Tracking total Net Worth. Yearly numbers are from December 31st of that year. Monthly numbers are from the first of that month.
2017: 3.75%
2018: 9.14%
2019: 11.77%
2020: 21.82%
2021 FIRE Lean FIRE
April: 25.00% 29.02%
May: 26.29% 32.87%
DH and I are both on family leave for the next 3 months for the birth of our second kid (born mid April)... We're feeling extra fortunate to be able to take this time and settle into life as a family of 4 without much of an impact to our financial goals.
Congratulations!!!! That time off is HUGE! It is so encouraging to see companies doing things right and giving the family time off to adjust to a new baby.
mar 95.3%
I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see how far you've grown in April!
I've enjoyed following along on this thread, I plan to post my numbers here soon, congrats to everyone on the strong progress!
I love that this race is growing! I'm glad to be here early and enjoy the "smallness" of the whole thing. I'm looking forward to seeing you updates for the month! The more folks who join, the more exciting the race for us all :D
Alright, onto my numbers:
Tracking total Net Worth. Yearly numbers are from December 31st of that year. Monthly numbers are from the first of that month.2017: 3.75%
2018: 9.14%
2019: 11.77%
2020: 21.82%
2021 | FIRE | Lean FIRE |
April: | 25.00% | 29.02% |
May: | 26.29% | 32.87% |
It's been a good month for me. Some solid bonuses, a short vacation, and I got my second COVID vaccine on April 30th, so I'm officially in the "time to start getting back into the world" phase of my life.
Beyond the immediate stuff, I've been thinking a lot about what Lean FIRE would means to me. For me, Lean FIRE is a 5% withdraw rate. Assuming no major recession or tragedy, I can probably hit it in the next 2, maybe 3 years thanks to some big bets I've made on my current job.
5% withdraw is shaky if you stop earning an income, but I don't plan to stop earning an income at FIRE - at least not for awhile. I have a number of creative ideas I would like to pursue, many would earn me an income. I have a specific idea where I could use some of my stash to hire a friend of mine for a year or two and we could build something together that we've been dreaming about for awhile. Assuming it works, I could have earned my investment back in 1-2 years and be earning more than enough to get myself below a 4% withdraw rate.
It's weird to think about. I make a very high income in my current job and we're going to exit in the next 30 months. That exit means a big payout for me and potentially a life changing payout if the stars align (though I'm not banking on that). Even if my idea fails, I can easily pivot to another high paying, 9-to-5 job; my skills won't meaningfully deteriorate in 3 years. Seems like an extremely low risk opportunity.
All of this is dreaming, of course. Maybe we have a massive recession. Maybe I get laid off. Maybe my company doesn't exit and my shares aren't worth the 1's and 0's that make them up. Maybe I die before then. But it is still fun to dream about what that life would look like and how a higher withdraw rate can be worth the risk.