Have you found your old '5 year life plans'? How do they compare to actuality?

[julia]

Every year I create a list of specific & measurable goals in a variety of categories. I write them on January 1st of my yearly agenda books. I was going through some old agendas for fun and found a '5 year life plan' I had written out 3 years ago.

The plan:
2019 (the year I discovered FIRE): Apply for masters
2020: Buy second car, move closer to school, get married
2021: -
2022: Finish grad school and get job in field
2023-2024: Buy a house

vs. What actually happened:
2019: Worked 4 jobs trying to save >65% of income to achieve F.I.R.E
2020: Burned out, cut back to 2 jobs, got engaged, realized buying a second car was foolish
2021: Got married, bought a house (moved 4+ hours away in our dream home in the woods), living a lifestyle more in line with our values, huge vegetable garden
2022: Hoping to continue exploring new revenue streams through hobbies
2023: ?

I'd love to read yours!

[Metalcat]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
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HAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHHAHAHAHA



...ahem...


Sorry, it's just that "plans" and I don't have a great track record.

[brunetteUK]

Hey julia!

Hmm I'd say 3 years ago I had plans to:
- get a promotion to finance business partner/manager
- buy a flat in a suburb of London
- increase my savings rate from 40% to 60%
- continue dating and find a serious boyfriend

What actually happened:
- burnout from work, sick leave for two months. Finally gave up on finding  "happiness" and contentment from job title.
I thought being off sick for that long and in the middle of a project would destroy my promotion chances; turns out that working within my capabilities and consistently delivering good results (rather than trying to save the world and doing a mediocre job at everything) led to professional growth, a better job title and a manager's salary.

- tried to buy a flat, all went wrong. Now renting by myself in central London and very happy about it. Now that my deposit is growing in investments and I see how much I value being close to certain friends, it made me question all my previous housing assumptions and priorities.

- my savings rate increased because of covid related savings but I've actually increased my discretionary spending on going out, clothes, drinking and so on. It's been a great exercise in finding out what spending brings value to my life.
I must confess there were times where I was frugal/minimalist but resented those who spent money willy-nilly. Decided to be a grown-up and spend my money as I wished and take responsibility for the consequences.

- HA! Fell in love for the first time at age 30. HARD. Of course, got my heart broken and shattered. Have since had many ups and downs romantically and emotionally. But with therapy and self-love, I'm getting more and more comfortable being me. Rather than chasing the status of being married.

[SwordGuy]

Mostly as planned except for three events.

Was planning to graduate from college and look for work when the department offered me a graduate assistantship.

The next month I met the woman of my dreams and that totally and completely derailed my life and career plans.

After I got established in a new career, things went pretty close to plan until I found MMM, at which time I got a much better plan, which I followed.

[ixtap]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA



...ahem...


Sorry, it's just that "plans" and I don't have a great track record.

As a high school valedictorian to college drop out to PhD...

I have planned two trips to Europe in the last decade. Between a volcano in Iceland and COVID...

When I bought my condo in 2010, I had been single for a long time and expected to stay that way. I was working on a list of "eccentric old lady" hobbies to keep everyone guessing as I moved into middle age. A good friend and I got closer and closer after I moved in and he moved in with me three months after I closed on the place.

As we combined finances, we had our eyes on an amazing backyard pool (he was still renting out his house). Then we bought a boat, and set our goal on a bigger boat. Then we found an older bigger boat and moved on board. So we set our eyes on a long sabbatical. It was two years from buying the little boat to be really good sailors by the time we retire at traditional age to living on a boat and planning a sabbatical. Then we found MMM/ FIRE/ Roth conversion ladders and realized that it wouldn't take much more than our planned sabbatical budget (since that ignored retirement/ tax sheltered savings). Then DH developed a chronic pain issue and we moved off the boat, yet kept it with plans to move back, so we were no longer living on <$40k a year. And so we chose OMY just before COVID hit...

Current plan is for DH to downsize in 2022, rather than quit, and to move the boat from port to port whenever we get bored, rather than spending most of our time traveling and at anchor. This is a more expensive option, but more feasible with DH's health.

[Ron Scott]

HAHA…
Sorry, it's just that "plans" and I don't have a great track record.

I always plan I have found the Churchill quote to be more meaningful to me: “plans are of little importance. But planning is essential.”

Thinking about how to leverage your options and heading in a specific direction counts.

I have ended up in a very different place than my plans were set for, but I’d hate to think of where I’d be if I didn’t plan.

[CNM]

I just found my 2016 plans! 
Things that I had written out in 2016 that DID happen:
+ had a 2nd kid
+ got new iteration of law firm up and running
+ make our sunroom more functional (now it's a work an exercise area)
+ got kid #1s bedroom decluttered
+ did a couple of side-gigs with varying degrees of success
+ got life insurance

Things I had written out in 2016 that did NOT happen:
+ get will/estate plan in order
+ redecorate the main bedroom
+ declutter/organize the garage

One theme I see cropping up again and again in my annual goals is to increase my happiness.  This not easily quantifiable, but I'll say that I've been feeling happy and maybe, maaaaybe even happier overall than I was in 2016. 

[Metalcat]

HAHA…
Sorry, it's just that "plans" and I don't have a great track record.

I always plan I have found the Churchill quote to be more meaningful to me: “plans are of little importance. But planning is essential.”

Thinking about how to leverage your options and heading in a specific direction counts.

I have ended up in a very different place than my plans were set for, but I’d hate to think of where I’d be if I didn’t plan.

Yeah, if you knew my story, you would understand that this doesn't really apply to me. I would be infinitely better off if I *hadn't* been as driven and disciplined as I was. Failure would have saved me A LOT. Like A LOT.

[Morning Glory]

I looked up my first mmm journal from 2017 and my five year goal was to downshift in my career and my ten year was to fire. Well I have downshifted twice and fired since then, so mission accomplished. The rest of it was all about my rural property: gardening, planting trees, diy stuff, trying to reduce the power bill, etc.  I had a huge garden, chickens, canning, the whole bit- even an above ground swimming pool-in Minnesota, . My glamour shed was made of old fieldstones and was even more glamourous than the Frugalwoods', plus there was a 100 year old dairy barn that was full to the rafters with unfinished projects. Absolutely gorgeous and at the time I really wanted to make it work. We even had the stonework re-tuckpointed after we got a bit of cash from selling our old house in town.

Well this year we sold it all and moved to an apartment which is why I could fire so much sooner than anticipated (I'd been dithering about that since 2017 too). Oh yeah both of my kids (including the one I was pregnant with at the time) turned out to be autistic which is ok but is part of why we sold the house since it was too hard to supervise them and keep up with the maintenance and being a stay-at-home dad wasn't good for my husband's mental health and he took it out on me and wouldn't get treatment until I got to the point of threatening to leave.  Beautiful place but so much work to maintain and we were sick of spending all of our free time just barely keeping up, plus I really felt trapped because I could not take care of the place on my own if something happened to my husband or with our relationship. So we are now in the middle of moving to a new (and much warmer!) area. Planning to rent for the first year but if I buy another house it will be a small one with a regular-sized yard and maybe a raised bed garden.

[soulpatchmike]

I don't have any specific 5-year plans written, but have cycled through inconsistent goal writing over the past 20+ years.  Noteworthy goals below.
-1994 goal to finish trade school.  Parents confronted me on my drug use during a gap year after HS and gave me an ultimatum of the military, some kind of college or move out with no further parental support.  I signed up for trade school that fall and completed the AAS degree program as scheduled in 2 years.
-1995 paid off my first credit card after 2 years of making minimum payments.  Vowed(not just a goal, a vow) never to hold a credit card balance with interest again. 26 years and running have held this vow.  I have strategically purchased appliances and such with 0% intro cards but close them when paid off.
-1995 goal to be a millionaire by age 27.  Ended up with $1M in assets(real estate) at 27, but took almost 20 more years to reach $1M NW.
-1997 goal to finish BS degree.  Started night school and graduated in 2000.
-2000 got married and planned to have 4 kids named Madeline, Wyatt, Ezekiel and Zora.  Ended up having 5 kids by 2010 and none of them have those names...
-2002 goal for DW to never be forced back to work due to financial constraints after quitting to be a SAHM.  19 years and counting on this goal.
-2002 goal to never work W-2 job again as a self-employed real estate and mortgage broker.  Almost went broke in 2006 making an AGI of 26k for a family of 5.  Back to W-2 work in 2007.  2021 is the first year I have even remotely considered the possibility of returning to self-employment since 2007.
-2007 to 2012 Treaded water praying the real estate market and rents would come back and increase.  Literally never thought I could plan for the future again and would work til I was dead.  The recession was soul-crushing financially.  Today real estate investments are adding $2k+/mo to my stache.
-2013 Stock options cashed in from the sale of the company I was part of.  ~$60k after tax and gave me new inspiration towards financial planning.
-2014/2015 Discovered Bogleheads, Financial Sam, and MMM along with the overall FIRE movement.  Made a wish(not really a goal) to FIRE by at least 62.
-August 2017 wrote out an investment philosophy, asset allocation and timeline for FIRE.  The investment philosophy is still active today.  I have been making consistent progress towards my financial goals for FIRE over these past 5-6 years.  The original target was 58 years old(2032).  Today I believe I can leanFIRE by 50(2025) and FIRE by 54(2029).
-December 2017 a friend told me they were going to start an MBA program and I decided to join them.  I finished at the end of 2020, he quit after the first semester.
-2018 goal to support my DD in earning 2 full years of college credits in her last 2 years of HS for free through a state program and graduate with a BS degree in 2 years.    Goal success! She will be graduating with her BS in graphic design and marketing in May 2022.  She also was married in summer 2021 so she is fast-forwarding into adulthood.  Her husband graduates in 2023 and did a similar early college plan.

Self-employment and the recession caused some financial detours for me, but what is most crazy is that my NW has increased >$200k per year since 2018.  I have not really made goals for my NW, rather I plot the changes over time with future changes based on avg 6% return plus anything added to the stache.  Every year since I started tracking my NW properly in about 2011 my future projected growth has been exceeded.  I hope that my projections(goals?) will continue to be conservative as it means FI that much earlier.

[Log]

I wasn't in the practice of writing things like this down back in 2016, but oddly enough I've kind of gone full circle in that my plans over the last 5 years have gone many different places, and have settled in the last year back to being quite similar to what they were 5 years ago.

2016 was near the beginning of undergrad for me, and back then I hoped I would go to grad school and then win an orchestra job before finishing. Around early 2018 I decided I should continue in school through a doctorate, as I would rather teach college than play in an orchestra. Near the end of 2019 I realized that while I'm definitely still interested in focusing my career on teaching eventually, the best instrumental teaching jobs are only really available for people who've had successful performance careers - and the doctorate would be unnecessary, unpleasant, and a huge time commitment.

Then I farted around for a year considering performance career options outside the traditional orchestra path, and only decided mid-pandemic that the orchestral audition circuit is really the best short/medium-term path forward for me.

There have only been a couple of auditions since then for horn positions with full-time orchestras in North America, but I was a finalist at one of those auditions, so optimistically I think I'm only a year behind schedule of 2016-me's dream scenario, and I can largely attribute that delay to that pesky global pandemic thing, so just a year behind is pretty good!

Of course my 5-year plan now has a lot more concerns than just my career success, but 18/19 year old me was pretty single-minded in his pursuits...

[rantk81]

Dec 2016: Net Worth 1.1M.  "When I hit 2M net worth, I will FIRE."

Dec 2021: Net Worth 2.6M.  "When I hit 3.5M net worth, I will FIRE."

[Sibley]

Dec 2016: Net Worth 1.1M.  "When I hit 2M net worth, I will FIRE."

Dec 2021: Net Worth 2.6M.  "When I hit 3.5M net worth, I will FIRE."

You're gonna OMY yourself to death you know. Why do you actually need all that extra money? Just quit already.

[CTEC_Stache]

I don't have my "5 year plan" written out from the past but from memory it would be:
- Complete graduate school
- Enroll and complete a specific post-bacc licensure program
- Get promoted using new license
- Get married
- Have a child
- Invest more (not quite a specified number)

Currently:
- Finished graduate school
- Completed post-bacc program last week
- Got promotion using new license (start the new job on 7/1)
- Got married in 2019, had a beautiful baby boy arrive early this year
- Increased my investment amounts from $150 / mo to $450 / mo.

Next 5 years:
- Continue to increase earnings
- Move out of our "starter home" into a "forever home"
- Have one more child
- Increase investments in hopes of maxing rIRA and at least doubling 403(b) cont.
- Continue funding my son's 529 and other account(s)

[Askel]

At this point, I should probably start setting goals for things I specifically do not want to happen.  The universe just sometimes has it out for things I want to do. 

Notable examples:

During my undergrad years, all I wanted to do was race rallycars.  I centered my whole life around it. After graduating and finally eeking out enough money, I bought my first prepped rally car.  Just in time for insurance costs in the US series to spiral out of control. It would cost more in entry fees for a weekend event than I paid for the the car itself.   Even young spendypants me came to the conclusion it was just not worth it anymore.   I didn't see it at the time, but I dodged a bullet there.  I'm still somewhat affiliated with the sport and distinctly remember sharing an elevator ride with two long time competitors in the sport lamenting "Man, just think about where we'd be if instead of rally, we put that money in property or something..."   


More recently, I decided to pursue a 9 month teaching gig so I could spend more quality time with my bicycles in the summer.  I actually came really close to getting this gig until the ENTIRE SCHOOL within the university was shut down and folded into other departments.  What was once a pretty laid back teaching gig now has to compete with tenure track positions. Dodged another bullet there.   

10 year old, 20 year old, even 30 year old me would be kinda weirded out where I've ended up now, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.   

[rantk81]

Dec 2016: Net Worth 1.1M.  "When I hit 2M net worth, I will FIRE."

Dec 2021: Net Worth 2.6M.  "When I hit 3.5M net worth, I will FIRE."

You're gonna OMY yourself to death you know. Why do you actually need all that extra money? Just quit already.

In that time,
- I got married.
- There was/is a global pandemic.
- Inflation is now the highest it has been in decades.
- Spouse and I are going to buy a house and car this spring, leaving the city condo, so uncertainty about the run-rate of future living expenses.
- I got a new job that is more tolerable than the previous job, and it pays more, and has better benefits.

Yes, OMY, OMY, OMY.  But I'm OK with it for now, until things "feel normalized" in my life again.  There's just been too many changes lately to call it 'quits' right now, IMO.

[Metalcat]

Dec 2016: Net Worth 1.1M.  "When I hit 2M net worth, I will FIRE."

Dec 2021: Net Worth 2.6M.  "When I hit 3.5M net worth, I will FIRE."

You're gonna OMY yourself to death you know. Why do you actually need all that extra money? Just quit already.

In that time,
- I got married.
- There was/is a global pandemic.
- Inflation is now the highest it has been in decades.
- Spouse and I are going to buy a house and car this spring, leaving the city condo, so uncertainty about the run-rate of future living expenses.
- I got a new job that is more tolerable than the previous job, and it pays more, and has better benefits.

Yes, OMY, OMY, OMY.  But I'm OK with it for now, until things "feel normalized" in my life again.  There's just been too many changes lately to call it 'quits' right now, IMO.

On the flip side, my life has been insane since retiring, and I'm often so grateful to be retired while chaos happens.

The human brain has a funny trick where it will always make *what is* feel like the safer option. It's just a trick.

[MrThatsDifferent]

I just found my 2016 plans! 
Things that I had written out in 2016 that DID happen:
+ had a 2nd kid
+ got new iteration of law firm up and running
+ make our sunroom more functional (now it's a work an exercise area)
+ got kid #1s bedroom decluttered
+ did a couple of side-gigs with varying degrees of success
+ got life insurance

Things I had written out in 2016 that did NOT happen:
+ get will/estate plan in order
+ redecorate the main bedroom
+ declutter/organize the garage

One theme I see cropping up again and again in my annual goals is to increase my happiness.  This not easily quantifiable, but I'll say that I've been feeling happy and maybe, maaaaybe even happier overall than I was in 2016.

With marriage, property and children, I strongly suggest you get the will and estate plan done.

[clarkfan1979]

December 2016: Net worth was around 400K (after 7% transaction fees of selling real estate). I was estimating hitting 1 million net worth in another 7 years. I was required to be on campus 30 hours/week and worked about 35 hours/week (34 weeks/year). (1,190 hours/year)

December 2021: Net worth around 1.1 million (after 7% transaction fees of selling real estate). I hit 1 million about 2 years earlier than expected. I am now required to be on campus 24 hours/week and work around 30 hours/week total (32 weeks/year). (960 hours/year)

[Ron Scott]

Dec 2016: Net Worth 1.1M.  "When I hit 2M net worth, I will FIRE."

Dec 2021: Net Worth 2.6M.  "When I hit 3.5M net worth, I will FIRE."

You're gonna OMY yourself to death you know. Why do you actually need all that extra money? Just quit already.

In that time,
- I got married.
- There was/is a global pandemic.
- Inflation is now the highest it has been in decades.
- Spouse and I are going to buy a house and car this spring, leaving the city condo, so uncertainty about the run-rate of future living expenses.
- I got a new job that is more tolerable than the previous job, and it pays more, and has better benefits.

Yes, OMY, OMY, OMY.  But I'm OK with it for now, until things "feel normalized" in my life again.  There's just been too many changes lately to call it 'quits' right now, IMO.

IMO your approach to planning is absolutely perfect and you should keep at it.

The effort that goes into planning teaches you much more than the resulting plan does. Taking stock of any given “plan” on a periodic basis, reacting to changes in the environment since you set the plan, and performing ongoing resets to it is just common sense.

Nobody can tell you what your number should be or whether you should retire when you reach it. Everyone has to assess their own situation—including family, satisfaction at work, and desired lifestyle—to make their own decisions.

[Arbitrage]

Not a complete life plan, but I did have my Investment Policy Statement from then. 

5 years ago, my goal was retirement at/by age 59.5.  I hoped for a stash of 2.5M, with a paid-off house, to cover expected expenses of $60k, (numbers in dollars at the time) after both kids were then out of college.  No particular opinions about where to live or what to do.  I disliked where I lived but hadn't really come to any opinion about where I would like to go.

Just over 4 years ago, I came to my early retirement epiphany.  Major revision to the IPS after coming to this conclusion in November 2017, then again in February 2018 after I crunched the numbers a bit more and spoke to my wife about my radical proposal.  First dropping the target age to 50, then to 44/45 with a stretch goal of 43.  The February revision included relocation. 

3.75 years ago I started to narrow down the potential locations and planning visits.  3 of them fell off the list as we considered them in greater detail, and visited the final two that summer.  Discussed our plan with our close friends and family.  Friends were not happy.

3 years ago, selected the likely location, but wanted to visit again.  Continued to hammer the finances hard to hopefully make the stretch goal. 

Just under 2 years ago, plans were thrown into turmoil due to a pandemic and bear market.  Considered the stretch goal unattainable for a time, resolved to work another year, but stuck to my investing plan, and the stash eventually recovered. 

1.5 years ago, visited (again) and selected our new location.  While visiting, we realized that while we might not quite make our stash goal, if DW worked part-time, remotely (which wasn't ever an option prior to March 2020), we could make the stretch goal.

1.25 years ago, DW decided that she just couldn't take her job any more and loathed the thought of continuing part-time.  I decided to see if I could pick up the part-time slack to keep our plan off of life support.

1 year ago, I told my boss of my plan to move and asked for part-time, fully remote consideration.  Boss(es) agreed after a month or so of deliberation, after which we broke the news to our kids.

0.75 years ago, frantically searched for a new house, over the internet, in the midst of a scorching hot real estate market and raging pandemic.  Lucked out and found one after about a month of searching.  We did have to spend more than initially planned, so the part-time work was very welcomed to give our finances breathing room.  DW changed her mind and decided to try to revisit part-time work.  Her company agreed as well.

0.5 years ago, moved.

2021 was one of the most challenging years we've ever had, juggling so many changes, life decisions, and moving parts. 

So worth it.

[MM_MG]

Been a while since I've been on this site... 

Fun thread...

We used to annually set 1, 3, 5, 10, and 25 (which were rather obnoxious) year goals.  Over the years I was amazed as to how many of the goals that we had written down we actually met.  I'll try to find time to pull up old examples, I'm not sure if we missed any shorter term goals.   We are so much farther ahead of where I would have ever thought we would be.   

Write you goals down.  Better yet, develop a plan to meet them.