 too but might get pushed out to 2024/25. We are at the same NW too. I'm at about 50K NW right now (~80k including home equity) and want to be at over 100K by the end of the year and double that every year to retirement.

My DH and I are in a very lucky spot in that we already have passive income that could cover all bare bones expenses, but we are looking to make sure we are always safe and will be able to live the semi-decent life. We have the same plan to focus on child rearing near FIRE and possibly get back into a career once kiddos are in school

Current Age: 25
FIRE Age: 31
Target date: 12/31/2023

Projected FIRE Annual Spending: 47K
Current Passive Annual Income: 33K
Annual WR needed to bridge the gap: 15K

Total Stache needed: 375,000
Current Stache: 47K (17.6%)

2018 Goals:

1) Max IRA for 2017
2) Max IRA for 2018
3) Pay down student loans from 28K to 14K
4) Contribute 12K to 401K (Stretch goal, Max 401K)
5) Reach 100k in stache accounts(!)

Hope to stay motivated. End of 2017 was bad bad savings rate for us. We went from 60+% to 35%. ugh. This month is looking good so far though. Have to stay the course, 5 years isn't so far away.
 
« Last Edit: March 15, 2018, 05:53:50 PM by FireryFIRE »

grantmeaname

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #69 on: March 16, 2018, 01:00:58 AM »
Awesome, welcome to the thread! It’s nice to have a doppelgänger!

grantmeaname

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #70 on: March 16, 2018, 03:28:49 AM »
What is your passive income stream?

Valvore

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #71 on: March 21, 2018, 04:18:45 PM »
What is your passive income stream?

My DH has a VA rating. We don't expect his conditions to get any better (sadly) so we can expect that income stream for life.

another saver

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #72 on: April 01, 2018, 06:24:48 PM »
admin - please delete above post thank you.

grantmeaname

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #73 on: April 01, 2018, 11:53:32 PM »
admin - please delete above post thank you.
Do you mean your previous post? You can edit it if there’s anything you want to take down.

Mathew675

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #74 on: April 19, 2018, 02:34:00 PM »
Hi everyone. Fantastic thread, thanks for starting it! It’s great being able to look back at everyone’s progress over the last few years – that definitely keeps me motivated. My wife and I finally selected a timeframe to pull the plug. We are looking at 1 October 2023, so we would love to join your cohort. That will give me time to (hopefully) reach our savings goals and let the kids grow up enough to really appreciate what we are doing.

A little background, I found out about the ER community a few years ago when I was frustrated at work. Before that I was not overly focused on savings etc, but was still relatively frugal. Without realizing it, I had saved a nice amount and had it spread across random investments that I had forgotten about. Since then, I have consolidated our investments, focused on savings, and maximized our tax efficiency. My wife is (now) totally on-board with this idea.

Target amount: ~$1.25M USD of investments. We are probably saving about $50K/year and we are up to ~$800K now.
Sources of income: Mostly our investments. With the 4% we could pull out $50K/year which is what I am counting on. I will still have a part time job for a few years in order to guarantee a pension with inexpensive health insurance and my wife would like to earn more money from writing. We plan on doing the Roth IRA ladder which is another reason I wanted to find a cohort. So that I could get ideas of what others are doing now to get ready. I recently pushed our investments down from 100% equity to 80/20.

After FIRE: We are still figuring out that plan. Our current idea is to slow travel for a few years with Air BnB. We also thought about getting a fifth wheel and living out of that while we travel the US. I want to eventually get a sailboat and live on that for a few years while we travel, but I still haven’t been able to figure out how we could possibly afford it on our timeline. We want to get back in time for the kids to have a “normal” high school life so the push for us to get out sooner is there.
Looking forward to following everyone’s progress.

OurTown

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #75 on: April 20, 2018, 08:25:55 AM »
Welcome Mathew and congrats on the 800! 

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #76 on: April 20, 2018, 11:12:44 AM »
I am hopeful that my FIRE date will be Spring of 2023 at 49 YOA. At that time I'll have 20 years in at my job with the state. General plan would be for me to FIRE while my wife would continue to work an additional four more years until our daughter graduates high school. During these four years we'd live off her salary and allow the stash to grow. Target amount is $1.5M by 2023.

2017 was a decent year for us as we saved a lot of money but also spent way too much. Started 2017 with $627k in investments and ended 2017 with $811k (not including $175k in home equity or the value of our two pensions). 

2017 Gross Income- $185k (two full time jobs, wife's side gig, basement apartment rental, two AK PFDs)

2017 Savings- $88k (contributions:  two pensions, wife Social Security, two Deferred Compensation Plans, two ROTH IRAs, 401a, SEP IRA, State of AK voluntary savings account (4.5% guaranteed interest), and a Vanguard taxable account)

2017 Spending- $97k (biggest expense was our house, followed by food, travel, kids activities, and two vehicles ).

2018 is shaping up to be similar to our 2017 savings and spending. Both of us got 3-4% raises, wife's side gig is looking to bring in few more thousand, and our AK PFDs are going be $1k bigger.  Trying to get our food and beer costs down, so far we've spent $200 less per month on food and $50 less on beer. Biggest expense is going to be funding our travel. 2018 travel plans include a family trip to FL, Yukon road-trip/backpack, kiddos to the grandparents in CO, family trek to Nepal, and traveling for our kids hockey tournaments.

Very glad to join the cohort!

OurTown

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #77 on: April 24, 2018, 02:49:02 PM »
Crunched some numbers.  Savings rate for 2018 ytd is 39%.  Not bad, could be better.

Phryne

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #78 on: April 26, 2018, 05:20:37 AM »
Hi everyone: if everything goes to plan, this will be my year too!

Aiming for October 2023, as I forfeit my bonus (~15% of my salary) if I’ve given notice before that’s paid. And I’m Australian, so that works nicely for our tax year. I’ll be 47.

My company provides an option of 12 month leave of absence (to travel, or whatever) so I imagine I’ll take that before giving notice in case I don’t like ER! Ha, unlikely!!

Aiming for $1.4m and a paid off house. Currently just shy of $1m and <$170k to go on the mortgage. Our NW (excluding our home) has increased by about $25k a quarter until recently, we are going to need to save harder to make it. Hope this makes me accountable!


OurTown

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #79 on: June 08, 2018, 10:56:54 AM »
Hi everyone.  We are at $475,000 invested, over $600,000 in TNW. 

Assuming I do not increase our contributions over time, and assuming a 6% return, here are our projections for the investment portfolio:

2019=$564
2020=$653
2021=$748
2022=$848
2023=$955

If I assume the markets do a little better, here are the projections with contributions plus a 9% return:

2019=$579
2020=$687
2021=$805
2022=$934
2023=$1,074

What if we have a sucky mediocre market?  Here are projections with contributions plus a 1% return:

2019=$539
2020=$598
2021=$658
2022=$719
2023=$781

My baseline for FIRE remains at $1 million in investments with a debt free home.  In that 1% scenario I won't make it until 2027.  That's pretty pessimistic. 

I've bumped up the asset allocation to 65/35 and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.




CindyBS

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #80 on: June 09, 2018, 10:29:56 AM »
Count me in this cohort, although I probably posted for 2025 at some point too.  In 2023, I will be late 40's, both kids will be grown.

Right now the goal is sometime around 2023-2025 to be FI, no idea on when for ER.  There are a lot of things up in the air and a lot of uncertainty in our lives.  My teenage son has cancer and I have had to stop working to care for him.  He is doing much, much better and I anticipate being able to start working again part time this summer.  Full time will probably not be an option for at least a year or 2 at the most.   What he health is like, and what is going on with insurance and the ACA will dictate a lot.

However I'm pretty proud that the stache has continued to grow throughout this even though we had to cut back on savings, costs have gone up, and we lost my income.  We still save more than $40K per year and our only debt is our mortgage.   DH has a higher income for our MCOL area.


grantmeaname

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #81 on: June 09, 2018, 02:39:23 PM »
Wow, turns out my life isn't as hard as I think it is. That's super badass, welcome to the thread!

CindyBS

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #82 on: June 10, 2018, 08:25:41 AM »
Wow, turns out my life isn't as hard as I think it is. That's super badass, welcome to the thread!

Thanks, basically it comes from having FU money and being pretty financially stable for a decade or 2.  We are in our 40's, there is no way we could have pulled it off at your age.

I tell my kids over and over again, if you learn nothing from this experience - Always live below your means because if a disaster comes, you'll need the money.

Stache-O-Lantern

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #83 on: July 04, 2018, 09:09:31 PM »
Our investable assets are currently 41.5% of our target amount.

As of 1-Jan-18 our investable assets are exactly 50.0% of our target amount.


As of 1-Jul-18 our investable assets are 53.5%  of our target amount.

PhrugalPhan

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #84 on: July 09, 2018, 07:20:35 PM »
Anybody still checking in for 2023?  We're six months closer to the finish line, that's gotta count for something.  If you have some half year numbers, please post them.  OK, from me...

==============
Investments
==============
I started the year with my investments at US$841k.  My investments include: An outstanding loan to my GF, an HSA account, a 457 account, Roth IRA, brokerage account & DRIPs.  My overall balance increased $47,000 (over $888k now), but I have put into the accounts around $40,000.  That return is ... ugh - terrible.  Hopefully a year or two of this type of return will have me primed for a good spurt near the finish line (I hope).

And my pension is another half year funded/vested.  I am now vested for $30k/year, but if I left I would have to wait 9 years for it to start.  If I stay I will get it in 4 years - 8 months (but who's counting?) and it should be worth $40k/year at that point.

===============
Everything Else
===============
No major expenses so far in 2018.  I'm hoping I can keep my car running until next spring when I should try to replace it. 
My GF is down to six months(!) to go to retire & get an immediate pension.  Hard to believe but the next time I write an update here she should be starting decompressing from her work (that is... retired!).  Her TSP is doing better than my accounts, hitting a new high today.

I'm still doing the two-a-day workouts (lunchtime and after work).  The added muscle is looking good.  I've done well on ebay sales with about $1,500 year to date.

The PFH (Project From Hell) has kept me despising my job.  I just got back from a week of vacation and in less than a day I was already stressed and hating life.  This has got to stop.  I'm not sure how this is going to end, but either this gets better or I may use my FU money and threaten to walk out if this doesn't stop.  I have never felt like this about a job - EVER.  A few people know the situation there, but no one seems inclined to end this, so.....  If something crazy happens, I'll let people here know at least.

Only good things for the job is my vacation accruals increase 6 days/year starting in two months, and I get a 4% raise in a month.  Not fabulous, but will certainly help boost my spirits (and they need boosting).

================
Random Thoughts
================
Other than my GF being ready to retire, not much good happening.  Nothing tragic, but this last six months was more survival than anything else.  Looking back on these times will make me appreciate retirement all the more.

OK, lets hear from the rest of the 2023 Cohort.

OurTown

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #85 on: July 13, 2018, 11:46:40 AM »
Invested assets are $479.  I'm a little under 50% of my goal.

Phryne

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #86 on: July 26, 2018, 06:07:38 PM »
I run our accounting calendar to finish in Nov- just cause.
After a very ordinary May quarter (+$10k) the August quarter is looking much better (+$22k with one month to go).

Similar (but different) to OurTown, I did a linear projection which says we need $28k a quarter to hit our FI target ($1.4m + a paid off house) by Oct 2023. Sounds doable!

Future proofing, we have just installed solar panels. Payback is about 5 years (nice timing), but hubby has picked up a couple of shifts a week at the local pub to pay for them  (side note, he is LOVING it! I can’t see him ever not working there....) The $5k the solar panels cost is sitting on an interest free credit card (so hasn’t disrupted our savings) and we are funnelling all his pay onto that. Once this is done, I hope to install some water tanks, and pay for that in a similar way.

Environmental love, sustainability & lower utility bills for the win!!

OurTown

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #87 on: August 21, 2018, 11:02:32 AM »
I've always been a little worried about the availability of affordable health insurance in FIRE, especially if Obamacare is not available by then or is otherwise sabotaged.  However, it looks like we will have a fall back option for my wife to keep working two days a week to maintain health insurance.  I intend to keep my side gig anyway (about 10 hrs per week max), so at a minimum we should be able to downsize to part time even if we cannot fully FIRE due to lack of viable health insurance options. 

friedmmj

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #88 on: August 23, 2018, 04:27:34 AM »
My company offers early retirees subsidized health insurance with early retirement defined as 55 or older.   I will be 56 at retirement so this is a key aspect of our plan.  Problem is they don’t publish any cost schedule for how much the employee pays so I don’t know how to budget until it’s time to actually put in for early retirement.  I’m estimating it will cost $1k per month which I might be able to fund from HSA account.

I'm Fred

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #89 on: September 01, 2018, 06:19:19 PM »
Count me in for 2023.  That'll be the year our only child (hopefully) graduates from high school.  We plan to move out of this area (HCOL).  Since we don't know where we want to end up I think we'll do short term rentals all over the place for a few years until we find a place that seems right.

Bateaux

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #90 on: September 01, 2018, 09:18:55 PM »
My company offers early retirees subsidized health insurance with early retirement defined as 55 or older.   I will be 56 at retirement so this is a key aspect of our plan.  Problem is they don’t publish any cost schedule for how much the employee pays so I don’t know how to budget until it’s time to actually put in for early retirement.  I’m estimating it will cost $1k per month which I might be able to fund from HSA account.

2023 would be my so called early retirement year at 55.  I'm 50 now and would love to leave now, but with the uncertainty of the ACA going forward I'm going to keep working longer.  The current cost of retiree insurance is about $800 per month.  Figuring annual cost increases it could be  $1000 a month by 2023 or so.    It's the main factor in our FIRE date going forward and the one we least control.

wannabe-stache

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #91 on: September 03, 2018, 07:04:42 PM »
I want to jump into this thread.  A LOT of things are in flux...my family for one (1st child is 14 mos old) and my job (big changes on the horizon).

We are FI by most mustachian standards but my wife doesn't really buy into it so failure (returning to work) is not an option.  My goal is to pull the plug in 5 years at 43. the immutable laws of math will lead readers to know i am 38.

We are in a HCOL area but I would like to move to the Carolinas or somewhere similar so we can buy more house for less money.  thinking Charlotte.

I am sure i'll get shunned for this but our situation is:

- $3.2M net worth including house; $2.4M excluding the house, all in pre and post tax investments
- annual expenses ~$80-90K per year, elevated by $20K in childcare costs, $15K in property tax and insurance costs on the house.
-  we have made major improvements in the last 18 months to our expenses.  had i found MMM 5 years ago we would be MUCH better off.  We are lucky to be high earners but for the past few years we lived like it and until a year or so ago we spent way too much.  Equinox gym memberships, $$$ cars, $$$ wine, etc.

if our jobs and the market hold up for the next 4-5 years, i can't imagine having to work much longer.  my wife enjoys her job, has great pay and benefits and can work from anywhere.  frankly i look forward to tossing the golden handcuffs  and being a SAHD.

PhrugalPhan

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #92 on: September 03, 2018, 08:57:36 PM »
I am sure i'll get shunned for this but our situation is:

- $3.2M net worth including house; $2.4M excluding the house, all in pre and post tax investments
I see you're also in the $2M-$3M race group.  Nice to know we have more or less got the race taken care of.

if our jobs and the market hold up for the next 4-5 years, i can't imagine having to work much longer.  my wife enjoys her job, has great pay and benefits and can work from anywhere.  frankly i look forward to tossing the golden handcuffs and being a SAHD.
  Are the handcuffs a pension or just what?  Are they included in your net worth?  Mine are a pension though I don't really think of them as part of my net worth.

wannabe-stache

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #93 on: September 04, 2018, 12:38:16 PM »
I am sure i'll get shunned for this but our situation is:

- $3.2M net worth including house; $2.4M excluding the house, all in pre and post tax investments
I see you're also in the $2M-$3M race group.  Nice to know we have more or less got the race taken care of.

if our jobs and the market hold up for the next 4-5 years, i can't imagine having to work much longer.  my wife enjoys her job, has great pay and benefits and can work from anywhere.  frankly i look forward to tossing the golden handcuffs and being a SAHD.
  Are the handcuffs a pension or just what?  Are they included in your net worth?  Mine are a pension though I don't really think of them as part of my net worth.

i wish pensions existed in my line of work (finance).  the handcuffs i referenced are related to profit participations that i should get in 2019, 2021 and 2023.  Plus the concept of walking away from a job that pays very well but doesn't require lots of weekend work and has me home with the family by 6/6:30pm on most weeknights.

I'm Fred

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #94 on: September 08, 2018, 01:12:55 PM »
wannabe-stache - you're killing it.  Good job!

PhrugalPhan - I think I'm tracking similarly to you

I'm 49 and hope to be done at 55ish if I make it that long.  My wife and I are at 2.3m in 401k/tsp.  I am eligible for about 44k in pension if I retire today and it will increase by 1% per year worked.  No pension at her job.  The house is paid off and worth about 400k if sold and after fees etc.  There's another 300k in investments.

Reasons for still working: 1. we spend too much, 2. anticipate significant medical expenses for parents, 3. we're institutionalized, 4. padding the stash until the 401k becomes avail in 10 yrs.

wannabe-stache

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #95 on: September 09, 2018, 06:51:41 PM »
wannabe-stache - you're killing it.  Good job!


thanks.  i know it seems like i am "killing it" but my wife and i do very well and despite some naturally frugal underpinnings (i've always brought my lunch to work), until i found MMM we spent $1,000 per month on athletic exploits (high end coaches, Equinox memberships) and tons of $ on other lavish items.

on top of that i stocked away my high earnings in cash instead of low cost index funds until 2017.  face punch.  double face punch.

lesson learned.  we are on our way.

dougules

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #96 on: September 18, 2018, 10:56:23 AM »
The top of my FIRE date probability distribution curve is 2023 at the moment.  I'm joining this class.  Honestly I thought I'd already posted here since the curve has covered 2023 for a while even if not the top most likely year. 

friedmmj

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #97 on: September 22, 2018, 04:26:17 AM »
The top of my FIRE date probability distribution curve is 2023 at the moment.  I'm joining this class.  Honestly I thought I'd already posted here since the curve has covered 2023 for a while even if not the top most likely year.

I’m interested to learn more about your probability curve.  Do you have a picture you could share?  Is it based on reaching a certain net worth?

dougules

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #98 on: September 24, 2018, 11:07:28 AM »
The top of my FIRE date probability distribution curve is 2023 at the moment.  I'm joining this class.  Honestly I thought I'd already posted here since the curve has covered 2023 for a while even if not the top most likely year.

I’m interested to learn more about your probability curve.  Do you have a picture you could share?  Is it based on reaching a certain net worth?

It's nothing formal, just that my FIRE date is dependent on a bunch of changing factors like the market, spending and income, and the fact that I haven't yet completely refined the math.  I'm just going based on what my rough numbers tell me.   I suppose I could make an actual probability curve at some point when I have better math. 

Mathew675

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Re: 2023 FIRE cohort
« Reply #99 on: September 30, 2018, 08:51:11 AM »
Hey everyone. I wanted to stop in and update. Things are going well this year but a little slower than last year. The market tail wind is not as strong and the actual dollar amount of monthly savings is decreased due to taking a lower stress/pay position this past January with additional child care expenses. Still doing pretty well as we are up to almost 900k. This is 125k higher since last Sep.

I wanted to see what, if anything, you guys are doing to prepare to pull the plug. I have looked closer at my asset allocation and moving towards an 80/20 mix of stocks/bonds. Also started building up a cd reserve to draw on for the first five years. Goal is to get the liquid investments up to desired number for 4% withdrawal but not touch for first five years while we do the Roth ladder. Maybe a little conservative but we will have a long retirement if we pull it off. Outside of that it’s essentially what I saw on the stickie thread for the retirement checklist, but I was more focused on the fact that we are still five years out and I don’t want to squander any other possible efficiencies I might be able to do. Thanks all!