The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Tyson on June 09, 2017, 11:02:57 AM
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As a former spendypants that had huge debt, fancy cars a ridiculous lifestyle and no savings, sometimes it just hits me (like today):
"Holy sh!t, I have no debt and over $320,000 in savings!".
Crazy.
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not really b/c i was always pretty frugal this just gave us a bit of an extra push. i check my numbers daily and watch them grow daily.
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Yeah. I'm reading a book right now about the troubles facing low-to-middle income families in America. They actually seem very difficult. My heart was breaking, I was thinking about ways to improve the situation, and then... it hit me. I don't deal with those problems myself! Now I go back-and-forth between guilt and pride.
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As a former spendypants that had huge debt, fancy cars a ridiculous lifestyle and no savings, sometimes it just hits me (like today):
"Holy sh!t, I have no debt and over $320,000 in savings!".
Crazy.
Yes! I often think "I cannot believe I get paid (so well) to do what I do". And sometimes I'm nervous that if people find out how much money I have in the bank, they will try to take it away from me for not "deserving" it. And sometimes I do a little dance and think "holy moly, I've been really really lucky over the past few years and I should find a way to help someone else to get a leg up".
I've been thinking quite a bit about it lately because having money gives me so many options that other people don't have and (sorry if I'm making this political) in today's world, if something happens to my rights that I don't like, I will have options to move elsewhere. (I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale, so I may be dramatizing this a bit.)
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Frequently. I paid off 130k in student loans. I think about how my brain has literally rewired itself so that I can barely imagine how stressed I used to be.
(I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale, so I may be dramatizing this a bit.)
Better to be aware that it can happen anywhere then pretend that it can't.
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
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Yea I had this happen the other day when a friend of mine got hit with an unexpected $140 expense and it ruined their whole month. I've been there, I don't think about those days often anymore, but that brought it back home and I looked at where I am with fresh eyes again and really appreciated it.
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
There was a thread a while back about what kind of car you could be driving if you took the amount you saved every month and put that into a car payment. Mine was some model Ferrari or an Aston Martin DB9, which i love. Tempting, but not really :-)
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
Yeah, right!
Wait. What?
OMG, I could get a Ferrari!
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I'm a newbie mustachian (1 month), but have been working towards frugality for years.
What's been hitting me is how unique it is to be debt free (I am a debt free millennial, it's a miracle). The ideas in this blog have completely changed how i look at other people people. I used to feel distain, apathy, or anger. Now I just feel empathy, but not bad about it. With just a little work, you can save money and improve your life. My wife's ex-father in law prides himself on being frugal (cheapest toilet paper kinda guy), but he foreclosed on his house, and had to have a double knee replacement. He was completely focused on the wrong types of frugality, and spent all of his free time playing video games/Cable TV. After the divorce, he blamed all of his financial troubles on my Wife's mother.
Empathy is good, but you shouldn't feel bad for other people. Always respect and advise as you see best, but we all steer are own ships. Storms can wreck havoc, misfortune happens that is unavoidable, and THOSE people you can feel bad for.
Be happy if your're FI, i'm working my way there!
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Yeah! I recently realized we're pretty close to FI, which is kinda crazy. At first, I didn't really believe early retirement was possible, and now (5-ish years later) I'm not sure how I ever doubted it.
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You think that's crazy, wait until you hit FIRE. Fucking unbelievable! Every damn day!
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This is probably sad for me to mention, but I actually have a recurring meeting in my personal calendar that just says "Be Happy". It pops up every day at noon.
That way, no matter what's going on, it will pop up with "Be Happy" and I'll think about how I'm in a better financial position than over 99% of the people. I'm FI. I don't have any major health issues, I love my family, etc.
It's sad that it does actually lift my mood on many days.
TL:DR - It hits me every day.
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It always hits me when I'm doing online banking and see that I got another paycheck and didn't even realize it. I'm not desperate for each pay day so sometimes I'll accidentally let a couple pile up in my checking account before transferring them. It's crazy!!! I feel so lucky. It's such a shame that so many people live with avoidable money stress.
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This is probably sad for me to mention, but I actually have a recurring meeting in my personal calendar that just says "Be Happy". It pops up every day at noon.
That way, no matter what's going on, it will pop up with "Be Happy" and I'll think about how I'm in a better financial position than over 99% of the people. I'm FI. I don't have any major health issues, I love my family, etc.
It's sad that it does actually lift my mood on many days.
TL:DR - It hits me every day.
I kinda love this.
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Yeah, just quick flashes of total happiness and peace sometimes. The sun is shining, a cool breeze is wafting through the trees, I'm playing with my dog, I am financially independent and have good health and all the time in the world for friends, family, creative stuff, travel if I want, or just to "Be." Makes me feel love, joy, peace...things like that. And I am very, very thankful.
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This is probably sad for me to mention, but I actually have a recurring meeting in my personal calendar that just says "Be Happy". It pops up every day at noon.
That way, no matter what's going on, it will pop up with "Be Happy" and I'll think about how I'm in a better financial position than over 99% of the people. I'm FI. I don't have any major health issues, I love my family, etc.
It's sad that it does actually lift my mood on many days.
TL:DR - It hits me every day.
I kinda love this.
I agree. a good reminder to practice gratitude every day. thanks for posting it.
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Yes, it hits me, because I've never had what most people would consider a high paying job, yet I'm completely debt free with a fairly high net worth and could retire anytime I choose, thanks to a lifetime of (mostly) frugal living. A little over a year ago I took a job that was paying even less, because I've reached the point where working is optional, so I don't even care what the job pays. This new (and lower paying job) is stress free and it's actually kind of fun, which is why I don't retire. It's hard to explain, but every day when I go to work, just knowing that I could leave anytime I want, actually makes it kinda fun going to work. My co-workers and supervisor would never believe it if they knew my real financial situation.... gotta luv it!
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
Whoa. For some reason, that one really hit me. I still fret about money and the long-term so I'm not always super-aware that yeah, technically we are doing pretty well.
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
Whoa. For some reason, that one really hit me. I still fret about money and the long-term so I'm not always super-aware that yeah, technically we are doing pretty well.
It stuck with me too, which is why I mentioned it. Just seemed so weird that I could actually buy a Ferrari or three, and pay cash.
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It always hits me when I'm doing online banking and see that I got another paycheck and didn't even realize it. I'm not desperate for each pay day so sometimes I'll accidentally let a couple pile up in my checking account before transferring them. It's crazy!!! I feel so lucky. It's such a shame that so many people live with avoidable money stress.
YES!!!
I've been known to look at my co-workers on a Friday and say "oh wait, did we get paid this week??" I've only made that mistake a few times, though, because the look of shock that I get upon revealing that I DON'T live paycheck-to-paycheck and don't really know/care when we get paid has made me realize that I should probably keep quiet about it. I'm so grateful to be in that position.
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Hits me every Sunday night when I realize I'm actually looking forward to Monday morning :)
Weekends are our busy time now with lots of birthday parties and get togethers. Nothing like enjoying coffee at home in my PJs on Monday morning while everyone else is rushing off to work.
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not really b/c i was always pretty frugal this just gave us a bit of an extra push. i check my numbers daily and watch them grow daily.
Who invited Buzz Killington?
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
Whoa. For some reason, that one really hit me. I still fret about money and the long-term so I'm not always super-aware that yeah, technically we are doing pretty well.
It stuck with me too, which is why I mentioned it. Just seemed so weird that I could actually buy a Ferrari or three, and pay cash.
..... and then one day you might find yourself in a situation where in a good market year your net worth increase in one year alone could pay for a Ferrari.
I could have bought a Ferrari this year (ok a rather used one, not brand spanking new) and been no worse off financially than I was 12 months ago. Madness.
..... but then just last month, despite still saving a fair chunk of my pay, i lost more money in one month than a new VW Golf would cost.
I expect to go backwards again this month too.... sigh. Prob after this month I'll have lost a not-so-old Porsche worth of cash in just 2 months.
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not really b/c i was always pretty frugal this just gave us a bit of an extra push. i check my numbers daily and watch them grow daily.
Who invited Buzz Killington?
That was a literal laugh out loud.
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It hits me every time it looks like I may have to fly overseas on the spur of the moment. I freeze, thinking OMG, how am I gonna handle that?
... then it hits me, no biggie - it's all good, I have a separate fund for that. Breathe:) - This.will.not.impact.my.finances. - at.all!:)
not really b/c i was always pretty frugal this just gave us a bit of an extra push. i check my numbers daily and watch them grow daily.
Who invited Buzz Killington?
That was a literal laugh out loud.
I always wonder about people like "Buzz Killington:)", but then I am not a natural born frugal stasher. I'm missing the frugal gene.
My secret weapon is complete focus and determination and a fire in the belly to be FI.
To me, Financial Independence is worth every bit of hard work and sacrifice necessary. FI is the ultimate goal, early retirement is just a by product that one can choose to enjoy.
It is the life of options and choices that I want which one can have, if one is FI.
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Yes, both with the savings and the "holy crap, I get paid this much to do this"
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Now that I've got my head round what we do have rather than what we could have had if I'd made wiser lifestyle, investment and spending decisions in the past, it blows my mind a little to think that DH and I are within a hairsbreadth, or less than two more years, of being able to consider ourselves FI, and we need only work after that if we want to.
Given that the title of my life script is "Live to Work" and I've played it out, sometimes enthusiastically and sometimes resentfully, for my entire post-childhood life, it's difficult to keep a grip on the fact that a time will come SOON when I will have the power to tear up that script and find out whether I really want to do all the things I've been saying I'd do if only I didn't have to work, or do nothing at all, and there will be no risk of starving or freezing because I can't afford food or heating.
I've been incubating the notion for a while so I've had time to get used to it, but I was reminded of how off the wall it was a few weeks ago when I mentioned it to my parents, who gave me that pesky script in the first place, and they were like, "But you won't be giving up work completely, will you? You do plan to stay in your current career, don't you? If you take some time off work, are you sure you'll be allowed to go back? Maybe you should think about just cutting back your hours a little if you can afford to. Your husband will keep working, won't he? Oh, worry, worry, worry." Bless them, they only want what they think is right for me and a few years from now they'll have forgotten what it was like when I didn't have time to make the 200-mile round trip to visit them every week.
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
Whoa. For some reason, that one really hit me. I still fret about money and the long-term so I'm not always super-aware that yeah, technically we are doing pretty well.
It stuck with me too, which is why I mentioned it. Just seemed so weird that I could actually buy a Ferrari or three, and pay cash.
I play this game a lot, not necessarily with Ferraris. Our area is positively infested with luxury cars, and as I'm passing one in traffic on my bike I would think, "I could go out next week and buy one of those, in cash, and drive it to work like they do; then I could go again the week after that and buy another one, of a different colour, and drive it around on weekends; and I could keep this up for quite some time."
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Yea I had this happen the other day when a friend of mine got hit with an unexpected $140 expense and it ruined their whole month. I've been there, I don't think about those days often anymore, but that brought it back home and I looked at where I am with fresh eyes again and really appreciated it.
I have tenants for whom a flat tire is an economic crisis. It's sad. And I was there once. I used to buy used tires because I couldn't afford new. I bought tires from salvage yards. Rolled pennies to buy formula. I finally got a good job that paid well, but it took me a long time to decide I wanted to be financially secure. When I think of the money I pissed away stupidly I cringe. I could have been FIREd years ago, but for stupid shit I did. Finally now, at 50 freaking 6, I see the light at the end of the tunnel, next year.
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I did this in 1998, walking out to my POS in Tennessee. I was pocketing $700 extra a week by commuting and claiming the mileage from my home office in Ohio. That $700 went into tech stocks (like Yahoo right after IPO) and then Amazon... Broadcast communications, RFID, Netscape... I dunno, I have the list that made my meager earnings worth $300k pre-2000. It hit me, just then, that I should either buy a better education or a better car with maybe a little bit of that money :)
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I heard a story on the radio about an Uber driver who worked a 14 hour shift detail his exhaustion and the hustle he was putting in to make...drum-roll...: $200. I realized I could literally not imagine working that hard for so little. I thought, "My dividends are many multiples of that every quarter."
Then I realized how far I had come because I actually delivered pizza and washed dishes for about that much money for FIVE YEARS ending in 2007.
Now I own and operate a small law firm that stealthily makes a lot of money. I save a lot of said money. I have no debts. It's been crazy to say the least.
Unrelated thought from the driving - I always look at the people with fancy cars and whatnot and remind myself there is a 95%+ chance they are debt ridden and have a significantly lower income and net worth than me - in my $7,000 used car and Wal-Mart clothes. Again, crazy.
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Fb35, I call that living under the radar. I loved not looking like I was saving my ass off. I've told this story elsewhere, but early in my career, when I was visiting the home office, I overheard someone say "I'd hate to pay her Nordstrom bill." I was thrilled to pieces to later discover they were talking about me! I always thought half the fun was not looking any different than a regular consumer sukka, except when it came to net worth.
Now, I'm FIRE and I don't give a shit. Except that those habits served me well. If you saw my current surroundings, you'd never guess I'm smarter than the average bear. Possibly richer, too.
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It hits me every night when my wife and I go for a walk through our neighborhood. Seeing all the brand new cars on the street and big screen TVs shining through the windows make us grateful for the FIRE frame of mind. Hopefully they're all just living under the radar, but I'm thinking the exact same thoughts as Fb35.
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It hits me (although I don't have nearly $300k). I think the reason is that I'm always focused on the future, setting new goals, and don't take time to appreciate how far I've come. Then in an unguarded moment it hits me and I dissolve into a giggle fit.
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Since this year it hits me every month when I get my paycheck. Then I see how much is left there from last month and then I buy some index fund stock for the leftover money. This is always 50-65% of the nett income.
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Fb35, I call that living under the radar. I loved not looking like I was saving my ass off. I've told this story elsewhere, but early in my career, when I was visiting the home office, I overheard someone say "I'd hate to pay her Nordstrom bill." I was thrilled to pieces to later discover they were talking about me! I always thought half the fun was not looking any different than a regular consumer sukka, except when it came to net worth.
Now, I'm FIRE and I don't give a shit. Except that those habits served me well. If you saw my current surroundings, you'd never guess I'm smarter than the average bear. Possibly richer, too.
Don't want to derail this thread, because it's a good one. But I agree wholeheartedly with the "look good but don't pay for it" idea. I was driving a $2,400 car until about 6 months ago when I had a net worth of about 700k. I decided to sell it because it didn't pass your test! It doesn't have to be super nice, but I can't actively look like I'm struggling. Anyway, I replaced it with a 1991 Mercedes SL300 which looks like a million bucks and actually cost $90K+ to take off the lot 26 years ago. But, consumma suckas being what they are, this perfectly awesome car had been discarded many times over and was now only 7k in perfect condition.
In case you are curious:
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-1991-Mercedes-Benz-SL-Class-300SL-t59479#listing=157676824
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My last Holy Crap! moment was a few months ago when I realized that on average my net worth is now increasing more in 2 days than it did in an entire month when I was starting out on this path 12 years ago.
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This is probably sad for me to mention, but I actually have a recurring meeting in my personal calendar that just says "Be Happy". It pops up every day at noon.
That way, no matter what's going on, it will pop up with "Be Happy" and I'll think about how I'm in a better financial position than over 99% of the people. I'm FI. I don't have any major health issues, I love my family, etc.
It's sad that it does actually lift my mood on many days.
TL:DR - It hits me every day.
I kinda love this.
I agree. a good reminder to practice gratitude every day. thanks for posting it.
Thank you for the idea - I'm going to start doing this myself :)
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Just in this last year, when I add the latest month's net worth to our graph, I am starting to see the ramp up for that exponential growth. It's such a tease.
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And this carries through into retirement. I had the cracked car windshield replaced for cash, without pain. I am not actively saving, I just don't spend all my retirement income so I keep investing the extra. Down the road I want to be in a really nice senior's residence.
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I had one of these moments last week. I was talking with a co-worker who I only see every couple years. She ended up telling me she was 1 paycheck away from killing credit card debt she'd spent 10 years slowly racking up.
The differences in our situation suddenly seemed astonishing and ludricrious. Same age, same career, same salary. She's been working here 12 years, and I've been working 10 years. We each made billions of small decisions about money. Now here we sit; me with a network of 425k, and her with essentially zero.
I congratulated her on getting out of debt. But I also felt a moment of awe for how small decisions, repeated consistently can create such a gap between seemingly similar people.
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I had one of these moments last week. I was talking with a co-worker who I only see every couple years. She ended up telling me she was 1 paycheck away from killing credit card debt she'd spent 10 years slowly racking up.
The differences in our situation suddenly seemed astonishing and ludricrious. Same age, same career, same salary. She's been working here 12 years, and I've been working 10 years. We each made billions of small decisions about money. Now here we sit; me with a network of 425k, and her with essentially zero.
I congratulated her on getting out of debt. But I also felt a moment of awe for how small decisions, repeated consistently can create such a gap between seemingly similar people.
Did that huge network help you get good jobs/sales to get a large net worth or something?
.... I don't know why I do it :(
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I had one of these moments last week. I was talking with a co-worker who I only see every couple years. She ended up telling me she was 1 paycheck away from killing credit card debt she'd spent 10 years slowly racking up.
The differences in our situation suddenly seemed astonishing and ludicrous. Same age, same career, same salary. She's been working here 12 years, and I've been working 10 years. We each made billions of small decisions about money. Now here we sit; me with a networTH of 425k, and her with essentially zero.
I congratulated her on getting out of debt. But I also felt a moment of awe for how small decisions, repeated consistently can create such a gap between seemingly similar people.
Did that huge network help you get good jobs/sales to get a large net worth or something?
.... I don't know why I do it :(
Argh! stupid phone typing. Too bad thumbs are so useful, because they are also pretty dumb.
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I had one of these moments last week. I was talking with a co-worker who I only see every couple years. She ended up telling me she was 1 paycheck away from killing credit card debt she'd spent 10 years slowly racking up.
The differences in our situation suddenly seemed astonishing and ludricrious. Same age, same career, same salary. She's been working here 12 years, and I've been working 10 years. We each made billions of small decisions about money. Now here we sit; me with a network of 425k, and her with essentially zero.
I congratulated her on getting out of debt. But I also felt a moment of awe for how small decisions, repeated consistently can create such a gap between seemingly similar people.
It is pretty amazing. The end results of two different sets of choices.
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I had one of these moments last week. I was talking with a co-worker who I only see every couple years. She ended up telling me she was 1 paycheck away from killing credit card debt she'd spent 10 years slowly racking up.
The differences in our situation suddenly seemed astonishing and ludricrious. Same age, same career, same salary. She's been working here 12 years, and I've been working 10 years. We each made billions of small decisions about money. Now here we sit; me with a network of 425k, and her with essentially zero.
I congratulated her on getting out of debt. But I also felt a moment of awe for how small decisions, repeated consistently can create such a gap between seemingly similar people.
It is pretty amazing. The end results of two different sets of choices.
I had a similar experience about a month ago. An attorney with the same years of experience and with same bi-lingual talent as me casually said she 1) owed money to IRS for failing to save enough for her self-employment taxes, 2) was surprised at the interest rate on her credit cards being 21% and 3) still owed over $150,000 in student loan debt. As I mentioned above, I have no debt and have significant savings (thank you MMM).
For some context, we met at a summer clerkship at the "big firm" that is the most competetive legal job to obtain in a multi-state region (which I promptly left because I thought it was non-sense, but that is another story).
She is not dumb and I really like her personally, but man those little choices make a big difference.
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It really hits me once a year in January when I do my financial report. There were a few different "Holy shit" categories this time around:
"Holy shit, our non-travel spending is 9K/each, and we live in downtown Vancouver and have tons of expensive hobbies."
"Holy shit, our net worth went up by 75K last year, which is only slightly less than we earned."
"Holy shit, we're 30 and 28 and have 40% of the money we need to retire."
It's glorious.
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I've got the mortgage down to the level of minor random fluctuations in the stock market.
Great when stocks go up, irritating ( nothing more) when they go down.
Hits me most days. I check my net worth far too often.
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I've got the mortgage down to the level of minor random fluctuations in the stock market.
Great when stocks go up, irritating ( nothing more) when they go down.
Hits me most days. I check my net worth far too often.
Haha. I can so relate to this. Guilty as charged. Can't help watching when it moves up and down so dramatically. Its not like i am emotinally affected by it. Just curious.
My 2019 FIRE is highly unlikely to be dictated by markets..... possibly but unlikely. I think it is number 3 on the determinants of my FIRE date now:
1. What does DW want to do.
2. Can I control my desire a fancy house post FIRE
3. What is our net worth doing.
I guess it's not number 1 because if it is between 90% - 110% of my FIRE number, that is within the margin of error as far as I am concerned. If need be I am sure I can spend 10% less.
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Just about every day. Where I am now is so far from what I conceived of as a kid that I still sometimes want to pinch myself.
It's funny, because old habits die hard, though. Yesterday I had to take the kids to Kohl's, and between two full summer wardrobes (both kids having outgrown everything from last year) and picking up a bunch of much-needed workout gear for myself (sports bras are NOT cheap!), I ended up dropping $600 -- and that was with a 30% off coupon! Total panic -- wtf? How did I do that? What was I thinking? Kicking myself for shopping while stressed and not checking prices more closely or keeping better track of how many shorts they actually needed, and couldn't I have made do with only two sports bras instead of three?
Then I remembered: it's irrelevant. A blip. Being FI means I don't have to always execute everything perfectly, I can be human and rushed and spend too much every once in a while and still be just fine.
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I had one of these moments last week. I was talking with a co-worker who I only see every couple years. She ended up telling me she was 1 paycheck away from killing credit card debt she'd spent 10 years slowly racking up.
The differences in our situation suddenly seemed astonishing and ludricrious. Same age, same career, same salary. She's been working here 12 years, and I've been working 10 years. We each made billions of small decisions about money. Now here we sit; me with a network of 425k, and her with essentially zero.
I congratulated her on getting out of debt. But I also felt a moment of awe for how small decisions, repeated consistently can create such a gap between seemingly similar people.
It is pretty amazing. The end results of two different sets of choices.
I had a similar experience about a month ago. An attorney with the same years of experience and with same bi-lingual talent as me casually said she 1) owed money to IRS for failing to save enough for her self-employment taxes, 2) was surprised at the interest rate on her credit cards being 21% and 3) still owed over $150,000 in student loan debt. As I mentioned above, I have no debt and have significant savings (thank you MMM).
For some context, we met at a summer clerkship at the "big firm" that is the most competetive legal job to obtain in a multi-state region (which I promptly left because I thought it was non-sense, but that is another story).
She is not dumb and I really like her personally, but man those little choices make a big difference.
Same. I spoke to a colleague who is on the same money as me (A$250k+). We are both on rolling three year contracts and it looks like his may not be extended. With two kids below 2, his wife now started a minimum-wage night shift job so they can save enough to pay for moving back in with his parents in a different city.
I just don't know how this can possibly happen.
It's as if him and I live in different universes. I started thinking maybe his wife was smuggled in by human traffickers that demand crazy money? It just seems impossible.
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I had one of these moments last week. I was talking with a co-worker who I only see every couple years. She ended up telling me she was 1 paycheck away from killing credit card debt she'd spent 10 years slowly racking up.
The differences in our situation suddenly seemed astonishing and ludricrious. Same age, same career, same salary. She's been working here 12 years, and I've been working 10 years. We each made billions of small decisions about money. Now here we sit; me with a network of 425k, and her with essentially zero.
I congratulated her on getting out of debt. But I also felt a moment of awe for how small decisions, repeated consistently can create such a gap between seemingly similar people.
It is pretty amazing. The end results of two different sets of choices.
I had a similar experience about a month ago. An attorney with the same years of experience and with same bi-lingual talent as me casually said she 1) owed money to IRS for failing to save enough for her self-employment taxes, 2) was surprised at the interest rate on her credit cards being 21% and 3) still owed over $150,000 in student loan debt. As I mentioned above, I have no debt and have significant savings (thank you MMM).
For some context, we met at a summer clerkship at the "big firm" that is the most competetive legal job to obtain in a multi-state region (which I promptly left because I thought it was non-sense, but that is another story).
She is not dumb and I really like her personally, but man those little choices make a big difference.
Same. I spoke to a colleague who is on the same money as me (A$250k+). We are both on rolling three year contracts and it looks like his may not be extended. With two kids below 2, his wife now started a minimum-wage night shift job so they can save enough to pay for moving back in with his parents in a different city.
I just don't know how this can possibly happen.
It's as if him and I live in different universes. I started thinking maybe his wife was smuggled in by human traffickers that demand crazy money? It just seems impossible.
It is exactly that. The sum of all small an major choices we make in life.
Every year, when we get paid out a tax free month salary in June, the newspapers have articles suggesting what you could spend it on.
For me it is a ridiculous thought to spend it all. As the amount was twice as high as what I usually get, I just bought a LOT of index fund for the money and made sure I have some left for the cheap, sleeping-in-tent holiday. But for other people it is perfectly normal to live a very different lifestyle, buying luxury cars, expensive handbags, buying expensive groceries without thinking, going out for dinner often, sleeping in hotels during the holiday. And the small daily choices. This just confirms that everyone can become pretty rich just by saving a lot and making different choices.
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I have these epiphanies every so often.
A recent one was when my investable assets crossed the $300k mark.
With a 4% withdrawal rate, that can now cover my rent/utilities, cell phone, car insurance, motorcycle insurance, renters insurance, gym membership, and still leave me with $200/month for food and fuel.
It was a profound feeling at work, I suddenly shed a lot of stress I had. All of the sudden I knew that if I wanted to walk out I can get a part time job doing pretty much anything to be more than comfortable until my situation improved.
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Like many people here, daily, or even multiple times a day. I check my personal capital app frequently. If a friend tells me they are in a pickle because their car just broke down and they don't have $ to replace it, it hits me. I actually feel a little guilty sometimes. But mostly I'm just grateful!
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
Whoa. For some reason, that one really hit me. I still fret about money and the long-term so I'm not always super-aware that yeah, technically we are doing pretty well.
This is me. My teen will be a junior this fall so the college unknown is hard sometimes. I just got word that my tiny division will be sold and benefits will take a dive with the new owner. I'm fretting about it, but there could be worse things, especially since I'm often amazed at how well I'm paid.
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Yeah. It's pretty stupid (in a good way) that this all works.
It boggles the mind, at times.
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Yeah. It's pretty stupid (in a good way) that this all works.
It boggles the mind, at times.
well and now you're probably making more with the tradelines than you expected to need in FIRE. I'd assume.
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Did not see this thread when it originally appeared, but I echo the sentiments of many especially being grateful for where we are at, especially given all the financial turmoil we've had, and also amazed to get paid so well for what I do. The latter has almost always been the situation, but the former is new, post-divorce and realizing now seven years out that even after parting with over half my net worth that I'm now further ahead than where I was while dealing with additional unexpected hurdles that drained tens of thousands of dollars.
The car comparison was a creative (and fun) way to think about. I also regularly find myself drawn to those "what is the average retirement account" articles. It's driven by the juvenile tendency all boys have to compare length, just measuring a different stick.
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Yeah. It's pretty stupid (in a good way) that this all works.
It boggles the mind, at times.
well and now you're probably making more with the tradelines than you expected to need in FIRE. I'd assume.
That sub forum went away, and i was never contacted for my cards. :(
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My favorite thing that hits me is knowing that at 26 years old, I have enough in my 'stash today that if i stopped contributing another dollar for the next 40 years, and retire at the standard 67 years old, I will have about 2 million (today's dollars), which gives me a SWR of $80,000 a year FOREVER. THAT is really cool and boggles my mind all the time. Like, I don't have to safe another penny for my entire life, and by the time i'm the age I'm "supposed to retire" I'll have nearly $4mil (2057 dollars). Woah!
quick edit: Obviously the above is not the plan! I'm hopeful my fire date is closer to 15 years, not 40!
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Yeah. It's pretty stupid (in a good way) that this all works.
It boggles the mind, at times.
well and now you're probably making more with the tradelines than you expected to need in FIRE. I'd assume.
That sub forum went away, and i was never contacted for my cards. :(
Yes! Not trying to derail this thread, but what ever happened to that? I was really excited...
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My favorite thing that hits me is knowing that at 26 years old, I have enough in my 'stash today that if i stopped contributing another dollar for the next 40 years, and retire at the standard 67 years old, I will have about 2 million (today's dollars), which gives me a SWR of $80,000 a year FOREVER. THAT is really cool and boggles my mind all the time. Like, I don't have to safe another penny for my entire life, and by the time i'm the age I'm "supposed to retire" I'll have nearly $4mil (2057 dollars). Woah!
quick edit: Obviously the above is not the plan! I'm hopeful my fire date is closer to 15 years, not 40!
That is really amazing. Congratulations! Wow, I am really impressed.
I had a talk about saving with my nephew who got his first job a few months ago. I told him that I am not going to go giving him unasked-for advice but that there was one thing I wanted to talk to him about. I suggested he save 25% or so of his income from the beginning and that he'd never regret that. Talked a bit about how I regretted not saving more when I was younger.
I will probably follow up in a few months and chat with him about this again. And then I am going to have to let it go. Okay, but when he graduates high school, I am giving him a personal finance book.
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My favorite thing that hits me is knowing that at 26 years old, I have enough in my 'stash today that if i stopped contributing another dollar for the next 40 years, and retire at the standard 67 years old, I will have about 2 million (today's dollars), which gives me a SWR of $80,000 a year FOREVER. THAT is really cool and boggles my mind all the time. Like, I don't have to safe another penny for my entire life, and by the time i'm the age I'm "supposed to retire" I'll have nearly $4mil (2057 dollars). Woah!
quick edit: Obviously the above is not the plan! I'm hopeful my fire date is closer to 15 years, not 40!
That is really amazing. Congratulations! Wow, I am really impressed.
I had a talk about saving with my nephew who got his first job a few months ago. I told him that I am not going to go giving him unasked-for advice but that there was one thing I wanted to talk to him about. I suggested he save 25% or so of his income from the beginning and that he'd never regret that. Talked a bit about how I regretted not saving more when I was younger.
I will probably follow up in a few months and chat with him about this again. And then I am going to have to let it go. Okay, but when he graduates high school, I am giving him a personal finance book.
Yeah! Assuming your nephew has 50 years until retirement, for every dollar he saves, he can basally trade it in for $20 at retirement (if he retires in 50 years). $20!!! If he saves even $10 and invests it, it will be worth $200 to him in today's dollars in 50 years. Compound interest is so incredible. If he can save $1k, that's $20k in retirement!
So, I have a net worth of just shy of $200k, which in 40 years will be $2mil (5.8% return) without even touching it or doing a thing. So cool and so crazy
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all the time. Sometimes I feel like shit when out looking at people who work a lot harder than I do (manual labor and the like), ending up with peanuts.
What is basically a flat/up day in the market still makes me more than the average worker in a week.
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all the time. Sometimes I feel like shit when out looking at people who work a lot harder than I do (manual labor and the like), ending up with peanuts.
What is basically a flat/up day in the market still makes me more than the average worker in a week.
Just curious - how does a flat day in the market make you money?
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all the time. Sometimes I feel like shit when out looking at people who work a lot harder than I do (manual labor and the like), ending up with peanuts.
What is basically a flat/up day in the market still makes me more than the average worker in a week.
Just curious - how does a flat day in the market make you money?
Dividends (prorated for that timeframe).
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a bit of an exaggeration. even a .1% rise in the market is more than most people make in a day and I did nothing.
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I'm betting this is a low bar for a lot of you here, but I feel this way sometimes when I remember I own my car. I bought it in cash so it's not the feeling of having paid it off exactly, more the idea that I can personally own something that large and powerful. I'm only 2.5 years out of college dorms, so even owning my own kitchen table is still kind of exciting.
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Another thing that I have trouble getting through to people is that what you see does not always indicate what you get.
So many people see a guy in a flashy car, or nice clothes or great house and think "Wow! They have got it together." But if they have all those things through massive debt and someone else has something more modest but no debt, whose really richer? This community understands that difference, but I think back to similar times straight out of school when I was working to afford something and my wife at the time would grumble about why we could not be more like our neighbors who had BMWs and swimming pools. After all I made above average income so what gives? I just explained over and over, that yeah you see that car in their driveway but they may have a massive payment on it, while we've got our Ford minivan which works just fine for the kids and is paid for.
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Yea I had this happen the other day when a friend of mine got hit with an unexpected $140 expense and it ruined their whole month. I've been there, I don't think about those days often anymore, but that brought it back home and I looked at where I am with fresh eyes again and really appreciated it.
I had an unexpected $600 expense last month, and while I was definitely not pleased, I was and am fine. I had the money on hand and am voluntarily tightening the belt even more this month instead of reaching into any emergency fund (where I have more money on hand in case I need it). I have a plan to pay myself back and basically I'll be back on track in 3 pay checks. I'm not gonna say I was happy paying my credit card bill that month, but I had the money to do so without it really affecting my day to day life ("oh noooo I must eat out less next month! The horrors!")
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I'm a newbie at all this, so I'm not where you all are at. I do remember when I was younger, thinking if I had a quarter million dollars, I would feel "rich". Our joint household net worth is 400-450K (my half 200-225K) which I know at one point would have made me feel financially secure. However having 2 kids and going through a divorce, I feel anything but secure at this point.
I do know I will survive, and as I know many people my age or older are not as well off, I feel grateful I have a job, a roof over my head, and feel motivated to do even better financially.
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"Holy sh!t, I have no debt and over $320,000 in savings!".
Yeah, having grown up in a very poor family, I think that on a regular basis. 18-year old me would never have believed it.
Yeah. I'm reading a book right now about the troubles facing low-to-middle income families in America. They actually seem very difficult. My heart was breaking, I was thinking about ways to improve the situation, and then... it hit me. I don't deal with those problems myself! Now I go back-and-forth between guilt and pride.
Having grown up poor, I don't need to read the book. Yes, I frequently think about how much easier my life is now: I have a functioning car, and if it breaks down, I can get it fixed. I can have whatever I want for dinner tonight, and if something goes bad, I don't have to eat it anyway. If I'm sick, I can go to the doctor -- I don't have to wait for payday or choose between my prescription or the electric bill.
Living that way is stressful, and it weighs on a person's spirit. Sometimes you just feel like you just can't keep it up -- but what choice do you have?
I agree. a good reminder to practice gratitude every day. thanks for posting it.
Definitely. I've worked very hard to break out of the cycle of poverty, but -- truthfully -- I caught some breaks along the way, and not everyone is so fortunate. I am proud of what I've accomplished, but also grateful for the opportunities I've had.
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not really b/c i was always pretty frugal this just gave us a bit of an extra push. i check my numbers daily and watch them grow daily.
Who invited Buzz Killington?
That was a literal laugh out loud.
+1
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It always hits me when I'm doing online banking and see that I got another paycheck and didn't even realize it. I'm not desperate for each pay day so sometimes I'll accidentally let a couple pile up in my checking account before transferring them. It's crazy!!! I feel so lucky. It's such a shame that so many people live with avoidable money stress.
I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
Yep, that's the way I view our accounts, too. DH happened to be looking at the monthly statement, and said, "Wait, I took out cash to buy the truck last month, and it made essentially no difference to the balance? Starting and ending balances are only $1k apart." Umm, yeah? Maybe there was an extra paycheck in the statement? Does it make a difference? - our expenses are lumpy on an annual basis, this month we'll probably spend 4x a "usual" month's expenses, due to school tax + oil prebuy + water heater replacement. Eh, there's always enough available.
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As a former spendypants that had huge debt, fancy cars a ridiculous lifestyle and no savings, sometimes it just hits me (like today):
"Holy sh!t, I have no debt and over $320,000 in savings!".
Crazy.
Yep, it's crazy!
Here's what gets my attention.
I generally recalculate our NW about every three months,
1st quarter up $64k, 2nd quarter up $40k, 3rd quarter up $35k.
That totals to almost twice our income!
Now if I could just get my two kids to graduate from college,
we could really save! :-) That's just a a little sarcasm there.
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Another epiphany today.
$258
That is how much I will gross per day after 10/2....not just on work days, but 365 days a year in my new role.
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I would love it if I could appreciate it more. I'm too obsessed with always optimizing and doing better. We could probably FIRE now but we are aiming for another 2.5 years to provide a better cushion.
Also, our yearly expenses will go up in retirement, not down, because we have no work-related expenses now (no fancy wardrobes or commuting costs), have free phones and devices, free health/dental insurance, loads of perks etc., and we will want to travel more.
Wondering if anyone else is in the same boat?
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"Holy sh!t, I have no debt and over $320,000 in savings!".
Yeah, having grown up in a very poor family, I think that on a regular basis. 18-year old me would never have believed it.
Yeah. I'm reading a book right now about the troubles facing low-to-middle income families in America. They actually seem very difficult. My heart was breaking, I was thinking about ways to improve the situation, and then... it hit me. I don't deal with those problems myself! Now I go back-and-forth between guilt and pride.
Having grown up poor, I don't need to read the book. Yes, I frequently think about how much easier my life is now: I have a functioning car, and if it breaks down, I can get it fixed. I can have whatever I want for dinner tonight, and if something goes bad, I don't have to eat it anyway. If I'm sick, I can go to the doctor -- I don't have to wait for payday or choose between my prescription or the electric bill.
Living that way is stressful, and it weighs on a person's spirit. Sometimes you just feel like you just can't keep it up -- but what choice do you have?
I agree. a good reminder to practice gratitude every day. thanks for posting it.
Definitely. I've worked very hard to break out of the cycle of poverty, but -- truthfully -- I caught some breaks along the way, and not everyone is so fortunate. I am proud of what I've accomplished, but also grateful for the opportunities I've had.
This also describes me fairly well. We were well enough off when I was a teenager but after joining the Navy, marrying my HS sweetheart and having a baby (and another and another) things were pretty tough. We also experienced the joy of running out of money before we ran out of week for several years. It makes us appreciate having freedom and options now.
MMM "arrived" in our lives just as we were accelerating our income. Seven years ago, we had a negative net worth due to an unfortunate job loss which necessitated an unexpected sale of a house we had just purchased into the worst RE market in a long time (for that area). We have saved diligently and tightened our already frugal ways. I am pleased to say that we now have a NW which is rapidly approaching 1M. I'm almost 50 and intend to retire on January 2 of 2022 (the year in which I turn 55). I owe MMM (and this forum) a great debt of gratitude for the face punches and soul searches.
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I would love it if I could appreciate it more. I'm too obsessed with always optimizing and doing better. We could probably FIRE now but we are aiming for another 2.5 years to provide a better cushion.
Also, our yearly expenses will go up in retirement, not down, because we have no work-related expenses now (no fancy wardrobes or commuting costs), have free phones and devices, free health/dental insurance, loads of perks etc., and we will want to travel more.
Wondering if anyone else is in the same boat?
Yes to the second paragraph, no to the first.
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I get weird looks at work because I get excited when council + real estate taxes come in in February... because that's what I save my end-of-year bonus for. That and prepaying a year's worth of health insurance. Honestly makes me giddy, not even kidding.
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Another thing I think about is how bad things could really get if I ever fell off this wagon.
Do you ever think "hey, I could write a check for a couple Ferraris"?
No, but now I am. :)
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The time it really hits me is when I read a news story about how much debt Americans have or how little the average American has saved for retirement. That's when it sinks in what an absurdly comfortable and fortunate position I'm in, compared to most of the herd. How can anyone stand to live knowing they're just one missed paycheck away from disaster?
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Earlier this week my car (10 yrs old) overheated dramatically while I was driving onto my office campus. First thought was "oh crap, what fresh hell is this?" Second though, was, just work the problem and find a shop nearby to get it checked out, see if I can do a quick patch fix to get it there. Then it became a bigger issue that might have to involve a tow truck, etc. When I eventually got a diagnosis and had a >$1K repair on my hands, I just reminded myself that it was nothing more than an inconvenience for me. While my monthly numbers were going to suck because of this unexpected expense, that's all it really meant. A number on a spreadsheet. It made no difference to me in actual real-world life. But I know so many people for whom this would be a big deal. People who would not have $1K of expense, but $1K financed at 18% for who-knows-how-long-until-its-paid with all the low level stress that goes along.
I remember those days, thankfully long ago, and I'm still grateful for the combination of luck and planning that let me escape them.
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Earlier this week my car (10 yrs old) overheated dramatically while I was driving onto my office campus. First thought was "oh crap, what fresh hell is this?" Second though, was, just work the problem and find a shop nearby to get it checked out, see if I can do a quick patch fix to get it there. Then it became a bigger issue that might have to involve a tow truck, etc. When I eventually got a diagnosis and had a >$1K repair on my hands, I just reminded myself that it was nothing more than an inconvenience for me. While my monthly numbers were going to suck because of this unexpected expense, that's all it really meant. A number on a spreadsheet. It made no difference to me in actual real-world life. But I know so many people for whom this would be a big deal. People who would not have $1K of expense, but $1K financed at 18% for who-knows-how-long-until-its-paid with all the low level stress that goes along.
I remember those days, thankfully long ago, and I'm still grateful for the combination of luck and planning that let me escape them.
Sounds familiar. I recently had a flat tire and found it when it was totally flat. I had been driving on it for too long and the tire was damaged. With a 4x4 Subaru, that means 4 new tires. The tires were only 1 year old. Yes, it hurts a lot mentally to have to spend so much money. But in practice we won't even notice it. That is a very fortunate situation.
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
My boss once told me that was how he knew I didn't "need" a raise - because I never knew when it was payday. There was a several year period where I didn't clock a raise while many of my needier coworkers did and I now realize it was because boss knew I wasn't starving. So don't let your boss hear you say that :)
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
My boss once told me that was how he knew I didn't "need" a raise - because I never knew when it was payday. There was a several year period where I didn't clock a raise while many of my needier coworkers did and I now realize it was because boss knew I wasn't starving. So don't let your boss hear you say that :)
The main benefit of getting paid weekly is never forgetting it's payday. On the other hand, my coworker just reminded me that it's a 5-Friday month, so we get an "extra" paycheck. Doesn't change anything for me - except this month's saving's rate will look extra nice :)
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When I eventually got a diagnosis and had a >$1K repair on my hands, I just reminded myself that it was nothing more than an inconvenience for me. While my monthly numbers were going to suck because of this unexpected expense, that's all it really meant. A number on a spreadsheet. It made no difference to me in actual real-world life.
I never thought about it that way but you're absolutely right. An unexpected expense now just makes me sad because of how it effects my spreadsheet numbers. Wow.
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
My boss once told me that was how he knew I didn't "need" a raise - because I never knew when it was payday. There was a several year period where I didn't clock a raise while many of my needier coworkers did and I now realize it was because boss knew I wasn't starving. So don't let your boss hear you say that :)
Good point, but no raises in my job. Base pay (which stays unchanged over time) plus production, so no worries for me!
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
My boss once told me that was how he knew I didn't "need" a raise - because I never knew when it was payday. There was a several year period where I didn't clock a raise while many of my needier coworkers did and I now realize it was because boss knew I wasn't starving. So don't let your boss hear you say that :)
That sucks, absolutely wrong reason to give raises.
Maybe you should have rented a big house and a Ferrari for a week!
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We hit two commas in June, and honestly it hasn't hit me. Even typing it here, I don't think I actually grasp it.
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
My boss once told me that was how he knew I didn't "need" a raise - because I never knew when it was payday. There was a several year period where I didn't clock a raise while many of my needier coworkers did and I now realize it was because boss knew I wasn't starving. So don't let your boss hear you say that :)
That sucks, absolutely wrong reason to give raises.
Maybe you should have rented a big house and a Ferrari for a week!
Yeah:) Punished for being an ant in a world full of Grasshoppers. No worries here though: Even though I didn't have the raises at the time I'm much better off than the folks that needed them - specifically since we live within our means. My boss tries to be a nice guy so he'll throw raises or bonuses out when folks cry poor - especially if they have a family.
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
I used to know, when it was the 1st and 15th of the month, but a few months ago we switched to every other friday. Now I can't remember if we got paid last friday or this friday. I also transfer money every payday, but I do it manually, and since the transferring of money is the only reason payday matters anymore, it's easy to lose track.
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My favorite thing that hits me is knowing that at 26 years old, I have enough in my 'stash today that if i stopped contributing another dollar for the next 40 years, and retire at the standard 67 years old, I will have about 2 million (today's dollars), which gives me a SWR of $80,000 a year FOREVER. THAT is really cool and boggles my mind all the time. Like, I don't have to safe another penny for my entire life, and by the time i'm the age I'm "supposed to retire" I'll have nearly $4mil (2057 dollars). Woah!
quick edit: Obviously the above is not the plan! I'm hopeful my fire date is closer to 15 years, not 40!
That is really amazing. Congratulations! Wow, I am really impressed.
I had a talk about saving with my nephew who got his first job a few months ago. I told him that I am not going to go giving him unasked-for advice but that there was one thing I wanted to talk to him about. I suggested he save 25% or so of his income from the beginning and that he'd never regret that. Talked a bit about how I regretted not saving more when I was younger.
I will probably follow up in a few months and chat with him about this again. And then I am going to have to let it go. Okay, but when he graduates high school, I am giving him a personal finance book.
I hope you emphasized the magic of "compound Interest", if not, it's worth showing him an online compound interest calculator and running some numbers. Then show him, with the calculator why starting early is a big deal.
I like this one.
http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm
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I had a coworker with some crazy money troubles (99% self-inflicted), one day he asked me what the exact dates were of the pay period in the upcoming paycheck so that he would know exactly how many days he was getting paid for. I told him i couldn't remember what the start and end days were anymore or how many days were included, although i do know which days we get the checks. He replied "That must be nice!"
Yes. Yes it is. You should try it sometime.
Every now and then, I'll find myself saying (out loud) "oh, we get paid this week? awesome!" My coworkers never fail to look shocked and amazed. I wish I could learn to better contain my surprise when I learn it's payday, but it just doesn't ever really register as something worth keeping track of. The money appears in my account every two weeks and it's always there when I need it.... so why would I worry about exactly which day it goes in?
My boss once told me that was how he knew I didn't "need" a raise - because I never knew when it was payday. There was a several year period where I didn't clock a raise while many of my needier coworkers did and I now realize it was because boss knew I wasn't starving. So don't let your boss hear you say that :)
That sucks, absolutely wrong reason to give raises.
Maybe you should have rented a big house and a Ferrari for a week!
Yeah:) Punished for being an ant in a world full of Grasshoppers. No worries here though: Even though I didn't have the raises at the time I'm much better off than the folks that needed them - specifically since we live within our means. My boss tries to be a nice guy so he'll throw raises or bonuses out when folks cry poor - especially if they have a family.
The best raise they could get would be lessons on "How to live below your means"
Maybe he could pay you to teach the lessons!
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
We have a small business, never a real pay day, cause everyday is a payday. Reviewing the bank book, my wife seems to make it to the bank to deposit receipts every two to four weeks.
Don't know why she has this aversion to banking, but it doesn't matter.
Because we are in the "Does it everjust hit you?" position.
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My boss once told me that was how he knew I didn't "need" a raise - because I never knew when it was payday. There was a several year period where I didn't clock a raise while many of my needier coworkers did and I now realize it was because boss knew I wasn't starving. So don't let your boss hear you say that :)
Yeah, it's true of co-workers too. If you don't remember when payday comes (and I suspect that's most of us here), keep it to yourself. Other people take it as bragging ... or maybe even outright lying. Nothing good comes from letting people know you have money in the bank.
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
Recently I was very much looking forward to next payday. I was a bit early with buying index funds right after my previous payment day, and I took a guess at how much I would need for the rest of the month. Then my DH changes phone provider and lost his option to log into his internet bank via his phone. We also have a code brick as an alternative method, but that had expired. He needs the code brick to order phone access. He ordered a new code brick from his bank, but the bank needs to send his request electronically to the central bank and they don't support this electronic sending in their system. They couldn't help him. They didn't tell him this for several weeks. So he hasnæt had access to his bank account for several weeks. That means that I needed to pay his credit card bill, that included a trip abroad. And i need to pay his other non-automatic bills. Luckily it just went well. My DH took over paying for some other things with his debit card. He has now opened a new account in another bank that can send him a code brick that will allow him to log into his other bank account as well.
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
Recently I was very much looking forward to next payday. I was a bit early with buying index funds right after my previous payment day, and I took a guess at how much I would need for the rest of the month. Then my DH changes phone provider and lost his option to log into his internet bank via his phone. We also have a code brick as an alternative method, but that had expired. He needs the code brick to order phone access. He ordered a new code brick from his bank, but the bank needs to send his request electronically to the central bank and they don't support this electronic sending in their system. They couldn't help him. They didn't tell him this for several weeks. So he hasnæt had access to his bank account for several weeks. That means that I needed to pay his credit card bill, that included a trip abroad. And i need to pay his other non-automatic bills. Luckily it just went well. My DH took over paying for some other things with his debit card. He has now opened a new account in another bank that can send him a code brick that will allow him to log into his other bank account as well.
Sorry if this is a stupid question. What is a "code brick"?
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
Recently I was very much looking forward to next payday. I was a bit early with buying index funds right after my previous payment day, and I took a guess at how much I would need for the rest of the month. Then my DH changes phone provider and lost his option to log into his internet bank via his phone. We also have a code brick as an alternative method, but that had expired. He needs the code brick to order phone access. He ordered a new code brick from his bank, but the bank needs to send his request electronically to the central bank and they don't support this electronic sending in their system. They couldn't help him. They didn't tell him this for several weeks. So he hasnæt had access to his bank account for several weeks. That means that I needed to pay his credit card bill, that included a trip abroad. And i need to pay his other non-automatic bills. Luckily it just went well. My DH took over paying for some other things with his debit card. He has now opened a new account in another bank that can send him a code brick that will allow him to log into his other bank account as well.
Sorry if this is a stupid question. What is a "code brick"?
Maybe it would help if Linda spelled it correctly, 'Kodebrikke' :) Just kidding, it's a little electronic device that generates a one time code for a user to remote login to your bank account. Online security for those rich Norwegians (http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/19/investing/norway-pension-fund-trillion-dollars/index.html) is way better than in the US!
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
Recently I was very much looking forward to next payday. I was a bit early with buying index funds right after my previous payment day, and I took a guess at how much I would need for the rest of the month. Then my DH changes phone provider and lost his option to log into his internet bank via his phone. We also have a code brick as an alternative method, but that had expired. He needs the code brick to order phone access. He ordered a new code brick from his bank, but the bank needs to send his request electronically to the central bank and they don't support this electronic sending in their system. They couldn't help him. They didn't tell him this for several weeks. So he hasnæt had access to his bank account for several weeks. That means that I needed to pay his credit card bill, that included a trip abroad. And i need to pay his other non-automatic bills. Luckily it just went well. My DH took over paying for some other things with his debit card. He has now opened a new account in another bank that can send him a code brick that will allow him to log into his other bank account as well.
Sorry if this is a stupid question. What is a "code brick"?
Maybe it would help if Linda spelled it correctly, 'Kodebrikke' :) Just kidding, it's a little electronic device that generates a one time code for a user to remote login to your bank account. Online security for those rich Norwegians (http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/19/investing/norway-pension-fund-trillion-dollars/index.html) is way better than in the US!
An RSA key fob? Lot's of US banks have those. I use one for my primary banking account (eTrade). I wouldn't bank or invest somewhere that didn't have that as an option.
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I really don't understand all you people who claim to not know when payday is. I've got the paydays mapped out for the next two months. I schedule transfers for the days after paydays so I don't have too much money sitting around not working for me.
Recently I was very much looking forward to next payday. I was a bit early with buying index funds right after my previous payment day, and I took a guess at how much I would need for the rest of the month. Then my DH changes phone provider and lost his option to log into his internet bank via his phone. We also have a code brick as an alternative method, but that had expired. He needs the code brick to order phone access. He ordered a new code brick from his bank, but the bank needs to send his request electronically to the central bank and they don't support this electronic sending in their system. They couldn't help him. They didn't tell him this for several weeks. So he hasnæt had access to his bank account for several weeks. That means that I needed to pay his credit card bill, that included a trip abroad. And i need to pay his other non-automatic bills. Luckily it just went well. My DH took over paying for some other things with his debit card. He has now opened a new account in another bank that can send him a code brick that will allow him to log into his other bank account as well.
Sorry if this is a stupid question. What is a "code brick"?
Maybe it would help if Linda spelled it correctly, 'Kodebrikke' :) Just kidding, it's a little electronic device that generates a one time code for a user to remote login to your bank account. Online security for those rich Norwegians (http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/19/investing/norway-pension-fund-trillion-dollars/index.html) is way better than in the US!
An RSA key fob? Lot's of US banks have those. I use one for my primary banking account (eTrade). I wouldn't bank or invest somewhere that didn't have that as an option.
Really? My Chase bank and ETrade accounts don't use RSA. Did you sign up for 2 factor authentication? I didn't realize that this was standard in the US.
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Really? My Chase bank and ETrade accounts don't use RSA. Did you sign up for 2 factor authentication? I didn't realize that this was standard in the US.
https://us.etrade.com/landing/secureid_enter (https://us.etrade.com/landing/secureid_enter)
Yea you have to sign up for it. Looks like they have a mobile app now, like most other sites use. That wasn't an option when I signed up, so I have a physical key fob, which I kind of like, but the mobile options is a good convenience trade-off. I can't log into my account unless I have my key fob with me, which I don't carry around.
I wouldn't say it's standard (my credit union sure doesn't have this option, even though they're pretty modern with everything else), but it's definitely an option for some.
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It has hit me twice lately. I'll start by saying that in our early 40s, I feel like my wife and I are way behind some of the net worth and income figures that I see posted here at MMM. So I was surprised when I did the "check your net worth percentile" calculator that was posted here the other day and found that our household net worth was in the 85th to 90th percentile range for our age.
The second time was today, when I bought an umbrella insurance policy. It was a huge hassle and I spent most of the day on the phone to get it accomplished. It occurred to me that, wow, this is a problem that you only have to think about if you have assets. When you didn't grow up that way, that's a weird realization.
Our net worth is probably lower than most people who buy umbrella insurance, and our finances simpler, in that we have no rental property and very little in taxable accounts. But a lot of our net worth is tied up in our home -- face punch, I know -- and we live in a state with a lousy homestead exemption. So I felt we'd be sitting ducks in the unlikely event of a lawsuit.
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It's definitely an odd feeling. Due to construction at work the route coming in takes you past everyone walking towards the door (fortune 500 co) so you feel like you're in a parade. As I got "the look", it occurred to me, I make six-figures and my 1988 4-door (with windows down on this 90F day) is probably the oldest car in the lot.
It hit me again as I had my leftovers for lunch out of a cool whip container, LOL.
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Hurricane Harvey brought this into focus for us. We had minor damage to our home (about $1500 to fix, quite a bit less than our deductible).
Literally 8 friends called me within 24 hours to tell me to file with FEMA so we could get help to pay for it. A few days later, my supervisor told me I'd be paid for 2 days of time off I'd taken to deal with the storm (I'm a contractor with no PTO) because they didn't want to cause a financial hardship for anyone [great company].
I very much appreciated all of the concern from everyone, but we hadn't even thought about the money. It isn't a big deal - either the 2 days with no pay or the repairs. We kinda shrugged and were looking for ways to help those who don't have the cushion to handle this. Families who sent their kids to school barefoot because everything they owned was ruined and, with their jobs closed, they have zero money to replace shoes. [Our school district is addressing these needs.]
It really brought it home to me how our choices, and, to a large extent, the luck of being born into the families we have, have protected us from financial worry and allowed us to donate to help those who haven't had the breaks we've had.
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Sorry for this being a first post but the above comment really hit home. I am a very recent FIRE enthusiast and the switch to focusing on what we spend rather than what we earn flipped the switch. We have always been big savers but I took a lot of stupid face punches over the years. We are now FI but I like what I do for a living and the company I work for. My boss is receptive to cutting back to 9 or 10 months a year over the next few years so we can travel more. I know I can walk when it it no longer fulfilling.
I recently responded with one of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams to both Texas and Florida. So much of the affected area in Texas is lower income and folks had no option to evacuate. We helped set up and organize an air evacuation of over 2100 residents who showed up with no more than a couple of heavy garbage bags full of wet clothes as their only remaining belongings. I saw similar situations when we responded to Katrina in 2005. It was an real "I can't believe how blessed we are" moment. Using some of that blessing to help others moved up a lot on my value meter.
I love this site and some of the other early retirement forums. I am in a position to point a lot of our employees here as an alternative to the standard assumptions of working and retiring and have become quite an advocate. Thanks for the constant examples of what is possible.