Author Topic: Target FIRE: 2017  (Read 449870 times)

jack06

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Target FIRE: 2017
« on: September 13, 2015, 09:31:56 AM »
Hi there!

I was surprised not to find topics (maybe there are some that I did not find) for target FIRE years: eg. 2017, 2018, 2019, etc. Anyone aware of such threads or interested in creating some? I think it would be interesting to share the last miles with people having the same target date.

Jack

Lnspilot

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2015, 05:06:43 AM »
Hey Jack,

I haven't looked for any target date threads, but I am also working towards my 2017 FIRE.

I don't have a solid date, but it's probably in the 2nd quarter of that year. I've been working on my own SuperPlan and just have some gaps to fill (heavy influence from Living A Fi's blog).

You?

AlwaysBeenASaver

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2015, 12:15:43 PM »

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2015, 07:23:23 PM »
Hi Lnspilot,

I also target early summer. I will be 42 that year, and my wife and I will then travel abroad for 6 months. I consider myself mostly FI (if I keep a very tight budget) and could possibly RE now but I want to build a margin of safety and make sure my calculated SWR will not prevent future projects.

Jack
 

EU_fire2017

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2015, 08:27:50 AM »
Hi All,

Glad to see fellow 2017 cohort growing.
My clock is set for June 2017 and am constantly exploring opportunities to escape earlier as my current cubical job is sucking joy from my life.

I was working on kind off FI ever since I  graduated but wasn't aware of MMM and rest of RE community until January this year.
I'm thankful that I did as it helped me realize it is actually possible.
As I was born and raised in ex-socialist country, I needed all the help (and examples) to better understand whole idea and math behind it.
I'm currently expatriated from my home country (but still within EU) and am planning to RE at home or at least spend 6-8 months there and rest travelling (slowly).

If all goes as planned, I should be 32 when I pull the plug and leave corporate world.
I don't plan to do nothing for the rest of my life, actually I hope to start my own business but it will have nothing to do with my current job.

Greetings from the old continent!

Lnspilot

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2015, 09:50:30 AM »
Welcome eufire2017. The FIRE community is a pretty big eye-opener, isn't it?

As for help and examples, I'm sure you're probably devouring blogs already. Go Curry Cracker, JLCollinsNH, Living A Fi, Root of Good, etc are all exceptional resources, but you probably knew that already.

Nice, Jack. 6 months will be awesome. I agree, the margin of safety is important.

This is an excerpt from my draft SuperPlan

"Here is how I lower the risk on an already conservative 3% withdrawal rate:

1. First year expenses are completely covered by the initial cash holding. Zero portfolio withdrawal.
2. Years 2-5 will have minimal withdrawals. Approximately $32,000 in total to supplement dividends. Principal will be sold via Specific Identification of Shares to ensure capital gains/losses are utilized correctly.
3. Years 6-10 will be paid for mostly with Roth IRA conversion basis and supplemented with dividends."

EU_fire2017

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2015, 10:28:21 AM »
Welcome eufire2017. The FIRE community is a pretty big eye-opener, isn't it?

Hi Lnspilot,

Yes, so true. Although I was having something similar in my mind I was not confident that the idea could actually work.
It is hard to find someone in my circle of friends I could discuss about FIRE so having found all this wonderful sites was a breakthrough.

Thank you for the recommend sites, as you guessed, I´m following all of them and some more.
I started first with MMM and continued with linked/suggested sites, exploring past topics and comments.

Now when doubts no longer exist in my mind, I'm anxious to join Post FIRE section in 2017. :)

Like your draft SuperPlan quote, I'm very similar when it comes to risk tolerance.




 
« Last Edit: October 04, 2015, 10:30:21 AM by eufire2017 »

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2015, 05:56:16 PM »

This is an excerpt from my draft SuperPlan

"Here is how I lower the risk on an already conservative 3% withdrawal rate:

1. First year expenses are completely covered by the initial cash holding. Zero portfolio withdrawal.

Very similar to my plan. I also target 3% withdrawal. I've put aside about 20k$ for the I-met-my-goal-travel. I also want to avoid retiring on a date where the stock market has done too well. So in the spreadsheet I use to calculate my net worth, I calculate for each year my expected return on investments. Any 'surplus' from investment returns is transferred in the liability section, to be used as a provision. For instance, as we speak I have a 70k$ provision that is substracted from my net worth. This year (I do the math once per year in January) I will probably need to transfer from this provision back to my net worth if the stock market remains low.

This helps smooth the impact of the stock market swings and I think it is also provides a better overview of where you really stand after a long period of either a bull or bear market. It was very useful through 2009 and I could continue to see my net worth increase as I reduced the provision amount to compensate from 30k$ to -10k$ (yes, at some point I actually 'borrowed' from future returns).

FIRE me

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #8 on: October 04, 2015, 09:17:22 PM »
January 2017 for me. 15 months to go.

Lnspilot

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #9 on: October 05, 2015, 01:50:43 AM »
Nice, FIRE me, it's really not too far away. It's becoming real.

jack06,
Yes, it would be very unfortunate to start retirement only to be greeted by a big drop in the market. I think that is in the back of everyone's mind. Do you have GO/NO GO criteria in place for your retirement date? I'm still working out the NO GO/postponing criteria myself. 

It's good that you've got a good back up plan that you are not only comfortable with, but that is actually proven. Where do you keep the provision?

Here are some other gaps that I'm currently working on:

Gap #1 - Actual expenses. I've been expatriated / deployed since 2008 so I won't know my actual monthly expenses until I move back to the US next year. As a single guy I'm proposing 2k per month.

Gap #2 - Financial Readiness. I've actually gotta reach 800k, but I'm on track.

Gap #3 - Mental Readiness. Leaving a cash fire hose is going against the grain, and I need to ensure I've got all my bases covered e.g. these gaps.

Gap #4 - Health Insurance. While not a big deal, I haven't looked into it much... yet. There's plenty of resources available when the time comes.

Gap #5 - Personal liability insurance? I was browsing one users blog, the older gentleman with the avatar of a hiker, I forget it at the moment but it will come to me. He mentioned umbrella insurance and protecting his stash, and yes, the last thing I need is to get sued and lose my FI.



jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #10 on: October 05, 2015, 06:27:34 PM »

jack06,
Do you have GO/NO GO criteria in place for your retirement date? I'm still working out the NO GO/postponing criteria myself. 

Not really. I have a hard stop in January 2018. We're going to travel with a couple of friends. I'm the only one who has not yet told his employer (the two girls can take a sabbatical leave with deferred pay, the other one is a c-level and he wanted to give them advanced notice).

Quote
It's good that you've got a good back up plan that you are not only comfortable with, but that is actually proven. Where do you keep the provision?

The provision is really just in a spreadsheet, the real money is invested. So I have a traditional net worth cell (example: 800k including house), the total of my cash and investments (ex: 600k) and the same amount minus the provision (ex: 530k). I target 3% SWF based on the latter. That would be my go, no-go: since this amount is reduced if the market did very well recently, it is a bit more conservative (at least today, after a few years of good market returns).

Quote
Gap #1 - Actual expenses. I've been expatriated / deployed since 2008 so I won't know my actual monthly expenses until I move back to the US next year. As a single guy I'm proposing 2k per month.

Targeting a bit lower (my share of our household expenses though). Wife wants to continue to work. 

Quote
Gap #2 - Financial Readiness. I've actually gotta reach 800k, but I'm on track.

I also target 800k, but this will include 20k for the travel and 10k for a musical instrument I wanna acquire to spend a lot of time on :)

Quote
Gap #3 - Mental Readiness. Leaving a cash fire hose is going against the grain, and I need to ensure I've got all my bases covered e.g. these gaps.

True. I look at the market and when you have money flowing in to compensate, it is easier to watch the portfolio go down. I also want to plan what I'll do with all that free time. When you work you want more free time, but suddenly 50 more hours to spend each week might be a lot, particularly when most of the people you know are working during that time.

Quote
Gap #4 - Health Insurance. While not a big deal, I haven't looked into it much... yet. There's plenty of resources available when the time comes.
Living in Canada, not a big concern for me. Health insurance to cover what is not provided by the social welfware is less than 1000$ per year.

Quote
Gap #5 - Personal liability insurance? I was browsing one users blog, the older gentleman with the avatar of a hiker, I forget it at the moment but it will come to me. He mentioned umbrella insurance and protecting his stash, and yes, the last thing I need is to get sued and lose my FI.

Never thought of that one. But things are very different here in Canada regarding damage awards (much lower here) and nearly non-existent punitive awards. 

Take care!
Jack

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #11 on: October 05, 2015, 07:45:19 PM »
Welcome eufire2017. The FIRE community is a pretty big eye-opener, isn't it?

As for help and examples, I'm sure you're probably devouring blogs already. Go Curry Cracker, JLCollinsNH, Living A Fi, Root of Good, etc are all exceptional resources, but you probably knew that already.

Nice, Jack. 6 months will be awesome. I agree, the margin of safety is important.

This is an excerpt from my draft SuperPlan

"Here is how I lower the risk on an already conservative 3% withdrawal rate:

1. First year expenses are completely covered by the initial cash holding. Zero portfolio withdrawal.
2. Years 2-5 will have minimal withdrawals. Approximately $32,000 in total to supplement dividends. Principal will be sold via Specific Identification of Shares to ensure capital gains/losses are utilized correctly.
3. Years 6-10 will be paid for mostly with Roth IRA conversion basis and supplemented with dividends."
This is my target year more so end of year goal. I've been reading but fear I'm reading too much with still so many questions. Any 4 or 4.5% withdrawal plans with ways to reduce risk like reducing spending in down years?

Cookie78

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #12 on: October 05, 2015, 09:29:25 PM »
Due to real estate market being low right now I had to drop out of the class of 2016 and come back to my original plan of 2017. I was bummed at first, but I'm excited now. It's a more solid plan this way, and I get to graduate with you folks! I also might take a 6 month leave next summer which could push me back a little more... but hopefully not beyond 2017. We will see. Clearly my plans are ever evolving.

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« Last Edit: October 05, 2015, 09:40:44 PM by CanuckExpat »

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #14 on: October 06, 2015, 05:44:49 AM »
This is my target year more so end of year goal. I've been reading but fear I'm reading too much with still so many questions. Any 4 or 4.5% withdrawal plans with ways to reduce risk like reducing spending in down years?

Welcome here and don't hesitate to ask for guidance, with this crowd, we know everything (almost).

There is something in the investment world called 'rebalancing', which consists in bringing your portfolio back to your target allocation. One way to approach up/down years after FIRE is to rebalance by transferring some investments to cash when the market has done very well, and use this cash when the market is down. I haven't done any simulation though to see if this really decreases your probability of depleting your portfolio.

Good luck with your plan!

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #15 on: October 06, 2015, 05:46:24 AM »
Due to real estate market being low right now I had to drop out of the class of 2016 and come back to my original plan of 2017. I was bummed at first, but I'm excited now. It's a more solid plan this way, and I get to graduate with you folks! I also might take a 6 month leave next summer which could push me back a little more... but hopefully not beyond 2017. We will see. Clearly my plans are ever evolving.

Welcome here! On my side, it is just the other way around, the value of the house has increased a lot recently and now, I must resist the call to retire too early, knowing that after a big swing up, things are more likely to go down afterwards or to stall.

pka222

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #16 on: October 06, 2015, 02:57:05 PM »
I'm targeting 1st quarter 2017 as well, mostly because my contract is up in March and my 40th birthday is later in 2017.  Its more physiological than anything else but I really want to be done before 40.  That said for a family of 4, my stash will only cover 65% to 75% of our annual costs which poses the biggest challenge to FI since it would be great for my DW to join in the new lifestyle  unencumbered by work. Depending on the markets and DWs work I could end up in another 3 year contract with a drop-dead date of 2020.
The reassurance, case studies and comradely of MMM has been integral to this path for me- best of luck to the 2017 cohort!

Lnspilot

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #17 on: October 16, 2015, 10:44:18 AM »
Alright, so this is fun, and also sad. Very, very sad.

SHORT backstory, for context:
I used to live here in Germany because of work. I was a spendthrift Sukka consumer per MMM standards. This is the second vacation from Afghanistan since September 2014. I love beer (probably too much).

I'm on a ~28 day vacation in Germany and am tracking every purchase. My proposed FIRE budget is 2k per month, and I'm doing this to see what an average month's costs are while traveling OCONUS.

Data consists of... whatever I feel like. Mostly monetary expense categories, but I'm also tracking general fitness and my terrible alcohol habit.

So far.. I'm over budget. I slacked and my accommodation is more expensive than I'd usually pay for.

Beer budget is blown out of the water. I kinda thought that would happen.

I'm about half way through, so if my accommodation was less than I would be overall less than 2k per month.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2015, 08:26:29 AM by Lnspilot »

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #18 on: October 17, 2015, 09:45:34 AM »
My proposed FIRE budget is 2k per month, and I'm doing this to see what an average month's costs are while traveling OCONUS.

I'm interested. Why kind of accomodation can you have for 2k per month?

What I realized when I started planning our 6-month travel abroad is that it would not cost much more to travel forever than staying and living in our home. Which of course does not apply to this travel since we still have to keep our house while we will be away.

The math looks like that:

Our situation: House worth 380k, fully paid. Sell house, invest, get 4% over inflation = 15k net per year. Our current budget is 35k for the two of us and it's also our FIRE budget. If we sell the house, that makes room for 50k$ per year. Can we travel all-year and pay for all life costs (health, insurances, clothing, etc.) with 50k, considering we don't want to go to low-cost countries? Maybe not, but it is close.   

Lnspilot

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #19 on: October 17, 2015, 12:36:39 PM »
Right now I'm using AirBnB for my 28 days. I've got a private room and access to a full kitchen. The host has all of the tools to cook, and even has an expensive juicer I can use. This particular place is 47.89 per day.

$65.75 per day is my original goal, and I'm giving it a dry run now. That leaves me with $17.86 per day for whatever else. Mostly food. For one person it's plenty of food, as long as I don't eat at restaurants multiple times a week.

As of today I'm at 78.80 per day, which is primarily due to the large quantity of beer I'm drinking. My projected 30 day spend rate based on the first ten days is $2422.

So far my options are A: cheaper accommodation. If I stayed for right under 35 per night (e.g. hostels in this area), my average daily spend rate would be right at 65.98. Booze included.

Or B: reduced alcohol consumption. The daily average minus alcohol is 57.84. Room to spare with current fancy accommodation.

Edit: I'm not factoring in all of the life costs that you mention. That's a great idea, and I should definitely upgrade my spreadsheet next time to try and factor those things in.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2015, 12:48:01 PM by Lnspilot »

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #20 on: October 20, 2015, 10:23:29 AM »

Edit: I'm not factoring in all of the life costs that you mention. That's a great idea, and I should definitely upgrade my spreadsheet next time to try and factor those things in.

A big chunk could be transportation, unless you already factored in the cost to get there in your daily cost. When planning travels (particularly longer ones), transportation from one place to the next is always the part of the budget I find the most difficult to estimate properly.

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #21 on: October 24, 2015, 03:57:06 AM »
Thanks for starting this thread Jack. My target FIRE date is November 1st, 2017.

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #22 on: October 24, 2015, 07:20:24 AM »
My plan at the moment is the spring of 2017. My husband and I live in different countries at the moment, so I would join him at that time and (hopefully) do some volunteer-type work. He's in a developing country. Ideally, he'd continue to work until July 2018. However, there have been ongoing budget cuts at my work, and it is highly possible that my whole department will be cut mid-2016. If that's the case, I have a variety of scenarios in mind, but none of them would likely lead to a spring 2017 date or July 2018 date for the two of us. So, fingers crossed that I'm part of this group.

SwordGuy

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #23 on: October 30, 2015, 09:47:21 PM »
I'm planning on June 6th, 2017 for my FI date.   

Hopefully I'll beat it by a few months.

Farm income from my recently deceased mom is expected to cover 2/6ths of our target income and is just now starting to come in for us.  (That was never part of our FI plans for 4-5 years from now.)
My daughter's disability social security covers almost another 1/6th and that is already in place.  Add in the rental income from Rental #1 and we're at  1/2 our target FI income already.

My lovely wife, who is 10 years older than I am, will be going on Social Security in March of 2017.  That will cover 2/6th of our target income and get us to 5/6ths of our target income.  She will also go on Medicare which will cut our health insurance costs by a goodly bit.

If we get the other two currently owned rentals rented out that will cover the other 1/6th.

In theory we own enough assets to be FI now.  But they aren't deployed properly or they aren't producing income yet.

For example, we now own 5 houses, but only one of them is rented.   The other 4 (a rental we just this week got ready for market, another rental that we just bought, my mom's house and our own personal house don't make money, they just cost money.  And we're about to buy a new personal house for ourselves, which will make house costs even higher!)

So although we've got passive income at 1/2 our target income at the moment, we've also got very high expenses at the moment.  Much higher than usual. 

In a week or two we'll get some of our assets redeployed into cash, which will use to pay off the credit card debt that ballooned from nothing to $18,000 over the last 3 months as we traveled out of town to help out my mom, paid for her funeral, paid to move stuff back to our home, and paid for the last bit of repairs to rental #2.  Plus we'll pay all the property tax on six houses and - just to get the bills off our back - the property insurance for the next year.    That same cash will cover the costs of upgrading our new personal home and repairing our current home.

That will get us back to a more normal keel.   

We'll still have a new mortgage on the new house to pay and a HELOC on our current home (used to pay for rental #3) to pay.   Those are both expenses our target income did not intend to cover.

Selling my mom's house will allow us to pay off the mortgage on the new house.   

Selling our current house will enable us to set aside cash reserves to get another 2 to 3 rentals and pay off the HELOC.

And rehabbing rental #3 will get more income coming in.

At that point, our house cost drops from 6 houses (1 income producing) to 4 houses (3 income producing) and zero debt. 

We'll have cash reserves from the rental properties, built up from rental income over the next year, to cover next year's insurance and property tax costs. 

At that point, we can consider going FI somewhat earlier.   

Ok, I realized that's a bit rambling... :)

Here's a better summary of status:

$60K   : Target Passive Income (with no mortgage/heloc expenses)

Current Passive Income
$20K   : Farm
$ 8K    : Daughter disability
$ 5K    : Profit one rental
=====
$33K   : Current Passive Income.  55% target income. 
less -$34K to mortgage and HELOC payments.
 
Next Year Passive Income, above plus:
$ 9K    : Rentals #2 and #3
=====
$41K   : EOY 2016 Passive Income.   68% target income. Mortgage and HELOC paid off.

Passive Income 2017 Onwards, above plus:
$14K   : 3 more rentals.
$20K   : Wife Social Security
=====
$75K  : EOY 2017 Passive Income:  125% target income.

Passive Income 2018 Onwards, above plus:
$ 22K : Stock at 3% SWR.
$   5K : Consulting/Art
=====
$102K: EOY 2018+ Passive Income: 170% target income.

So, if we get the target 6 rentals bought and rented early, I can go FI before my wife goes on SS.

It will be close enough.

Other buffers include:

$    5K : Additional consulting or art money
$  10K : 2 more rentals if cash flow from rentals 1-6 is good enough early enough.
$  20K : Social Security for me in 8 years, or more if we wait longer.
$  90K : Back to work I go.

Here's the one that's got me really amazed.   The difference between my target income and my projected actual income is enough, even after taxes, to purchase and rehab an additional rental each year.   Think about that!  I can quit working and earn enough to buy another house each year I'm not working!   That can add another $5K to my income each year I can pull that off.

In 4 to 6 years, I could actually increase my income to the point that we could buy two houses a year.   That is so mind-boggling.

Anyway, I'm glad to be in the 2017 cohort.  We'll be the best, of course! :)






Faraday

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #24 on: October 30, 2015, 10:37:45 PM »
Following. I'm aiming for FIRE in 2020, but my "best possible option" is 2017.
Hi SwordGuy, I'm just north of Raleigh. Turning south and saying "Howdy".

Money Badger

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #25 on: October 31, 2015, 06:17:54 AM »
Swordguy,   You are kicking ass and looking forward to hearing when you flip those cost centers to rent generators!   FWIW, with that many rentals though, property management is what you're passionate about and is going to be your real job so focusing on that might accelerate the income increases?   Anyhoo, GREAT plan!

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #26 on: October 31, 2015, 07:43:24 AM »
Swordguy,   You are kicking ass and looking forward to hearing when you flip those cost centers to rent generators!   FWIW, with that many rentals though, property management is what you're passionate about and is going to be your real job so focusing on that might accelerate the income increases?   Anyhoo, GREAT plan!

I'm not so passionate about property "management".   I'm willing to hire that out even after I "retire"!

I am passionate about getting passive income from a variety of sources!

What's not to like about buying/fixing up an income-producing asset at 50-60% of its sale value and having it return a good profit without selling it?   With tax savings on the profits, too!  :)   

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #27 on: December 07, 2015, 10:01:41 AM »
My original plan was mid-2018 but, I don't think I can hold out that long.  Too much work BS.
My target is now June, 2017.  We get annual profit-sharing bonuses in May so I want to be around for that.  Then, I'll give my notice and enjoy the summer.

Yesterday, I realized that November, the week before Thanksgiving, is our traditional corporate "layoff week".  Every year at that time there are announced layoffs, in various parts of the organization.   I am considering holding out until then to see if I luck out and get a severance "package" instead of retiring first !!!!

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #28 on: December 07, 2015, 10:16:23 AM »
Ohai, just FYI, I'm following this, though I haven't set a date.
I'm juggling some weird and somewhat fluid priorities, trying to figure out when to make my move. So, I'm watching all the possible years and this one's in play.

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #29 on: December 08, 2015, 11:11:41 AM »
I am targetting Q1 2017. DH wants me to hold out until 2018 but we are already in OMY mode this year. by moving up our date one year I will retire at 49.

We begin our FI readiness test in January. I've already put in the payroll change for my entire paycheck to go to savings. We will "live" on our rental income (we own 3 multis, fully rented). Will use a bit of my paycheck to simulate my 401k draws as needed. We will list our primary residence this spring, and until it sells, I will also use a bit of my paycheck to cover housing.

Like swordguy we have a series of real estate transactions to finish up, but I think I am a little further along my path since of our 4 properties three are income producing.

Initial RE plans are to slow travel in an RV for x amount of time (I envision over a year) so many changes need to happen. Sell lots of stuff, sell house, buy RV, buy RE property to rent while we are out of town.

We are selling our primary residence as it is not RE friendly. Our retirement home might just be another multi - and it will be much smaller sf with less yard to mow! We plan to rent a storage unit and rent out our unit while we travel. (Note: we use a PM and while we are away and our own residence is rented, that income is going to cover the extra costs of having the PM run the show completely for us. Currently all repairs and rehabs we DIY)

As already stated in this thread, while traveling, our expenses are lower than when we are stationary, so during our travelling phase of RE we should be saving enough to perhaps purchase another rental, who knows.

We have two income sources:
3.125k = monthly net rental income (very conservative here)
1.4k = my 401k (using 72T, SEPP)

54k gross income

3.1k estimated monthly expenses while traveling

I've been diving deep into ACA and anticipate with the rental write offs our MAGI will be 30k or so giving us a good tax credit back. Since we will be traveling I need to find multi state coverage.

2014 and 2015 were purging years, selling off all of our clown, unmustachian belonging in preparation for RE. We still have so much stuff! It will be major garage sale time this summer!

Ah, and DH RE'd in 2011 so he could focus on our plans to buy rentals. He handles all the maintenance and repairs. He will focus on the home front tasks while I slave away at my day job.

I am counting down the days!

Gyosho

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #30 on: December 09, 2015, 08:22:35 AM »
With great fear and trepidation I am putting my name down for the FIRE class of 2017.

Target date is January.

2017 is the year when I turn the magic number of 55 and can start drawing money penalty-free from my retirement accounts.


Faraday

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #31 on: December 10, 2015, 11:14:01 AM »
With great fear and trepidation I am putting my name down for the FIRE class of 2017.

Target date is January.

2017 is the year when I turn the magic number of 55 and can start drawing money penalty-free from my retirement accounts.

Welcome Gyosho! We are the same age. Always good to see someone who is making up for lost time. 2017 is an extreme stretch goal for me (2020 is much more reasonable). I doubt I'll make it but the goal is there....

Gyosho

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #32 on: December 10, 2015, 04:58:20 PM »
Thanks.

I actually spent my 20s as a slacker and didn't really start working until I was 30, so if you take off my age the 8 years between graduating from college and getting my first real job then I will only be 46 when I retire.

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #33 on: December 10, 2015, 06:54:04 PM »
With great fear and trepidation I am putting my name down for the FIRE class of 2017.

Target date is January.

2017 is the year when I turn the magic number of 55 and can start drawing money penalty-free from my retirement accounts.

Why the fear and trepidation?

Calimandc

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #34 on: December 10, 2015, 07:33:09 PM »
My wife and I are on the FIRE 2017 track as well. We're looking at summer of that year to head abroad.  We are doing a test run summer of 16 to see how it goes. We could leave today, on just 400K, depending on where we want to be in the world. We have 1 kid, and are in the process of adopting a second. The adoption is what's keeping us in place for now because we have to have consistency in our home for it to go through. When we're done with that we'll be heading out.  I'm very excited to be part of this thread and to hear from all you folks.  Oh, and we're 41 (her) and (39) me respectively.

Jeremy

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #35 on: December 10, 2015, 08:30:43 PM »
My wife and I are on the FIRE 2017 track as well. We're looking at summer of that year to head abroad.  We are doing a test run summer of 16 to see how it goes. We could leave today, on just 400K, depending on where we want to be in the world. We have 1 kid, and are in the process of adopting a second. The adoption is what's keeping us in place for now because we have to have consistency in our home for it to go through. When we're done with that we'll be heading out.  I'm very excited to be part of this thread and to hear from all you folks.  Oh, and we're 41 (her) and (39) me respectively.

Jeremy

Hey Jeremy! Welcome on the 2017 track! Out of curiosity, when you say: on 400k, is it your net worth (including house if you have one), or investment portfolio only?

Jack

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #36 on: December 10, 2015, 10:09:34 PM »
Another goal of mine is to purchase some RE that I can rent out at a loss to friends who can't afford this HCOL area, so that might be an incentive to go back to work in the future. We'll see!

Why not help them to learn RE investing and help them get started in a cash-flow positive manner for both of you?   That would provide bigger benefits for your friends and provide more cash flow to help yourself (or more friends).

woopwoop

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #37 on: December 10, 2015, 11:08:47 PM »
That might be a good idea in the long run. As of now, they have no capital to do any RE investing with - we tend to have younger, low-income friends with little in savings. I would hope that buying fixer-upper properties and having them help with the fixing up would both help us out and also help them get a buffer of savings while learning some good skills for future RE investing. I'm also considering buying a rental property with a large lot and letting them live in an RV on the lot for free/cheap. But that's definitely a ways off - I'm hoping for another housing crash for things to become affordable again!

Gyosho

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #38 on: December 11, 2015, 08:18:26 AM »
With great fear and trepidation I am putting my name down for the FIRE class of 2017.

Target date is January.

2017 is the year when I turn the magic number of 55 and can start drawing money penalty-free from my retirement accounts.

Why the fear and trepidation?

My job is easy and change is hard.

Lnspilot

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #39 on: December 11, 2015, 09:15:53 AM »
You've got that right, Gyosho! You aren't alone.

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #40 on: December 11, 2015, 09:25:19 AM »
With great fear and trepidation I am putting my name down for the FIRE class of 2017.

Target date is January.

2017 is the year when I turn the magic number of 55 and can start drawing money penalty-free from my retirement accounts.

Why the fear and trepidation?

My job is easy and change is hard.

Good reasons. For me it is more like joy and anticipation.

My job is hard, but change is hard for me too.

I've tried to imagine what it will be like on my last day of work. I suspect I will alternate between a near maniacal grin and a numb “can this be real?” kind of feeling.

But under it all I would not be surprised to hear that tiny voice asking if this is maybe a big mistake. I'll tell the tiny voice to relax and go do the math, it will be fine.

Cookie78

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #41 on: December 11, 2015, 09:36:08 AM »
With great fear and trepidation I am putting my name down for the FIRE class of 2017.

Target date is January.

2017 is the year when I turn the magic number of 55 and can start drawing money penalty-free from my retirement accounts.

Why the fear and trepidation?

My job is easy and change is hard.

Good reasons. For me it is more like joy and anticipation.

My job is hard, but change is hard for me too.

I've tried to imagine what it will be like on my last day of work. I suspect I will alternate between a near maniacal grin and a numb “can this be real?” kind of feeling.

But under it all I would not be surprised to hear that tiny voice asking if this is maybe a big mistake. I'll tell the tiny voice to relax and go do the math, it will be fine.

My job is quite easy, and change that I initiate myself I find very easy, but the rest of what you say here rings so true! I think I will be it a weird fuzzy excited haze with a huge grin, but a tiny little bit of holy shit, what have I done! :D

SwordGuy

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #42 on: December 11, 2015, 04:54:36 PM »
Buy an inexpensive fixer-upper for one's first home and fix it up, then flip it after two years.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #43 on: December 11, 2015, 06:59:26 PM »
Ohai, just FYI, I'm following this, though I haven't set a date.
I'm juggling some weird and somewhat fluid priorities, trying to figure out when to make my move. So, I'm watching all the possible years and this one's in play.

Welcome to the 2017 club, zephyr911. Is 2017 your earliest year under consideration, or is 2016 also in play?

Calimandc

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #44 on: December 13, 2015, 06:26:39 AM »
The $400K is total net worth (which is conveniently also my investment total). I do not own a home, as we sold that 2 years ago and will be renters for a very long time going forward.

J-

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #45 on: December 13, 2015, 10:48:31 AM »
The $400K is total net worth (which is conveniently also my investment total). I do not own a home, as we sold that 2 years ago and will be renters for a very long time going forward.

J-

Any planned destination for living abroad yet? I'm curious because it is a project my wife and I may have, but I haven't done a lot of research yet and curious where you would consider going).

We are also considering becoming renters again, given the spread between the rents and property value in our area. Since we bought our house, rents may have increased 25-35%, while our house has nearly doubled in value. Back then it made sense to own, but I feel it is no longer the case.

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #46 on: December 14, 2015, 06:10:39 AM »


The greatest thing about fire on $400K net worth is we're figuring we'll both do some work.  We currently run a blog www.lifeiscomfy.com, and I write historical fiction www.jeremystrozer.com.  We're also open to teaching english, or other topics, while abroad as we're way over educated!  What I love about FIRE is that you're released to do what you want to do, rather than what you have to in order to pay the bills for where you live.

Jeremy

Yes agreed, it's what FI really is. As I get closer to my target, I do realize that new doors are opening to me. I can consider part-time jobs that would bring only 10k per year and I don't mind, since I don't really need more money. It is something I love about FI. In the last 15 years I felt like all the doors were closing and that there was only one track to follow, with fewer and fewer opportunities along the way. It does not need to be like that, but it is the reality for many of us. FI reopens so many of those closed doors.

Calimandc

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #47 on: December 14, 2015, 08:18:47 AM »
Exactly Jack!  As we look to the future we can do whatever we want wherever we want.  That is real freedom!!!

jack06

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #48 on: December 17, 2015, 06:52:32 PM »
Today I made a first step towards ER: I resigned from my current middle-management position. It was not dramatic at all, but after a discussion with my boss, who is a VP, I told him I'd like to go back to my former role and he accepted. I did not want to start at another company knowing I would quit in a year and a half, so I'm very glad he accepted.

I still target 2017 to leave completely the workforce though, but knowing that all the responsibilities of my current role will soon be a thing of the past will help me go through the next year and a half. It's great, because without my FIRE goal, I'm sure I would simply have continued with a career I never really wanted. After more than 10 years in a management role, it will be a great challenge to fill my old shoes, but the good news is that I don't really have anything to lose.   

Jim2001

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Re: Target FIRE: 2017
« Reply #49 on: December 23, 2015, 09:24:47 PM »
Hey folks, I've been lurking off an on for a few years and finally registered so I can post.  Count me in for class of 2017.  Shooting for December.