Celebrations Thread

[Sibley]

We hit our 4% number in our liquid accounts this month, $2.5m and change. Now we just need to finish off about $275k in mortgage and college obligations and we can FIRE, it's finally starting to feel 'real'.

Maybe as early as 2025 if this market run keeps up?

You're in the home stretch!

[Glenstache]

I have been waiting a really long time to make this post. Circa 2013 I was putting away maybe 10% of my income and had a shiny new red pickup truck and a piece of property in the mountains. I thought I was doing okay. Then I started reading some FIRE stuff, and binge read all of the MM blog posts and started making spreadsheets and really exploring the idea. I sold the red truck and bought a cheap ass car. I bumped up to a 50 to 70% savings rate. I maxed out my retirement contributions early each year and set a rule that any money above a certain amount in the bank would go to my taxable brokerage after that. Then there was the long progression in the middle. I finally sold the property in the mountains and dumpted that into investments too. I reached super lean FI in late 2021 and shifted to coast mode and reduced my hours at work. Last night I logged off of my work computer for the last time and fully pulled the plug and am officially FIRE'd. Whew! Made it!

While I did work hard and was consistent about my approach, I also realize that I hav been very fortunate in life to get where I am. I happened to have been born smart enough and raised to be diligent enough to be able to get here. I know many hard working people that, even wiht frugal habits, simply don't have the resources to be able to retire early because of the sequence of things that have happened in their lives. I don't intend to waste the opportunity, and I also appreciate the face-punch part of this community that set the example and demonstrated that it can work.

[grantmeaname]

Fuck yeah! Congrats, Glenstache!

[chasingthegoodlife]

Well done Glenstache and well said.

[OttawaNeal]

Congratulations @Glenstache! Awesome! 😊

[DaKini]

Holy cow, im quite impressed and very euphoric! What big difference such small steps yould yield... Its really impressing to see such changes in only 8 months time!

Ten years later… we just crossed the 400k€ mark.
While we could certailny have done better or be more aggressive, I think we put our not saved €€€ to good work to improve our lifes.
Fire under the current circumstances (we got some unexpected rise in rent and bills along the way) is still about ten years away, but that is still in the ballpark which my prognosis spit out ten years ago.
And as the kids grow older, expenses also shift around, so this can not be more than a rough estimate.
Speaking of kids: they both know how to save and what return and compounding is, which makes me very proud. They are careful users of their bank-of-dad savings book. They still just receive 1€ fixed plus interest (which is the big beef: 10% per month, capped to the age). And they hold substancial real stock themself, bought from the surplus after the capping…

Greetings from Germany,
A proud bavarian dad

[Trifle]

Congratulations @DaKini! Very well done with both your savings and passing on knowledge to your kids. 

[footwear]

Crossed $1mil NW for the first time when doing our monthly pulse check on finances. Feels like the first big accomplishment on this journey...feels good! Onto the next million...ha!

[Turtle]

Congratulations @footwear and here’s to the next one!  It might surprise you how much faster it goes than this one.

[Republic DC-9]

Crossed $1mil NW for the first time when doing our monthly pulse check on finances. Feels like the first big accomplishment on this journey...feels good! Onto the next million...ha!

Great job!  It’s an amazing feeling.

[41_swish]

It is a small celebration, but I just had open enrollment and am going to max out my HSA next year and bumped up my 401k contributions to 15%! I also plan on maxing out my ROTH IRA next year.

[CrunchyBones]

Two major milestones for me that I wanted to share:

1. Finally, by November 2024: My networth officially crossed over $100k, between my 401k and IRA! It took me approximately 7 years, give or take, to make it here.

2. Going into 2025, this will be the first year (and hopefully every year after) that I am able to max out my 401k. I never thought it would be possible so early into my career, but here we are. Hard work pays off!

[41_swish]

Two major milestones for me that I wanted to share:

1. Finally, by November 2024: My network officially crossed over $100k, between my 401k and IRA! It took me approximately 7 years, give or take, to make it here.

2. Going into 2025, this will be the first year (and hopefully every year after) that I am able to max out my 401k. I never thought it would be possible so early into my career, but here we are. Hard work pays off!

Hello fellow young mustache. My goals are pretty similar. for 2025 I am trying to Max out my 401k, max my HSA, and max my Roth IRA!

[SwordGuy]

Two major milestones for me that I wanted to share:

1. Finally, by November 2024: My network officially crossed over $100k, between my 401k and IRA! It took me approximately 7 years, give or take, to make it here.

2. Going into 2025, this will be the first year (and hopefully every year after) that I am able to max out my 401k. I never thought it would be possible so early into my career, but here we are. Hard work pays off!

Oh, that's great!  It's an awesome wealth-building foundation!

Historical average return (in today's dollars, i.e., subtracting historical average inflation) means that $100,000 will be worth $200,000 in another 10 years.   Add in another 10 * $22,500 in contributions means another $225,000, and similar average returns results in approx. $112,500 for a total of $537,500 in today's dollars.

And, of course, if your income increases faster than inflation and you keep expenses similar to now (or lower), it will be even better!   

[CrunchyBones]

Hello fellow young mustache. My goals are pretty similar. for 2025 I am trying to Max out my 401k, max my HSA, and max my Roth IRA!

Hello! Nice to know there are peers interested in the lifestyle and executing. You've got me beat on the HSA! I don't think I could max it out this year, but I'm not eligible for one anyway. Good luck!

[CrunchyBones]

Two major milestones for me that I wanted to share:

1. Finally, by November 2024: My network officially crossed over $100k, between my 401k and IRA! It took me approximately 7 years, give or take, to make it here.

2. Going into 2025, this will be the first year (and hopefully every year after) that I am able to max out my 401k. I never thought it would be possible so early into my career, but here we are. Hard work pays off!

Oh, that's great!  It's an awesome wealth-building foundation!

Historical average return (in today's dollars, i.e., subtracting historical average inflation) means that $100,000 will be worth $200,000 in another 10 years.   Add in another 10 * $22,500 in contributions means another $225,000, and similar average returns results in approx. $112,500 for a total of $537,500 in today's dollars.

And, of course, if your income increases faster than inflation and you keep expenses similar to now (or lower), it will be even better!   

I do math trajectories like this with my numbers all of the time! It gets me really excited and keeps me motivated me to stay the course. It's crazy how quickly it will compound, but it's different when you can finally see it in your own bank accounts versus chart projections on a screen.

Assuming we have consistent returns over the next decade (just for the sake of math), an optimistic but realistic figure for me is approximately $1 million in 14 or so more years, when I hit 40. Of course, outside of saving money/reducing expenses, the market is out of my control. But it's an incredible mental boon knowing that I can even reach a 7-figure goal in the first place, by what I consider a reasonable time frame.

And for 2025, the 401k limit has been increased to $23,500, from $23,000. Retirement must be nice I bet!

[41_swish]

Hello fellow young mustache. My goals are pretty similar. for 2025 I am trying to Max out my 401k, max my HSA, and max my Roth IRA!

Hello! Nice to know there are peers interested in the lifestyle and executing. You've got me beat on the HSA! I don't think I could max it out this year, but I'm not eligible for one anyway. Good luck!

If your health insurance plan is not HSA eligible, no harm no foul. You can always put money in an individual brokerage account.

[San Diego Girl]

I'm celebrating that I just accepted my district's early retirement incentive and will be retiring officially on June 30th.  I'm very excited and a little nervous.

After 23 years as a school based therapist, I am so burned out and ready for this new chapter in my life.

I'm also grateful that I found the FIRE community, this blog as well as JL Collins "A Simple Path to Wealth" a few years ago, saved aggressively and grew my portfolio (90% VTSAX, 10% cash) to be in the position I am today to accept this offer.

I am fortunate to be retiring with a pension that covers my monthly expenses, a bonus 5 year annuity (the incentive), as well as 10 years of full medical and dental coverage. 

[Trifle]

That’s amazing @San Diego Girl! Well done and congratulations!

[Ladychips]

I'm celebrating that I just accepted my district's early retirement incentive and will be retiring officially on June 30th.  I'm very excited and a little nervous.

After 23 years as a school based therapist, I am so burned out and ready for this new chapter in my life.

I'm also grateful that I found the FIRE community, this blog as well as JL Collins "A Simple Path to Wealth" a few years ago, saved aggressively and grew my portfolio (90% VTSAX, 10% cash) to be in the position I am today to accept this offer.

I am fortunate to be retiring with a pension that covers my monthly expenses, a bonus 5 year annuity (the incentive), as well as 10 years of full medical and dental coverage.

Whoohoo! Welcome to the party! You will love it here.

[San Diego Girl]

@Trifle
@Ladychips

Thank you for your kind words.  I'm truly happy and relieved to be here. :)

[Sibley]

Just scheduled the last payment on my HVAC. It was one of the no-interest for however many months deals, so I have been paying the minimum amount to pay it off within the time frame. This was the last one!!! Other than credit cards (which I don't typically carry a balance on), the only debt I have is the mortgage now.

[Glenstache]

Crossing off debts is so satisfying. Congrats!

[SwordGuy]

We'll have been FIRED for seven years this spring, so this celebration isn't financial.  (We already did that celebrating!)

I'm celebrating having a helluva good time doing what I want to do.  I'm writing a 5 book fantasy series.  One book is finished and two have a whole lot of writing done in them.  The other two have a solid start. All told, they add up to 500,000 words (so far).

Aside from learning how to write fiction, I've also been learning how to edit (which is a different skill). I've been learning drawing so I can illustrate them and printmaking so those illustrations can be hand-printed ones for the art-house edition I'm planning. I already know enamelling and woodworking, which I'll use with the bookbinding I'm learning to make the art-house editions. Drawing is hard, by the way. I'll use woodworking, wood turning, wood carving, and metalwork to make some bookstands or wall-mounted holders for the books.

There are eight billion people on this planet. Maybe a lot of folks will like my books and maybe there's only a dozen. And that's ok by me because I'm one of them.

I have the time to work on them because I no longer have to work for a living. I have the money to buy any tools, materials, and classes I need.

I'm having a blast.

[San Diego Girl]

@SwordGuy

Truly, what a luxury!! Congrats!