Author Topic: 2030 FIRE Cohort  (Read 200236 times)

Pinkman

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #200 on: May 14, 2017, 12:13:46 PM »
2030 is my FI goal
Current Age = 33
Current Net Worth = $425K
No debts, virtually all of NW is in stocks.
Just sold house, movingintoinlaws for a few months, than plan on purchasing permanent residencewith 20% down (60-80K; LongIsland housing expensive)/

Target Net Worth (FI) = $2M
My spreadsheets suggest I will hit that point in 2030 (does not account for raises, but also does not account for future children; would be happy if that was close to a wash).

FrenchStache

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #201 on: May 16, 2017, 07:24:25 PM »
Tip of the day:

You guys got to try the FI laboratory on the madfientist website. I have been adding my numbers since July 2015.  All you have to do is add three numbers: net worth, expenses, savings.  I get the expenses from mint, the net worth form personal capital and I only enter what i invest in the savings.  I figured any cash savings will be reflected in the net worth number.  It creates a really cool graph for you guys showing your calculated month FI goal, your current spending and the amount your portfolio should generate in theory.  What I love the most is the FI Date that is also calculated for you.  I know there will be many ups and downs between now and then but it's always cool when you see some months being shaved off.  I hope the madfientist has this thing dialed in because I am sure counting on it :).

meerkat

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #202 on: May 17, 2017, 06:13:10 AM »
Tip of the day:

You guys got to try the FI laboratory on the madfientist website. I have been adding my numbers since July 2015.  All you have to do is add three numbers: net worth, expenses, savings.  I get the expenses from mint, the net worth form personal capital and I only enter what i invest in the savings.  I figured any cash savings will be reflected in the net worth number.  It creates a really cool graph for you guys showing your calculated month FI goal, your current spending and the amount your portfolio should generate in theory.  What I love the most is the FI Date that is also calculated for you.  I know there will be many ups and downs between now and then but it's always cool when you see some months being shaved off.  I hope the madfientist has this thing dialed in because I am sure counting on it :).

Thanks for the tip! I just went and added my numbers back through November since I've been doing monthly updates in my journal so I already had my expenses and net worth easily available there, then it was easy to figure out my savings rate from other numbers I had. It currently shows our projection as November 2028 but we're about to try for a second child so I'm sure that's going to throw things off.

It did take me a bit to figure out where to actually start entering information, I didn't realize the buttons to get started were on the upper left corner. I kept looking for something like "click here to get started" at the end of the tutorial. 

moonpalace

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #203 on: May 17, 2017, 08:38:44 AM »
Tip of the day:

You guys got to try the FI laboratory on the madfientist website. I have been adding my numbers since July 2015.  All you have to do is add three numbers: net worth, expenses, savings.  I get the expenses from mint, the net worth form personal capital and I only enter what i invest in the savings.  I figured any cash savings will be reflected in the net worth number.  It creates a really cool graph for you guys showing your calculated month FI goal, your current spending and the amount your portfolio should generate in theory.  What I love the most is the FI Date that is also calculated for you.  I know there will be many ups and downs between now and then but it's always cool when you see some months being shaved off.  I hope the madfientist has this thing dialed in because I am sure counting on it :).

Do you include literally all money spent in "spending"? As I write that I realize it sounds like a dumb question (and maybe it is!). But I ask because I have months where my all-in spending number is super-high because I pay quarterly estimate taxes. It seems to skew the Mad Fientist's algorithm and I'm wondering if it makes more sense to keep the tax payments out.

meerkat

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #204 on: May 17, 2017, 11:43:57 AM »
Tip of the day:

You guys got to try the FI laboratory on the madfientist website. I have been adding my numbers since July 2015.  All you have to do is add three numbers: net worth, expenses, savings.  I get the expenses from mint, the net worth form personal capital and I only enter what i invest in the savings.  I figured any cash savings will be reflected in the net worth number.  It creates a really cool graph for you guys showing your calculated month FI goal, your current spending and the amount your portfolio should generate in theory.  What I love the most is the FI Date that is also calculated for you.  I know there will be many ups and downs between now and then but it's always cool when you see some months being shaved off.  I hope the madfientist has this thing dialed in because I am sure counting on it :).

Do you include literally all money spent in "spending"? As I write that I realize it sounds like a dumb question (and maybe it is!). But I ask because I have months where my all-in spending number is super-high because I pay quarterly estimate taxes. It seems to skew the Mad Fientist's algorithm and I'm wondering if it makes more sense to keep the tax payments out.

I included savings that comes out of our paychecks prior to them being deposited in our bank account (stuff like HSA and 401k contributions) and the amount on that can be variable so I added it up for the year then divided by twelve, so my savings number was [money not spent]+[annual savings/12]. I don't think doing the quarterly numbers will hurt too much long term - basically if you have enough other data - but you might have an off FIRE number four times a year?

moonpalace

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #205 on: May 17, 2017, 12:28:47 PM »
I included savings that comes out of our paychecks prior to them being deposited in our bank account (stuff like HSA and 401k contributions) and the amount on that can be variable so I added it up for the year then divided by twelve, so my savings number was [money not spent]+[annual savings/12]. I don't think doing the quarterly numbers will hurt too much long term - basically if you have enough other data - but you might have an off FIRE number four times a year?

That makes sense. I definitely like the calculator and I think I'll like it even more once I have a longer/smoother data set to enter...

Btag84

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #206 on: May 30, 2017, 04:15:16 AM »
Posting to follow. Technically I think I might hit my goal in 2028, but as people have mentioned, life happens. So I am going with 2030. NW is currently $320k all in cash and investments. No debt. No house (I am a renter).

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #207 on: May 31, 2017, 01:49:24 PM »
So, I guess I've mentioned MMM and FIRE enough now that my husband sat down this past Sunday (and Monday...) and spent nearly the entire two days reading MMM blog posts!! He is really warming up to the idea I think. :)

Hopefully the result will mean that we can graduate to an earlier FIRE year, but that is largely dependent on what we do with our current house. We can easily FIRE years earlier if we drastically downsize our house, but as long as we are in this house we will have to work.


aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #208 on: June 01, 2017, 07:23:35 PM »
So, I guess I've mentioned MMM and FIRE enough now that my husband sat down this past Sunday (and Monday...) and spent nearly the entire two days reading MMM blog posts!! He is really warming up to the idea I think. :)

Hopefully the result will mean that we can graduate to an earlier FIRE year, but that is largely dependent on what we do with our current house. We can easily FIRE years earlier if we drastically downsize our house, but as long as we are in this house we will have to work.

Congrats.  That's amazing news, and pretty rare I think from what I see from a lot of posters to have a spouse get into it so much like that.  I've also been fortunate, my wife is totally on board. 

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #209 on: June 02, 2017, 03:37:01 PM »
So, I guess I've mentioned MMM and FIRE enough now that my husband sat down this past Sunday (and Monday...) and spent nearly the entire two days reading MMM blog posts!! He is really warming up to the idea I think. :)

Hopefully the result will mean that we can graduate to an earlier FIRE year, but that is largely dependent on what we do with our current house. We can easily FIRE years earlier if we drastically downsize our house, but as long as we are in this house we will have to work.

Congrats.  That's amazing news, and pretty rare I think from what I see from a lot of posters to have a spouse get into it so much like that.  I've also been fortunate, my wife is totally on board.

Thanks, it is amazing! He now has spreadsheets, uses the word stash in sentences, and is considering a retirement number closer to 1.7M (not including our home equity) as opposed to the 2.5M he used to insist upon, after looking at my actual spending analysis from last year. He is now penciling in a possible retirement timeframe of 2023 as opposed to 2030, if we can cash out of our current big house and downsize to something that we own outright (may require moving out of the area though, no matter how small we go, as property is insane here). I am not moving to a new cohort just yet though; there is a lot of optimism in his calculations...unlike him, ha ha.

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #210 on: June 23, 2017, 09:05:11 PM »
Two Big Celebrations as we push onward to 2030!

Ten-Year Anniversary My wife and I were married 10 years ago yesterday.  Our marriage is very strong, and she's amazing.  Beautiful on the inside and out, intelligent, fun, ambitious, independent, fantastic mom, and just plain rocks.  Here's a little highlight of our past ten years:

2007 -Married, bought small condo.  Both got jobs teaching (well, I was starting year two).  2010 - My wife got a job teaching middle school spanish and esl in my district.  2011 - We decided that paying $4.00 gasoline for that commute was absurd, and we wanted to start a family.  We moved to the town where we both taught and bought a house at the very low point of the housing crisis in our area.  2012 - Dear Son was born!  2014 - Found this website...my wife and I made some big changes to how we wanted our life to go.  2015 - Dear Daughter was born!  2016 - Wife gets a job in administration working as a consultant.  (very lucky timing, job came up about 2 weeks after she finished her ed specialist degree)  2017 - We have two kids who are developing nicely, we live in a family friendly area with lots of outdoor things to do, and are enjoying life.  Working towards FIRE so we can enjoy even more time together!!!

During those years, we've taken a lot of fun domestic trips, and made lots of good memories with family and friends.  Both of us have accomplished things in our profession that we sought to do when we entered the field. 

And now for celebration #2: June Net worth Update...our net worth passed a half million this month!!!

Let's GOOOOOOOO!  Here it is:

Pre Tax Retirement     $95,053
Roth IRA Retirement     $35,274
The Stache    $130,327
Short Term Inv.    $41,800
Cash    $36,200
Pensions    $148,829
Home Equity    $126,804
Car Value    $9,700
Life Insurance    $8,600
Net Worth    $502,260

The first 250k came in the first 7 years of marriage.  The second 250k came in last 3 years. 

Looking at the last decade, the thing that sticks out the most is that LOTS OF LUCK was involved.  Basically, I'm realizing more and more that I was born on third base, hit a single, and the world gives me credit for hitting a home run.  I'm lucky that I found the right person to marry early on.  Lucky that both of us had families that got us off in life on the right foot with many privileges.  Lucky that our careers have taken positive arcs.  Lucky to have found this site to optimize all of those privileges.  Lucky to have to healthy children. 


Road2Freedom

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #211 on: June 29, 2017, 06:18:10 PM »
Setting this as our goal, but may be a stretch as Personal Capital says we have a 52% chance of our portfolio supporting our goals.  Also likely in for a rough patch at end of year due to wife's position being moved overseas.  She'll receive a severance and there's still a chance she may be kept on.  Until then, we'll keep on keepin' on.

Age: 42 (me) & 45 (DW)

Net worth: $482,632 (includes $30,342 that is in a 529 and other investments for our son who is 16)
Rollover IRAs: $120,969 (me) and $44,329 (DW)
Mutual Funds: $40,343
Roth IRA: $42,826 (me)
401Ks: $31,506 (me) and $118,387 (DW)
Cash: $54,224 (checking/savings - fluctuates quite a bit as one can expect)
529 & other college funds for our son who is 16:  $30,342

We have no debt and currently rent (long story short is we plan on moving after our son finishes HS in 2019).
« Last Edit: June 29, 2017, 06:39:48 PM by Road2Freedom »

sea

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #212 on: July 02, 2017, 05:29:04 PM »
2030 is around where we're tracking right now with our current savings rate and portfolio.  I hope it is before then as I will be 49-50, and I would like to FIRE in my 40s!.  My partner will be 45-46. The numbers are also cranking out to an investment net worth of $1.2M (not including home) which is (hopefully!) way more than we'll actually need.  Lots of variables in the air, but children are not one of them. :) 

We are currently focusing on pulling together on downpayment for a house (or multifamily property if the number crunch right).  The average home cost in my city is $170K so property is reasonable, and are currently renting at $1175 (incl utilities), so I'd love to move some of that into principal.  I also want to diversify a bit because the majority of current NW is in index funds: 401k, Roth IRA, HSA.  My partner already has property management experience, so investment properties are an option.  Housing is a big variable, future income and health insurance are up there too.

Our savings rate in the last 12 months is 41%, and I'd like that to be higher too of course.  I'm a little embarrassed about current lifestyle inflation compared to what it was even 5 years ago, but also want to prioritize things like travel while we are still relatively young.  Having goals more than 10 years in the future is difficult for motivation too.  I'd like to get there in less than 10 years, but I also think acknowledgement of "what is" at least for now is also important.  And if it's happening in 2030, it's still great.  I've been debt-free since 2010, and do use credit cards, but pay off the statement balances every month for reweards.

I am not a natural saver, I had to learn everything the hard way and even went bankrupt in my early 20s.  Post-FIRE, we want to slow travel in the winter (we've already lived in Central America), and be able to work on art, music, and personal projects without having to monetize them.

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #213 on: July 02, 2017, 07:39:56 PM »
Setting this as our goal, but may be a stretch as Personal Capital says we have a 52% chance of our portfolio supporting our goals.  Also likely in for a rough patch at end of year due to wife's position being moved overseas.  She'll receive a severance and there's still a chance she may be kept on.  Until then, we'll keep on keepin' on.

Age: 42 (me) & 45 (DW)

Net worth: $482,632 (includes $30,342 that is in a 529 and other investments for our son who is 16)
Rollover IRAs: $120,969 (me) and $44,329 (DW)
Mutual Funds: $40,343
Roth IRA: $42,826 (me)
401Ks: $31,506 (me) and $118,387 (DW)
Cash: $54,224 (checking/savings - fluctuates quite a bit as one can expect)
529 & other college funds for our son who is 16:  $30,342

We have no debt and currently rent (long story short is we plan on moving after our son finishes HS in 2019).

You are off to a great start.  Almost your entire net worth already consists of "the stache".  That will set up for some serious compounding, good for you!!!

And good luck to your wife with her job uncertainty.  Hoping for a positive outcome.

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #214 on: July 02, 2017, 07:41:50 PM »
2030 is around where we're tracking right now with our current savings rate and portfolio.  I hope it is before then as I will be 49-50, and I would like to FIRE in my 40s!.  My partner will be 45-46. The numbers are also cranking out to an investment net worth of $1.2M (not including home) which is (hopefully!) way more than we'll actually need.  Lots of variables in the air, but children are not one of them. :) 


Welcome Sea.  Yeah, I want to make it in my 40's too just for prideful reasons:)  It's a good motivator. 

Road2Freedom

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #215 on: July 03, 2017, 04:01:22 PM »
Setting this as our goal, but may be a stretch as Personal Capital says we have a 52% chance of our portfolio supporting our goals.  Also likely in for a rough patch at end of year due to wife's position being moved overseas.  She'll receive a severance and there's still a chance she may be kept on.  Until then, we'll keep on keepin' on.

Age: 42 (me) & 45 (DW)

Net worth: $482,632 (includes $30,342 that is in a 529 and other investments for our son who is 16)
Rollover IRAs: $120,969 (me) and $44,329 (DW)
Mutual Funds: $40,343
Roth IRA: $42,826 (me)
401Ks: $31,506 (me) and $118,387 (DW)
Cash: $54,224 (checking/savings - fluctuates quite a bit as one can expect)
529 & other college funds for our son who is 16:  $30,342

We have no debt and currently rent (long story short is we plan on moving after our son finishes HS in 2019).

You are off to a great start.  Almost your entire net worth already consists of "the stache".  That will set up for some serious compounding, good for you!!!

And good luck to your wife with her job uncertainty.  Hoping for a positive outcome.

Thanks and we appreciate it.

You having the pension is a big thing.  I was in the military and ended up taking a separation package when I got out 10 years ago.  I sometimes think about it now that I would've 'retired' a couple years ago, but know that I wouldn't be where I'm at financially had I stayed in.  The money I received helped build the foundation and also provided a bunch of financial flexibility over the years.

Guava

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #216 on: July 05, 2017, 10:32:22 AM »
I originally was thinking 2035 but now it looks like it will be closer to 2030, depending what life throws my way.

My starting point is about $60,000 investable assets and shared ownership of some rentals. Monthly savings target is about $2,300 while I am still in school.

When SO and I combine assets when we marry later this year, those numbers will go up nicely.

Update:
My invested assets: ~$87,000
Mortgage debt: ~$92,000
My total expected 2017 contributions: ~$33,000
DH's invested assets: ~$15,000
DH's total expected 2017 contributions: ~$12,000
Plus rental income and equity from shared houses.

We clearly have a long way to go and our minimum number is  $850,000 with a paid off house. I definitely feel a little behind in this thread and we are saving about 10% less than our target still.

Half of the year is gone and I am starting to really understand our spending and savings habits as a couple. We have had a few splurged recently that definitely qualify as life improvements. The majority kfnour assets are now tracked in a spreadsheet, our bank accounts combined, and we are just coasting as everything is automatically withdrawn yo the various accounts.

Update first half of 2027
My invested assets: ~$110,000
Mortgage debt: ~$89,000
DH's invested assets: ~$23,000

We still have way too much cash buy I am slowly fixing that.

At this rate, we could pull the trigger before 2030, but we have been talking about little bundles of joy and DH being able to stay home during that time. An extra few years of work would be well worth it to me if we could do that.

There is also discussion about selling a rental house some time next spring. The price has gone up significantly in the last six months and would net us a very nice profit (our share would be close to a year of saving contributions).

Planning to have over $150k in the market by the end of the year.

haypug16

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #217 on: August 02, 2017, 10:05:37 AM »
Tip of the day:

You guys got to try the FI laboratory on the madfientist website. I have been adding my numbers since July 2015.  All you have to do is add three numbers: net worth, expenses, savings.  I get the expenses from mint, the net worth form personal capital and I only enter what i invest in the savings.  I figured any cash savings will be reflected in the net worth number.  It creates a really cool graph for you guys showing your calculated month FI goal, your current spending and the amount your portfolio should generate in theory.  What I love the most is the FI Date that is also calculated for you.  I know there will be many ups and downs between now and then but it's always cool when you see some months being shaved off.  I hope the madfientist has this thing dialed in because I am sure counting on it :).

I just tried this and I got Jan 2031 so pretty darn close to my own calculations. :)

Snow

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #218 on: August 08, 2017, 04:02:15 AM »
Haven't done any proper math/spread-sheeting on this yet (and a bit difficult since my industry typically offers positions in 3-4 year contracts until you are really seasoned), but 2030 seems like a nice, round number to aim for. Ideally, I hope to reach FI before that time through a side hustle, but this feels safe and conservative.


Mustachio Bashio

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #219 on: August 16, 2017, 08:30:40 AM »
Finances_With_Purpose - What savings account are you using that's giving you 5% interest?

twistedfirestarter

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #220 on: August 22, 2017, 12:11:52 AM »
Hi all, I'd like to join the group, hoping to be FI a couple of years before 2030 gives me a bit of a buffer as who knows what the next decade may bring.

It all seems a very long way off but I can't help smile that compared to the rest of the population, we'll be free 20 years early.

Currently NW at £158k ($200k)

House ~ £130k equity
Pensions ~£32k (no access for 10+ years post FIRE target date)
Investments ~ £9k (index fund, £2000 deposit per month)
Emergency/DIY ~£10k (looking to reduce this)

Student loan ~ £25k (12k me, 13k mrs twisted) at 1.5% interest rate (UK Plan 1), in no rush to pay off
Mortgage ~ £29k 1.5% interest, in no rush to pay off

haypug16

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #221 on: October 13, 2017, 02:15:19 PM »
How's everyone doing? I know 2030 seems really far away but it'll be here before you know it! That's what I keep telling myself at least. I mean it's practically 2018 already! ;)

I set up some goals for the next 13 years to hit FIRE by 2030; (I saw someone else on one of the posts do this so I can't take credit but it looked helpful) Not quite sure how reasonable these goals are at the moment I may need to reevaluate them and make some adjustments, lowering the early year goals and increasing the later years as my money grows on it's own. Also can work on lowering my yearly expenses which will have a double impact on my FIRE numbers.

X= Yearly Expenses
2017 - Stache at 1x   $25,000 - I'm at $26,551.28 as of today
2018 - Stache at 2x   $50,000 - I need to save $23,448.72 in the next 14 1/2 months roughly $1,617 a month this should be interesting.
2019 - Stache at 3x
2020 - Stache at 4.5x
2021 - Stache at 6x
2022 - Stache at 8x
2023 - Stache at 10x
2024 - Stache at 12x
2025 - Stache at 14x
2026 - Stache at 16x
2027 - Stache at 18x
2028 - Stache at 20x
2029 - Stache at 22x
2030 - Stache at 25x

Road2Freedom

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #222 on: October 14, 2017, 09:19:09 AM »
How's everyone doing? I know 2030 seems really far away but it'll be here before you know it! That's what I keep telling myself at least. I mean it's practically 2018 already! ;)

I set up some goals for the next 13 years to hit FIRE by 2030; (I saw someone else on one of the posts do this so I can't take credit but it looked helpful) Not quite sure how reasonable these goals are at the moment I may need to reevaluate them and make some adjustments, lowering the early year goals and increasing the later years as my money grows on it's own. Also can work on lowering my yearly expenses which will have a double impact on my FIRE numbers.

X= Yearly Expenses
2017 - Stache at 1x   $25,000 - I'm at $26,551.28 as of today
2018 - Stache at 2x   $50,000 - I need to save $23,448.72 in the next 14 1/2 months roughly $1,617 a month this should be interesting.
2019 - Stache at 3x
2020 - Stache at 4.5x
2021 - Stache at 6x
2022 - Stache at 8x
2023 - Stache at 10x
2024 - Stache at 12x
2025 - Stache at 14x
2026 - Stache at 16x
2027 - Stache at 18x
2028 - Stache at 20x
2029 - Stache at 22x
2030 - Stache at 25x

The most important thing is that you set a goal.  You can always adjust it:). 

I've been using the new retirement age comparison with Personal Capital and have it set up from 55-60 to see how we'd fare.  We may have to push back a couple years because I've increased our annual retirement amount based on needing to cover for healthcare.

meerkat

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #223 on: October 14, 2017, 05:43:53 PM »
I had some major not-directly-financial goals that have gotten done this year and a few left to do.

We met with a financial advisor and asked him a ton of questions and he was happy to answer them all, then answer our follow up questions full of "Why"s and "But I thought that ...". Mustachianism helped me be confident that he wasn't just feeding us a line of BS, I think otherwise it would have all been too overwhelming. He's also done our taxes for the past two years and has no stake in what we're doing beyond probably bringing him our tax stuff next year again for another one hour office visit. Anyway, he helped talk my husband into vastly increasing the amount he's putting into his 401k because otherwise the money was just sitting around in our savings account with a shitty ROI. He also reviewed our investment accounts and suggested moving things to different spots and was able to back it up with why x was better than y. Where we have our stuff isn't terrible, it's just tweaking and improving to take advantage of that sweet, sweet compounding interest.

We made wills/POAs/healthcare POAs and chose guardians for our son. We also tried having a second child but it didn't take, so the IUD went back in. Knowing we're one and done certainly makes financial planning easier. We've also gotten more clarity on the details of the disability our toddler has, as much as we can at this age anyway, so that also helps get a handle on what our future financial needs will be.

To do:
Actually reallocate the funds discussed.
Increase our life insurance.
Once both of those are done, rerun the case study spreadsheet to see how things look.
Redo our kitchen to improve quality of life. (We have the money set aside already, just need to find the time to pick a GC and get started.)

haypug16

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #224 on: October 14, 2017, 05:57:44 PM »

The most important thing is that you set a goal.  You can always adjust it:). 

I've been using the new retirement age comparison with Personal Capital and have it set up from 55-60 to see how we'd fare.  We may have to push back a couple years because I've increased our annual retirement amount based on needing to cover for healthcare.

Exactly! I love having goals and I think it's especially helpful when there is such a long time between now and the end result.

How did you estimate Healthcare costs? I think I budgeted $500 a month but I can't remember how I came up with that.

Well, thanks for asking, this thread has been quiet for a while! As for us:

Ehh, doing OK. Took a bit of a step backwards this Summer and added to our credit card debt again for the first time in about 3 years. My wife is  a teacher and we did a piss poor job of saving for her Summer income shortages. Combine that with SIL having an out of town wedding (my wife was maid of honor, both my daughters flower girls), owing for taxes this year instead of our usual refund we use for summer, excuse, excuse, etc

Point is, a little stumble. Have a good plan in place ( I think) to be consumer debt free by 40 which will be 2020. So that will give us a solid decade to really pile savings so still optimistic I can make 2030/my 50th B-day. But, still a longwaytogo :)

Interesting chart/list and way of looking at it. So I'm guessing your aiming for a stash around $525K ?  That is roughly my stash/investment goal too, although my goal is $525K stash with a paid off house ($350K) and my wife's pension.

In terms of your chart my stash is now at $66K but I have about $55K in consumer debt so net of only about $11K. So, I certainly still have a lot of savings/paying off to do!!! We do have about $80K in Home equity now though and re-fied to a 15 year loan last year so that part of the equation is humming along nicely.

My goal is about $625K, though I think I could live on less I like having extra to feel more secure. This total is also just for me and doesn't include any retirement funds DH needs. We currently have a $1K mortgage with ~25 years on it. I'm trying to convince DH that we should try to get that paid off earlier, like by 2030. We've set up semi-monthly payments as of this month so that should help a little.

I have a bit of consumer debt as well. Credit Card and Student Loans. Should be done with CC debt by June of next year then I'll be tackling Student Loan debt. So I too have a lot to save.

Anatidae V

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #225 on: October 14, 2017, 07:34:53 PM »
We're doing OK. Small diversion is that I've decided to go back to university instead of my job, but since I'm doing a PhD and very likely to get a stipend it doesn't throw us off track too far at this point. We are almost at the point of more money in investment accounts than in cash, which is exciting! Our cash pile is for a deposit on a house, and since we're picky it's an awkward place to be sitting on so much cash. Fingers crossed we find something we like soon :)

Road2Freedom

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #226 on: October 15, 2017, 09:54:18 AM »

The most important thing is that you set a goal.  You can always adjust it:). 

I've been using the new retirement age comparison with Personal Capital and have it set up from 55-60 to see how we'd fare.  We may have to push back a couple years because I've increased our annual retirement amount based on needing to cover for healthcare.

Exactly! I love having goals and I think it's especially helpful when there is such a long time between now and the end result.

How did you estimate Healthcare costs? I think I budgeted $500 a month but I can't remember how I came up with that.


I probably was over conservative and estimated about $20,000 annually for the two of us.  Suppose it is from reading different articles on how much you'll spend in healthcare during retirement.  Was a bit of a shocker for me since I stumbled upon early retirement sites in the last 6 months.  I'll be 55 and she'll be 58 in 2030.

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #227 on: October 16, 2017, 09:24:40 AM »
We're doing alright here as well. Still maintaining a savings rate over 40%, but we've spent more than usual the last two months with booking some travel for next year and various kid expenses. We're still trying to figure out when we'll actually achieve FIRE. Our range is 7-13 years depending on various factors, so I went with the 2030 group here out of an abundance of caution. I'm still hoping we can downsize the house and bring it in, but we'll have to wait and see. The whole healthcare thing is a big question mark too that may impact our timeframe, so we're watching it and waiting at this point.

Bumbles8

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #228 on: October 17, 2017, 08:13:44 AM »
Reached a net worth of ~50k.

All of this is in stock pretty much.  My debt and money in my savings account pretty much perfectly eliminate each other.

Debt will disappear at some point next year (august...?) and hopefully at this point I can start a taxed account.

Just keep trooping forward.  Have also been eliminating extra clutter in my room
Woo-hoo

DebtFreeinPhilly

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #229 on: October 18, 2017, 10:22:42 AM »
We will pay off the last of our debt (car loan) by Christmas this year. The next five years (Jan. 2018- Dec. 2022) will be spent building a down payment fund for our retirement property. The following 10 years (Jan. 2023 - Dec. 2032) will be geared towards paying off the retirement home. It is anticipated that will be FIRE right around 2030.

Current Stache:
$278,000 TSP/401k (mine)
$5,000 Roth IRA (wife)
$12,000 529 Plans
$4,000 cash savings

I'm 36, DW is 36, and sons are 4 & 1. I will be 49/50 when I FIRE. Still on track!!



NorthernDreamer

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #230 on: October 19, 2017, 11:11:26 AM »
I'm chugging along too. I have been reading a bunch of FIRE blogs and lurking in these forums, getting excited (but then realizing the horizon is far away). I think we will be financially independent in 9-13 years so 2030 is my conservative estimate. Both my husband and I have very stable jobs, so I am selfishly looking forward to the next recession so that I can hopefully keep buying stocks on sale if/when that happens. Ideally closer to now rather than closer to retirement ;)

Next year my youngest will start school so we will have approximately $600/month more to invest. The year after that our ridiculous car payments will stop, which will free up another $600/month to invest. Those two things alone will definitely help propel us along. We don't really do "lifestyle creep".

I listened to a bunch of minimalist podcasts a few weeks ago and am working on minimizing my life too. Less clutter (have sold hundreds worth of crap around the house lately), less spending (have been realizing that I thought I was frugal but I still spend too much), less stupid time commitments.

It's like a breath of fresh air. I am liking this "frugal minimalist" mindset.

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #231 on: October 19, 2017, 11:53:51 AM »
I'm chugging along too. I have been reading a bunch of FIRE blogs and lurking in these forums, getting excited (but then realizing the horizon is far away). I think we will be financially independent in 9-13 years so 2030 is my conservative estimate. Both my husband and I have very stable jobs, so I am selfishly looking forward to the next recession so that I can hopefully keep buying stocks on sale if/when that happens. Ideally closer to now rather than closer to retirement ;)

Next year my youngest will start school so we will have approximately $600/month more to invest. The year after that our ridiculous car payments will stop, which will free up another $600/month to invest. Those two things alone will definitely help propel us along. We don't really do "lifestyle creep".

I listened to a bunch of minimalist podcasts a few weeks ago and am working on minimizing my life too. Less clutter (have sold hundreds worth of crap around the house lately), less spending (have been realizing that I thought I was frugal but I still spend too much), less stupid time commitments.

It's like a breath of fresh air. I am liking this "frugal minimalist" mindset.

I am on the same "frugal minimalist" kick. I have trouble getting buy-in from the rest of my house (ie, my husband), so I'm focusing on the clutter that is in my control. There's plenty of that to deal with anyway in the meantime.

haypug16

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #232 on: November 01, 2017, 11:23:02 AM »
X= Yearly Expenses
2017 - Stache at 1x   $25,000 - Check :)
2018 - Stache at 2x   $50,000 - I'm at $27,019.33 I need to save $22,980.67 in the next 14 months. I increased my 401k to 10% in October and will probably increase it again to 12% this month. 25% would max me out. My goal is to reach that by 2019 (once all my debt is paid off) but I will increase it here and there until then. I am also working on my 2018 budget and have a goal to cut spending down by $200 a month which will also decrease the amount I need to retire by $60,000 ($200 x 12 x 25)
2019 - Stache at 3x
2020 - Stache at 4.5x
2021 - Stache at 6x
2022 - Stache at 8x
2023 - Stache at 10x
2024 - Stache at 12x
2025 - Stache at 14x
2026 - Stache at 16x
2027 - Stache at 18x
2028 - Stache at 20x
2029 - Stache at 22x
2030 - Stache at 25x

Guava

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #233 on: November 02, 2017, 07:02:37 AM »
Hi guys! DH and I are both another year older now so I thought I would update our progress.

We are sitting cash heavy right now so we can build a big garage next spring. I know it doesn't fit in with a lot of the ideas here, but DH is a huge car guy and he has been wanting and saving for this garage for years. Other than that, we have just been chugging along, doing the same old thing.

Cash: $60k
Retirement: $155k
Home equity: $30k
Other real estate equity: $45k

With some misc debt, our net worth is sitting around $286k.

Interesting way to look at this haypug. Here is where I am at with a target stash of $1,350,000 (a healthy buffer built in for kids and whatnot).

2017 - Stache at 1x
2018 - Stache at 2x
have passed both of these with investments only already.
2019 - Stache at 3x should hit this before the end of this year
2020 - Stache at 4.5x
2021 - Stache at 6x
2022 - Stache at 8x
2023 - Stache at 10x
2024 - Stache at 12x
2025 - Stache at 14x
2026 - Stache at 16x
2027 - Stache at 18x
2028 - Stache at 20x
2029 - Stache at 22x
2030 - Stache at 25x

So I guess by this measure I am a little ahead. Woohoo! I am glad we are ahead because we are planning to drop to one income when we have children so our savings rate will probably decrease significantly.

haypug16

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #234 on: November 02, 2017, 08:49:54 AM »
Hi guys! DH and I are both another year older now so I thought I would update our progress.

We are sitting cash heavy right now so we can build a big garage next spring. I know it doesn't fit in with a lot of the ideas here, but DH is a huge car guy and he has been wanting and saving for this garage for years. Other than that, we have just been chugging along, doing the same old thing.

Cash: $60k
Retirement: $155k
Home equity: $30k
Other real estate equity: $45k

With some misc debt, our net worth is sitting around $286k.

Interesting way to look at this haypug. Here is where I am at with a target stash of $1,350,000 (a healthy buffer built in for kids and whatnot).

2017 - Stache at 1x
2018 - Stache at 2x
have passed both of these with investments only already.
2019 - Stache at 3x should hit this before the end of this year
2020 - Stache at 4.5x
2021 - Stache at 6x
2022 - Stache at 8x
2023 - Stache at 10x
2024 - Stache at 12x
2025 - Stache at 14x
2026 - Stache at 16x
2027 - Stache at 18x
2028 - Stache at 20x
2029 - Stache at 22x
2030 - Stache at 25x

So I guess by this measure I am a little ahead. Woohoo! I am glad we are ahead because we are planning to drop to one income when we have children so our savings rate will probably decrease significantly.

Looking Good Guava. I will note that my chart is adjusted. For example I'm saving 1x stache the first couple years then going up to 1.5x then 2x then 3x times in 2030. You may want to adjust yours to be less "jumpy" I just have some debt to clear out before I can start putting more into retirement. I forget who originally posted this chart and how they had it unfortunately or I'd repost.

Road2Freedom

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #235 on: November 04, 2017, 08:51:53 AM »
Setting this as our goal, but may be a stretch as Personal Capital says we have a 52% chance of our portfolio supporting our goals.  Also likely in for a rough patch at end of year due to wife's position being moved overseas.  She'll receive a severance and there's still a chance she may be kept on.  Until then, we'll keep on keepin' on.

Age: 42 (me) & 45 (DW)

Net worth: $482,632 (includes $30,342 that is in a 529 and other investments for our son who is 16)
Rollover IRAs: $120,969 (me) and $44,329 (DW)
Mutual Funds: $40,343
Roth IRA: $42,826 (me)
401Ks: $31,506 (me) and $118,387 (DW)
Cash: $54,224 (checking/savings - fluctuates quite a bit as one can expect)
529 & other college funds for our son who is 16:  $30,342

We have no debt and currently rent (long story short is we plan on moving after our son finishes HS in 2019).

NW - 521,381.

Figure I would do a quick update.  Won't break out the numbers, but can say that I maxed out my Roth IRA earlier this week and also bumped up our 401Ks to 20% (DW) and 25% (me) since finding the FI community back in May.

DW has also been extended to March and there's a possibility she may be kept on as the move overseas hasn't gone well.   Negative is they were acquired by a new company and health insurance is not as good and also more expensive.  May have to adjust 401K contributions in order to put money into a HSA.  Must say we were fortunate to have incredible insurance for so many years.


BeautifulDay

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #236 on: November 04, 2017, 12:55:15 PM »
I like this idea.  I think it will build more slowly than this plan in the first few years and then faster later.  But this gives me a goal to push for.  We are also finishing off some consumer debt so really slow getting started. Once the debt is gone I think our saving rate will take off.

Based on Jan numbers
2017 - Stache at 1x -   1.9. But we bought a house in 2017 with those expenses (closing/down pmt/ moving) removed we were at 1.26
2018 - Stache at 2x
2019 - Stache at 3x
2020 - Stache at 4.5x
2021 - Stache at 6x
2022 - Stache at 8x
2023 - Stache at 10x
2024 - Stache at 12x
2025 - Stache at 14x
2026 - Stache at 16x
2027 - Stache at 18x
2028 - Stache at 20x
2029 - Stache at 22x
2030 - Stache at 25x
« Last Edit: November 04, 2017, 09:38:09 PM by BeautifulDay »

Mustachio Bashio

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #237 on: November 04, 2017, 04:26:48 PM »
I like this as well!  I think my FIRE date has moved forward just a bit (or at least that's what I'm hoping), so it ends up kinda making sense with these numbers.  I'm hoping for a bit less than 10 yrs from now.

2017 - Stache at 1x   
2018 - Stache at 2x
2019 - Stache at 3x
2020 - Stache at 4.5x
2021 - Stache at 6x
2022 - Stache at 8x  I should be here by the end of the year (7k away) if I'm doing 30k a year as my goal.
2023 - Stache at 10x
2024 - Stache at 12x
2025 - Stache at 14x
2026 - Stache at 16x
2027 - Stache at 18x
2028 - Stache at 20x
2029 - Stache at 22x
2030 - Stache at 25x

BrokenBiscuits

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #238 on: November 26, 2017, 12:09:02 PM »
Hello all, hope we are all on track or better?

I set myself a target of increasing net worth by £20k up to £162k this year. Had a count up today and I’m at £164.4k with one more pay day until the year is over. So appears I will coast to 2017’s target.

I’d really like to hit 200k nw but that might be too big an ask for 2018. A nice stretch target, but realistically I think I’m aiming for closer to £190k

Not much else to report but will be back before the year is over with official targets and figures.

haypug16

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #239 on: November 28, 2017, 03:03:29 PM »
Nice job LWTG!

2017 has been good to me. I found MMM and it's been all up from there. Increased my NW by ~$20K this year and have a goal of increasing it by $30K in 2018.


haypug16

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #240 on: December 01, 2017, 09:02:04 AM »
X= Yearly Expenses
2017 - Stache at 1x   $25,000 
2018 - Stache at 2x   $50,000 - current balance $28,401.58


- $21,598.42 left to save by the end of next year. I increased my 401K contribution to 12% and will increase again in Jan, probably to 14%. Consumer Debt will be paid off by April/May 2018 and then Student Loans will be tackled over a few years (payoff goal is 8/31/2021)

I started listening to the book How to Make Your Money Last by Jane Bryant Quinn. Learning a little bit about Social Security in the current chapter. Not something I really think about with FIRE since I'll be so many years away from collecting when I FIRE that I can't really count on it. I treat it more like a bonus when the time does come.

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #241 on: December 01, 2017, 09:38:31 AM »
Checking in; we're still on track, and I'm still hopeful we can pull the date in considerably.

stash: 820k 
home equity: 610k
total NW: 1.43M

I know compared to many of the folks here, holding out until 2030 to retire would be outlandish with our numbers. But, my husband definitely leans more Bogleheads than MMM. His target is a stash of 2.5M, not including home equity, which we plan to use to pay for the younger two kids' college and a less expensive, smaller home in a L(er)COL area. My goal is to re-evaluate in about six years when our oldest should hopefully be through college. I concede that we'll need the two high incomes to cash flow his college, but after that I think we can downsize our house and at least cut back on working hours. For now, we have a savings rate over 40% and have been shifting our priorities to travel more in the meantime (travel hacking has been a wonderful discovery for us!).

rebel_quietude

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #242 on: December 03, 2017, 08:58:10 AM »
Hey everybody!

It sounds like folks are rocking it; it's great to see this thread continue to expand. I'll pile on to haypug's tracking methodology (awesome going, btw!)

2011 (first year tracked) - stache at 3.7x
2012 - stache at 4.6x
2013 - stache at 6.8x
2014 - stache at 7.9x
2015 - stache at 8.2x
2016 - stache at 10.1x
2017 - stache at 13.2x (current, with 30k estimated in the house I'm selling next year, and 560k stache)

It's amazing how quickly it goes, after that horrible grind of the first 100k (before compound interest starts really making a difference). This year's crazy market also helped.

I'm currently on track to hit FI in 2023, but since that's not tied to my expected RE year I'm sticking to the 2030 cohort. I don't have any kids yet and that's on the life list, so I'll be paying for college well into retirement.

Happy December, guys, here's to another year working toward our goals!

BrokenBiscuits

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #243 on: December 16, 2017, 06:05:44 AM »
Hello all,

I’m just checking in with my yearly update as yesterday was the final payday of the year. The plan this year was to grow networth by 20k up to £162k, I’ve exceeded targets and I’m clocking in my final score for 2017 at £165,036!   (Uk based, so in gbp)

I started recording networth sometime in 2013 (68k nw) and although I’ve always been a good saver it’s not really  until 2014/2015 I started investing. Looking at the numbers I’m close to adding 100k to my nw over the last 4 years. So 168k will be a nice milestone to look back on, representing 100k gained since I started recording. “Money comes to money” so it will be interesting to see how long the next 100k takes... I would bet under 4 (and a bit) years though.

Dec 2013 NW 68k
Dec 2014 NW 82.5k
Dec 2015 NW 110k
Dec 2016 NW 142k
Dec 2017 NW 165k

So 23k gained this year and that’s with a decent holiday and a few overindulgences compared to my much more focused 2016. Of the 23k about half is from return on investments... when you look at uk minimum wage at £7.50 an hour? You are looking at £13650 a year (based on a 35 hour week) and although I’m not quite there yet, i almost earned minimum wage from my investments this year!! I feel like I need to say that again.. I nearly earned a whole extra wage this year! It’s like I’ve created a clone and sent him out to work. If I can get this clone earning minimum wage year after year (and maybe a little more again?) then the original me will be able put his feet up, turn off the alarm and stop working the 9-5. I have chosen to live on the equivalent of minimum wage over a year before and saved the rest in some years, Fair play to those who do get by on minimum wage as a necessity and not a choice, but I think I would want a little more than that if that is going to be my lifestyle forever. So 2 clones should do the trick just for the added security for when I pack in paid work. 



So looking at 2018, using my usual calculations, I think 186k should be the target but I’ve overhit every year so far so let’s do a stretching target of 190k.

Hope everyone else can tally up this year and call it a success, whether that’s financially or just through knowledge gained to make 2018 something even more special.   Have a great Christmas everyone.



startingsmall

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #244 on: December 16, 2017, 06:14:04 PM »
I think this group fits me, too.... although we haven't yet decided whether to plow ahead with FT work or whether to do a more gradual downshift. Still, 2030 would be in the right ballpark if we continue FT work, so I'll join this group for now unless (until?) we change our plans.

I'm 38 and my husband is 33. We have a 4 year old daughter and are currently trying for #2.

I've been working for 10 years (late start due to college + professional degree), he's been working for 3 years, and we only discovered MMM about 2 years ago, so we're kind of late to the party.... but I think we're doing an okay-ish job of making up for lost time. I'd like to be a bit more aggressive with saving, but we've found a compromise between my frugality and my husband's more-spendy ways and I'm happy with the progress we're making.

2016 income: $125k in combined FT salaries, plus $22k in freelance income for me.


Net worth:
Dec 2015 - $157k (including cash, HSA, retirement accounts, and $24k home equity)
Dec 2016 - $240kish, depending on exact year-end numbers ($50k is home equity - we moved and made a larger downpayment on this house)

Updating for 2017.....

Income: combined $120k in salaries, plus $15k freelance income for me
December 2017 net worth - $330k

Engineer93

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #245 on: December 17, 2017, 06:37:22 AM »
I’ll join this group.  My goal is to retire by 40 which will be in 2033.

Aelias

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #246 on: December 19, 2017, 10:25:06 AM »
Hi folks - checking in after being quiet for a while.  Our retirement assets (401(k) + taxable) are now at around 950K--thanks market rally! 

My husband has been coming around to this slowly, largely because he's pessimistic by nature and in the broader culture, FIRE still seems crazy.  But looking at the math, even he's convinced that even with our exorbitantly high FIRE number ($2.5-$3M), even by really conservative estimates, we should be done by 2027.  Maybe as early 2024. And that's without ditching our remaining face-punchy habits!

His reaction surprised me--he was sort of pissed! He felt like it shouldn't be so easy to retire that early.  Like, who are we to just retire to a life of leisure when billions of people will struggle every day of their lives just to get by?  Especially when, thanks to lifestyle friendly white-collar jobs, we could easily work into our 60s or 70s with relatively few ill effects?  And, on top of that--we like our jobs!  We're doing interesting and worthwhile things!  Why are we quitting again? 

Another piece of this is that we have small kids, and while the idea of picking up and traveling the world has some appeal, we still want them in normal school with a normal, stable childhood.  So, that part of our retirement will have to wait, although I'm envisioning some serious summer adventures with them when they're teenagers.  And if we're not going to be able to have that footloose retirement lifestyle, maybe a few more years of work isn't the worst thing.

And then there's the inevitable recession--because this crazy economy is not going to last forever.  But no way to know when it's going to hit--1 year? 3 years? 7 years?  Would like to NOT retire in a down market if we can avoid it, thank you very much.

So, we're well into the "This is happening. So what now?" phase of FIRE planning.  It's kind of overwhelming--this idea of virtually unlimited options.  OurNextLife.org does a great job talking about the emotions and psychology of early retirement.  Really excellent blog, BTW!

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #247 on: December 19, 2017, 02:02:18 PM »
Hi folks - checking in after being quiet for a while.  Our retirement assets (401(k) + taxable) are now at around 950K--thanks market rally! 

My husband has been coming around to this slowly, largely because he's pessimistic by nature and in the broader culture, FIRE still seems crazy.  But looking at the math, even he's convinced that even with our exorbitantly high FIRE number ($2.5-$3M), even by really conservative estimates, we should be done by 2027.  Maybe as early 2024. And that's without ditching our remaining face-punchy habits!

His reaction surprised me--he was sort of pissed! He felt like it shouldn't be so easy to retire that early.  Like, who are we to just retire to a life of leisure when billions of people will struggle every day of their lives just to get by?  Especially when, thanks to lifestyle friendly white-collar jobs, we could easily work into our 60s or 70s with relatively few ill effects?  And, on top of that--we like our jobs!  We're doing interesting and worthwhile things!  Why are we quitting again? 

Another piece of this is that we have small kids, and while the idea of picking up and traveling the world has some appeal, we still want them in normal school with a normal, stable childhood.  So, that part of our retirement will have to wait, although I'm envisioning some serious summer adventures with them when they're teenagers.  And if we're not going to be able to have that footloose retirement lifestyle, maybe a few more years of work isn't the worst thing.

And then there's the inevitable recession--because this crazy economy is not going to last forever.  But no way to know when it's going to hit--1 year? 3 years? 7 years?  Would like to NOT retire in a down market if we can avoid it, thank you very much.

So, we're well into the "This is happening. So what now?" phase of FIRE planning.  It's kind of overwhelming--this idea of virtually unlimited options.  OurNextLife.org does a great job talking about the emotions and psychology of early retirement.  Really excellent blog, BTW!

It sounds like we are almost the same person! Small kids, just a bit behind where you are (832k as of last November outside of our home equity which is pretty substantial but we don't include in our FIRE calcs), and high FIRE target number (also 2.5M-3M) because of very financially conservative husband. We also are considering 2027 or even 2024 depending on a couple unknowns, and we still have very face-punchy habits. AND we want to do crazy travel with the kids, especially in summers as they age, but are pretty sure we want to stick with the "normal/stable" school/childhood. Whew. I am so happy to actually have a peer to whom I can relate. :)

Aelias

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #248 on: December 20, 2017, 01:24:05 PM »

It sounds like we are almost the same person! Small kids, just a bit behind where you are (832k as of last November outside of our home equity which is pretty substantial but we don't include in our FIRE calcs), and high FIRE target number (also 2.5M-3M) because of very financially conservative husband. We also are considering 2027 or even 2024 depending on a couple unknowns, and we still have very face-punchy habits. AND we want to do crazy travel with the kids, especially in summers as they age, but are pretty sure we want to stick with the "normal/stable" school/childhood. Whew. I am so happy to actually have a peer to whom I can relate. :)

Lol.  Glad it's not just me, FireHiker! 

I went to a really nice retirement lunch today for a colleague who's retiring at 63 (and everyone was saying, "but he's really not that old!"  I bit my tongue.).  He worked his way up through the company over decades, and you could tell he was so proud of what he'd accomplished.  Listening to him talk about all the relationships he'd miss and how he'd helped people come up through the company over the years really brought up a lot of feelings for me. Like, "OMG, maybe I DON'T want to retire early?" 

What I've found really valuable about pushing for FIRE is it is forcing me to THINK about what I want to be doing rather than just autopiloting until I'm 65.  Even if I ultimately choose to work until I'm ::gasp:: 50 or more, having made that conscious choice for reasons other than money will be worthwhile.

Bumbles8

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #249 on: December 20, 2017, 05:55:25 PM »
Interesting to see all the different people in this group.  I'm in a much different situation that the last few posts

I'll end this year at right under 60k net worth.  If a lot goes right, I could add 40k in 2018 and get to six figures right before the year ends.

Still contemplating on my FIRE number, but it probably won't matter because I'll quit before I ever reach that number and take a year off.  And that will really mess up my projections

If I could manage to work straight though, and follow the path, I could see beating 2030.  But 2030 still seems like a really nice number