Race from $2M to $4M...and Beyond!

[couponvan]

Somebody has to pay for those fancy lobbies in the banks.  I guess the idea is not to have you be that somebody.

Remember when the bank used to be the place to be and be seen?  Or am I really dating myself?  I remember my dad bringing me to the bank for the free coffee and donuts, and to stand in line and deposit his checks and I swear he used to know everyone.  I used to love getting my passbook stamped as I put in my deposits, and then got the $ from the nice tellers along with a lollipop.  Ah, the good old days.  Now it's so impersonal, albeit convenient to just use the ATM and online bank.

[2KidFIRE]

I remember my mom and dad taking me to First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo) back in 1993 when I was a kid to open up my first bank account.  It was so exciting to get that little bank book!  I remember writing out the deposit slips and then taking them to the teller with Christmas money, allowance, etc.  Balancing the deposits and withdrawals and watching my savings grow.  It was definitely a different feeling than now.

[Dicey]

I remember my mom and dad taking me to First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo) back in 1993 when I was a kid to open up my first bank account.  It was so exciting to get that little bank book!  I remember writing out the deposit slips and then taking them to the teller with Christmas money, allowance, etc.  Balancing the deposits and withdrawals and watching my savings grow.  It was definitely a different feeling than now.

I loved my little passbooks. My passport reminds me of them. Both were tickets to new experiences, I suppose.

[ixtap]

I remember my mom and dad taking me to First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo) back in 1993 when I was a kid to open up my first bank account.  It was so exciting to get that little bank book!  I remember writing out the deposit slips and then taking them to the teller with Christmas money, allowance, etc.  Balancing the deposits and withdrawals and watching my savings grow.  It was definitely a different feeling than now.

I loved my little passbooks. My passport reminds me of them. Both were tickets to new experiences, I suppose.

Like many parents today when teaching their kids about Roth, mine didn't tell me that you could take money out again. If I wanted to save up for a toy or album, that was saved up before cash went to the bank. Similarly, didn't really understand that you could cash the checks that people gave you: they were just deposited. That's what happened with Daddy's paycheck and that's what happened when I babysat. Putting money into savings was just the done thing, it was more of a black hole than an accumulator of future experiences. Until I used it for study abroad, but that was a pretty sudden decision, rather than a long term goal. I don't think I even knew that Americans did that 6 months before I did it, just foreigners came to the US.

Maybe I had my nose buried a bit too deep in those books from the moment I could read...

[Bateaux]

Ida update.  One week post storm, one week without power.  The world is starting to come back alive in our region.  Went into work part of the day yesterday and part of the day today.  Trying to appease some critical customers.  We lack the services to restart operations, but have enough power to run a few shipments from bulk storages.  Is Force Majeure coming?  Maybe.  We'll do our best to avoid it.  Power was just restored across th river from us an hour ago.  The last big disaster my side got it back first, I was beginning to enjoy the dark sky.  Our road is small and was barely passable .  It's a bit safer to drive now, but huge trees are still on the lines and many poles down.  I'm keeping fingers crossed for Tuesday, maybe.  Our generator isn't big enough to run the whole house, only portable air conditioners.  I've at least slept very cool in the bedroom.   The rest of the house is 84 degrees now, it was 86.  I used fans and a battery operated leaf blower to blow some of the days hear out.  The river has become stagnant and there is a fish kill.  I just finished power washing thee inches of mud mixed with dead fish off the boat docks.  The smell is indescribable.  I'm so ready to move to the Florida house.  Louisiana is a harsh place to live.  Even without the destruction of a 150 mph hurricane, it's just not comfortable.  Twenty more months and we can leave.  The stock market definitely wants us to go.  We're at another new high.  Up 50K since the storm.  I can't tell that to people here.  I have almost no damage and on my trip to work I can see into people's attic's it trees have sliced their house like butter.  I am giving myself, money and things.  I will do more, I have to take care of my own family at the moment.  I'm much stronger and healthier than a week before the storm.  I've dropped at least 10 pounds with hard sweaty labor.  I honestly feel young again.  I've trained for this kid if my life.  It's a challenge but we're winning.

[pecunia]

Ida update.  One week post storm, one week without power.  The world is starting to come back alive in our region.  Went into work part of the day yesterday and part of the day today.  Trying to appease some critical customers.  We lack the services to restart operations, but have enough power to run a few shipments from bulk storages.  Is Force Majeure coming?  Maybe.  We'll do our best to avoid it.  Power was just restored across th river from us an hour ago.  The last big disaster my side got it back first, I was beginning to enjoy the dark sky.  Our road is small and was barely passable .  It's a bit safer to drive now, but huge trees are still on the lines and many poles down.  I'm keeping fingers crossed for Tuesday, maybe.  Our generator isn't big enough to run the whole house, only portable air conditioners.  I've at least slept very cool in the bedroom.   The rest of the house is 84 degrees now, it was 86.  I used fans and a battery operated leaf blower to blow some of the days hear out.  The river has become stagnant and there is a fish kill.  I just finished power washing thee inches of mud mixed with dead fish off the boat docks.  The smell is indescribable.  I'm so ready to move to the Florida house.  Louisiana is a harsh place to live.  Even without the destruction of a 150 mph hurricane, it's just not comfortable.  Twenty more months and we can leave.  The stock market definitely wants us to go.  We're at another new high.  Up 50K since the storm.  I can't tell that to people here.  I have almost no damage and on my trip to work I can see into people's attic's it trees have sliced their house like butter.  I am giving myself, money and things.  I will do more, I have to take care of my own family at the moment.  I'm much stronger and healthier than a week before the storm.  I've dropped at least 10 pounds with hard sweaty labor.  I honestly feel young again.  I've trained for this kid if my life.  It's a challenge but we're winning.

Sounds pretty miserable.  Good you are doing OK and have a path out of there.

I had this thought about  Force Majeure.  We used to put that in as a standard clause as we wrote contracts.  I was told it was "acts of God."  It usually meant bad weather (like hurricanes), an earthquake or some similar thing.  I just wonder whether this weather is fully God caused any more.  Scientists seem to have other ideas.

[SwordGuy]

I had this thought about  Force Majeure.  We used to put that in as a standard clause as we wrote contracts.  I was told it was "acts of God."  It usually meant bad weather (like hurricanes), an earthquake or some similar thing.  I just wonder whether this weather is fully God caused any more.  Scientists seem to have other ideas.

You tell a Louisiana jury that they can get the insurance to fix their house if they rule that human-caused climate change is responsible and not an act of God and we might get a few more believers in science all of a sudden.

[Bateaux]

Dang.  Should have proof read that post.  Tired fingers.

[Fomerly known as something]

Quite here lately.

Just got to my new office.  It’s been interesting just talking briefly to people from a money standpoint.  Those of us who are older and not necessarily planning to stay in the Bay Area (or in my case at least as close into the city as I currently am so I can have a decent commute) are renting and content with it.  Those of us who are younger are buying lower end for the Bay Area houses out in places like Clayton because they don’t want to throw money away on rent.  I think the difference maybe that many of us “older folks” had issues selling in 2008 when we had to transfer (and these younger folks will have to transfer).  Also I know in the first 5-6 years you aren’t really paying down principal on a loan so yeah I’m “throwing away” 3k on rent but really it’s less than $1k that goes to principal on a $500k loan and I don’t have to fix a roof or anything like that.  I’d rather let my down payment money “pay me” about $5k/year while it sits in its investment account.

[ysette9]

I remember my mom and dad taking me to First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo) back in 1993 when I was a kid to open up my first bank account.  It was so exciting to get that little bank book!  I remember writing out the deposit slips and then taking them to the teller with Christmas money, allowance, etc.  Balancing the deposits and withdrawals and watching my savings grow.  It was definitely a different feeling than now.

I loved my little passbooks. My passport reminds me of them. Both were tickets to new experiences, I suppose.

I remember the experience of going to the bank and setting up a kiddie savings account with my birthday money. I remember it as a sad day. One moment I had birthday money and the next I had nothing. It took me many more years to mature sufficiently to understand delayed gratification and savings.

[Car Jack]

I had this thought about  Force Majeure.  We used to put that in as a standard clause as we wrote contracts.  I was told it was "acts of God."  It usually meant bad weather (like hurricanes), an earthquake or some similar thing.  I just wonder whether this weather is fully God caused any more.  Scientists seem to have other ideas.

Our customers (as in the customers of my employer) used Force Majeure en masse during covid.  It's why we all but shut down the fabs.  People were put on RTO (rotating time off without pay) which, of course had many of these well trained people on the market finding better full time work.  Now, many of the companies who invoked this are crying in their soup that they're line down.  Well yah, stupid.  You were short sighted and pulled the FM clause and stopped shipments made especially for you.  Too bad....you're at the back of the line now.  The auto industry was one of the big segments pulling this crap.  They are low margin business, so when things turned around and we had all fabs 24/7 again and orders to TSMC at max, their orders for low margin stuff became far less of an emergency for us. 

[Bateaux]

I had this thought about  Force Majeure.  We used to put that in as a standard clause as we wrote contracts.  I was told it was "acts of God."  It usually meant bad weather (like hurricanes), an earthquake or some similar thing.  I just wonder whether this weather is fully God caused any more.  Scientists seem to have other ideas.

Our customers (as in the customers of my employer) used Force Majeure en masse during covid.  It's why we all but shut down the fabs.  People were put on RTO (rotating time off without pay) which, of course had many of these well trained people on the market finding better full time work.  Now, many of the companies who invoked this are crying in their soup that they're line down.  Well yah, stupid.  You were short sighted and pulled the FM clause and stopped shipments made especially for you.  Too bad....you're at the back of the line now.  The auto industry was one of the big segments pulling this crap.  They are low margin business, so when things turned around and we had all fabs 24/7 again and orders to TSMC at max, their orders for low margin stuff became far less of an emergency for us.

We're back up and running again.  Not 100 percent yet, but most of the snags are working out.  Customers are more likely impressed that materials flow is reestablished  this rapidly.   The low automotive output due to the ongoing chip crisis is also a player. 

[Dicey]

I remember my mom and dad taking me to First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo) back in 1993 when I was a kid to open up my first bank account.  It was so exciting to get that little bank book!  I remember writing out the deposit slips and then taking them to the teller with Christmas money, allowance, etc.  Balancing the deposits and withdrawals and watching my savings grow.  It was definitely a different feeling than now.

I loved my little passbooks. My passport reminds me of them. Both were tickets to new experiences, I suppose.

I remember the experience of going to the bank and setting up a kiddie savings account with my birthday money. I remember it as a sad day. One moment I had birthday money and the next I had nothing. It took me many more years to mature sufficiently to understand delayed gratification and savings.

And how'd that turn out? ;-)

I freaking loved my passbook. Having something official with my name and an account number in it was so stinking grown-up!

[Dicey]

I had this thought about  Force Majeure.  We used to put that in as a standard clause as we wrote contracts.  I was told it was "acts of God."  It usually meant bad weather (like hurricanes), an earthquake or some similar thing.  I just wonder whether this weather is fully God caused any more.  Scientists seem to have other ideas.

Our customers (as in the customers of my employer) used Force Majeure en masse during covid.  It's why we all but shut down the fabs.  People were put on RTO (rotating time off without pay) which, of course had many of these well trained people on the market finding better full time work.  Now, many of the companies who invoked this are crying in their soup that they're line down.  Well yah, stupid.  You were short sighted and pulled the FM clause and stopped shipments made especially for you.  Too bad....you're at the back of the line now.  The auto industry was one of the big segments pulling this crap.  They are low margin business, so when things turned around and we had all fabs 24/7 again and orders to TSMC at max, their orders for low margin stuff became far less of an emergency for us.

We're back up and running again.  Not 100 percent yet, but most of the snags are working out.  Customers are more likely impressed that materials flow is reestablished  this rapidly.   The low automotive output due to the ongoing chip crisis is also a player.

Glad to hear this! I fear it's not the same for many in your area, but it's nice to see rays of hope.

[ysette9]

I remember my mom and dad taking me to First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo) back in 1993 when I was a kid to open up my first bank account.  It was so exciting to get that little bank book!  I remember writing out the deposit slips and then taking them to the teller with Christmas money, allowance, etc.  Balancing the deposits and withdrawals and watching my savings grow.  It was definitely a different feeling than now.

I loved my little passbooks. My passport reminds me of them. Both were tickets to new experiences, I suppose.

I remember the experience of going to the bank and setting up a kiddie savings account with my birthday money. I remember it as a sad day. One moment I had birthday money and the next I had nothing. It took me many more years to mature sufficiently to understand delayed gratification and savings.

And how'd that turn out? ;-)

I freaking loved my passbook. Having something official with my name and an account number in it was so stinking grown-up!

Haha.
It may have turned out lucratively. 

[Finntastic]

Jan 2021 - 1.19m$
Feb 2021 - 1.23m$
Mar 2021 - 1.28m$
Apr 2021 - 1.35m$
May 2021 - 2.65m$
June 2021 - 2.61m$
July 2021 - 2.62m$
August 2021 - 2.82m$
September 2021 - 2.79m$*

A bit of bumpy month and took hit with stocks, crypto as well as gold also spent some money in one property that if we manage to get done and rent out at somepoint will show up as an investment but as of now it's still liability... hoping this month would be better... looking to buy the dip, but expecting both stocks and crypto to still go down so waiting and holding cash for now.

FIRE in 90 days

[pecunia]

Jan 2021 - 1.19m$
Feb 2021 - 1.23m$
Mar 2021 - 1.28m$
Apr 2021 - 1.35m$
May 2021 - 2.65m$
June 2021 - 2.61m$
July 2021 - 2.62m$
August 2021 - 2.82m$
September 2021 - 2.79m$*

A bit of bumpy month and took hit with stocks, crypto as well as gold also spent some money in one property that if we manage to get done and rent out at somepoint will show up as an investment but as of now it's still liability... hoping this month would be better... looking to buy the dip, but expecting both stocks and crypto to still go down so waiting and holding cash for now.

Just Amazing!  Then there's the rest of us who just plod onward, but still slowly climbing a financial hill.

[Dicey]

Then there are the ones like me, blithely carrying on as usual because we're across the line and in it for the long haul. ;-)

[Roboturner]

Spoiler: show

Q2 2016:
LNW: 528k
TNW: 720k

Q3 2016:
LNW: 652k
TNW: 845k

YE 2016:
LNW: 685k
TNW: 893k

Q1 2017:
LNW: 800k
TNW: 1001k

Q2 2017:
LNW: 845k
TNW: 1060k

Q3 2017:
LNW: 921k
TNW: 1142k

YE 2017:
LNW: 1,012k
TNW: 1,230k

Q1 2018:
LNW: 1.09 MM
TNW: 1.33 MM

Q2 2018:
LNW: 1.16 MM
TNW: 1.45 MM

Q3 2018:
LNW: 1.28 MM
TNW: 1.57 MM

YE 2018:
LNW: 1.14 MM
TNW: 1.43 MM

Q1 2019:
LNW: 1.41 MM
TNW: 1.71 MM

Q2 2019:
LNW: 1.60 MM
TNW: 1.78 MM

Q3 2019:
LNW: 1.64 MM
TNW: 1.82 MM

YE 2019:
LNW: 1.84 MM
TNW: 2.02 MM

Q1 2020:
LNW: 1.60 MM
TNW: 1.79 MM

Q2 2020:
LNW: 1.94 MM
TNW: 2.15 MM

Q3 2020:
LNW: 2.12 MM
TNW: 2.46 MM

YE 2020:
LNW: 2.40 MM
TNW: 2.74 MM

Q1 2021:
LNW: 2.69 MM
TNW: 3.00 MM

Q2 2021:
LNW: 2.52 MM
TNW: 3.30 MM

Q3 2021:
LNW: 3.08 MM
TNW: 3.54 MM

Sold our old home this Q, and are all moved in to the "forever" house.

In more exciting news, SO FIRE'd a couple weeks ago. I've got a bit more to see my golden handcuffs through, but feels like we're in the home stretch!

[arcturus]

Jan 2021 - 1.19m$
Feb 2021 - 1.23m$
Mar 2021 - 1.28m$
Apr 2021 - 1.35m$
May 2021 - 2.65m$
June 2021 - 2.61m$
July 2021 - 2.62m$
August 2021 - 2.82m$
September 2021 - 2.79m$*

A bit of bumpy month and took hit with stocks, crypto as well as gold also spent some money in one property that if we manage to get done and rent out at somepoint will show up as an investment but as of now it's still liability... hoping this month would be better... looking to buy the dip, but expecting both stocks and crypto to still go down so waiting and holding cash for now.

I'd take down 1% in September and up 6-7% since June -- well done, Finntastic!

My story is a lackluster one -- I'm up less than 1% since June -- and that includes my contributions!  I partially blame my investment strategy of being a little heavier allocated to mid caps vs S&P500.  According to my spreadsheet:

June:  $2,159 Invested; $2,569 NW
Sep:  $2,171 Invested; $2,594 NW

I wish I could say I felt like the outlook was brighter, but not sure that is the case.

Hope you all had more success than I did over the past 3 months!

[ysette9]

Jan 2021 - 1.19m$
Feb 2021 - 1.23m$
Mar 2021 - 1.28m$
Apr 2021 - 1.35m$
May 2021 - 2.65m$
June 2021 - 2.61m$
July 2021 - 2.62m$
August 2021 - 2.82m$
September 2021 - 2.79m$*

A bit of bumpy month and took hit with stocks, crypto as well as gold also spent some money in one property that if we manage to get done and rent out at somepoint will show up as an investment but as of now it's still liability... hoping this month would be better... looking to buy the dip, but expecting both stocks and crypto to still go down so waiting and holding cash for now.

Wait, what happened between April and May? I missed something there

[Finntastic]

Jan 2021 - 1.19m$
Feb 2021 - 1.23m$
Mar 2021 - 1.28m$
Apr 2021 - 1.35m$
May 2021 - 2.65m$
June 2021 - 2.61m$
July 2021 - 2.62m$
August 2021 - 2.82m$
September 2021 - 2.79m$*

A bit of bumpy month and took hit with stocks, crypto as well as gold also spent some money in one property that if we manage to get done and rent out at somepoint will show up as an investment but as of now it's still liability... hoping this month would be better... looking to buy the dip, but expecting both stocks and crypto to still go down so waiting and holding cash for now.

Wait, what happened between April and May? I missed something there

That is where I added my company shares into the calculations as I sold some so there was value/price calculated.

[ysette9]

Ah. Congrats on the windfall! Clearly you are doing well for yourself

[Finntastic]

Ah. Congrats on the windfall! Clearly you are doing well for yourself

thank you but it's difficult times, first giving out control of the company I setup and to take backseat as well as learning to live from investments instead of work and I guess learn to live "retired" life so right now doesn't feel like doing well, but I'm sure over time I will figure things out.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Ah. Congrats on the windfall! Clearly you are doing well for yourself

thank you but it's difficult times, first giving out control of the company I setup and to take backseat as well as learning to live from investments instead of work and I guess learn to live "retired" life so right now doesn't feel like doing well, but I'm sure over time I will figure things out.

So did you have to retire / sell the company or was this because you hit your number and followed through on ER? 

[ysette9]

Ah. Congrats on the windfall! Clearly you are doing well for yourself

thank you but it's difficult times, first giving out control of the company I setup and to take backseat as well as learning to live from investments instead of work and I guess learn to live "retired" life so right now doesn't feel like doing well, but I'm sure over time I will figure things out.

It is a big change and changes, even good ones, can be tough. I spent my first year+ after quitting pretty miserable when Covid completely changed what I could do. I’m finally getting my head out of that now and figuring out what this RE thing is all about. I hope you work through our adjustment and come out happy on the other end.

[Fomerly known as something]

@Dicey, you should have told me I was moving to NIMBY-vile with Marin, well at least Nextdoor is entertaining.  The locals are very upset about S9, they say our neighborhoods could soon look like where you live.

Also I’m kind of hoping for the market to tank enough to do some tax loss harvesting. 

[Dicey]

@Dicey, you should have told me I was moving to NIMBY-vile with Marin, well at least Nextdoor is entertaining.  The locals are very upset about S9, they say our neighborhoods could soon look like where you live.

Also I’m kind of hoping for the market to tank enough to do some tax loss harvesting.

Yeah, where I live looks just fine, thankyouverymuch. We also have more Open Space than Marin County :-P

Oh, and we have plenty of NIMBYs here, too.

[Finntastic]

Ah. Congrats on the windfall! Clearly you are doing well for yourself

thank you but it's difficult times, first giving out control of the company I setup and to take backseat as well as learning to live from investments instead of work and I guess learn to live "retired" life so right now doesn't feel like doing well, but I'm sure over time I will figure things out.

So did you have to retire / sell the company or was this because you hit your number and followed through on ER?

No I didn't have to, but at this time I've already lost the full control of the company and I was in a situation were I couldn't make decisions for the company without approval from the board and this kind of blocked any growth so I wasn't happy anymore and therefor decided that I got to sell and leave (retire).

[Finntastic]

Ah. Congrats on the windfall! Clearly you are doing well for yourself

thank you but it's difficult times, first giving out control of the company I setup and to take backseat as well as learning to live from investments instead of work and I guess learn to live "retired" life so right now doesn't feel like doing well, but I'm sure over time I will figure things out.

It is a big change and changes, even good ones, can be tough. I spent my first year+ after quitting pretty miserable when Covid completely changed what I could do. I’m finally getting my head out of that now and figuring out what this RE thing is all about. I hope you work through our adjustment and come out happy on the other end.

Thank you I'm sure I will, I guess Covid also have a part to play for me as it's kind of limits, what happens next... anyway I do have some things to keep me busy for next 3 months and will see then what will I do next.

[Much Fishing to Do]

Ah. Congrats on the windfall! Clearly you are doing well for yourself

thank you but it's difficult times, first giving out control of the company I setup and to take backseat as well as learning to live from investments instead of work and I guess learn to live "retired" life so right now doesn't feel like doing well, but I'm sure over time I will figure things out.

So did you have to retire / sell the company or was this because you hit your number and followed through on ER?

No I didn't have to, but at this time I've already lost the full control of the company and I was in a situation were I couldn't make decisions for the company without approval from the board and this kind of blocked any growth so I wasn't happy anymore and therefor decided that I got to sell and leave (retire).

Hmmm.  I guess I was in an opposite situation where it was just me owning/running/in charge of/at risk of/responsible for everything in the company.....and believe me I was happy to hand off all of that in a sale after the nest egg was made.  I'm frankly enjoying being able to say "I just work here" as I fade away now in my consulting role to integrate the Co. over the last couple years.  Not having to worry about some client not a paying a huge bill, or suing me because some project went poorly, is more than enough for me to be happy handing over all the control (again, after the retirement nut has been made, the earlier risk obviously got me there a lot faster and made the egg a lot larger than it otherwise would have been, but I can't say I miss at all being where the buck stops)

[CANStache]

It's been longer than I intended since I chimed in here, but I guess I'll go for an almost-Halloween update.  Oct 2020 had my wife and I at $2.26M, which was growing faster than I expected it could considering she had left her executive job earlier that year, so we were dealing with one income, 3 kids including 1 in university, and a woman with some serious free time :)

One year and some rather crazy markets later, we're at $2.63M.  My wife has just decided to re-enter the workforce due to some boredom, the expectation of her least favourite weather to come, and an exciting opportunity from an old friend.  As this position will pay a new record salary for either of us (almost $200K) it should provide some great investment fodder, considering we've continued to save on just a single salary all this time.  We'll see what the next year brings, good luck to all of you on your journey!

[2sk22]

It's been longer than I intended since I chimed in here, but I guess I'll go for an almost-Halloween update.  Oct 2020 had my wife and I at $2.26M, which was growing faster than I expected it could considering she had left her executive job earlier that year, so we were dealing with one income, 3 kids including 1 in university, and a woman with some serious free time :)

One year and some rather crazy markets later, we're at $2.63M.  My wife has just decided to re-enter the workforce due to some boredom, the expectation of her least favourite weather to come, and an exciting opportunity from an old friend.  As this position will pay a new record salary for either of us (almost $200K) it should provide some great investment fodder, considering we've continued to save on just a single salary all this time.  We'll see what the next year brings, good luck to all of you on your journey!

Well done! Do you have any plans of retiring?

It's been over a year since I retired and our stash has grown substantially on my wife's salary alone. She was considered to be a "flight risk" in her company so she was given a pretty substantial retention bonus which she will be getting by the end of the year. This is all great but it looks like I will not get opportunity to do any Roth conversions until she retires :-)

[tooqk4u22]

With all the inflation, can we update the title to $2.2M to $4.4M....and beyond!

[flyingaway]

The inflation rate is more than 10%, probably at around 100% for some daily items.

[dividendman]

The inflation rate is more than 10%, probably at around 100% for some daily items.

I monitor my expenses pretty closely. I'm still spending less on a monthly basis than pre-covid.

[ysette9]

I’m not tracking a damn thing these days, though I’ll do my end of the year accounting as usual. We bought and are remodeling a house so $$ is just flying out the window.

[Fomerly known as something]

I’m not tracking a damn thing these days, though I’ll do my end of the year accounting as usual. We bought and are remodeling a house so $$ is just flying out the window.

To a lesser extent that was why my last 2 months were expensive.  When you move majorly, there maybe some things you just need to buy.  I hope I’m done with that for a while.

[Much Fishing to Do]

I'm back to TNW $4.8M & LNW $3.8M with the market highs.  Along with my bonus in Feb '22, as long as things at least hold steady I should be FIRing then right around my $5M/$4M goal (nothing more than a recent round number goal....as others have said $5M in Feb may be worth less than $4.8M today anyway ;-)

[EscapeVelocity2020]

The inflation rate is more than 10%, probably at around 100% for some daily items.

I monitor my expenses pretty closely. I'm still spending less on a monthly basis than pre-covid.

I don't monitor closely, but discretionary items go on our credit cards and those balances are significantly higher month after month than they were both pre-Covid and, after a dip for the first year, now post-Covid.  As far as I can tell, our lifestyle hasn't inflated :)

[EscapeVelocity2020]

I'm back to TNW $4.8M & LNW $3.8M with the market highs.  Along with my bonus in Feb '22, as long as things at least hold steady I should be FIRing then right around my $5M/$4M goal (nothing more than a recent round number goal....as others have said $5M in Feb may be worth less than $4.8M today anyway ;-)

Conglaturations :)  Are you ER'ing because you hit your number or are there other reasons?

I'm more set on retiring at a certain age / sending my kids off as opposed to a number, but it's a nice choice to have.  Numbers are beyond FI these days, but I don't mind working whilst the kids are wrapping up HS.  Being ER but still tied down parenting doesn't sounds as appealing as having a little extra FI and traveling lavishly once it is just DW and I...

[couponvan]

I'm back to TNW $4.8M & LNW $3.8M with the market highs.  Along with my bonus in Feb '22, as long as things at least hold steady I should be FIRing then right around my $5M/$4M goal (nothing more than a recent round number goal....as others have said $5M in Feb may be worth less than $4.8M today anyway ;-)

Conglaturations :)  Are you ER'ing because you hit your number or are there other reasons?

I'm more set on retiring at a certain age / sending my kids off as opposed to a number, but it's a nice choice to have.  Numbers are beyond FI these days, but I don't mind working whilst the kids are wrapping up HS.  Being ER but still tied down parenting doesn't sounds as appealing as having a little extra FI and traveling lavishly once it is just DW and I...

You kind of have a point there on ER while tied down isn't as fun.  I keep dreaming of trips, but the school schedules don't line up for all of us to go at one time.  DH working means not enough vacation to spend. I suppose I could take the kids without him, but I think he'd balk at working just to fund my fun. ;-)

[Much Fishing to Do]

I'm back to TNW $4.8M & LNW $3.8M with the market highs.  Along with my bonus in Feb '22, as long as things at least hold steady I should be FIRing then right around my $5M/$4M goal (nothing more than a recent round number goal....as others have said $5M in Feb may be worth less than $4.8M today anyway ;-)

Conglaturations :)  Are you ER'ing because you hit your number or are there other reasons?

I'm more set on retiring at a certain age / sending my kids off as opposed to a number, but it's a nice choice to have.  Numbers are beyond FI these days, but I don't mind working whilst the kids are wrapping up HS.  Being ER but still tied down parenting doesn't sounds as appealing as having a little extra FI and traveling lavishly once it is just DW and I...

You kind of have a point there on ER while tied down isn't as fun.  I keep dreaming of trips, but the school schedules don't line up for all of us to go at one time.  DH working means not enough vacation to spend. I suppose I could take the kids without him, but I think he'd balk at working just to fund my fun. ;-)

Mine is totally the result of a career path that makes me feel good about my choices (work hard, start own business, struggle with business, business takes off and I blow past my FIRE number, sell off business and consult to help integrate employees so they can continue, see former employees succeeding/thriving in new business, retire).  I had always sought ER, and my number was never much more than half of what I have now. The surge in NW all happened at once with a couple great business years and I found myself not being able to just quit on that day, b/c there were contracts, employees, etc.  THis all added a few years to my working that I would rather it not have, but the fringe benefit of course is quite a bit more money for RE (unlike many on this website myself and my family have no problem finding things to spend the 'extra' money on).  I'm starting to really get excited now that its closing in.  I will be a tied down parent to my youngest for another 5 years or so but that sounds totally fine to me....

[EscapeVelocity2020]

I'm back to TNW $4.8M & LNW $3.8M with the market highs.  Along with my bonus in Feb '22, as long as things at least hold steady I should be FIRing then right around my $5M/$4M goal (nothing more than a recent round number goal....as others have said $5M in Feb may be worth less than $4.8M today anyway ;-)

Conglaturations :)  Are you ER'ing because you hit your number or are there other reasons?

I'm more set on retiring at a certain age / sending my kids off as opposed to a number, but it's a nice choice to have.  Numbers are beyond FI these days, but I don't mind working whilst the kids are wrapping up HS.  Being ER but still tied down parenting doesn't sounds as appealing as having a little extra FI and traveling lavishly once it is just DW and I...

You kind of have a point there on ER while tied down isn't as fun.  I keep dreaming of trips, but the school schedules don't line up for all of us to go at one time.  DH working means not enough vacation to spend. I suppose I could take the kids without him, but I think he'd balk at working just to fund my fun. ;-)

Mine is totally the result of a career path that makes me feel good about my choices (work hard, start own business, struggle with business, business takes off and I blow past my FIRE number, sell off business and consult to help integrate employees so they can continue, see former employees succeeding/thriving in new business, retire).  I had always sought ER, and my number was never much more than half of what I have now. The surge in NW all happened at once with a couple great business years and I found myself not being able to just quit on that day, b/c there were contracts, employees, etc.  THis all added a few years to my working that I would rather it not have, but the fringe benefit of course is quite a bit more money for RE (unlike many on this website myself and my family have no problem finding things to spend the 'extra' money on).  I'm starting to really get excited now that its closing in.  I will be a tied down parent to my youngest for another 5 years or so but that sounds totally fine to me....

Interesting stuff.  I must admit, I get a little dopamine rush still as I sit in the office today thinking about ER...  But I'm also guilty of enjoying a recent retiree's Facebook page chronicling his sailboat adventures in Australia.  This point in life right now seems good enough for me, so I just ignore the numbers and pretend that working for a paycheck is 'important and necessary'.  It also provides a nice cover story for why I can't feed the neighbor's pet this week or visit with the in-laws during my precious holiday vacation :)

Working is optional, which is awfully nice, but I vote for continuing to work for the time being, screw the big numbers that keep getting bigger!

[Much Fishing to Do]

I'm back to TNW $4.8M & LNW $3.8M with the market highs.  Along with my bonus in Feb '22, as long as things at least hold steady I should be FIRing then right around my $5M/$4M goal (nothing more than a recent round number goal....as others have said $5M in Feb may be worth less than $4.8M today anyway ;-)

Conglaturations :)  Are you ER'ing because you hit your number or are there other reasons?

I'm more set on retiring at a certain age / sending my kids off as opposed to a number, but it's a nice choice to have.  Numbers are beyond FI these days, but I don't mind working whilst the kids are wrapping up HS.  Being ER but still tied down parenting doesn't sounds as appealing as having a little extra FI and traveling lavishly once it is just DW and I...

You kind of have a point there on ER while tied down isn't as fun.  I keep dreaming of trips, but the school schedules don't line up for all of us to go at one time.  DH working means not enough vacation to spend. I suppose I could take the kids without him, but I think he'd balk at working just to fund my fun. ;-)

Mine is totally the result of a career path that makes me feel good about my choices (work hard, start own business, struggle with business, business takes off and I blow past my FIRE number, sell off business and consult to help integrate employees so they can continue, see former employees succeeding/thriving in new business, retire).  I had always sought ER, and my number was never much more than half of what I have now. The surge in NW all happened at once with a couple great business years and I found myself not being able to just quit on that day, b/c there were contracts, employees, etc.  THis all added a few years to my working that I would rather it not have, but the fringe benefit of course is quite a bit more money for RE (unlike many on this website myself and my family have no problem finding things to spend the 'extra' money on).  I'm starting to really get excited now that its closing in.  I will be a tied down parent to my youngest for another 5 years or so but that sounds totally fine to me....

Interesting stuff.  I must admit, I get a little dopamine rush still as I sit in the office today thinking about ER...  But I'm also guilty of enjoying a recent retiree's Facebook page chronicling his sailboat adventures in Australia.  This point in life right now seems good enough for me, so I just ignore the numbers and pretend that working for a paycheck is 'important and necessary'.  It also provides a nice cover story for why I can't feed the neighbor's pet this week or visit with the in-laws during my precious holiday vacation :)

Working is optional, which is awfully nice, but I vote for continuing to work for the time being, screw the big numbers that keep getting bigger!

The bigger numbers can help.  That actually reminds me I left out one more fringe benefit of retiring now versus 3-4 years ago when I hit "MY" number... back then my (SAHM) spouse would still break out in a cold sweat when I would talk about retiring, she just didn't feel comfortable ending such great income at such a young age compared to the norm.  The fact I'm turning 50 now (which doesnt seem so incredibly odd to retire at), there's a ton of money sitting there, and she's had 3 more years to wait for me to finish work for the day or put off a vaca/house repair/house project b/c I was too busy with work, she's now pushing me to pull the trigger.... which is a whole lot nicer situation

[arcturus]

Its interesting, although I agree that retiring at 50 may not seem that incredibly early to many/most on this thread (excluding me, I'm more in the 56-57 range :-)), what is amazing about it to me is that the standard SS retirement age for those of us in this age group (which seems like the majority on this thread) is 67 years old!   Think about that for a moment....I simply cannot imagine working until 67, let alone trying to perform in my current job / with my current employer at that age.  I know every one of us has earned the right to retire early thru hard work, discipline, etc., but geez, to think about having another 15 years of work in front of me would be kind of daunting/depressing at my present age.  Like some of you, my goal for the next few years while I'm employed is to do some things/take some trips, etc., that I would otherwise probably struggle (mentally) to do without a significant salary income.  Maybe I'm just reflecting on things with the Thanksgiving season coming into view -- but geezus we are fortunate that we had the foresight to save early and often!

[Fomerly known as something]

Its interesting, although I agree that retiring at 50 may not seem that incredibly early to many/most on this thread (excluding me, I'm more in the 56-57 range :-)), what is amazing about it to me is that the standard SS retirement age for those of us in this age group (which seems like the majority on this thread) is 67 years old!   Think about that for a moment....I simply cannot imagine working until 67, let alone trying to perform in my current job / with my current employer at that age.  I know every one of us has earned the right to retire early thru hard work, discipline, etc., but geez, to think about having another 15 years of work in front of me would be kind of daunting/depressing at my present age.  Like some of you, my goal for the next few years while I'm employed is to do some things/take some trips, etc., that I would otherwise probably struggle (mentally) to do without a significant salary income.  Maybe I'm just reflecting on things with the Thanksgiving season coming into view -- but geezus we are fortunate that we had the foresight to save early and often!

Yes only 18% of people retire before 60 and 5% before age 55.  We are more “normal” mutants on a forum of mutants.

Well a higher salary in CA with higher taxes equals going back to a Traditional TSP instead of Roth.  I don’t need the cash flow, but my financial advisor was able to make me see it was the correct decision.

[Taran Wanderer]

I logged into my 401k today to download a statement. Its retirement calculator says I’m at 107% of needed funds for my planned fat FIRE. I had plugged 50 into the calculator, and I don’t think it would accept anything younger. It seems like we just hit $1M NW, and now we just passed $3M. While I know I could FIRE or downshift at any time, there are things I still want to accomplish.  And seeing mid 6-figures roll in each year to add to the stash is reassuring. So we’re carrying on… for now.

[JoePublic3.14]

The inflation rate is more than 10%, probably at around 100% for some daily items.

I monitor my expenses pretty closely. I'm still spending less on a monthly basis than pre-covid.

I don't monitor closely, but discretionary items go on our credit cards and those balances are significantly higher month after month than they were both pre-Covid and, after a dip for the first year, now post-Covid.  As far as I can tell, our lifestyle hasn't inflated :)

This is about as close as I track also, and have seen the same. Is what it is I suppose.

[2sk22]

It's been a full year since I retired - my last paycheck was at the end of September 2020 so here's an update in our finances: Our invested net worth (i.e. IRA, 401k and post tax accounts) has grown from $5M to $6.2M. This increase is due to my wife's salary, a chunk of her RSUs vesting and market appreciation. My wife's company got nervous that she might leave in the middle of the year so they are paying her a retention bonus at the end of this year - I'm not complaining :-)

We did not hold back on spending! We did a major home renovation project right after I retired to create a comfortable study and space for my hobbies (among other things). Bought a new Honda CR-V and gave my ten year old Prius to my older daughter. Paid for the first semester of my younger daughter's college. Not a whole lot of travel however, just a few short domestic trips.