Financial Independence Deciding if I should go to college |
- Deciding if I should go to college
- Hitting coast point with no college degree
- Denver, CO financial independence meetup! Saturday 12/2, 10:30am at the Stanley Marketplace
- Daily FI discussion thread - November 28, 2017
- HSA count toward net worth? Delay spending HSA, use cash instead?
- Using greater than 4% SWR and reducing nestegg to zero
- Umbrella insurance
- FIRE in 5 Years - Will it work?
- Would like advice on our plan to pursue FI. Thoughts on saving/investing to pay down mortgage before having kids?
- Thematic travel post FI?
- Unmarried and going for FI. Will this be depressing?
- Diversification through an actively managed portfolio
- Should we invest into a 403b with no match with high fees through American Funds?
- FI Planning While Abroad
- Disability Insurance
- Why I won't invest in Cryptocurrencies
- Best way to offset long-term medical costs
| Deciding if I should go to college Posted: 28 Nov 2017 06:58 AM PST Hey everyone, sorry if this it is dumb for me to ask for advice on this topic but I am really torn. I am an 18 year old in my senior year in High School and want to become financially independent. If I were to go to college I would major that would lead to an automation proof job with good potential (something like computer science). The only issue is that I don't come from a really affluent family and only have been able to save around almost 2 years of tuition by working throughout high school. In my opinion, not having a ton of student debt is important. If I chose not to attend college, what paths are there to attain financial independence? I could use that money to follow other avenues. I am just kind of at a crossroad in my life, and just looking for some opinions from other people who generally have the same goal in life. Thanks for reading [link] [comments]  |
| Hitting coast point with no college degree Posted: 27 Nov 2017 04:30 PM PST Since I was 21 I've been working telecom in rural Alaska. The pay was good but the work was often 80-100 hours a week with chances of being weathered in or working at sub -40 temps. After 10 years I think I'm finally done, I've hit my coast point. I started in 2007 but didn't keep records till 2011 Rough net worth and pay: 2011: 105 k NW, 77 k Pay 2012: 135 k NW, 85 k pay 2013: 186 k NW, 89 k pay 2014: 247 k NW, 115 k pay 2015: 301 k NW, 105 k pay 2016: 363 k NW, 110 k pay 2017: 591 k NW, 120 k estimated pay I've lived beneath my means, biked to work, etc. But I had a few extra pushes along the way.
I'm on track for about 2900 hours for the year and 120k depending on how the next few months go. But that's it. I swore I'd keep this job till I got to 600 k, I turned in my 2 months notice and am going back to college next semester. I wasn't a good student when I was younger, had a lot of growing up to do. I just wanted to throw out an example of someone attempting FIRE with just a high school diploma. It sounds corny but what really got me into FIRE is this comic http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2722 That's the story so far, full time college starts soon and while I'm sure I'll keep reading this sub I doubt I'll have much to contribute until my next career fires up. I've enjoyed reading about other people's journeys, and it's made the last 3 years a lot more bearable. I'm happy to answer almost any questions about mine. [link] [comments]  |
| Denver, CO financial independence meetup! Saturday 12/2, 10:30am at the Stanley Marketplace Posted: 28 Nov 2017 01:04 PM PST Hello all! There's a Denver Area Mustachians Facebook group and we're planning a meetup this Saturday at the Stanley Marketplace in the common space near Logan Coffeehouse. See y'all there! [link] [comments]  |
| Daily FI discussion thread - November 28, 2017 Posted: 28 Nov 2017 03:08 AM PST Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions on the basics of personal finance/investing topics are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against memes/spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness/politics still apply! Have a look at the FAQ for this subreddit before posting to see if your question is frequently asked. Since this post does tend to get busy, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts. [link] [comments]  |
| HSA count toward net worth? Delay spending HSA, use cash instead? Posted: 28 Nov 2017 12:35 PM PST Couple of questions for the FI community. Does your HSA account factor into your net worth? I was assuming it did but ended up in an argument with someone about it. They said since you might spend it on medical expenses within the year you save it then it should not count. I disagree since you do not have to spend it like an FSA. I figured I'd get a "second" opinion here. The other question I have is, I have a decent size medical event coming up. I am considering paying "cash" out of my normal income stream for the medical costs and NOT spending HSA money out my account. I figured I'm actually better off keeping the pre-tax, post growth no tax money in the HSA for many years many years. Several reasons why that makes sense to me: 1) Higher medical costs as we age 2) let more money grow and then spend it on approved expenses tax free 3) my specific plan has a minimum level before it can be invested. Does that make sense? Or should I spend the HSA money in the next month or two? [link] [comments]  |
| Using greater than 4% SWR and reducing nestegg to zero Posted: 28 Nov 2017 02:39 PM PST I've been spending a lot of time running simulators using the standard 3.5/4% SWR. I'd like to discuss a scenario that uses a much higher rate of 6%+ to see if it makes sense. I got thinking about how much a moderate inheritance and SSI factor into modest nest egg of a few million dollars. Most people like to treat these events as windfalls. But I think it's important to consider them for the <$4M retirement plan. Here are the assumptions:
Using my current model, if I have $2M saved by age 50, and if I can earn 3% on average per year (post inflation, so really 6.25%), then it appears I can make it to 90 with $178K left in the bank. I'm very interested in hearing thoughts about this approach. Particularly from folks who think I'm crazy and folks who have good models for a similar approach. Edit: Regarding healthcare, we should be banking on improved meds/tools/robotics a bit. Plus most of us will be post-boomer so there should be a glut of nursing homes/staff by the time we're ready. I know our current healthcare in the US sucks right now, but I'm talking 20+ years from needing a nursing home for myself. The situation has to improve. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Nov 2017 02:06 PM PST Does umbrella insurance typically cover any kind of liability? For some reason all examples online deal with car accidents or home related accidents. What if you get sued for something else? Should one have Umbrella coverage = their net worth? [link] [comments]  |
| FIRE in 5 Years - Will it work? Posted: 28 Nov 2017 02:57 PM PST Hi everyone, Been reading lots about FIRE. I've been motivated and have saved enough over the last 5 years to realize about 50% of my goal - a 600k nest egg. Wondering what I can do next to make sure I can transition to FIRE in the next 5 years. I am a self employed RMT (Registered Massage Therapist) making roughly 90k/year. My job has no pension or benefits and no upward movement or raises. I have no intention to make a clinic due to liability and high overhead. Additionally the cost of living where I am located is very high, so I'm looking to maximize my current income then retiring somewhere more affordable. I currently own 2 preconstruction condos with about 300k equity if sold and have about 35k of debt. // Goals:
// Plan: 1.Work locally to pay off debts and max out tax free government accounts over next 5 years.
Current status: 90k/year income, 1500 monthly expenses. Live at home with family, no dependants. I'd like to know what would be the best use of my current monthly surplus and condos. Should I use the surplus to pay off current debt or reinvest? Additionally should I sell my 2 condos to reinvest in stocks or cryptoassets thay have a higher return? My Income/Debts Gross 90k/year income, Self employed healthcare professional 20k remaining student loan debt 12k remaining car loan debt Investments Invested in 2 preconstruction condos, 90k downpayment toward 220k/260k property, worth now 320k/360k with monthly rent worth about 1400 eachAbout 300k value gross if sold Expenses 600/month car (gas, insurance, finance) 600/month food and entertainment200/month fixed (cell phone, internet, gym, etc)1400 monthly total expenses 7500 monthy gross income Thanks everyone for any tips / insight. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Nov 2017 02:36 PM PST Hello! Thanks in advance for your time, this sub has helped us really start to plan for our futures.... I never knew spreadsheets could be so exciting. :) So here's our situation currently: I (29f) make 160k a year in the healthcare field, my husband (29m) makes 85k in the tech field. We would like to start a family in the next 5 years and are throwing around scenarios. We ideally want one person to stay at home for the first few years, I selfishly want to be the one to, but I don't think it makes financial sense as I have a much larger income. Our only debt is: 400k mortgage at 3.75%, monthly payment with taxes and insurance: $2282 As far as investments, I have 80k in 401k/IRA and 20k in taxable investments (standard index funds with Vanguard). He has closer to 135k, in a mix of retirement funds and taxable investments. We just got our house reappraised to get rid of PMI after completely remodeling it ourselves and it has 250k of equity in it. (!!) We love where we live, and have no intention of moving from the house if possible. Our monthly expenses outside of the mortgage are $1600, bringing our monthly spending to right around $4k all in. So here's my question: would it make sense, after maxxing out our tax advantaged accounts for the year, to put all of my earnings in an investment account with the intention of paying down our mortgage in a lump sum once we decide to have kids? Then we would recast the loan ($100 fee), keep our low interest rate, and reduce our monthly expenses. Ideally in that time we would get used to living off of his income (after maxing out tax advantaged accounts). Does this make sense? Say I'm able to save up 300k before we have kids, if I pay down our mortgage to roughly 85k then our monthly expenses are drastically reduced. Otherwise I'd have 300k of which I could pull say 12k out every year, effectively reducing our expenses to 3k a month. What would you guys recommend? Any other ideas? One other note is if I take the time out of my field, it would be difficult to make the same income with a 3-5 year gap in work. Oh also our number to fully be FI is $2mil, we have quite a ways to go. :/ Thanks again for your advice, it is so appreciated!! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Nov 2017 12:24 PM PST Are there any big and thematic travelling adventures that you would like to pursue when you achieve FI? Today, I read a blog post about a couple who is traveling across the US to all of the 59 National Parks (done in several 3 week trips). Does anyone else have an "epic" travel adventure that's thematically based (international or domestic)? Consider sharing so we can all get ideas from each other... [link] [comments]  |
| Unmarried and going for FI. Will this be depressing? Posted: 27 Nov 2017 06:56 PM PST Just wanted to get your perspective. I have been pretty good about saving money my whole life and a few years ago started focusing on investing. I'm not quite at the FI point but I'd wager I am about 25 years ahead of someone saving for a "traditional" retirement. Even so I get to travel and do some fun hobbies. I know what I want out of my life, though I do feel a bit lost now. I'm in my early 30s. I rarely meet anyone I want to date and though I have had some short lived relationships here and there I honestly don't think I'll ever be in a long-term relationship again (tried once years ago, it was horrible). Ideally I'd like to meet someone with a similar outlook to my own with similar values, but I just don't think it's in the cards. So I am trying to plan out what to do when that doesn't happen. Are there areas where FI people are common? I can imagine having a good life if I had a few friends who are in a similar place in life. What do you do if you go FI/RE but have little or no personal life? [link] [comments]  |
| Diversification through an actively managed portfolio Posted: 28 Nov 2017 08:40 AM PST There is a ton of talk on this sub about diversification, but if you are in equities the common stance is to choose 2 or 3 index funds/etfs and put everything in there, which is basically what I do. However, when I was younger, highschool and early college, my dad took a portion of every paycheck/birthday money that I got and put it into an actively managed portfolio with his money manager, whom he has been using for 20+ years. While this is currently only about 20% of my investable assets, it is still a sizable amount of money. This weekend I spoke my father about moving those positions over to my fidelity account where I would slowly sell them off and move the money into etfs. He said that I obviously could if I wanted, but I should consider the diversification between actively and passively managed funds. He also has a large portion of his savings in index funds, but he stays with these guys because they have a proven track record through 2000 and 2008, only charge our family .5% per year, and he believes it adds a level of diversification to his portfolio. What do you guys think? After speaking with him, I was pretty convinced I should keep at least a small portion with them. Does anyone else have experience diversifying between passive and active funds? Also for clarification these guys are not day traders changing positions everyday. They generally hold positions for 3+ years at a time. [link] [comments]  |
| Should we invest into a 403b with no match with high fees through American Funds? Posted: 27 Nov 2017 06:32 PM PST Currently I am a self employed farmer and my wife is a school teacher. We currently both max out our Roth IRA's and my wife has a pension through the state that she is required to contribute 6% of her gross pay. The school also offers a 403B plan however it does not match any contributions. The American funds have a 5.75% front load and a .6 or .7 expense ratio. Is it worth investing into her 403B with the high fees for the tax advantage? If I knew she was only going to work there for a few years I would not second guess it. This is a career that she will likely stay at for 20+ years. What I am looking at doing is maxing out her 403b (18,000yr) while continuing to max out our Roths. If we don't decide to max out the 403b the money will go to our taxable accounts or into real estate. Notes: - Currently we are in the 25% tax bracket. - We have rental houses and farm land real estate - Contribute to 529 plan for our kids. - Primary house is paid for - We are both 27 years old - Only debt we have is on our investment real estate Just looking to see what everyones opinion would be with these circumstances [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 27 Nov 2017 09:47 PM PST Hi Guys, First real post here, but I have a relatively complicated situation and I'm wondering if you have any thoughts. I graduated college this spring, and have been working a finance job at 60k on the west coast. I have just received an offer to move to an equivalent job in London, with a salary of 60k pounds, which is great for my career and is also exciting as a meaningful raise. Existing plan was to max 401k (4% match) and IRA, and I am wondering if anyone has experience or advice on the best way to save for FI in the scenario of being abroad for 2+ years with a fairly high probability of returning (I am a dual citizen so I will make the decision in 2 years based on my career options). The UK job has a contribution pension also with 4% match- I haven't delved super deeply, but it seems like this is basically a roth 401k with little choice of investments. I know that expatriate income over 104k is taxed in the US, this is likely to make me move back to the US in a few years once my salary goes over that mark [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 27 Nov 2017 07:53 PM PST Hi All, I'm curious to get your take on my situation. I'm 28, have a good stable job in government sector and one of my benefits is long term disability insurance which pays 66% (2/3) of my salary until I'm 65 in the event that I become disabled. I see online I can purchase another $1k a month insurance until 65 for approx $200 a year (secondary insurance). So I'm curious, how do you approach that would you stick to the 2/3rds insurance and forget the additional secondary or add the additional secondary one considering it's not costing much? [link] [comments]  |
| Why I won't invest in Cryptocurrencies Posted: 27 Nov 2017 07:39 PM PST I heard of bitcoin years ago, but never really thought much of it until reading FI stories here. I was wondering if I was missing out on something, so I looked into it. After some research and talking to some people about it, I definitely don't want to invest in any of it. Here's what I found: 1.) Protection against inflation. There are plenty of other well established options. Corporations can raise prices, making stocks just fine. 2.) 3.) Cryptocurrency is a commodity. It is not a raw material, there is no use other than as a medium of exchange. 4.) Since there is a limited supply the price will keep going up. If people lose faith in it as a currency, it becomes worthless. It is fairly easy to imagine a scenario where a cryptocurrency eventually goes out of fashion and loses value. 5.) Inflation is theft by central banks. Low and steady inflation is intentional and is a good feature of a currency. Deflation often happens during recessions and can be countered by expanding the money supply. A fixed-supply currency like bitcoin would be deflationary and unresponsive. This would discourage economic activity and collapse the world economy, preventing such a currency from ever gaining widespread use. 6.) Central bank policies are going to trigger hyperinflation. Very unlikely. Centralization is an advantage as the money supply is controlled to achieve a desired price level. If you live in a democratic society with strong rule of law, you needn't worry about hyperinflation. Places that are affected by hyperinflation already abandoned their currency and just use US dollars in their local economies. 7.) Blockchain concepts have a lot of potential. Certainly true, but they don't have to be crypto denominated. Companies utilizing and developing that potential are trading on the stock market. [link] [comments]  |
| Best way to offset long-term medical costs Posted: 27 Nov 2017 05:07 PM PST For future expenses, I'd want to rely on no family or external support. My getting potentially extremely sick shouldn't require anyone else to do anything. Assuming I have insurance either purchased individually or through an employer what would be the best way to offset possible long-term medical costs. Specifically: 1) An HSA -that I max out each year with a Higher Deductible Plan vs 2) Adding the deductible to a 401k/IRA with a Higher Deductible Plan vs 3) A lower deductible plan that I pay for upfront [link] [comments]  |
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