Financial Independence Accidentally hit a major milestone! |
- Accidentally hit a major milestone!
- Hit my "paid off house" milestone today
- [milestone] my 401k hit 401k today!
- Compound Interest Calculator
- too many tax-advantaged plan options - how to focus resources?
- Daily FI discussion thread - January 24, 2018
- The 72 hour government shutdown brought to light some hidden realities...
- Financial Independence Week Europe 2018
- FIRE needs a secret handshake
- Advice for a 30 year old wanting to shoot for FI?
- What is it like to grow up with FIRE parents?
- Quickly generate a Sankey visualization of all your financial transactions.
- Are there tax implications now or in the future when doing a mega backdoor Roth and backdoor Roth?
- Weekly Self-Promotion Thread - January 24, 2018
- How Wealthy are You? - Thomas J. Stanley's Wealth Equation Calculator
- FIRE People: any regrets, feelings of missing out?
- Once FI how do you approach/contextualise money?
- My 2017 Sankey diagram for my finances, 66% FI, 23% RE
- This sub makes me feel like I'm a little behind. What can I do better?
- Has Anyone Here Rented/Flipped Houses As a Project After RE?
- Resources for diversification and income streams
- First World Problem
| Accidentally hit a major milestone! Posted: 24 Jan 2018 10:26 AM PST I use Mint.com to track net worth and to total all my investment accounts. It's helpful because between me and my spouse we have a lot of accounts that have collected over the years (taxable accounts, 401ks, rollovers, Roth, etc) with two different providers, so it's a nice way to get an automatic overview and summary. Anyway, while I'm very aware of all my individual account balances and portfolios, I don't check up on my net worth and investment totals all that often and failed to notice that Mint had my 401k account set to "inactive/$0" for over a year! So that chunk of money was missing from my investment summary overview. The funny thing in that our FIRE goals were still on track (because stock market has been kicking butt) despite the "missing" money. Anyway, here's the brag: My 401k has $475k in it. Yeah, I didn't notice it was missing. I re-activated the account in Mint and my investments jumped up to $2.2 million! I blew past the $2M milestone early and never even realized it! I'd love to share the details of how I got there, I can't tell anyone else so I'll follow up in comments this evening. EDIT: just to clarify: I knew full well my 401k had that much money in it. I just didn't realize it was missing from Mint totals TLDR; You know that feeling when you find a $20 bill in an old jacket pocket? My wife cracked up when I told her I found almost a half million. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Hit my "paid off house" milestone today Posted: 24 Jan 2018 02:00 PM PST We had a kid graduating college and, honestly, had more house than we needed. Made a downsize move based on the equity we had in our home (~300K after realtors, movers, etc.). Went to a much older house about 2/3rds the size of what we had. But the bones of the house are great and lots of updates over the years. We are in a walkable area now and I can see us realistically dropping to one vehicle in FIRE in this location (usually rare in our area). Going to throw all the old mortgage $ into FIRE now (turn 50 this year, so 12K of catch up 401K for each of us for starters). I'm not averse to debt, and was slightly tempted to pull some of the equity out and invest, but I'm pretty happy with the decision we made. Next up, hitting my $1M in investments milestone. Might even hit that this year, although next more realistic. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| [milestone] my 401k hit 401k today! Posted: 23 Jan 2018 10:25 PM PST I am looking to save $2mil before age 40. Now I have 5 years left, with other asset, I have around $1.5mil now. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Jan 2018 10:58 AM PST I used to use a calculator that allowed for annual increases but have since learned that I have not bookmarked it nor remember the website name. What do you all use? Anyone use a similar site they could link me to? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| too many tax-advantaged plan options - how to focus resources? Posted: 24 Jan 2018 10:32 AM PST First-world problems, I know... I work for a state university, so I have a lot of tax-advantaged plans available to me: mandatory 401(a), and optional (no matching) access to 403(b), and 457(b) - both have roth options. In addition, I do some consulting and make a reasonable but widely variable income. I did a SEP IRA in the past but will probably switch to a solo 401(k) this year to maximize savings in the low years. My question is, how should I focus contributions? I assume I should maximize the 457(b) first since that can be withdrawn penalty-free, and then maximize the solo 401(k) (and ignore the 403(b) since it's the same limitation "bucket" but will have 0% employer). Is there anything I'm missing here? Depending on how freelancing goes this year, I may be past the Roth phaseout (at least 22% bracket). Assuming I'm under the phaseout, should I maximize Roth before 401k in order to have access to the contributions in ER? Any other options I'm not aware of? I'm also going to hire my stay-at-home wife to help with the freelancing business, so we can max out a solo 401k for her too. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Daily FI discussion thread - January 24, 2018 Posted: 24 Jan 2018 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]  | ||||||||||||||||
| The 72 hour government shutdown brought to light some hidden realities... Posted: 24 Jan 2018 03:31 PM PST With the fear of delayed paychecks it was eye opening to see/hear coworkers talk about the all taboo topic of money Monday. The number of 30+ year old well educated (and well paid) colleagues that realized they have saved too little and spend too much each month was eye opening. Talks of selling cars and boats if the shutdown continued because "they can't afford them". I felt blessed to have been taught by my parents how to save money and to have found this sub. So...thanks guys. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Financial Independence Week Europe 2018 Posted: 24 Jan 2018 05:55 AM PST
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| Posted: 23 Jan 2018 08:36 PM PST I live in a LCOL city. A new couple (around 50) showed up at the bridge club (I am an old person in a millennial's body). When asked what they did, they responded that they were on a hiatus. They were looking to enjoy life while they still could. They were looking at moving to my LCOL city to lower cost. Needed a secret handshake to confirm my suspicions without calling them out and to congratulate them. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Advice for a 30 year old wanting to shoot for FI? Posted: 24 Jan 2018 02:03 PM PST 30 years old, Southern VA, income of $50k/year (~$1200/paycheck). Only debt is a mix of sub and unsub student loans, approx 29k. 3 years ago I went through a rough split with an ex-fiance and had to drain my IRAs to stay afloat, so I essentially started over at 27. Right now 9% of income goes to Roth IRA, company matches 50% on the first 8% and an automatic 3%, so ~16% overall, balance is right around 12k at the moment. I have an older car (which is going to need replacing in the not too far off future and I'd love to not be strapped when it happens) which is paid off, and an inexpensive motorcycle which has been paid off for a long while as well. I've been working on ensuring at least 10% of each paycheck goes right to emergency savings at Ally, currently savings is at $2500. Also recently opened a second Ally savings account for life expenses (vet, tires etc), but haven't started contributing to it yet. Living expenses (monthly) :
I currently utilize my Citi Rewards card for all spending and immediately transfer the amount to a savings account for it so I never spend what I don't have, the rewards from that net me a solid $35/month which I use for small things I want or around the house. I'm getting ready to go back to school to finish up my B.S. (which hopefully will help garner a higher salary), so my student loans will go on deferment for 1.5-2yrs. During which time I was planning on continuing to pay $165 on student loans as the monthly interest is usually around $115-$120 to avoid that compounding. The other $100 I was hoping to split $50 to one savings and $50 to other monthly. I want to do more, but I'm not sure what else I can do to maximize my potential and save more to achieve FI, any advice? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| What is it like to grow up with FIRE parents? Posted: 23 Jan 2018 07:36 PM PST I am working towards a path of FIRE and am excited at the possibility of not being held to a job out of necessity. I grew up poor and saw the value of hard work and perseverance in order to be financially successful. On the flip side, what is it like as a kid growing up with parents who are FI and do not work. I can't imagine growing up not having to worry about money. Or having the luxury of travelling with your parents. Or not having to juggle jobs/daycare in order to struggle to keep up will bills. I'm curious to hear about how these kids grow up. Do the kids end up spoiled? Do they not get instilled any values of hard work? Does money not mean anything to them because they've never seen their parents struggle. Imagine always having your parents safety net to fall back on so you never really have to "fight" for anything. What do you need to be aware of when raising kids when you are FIRE? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Quickly generate a Sankey visualization of all your financial transactions. Posted: 24 Jan 2018 02:23 PM PST I put together a little thing that will take all the transactions you've exported from Mint (or elsewhere), and generates an interactive Sankey diagram. Find out how here [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Are there tax implications now or in the future when doing a mega backdoor Roth and backdoor Roth? Posted: 24 Jan 2018 02:18 PM PST Three part question based on some reading I was doing today about mega backdoor Roth (MBR for the rest of the post) and a backdoor Roth. I want to see if I'm missing anything about my understanding of these accounts, taxes, ordering withdrawls, etc. This post assumes the following:
Under these assumptions then is the following correct?
Is there anything I'm missing in any of this? I'm asking because I can either contribute money to a MBR or taxable account. While I will likely still have a taxable account for shorter term goals/saving stuff, but that wouldn't be done for FIRE (instead my short/mid term larger purchases and thus likely not have a ton of money in it), I think the bulk of my FIRE money would be better served by maxing 401k (pretax), HSA, backdoor Roth, and MBR completely before I really threw much money in a taxable account. Unless there is something I'm missing in all of this. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Weekly Self-Promotion Thread - January 24, 2018 Posted: 24 Jan 2018 03:08 AM PST Self-promotion (ie posting about projects/businesses that you operate and can profit from) is typically a practice that is discouraged in /r/financialindependence, and these posts are removed through moderation. This is a thread where those rules do not apply. However, please do not post referral links in this thread. Use this thread to talk about your blog, talk about your business, ask for feedback, etc. If the self-promotion starts to leak outside of this thread, we will once again return to a time where 100% of self-promotion posts are banned. Please use this space wisely. Link-only posts will be removed. Put some effort into it. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| How Wealthy are You? - Thomas J. Stanley's Wealth Equation Calculator Posted: 24 Jan 2018 03:31 PM PST How Wealthy are You? - Thomas J. Stanley's Wealth Equation Calculator http://www.hughcalc.org/wealth.cgi Feel free to post your Wealth Index (WX) My Wealth Index (WX) is 2.655 [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| FIRE People: any regrets, feelings of missing out? Posted: 24 Jan 2018 03:21 PM PST Most conversations in this forum are all very similar, and so are the posters. I'm hoping to hear about any regrets (if any) frugal/fire people have about "missing out." Me: mid to late twenties, engaged, living in a very expensive US city. My partner and I make a combined 180k. I put away 10% into retirement (no match, but pension), and she does 15% (50% no limit matching). Negligible debt. We are very happy in our apartment ($2700/month). We budget, travel sometimes, eat out occasionally, and love our friends here. We have the opportunity to move into her parents home about 45 minutes from the city, into a small studio without a kitchen and not pay rent. In the back of my mind I feel like this is a good thing and we should take advantage of it. Save for a down payment (we already have 50k stocks from her company). It would severely hurt our social lives (and we just really like being in the city). I like my job and I like my life and we pay rent painlessly. I don't know exactly what I'm hoping to hear. I think mostly I'm just wondering if you frugal/fire people are like me, and feel like you're missing out but it's worth it - OR - are you simply so different from me (just different personality/values) that twisting myself to be like you would break me. Older people I talk to (some good, and some bad financially) generally tell me to stay in the city while I'm young and enjoy life. I don't know if they really mean that or not. I'm sorry for rambling. I'm hoping to start an honest conversation rather than ask a direct question. EDIT: I should note that moving would shorten my commute, but lengthen hers. Overall commute time for us combined would be a wash. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Once FI how do you approach/contextualise money? Posted: 24 Jan 2018 02:54 PM PST I am in the fortunate position of being financially independent but was ignorant to many of the concepts discussed in this subreddit in relation to investing my money to make it work for me. I reached FI by consulting across borders in a lucrative industry and being relatively frugal. As a result whilst I live in the UK I hold/held GBP, USD, and EUR. In many respects I was investing in currencies whilst being completely ignorant to the fact as a result of not converting them to GBP immediately. To cut a long story short I hold a lot of USD which relative to my home currency (GBP) has lost about 5% of its value in the last week. I have come up with an appropriate asset allocation for my investments and have begun putting my investment policy into action. I am however essentially having a breakdown because I have lost 5% before even starting (assuming the dollar does not weaken further). Part of this feels like awful timing. Had I not begun my investing journey recently perhaps I would not have noticed this and perhaps the dollar will get stronger in the next few weeks. Then again that was my thought process 2 days ago too. This seems to be having a massive effect on me because it is completely unexpected. If my equities lost 5% in a week there would be no issue as my AA has been set appropriately and I know what I am getting myself in for. I also hold a small holding of crypto currencies (less than 5% of NW). These have increased in value in the last month to offset the currency loss even though the total holding is orders of magnitude smaller. They have just gone up a lot. I now find myself holding USD which I need to convert to GBP to execute my investment policy. I am apprehensive to do so and 'lock in' a loss on something I didn't really acknowledge as an investment. At the same time, my small crypto portfolio is reaking havoc with my mindset because of the relative magnitude of the gains. I am frozen, panicking, not knowing what to do. My stock portfolio has increased 2% YTD which is great but it is balanced out by my 5% cash value loss = I feel awful. Crypto = I am up 10% overall = Even though crypto is clearly not sustainable i feel like the whole of my investment research was a timely and costly mistake which I cant put into context. My loss on USD currency (at time of writing) is basically 2 years expenses. My gain in the stock market this year essentially 1 year expenses. Crypto gains are approximately 5 years expenses. I don't see the gains for what they are all I am seeing is 'Oh s**t I've lost two years living expenses in a week' I am now just completely lost thinking that I should just convert all the dollars now, execute my investment policy and get on with my life. I am anchoring to the past. I feel like whilst I may have lost significant amounts I should just get everything done, 'realise' the loss, get invested (in what i actually want), forget about it and get on with my life. Fortunately even with the loss I am still FI but I don't think that being FI should ever people not appreciate the significance/magnitude of money values. It is after all still 2 years expenses. This is kind of a mind splurge. I would be great full if anyone could share their thoughts or help me in any way. I don't need to be told to sell the crypto :) I know. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| My 2017 Sankey diagram for my finances, 66% FI, 23% RE Posted: 24 Jan 2018 11:21 AM PST I made a Sankey Diagram for my finances, I didn't bother to track every cent, and I have some "other" categories, but I thought it gave a good picture of my finances. I'm 28yo and on the path to FIRE. This does not include investment gains in retirement accounts, or unrealized taxable gains. Most of the data came from two places, my last paycheck of the year that listed YTD numbers, and my CC year end summary. I live with my girlfriend and I pay the bills/rent, then she reimburses me her share of them. And yes, I know I over contributed to my HSA, I forgot to readjust my contributions near the end of the year. Let me know if you see any big mistakes or anything that doesn't make sense. Made at http://sankeymatic.com/build/ [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| This sub makes me feel like I'm a little behind. What can I do better? Posted: 24 Jan 2018 02:17 PM PST 35m Income: 135k +10% bonus Assets: 401k = $230k. Currently saving 16% of salary net of company match and profit sharing. 24k/yr Roth = $58k saving $300/month. Brokerage acct /emergency fund = $35k. Saving $300/week + bonus and tax return below 100% of my work bonus of about 5k after tax and tax return which should be about another 9-10k this year into my emergency fund. Home we purchased this yr with 20% down has about 120k equity and 560k total value. No debt other than a mortgage. Total assets about $450k and saving about 58k per year. After getting the trading acct to 80-100k (I worry too much about my emergency fund) I plan to increase my 401k to personal max and max the Roth. One day I'd like to use the brokerage act to purchase a rental. What can I do better? I know I'm probably going too light on the tax advantage of the 401k. ☹️ [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Has Anyone Here Rented/Flipped Houses As a Project After RE? Posted: 23 Jan 2018 07:44 PM PST I'm a young person who's likely to retire super early, and I can't imagine just sitting on my hands and playing sports or whatever. I've read a lot of comments on this sub about people who recommend passive investing, because real estate is "a full time job." I tend to agree with that, and wouldn't really have time to manage property since I have a full-time job currently. However, I'm likely to quit my job in 2018 and I thought real estate could be a fun and challenging project that would keep me busy. Just wanted to get some opinions/insight from people who might be in this situation, because I'm guessing their experiences would be more positive than those who burnt out trying to be a landlord and work a full-time job. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Resources for diversification and income streams Posted: 23 Jan 2018 07:40 PM PST I'm 36, married (no kids) ,and living in the SF Bay Area. For the past 10 years, I've been focusing on only two areas to accumulate wealth: real estate and stocks. Fortunately, both have been on pretty insane runs and I just broke $3m last week. I've accumulated 4 properties, although they don't produce much since it is in the SF Bay Area. My plan was to build up to approximately $4m through salary/savings then begin to diversify the stock and real estate into various income streams. Wondering if others have gone through this path where they realized most of their investments are focused in one or two areas and how they went about researching on how to diversify. I'm thinking dividend funds, but wanted others opinions on how people navigated it. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Jan 2018 01:53 PM PST First off, this is the absolute epitome of "not an actual problem." But I can't ask advice of anybody in real life without sounding like the world's most pretentious asshole. Just found this sub recently, figured that y'all would appreciate my situation. I'm 27 and own a 3BR house with a 15-year mortgage, that I've been sharing with one roommate/renter. No other debt. Recently realized that my third bedroom was just collecting dust, so threw it up on Craigslist and found a guy to fill it. Additional rental income, plus slightly lowered utilities now that those are being split 3 ways instead of just 2? Sweet! I just plugged the new numbers into my budget spreadsheet: After hitting my investing & giving goals, putting more money toward renovations, and paying down the mortgage even faster than I already was... I'm still left with roughly $100/month that I have no idea what to do with. Pretty stupid complaint, right? I don't do the hardcore thing anymore. I'm moderately frugal, but I don't sock away every penny or obsessively track my investments like I did in my early 20s. It put me in an unhealthy place mentally where I was more focused on my money than enjoying my life. After I recognized it, I relaxed. Now I'm content with being on the "lazy" track to be fully FI by 45 or 50. So I'm trying to find something to put it towards that will improve my day-to-day life. I'm happy with the quality/quantity of booze that I currently drink (been cutting back, actually), so no need to throw more money at that. I'm one hell of a cook and already eat like a king, so no point in upping the grocery budget. No desire to buy a fourth guitar. The library has all the books I want. I could probably stand to update/replace my wardrobe a little, but I'm mostly a jeans & tee kind of guy, so $100/month would get obscene pretty quickly. I'm tempted to picking up woodworking or blacksmithing as another hobby, or getting a dog, but I suspect those ideas would all cost MORE than 100/month... So there you have it, my "100%-not-a-real-problem" problem. What would you do in my shoes? What would you spend it on, or what cheap, fun hobby would you pick up? [link] [comments]  |
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