Financial Independence FI/RE not because you don't want to work, but with the goal of becoming a stay-at-home parent? |
- FI/RE not because you don't want to work, but with the goal of becoming a stay-at-home parent?
- I thought once I hit my savings goal, I would enjoy my job more. That doesn't appear to be the case.
- I just had 3 weeks off work, and it drove me crazy. What now?
- Daily FI discussion thread - January 02, 2019
- Build the life you want and then save for it! But first go to college/trades/military. And do exactly what everyone else does, except pick the better major, get the better job, and save over 50%+ of your income. Are you fulfilled? The case for entrepreneurship/freelance.
- Year 3 of my 13 year goal is complete. 2018 Results below
- Getting confusing keeping my stealth wealth stories straight; how do you all manage?
- People who have achieved a 70% or higher sustained savings rate, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced to get there?
- Holding bonds in brokerage account or retirement accounts if you're sort of close to FIRE or semi-FIRE?
- Keep working two jobs and and save or go back to College?
- Weekly Self-Promotion Thread - January 02, 2019
- Does your friends get that whole financial freedom thing ?
- What are your FIRE (or non-FIRE) resolutions/goals for 2019?
- how does ira / 401k fit into RE
- how would you know that someone is FIREing if they are not being explicit about it.
- FIRE with a globetrotting academic career?
- Accept a new job when semi-FIRE is--maybe--6 months off?
| FI/RE not because you don't want to work, but with the goal of becoming a stay-at-home parent? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 12:50 PM PST I've been browsing this subreddit for a while, and have always been struck by what seems to be the majority of people here who dislike their jobs or don't want to work; i.e. are pursuing FI/RE while working with a sort of "I hate this but I can get out early" mantra playing in their heads (or so it seems). I'd be curious to hear discussion about how having different goals for pursuing FI/RE affects the journey? Specifically, I'm drawn to the goals of FI/RE because I would like to be a stay-at-home parent to my (eventual, theoretical) children, without having to completely depend on a spouse for financial support. When I first heard a bit about Early Retirement, I basically thought "so just...what a lot of women have been doing for decades, when they have kids?" Of course it's not this; this is simplistic or gender-specific! But that was my initial thought and now I wonder about how this particular parenting goal plays into both external perceptions of FI/RE and personal progress. For example, when I tell people I want to stop working and save money to become a stay-at-home mom...nobody gets jealous, upset, or questions me the way I hear people reporting occurs when they bring up early retirement. In fact, some people sort of seem to expect this of me (well, without the FI part, of course). And then personally, I find that I have more money-focus on health, so that I can strategically plan to be best set up for all the possibilities around becoming a parent, in a set time-frame. This means risking less with health now than when I'm old, which might be reversed for those who plan FI/RE around job dissatisfaction. (This shouldn't be a discussion about gender, of course, but it's probably impossible to completely ignore gender's historic effects on money and social-financial outlooks. I'm just very interested to hear more thoughts on all this.) [link] [comments]  |
| I thought once I hit my savings goal, I would enjoy my job more. That doesn't appear to be the case. Posted: 01 Jan 2019 09:30 PM PST I thought once I got to the point where I saved up enough money, my job would become more enjoyable (a result of decreased stress from not having to worry about living paycheck to paycheck anymore). Although the tension has been relieved with each sunsequent paycheck I've gotten, now that I've hit my goal, savings-wise, my opinion of my job hasn't really changed. I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like my job. Wouldn't this be the best way of objectively gauging whether I actually liked/disliked my job or not; money not being an influencing factor, and judging based only on the job itself? [link] [comments]  |
| I just had 3 weeks off work, and it drove me crazy. What now? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 11:02 AM PST I used to think I wanted to stop working. But my experience over the holidays has made me rethink that. I had time off over the past 3 weeks, and due to some circumstances, my wife and I spent it at home, without any family. It drove me crazy. I found I could not easily relax and enjoy books or video games. I picked up a bunch of projects around the house just so I could have something to do - something to make me feel productive. Filling the days was something that began to stress me out. Now I'm worried that my desire to stop working has been motivated more by ennui and dissatisfaction than it has by the desire to have more agency over my life. Because, granted that agency, I didn't feel too good about it. Don't get me wrong - I have taken long vacations before. In fact, I was out of the country for 6 weeks this summer, traveling. But the level of stimulation on such a trip is definitely higher than just spending time at home. EDIT: I've thought about this some more. I think the key issue for me is one of feeling productive. I'm a 9-to-5er, and in my daily life, I have ample time to exercise, read, play video games, watch TV, hang with the wife and such. One of my greatest joys these days is going hiking on Sundays. I also manage to stay on top of a lot of housework, and get minor home repairs done. However - during this 3 week period, I tried to expand all of these things to fit all my waking hours. What this came at the expense of was the feeling of productivity - doing something, moving things forward, building, creating, removing entropy from the world. More gaming and hiking and reading didn't help me with that. Home improvement projects did, but there's a limit to my interest and expertise there. So I think the core issue for me is that I need to find some hobbies that allow me to build and create, rather than just 'be'. [link] [comments]  |
| Daily FI discussion thread - January 02, 2019 Posted: 02 Jan 2019 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]  |
| Posted: 01 Jan 2019 11:20 PM PST This is a concept that has no answer and tends to go around in a circle. To some, building the life you want means justifying more expenses and "experiences." The nature of the statement is open-ended and for some this is exactly what they want and desire. But there is a major aspect that is bothering me. Immensely. This aspect comes in the shape of control. You are still doing what they told you. You might have found a way "out" but first you have to go all the way in. The American "all the way end" typically involves college, debt, home, mortgage, car, debt, etc and now they have just traded away years of their lives. But at least we are not going for the SAD (standard-American diet, think fast food) lifestyle of financial advice. I hate feeling controlled by others. Submissive, passive, reactionary. One /r/jobs search and I am already sweating. There are just some examples of the lack of control:
I think we need to do a huge reality check. If you save 80% of your income but spend 80% of your non-sleeping time doing office related tasks, subconsiously you are effectively your job. If you save 60% of your income and only spend 40% at the office in terms of time, the conditioning is a lot less noticeable and injecting hobbies, relationships, books, etc new information into the matrix becomes easier when FIRE is approaching. That is why I believe entrepreneurship/freelance/and the like are cases to be made. Spending 80 hours of my own sweat, tears, and blood to build something profitable (even if generic) is like the difference between paying someone to cut my hair and actually cutting my hair. Or building my own computer versus ordering a cookie-cutter model. To me it feels like life becomes an adventure and much more self-interested. Like one big hobby that pays me. Here is a difference:
The case of an entrepreneurial work is that those self-interested, self-involved moments of success allows more options and opportunities in unrelated aspects of life. You aren't a cog that sees (usually) no direct benefit for their work. If you are the boss, your time starts to become more and more open, easy, and flexible depending on the industry. The risks are greater, the demands are more concerning, but there is an ocean of ideas and thoughts that can allow for someone to FIRE early while still maintaining their sanity. What happens when you quit and want to go back to work at an older age with a huge employment gap? Ha, silly headhunters, I KNOW how to get from A to Z in a company or finding an income source or just busting ass doing new ideas. This enrichment of growth is why Mr. MMM and company are successful: they retired to a position that allowed them to voice their opinions unrestricted (more or less). What was one of the first things Mr. MMM did? Construction (and he failed too, he went too big and too unrealistic). The question of building your life with one of the major triggers in your life is (in my opinion) extremely important. It is probably one of the most important aspects an individual can do. Of course you can take the high paying job, work the company hours, and retire under 10 years. But those 10 years of hard work, long hours, and more and more demands are going to do what, exactly, to the person you are now? Who will you become? And will the conditioning that took up so much of your time be so easy to break? For me, the answer is obvious. I like my self-interest, I like the ownership, and I like how each action has a direct relationship. It is the harder path because of how open-ended the question becomes and how many different variables there are to seeking out results (and many end up failing, they forget to get things simple). But what about for you? What are your thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| Year 3 of my 13 year goal is complete. 2018 Results below Posted: 02 Jan 2019 02:46 PM PST I saved about 36k toward retirement in total in 2018. Most of my accounts are in VTSAX (or similar that approximate total market). As we know, the market was a bit volatile this past year. I also had some larger expenses in 2018 (new HVAC in house for example) which slowed me down for adding to the the taxable account, but I was at least able to max the 401k/IRA/HSA accounts. [link] [comments]  |
| Getting confusing keeping my stealth wealth stories straight; how do you all manage? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 08:44 PM PST I FIRED in my mid-20s and for a long while used to tell people that I still did what I used to do (modeling) or editing (which I also had done on and off). As I started making friends with people older than I, already retired, and in similar financial situations, I felt comfortable revealing to some of them my situation, and I don't regret it. I've been able to openly discuss finances with them and it's a relief to not have to keep maintaining a false backstory. But in most other cases it feels unwise to reveal the truth. I hate lying, but I also find that if I'm honest with certain people, too many problems arise. Many of these problems have been / are discussed extensively here, so I won't go into details. Briefly, I like to have wide social circles, and to my friends who are around my age (now in early 30s but look much younger, like high school or college-ish, which does not help the situation), jealousy can arise. When it comes to dating (I'm a hetero woman) I don't want men to think I'm a deadbeat (which I'm afraid they think when I venture "I'm not working right now, but looking around". On the other hand, I definitely don't want to give any clues as to my net worth. I think what's tricky about the situation is that I have no idea how people will react. I was looking to rent a room a few months ago, for instance, and simply told my prospective roommate, whom I called from an ad on CL, that I'm a "retired model" and she seemed fine with it. There are other people though, whom I can intuitively tell would think many negative things about me if that's what I said. And it's not just social image I'm concerned about - I also don't want to expose myself to things like frivolous lawsuits. So I tend to use my intuition when deciding what to say, but it starts to get tricky after a while, and when people from different social circles meet each other, I run into problems. Soo.... how do you all handle this? Do you maintain one story that you use with everyone? I feel like that would be simplest but recently when I told a couple new acquaintances the "truth" I soon regretted it, so I feel inclined to going back to my various lies. I always hear the advice given to say that you freelance or work part time in your old career or "manage investments" or are taking time off due to health reasons, etc, and I think any story can work well for a particular situation, but none work well for all situations, if that makes sense. And it is getting extremely tricky to keep it all straight. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:03 AM PST This year is all about building my savings rate. Last month I hit 65% and have set a goal to hit above 70% for each month in 2019. I am curious to know what you guys had to sacrifice or cleverly did to get that rate. It has already proven to be quite a challenge and I know some of you are achieving a much higher rate than this. Thanks! Edit: Savings rate was 65%, not 68%. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2019 12:05 PM PST I recently sold out of some bond funds in our brokerage account for two reasons:
But, I want own some % in bonds to serve to reduce volatility as we near something arguably like a FIRE or semi-FIRE period this summer and beyond. (We're new to this, so whether we achieve that will depend on the market and other choices). My initial thought was to replace the bonds portion of our portfolio with bond funds I bought within our retirement accounts (403bs, tIRAs, 457bs, and a solo-401k), because here they would not be taxed until withdrawal...and I am hoping to withdraw most of this money during low-income years when we are in the "0%" tax bracket. However, I'm a little concerned about the idea that we won't be able to access much of our retirement funds until 59 1/2. The whole point of reducing volatility--as I understand it--is so that if we have to draw on our investments during years when the market is down, we don't lock in those losses. By having some bonds, the thought is when one's portfolio is down it's not as down as it would have been if you were all in stocks. In our case, because 457(b) plans allow you to withdraw money penalty-free as soon as you are separated from your job that you had the plan with, we will be able to access about $84,000 of retirement money. I might try to either spend that money to live on or Roth convert it, drawing down only enough each year to be under the standard deduction. We also will probably keep at least $20k in cash in a high interest bank account at least getting 2% or something. Given this, is it reasonable to just hold bonds in our retirement accounts, or should we buffer the volatility in our brokerage account with bonds there as well--but pay the bigger tax bill that comes from all those additional dividends? [Note: I've seen an analysis that says that holding equities in your retirement accounts actually creates the greatest long term wealth and that therefore "bonds go in taxable", but I think--not sure--that really only works if you're a high earner (that website is for doctors!). But we're in the 12% tax bracket, so I doubt it applies to us.] [link] [comments]  |
| Keep working two jobs and and save or go back to College? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:43 PM PST My current situation has allowed me to save money and invest, however, it has also taken all of my time. I am currently working two part time jobs at two good organizations. One government related and another bank. Bank during the mornings, government job at afternoon/nights. The pay is not the best but is not bad. I've been able to save quickly and live comfortably since I obtained the second job five months ago. Since than I've been able to save 5k (could have saved way more if I was more responsible with money, realistically I could save 2k per month) but it takes all my time. I work Tuesday to Sunday in one job and Monday to Saturday on the other so I literally don't have time for anything else as I put in anywhere between 50-60 hours a week depending on schedule. I'm 23, went to college for a bit for business administration advance diploma, still need 9 courses to graduate. Didn't do so well (didn't put 100%)so I won't be able to go get a degree unless I take another one year program to upgrade my mark. I've taken time away from school (and got the two jobs) so at this point I'm not sure what to do. I know that if I keep working, pay increases , savings increase, experience grows. However, my education will stay at where is at and I had thought I would go all the way to get an MBA.I would also miss out on early twenties adventures (you know, all the parties and get-togethers) Eventually I want to start my own businesses. Which is mainly why I'm saving and taking the two jobs. I would appreciate any advice or words from anyone in this sub. I've seen so many inspiring people here that It would mean a lot to have any type of guidance or advice. TL;DR: should I keep saving (about 2k per month) while working two part time jobs Monday- Sunday or go back to school to finish Diploma/ Degree generating debt ? [link] [comments]  |
| Weekly Self-Promotion Thread - January 02, 2019 Posted: 02 Jan 2019 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]  |
| Does your friends get that whole financial freedom thing ? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:00 PM PST Hello guys, I am in a bit of a weird situation. I have a lot of friends with various backgrounds, but none of them have even an idea what financial freedom is let alone achieving it. All of them are just thinking about their lifes mostly 1 year into the future. No one really thinks about what their life will be like when they turn 30, let alone 50,60. My question is do you have people around you with which you can talk about FIRE and where you found them ? I have met hundreds of people in my life and not a single one is trying to get financial freedom. Would be interested to know where you actually find people with the same state of mind. I need to state that I am living in the UK if that makes any difference. [link] [comments]  |
| What are your FIRE (or non-FIRE) resolutions/goals for 2019? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:33 PM PST I feel like I've really gotten a much clearer picture on what I want out of life, particularly over the past 3 months. I'm in my mid-30s, and in a second career that I LOVE and is much better paying than my first one, I wish I had done it originally. But the transition still took a toll on me, I had to "remap" so much of my life, and after a few years in my new field it all came in to focus for me. I rarely make New Years resolutions, but instead have a checklist, and this year I have a ton of huge things I want to accomplish:
[link] [comments]  |
| how does ira / 401k fit into RE Posted: 02 Jan 2019 04:16 PM PST I see a lot of posts here about heavily funding 401k or IRA, but I don't follow how that relates to retiring early. I do get how it works for later in life, just not early. [link] [comments]  |
| how would you know that someone is FIREing if they are not being explicit about it. Posted: 02 Jan 2019 11:09 AM PST Just wanted to know what you guys think are some giveaways that someone is FIREing. Could also help other people start to FIRE. [link] [comments]  |
| FIRE with a globetrotting academic career? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 02:59 AM PST Does anyone have advice for someone who might move countries/jobs often? I'm from the UK, living abroad and currently finishing up my PhD. I'm currently planning to stay in academia for now, which will likely require me to move between countries to get short-term (1-3year) research contracts. I have no debt other than my UK student loan, currently have $6k USD in savings and could expect to double that before I wrap things up. My projected earnings would probably be around $40-60k USD depending on where I move (probably not the UK). I'm from a poor/working class background and don't know much about investing or international banking - I left the UK with £200 and no clue how to set myself up in a new country or properly inform banks from the UK. How the hell do I plan anything, move pensions or manage finances internationally? If it helps, I am entitled to EU (Irish) citizenship and could get NZ residency if I wanted. [link] [comments]  |
| Accept a new job when semi-FIRE is--maybe--6 months off? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 10:29 AM PST This is on the topic of transitioning to FIRE or semi-FIRE appropriately... Normally, when you're younger than, say, 65, you just evaluate job offers as compared to your current job or unemployment. But for younger FIRE hopefuls getting close to possible FIRE, it seems like a different concern. My wife and my tentative plan was to semi-FIRE this summer, with her not working at all and me freelancing to pay some or perhaps all of the bills (and so, "barista FIRE" or "coast FIRE"). Depending on what the market does, that plan may have to shift, but that's the tentative. But now there is a possible (non-freelance) job at play for me. The job does not pay well, but is slightly more than my current job and would probably be a welcome change from it. It also has far more potential for resume-building in my freelance area, as well as business contacts, than what I am doing now. However, I am reluctant to consider a job if I think I might only be there six months. Doesn't feel very good in terms of honesty from my side and seems like quitting at that point might be harmful to their opinion of me. I'm having trouble seeing how I could work this job and my wife not work and still live in this very high cost of living area we live in now, so if I did stay past this summer, I'd have to sign a new lease somewhere here and my wife would have to get at least a $15k/yr income. Our rent alone burns up $19,200/yr! Any thoughts or suggestions for what to factor into this decision? [I don't actually have a job offer, but am being considered for one. I want to be prepared in case I get an offer, since I will have to decide right away.] [link] [comments]  |
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