Author Topic: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male  (Read 6783 times)

MoonLiteNite

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Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« on: January 26, 2017, 06:32:56 AM »
Life Situation:
Single, (will NOT get legally married, will NOT have any legal kids).
Austin, TX
Age 30

Goals:
Plan is to be FI by age 40.
Current total investments is around 70k
Current living exp is around 19k/yr (this is counting house payments). I honestly do not believe that is enough, but i have done some rusty counts of previous years, and i guess i do stay under 20k/yr.
Nest egg goal is 625,000
I am saving at the full 26,800$ in tax sheltered accounts every year.
At 7% for 10 years that puts me at 500,000$. This is not counting “extra” money that will be saved in tax accounts.
Let’s get on with the numbers!

 
Gross Salary/Wages:
Hard to answer, base yearly pay is 45,760$, after shift % adjustments, BUT overtime and double time hours can be crazy and come in go. 2016 tax year Gross yearly pay was 53,000$. In 2015 it was 101,000$. I would say a save average over the next 10 years will be 55k-75k.

Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions:
401k   -    20-35%, i adjust this every month to try and hit the 18k mark without going over.
HSA    -    120$/bi-weely (3100$/yr + 250$ from employer
IRA     -    Flat 5,500$ put in once a year
Total    -    26,800$/yr

Other Ordinary Income:
ESPP   -   1,000$/yr   -   This is if the stock says flat and the 15% discount. (last 12 months company stock as doubled. I put in around 12,000 in 3 years, pulled out 26,000$ a few months ago)
Bonus   -   4,500$    -    Generally 10% of my yearly base pay. This can vary, but in my 3 years it has been 10%, 10%, 11%, if anything this number may go up next few years due to company growth.
Side work -   500$      -   Fixing computers, cell phones, xbox, uber, etc….

Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation:
Currently collecting 1,500$/mo from roommates, this has averaged out to around 1,152$/mo over the last 4 years as roommates come and go
Do not count expenses since I live in the home too.

Taxes:
Taken out out of my W2 for 2016 was 8,739$ Or around 17%? Seems kinda low?
Property taxes of around 4,000$

Current expenses:
Yearly breakdown from 2016 (oh god sorry for formatting....i tried to fix it)
Exp - amount - Notes

House                 - 2,500$~ - Personal loan to father /w interest

Home Ins           - 1,188$ - I have have no options to adjust online, I have YET to call them to see if there are any discounts I can get, or even have shopped around.

Home Maint        - 500$~ - Lights, air filters, repairs, appliances, etc...

HOA                   - 480$ - I hate my life…..

Medical              - 446$ - Health (HDHP), Dental, STD(cost varies with hours worked. I have a somewhat higher risk job than an office job, & life ins x2 (required by employer)

Utilities              - 1,100$ - Gas, Power, Water, Trash. Do not charge roommates for utilities. I have solar panels, but summer time i end up having 200$~ bills, fall, winter and spring no bills.

Internet             - 1,100$ - Entertainment, roommates, work, see bottom of post for more details

Cell                    - 888$ - 2 person “unlimited plan” with tmobile. Long story short, in 3 months this will be changing to a new yearly amount of 336$ for 2 phones in 2017.

Car ins               - 780$ - I dropped full coverage back in Aug. 2017 should be 480$ for the year! 2010 Honda fit - 85,000mi, and yes, it is a stick! Bought it before i even heard of MMM

Car fuel              - 600$ - I actually only spent 250$ in 2016, but i was able to carpool to work for 8 months. That will not be happening this year. Later on i will explain my distance from work and why i haven’t moved.

Car Maint           - 250$~ - Cost of oil, tires, air filter, wiper blades, etc…

Car taxes           - 150$~ - Inspection & registration

Food                  - 1,200$ - I rarely bought food from the store until around June. I believe this number will climb to around 1,600$ in 2017. How bad is 130$/mo for one person?

Eating out         - 1,800$ - Oops…. I consider eating out my entertainment, and i do used to do it 2 times a day! The number has dropped to 25% starting in July. I expect this to be around 500-700$ in 2017. As i said, this is my entertainment, and my social interactions with other humans.

Alcohol              - 68$+100$ - 68 = home, 2 bottles of everclear a year! And 100$ from a few nights out with friends in the year.

Personal care     - 50$~ - Body soaps, shampoo, hand wash, laundry soap, etc

Clothes              - 10$~ - Socks only. All my shirts come from volunteer work. I have more blood donation. Marathon, and BBBS tshirts than anyone wants to see.

Haircuts             - 50$~ - Normally cut my own but went out twice

Entertainment    - 200$ - 120$ on PC video games, 80$ on bowling, movies,

Vacation             - 1000$ - Most pricey plane ticket of my life, normally cost 250$, this one was at 800$ for Christmas, do NOT plan on doing that ever again.

Charity               - 500$ - Normally this number is at 0$, but i helped out a friend, and some others

Total             - 11,960$ - Seems about right. This is my first year to track my budget but i have always lived as if i still made 5$/hr.
/w house           +2,500$ -
/w land tax        +4,000$ -
After house paid off = 15,960$/y



Expected ER expenses: (optional, if relevant)
Possible to buy a used RV. 100k~

Assets:
t401k    -    17,500$   
r401k    -    9,500$
Company match/Rollover (how are these classed?) - 14,700$
rIRA    -   12,000$
LC   -   5,500$   
Taxable-   21,500$

Total    -    68,712$

401k - I do about a 75/25 split of T and R to 401k, my current idea is to be able to use the roth money to live off of until for the 5 year delay with roth ladder. This may be a mistake. Investments are broken up 25% towards SM, MD, S&P and euro growth fund (do not have access to international fund). SM and MD both have a better 10+ year track record than the S&P with my 401k plan options.
IRA - same reason as above. 100% in VFIAX
LC - NOT getting any new funds, but i do intend to keep reinvesting what is already there, currently  at 16% NAR after 8 months or so.
Taxable - Currently on hold for adding funds. Read notes on bottom of post. Currently 80% in VFIAX, 10% in VNQ (REIT) and 10% in VNUX (international fund)

Liabilities:
House   -   54,000$   - Personal loan to father @ 3.77%. Actually is this even a liability since i make money off of it? Read  further down post for more details
Car   -   5,000$      - No payments, but it does suck having to maintain it.

Some side notes:

House loan:
Father gave me 100,000$ loan to pay off my house (i had already done 100,000$ on my in 5 years. I pay him  3.77%, my bank was at 4.7% with PMI still.
Monthly payment of at least 1,000$, currently paying back around 2,500$ with est completion date of Jan 1 2019, at worst. Depending on overtime, and my next 2 ESPP and yearly bonus, it could be a bit sooner.
I decided to pay off my father ASAP and to not leverage my loan. I know the math clearly says i should take advantage of the loan and invest, but i am choosing to pay off my awesome father.

Cell phone:
I let my grandma piggy back off me, over time tmobile has creeped up our old 60$/mo plan to 84$/mo! Grandma lives far away and not tech savvy. I didn’t want to make her go through changing phones, or learning touch screen. I did find a an old blackberry that will work with TING’s 2G network. Sadly i prepaid a year on my tmobile account and can’t switch off just yet, but in a few months when the credit is up, i will be switching to ting for a huge savings!

Internet:
4 people, all gamers, roommates do HD streaming, I need access to my home PC when travelling for work. I play my games, and do personal things through remote desktop to my home computer. I also host a tor node, this is my charity to the world. This will NOT change while i have roommates. :) Also for some forgiveness points, when i signed up i refused to do it until they gave me the “promotional price for life”, my account says it is active until 2099, 3 years in and it still is active.

Car ins:
I also have a few discounts on the car, defensive driving, benefits program at work, bundled with home ins, loyalty (been with them since i was 14 years old)

Solar:
I do have solar panels, but get stiffed by the city, they even lowered the rates once again this year. When i had just 1 roommate we had NO bill, only the stupid fees and taxes on a 0$ bill. But with 4, and us working all hours of the day/night, it just gets high in the summer. I recently bought one of those smart wifi AC controllers. I will be installing this and hooking my roommates up to the system on their phones. I will ask them to turn it off if they are the last one to leave the house, and to turn it back on slightly before they get home. Do not believe they will do it, but might as well try.

The drive:
I live 22 miles from work, 1 way. Drive is 30mins-90mins depending on traffic, which depends on my current work schedule. I have tried to do the math, for an ebike/DIY ebike and i would have to nearly ride for 2 full years without missing a day. That would cover my gas bill, of course, it does save wear and tear on my car. The ride would be around 45-60min. I could easily do it, i used to ride 40miles a day for fun. Anyways, that doesn’t seem too logical since i wouldn’t be wanting to do that while working 84hrs/week with 13 days on and 1 day off. It just wouldn’t be a good ROI.
I have also debated on moving, or just renting a little place out for me closer to work and ditching my car. My yearly car exp is around 2,000$, not counting wear and tear. I suppose i could also net in another 500$/mo for a 4th person to move into my house. So i would be saving 175$/mo from car, but spending 650$ for a new place to stay, or 150$ IF i rented out my room for 500$ and it had no vacancy. Same as the bike, i do not feel this has a good ROI. The only thing it would be good for is providing me with an extra 18~hours a week of not driving.

Specific Question(s):
Do i look to be on track for FI by age 40?
As shown in at the first, i should be at 505,000$ with JUST counting the tax free accounts. So i believe with house paid off in 2 years, and taking all that extra 2500$ and putting it into tax accounts i should be around 815,000$ in 10 years? More than my goal of 625,000$

Just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas or suggestions for me?
Talk about my drive? Should i get an ebike? Move closer to work?
My spending habits?
401k or IRA changes?
Talk me out of paying off my house loan and invest instead??
« Last Edit: January 26, 2017, 06:42:29 AM by MoonLiteNite »

spicykissa

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2017, 02:10:57 PM »
Are you planning on illegal kids? The wording is a little strange. ;)

You seem to have a very detailed plan path laid out to FI. Do you plan to retire early as well? Do you eventually want to live full-time in the possible RV? Is your high-risk job something you can/want to continue to do for the next 10 years? Do you like having roommates and working 84 hours a week? Does the commute time drive you crazy or not really bother you? Do you like your house/neighborhood (sounds like the HOA sucks)? 

You're obviously in good shape, and I think it's fine to prioritize paying off your father quickly, especially if you plan on staying in the house long-term. If you don't, you may want to rethink your strategy. My general suggestion is to figure out what your ideal FI/RE life looks like, and plan accordingly, which you may already have done, but I can't tell from this post.

MoonLiteNite

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2017, 03:42:45 AM »
Quote
Are you planning on illegal kids? The wording is a little strange. ;)
"legal kids" I mean, not that i am a legally required to care of :D I love working with kids and love kids, just do not want to be forced to take care of one for 18 years.

Quote
You seem to have a very detailed plan path laid out to FI. Do you plan to retire early as well?
My current idea is to quit my company, and then come back as a contractor and get a part/full time, work at home, desk job. If i want to quit to take some time off no big deal. If i want to try and go work at mcdonalds like i always have, i can go do it. So Not really RE, but yes. I do not want to HAVE to work, but most likely see myself working maybe 520hours/yr or so.

Quote
Do you eventually want to live full-time in the possible RV?
RV might be nice for some time, but i would like a "home" that is mine. It would have to be smaller than my current one if i live alone. I plan on keeping this one for rental, unless it is a very good choice to sell.

Quote
Is your high-risk job something you can/want to continue to do for the next 10 years?  working 84 hours a week?
Love it, super fun. Only downside is lack of personal time. I mean, i can EASILY get the time off, but when i know it is fueling my early FI, it is hard to say no! FI without OT is 15 years ago, with OT it is more like 7-10.

Quote
Do you like having roommates

Roommates are 100% fine, if i do stay in this home in FI, i will keep roommates since it is a large house for one person. Currently with just roommates i am basically FI. Once you cut out all the work-costs at least.

Quote
Does the commute time drive you crazy or not really bother you?
It can suck. If i could teleport my home closer to work i would, but the math on paper says for me to stay, or at least my math..

Quote
Do you like your house/neighborhood (sounds like the HOA sucks)?   
Yeah all HOA sucks but not worth moving over. It isn't that big of a deal, just another life long fee.


Quote
You're obviously in good shape, and I think it's fine to prioritize paying off your father quickly, especially if you plan on staying in the house long-term. If you don't, you may want to rethink your strategy. My general suggestion is to figure out what your ideal FI/RE life looks like, and plan accordingly, which you may already have done, but I can't tell from this post.

I think so, just was hoping someone could point out something clearly wrong, or something i could be doing wayyyy better that i haven't thought of!
Thanks for the reply!

jlajr

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2017, 07:00:15 AM »
It all looks pretty good to me too.

You might want to look more closely at the short-, medium-, and long-term costs of that commute and the short-, medium-, and long-term benefits of reducing or changing it.

For example, would you be able - or for that matter, want - to work even more overtime if it took you less time to get to/from work? As you have mentioned, more OT = shorter time to complete FI.

I do not consider FI as being binary, and you might want to adopt that way of thinking, as well. As you mentioned, mostly passive income such as the house with roommate rental income gives you some flexibility and FI, although not complete FI.

In any case, good luck!

prognastat

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2017, 10:30:47 AM »
Goals:
Current total investments is around 70k
Current living exp is around 19k/yr (this is counting house payments). I honestly do not believe that is enough, but i have done some rusty counts of previous years, and i guess i do stay under 20k/yr.
Nest egg goal is 625,000
I am saving at the full 26,800$ in tax sheltered accounts every year.
 
Gross Salary/Wages:
Hard to answer, base yearly pay is 45,760$, after shift % adjustments, BUT overtime and double time hours can be crazy and come in go. 2016 tax year Gross yearly pay was 53,000$. In 2015 it was 101,000$. I would say a save average over the next 10 years will be 55k-75k.

Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions:
401k   -    20-35%, i adjust this every month to try and hit the 18k mark without going over.
HSA    -    120$/bi-weely (3100$/yr + 250$ from employer
IRA     -    Flat 5,500$ put in once a year
Total    -    26,800$/yr

Other Ordinary Income:
ESPP   -   1,000$/yr   -   This is if the stock says flat and the 15% discount. (last 12 months company stock as doubled. I put in around 12,000 in 3 years, pulled out 26,000$ a few months ago)
Bonus   -   4,500$    -    Generally 10% of my yearly base pay. This can vary, but in my 3 years it has been 10%, 10%, 11%, if anything this number may go up next few years due to company growth.
Side work -   500$      -   Fixing computers, cell phones, xbox, uber, etc….

Current expenses:
Yearly breakdown from 2016 (oh god sorry for formatting....i tried to fix it)
Exp - amount - Notes

House                 - 2,500$~ - Personal loan to father /w interest
Home Ins           - 1,188$ - I have have no options to adjust online, I have YET to call them to see if there are any discounts I can get, or even have shopped around.
Home Maint        - 500$~ - Lights, air filters, repairs, appliances, etc...
HOA                   - 480$ - I hate my life…..
Medical              - 446$ - Health (HDHP), Dental, STD(cost varies with hours worked. I have a somewhat higher risk job than an office job, & life ins x2 (required by employer)
Utilities              - 1,100$ - Gas, Power, Water, Trash. Do not charge roommates for utilities. I have solar panels, but summer time i end up having 200$~ bills, fall, winter and spring no bills.
Internet             - 1,100$ - Entertainment, roommates, work, see bottom of post for more details
Cell                    - 888$ - 2 person “unlimited plan” with tmobile. Long story short, in 3 months this will be changing to a new yearly amount of 336$ for 2 phones in 2017.
Car ins               - 780$ - I dropped full coverage back in Aug. 2017 should be 480$ for the year! 2010 Honda fit - 85,000mi, and yes, it is a stick! Bought it before i even heard of MMM
Car fuel              - 600$ - I actually only spent 250$ in 2016, but i was able to carpool to work for 8 months. That will not be happening this year. Later on i will explain my distance from work and why i haven’t moved.
Car Maint           - 250$~ - Cost of oil, tires, air filter, wiper blades, etc…
Car taxes           - 150$~ - Inspection & registration
Food                  - 1,200$ - I rarely bought food from the store until around June. I believe this number will climb to around 1,600$ in 2017. How bad is 130$/mo for one person?
Eating out         - 1,800$ - Oops…. I consider eating out my entertainment, and i do used to do it 2 times a day! The number has dropped to 25% starting in July. I expect this to be around 500-700$ in 2017. As i said, this is my entertainment, and my social interactions with other humans.
Alcohol              - 68$+100$ - 68 = home, 2 bottles of everclear a year! And 100$ from a few nights out with friends in the year.
Personal care     - 50$~ - Body soaps, shampoo, hand wash, laundry soap, etc
Clothes              - 10$~ - Socks only. All my shirts come from volunteer work. I have more blood donation. Marathon, and BBBS tshirts than anyone wants to see.
Haircuts             - 50$~ - Normally cut my own but went out twice
Entertainment    - 200$ - 120$ on PC video games, 80$ on bowling, movies,
Vacation             - 1000$ - Most pricey plane ticket of my life, normally cost 250$, this one was at 800$ for Christmas, do NOT plan on doing that ever again.
Charity               - 500$ - Normally this number is at 0$, but i helped out a friend, and some others

Total             - 11,960$ - Seems about right. This is my first year to track my budget but i have always lived as if i still made 5$/hr.
/w house           +2,500$ -
/w land tax        +4,000$ -
After house paid off = 15,960$/y


Specific Question(s):
Do i look to be on track for FI by age 40?
As shown in at the first, i should be at 505,000$ with JUST counting the tax free accounts. So i believe with house paid off in 2 years, and taking all that extra 2500$ and putting it into tax accounts i should be around 815,000$ in 10 years? More than my goal of 625,000$

Just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas or suggestions for me?
Talk about my drive? Should i get an ebike? Move closer to work?
My spending habits?
401k or IRA changes?
Talk me out of paying off my house loan and invest instead??

I mean it sounds like even without changing anything you are well on your track to be done by 40. Any improvements would simply speed up the time to FIRE.

It also sounds like you have already determined some places to save costs like the cellular plan. If you find ways to shave costs like that plus work hard at work to get raises that outpace inflation and make sure you put the increases and windfalls towards FIRE and maintain your current lifestyle you might even be done a few years sooner.

Do i look to be on track for FI by age 40? Yes
Talk about my drive? Should i get an ebike? Move closer to work? It sounds like you are in a super sweet housing situation so unless you can somehow find a better deal moving closer might not lead to any savings. If you live close to your grocery stores maybe bike/ebike there for groceries to save expenses on gas plus improve your physical health.
My spending habits? I think you have addressed most things I could see already in things you either recently changed or are planning on changing asap.
401k or IRA changes? It sounds like you have it planned pretty solidly, is your employer's 401k plan capable of doing a Mega backdoor Roth? If so this may be worth it to get funds for the 5 year period before the conversion ladder allows withdraws and allow you to put more of your regular contribution towards traditional over roth.
Talk me out of paying off my house loan and invest instead??
This depends on your dad. I would say if he is retired himself and doesn't need the money and is fine with you paying it off at the originally agreed rate and investing the rest then by all means prioritize your FIRE. If however he is delaying his own retirement or having to drastically cut his spending in retirement etc due to having this money not invested then I would say pay him off as soon as possible.

Some tips:
- If you aren't already using mint or something similar start using it to track all your incoming and outgoing money. This is a good way to find out where small % of expenses can be shaved down.
- See if you can expand any of you side hustles to add some additional income and put all of it towards your investments.
- Steel yourself for market fluctuations so you won't panic and pull money out or adjust your investments based on fear.
- Make sure you take care of your health through regular workout and also a balanced diet. Quickest way to ruin FIRE is medical expenses. Not all of it can be avoided, but many can by maintaining your health.

« Last Edit: January 27, 2017, 10:32:48 AM by prognastat »

JoJo

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2017, 11:26:55 AM »
Quote
Are you planning on illegal kids? The wording is a little strange. ;)
"legal kids" I mean, not that i am a legally required to care of :D I love working with kids and love kids, just do not want to be forced to take care of one for 18 years.


I really hope you don't get anyone pregnant.  #deadbeatdad

BlueHouse

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2017, 07:37:17 AM »
Quote
Are you planning on illegal kids? The wording is a little strange. ;)
"legal kids" I mean, not that i am a legally required to care of :D I love working with kids and love kids, just do not want to be forced to take care of one for 18 years.


I really hope you don't get anyone pregnant.  #deadbeatdad

I'm not sure if your wording is just a poor choice or if you misunderstand how the law works.
If you are biological father to a child,  from within a legal marriage or not, you are responsible for the child until 18 (and sometimes beyond)
If you are not a biological or adopted father, then I think you will get the protection you are looking for.  Just be very careful whenever you have sex.  2 condoms, spermicide, etc.  You don't get much of a choice after conception, so make sure it never comes to that. 

seattlecyclone

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2017, 11:20:17 AM »
Just be very careful whenever you have sex.  2 condoms, spermicide, etc.  You don't get much of a choice after conception, so make sure it never comes to that. 

The bolded bit is a very bad idea. The condoms can rub against each other, which increases the risk of tearing. One is better than two.

FIRE me

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2017, 07:36:42 PM »
Quote
Are you planning on illegal kids? The wording is a little strange. ;)
"legal kids" I mean, not that i am a legally required to care of :D I love working with kids and love kids, just do not want to be forced to take care of one for 18 years.

Unless you happen to be gay, maybe consider a vasectomy? It would be the best way to ensure you don't become an accidental Dad.

Metric Mouse

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2017, 08:14:11 PM »
Quote
Are you planning on illegal kids? The wording is a little strange. ;)
"legal kids" I mean, not that i am a legally required to care of :D I love working with kids and love kids, just do not want to be forced to take care of one for 18 years.


I really hope you don't get anyone pregnant.  #deadbeatdad

I'm not sure if your wording is just a poor choice or if you misunderstand how the law works.
If you are biological father to a child,  from within a legal marriage or not, you are responsible for the child until 18 (and sometimes beyond)
If you are not a biological or adopted father, then I think you will get the protection you are looking for.  Just be very careful whenever you have sex.  2 condoms, spermicide, etc.  You don't get much of a choice after conception, so make sure it never comes to that.
Point - Doubling up on condoms actually reduces their effectiveness. Would not suggest.

JoJo

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2017, 10:25:26 AM »
 I love how this really long case study has turned into a discussion on contraception due to a single comment in the case study.  LOL.

BlueHouse

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2017, 09:56:34 AM »
I love how this really long case study has turned into a discussion on contraception due to a single comment in the case study.  LOL.
Well, I learned something, so it was worth it to me. 

Accidental Fire

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2017, 05:15:59 PM »
Regarding the possibility of moving from your OP...  you said  "The only thing it would be good for is providing me with an extra 18~hours a week of not driving."

You sound pretty health conscious or at least active, and coming from someone who also thinks nothing of a 40 mile bike ride and races on the side, my advice would be to reconsider this.  Think about it, 18 hours a week!  The health of your mind, your body, and the reduced stress and freedom from commuting are HUGE things that you should think more about. I started my career out driving 2.5 hours a day for my job, and I got fat, overstressed, and wasted so much money and time that I had no motivation to exercise. Exercise and activity are keys to a healthy life, and I think if you ditched the commute and lived closer to your job your dreams of FIRE will be MUCH easier to achieve.

csdreaming

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2017, 02:53:12 AM »
Posting to following

> As shown in at the first, i should be at 505,000$ with JUST counting the tax free accounts.

Where do you get 505k from? You listed 26,800 + 1,000 a year for the retirement accounts. The traditional accounts are not tax free.

26.8k * 10 = 268k for the retirement accounts for the base. I haven't looked at MMM's assumed 7% compound growth, but it seems pretty far from 500k.

So, my thoughts:

You didn't list your savings rate. Alot of your expenses for this year were one off (plane ticket, charity) and you didn't give us likely expenses for next year. You should list both for a more concert estimation.

With that said, you are filling all the retirement options to the max, congrats!

Your expenses are honestly not bad and paying for Grandma's cell phone is understandable. Pay off your father's loan and your mortgage and then put in a taxable account. (I will not suggest you invest in a taxable account before that since that will eventually affect your tIRA contributions.) Debt pay off should be added to your savings rate. Only the interest should be consider a 'real' expense.

FinancialWarrior

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Re: Case Study: General advice - average 30 single male
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2017, 09:49:25 AM »
Medical              - 446$ - Health (HDHP), Dental, STD(cost varies with hours worked. I have a somewhat higher risk job than an office job, & life ins x2 (required by employer)

How is it possible that a life insurance policy that you pay for is required by your employer?  I've heard of it being a required selection, but only when the employer is the one paying for it.  Doesn't really seem legal to me -- or necessary right now if you have no dependents or spouse.  Might be worth looking into.