Author Topic: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)  (Read 3223 times)

clarkfan1979

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pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« on: December 28, 2019, 06:44:59 PM »
My wife and I are feeling a high level of gratitude for being very close to creating our perfect life. One negative side effect of being so close to creating our perfect life, is that I'm starting to lose my motivation for reaching FIRE.

We started our journey in August 2011 with a combined net worth of zero. Mostly through leveraged real estate we went from zero to 730K in 8.5 years, while averaging 85K/year in total income (including rental income). We have 100K in retirement accounts, 600K in real estate equity, 60K in cash and 30K in student loans.

My wife switched to part-time in May 2015. We welcomed our son in May 2017. I teach community college and work 32-35 hours/week (M-Th), a little less than 8 months/year. When averaged over 52 weeks, I work 21 hours/week. My wife works 15/hours week.

I make 52K/year. My wife makes 13K/year. We currently cash-flow around 15K/year in real estate income after vacancy and repairs. This brings our total income around 80K/year. For savings, I have 833/month that goes into a 403b, we have 1600/month in principle pay down on the rentals and we have around 600 in cash left over after every month. Our current expenses are 4700/month with paying 200/month in student loans. Our total income is 5300/month.

Our net worth is around 730K. I think our FIRE number is around 1.5 million. We could cut our spending a little or maybe take on more work, but I'm having a hard time seeing the value in that. I love my job and could see myself working there until I'm 70. I get enough time off to pursue all of my other passions and hobbies. My wife currently enjoys her part-time job. It's more fun than sitting at home all day with our 2-year old son.

The only thing I'm currently working on is trying to cut our total food budget from $1,000/month to $800/month and put the extra $200/month toward my student loans. Other than that, I think our budget is pretty well optimized based on what we value.






brooklynmoney

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2019, 08:33:37 PM »
Sounds like no reason to rush towards FIRE. Sounds like a life well lived which is I think the whole point of this thing.

RWTL

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2019, 03:42:56 AM »
Congrats on finding a balance that you are happy with.  Sounds like you should stay the course and live happy.

TomTX

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2019, 09:54:54 AM »
Sounds like you've won!  You have a great pile of assets, you love what you're doing, you continuing to increase net worth at a reasonable rate in case things change.... No need to start hating what you do in order to ring up a higher score faster.

Don't worry, the Internet Retirement Police only exist online, and they only have the power to nag. ;)

Anyway, congratulations!

clarkfan1979

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2019, 03:56:01 PM »
I was kind of surprised you moved back to the mainland so soon after upgrading your house in HI.  Would be interested to hear more of the story there, if you care to share.  Regardless, it looks like the move has been a positive one for you.  Nothing wrong with taking the slow road to FIRE if that helps you all have a happier/more balanced life.

Yes, it is not normal to buy a house, fix it up and then move out of state, keeping the house as a rental. However, we have done this 3 times.

When we moved to Hawaii in 2015, we did not have any kids. Our son was born in 2017 and that changed things a little. My wife is from the Denver area. In a perfect world, we would live in the Denver metro area for lifestyle and to be closer to family. Preferably within one hour of her parents and sister.

The problem with that plan is that Colorado is ranked #49 in the country for funding in higher education. The Denver area is probably the worst place for me to build wealth because it is the worst combination of low pay and high cost of living for my occupation (college instructor). If we ever wanted to move back to Denver, my wife would have to work full-time because I would not make enough money to support our lifestyle. She does not want to work full-time with a two-year old.

A job opened up at Pueblo Community College. According to Sperlings Cost of Living Calculator, Pueblo is 34% cheaper than Denver. My pay would be the same in Pueblo or Denver, which is 52K. This gives us the opportunity to move back to Colorado and my wife does not have to work full-time. We are 1.5 hours from her parents and 2 hours from her sister. This is not perfect, but we are close enough to not miss any of the big family events. My wife just hosted Christmas with her family and she loved it.

We kept the house in Hawaii and I fly back 3-4 times/year for maintenance and repairs (mostly landscaping). This part has been awesome. I was there for 6 days over Thanksgiving break visiting friends, surfing and working on the house.

The upstairs tenants are moving out April 9th. I will be back for 5 days during spring break to re-rent the house to new tenants (March 20-25). We will start the new lease around April 22nd. I will fly back to Hawaii with my wife, son and her parents on April 9th for vacation. I will stay 5 days (9th-13th). They will stay 14 days (9th-22nd).

Living in Colorado and visiting Kauai often (on the cheap), seems to be a perfect fit. I also like to snowboard and we are 2.5 hours to Breckenridge. Last year, Vail Resorts extended the season from around mid to late April to memorial day. If conditions permit they stay open later. I was there last year on closing day on June 9th. It was awesome.


Longwaytogo

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2019, 09:49:20 PM »
My wife and I are feeling a high level of gratitude for being very close to creating our perfect life. One negative side effect of being so close to creating our perfect life, is that I'm starting to lose my motivation for reaching FIRE.

I really really relate to this sentiment.

My wife is a public school teacher and I work in construction for my Dads company (soon to take over when he retires). We are still a lot farther off then you with only about $100K in home equity and another $100K in retirement; but my wife is also half way to her full pension (15 out of 30 years). I have almost no motivation to try to figure out a way to retire before she hits that date/time/number/whatever.  That would put us in mid 50's still a decade ahead of the average american but late by MMM standards.

But in the mean time she gets off summers and school Holidays to spend with the kids (they are in same public school system she teaches in) I have a lot of flexibility so make most of their field trips, holiday parties and the like. We took a month long vacation this summer coupled with 5-6 other long weekend trips throughout the year. We're "stuck" in a HCOL area but all our friends/family are here so there's nowhere I'd rather be.

Basically, life is good and I'm not too stressed about FIRE. I mostly hang around here to make sure I don't get TOO SPENDY and stretch my retirement out to my 60's or beyond and to try and encourage others to enjoy life now once in a while :)

Congrats on living your dream!!

clarkfan1979

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2019, 07:26:12 AM »
My wife and I are feeling a high level of gratitude for being very close to creating our perfect life. One negative side effect of being so close to creating our perfect life, is that I'm starting to lose my motivation for reaching FIRE.

I really really relate to this sentiment.

My wife is a public school teacher and I work in construction for my Dads company (soon to take over when he retires). We are still a lot farther off then you with only about $100K in home equity and another $100K in retirement; but my wife is also half way to her full pension (15 out of 30 years). I have almost no motivation to try to figure out a way to retire before she hits that date/time/number/whatever.  That would put us in mid 50's still a decade ahead of the average american but late by MMM standards.

But in the mean time she gets off summers and school Holidays to spend with the kids (they are in same public school system she teaches in) I have a lot of flexibility so make most of their field trips, holiday parties and the like. We took a month long vacation this summer coupled with 5-6 other long weekend trips throughout the year. We're "stuck" in a HCOL area but all our friends/family are here so there's nowhere I'd rather be.

Basically, life is good and I'm not too stressed about FIRE. I mostly hang around here to make sure I don't get TOO SPENDY and stretch my retirement out to my 60's or beyond and to try and encourage others to enjoy life now once in a while :)

Congrats on living your dream!!

@LWTG

I like the Slightly Stoopid quote on your signature line. The song is one of my favorites. I will admit, I am not super familiar with the lyrics. I like it more for the melody. I will have to go back to read the lyrics. I lived in Ocean Beach, San Diego in 1998 when they were first getting started. I think I've seen them about 10 times in San Diego and once in Colorado. I really enjoy their live shows.

Not all teaching jobs are the same. However, when you end up at a good organization with good people I think it is the best gig in the world. Many of the retired faculty at my school still teach part-time (1-2 classes).

After moving to Pueblo, I learned that district 60 and 70 are both on schedules that are M-Th. We bought a house in Pueblo West, so we are district 70.

The K-12 schools are closed on Fridays. I guess they did this for energy cost savings. For a working class family, this could be a problem because you would now need to arrange for child care on Fridays. However, for our family, this is an incredible blessing. I do not teach on Fridays, so every weekend is a 3-day weekend, except for the 4 months of the year that I do not teach at all. I see many trips to Breckenridge on Fridays with my son when he is old enough to ski, which is going to be happening soon.


Longwaytogo

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2019, 04:08:44 PM »
@LWTG

I like the Slightly Stoopid quote on your signature line.

The song is one of my favorites. I will admit, I am not super familiar with the lyrics. I like it more for the melody. I will have to go back to read the lyrics.

I lived in Ocean Beach, San Diego in 1998 when they were first getting started. I think I've seen them about 10 times in San Diego and once in Colorado. I really enjoy their live shows.

Thanks! Had that thing up for years and I think your the first to comment on it :)

Yeah the lyrics are good too - talking about life's up and downs, and such

That's awesome!!  Seeing them in the early days in their home town must have been cool.  Their live shows are legit; seen them 4-5 times in Baltimore and most recently caught them at their event in Mexico that was AMAZING....though expensive.  Actually briefly met Kyle (the lead singer) and said hey and shook his hand at a Margarita making contest. Ton of other great bands there too, good times :D

https://closertothesun.com/

Not all teaching jobs are the same. However, when you end up at a good organization with good people I think it is the best gig in the world. Many of the retired faculty at my school still teach part-time (1-2 classes).

After moving to Pueblo, I learned that district 60 and 70 are both on schedules that are M-Th. We bought a house in Pueblo West, so we are district 70.

The K-12 schools are closed on Fridays. I guess they did this for energy cost savings. For a working class family, this could be a problem because you would now need to arrange for child care on Fridays. However, for our family, this is an incredible blessing. I do not teach on Fridays, so every weekend is a 3-day weekend, except for the 4 months of the year that I do not teach at all. I see many trips to Breckenridge on Fridays with my son when he is old enough to ski, which is going to be happening soon.

Agreed that not all teaching jobs are the same. We are blessed to be in a great county both for my kids (and me/wife's alma mata) education along with my wife's' job. Her summer is only ~2 months though, 4 would be sweet!

That's a great schedule!  I "work from home" on Mondays so sort of a constant 3-day weekend. Try to squeeze a Mountain bike ride in at least every other week, stuff like that. Jealous of your proximity to Breck!!  My local Mountain is a little 600 vertical feet mole hill.

I did make it out Saturday though for first turns of the year. My kids are 7 and 9 and all the suffering fun family times we had when they were younger are finally paying off a bit. Actually made a fun ~5-6 hour day out of it with a handful of good runs after lunch.  When they were really little it seemed like HOURS of driving/packing etc. for like 3-4 runs.

Simpli-Fi

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2020, 01:35:51 AM »
Quote
I like the Slightly Stoopid quote on your signature line.
@LWTG

I also like your location...maybe a quote from State Radio's Indian Moon??  If not...check it out.  It was our first dance at our wedding and the inscription inside my ring reads "no gale can down this ship..."

I struggle with the pension benefits from my corporate gig...10 more years and there is a carrot I'm chasing.  Not sure I have it in me to continue higher stress for higher pay.  Thread makes me want to scratch my teaching itch.

Longwaytogo

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Re: pretty close to creating our perfect life (but not FIRED)
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2020, 11:34:11 AM »
Quote
I like the Slightly Stoopid quote on your signature line.
@LWTG

I also like your location...maybe a quote from State Radio's Indian Moon??  If not...check it out.  It was our first dance at our wedding and the inscription inside my ring reads "no gale can down this ship..."

I struggle with the pension benefits from my corporate gig...10 more years and there is a carrot I'm chasing.  Not sure I have it in me to continue higher stress for higher pay.  Thread makes me want to scratch my teaching itch.

No I hadn't heard that song. Listened to it yesterday though; not bad. My quote on the location was just more on the general feel that You can't run away from yourself type thing - People trying to change their job, town, spouse, friends, etc. before looking internally.

Luckily DW likes her job and seems oK to stick out another 15 years.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!