2021 FIRE Cohort

[monarda]

I can join in.
Planning on FI sometime in 2021, TBD.  We'll be 61 and 60.

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

My asset allocation is currently 80/20.  I plan to adjust that to 60/40 in April of 2021.  Then I will increase stocks by 2.5% per year until I return to 80/20.  This is pretty much a classic “bond tent” maneuver.  See part 19 of the Early Retirement Now “Safe Withdrawal Rate Series”.

I have actually written my ISP with this plan (and more instructions in case a big nasty event happens to my portfolio) a few weeks ago, just to put in writing what I had been thinking.  Having a written plan somehow has given me peace of mind.  If anyone thinks there may be value I could post it for your use or contemplation. 

Welcome aboard to the recent additions.  I will post an updated roster shortly, especially since we are on page six (6) now.  Hooray for our cohort!

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

The roster is updated for everybody through post #293

Name Age (at FIRE) FIRE Date CrazyIT 56 3/6/2020 OLY Marcher Lady 49 10/10/2020 OLY Matz_70 50 1/1/2021 12321 1/23/2021 Buffalo Chip 56 2/28/2021 dreams_and_discoveries 39 February Chaplin 47 3/23/2021 ScreamingHeadGuy 41 4/23/2021 ItalianGirl 5/1/2021 WildJager 35 May FIREArtist 47 6/1/2021 Sisto 52 6/7/2021 YoungGranny 31 6/30/2021 HumanAfterAll 44 June Ladychips 55 7/1/2021 Nazar 7/1/2021 Peter Parker 7/12/2021 CarolinaGirl 50 July Arbitrage 43 8/1/2021 Wadiman August MichGenesis 46 9/30/19 GBRS 36 September the_fixer 49 10/1/2021 damo October Boyband 37 October Money Badger 53 12/1/2021 Accountant007 48 12/23/2021 Bownyboy 29 12/25/2021 Ulysses Everett McGill 55 12/31/2021 dblaace 60 12/31/2021 Frizzywhiskers 50 12/31/2021 SaddyG 54 TBD Tister350 60 TBD frugalecon TBD Aldi Early 50s TBD

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Finances:
December 2018 - 79.7%
January 2019 - 85.9%
February 2019 - 90.6%
March 2019 - 92.1%

Somehow the market still seems to be generous with returns.  The annual IRA sum was deposited in January and the 3O% 4O1k contribution runs from January to October, at which point I have hit my ceiling for the year.  The HSA contributions and company match go the whole year through,though, so there is a little more in November and December. 

Shoot, at this point I don’t know what market returns will be, but they will almost certainly dwarf whatever my contributions are.  I need to contain my exuberance about these gains because the drop can happen at any moment and clean me out.  Stoicism in the face of a bull market in anticipation of the bear.

Life:
March weather wasn’t all that much better than February, except for the last week.  That was spring break for the schools around here and the weather was decent, so I got the bike out and commuted that way with the reduced traffic.  I have been taking breakfast to work and eating after my commute, i started this even before the biking started, and it seems to cut down on instances of indigestion. 

My 5yo daughter just learned that cursive script exists, so she had to write her name using it.  It took about 3O minutes to create something that looks like cursive with almost legible letters, so we could say she writes her signature like most adults do. 

The wife seems to be getting tired of being the SAHM.  She’s been the primary caregiver since she FUed out of her job in March 2O18.  I just get this feeling, especially after spring break, that she doesn’t quite enjoy it as much as she thought she would - or it could be the 5yo wears on one after so much time.  I know she’s talked about getting a part time job after full day kindergarten starts in fall.  This is a thing i should talk to her about more.

Wife and I have been going through the Alpha course at our church.  It’s good and all, but I just get the feeling I am not its intended audience. 

On to April.

[Ladychips]

I'm very visual, and I seem to spend much of my life scheduling meetings/events/etc.  To help me, I've always kept two years worth of calendars hanging on my office door (so that I can always look up and see when a date is happening).  Since I work in education, my calendars are on the academic year (july-june). I currently have 1819 and 1920 hanging on the door. Today one of the members of my group told me she was going to order new calendars soon.  In three months, I'll remove 1819, move 1920 up and add 2021. 

I realized that is the LAST calendar I will order and hang on my door.  Because I'm leaving in July 1, 2021 (God willing!).  How awesome is that?!?!?!?!

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

I realized that is the LAST calendar I will order and hang on my door.  Because I'm leaving in July 1, 2021 (God willing!).  How awesome is that?!?!?!?!

@Ladychips That is a huge milestone.  It is probably the first of the lasts you will get to experience.  I look forward to finding all sorts of things I will do the last time, probably not realizing it until I do them.

[YoungGranny]

On the verge of committing career suicide! I took a job late last year that was a promotion and relocated across the country to accommodate. My DH meanwhile was doing the traveling consultant stint so we see each other on weekends. After many years, we're over it so when my old company offered me a telecommuting position I went for it! We'll be moving to accommodate my DH's job so he won't have to travel 4 days a week. But I feel like going from a relatively high-level position, back to a technical role won't look too good on the ole resume (but only a 3% pay cut so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). It's freeing to realize I don't care. I'm not playing the corporate game anymore and I don't care about climbing the ladder.....just over here doing a couple more years until freeeeeeeeedom =D

[MarcherLady]

Yay, it's great when you can break the 'rules' and not care, isn't it?

[HumanAfterAll]

Congrats on downshifting YoungGranny!  That sounds like a huge quality of life improvement for you & DH! 

I'm being courted by a startup 2 states away.  I'm conflicted... don't want to move, and don't want to miss any evenings with a toddler at home.  If I could work remotely 50-75% of the time, perhaps it could work out for a couple of years.  DW suggests I ask for 2X my current pay, which would go a long way to hitting a 2021 FIRE date.  But I'm not sure that is enough to justify being absent from bedtimes, meals, etc. for two years.  DW works full time, makes more than I do and does more of the dropoff/pickup and cooking than I do.  My gut says that no amount of salary increase will be worth burning relationship bucks. 

[YoungGranny]

@MarcherLady - I've been a rule follower my whole life so it's fun feeling like a rebel :)

@HumanAfterAll  - that's tough! Time is freedom and as someone who has had her husband travel for the past 2 years it does feel like it drags on sometimes. 2x salary could be worth it though, how much time would that shave off of your FIRE date?

[HumanAfterAll]

@YoungGranny it's tough to say.  We're at 67% of our target (whoa!), and similar to a post I saw on your journal, we're conflicted, feeling like we have so much money, but we are still 2-3 years away from our goal.  For the last few years our investment returns have been twice what we have contributed.  So doubling my salary (as a thought experiment, I don't have any offers) would only cut 1/4 of the remaining time, if investments keep returning what they have.  That's not worth 18 months of commuting by plane, especially if DW isn't set on quitting right away.  She would probably prefer I just stop working in 18 months and we'll still reach our target if she keeps working or slowly ramps down.

Who knows, maybe I can angle for a remote, technical position instead of on-site manager.  I'm all about downshifting these days :)

[Buffaloski Boris]

I guess it’s time for me to commit to a date. Goals that you set out there and are accountable for tend to be ones you accomplish.

The date: February 28, 2021. I will be 56 yo.

I’ve been playing with the simulations and it keeps coming up that I have 100% chance of retirement success. I must be messing something up. But I guess with pensions, a spendy but not too spendy lifestyle, and making my own dumb luck, it’s gonna work.

Sort of begs the question why don’t I just give notice now as I’m probably FI already? My answers:

1. Golden handcuffs. Employer pays for most of medical insurance and a yuuuuge increase in pension.

2. I actually like my job and my boss. Though job growth/ promotion opportunity seems to be on a downward slope.

3.  Not sure that DW is on board with this FIRE idea, though she surprises me. Will probably have to ROT (Retire On Time) instead.

[the_fixer]

Last week was HELL at work with lots of fallout to follow cleaning up issues for months to come. I have never walked out on a job before but I loaded up my gear and was headed out the door and would have kept walking except I would feel bad leaving the few people that care holding the bag.

Maybe it was the 14 - 16 hour days, incompetent help that keeps getting assigned to complex issues or just being setup for failure but it sure made it hard to stay.

On the plus side I was frustrated enough to call HR and ask them to verify my actual vesting date and found out that it is a full year earlier than I had thought.

So... 195 days from today until I am 100% vested in my retirement :)

Keeping my FIRE date where it is as i will still need to earn some money to be happy with my FIRE number.



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Hard to believe this was 6 months ago...

I received my pension notice Friday and it shows me as 100% vested.... Even came earlier than expected :)

Right now I am sitting at about 70% of my FIRE number not including my pension or social security so we should be on track.




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[nazar]

Not that I'm keeping track,  but 800 days from today is my first day of retirement!  Woohoo!

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[MarcherLady]

Nice!

[12321]

640 days assuming the market cooperates!

[the_fixer]

907 days for me :(



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[frizzywhiskers]

I need to revise my FIRE date to Dec. 31, 2021.  While I’d rather be done on November 5 as noted, I’ll need to work until the end of the year to get my 2022 bonus.  980 days to go! 

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Oh my gosh - just under 2 years to go on my count!  (Markets willing.)

Taking into account holidays, vacation days, sick days, etc. that should be 440-ish days of work. 

[Buffaloski Boris]

I don’t want to count days, in case I do decide that OMY is my best course of action.

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Finances:
December 2018 - 79.7%
January 2019 - 85.9%
February 2019 - 90.6%
March 2019 - 92.1%
April 2019 - 95.2%

3.1% stache gain - not a typo.  I just do not believe it.  Part of the gains were my 401k contribution, some from my ESOP revaluation, and a whole lot from The Market.  Just like last month I remain calm in the face of good fortune.  (But secretly giddy I could OLY or, at least, a few months less.)

Life:
Here is where I get to balance out the good financial news.

On Holy Thursday I went over my handlebars while biking to work (drizzle, railroad tracks, big bada boom).  Good news I only significantly sprained my left wrist (plus abrasions and bruises, but they are negligible).  Bad news - after a few days my wrist hurt so much I went to a doctor to get X-rays in case it was broken, and that will cost 240-480 dollars (yes I can afford it, but I didn’t get to 95.2% by spending money darn it!).  Good news - it is almost better and I plan to ride again on Friday, weather permitting.  (And I will walk the bike over those horrible tracks until the RR company redoes that crossing...or until I FIRE and don’t bike to work again.)

Easter was small this year.  Just me, wife, and daughter.  All the grandparents were thousands of miles away on vacations (lucky retirees). 

I spent the first week of the month traveling for work, something I haven’t done in at least 2.5 years.  More travel may be in store - stay tuned. 

[ALDI]

@shguy sorry to hear about your bike accident. Those RR or tram track can be nasty....
I bike to work approx. 150 days per year for some years now and I have to remind me all the time to not let the routine kill my attention. But apart from that fear, biking to work 45 min each way is my daily vacation, I am missing it when I do have to travel for business.

I have to report a serious infection with the scaremonger Virus, after I read the recent book by Taleb "Skin in the game" (although I enjoyed the read otherwise) and watched his recent Bloomberg interviews on my way back from a long business trip. In those interviews he appears as perma bearish because of the next looming debt crisis. He owns only gold, cash and some option strategies that will benefit from the expected bear markets. He proved to be successful as a option trader in his early career which puts more gravitas to his word, doesn't it?

So with this in mind I start to put my aggressive allocation into question. Do I really want to be ruined by that next black swan? Should I take up the fight with uncertainty and time the market? Maybe I can do it, against all odds?

I went back in time in my thoughts: By sheer luck (although I applied a routine of selling when the trend breaks), I sold most of my dot com stocks in Feb 2000 and reduced the mortgage of our first house with the proceeds. In 2007 I divested from equity funds to buy a lot and build our second home. Building cost turned below my budget, so I had some change left to invest in equity funds in Dec 2008. After some successful years of working and investing, I am now sitting on this sh**load of dough in equity ETF and wonder if I should try again to do the impossible: to time the next big market downturn. It would feel so nice to buy back the stuff 40% lower. But who am I to challenge Mr Market, a master of the Universe or what?

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Finances:
December 2018 - 79.7%
January 2019 - 85.9%
February 2019 - 90.6%
March 2019 - 92.1%
April 2019 - 95.2%
May 2019 - 91.6%

Well, it happened - the numbers can go down.  (I know they can, and they have in the past, but they had not since I started posting my tracking in this thread.)  But, looking at it, I'm still above my February level.  Since I still have 23 months  until my "target date" I don't think there is any need to worry about this past month's performance. 

Life:
I spent the past week traveling for work, well Wednesday through Friday at least.  Three days away for a measly 1.5 hour meeting which should have just been a conference call (it was originally scheduled to be a 6 hour meeting and cross-country flights meant travel to/from on the day of the meeting wouldn't work).  I shouldn't be one to complain - it is good to have face-to-face time with the client, but it grates me to waste so much of my time when it's unnecessary.  Guess I'll just have to quit work (patience my precious). 

We put our dog down two weeks ago.  We had had her for the last 9 years as a rescue animal.  She was 16 years old and had been going downhill for the past 6 months.  She had been going blind, becoming senile, and losing strength in her rear legs.  The final week she just stopped drinking and stopped eating (unless she literally walked into food).  So long my dear dog; I'll remember our naps and walks.   

My 4-year-old car is in the shop with engine failure.  The stupid thing is covered by warranty, so that's good.  The really upsetting part is the poor communication on the dealer/servicer side - when they say they'll call but don't I get upset.  Fortunately I've been traveling for work (see above) the past week and the weather's been mostly nice so I could bike most days since the car's been in the shop.  Oh, and the part they need will take "a couple of weeks" to come in so I've got a rental vehicle (newer model of my usual ride - I was secretly hoping for a sporty convertible) as a loaner in the interim.

Oh, shoot, and I turned 40.  Guess that explains the whole sporty convertible desire above, no?  (That's some self-deprecating humor, folks, not a cry for help.)

@ALDI - I totally agree about the biking - my 30 minute commute is a great way to de-stress after work and I do miss it on days I have meetings, it rains, or whatever else causes me to drive the car.  My mortgage will be paid off in June of 2020 (although I could just kill it with cash now).  I'll just keep the mortgage and cash, though, because I have some other expenses planned this year and early next. 

[rantk81]

If I'm still alive, I'll turn 40 in 2021.  My goal is now to retire before my 40th birthday.  2021 is my target!  5 more years!  (or less if I can swing it!!!)

Quoting/Bumping my prior post.  Wow, my life has changed a lot in three years!  Net worth has increased from about 1M to 1.5M since then and now.  I now have a spouse to consider, so expenses have increased.  I still think I'm on track for 2021, though!  A OMY won't be out of the realm of possibility though, depending on how things shake up with the overall economy and with the ACA.

Mainly just posting here for my own benefit -- to keep myself motivated :D

[CrazyIT]

I'm out!  Well not yet but changed my date to March 6th 2020.  The more I learn and educate myself the less I realise I need to keep doing the OMY thing. 

So year Next march.....final answer

Good luck to all of you!!

[MarcherLady]

Wooo, congratulations CrazyIT and happy birthday. Let us know how you get on in March!

[Matz_70]

I'm taking half a year off from July this year. Need a break. FIRE date remains.

Need 12 more months of work before 15/12/2020 to make the target date.

[ItalianGirl]

This is my cohort.... Hubs and I are planning May 1st 2021. I'll be 52. Hubby will leave his ski area job after that season April 30 and I am hoping to sell my agency in Jan of 2020 and be totally out of the consulting/ transition role by this date. DD graduates college in May 2021 so it should be one hellova year for celebrating. I'm probably FI already but I'm going for fat fire of $3M. I read your money or your life in college at the age of 26 so this has been a long journey. I'm beyond ready to be donezo...
Thanks and gratitude to this group... it was such a relief discovering this blog and knowing I wasn't crazy or alone.

[Buffaloski Boris]

This is my cohort.... Hubs and I are planning May 1st 2021. I'll be 52. Hubby will leave his ski area job after that season April 30 and I am hoping to sell my agency in Jan of 2020 and be totally out of the consulting/ transition role by this date. DD graduates college in May 2021 so it should be one hellova year for celebrating. I'm probably FI already but I'm going for fat fire of $3M. I read your money or your life in college at the age of 26 so this has been a long journey. I'm beyond ready to be donezo...
Thanks and gratitude to this group... it was such a relief discovering this blog and knowing I wasn't crazy or alone.

Well, “sane” these days seems to be defined as up to your ears in debt with $500 saved. Welcome to the asylum, class of 2021😆

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Glad to have you @ItalianGirl.  I've added you to the list, above.

[the_fixer]

Anyone starting to look at your withdrawal strategy yet?

I have been funding our Roth's for a few years and need to start looking at the best way to pull the money and still balance being @ the correct level for ACA subsidies.

It will be tricky running the Roth ladder and balancing our MAGI while making sure we can pull enough money to enjoy life.

Interested to hear where other are in the process and what if any tools you are using, I feel like I am a bit behind with about 2 years 3 months to go.



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[boyband]

So...

My work has been insanely busy, and now the dust is starting to settle it's time for an update. My date of being FI is rather than  late 2021... anticipated to be in October :-D

#YOLO
Plan after? Keep doing what I do - extra comfort and padding is not a bad thing, I love my work (for now), and have a chance to give others the same opportunities I've had. I met might be getting old (age 34), but I think I can do a few more years yet.

I need to get there first (which is going to be hectic) but I'll then be able to relax knowing that I'm playing with 'house money', and if my decisions don't pay off, that's fine - I'll have no need to be ruled by fear.

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Anyone starting to look at your withdrawal strategy yet?

I have been funding our Roth's for a few years and need to start looking at the best way to pull the money and still balance being @ the correct level for ACA subsidies.

It will be tricky running the Roth ladder and balancing our MAGI while making sure we can pull enough money to enjoy life.

Interested to hear where other are in the process and what if any tools you are using, I feel like I am a bit behind with about 2 years 3 months to go.

Here's my plan for our desired spending level - 41k.

16k will come from selling in our taxable account (I figure between a third and half of this will be long term capital gains).  We will be converting 35k per year from IRA to Roth IRA and then withdrawing 25k from the Roth to cover spending (we've got just over five years of that level of withdrawal currently in the Roth). 

I'm trying to fine-tune exactly how much we can/should convert from IRA to Roth, though, because of two factors. 
1. 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for a family of three is about $42,600.
2. With one child we can have up to $43,841.66 income with no federal tax liability.

I'm not sure if it's more advantageous to maximize ACA subsidies or to convert, federally tax-free, more IRA to Roth.  Guess this particular part of the equation will have to wait until I can check 2021 open enrollment pricing. 

[sisto]

I'm also trying to figure out withdrawals too. Most of my money is in 401K and or IRA. I have been planning to do SEPP, but it seems really tricky. I don't yet see a path to have enough time for the ROTH ladder, but also have a nice cash buffer. I live in CA and cost of living is pretty high so we need $48K per year. Still trying to figure out what my buckets should look like. Anyone else in a similar situation? Suggestions on having enough to make the ladder work? I have roughly $200K outside of 401K, so I'm really close which is why I was figuring o SEPP so that I didn't completely drain all non 401k funds. It seems like it's best to drawn down some of the 401K up front to reduce the chance of RMDs and to also have the other accounts to be able to better control gains/losses for tax purposes.

[frizzywhiskers]

I’m excited to be officially on track for FIRE 2021!  My husbands job has been an unknown for us for a while.  And while he is definitely not passionate about his finance career, he did get the news today that his temporary job has turned permanent!  And for the exact salary we had forecasted our FIRE date with.  Targeting Dec 31, 2021 as our official fire date!  Let’s do This! 🔥 2.5 years to go!

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Finances:
December 2018 - 79.7%
January 2019 - 85.9%
February 2019 - 90.6%
March 2019 - 92.1%
April 2019 - 95.2%
May 2019 - 91.6%
June 2019 - 97.7%

Well this was an unexpected surprise.  I thought the market's gyrations might have returned us to the April figure, but never had I imagined we'd push so far past it.  At this point I'm not sure what else to say other than wild speculations.  (If the market returns 2.7% for the second half of the year I'll hit my target in October OR if it drops 12% on Monday but then goes back to "average" returns my April '21 date holds). 
 

Life:
The first full week of this month I spent half of it at a conference (a not-work conference) at a waterpark resort.  The wife and girl came along and enjoyed the facilities (I had two afternoons of fun, too) while I was educated and schmoozed.

The weather's been nice enough to bike to work just over half the days.  We've enjoyed the weather as a family, too - some minor league baseball, plenty of time at our neighborhood park, and family-friendly activities downtown.  (Oh, and the car was finally repaired two weeks ago.) 

The girl has graduated 4K and is now in summer school at her soon-to-be elementary school.  She continues to love learning and is reading with help.  She also loves monkey bars, climbing trees, slides, dancing, and acrobatics.  Like every parent I'm very proud of her accomplishments and hope/pray I am/we are doing a decent job of raising a well-rounded citizen.

[Money Badger]

Just checking in...   Spending a LOT of time working out how I want to FIRE "to something" in 2021 instead of getting away from a career track I'm sick of...   The spreadsheet is clear we're on track.    The most important part now is getting the rest of the gameplan together...

My heart is certain it's going to involve gardening / outdoor activity with good people...  And I'll find some form of "work" that keeps me on some form of schedule along the way.    Already experimenting with getting involved here and there.   

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

Just an update, I cant find any figures that I had set out to hit back in 2016 with the original goal of FIRE by 2021.... But with the housing boom, I'm pretty sure we reached our original FIRE goal. However, our plans and goals have evolved over the last few years and so 2021 is still looking like the year to meet the new goals. But due to my son still being in school, I may decide to just continue working until he graduates, which would be 2023. I dunno well see.

Hope everyone else is doing good : )

[dblaace]

I hope to be a cohort for 2021 market willing. Not sure exactly when so I'll say 12/31/2021. I'm Currently 72% there.

I'll be 60 in September of that year, 60 is early right, wish I had started earlier.

I still need to figure out what I want to do then. I have no idea.

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

End of July update.

Finances:
December 2018 - 79.7%
January 2019 - 85.9%
February 2019 - 90.6%
March 2019 - 92.1%
April 2019 - 95.2%
May 2019 - 91.6%
June 2019 - 97.7%
July 2019 - 99.6%

It has been another month of abundant market fecundity.  The only “downside” is that I had actually passed my goal number for the past week, but dropped below it after this week-so-far returns.  Depending on returns in the near term I may give serious consideration to shaving a few months off my FIRE timeline.

If anyone had told me in 2010 that our financial situation would ever look like this (having 28x our annual expenses invested and able to quit work whenever we felt like) I would have never believed them.  Back then I was reduced to 80% and my soon-to-be wife was losing her job.  We swore, as God was our witness, we would never let ourselves be at the financial mercy of anyone/thing ever again - but never figured it could be like this.

Life:
This month has been chock full of goodness.  Today is our ninth anniversary.  Hooray for team us.

My wife’s sister and our nephews from out of state visited for a week early in the month.  While I love my nephews I, and my wife wholeheartedly agrees, am so glad we are raising our daughter differently than those boys.  (Discipline, schedules, dining manners, and expectations.)

Weather has been gorgeous, except for tornados two weeks ago which left parts of our area without electricity for up to four days (we were out less than half a day).  Just small branches blown off trees in our yard, but the in-laws had lost a huge birch tree.  With the nice weather (humidity be darned) and few out of town meetings to attend have got to commute via bike so much this past month - this week will be all biking even.

Early this month I celebrated my work anniversary (July is just a big deal kind of month for me I guess).  I got a promotion (meh- only care about it because it should let me focus on a certain client’s work and keep me from getting dragged into others’ projects when they need to throw bodies against a deadline).  With the promotion came a 9% raise.  FU money meant I was bold and asked for a 15% raise - typical shoot for the moon but land among the stars stuff. 

Not good news - my wife was rear-ended last week and the vehicle needs body work (this is the second time my wife has been rear ended while stopped WTF!?) but her vehicle was drivable while the perp’s car was severely “jacked up”.  Fortunately the other driver’s insurance should cover everything and we shouldn’t even have a deductible.  It’s not the money that would be a problem, it’s just the hassle of an unexpected thing to deal with. 

The girl finished summer school and is now busy with swim class and our library’s summer reading program.  While the wife gets to have outings all day (and has to put up with the child all day, too) I try to get quality time most evenings.  Fortunately she likes to be engaged with legos, coloring, and general doing stuff outside. 

Veggies are becoming harvestable in the garden.  Yum!

[MichGemini]

Hello All,

I am new here but my FIRE date is 9/30/2021.  Will be 46 at the time.

Anyone else find it mentally draining to think about most the time?
I am pretty sure I am good, only scary part is 90% of retirement is in 401k.  Which mainly means using a 72t.

I am sure the amount most calculators show is more than I believe I will spend.
Just figured I could find other investments to put anything I don't spend in.   A new roth account / back door roths and so on.

Sometimes I think I am going overboard on my calculations, but I always have the "what ifs" in the back of my head.

Curious what everyone does to combat the stress, especially as the time approaches.

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Hello All,

I am new here but my FIRE date is 9/30/2021.  Will be 46 at the time.

Anyone else find it mentally draining to think about most the time?
I am pretty sure I am good, only scary part is 90% of retirement is in 401k.  Which mainly means using a 72t.

I am sure the amount most calculators show is more than I believe I will spend.
Just figured I could find other investments to put anything I don't spend in.   A new roth account / back door roths and so on.

Sometimes I think I am going overboard on my calculations, but I always have the "what ifs" in the back of my head.

Curious what everyone does to combat the stress, especially as the time approaches.

Hi Mich.  I had a serious case of calculations-itis myself up until a few months ago.  I would go through compounding interest math in my head while waiting to fall asleep.  I always came up with the same “it depends on market return assumptions” result.  Eventually I just accepted there’s nothing to do but get back to living life and let the numbers do number things in the background.  (And I used Early Retirement Now’s spreadsheet to set up my “master” what-if scenarios, quit worrying, and learned to love the bomb).

Welcome to the cohort.

[tampaite]

End of July update.

Finances:
December 2018 - 79.7%
January 2019 - 85.9%
February 2019 - 90.6%
March 2019 - 92.1%
April 2019 - 95.2%
May 2019 - 91.6%
June 2019 - 97.7%
July 2019 - 99.6%

Just a suggestion. Are you able to post the data in below format? Often times, I have to dig up through old posts and rehash the #s to determine what does 99.6% means.

If you are not inclined that's fine. However, if you like to incorporate, you need to copy the below table and paste it in your reply and then update it before you post. See attachment for the HTML snippet.

<!-- FIRE goal = $1M , withdrawal rate = 4%, annual expense = $40k, annual expense target = 25x -->

Month	Percentage	Total Accumulated	Annual Expense Target
July 2009	20%	200K	5x
Aug 2009	23%	230K	5x
Sep 2009	24%	240K	6x

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

End of August update.

Finances:
December 2018 - 79.7%
January 2019 - 85.9%
February 2019 - 90.6%
March 2019 - 92.1%
April 2019 - 95.2%
May 2019 - 91.6%
June 2019 - 97.7%
July 2019 - 99.6%
August 2019 - 99.0% (27.7 x expenses)

For a while I was expecting worse of a month.  But this last week saw a rally and my bonds zigged while the equities zagged.  There were my monthly contributions, too.  Oh and my wife’s ESOP from her former employer (which she cannot start to cash out for another five years) was revalued so that added some black to the spreadsheet.

Life:
We are the proud parents of a brand new teenager!  Three weeks ago my wife learned that a host family for an exchange student fell through and she, being a former exchange student, just could not let this derail another’s dreams.  Thus we applied to be a host family, did all the background checks, interviews, and home visit in a few days and - less than a week later - our family welcomed a new 16 year old.  So far it’s working out wonderfully.  Got to learn how to register a new student into high school, open a bank account for a foreign national, and learn some Romanian (can count up to 99!).

The next day after our student arrived the family took a trip through the UP of Michigan.  Mining history, natural beauty, engineering marvels, the second National Park of the US (now a state park) were our itinerary.  Like it has been lately these week-long vacations really whet my appetite to quit work.  If only....

Weather has been great again (a few afternoon deluges and thunderstorms but that’s not enough to change my appreciation of a not-hot-and-humid month).  The fall cool has been noticeable lately with some early morning “briskness”.  I have been wearing shorts while biking to work for a while and have just quit changing into slacks these past few weeks - the benefit of working alone in a satellite office. 

I have been reading a lot more.  I just deleted all the time wasting games off my tablet and it feels so good to not feel obligated to play (that was a strange sensation). 

Only 20 months left (unless the market helps....)

[Arbitrage]

Less than 2 years from my planned date now.  I'm on track, but just barely - the markets haven't really helped over the timeframe I've been planning, since I've really been focused upon it since early 2018, and it's basically been averaging out to no growth over that period (actually I'm probably a touch negative with my asset allocation*, though maybe not with my portfolio since the gyrations/rebalancing have allowed me to invest more while the market has been down). 

Nevertheless, it looks like markets and/or my house to provide about $100-$150k in growth to hit the target date.  About 7% annualized if the house provides nothing.  Sounds like a good bet over a 30-year period, but over a 2-year period, it's anyone's guess.  If I don't get lucky, it's off to the sad land of OMY.

*Specifically, my REITs and bonds have beaten VTSAX handily, but my international and small-value chunks have decidedly not.  Someday international will pay off.  Someday.

[honeyfill]

I've decide to start posting here.  I don't know when I will retire again but 2021 is most likely.
I retired once in 2018 but recently went back to work.  Financially it was fine but mentally I was not as prepared as I should have been.
I am planning on re-retiring some time between Jan 2020 and June 2022, So the odds are it will be sometime in 2021 .
It all depends on the stock market, the health insurance situation and how the new job works out.     

[Buffaloski Boris]

Checking in with the “quiet cohort.”

[Mmm_Donuts]

I'm going to throw my hat into the ring here. I was originally in 2023 but I think that's too pessimistic. Plus, a house sale / downsize will speed things up.

Sept 1 2019: 73.5% towards FIRE goal.

I'll put a date out there: April 1 2021.

Having a narrower deadline might help me enjoy my job a bit more. A year and a half (give or take) sounds much better than 3+ years. The end is in sight. I can definitely handle another year or so.

I've been spending less time on this site because spending and saving habits are more or less on autopilot now. My main goals lately are to reduce food and restaurant spending. Otherwise we don't buy too much stuff anymore, and I'm getting better at figuring out how to use what we already have, or buying things used.

I'm learning more and more about food waste and how to prevent it. I had a bad habit of noticing food in the fridge that was on the edge of going bad and ignoring it. Then eventually throwing it out when it gets too gross. Now I'm looking at the food that's on the edge and eating it before it goes bad. Still tastes fine! No one has died. Also instead of buying whatever I need from recipe to recipe, and then using it that one time and not knowing what to do with whatever's left of those ingredients, I look at what's in the fridge and ask myself what I can make out of what's there. So simple but it's taken me all these years to figure it out. Stir fries, soup, muffins with random leftover fruit, veggies and grains are my friend.

So -- the current goals are:

- eat up what is in the pantry / freezer / fridge before buying anything else. I'll only buy necessary perishable staples when they run out
- limit eating out to 1x a week (takeout) and 1x a month or so (date night / sitting in at restaurants)
- getting rid of stuff, in preparation for downsizing
- not buying books or clothing (continuing this trend, I'm already pretty good at that)
- being grateful for what I have
- learning about growing food, planting seeds for veg garden in the winter
- continuing tracking the spending and saving ~70% of my paycheque

I am embarrassed to say how much we've been spending on groceries and eating out. So unnecessary. That's got to stop.

Good luck all!

[Buffaloski Boris]

I'm going to throw my hat into the ring here. I was originally in 2023 but I think that's too pessimistic. Plus, a house sale / downsize will speed things up.

Sept 1 2019: 73.5% towards FIRE goal.

I'll put a date out there: April 1 2021.

Having a narrower deadline might help me enjoy my job a bit more. A year and a half (give or take) sounds much better than 3+ years. The end is in sight. I can definitely handle another year or so.

I've been spending less time on this site because spending and saving habits are more or less on autopilot now. My main goals lately are to reduce food and restaurant spending. Otherwise we don't buy too much stuff anymore, and I'm getting better at figuring out how to use what we already have, or buying things used.

I'm learning more and more about food waste and how to prevent it. I had a bad habit of noticing food in the fridge that was on the edge of going bad and ignoring it. Then eventually throwing it out when it gets too gross. Now I'm looking at the food that's on the edge and eating it before it goes bad. Still tastes fine! No one has died. Also instead of buying whatever I need from recipe to recipe, and then using it that one time and not knowing what to do with whatever's left of those ingredients, I look at what's in the fridge and ask myself what I can make out of what's there. So simple but it's taken me all these years to figure it out. Stir fries, soup, muffins with random leftover fruit, veggies and grains are my friend.

So -- the current goals are:

- eat up what is in the pantry / freezer / fridge before buying anything else. I'll only buy necessary perishable staples when they run out
- limit eating out to 1x a week (takeout) and 1x a month or so (date night / sitting in at restaurants)
- getting rid of stuff, in preparation for downsizing
- not buying books or clothing (continuing this trend, I'm already pretty good at that)
- being grateful for what I have
- learning about growing food, planting seeds for veg garden in the winter
- continuing tracking the spending and saving ~70% of my paycheque

I am embarrassed to say how much we've been spending on groceries and eating out. So unnecessary. That's got to stop.

Good luck all!

Welcome to the cohort! This one seems quiet, so I guess I’ll have remember to post here more often. As I’m sure many folks on investor alley wish I’d STFU, I’ll give em a break and start posting here more often.

[Ladychips]

I LOVE it when I see posts in my class!!!