Author Topic: 2030 FIRE Cohort  (Read 200254 times)

Saskatchewstachian

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #50 on: August 28, 2016, 08:18:49 AM »
For me and DW i have it estimated at 2031-2033.

Right now we are 25YO DINK's but with that changing soon. We most likely could get there sooner but I have left spending quite high in my projections to account for child expenses in the coming years as well as the fact that it's hard to predict wages that far out. I am currently in a well paying job that required a lot of time away but if I want to leave that instead of sticking it out for another couple of years it could most definitely impact the FIRE date.

Current NW of 191k (counting house equity) and with a goal of ~2million.

Great to hear some of the other high NW's here!

Longwaytogo

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #51 on: September 24, 2016, 08:33:32 AM »
Hello everyone, So my goal is 2030 which will put me at 50 years old.

DW will not get her pension until 2034 so she'll probably go a few years longer;  she is one year younger than me though.  She is a Teacher so she will also have the next 18 summers off too so I won't feel too guilty jumping a little earlier.

Though honestly in a few years when we clear up our debt emergency I hope to spend every other Summer off with her and the kids too.

Looking at some of your Net-worth's I'm def living up to my namesake of longwaytogo. We are just hoping to cross $50K in October or worst case November. Though for context we were at Negative $25K when I found MMM in May 2013 and I took off 2.5 years to be a SAHD.

We plan to retire on DW's pension, paid off house in HCOL area ($350K), and a $600-$700K stash (today's dollars).

Any of you guys ever feel like the slow/steady, part time, lifestyle design plan gets a bad rap on here?

Like people will say "anyone in a first world country should be able to reach FI in 10 years no problem"  Not that starting with debt, kids, HCOL, etc. should be an excuse, just that I'm happy with my plan but I feel like sometimes people act like it's too slow or not good enough or something.

Anyway, excited to find this thread with some folks on the same time frame !! :)


Nate R

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #52 on: September 25, 2016, 06:02:14 PM »


Any of you guys ever feel like the slow/steady, part time, lifestyle design plan gets a bad rap on here?

Like people will say "anyone in a first world country should be able to reach FI in 10 years no problem"  Not that starting with debt, kids, HCOL, etc. should be an excuse, just that I'm happy with my plan but I feel like sometimes people act like it's too slow or not good enough or something.

Anyway, excited to find this thread with some folks on the same time frame !! :)

Yeah, I get that vibe sometimes from a few people here. Not necessarily the majority.

Good work on the NW! I don't have the income and too high a spending to compete with others here, either. (We just passed the 100K mark ourselves with no kids, not a HCOL area.), So I know where you're at.

To me, if you know what the possibilities are, and YOU are happy with your plan/situation, then that's all that matters

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #53 on: September 25, 2016, 07:06:09 PM »
Any of you guys ever feel like the slow/steady, part time, lifestyle design plan gets a bad rap on here?

Like people will say "anyone in a first world country should be able to reach FI in 10 years no problem"  Not that starting with debt, kids, HCOL, etc. should be an excuse, just that I'm happy with my plan but I feel like sometimes people act like it's too slow or not good enough or something.

Anyway, excited to find this thread with some folks on the same time frame !! :)

Yes, but I don't think they are the majority.  Likely they are just the people who speak the loudest:)  And it's not like they are wrong in saying that we "should be able to".  But that's not the point.  The point is to do what you want to do, not what you should be able to do.  Happiness is the function to maximize, not the shortest possible route to FI.  Those things are going to often be related, but not completely. 

My wife and I are in a similar boat.  I have 15 years, she has 16 till both our pensions kick in.  We'll be 48 at that time and we are happy in the meantime teaching and saving 50% of our pay along the way.  If we really really want to get out early, we'll have the stache to do it, but there's so much extra money if we make it to the pensions that we might as well take it slow and enjoy the ride together along the way. 

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #54 on: September 25, 2016, 07:13:38 PM »
September Net Worth Update..years = paid off!!!

Net Worth    $437,915
Net Worth - Pension    $296,568
Assets   
My Pension    $68,475
Wife's Pension    $72,872
Bank    $33,000
Home Value (Zillow)    $284,000
Annunity    $27,338
Gold/Tips    $14,500
My 403B    $28,516
Legend Group    $7,561
Roth IRA    $21,198
PayPal    $7,800
Life Insurance Policies    $8,050
Voya    $11,208
Prius wife    $5,100
Prius me    $4,500
Total Assets:    $594,118

   
Liabilities   
Mortgage    $156,203   
Total Liabilities    $156,203



I post an update every month in my journal, but am posting this months here because I've got a bit to celebrate.  A little over a year ago my wife purchased 5 years towards retirement for 46k.  Anyway, last paycheck, she paid off the remainder of the balance with the State.  So, our only debt of any kind is our mortgage from now on, which is pretty cool I think. 

I'll probably post an another update here in a month too, because two cool things will be happening (hopefully).  First off, October 29 last year was my first time ever doing monthly net worth updates...it's the first time that I even knew my net worth.  It'll be the first time I'll have data for a full 12 month period, and it'll be fun to see what a year of tracking/saving/being frugal produces.  And second, I'm REALLY close to cracking 300k for my net worth not counting the pension, so I'm getting excited about that as well.   Fun times:)

meerkat

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #55 on: September 26, 2016, 06:24:41 AM »
I post an update every month in my journal, but am posting this months here because I've got a bit to celebrate.  A little over a year ago my wife purchased 5 years towards retirement for 46k.  Anyway, last paycheck, she paid off the remainder of the balance with the State.  So, our only debt of any kind is our mortgage from now on, which is pretty cool I think. 

I'll probably post an another update here in a month too, because two cool things will be happening (hopefully).  First off, October 29 last year was my first time ever doing monthly net worth updates...it's the first time that I even knew my net worth.  It'll be the first time I'll have data for a full 12 month period, and it'll be fun to see what a year of tracking/saving/being frugal produces.  And second, I'm REALLY close to cracking 300k for my net worth not counting the pension, so I'm getting excited about that as well.   Fun times:)

Awesome, aceyou! I just did our complete net worth for the first time last month. It was very eye-opening.

Longwaytogo

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #56 on: September 26, 2016, 07:04:42 AM »
Any of you guys ever feel like the slow/steady, part time, lifestyle design plan gets a bad rap on here?

Like people will say "anyone in a first world country should be able to reach FI in 10 years no problem"  Not that starting with debt, kids, HCOL, etc. should be an excuse, just that I'm happy with my plan but I feel like sometimes people act like it's too slow or not good enough or something.

Anyway, excited to find this thread with some folks on the same time frame !! :)

Yes, but I don't think they are the majority.  Likely they are just the people who speak the loudest:)  And it's not like they are wrong in saying that we "should be able to".  But that's not the point.  The point is to do what you want to do, not what you should be able to do.  Happiness is the function to maximize, not the shortest possible route to FI.  Those things are going to often be related, but not completely. 

My wife and I are in a similar boat.  I have 15 years, she has 16 till both our pensions kick in.  We'll be 48 at that time and we are happy in the meantime teaching and saving 50% of our pay along the way.  If we really really want to get out early, we'll have the stache to do it, but there's so much extra money if we make it to the pensions that we might as well take it slow and enjoy the ride together along the way. 


Any of you guys ever feel like the slow/steady, part time, lifestyle design plan gets a bad rap on here?

Like people will say "anyone in a first world country should be able to reach FI in 10 years no problem"  Not that starting with debt, kids, HCOL, etc. should be an excuse, just that I'm happy with my plan but I feel like sometimes people act like it's too slow or not good enough or something.

Anyway, excited to find this thread with some folks on the same time frame !! :)

Yeah, I get that vibe sometimes from a few people here. Not necessarily the majority.

Good work on the NW! I don't have the income and too high a spending to compete with others here, either. (We just passed the 100K mark ourselves with no kids, not a HCOL area.), So I know where you're at.

To me, if you know what the possibilities are, and YOU are happy with your plan/situation, then that's all that matters

Thanks for the response guys and the congrats on NW Nate R. Looks like you are both doing great too!!

Glad it's just not me that noticed it; and I know they are all just trying to motivate so they are coming from a good place with their recommendations.

I agree it's about happiness and I Feel WAY happier than I did 3 years ago/pre-MMM.

I just LOL a bit at how hard it is to get people to believe your Happy with the longer plan. They'll be like NO you'll be so much happier with this faster plan.

Def seems to be more a time to FIRE than a specific age too, like if a 40 year old finds the site and makes changes and is like "I can retire at 50, 15 years before average" then people are like woohoo, awesome!  If a 30 year old finds the site and is like "hey I can get out around 50" people are like WTF, that's too slow you should be out by 40, 45 at the latest.

That's just the stuff that gets me sometimes, ha ha

meerkat

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #57 on: September 26, 2016, 07:21:33 AM »
Def seems to be more a time to FIRE than a specific age too, like if a 40 year old finds the site and makes changes and is like "I can retire at 50, 15 years before average" then people are like woohoo, awesome!  If a 30 year old finds the site and is like "hey I can get out around 50" people are like WTF, that's too slow you should be out by 40, 45 at the latest.

Meant to reply to your earlier post before - I feel the same way. I think it's due to different personalities, and while yes I could cut back even more in some areas (we were already somewhat frugal before finding MMM) it would reduce my happiness. I recently started a thread asking for opinions on some cars I'm looking at (all newer models but still used) and I think only one person told me to basically trade in my beater for a different beater in order to save the difference. Several people said "Well if you're buying only a little bit used, might as well buy new!" which, no, that's an extra ~$5k. I'd rather have something with under 10k miles on it. But I was surprised there weren't more people telling me to buy an older, cheaper vehicle.

I have to remind myself that the "what did you not buy today" threads are very much like Facebook - the point of it is to highlight stuff, not talk about "well, I was going to cook but we ordered pizza instead so there goes an unplanned $20." (Uh, by the way, guess what we're probably having for dinner here...)

swick

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #58 on: September 26, 2016, 07:39:16 AM »
One destination (which looks different to all of us) and a million different paths to get there.

I think many people react to posts on the forums from the lens of their own experience - so those that REALLY hate their jobs, or want to FIRE ASAP will have a different view than those of who are looking at a different picture.

For us, FIRE isn't about being "retired" or doing a bunch of traveling (although, not going to lie, more would be nice!) It is about creating intentional lives where we are free to pursue our passions and interests, and that will probably be new businesses or social ventures or things that will bring in some extra income.  If it happens before 2030? Awesome! If not we are laying a groundwork for success that includes not only our financial well-being but also our health and happiness. I'm okay if that takes some time. I don't want to be one of those people who are posting in the post-fire thread who feel directionless and that in the rush to get FI they neglected building the other aspects of their lives.

I do think with a long window, it is easy to get discouraged, or so slowly float off track that you don't realize it. Having the accountability is awesome :)

Longwaytogo

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #59 on: September 26, 2016, 08:36:54 AM »
Meant to reply to your earlier post before - I feel the same way. I think it's due to different personalities, and while yes I could cut back even more in some areas (we were already somewhat frugal before finding MMM) it would reduce my happiness.

Thanks for the reply!

See I was not frugal AT ALL. More like ultimate consumer sucka with $100K of un-secured consumer debt.  So we of course could still cut back more too, but I feel like I've cut to a point I'm OK with.

One destination (which looks different to all of us) and a million different paths to get there.

I think many people react to posts on the forums from the lens of their own experience - so those that REALLY hate their jobs, or want to FIRE ASAP will have a different view than those of who are looking at a different picture.

That's a great point, I really feel bad with some folks hatred of their jobs. My wife loves her job and I've come to appreciate mine much more the last few years. That certainly changes the urgency.

For us, FIRE isn't about being "retired" or doing a bunch of traveling (although, not going to lie, more would be nice!) It is about creating intentional lives where we are free to pursue our passions and interests, and that will probably be new businesses or social ventures or things that will bring in some extra income.  If it happens before 2030? Awesome! If not we are laying a groundwork for success that includes not only our financial well-being but also our health and happiness. I'm okay if that takes some time. I don't want to be one of those people who are posting in the post-fire thread who feel directionless and that in the rush to get FI they neglected building the other aspects of their lives.

I do think with a long window, it is easy to get discouraged, or so slowly float off track that you don't realize it. Having the accountability is awesome :)

We do want to retire and travel; but we want our kids to live/have the "typical" school/home type experience. So they are only 4/6 so I'm kind of like whats the rush. I just chill at the house while they are at school all day? Our plan has us out as soon as youngest finishes school.

I agree it's easy to lose sight and get discouraged.  That's why I love the forum for motivation and accountability; as well as just fun/socialization. I'm not like mad about it and wanting to bail or anything, just curious if others had picked up on similar stuff which it sounds like people have.

Glad to have found this thread :)

HappierAtHome

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #60 on: September 28, 2016, 07:47:20 PM »
longwaytogo, I'm taking the slow and steady route to FIRE too (likely that my husband and I will both only work part-time from when we have kids to when we FIRE).

We're at 58% equity in our house. (In Aus the tax system is different and we don't really have fixed interest rates, so it does make sense to pay off the house while interest rates are at a historical low). This is exciting. I'd like us to get to 65% equity by the middle of next year, but that might be unrealistic.

JimboJones31

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #61 on: October 15, 2016, 11:59:02 AM »
Hi All

New here and will post in the Say Hi thread too.  I'm putting myself in the 2030 cohort too.  My wife and I are 38 and 36, and I'd ideally like to be more or less FI by 50.  I say more or less because we have 2 young kids, 7 and 3, who inevitably are going to cost a fair bit!  Also whilst I love the MMM mindset, I know I'm not following the strictest route to FI.  My plan is to build the stash until the house is paid off, and then get out of the rat race and have a few years of part time working before finally fully retiring.  The exact timings are not set in stone, but as I said I'd like to be most of the way to the finish by 50 - so let's say 2030 to allow a bit of slack!

Currently we're doing OK.  We're British, so all our numbers are £, but roughly speaking we have $230k of assets, and house equity of $220k.  However, we have some issues in terms of liquidity.  I never include equity in calculations as I have no intention of downsizing, and of the $230k of assets, only about $60k is in liquid investments.  The rest is in pensions, and in the UK there is absolutely no way of getting to that money before retirement age.  So the aim over the next 10 years is a) pay off the house, and b) turn that $60k into about $450k.  We're not saving a lot at the moment as my wife is only working part time, but that should change over the next 12 months.

Spending wise we're both naturally fairly frugal.  Me more so than my wife, but neither of us is a big spender.  However, making further reductions is certainly possible, and trying to do so whilst not feeling like we're depriving ourselves or the kids will be the challenge.

Looking forward to hearing some stories from the 2030 cohort on the forum!

James

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #62 on: October 15, 2016, 02:39:41 PM »
Ive just turned turned 35 and in the last 2.5 years I have taken a keen interest in finance and early retirement. The trigger event was being told I would be made redundant with a years notice and would be in line for 15 years redundancy pay coming my way. I read as much as I could and found this site among others. Then came up with a plan on how to invest the payout and future earnings to be able to retire by 2033.

All on track but I see no reason not to try and push the dates back to 2030. I'm in.

Networth looks to be around £135k by december 2016 but its only 24k when house and pensions are taken out of the running. To be able to retire before pensionable age I need to focus more on my personal investments in P2P and stocks and shares.

Challenge accepted.



« Last Edit: December 06, 2016, 12:15:26 PM by BrokenBiscuits »

Anatidae V

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #63 on: October 15, 2016, 06:36:56 PM »
Hi! We look set to FIRE around 2030, but it's dependant on so many things that it could well be later.

Our ages: DINK 27 year old, but we're planning children in the near future. How we handle the transition could change our FIRE plans a lot.

Starting Point
Our net worth is $175,000AUD. That includes $50k of Super (retirement account), which we can't touch until 65 or older. There rest of our stash is:
$155k cash
-$30k student loans at 2.5% interest

So we need to get on with investing ;)
Well, we have some vanguard ETFs now, and our first child is under development :) Next year will show how comfortable we are on one income (financially we'll be fine, but emotionally might not be).

Accessible assets:
$150k cash
$15k vanguard ETFs

We get our first dividends this month and I'm excited to turn them into more shares!

DebtFreeinPhilly

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #64 on: October 23, 2016, 07:09:54 AM »
Great job everyone! I love seeing the quick updates of where everyone is at in NW. I am close to $250k NW but a huge chunk of that is my 401k. I did not factor in a pension into my NW. In today's standards, my pension (approx. $40k/yr) is equivalent to $800k in a retirement account, as told to me by my CFP. But to get that $40k I need to continue working for 10 more years.


Lanthiriel

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #65 on: October 24, 2016, 08:52:05 AM »
I'm way late to this discussion, but I appreciate those of you talking about taking the long way around. One of the two people I can talk about FIRE with IRL is horrified of my single family home and two dogs. I keep having to remind her that she's five years out with a clear end in sight, while I'm closer to 15. To me it's not worth never having a meal out with friends in 10 years in the name of retiring six months earlier.

What Mustachianism, now easpecially combined with my husband's layoff, has taught me is how to spend money to make the greatest impact on my happiness. I think the rest of my working life will be happier because I have clear goals for my money and my time.

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #66 on: November 01, 2016, 08:23:18 PM »
One Year Net Worth Update

It's right about 2 years ago that I was frustrated with my financial situation and found this blog.  For the next year I started making mental and actual changes.  The first year was a lot of trudging through and figuring out how smart people do money. 

One year ago to the day I started recording monthly net worth updates into Excel.  I've been tracking every month since, and as of last night, I now have one year worth of data.  The charts below show the progress I've made in the past 12 months: 

31-Oct 2015   
Net Worth    $325,115
Net Worth - Pension    $232,515
Assets   
My Pension    $60,700
Wife's Pension    $31,900
Bank    $47,300
Home Value (Zillow)    $275,000
Annuity    $26,453
Gold/TIPS    $13,634
My 403B    $2,500
Wife's 403B    $6,000
Roth IRA    $11,000
PayPal    $13,800
Life Insurance Policy    $6,000
Life Ins Son    $1,600
Prius Wife    $6,000
Prius Me    $5,000
Fanduel    $4,000
Yahoo    $2,150
Draft Kings    $1,500
Voya    $8,144
Total Assets:    $522,681

   
Liabilities   
Mortgage    $163,800
Wife's Years    $33,766
Total Liabilities    $197,566




31-Oct 2016
Net Worth    $431,723
Net Worth - Pension    $289,453

Assets   
My Pension    $68,900
Wife's Pension    $73,370
Bank    $32,850
Home Value (Zillow)    $276,194
Annunity    $27,484
Gold/Tips    $14,315
My 403B    $27,900
Legend Group    $7,280
Roth IRA    $21,000
PayPal    $7,800
Life Insurance Policies    $8,200
Voya    $11,263
Prius wife    $5,800
Prius me    $4,800
Total Assets:    $587,156

   
Liabilities
Mortgage    $155,433
Total Liabilities    $155,433


Alright, let's start going through the numbers and make some sense of this:

                                   Oct-15      Oct-16        Change
Net Worth                        $325,115     $431,723     $106,608
Net Worth - Pension        $232,515     $289,453     $56,938
Debt                                $197,566     $155,433     $(42,133)
Cash/Liquid Capital        $108,837     $82,449     $(26,388)
Retirement Stache        $27,644     $67,443     $39,799

  • Net Worth: The one that I think carries the most validity is the one that doesn't include the pension values.  Improving this by about 57k in one year I think is pretty solid. 
  • Debt: The big debt reduction came from making paying off my wife's years our #1 priority for the past 12 months.  Killing that debt fast was important and will set up our retirement to be 5 years sooner.  Debt reduction was the largest factor in our net worth increase.
  • The start of the stache:  This last year was the first time that we've ever conscientiously invested into low cost index funds.  We added about 40k to our meager 27k that we started with.  This was the 2nd biggest driver in our net worth, right behind debt reduction.  So, more smart investing from age 32 to 33 than I did from age 18-32 combined...not sure whether I should be proud or ashamed right now..haha! 
  • Cash - Prior to MMM, we always lived below our means, so cash just slowly piled up over the years.  Although stupid of us not to invest wisely, the reserves allowed us to kill debt and pad the stache quickly, while still paying our living expenses.  We had to eat up about 26k of our reserves to make this happen, but I thought it might end up being worse than that.  Very happy about this. 
  • Home Value (per zillow): Virtually no change here.  I'm pretty indifferent to this.  The value fluctuated wildly on zillow all year long though, which really made my monthly reports go all the heck over the place.  I might find a new way to record home value next year.  I want my net worth to reflect how much I save/invest/earn in a given month, not what zillow thinks my house would sell for this time.

Closing thoughts: 
-  Between debt repayment and investments, I made an 81K positive swing, by drawing down 26k of cash reserves. 
-  My wife and I will make more money the next 12 months than we did the last 12 months.
-  Logically, I should be able to direct more than 81K towards debt reduction/investments and draw down no more than 26k of my cash in the next year.  That would be awesome, and on paper it should be able to happen. 

MrsGoldenPiggy

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #67 on: November 13, 2016, 05:05:06 PM »
Hi, I'm joining the 2030 group :) Married, 32 yo with no kids but plans for expansion soon. This year has been rough for building investments because we got married and are building our first house. My stats:

Income: $100k or $4.6k/mo after taxes
Investments: $59k after 3.5 years out of college
Investing: $1k/mo into a taxable account (don't qualify for Roth) and then max/year when I am eligible for 401k in July
Student loans: $400/month for 15 more years
Rent/food: $1k/mo

With my income it feels like I should be able to save a ton more but building a new house has meant coming up with a crap ton of cash and each month there's someone else who needs to be paid. I've heard these are the most expensive years of your life with your first home and building a family. I don't plan to retire early necessarily but I want to be independent.

Goals:
-Max 401k as soon as it is available
-Buy a rental property within 5 years in the $150-200k range
-Get to $1M net worth by 2030
-Save $60k invested outside of retirement accounts within 10 years. I have $300k in student loans and am on income based repayment. I'm saving now in anticipation of a huge tax bomb when they are forgiven in 15 years.

Man it just feels like my savings are accumulating at a snails pace! Hope things pick up speed soon, looking for that snowball :)

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #68 on: November 15, 2016, 05:19:44 PM »
Hi, I'm joining the 2030 group :) Married, 32 yo with no kids but plans for expansion soon. This year has been rough for building investments because we got married and are building our first house. My stats:

Income: $100k or $4.6k/mo after taxes
Investments: $59k after 3.5 years out of college
Investing: $1k/mo into a taxable account (don't qualify for Roth) and then max/year when I am eligible for 401k in July
Student loans: $400/month for 15 more years
Rent/food: $1k/mo

With my income it feels like I should be able to save a ton more but building a new house has meant coming up with a crap ton of cash and each month there's someone else who needs to be paid. I've heard these are the most expensive years of your life with your first home and building a family. I don't plan to retire early necessarily but I want to be independent.

Goals:
-Max 401k as soon as it is available
-Buy a rental property within 5 years in the $150-200k range
-Get to $1M net worth by 2030
-Save $60k invested outside of retirement accounts within 10 years. I have $300k in student loans and am on income based repayment. I'm saving now in anticipation of a huge tax bomb when they are forgiven in 15 years.

Man it just feels like my savings are accumulating at a snails pace! Hope things pick up speed soon, looking for that snowball :)

Welcome.  All of your goals seem entirely doable with the stats you listed.  I'm curious why you don't qualify for a Roth.  My understanding from rothira.com was that a single filer under 117k can contribute, and a married couple earning under 184k can contribute. 


TightFistedScot

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #69 on: November 15, 2016, 09:31:15 PM »

Ages: 33 (Me) & 31 (Wife)

I didn't start my fulltime job until I was 29 (PhD program), so we are probably a little further behind than most.


Academia/Research financial trajectory is so different! That's great you are doing so well, considering. Are you affiliated with a university now? Do you plan to retire after tenure?

I am in my 3rd year of a PhD program now and I find it quite challenging to save. It's certainly slower than when I was working. I doubt I will pursue a professorship when I'm finished, though. Likely go into governmental or NGO research/policy because I don't really want to get caught up in the tenure track rat race. And I'd like to retire in about 15 or so years.

TightFistedScot

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #70 on: November 15, 2016, 09:55:12 PM »
I'm aiming for somewhere around 2030-2035.

I'm currently 31. My father retired at 54 so I've got to come in at least 5 years before him, yeah? :P

I became more interested in minimalist/frugal lifestyle, saving, and investing in the last couple of years. I spent most of my 20s in university (undergrad then master's), and then worked in research for 2.5 years earning around 65-70k per year. Bought a duplex right before I started a PhD a little over 2 years ago. I live in the basement apartment and rent out the main floor apartment which pays the mortgage and taxes.

My current net worth: $320k

House: 600,000 (approx - possibly 625k based on comps?)
RRSP: 8,000
TFSA: 12,500
HISA: 3,500

Debt: -304k @ 2.97% (borrowing for my mortgage)

It's a bit difficult to save much right now as my income is tied to grants, contract teaching, and the rare awards that come up. But I live frugally and my expenses are low with rental income covering a lot of the house costs so saving isn't impossible. My goal is to save 5k this semester.

Looking forward to get back into the job market in about 2-3 years!

This may be a morbid question, but do any of you factor in inheritance in your FIRE plans?




 


MrsGoldenPiggy

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #71 on: November 16, 2016, 05:44:38 AM »

Welcome.  All of your goals seem entirely doable with the stats you listed.  I'm curious why you don't qualify for a Roth.  My understanding from rothira.com was that a single filer under 117k can contribute, and a married couple earning under 184k can contribute.

Qood question! My husband and I are paying off our student loans with income based repayment and unfortunately if we file our taxes as married, our payments go up by about $1k per month each. Because of this we file separately, which means we don't qualify for Roth :(

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #72 on: November 16, 2016, 06:15:15 AM »

Welcome.  All of your goals seem entirely doable with the stats you listed.  I'm curious why you don't qualify for a Roth.  My understanding from rothira.com was that a single filer under 117k can contribute, and a married couple earning under 184k can contribute.

Qood question! My husband and I are paying off our student loans with income based repayment and unfortunately if we file our taxes as married, our payments go up by about $1k per month each. Because of this we file separately, which means we don't qualify for Roth :(

I wonder if it's a stipulation with your income based repayment.  Maybe they are like, "if you have have the money to fill up a Roth IRA, you don't need to on an income based repayment plan"?  Which I guess would make sense.  That's the only thing I can think of  In either case, you'll have access to a 401 soon.

Keep posting your progress, it's fun to watch everyone get closer and closer. 

FiguringItOut

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #73 on: November 16, 2016, 07:13:26 AM »
I'm hopping to be there by 2030.  I'll need couple more years to see exactly how my plans are going to be sure that 2030 will be the year.  If not FIRE, at least I'll shift to part time and extended travel by then. 

I'll be 55.  Better late than never, I suppose.

DeskJockey2028

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #74 on: November 16, 2016, 08:08:27 AM »
I'm in a similar boat - but 2030 is about as late as I'll probably go (depending on the market and life events of course). I'm hoping to pull the trigger by 2028 or 2029. In 2030, I'll be 58.

I'm hopping to be there by 2030.  I'll need couple more years to see exactly how my plans are going to be sure that 2030 will be the year.  If not FIRE, at least I'll shift to part time and extended travel by then. 

I'll be 55.  Better late than never, I suppose.

CheapScholar

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #75 on: November 16, 2016, 06:19:35 PM »
Glad I stumbled upon the 2030 cohort.  As others stated, it's also an estimate for me.  In 2030 I will be 50.  More importantly, my son (only child) will be 21 and hopefully entering his final year of college.  I work in higher education and I receive a generous tuition benefit for dependents, so I'd like to stick it out until 2030 or 2031 to save that money. 

Beyond that, my wife and I are maxing out 403bs, and should pay off our mortgage in about 4 years.  I think by 2030 I should be clear to RE if I want, but I feel there's so many unknowns: cost of healthcare and options in 2030, rate of return on my investments, and a few other things. 

Lunasol

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #76 on: November 18, 2016, 10:17:38 AM »
Hopefully I'll be able to retire in 2030 too! Unfortunately, SO and I still have so many things we need to figure out:

1. We have yet to move in together
2. We both want to start grad school in 2018 (saving aggresively now so that we can pay in full)
4. Get a job after grad school

Look like my road to FI is still very unclear and vague, I'm jealous of those of you who are already on your way :)

RidinTheAsama

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #77 on: November 18, 2016, 11:38:22 AM »
Hi Everyone, happy to have found a group with a similar timeline to our own.  I feel that we have too many unknowns coming up in just the next 3 years let alone the next 14 to be very specific with a date for FIRE, but 2030 is the rough target for now.

We have 2 young children, a third is likely as well.
One or both of us may change jobs in the next couple years, which might mean moving to a new city.  I'd like to think that would involve a pay increase, but maybe it would be a cost of living decrease instead.

As many here have also mentioned, it seems fairly likely that we would cut ourselves down to part time work, pushing back FIRE but enjoying the journey a little more along the way. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes.  Either way I'm glad to have a group with whom to share some milestones and follow along!

NW: ~$315,000
Including a ~$450,000 house that we have ~$120,000 of equity in.
No debts other than the mortgage.

FrenchStache

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #78 on: November 20, 2016, 08:29:29 AM »
This cohort is taking off with a lot of people joining!  I read a few different times about people not being able to plan out that far or wondering about all the potential changes that may or may not happen in the future.  I recommend putting down a crude plan on an excel spreadsheet.  I started one last year estimating our net worth over the next 20 years.  The estimate includes a simple constant rate of return (8%) and a constant amount of investing.  I also included my mortgage payoff schedule to the calculation.  You can then vary your scenarios to see the impact on your net worth, such as pay down the mortgage faster, invest more monthly, lower rates of returns etc.  I did freeze one scenario that takes me to 2030, I consider that to be my baseline.  That way I can compare against it each year to see if I am on track or not.  And guess what? I am already ahead of schedule this year.  I know this means nothing as we will certainly have down years etc. in the future.  I want to point out that writing out your goals is very powerful and it creates a tendency of you exceeding them a majority of the time.  Don't keep your plans in your head, write them down! Visualizing them is very important.  It's not very scientific but it's been proven over and over that people that write down their goals are much more likely to achieve them.

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #79 on: November 20, 2016, 10:48:29 AM »
This cohort is taking off with a lot of people joining!  I read a few different times about people not being able to plan out that far or wondering about all the potential changes that may or may not happen in the future.  I recommend putting down a crude plan on an excel spreadsheet.  I started one last year estimating our net worth over the next 20 years.  The estimate includes a simple constant rate of return (8%) and a constant amount of investing.  I also included my mortgage payoff schedule to the calculation.  You can then vary your scenarios to see the impact on your net worth, such as pay down the mortgage faster, invest more monthly, lower rates of returns etc.  I did freeze one scenario that takes me to 2030, I consider that to be my baseline.  That way I can compare against it each year to see if I am on track or not.  And guess what? I am already ahead of schedule this year.  I know this means nothing as we will certainly have down years etc. in the future.  I want to point out that writing out your goals is very powerful and it creates a tendency of you exceeding them a majority of the time.  Don't keep your plans in your head, write them down! Visualizing them is very important.  It's not very scientific but it's been proven over and over that people that write down their goals are much more likely to achieve them.

+ 1

I've done the exact same thing.  Excel is fantastic.  I have a tab where I do monthly net worth updates, so I can see each month side by side.  I have a file where I project our net worth into future decades if we both remain teachers.  I have another tab where I project if one of us goes into administration.  I have a tab where I created a timeline that tracks the ages of myself, my wife, and my kids as time goes by, so I have an easy reference..."in the year 2031, I'll be x years old, wife will be y, kids will be in college...etc.".  It's just good to be able to visualize all that stuff in one place. 

I disagree with you on the part you bolded.  I think it means a lot that you are already ahead of schedule.  I bet you and most of us on this site are conservative by nature, and that your projections reflect that desire for a safety margin.  The fact that you are already ahead of schedule, in my opinion, probably shows that your reality is even more awesome than what you are projecting.  I've been experiencing the same thing.  I'm ahead of schedule, despite the fact that my investments haven't really done much and my home hasn't appreciated on zillow.  I'm simply saving far more than I thought possible a year ago. 

NorthernDreamer

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #80 on: December 01, 2016, 09:58:16 AM »
I will throw my hat into the ring too. My husband and I are forecasting our FIRE date to be around 2030-2033. Currently 34 and 37, two kiddos (2 and 4), living in Canada. Our combined net worth is roughly $375,000, but only $188,000 not including house equity. My question is, do you married folk calculate your NW individually or together? A huge part of our FIRE plans includes staying together (duh) since splitting the stash in half would seriously hinder either of our ability to retire early. I keep saying if we still like each other while raising two small (wild) boys, then we probably will never get divorced ;)

DeskJockey2028

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #81 on: December 01, 2016, 10:20:09 AM »
My wife and I figure our net worth out together. The reality is that I have the higher paying job but she saved us a ton of money by staying home with the kids when they were younger so we didn't have to pay for daycare. I'm in the US if you hadn't guessed already. :)

She'll have a small pension and some retirement savings but the bulk of the savings are coming from my 403(b) and our other, after tax accounts.

I will throw my hat into the ring too. My husband and I are forecasting our FIRE date to be around 2030-2033. Currently 34 and 37, two kiddos (2 and 4), living in Canada. Our combined net worth is roughly $375,000, but only $188,000 not including house equity. My question is, do you married folk calculate your NW individually or together? A huge part of our FIRE plans includes staying together (duh) since splitting the stash in half would seriously hinder either of our ability to retire early. I keep saying if we still like each other while raising two small (wild) boys, then we probably will never get divorced ;)

Btag84

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #82 on: December 01, 2016, 10:41:47 AM »
I'll join too. I am 32 and net worth is $275,000

Assets:
Cash: $35,000
Roth IRA: $45,000
Rollover IRAs: $120,000
HSA: $10,000
Taxable Brokerage: $55,000
401k (low b/c new job): $14,700

Liabilities:
Car loan of $4,700 (0.9% interest so not worth paying off)

Not sure I will actually quit then because my gf is a bit younger than me (25) so I will probably work later, but would love to shift to part-time if that is doable. I am a CPA so I hope I can find a part-time opportunity by then.

meerkat

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #83 on: December 01, 2016, 11:08:47 AM »
I will throw my hat into the ring too. My husband and I are forecasting our FIRE date to be around 2030-2033. Currently 34 and 37, two kiddos (2 and 4), living in Canada. Our combined net worth is roughly $375,000, but only $188,000 not including house equity. My question is, do you married folk calculate your NW individually or together? A huge part of our FIRE plans includes staying together (duh) since splitting the stash in half would seriously hinder either of our ability to retire early. I keep saying if we still like each other while raising two small (wild) boys, then we probably will never get divorced ;)

We calculate ours together because we didn't have much in the way of assets before we were married and we have both been contributing to the household one way or another over the years, plus we never kept separate checking accounts after we got married so it'd be very difficult to figure out what our separate net worths are at this point.

NorthernDreamer

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #84 on: December 06, 2016, 12:11:55 PM »
Another question - has anyone here told others about your FIRE plans? I mentioned once to good friends of ours our plans and they were shocked and wanted to "see our numbers." As in, our projections. They said they were aiming for age 60 and thought that was "early". I just sent them a link to some favourite MMM articles and recommended index funds and "The Millionaire Teacher".

I haven't said anything to family members or coworkers. I think my family assumes we have money issues because of our frugality, which doesn't run in my family. It feels like I've learned a superpower that I want to share but I know it won't be well received unless someone specifically asks for advice.

DeskJockey2028

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #85 on: December 06, 2016, 12:26:57 PM »
I told my father in law, who was FIRE before it was cool. He retired over 20 years ago at the age of 55. Since I'm looking to go at 58, he's got me beat and totally understands the mentality and the ability. We haven't done a deep dive into the numbers or anything. What kinda kills me is that I could have gone at 55 (or earlier) if I had known this stuff back in say... 2012. I was just looking at my retirement fund contributions over time and I was shorting myself right up until late 2015, by a long shot. Ugh.

My Dad knows as well but only the most vague "I have a plan" sense. Other than that, I've mentioned casually in conversations that I'm planning on retiring in 13 years or less to a few raised eyebrows but no details.

Another question - has anyone here told others about your FIRE plans? I mentioned once to good friends of ours our plans and they were shocked and wanted to "see our numbers." As in, our projections. They said they were aiming for age 60 and thought that was "early". I just sent them a link to some favourite MMM articles and recommended index funds and "The Millionaire Teacher".

I haven't said anything to family members or coworkers. I think my family assumes we have money issues because of our frugality, which doesn't run in my family. It feels like I've learned a superpower that I want to share but I know it won't be well received unless someone specifically asks for advice.

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #86 on: December 06, 2016, 01:00:31 PM »
Another question - has anyone here told others about your FIRE plans? I mentioned once to good friends of ours our plans and they were shocked and wanted to "see our numbers." As in, our projections. They said they were aiming for age 60 and thought that was "early". I just sent them a link to some favourite MMM articles and recommended index funds and "The Millionaire Teacher".

I haven't said anything to family members or coworkers. I think my family assumes we have money issues because of our frugality, which doesn't run in my family. It feels like I've learned a superpower that I want to share but I know it won't be well received unless someone specifically asks for advice.

Yeah, most people who are friends with me, as well as my family, know that I plan to retire at 48.  I am open that I save over 50% of my income.

As far as showing them projections of how I plan to make the math work, I'm happy to show them if they ask.  Seeing a real life example with all the details is the easiest way to learn anything.  I don't like that money is so taboo in our society.  While I don't go around randomly telling people my numbers, I'm happy to share when asked.  Plus, people know I'm a math teacher and very conservative by nature.  So, when they see me lay out all o the numbers with calmness, they feel it's credible and hopefully pushes them in that direction to some degree. 

Right now I have 2 friends who are crushing their finances and are committed to FIRE based on conversations.  But in both cases it wasn't me preaching.  It was them noticing that I was doing things differently than everyone else, which prompted them to ask why/how.  From there, they just kept bombarding me with more and more specific questions and now both of them actually have higher savings rates than I do!!!!!  With one of them we get together every couple months and compare our financials over the past couple months over a drink.  They are both way younger than me and will be FI before 40 if they keep it up, which I'm fully confident they will. 

meerkat

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #87 on: December 06, 2016, 01:25:07 PM »
I don't like that money is so taboo in our society.  While I don't go around randomly telling people my numbers, I'm happy to share when asked.

My issue is that the people who are most likely to ask are also the ones I've had boundary issues with in the past and will take the information about my finances to tell me what I/we should be doing with our lives instead of what we're currently doing.

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #88 on: December 06, 2016, 05:24:30 PM »
Hi everyone, I'd like to join in here too. 2030 is our "latest" FIRE date. If we make some big lifestyle modifications we could bring the date in. Here are our details:
I'm 38, my husband is 49. I have an almost 16 year old from a previous marriage, and we have two kids together, almost 5 and almost 7.

We live in a very HCOL area, so we could retire much sooner if we moved (or downsized our obscene home...I would do it tomorrow but he is not onboard, and we do like our 2 mile commute, community, etc).

combined annual income before any with-holdings/taxes: $261k

Assets:
$19,797 in cash savings (target is $30k. Our current monthly spend is $10k and yes, I know it is over the top)
$505k in husband's 401K
$169k in my 401K
$1.1M current home value

liabilities:
$46k 401K loan from husband's account (from buying our house)
$33k 401K loan from my account (from buying our house)
$578k mortgage

net worth including home equity and checking account not listed above:
$1.15M

We have a LONG way to go with our spending, but are working on it. The mortgage is $4k a month, childcare is about $1200. We spend an obscene amount of money on food and travel. We don't quite have our 401k contributions maxed out (I know, I know...we were just talking about this today with urgency), and we have an HSA that isn't quite maxed out (almost), but those two things should be accomplished next year, as well as killing my 401k loan. Our eventual goal is to move to a much lower cost of living area, so our target number will include selling our house and using some of the proceeds to buy a much less expensive home outright somewhere else. I hope to sell our home and move to something much smaller before then, but we need to be in agreement on that!

I'm aware we could almost retire now, as long as we left the area. For various reasons that's not something we're willing to do at this time (good jobs we don't entirely hate with tons of flexibility, aging in-laws, etc). We plan to pay for 4 years of in-state college or equivalent for each child.

I've done a lot of reading here but not a lot of posting. That will probably change as we get more focused on our financial goals.

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #89 on: December 06, 2016, 08:47:15 PM »

My issue is that the people who are most likely to ask are also the ones I've had boundary issues with in the past and will take the information about my finances to tell me what I/we should be doing with our lives instead of what we're currently doing.

Yeah, I can understand that.  I've been fortunate to not have that happen too much. 

Saskatchewstachian

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #90 on: December 07, 2016, 07:27:45 AM »
Another question - has anyone here told others about your FIRE plans? I mentioned once to good friends of ours our plans and they were shocked and wanted to "see our numbers." As in, our projections. They said they were aiming for age 60 and thought that was "early". I just sent them a link to some favourite MMM articles and recommended index funds and "The Millionaire Teacher".

I haven't said anything to family members or coworkers. I think my family assumes we have money issues because of our frugality, which doesn't run in my family. It feels like I've learned a superpower that I want to share but I know it won't be well received unless someone specifically asks for advice.

When I first found MMM I wanted to tell EVERYBODY. I had already been tracking spending down to the dollar for about 4 years and have savings rates calculated and knew my contribution limits on everything. The one piece I was missing was knowing what the goal was for all of this money.

Originally I laid out what my accounts would look like if I maxed everything (TFSA and RRSP) until 60 and just assumed "Cool, I can retire with 250k/yr, retirement is going to be awesome!"

The piece that I was missing was the fact that I (and no one really) needs 250k/yr, and I could retire much earlier than that with less than a third of what i would have at 60.

I have told a few friends but I don't think any of them take it seriously. I am in the age range where a lot of friends are busy saving money to get married, gather a downpayment, etc. so none of them are really growing their 'stash yet. I'm fortunate to be in the position I am and I also don't want to come off as gloating if I mention that we saved 85k this year alone and they are trying to get together 20k for a wedding.

I think that the younger you are the more FIRE just sounds like a pipe dream. Luckily I have all of you to talk about it with instead :)

aceyou

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #91 on: December 07, 2016, 07:48:58 AM »

I think that the younger you are the more FIRE just sounds like a pipe dream. Luckily I have all of you to talk about it with instead :)

I think you're right, but it's really ironic isn't it, because the younger you start, the easier it is to FIRE.

FireHiker

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #92 on: December 07, 2016, 09:34:30 AM »
I sure wish I'd found MMM and the whole FIRE concept a lot sooner. We make quite a bit of money so we don't carry revolving debt (just those damned 401K loans from buying the house). It is incredibly unfortunate and frustrating that it's such a taboo to talk money in our society. People make assumptions and bad decisions based on what "everyone else is doing" rather than stop and question it. We have a long way to go to really be frugal in our household, but we're making concrete steps in that direction and I'm optimistic.

Since finding MMM last year (or earlier this year? I can't remember now, but I read every single post in a frenzy when I first found the blog) we've made the following changes:
-cut cable (savings over $100 since we were at the end of a promotional period and the cable company wouldn't cave to our "we'll just cancel" like they did the year before. Oh well, canceled!).
-cut cleaning lady (savings of $2600 a year)
-changed car and home-owner's insurance (bigger savings than expected)
-increased 401K contributions and HSA contributions, plan is to finally max them out next year after savings recovers from the solar payoff
-discovered travel hacking and have opened one reward card...already redeemed over $1000 towards a trip for next year, thanks to the big signing bonus and moving all spending to the card (never, ever carrying a balance or paying interest of course)
-cut Christmas and birthday spending this year, including a home party for our daughter instead of another one of those big $$$ parties everyone seems to throw. She is excited about her upcoming party and doesn't seem to feel deprived.
-moved more towards experiences than things...though we probably overspent on travel this year, but no regrets there. Reminds us why we're making these other changes
-read "The Millionaire Next Door" and "Your Money or Your Life"

I already tracked every penny in and out religiously. Now to take that data and make some more changes.

I'm excited to get more involved with this community here since there aren't many people IRL who "get" it at all, although we do have a few friends/family who do.

thedigitalone

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #93 on: December 07, 2016, 11:29:16 AM »
I've been lurking around here the past few months soaking up information, time to emerge from the shadows since this thread hits close to home!

Up until last year we (Myself 46, DW 44 and 14yr + 12yr old girls) were the living a HCOL PNW lifestyle of the opening lines in this blog:
Quote
living ridiculously expensive lifestyles while thinking they were completely normal, and then being baffled when they had no money left over to buy their own freedom.

So, Oct 2016: (All of this is "ish", going from memory)
Combined income $250k

Retirement funds $300k
Home value $750k
Car value $60k

Credit card debt: $32k @ crazy %s
HELOC: $200k @ 3.5%
Mortgage: $300k @ 5.65%
Car loans: $20k @ 4.5%

Total assets $1.11m
Total liabilities $552k
Rough net worth $552k

Started aggressively snowballing everything, maxed our 401k's, maxed out an ESPP offering at one of our jobs.

Today, 15 months later:
Combined income $265k

Retirement funds $365k
Home value $820k
Car value $50k

Car loans: $5k @ 2.5%
Refinanced the HELOC and Mortgage into a 15yr fixed at 3.0%, new mortgage $495k

Total assets $1.235m
Total liabilities $500k
Rough net worth $735k

We've made significant progress paying off most of our debt, except for the mortgage, but that is down to a 15 year at at a low rate and have been making extra principal payments so it should be gone in 9 years or so... which is about the time we will be FI, the RE may take a couple of more years since we plan on helping the girls get through college with little or no debt.  Which lands us in 2025, close enough to the 2030 group so I'm lumping ourselves in :)

I sure wish we'd clued into this 15 or 20 years ago.

BrokenBiscuits

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #94 on: December 13, 2016, 05:28:22 AM »
Hey, hope everyone is winning at both life and personal finance.

2016 is almost over and around this time of year I do a count up of my networth to track progress. I know most like to do this in April. But I find by doing my count up middle December I can have a couple of weeks where I forget about budgets and just enjoy family time / Christmas and pick up the slack in the new year.

So, i've only been keeping track for a few years and here's the little data I have:

Dec 2013 NW 68k
Dec 2014 NW 82.5k
Dec 2015 NW 110k

I set a target to have 125k by Dec 2016 but then revised that up to 135k middle of the year when I realised I was having a much better year than expected.

I appreciate a lot of mustachians are "fire and forget" investors but I like to do a bit of both and 2016 has brought with it lots of buying opportunities with the crazy political results this year. China devaluing their currency, Brexit and the drop in value of the gbp. Trump and then India's demonetisation efforts. Currently I'm taking advantage of the drop in India's markets and have topped up by about a quarter in the last month. With India having a quarter of the world's under 25 year olds it feels like a winning long-term bet with all those would be consumers of the future.

Just did a quick tally up on the back of an envelope ( a free post spam credit card I didn't apply for and will never take them up on, but cheers for the paper to write on) and I worked out my networth to be a few quid over 142k.  I'm now within touching distance of being 1/7th of a millionaire (or already 1/6th of a millionaire if I convert it over to your American dollars!) And have increased my totals of money out of pensions and property up 4% of my total holdings. Networth is one thing, but early retirement is only possible if the money is accessible.

New table looks like this

Dec 2013 NW 68k
Dec 2014 NW 82.5k
Dec 2015 NW 110k
Dec 2016 NW 142k
Dec 2017 NW  162k estimated.

My biggest rise yet this year and an increase in excess of my take home salary again as per 2015..

Assuming 6% returns on all investments, 4% increase in value of property and a savings rate of somewhere above 40% I should be on track for another 20k increase. Here's hoping i've underestimated again for next year.

Exciting times.

« Last Edit: December 13, 2016, 05:36:02 AM by BrokenBiscuits »

CheapScholar

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #95 on: December 13, 2016, 09:40:30 AM »
As to telling people about FIRE/MMM, I talked about personal finance with my 2 best friends individually recently.  We are all 36, been friends since HS.

The first friend lives in LA (we are from Chicago), has rented his entire life, frequently goes to Vegas on gambling trips, and carries what I believe substantial CC debt.  He doesn't make nearly enough to justify living in LA, but he seems to tread water (CC debt?) and likes it.  I know I can't convince him to become a mustachian, but I recently told him that if he can ever manage to "max out" his 401K he should do it so that it can grow.  I also tried to explain the benefit of reducing his federal income tax liability.  His response was that he just couldn't possibly "max out" and hit the company 4% match.  So, yeah, he thinks maxing out is just claiming enough for the match.  I didn't even bother telling him that the max is 18K.  I'd have better luck explaining it to my 7 year old.  Keep in mind that this guy has an MBA.  I swear...

So, second friend, who is mutual friends with the first, actually does get personal finance.  I explained what MMM is and the basics and he was nodding his head like, yeah, all this makes perfect sense!  He's already in decent financial health.  Both of us have packed lunches nearly every day since entering the work force.  First friend, above, eats out nearly EVERY DAY...in LA.  We both agreed that friend number 1 is going to have a rough go in his golden years.

runewell

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #96 on: December 14, 2016, 12:20:00 PM »
I'll be 58 and the wife will be 60 in the year 2030.

As of 12/14/16 my net worth (in thousands):

ASSETS
253.6 House
231.4 My IRA
082.9 My Roth
055.1 My Lending Club Roth
043.4 Her Roth
021.2 My Current Employer 401k
000.9 My HSA
075.5 Liquid Assets [Cash or stocks outside a retirement account]
020.0 Other Accounts & Assets
------
784.0

LIABILITIES:
117.0 Mortgage @ 2.625%

NET WORTH:
667.0

The mortgage will be paid off in 2028.  Our annual monetary compensation is about $120K. 
Starting in 2017 it will be $18K in the 401k and $11K in the Roths (which isn't too far from what I'm doing today). 
If I can get a 6% return on most of my assets, I expect to have $1M in 2023 and $2M in 2032 (if I am still working).
A small pension + SS should get me $2,083/mo starting in 2033.
We also give 11%+ of all our income to charity.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2016, 12:22:11 PM by runewell »

DeskJockey2028

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #97 on: December 19, 2016, 12:15:49 PM »
Well, this is it. The first week I hit that magic (and pretty much arbitrary) $100k+ in the 403(b) and managed to hold on to it as well. We're actually up a couple thousand, with my next contribution going in the end of this week too.

To celebrate, I've added another 1% to what we're taking out of my check and putting in to the 403(b). Using all of the modeling I can get my hands on, I'm reasonably confident that I'll be FIREd by 2029 - barring any adverse life events. That's if the market performs fairly badly too. If it does average, I may be out even earlier - though probably not much earlier. Early next year we'll open up that Roth IRA with some after tax money we've managed to save as well. That'll be a big factor in getting out at 2029 too.

khangaroo

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #98 on: December 21, 2016, 03:59:41 PM »
I would like to join the cohort! My initial goal was to be FIRE at 40 which would be 2029 but 2030 looks so much better on paper :D

NW = $128.5k

Cash: $6.2k
401k: $57.6k
Roth IRA: $46.8k
Taxable: $1.9k
Vehicle: $16k

I'm currently cash flowing a part-time MBA so my savings rate will be low for the next 2 years, however, I'm still maxing my 401k and Roth IRA. I haven't done the excel formulas and calculations like other people have but I'll get to it someday. My current goal is to have $1M by 40 and I think things can go rapidly as I graduate from my MBA program and get into my prime income years.

And like others have said, it's great to have a forum and space where you can talk to like-minded people who are not afraid to talk about their money goals. Love you guys! 2030, here we come!!!

startingsmall

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Re: 2030 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #99 on: December 21, 2016, 08:55:02 PM »
I think this group fits me, too.... although we haven't yet decided whether to plow ahead with FT work or whether to do a more gradual downshift. Still, 2030 would be in the right ballpark if we continue FT work, so I'll join this group for now unless (until?) we change our plans.

I'm 38 and my husband is 33. We have a 4 year old daughter and are currently trying for #2.

I've been working for 10 years (late start due to college + professional degree), he's been working for 3 years, and we only discovered MMM about 2 years ago, so we're kind of late to the party.... but I think we're doing an okay-ish job of making up for lost time. I'd like to be a bit more aggressive with saving, but we've found a compromise between my frugality and my husband's more-spendy ways and I'm happy with the progress we're making.

2016 income: $125k in combined FT salaries, plus $22k in freelance income for me.


Net worth:
Dec 2015 - $157k (including cash, HSA, retirement accounts, and $24k home equity)
Dec 2016 - $240kish, depending on exact year-end numbers ($50k is home equity - we moved and made a larger downpayment on this house)