Financial Independence FIRE, frugality and weight loss |
- FIRE, frugality and weight loss
- Save Until it Hurts, Then Back Off! My Story
- Lying down in bed and surfing laptop all day
- 25 y/o male trucking his way to Fi
- Ending a relationship for the pursuit of FIRE
- Daily FI discussion thread - April 28, 2019
- How to plan FIRE with a wife/girlfriend?
- My investment Portfolio for FIRE
- Opinions - can I FIRE at 50?
- Should I roll over my Thrift Savings Plan into an IRA, and then a Roth IRA?
- A fun way to track progress
- What are the best Solo 401(k) and Roth IRA account options out there?
- Roth IRA or rental property
- Stock Tracker vs SPY (A Resource for the FIRE Community)
- FIRE and taxes
- VTSAX in taxable throwing off unwanted dividends in FIRE. Any way to capture the growth of the market without dividends?
- Income or Growth/Equity?
- Where to park reserves/e-fund?
- Retire Early? Work Forever? Both Are Both Wildly Unrealistic
| FIRE, frugality and weight loss Posted: 28 Apr 2019 10:39 AM PDT TLDR: Started bringing lunch to work and lost weight. One month ago I discovered the FIRE Movement. As part of my 'reducing expenses" phase, I started bringing my lunch to work and eating out less often. I knew this would save me some money, but I didn't realize that it would also save me calories. My homemade lunches turn out to have less calories than the burritos or Subway sandwiches (foot long always) that I bought at lunch. In one month, I've lost 6 lbs. I wasn't overweight at all, but could lose about 10-12 lbs. So, unless I have some disease that coincidentally caused weight loss at the same time (work stress causes me to worry I have deadly diseases), I haven't changed anything else in my exercise or diet. Just making more homemade meals. Has anyone else experienced this great side benefit? [link] [comments]  |
| Save Until it Hurts, Then Back Off! My Story Posted: 27 Apr 2019 05:09 PM PDT Here's what the last four years have taught me about life, money, and the search for happiness and balance. I'm a 25 y/o male engineer in a LCOL area with a net worth of ~$180k. I have been out of college for four years and working full time. My savings rate has ranged from 40% starting out, up to nearly 65% last year. While by most financial measures I was doing very well for this stretch, I noticed a trend. The more money I accumulated and the higher my SR grew, the more I became obsessed with my finances. I began depriving myself of experiences and social activities. I'd regularly turn down a night out with friends, or skip a lunch with coworkers. To sum it up, I was not happy with the life I was living. I had reached the threshold where my SR was painful for me. Fast forward to 2019, and I decided it was time to make a change. As uncomfortable as it felt at the time, I reduced my SR by 10%. The disposable portion of my income now HAD to be spent (I'll admit, a few dollars here and there end up being invested but I try to spend most of it). I'm currently shooting for a 55% SR and I cannot tell you how much more I enjoy life. I went from feeling like I couldn't spend a dollar that wasn't strictly budgeted, to travelling with friends, going to concerts, and enjoying the pleasures of life. That 10% made all the difference in the world, so I urge you wonderful people to not deprive yourselves too much of the life you want and risk burnout. Plan for the future, sure, but realize that nothing is guaranteed. Strive to balance the wants and needs of the future with the wants and needs of now. I now believe that spending money on experiences that don't directly yield you money (or greater earning power) can be worthwhile if you're smart and deliberate about them. In six months, I transitioned from wondering how I'd manage to drag myself through another 10 years at work, to enjoying daily life enough to not mind working another 30 years if I need to. Work weeks now feel calm and relaxing as opposed to being a grind, as bizarre as that sounds. The "sweet spot" of SR that I found is highly personal. When you find yours, you'll be challenged to spend money wisely (because a life devoid of stress and challenge is not a meaningful one), but there will be "enough" left at the end of the day for you to pursue happiness with. May you all find a life of balance, satisfaction, and a warm feeling of "enough." :) [link] [comments]  |
| Lying down in bed and surfing laptop all day Posted: 28 Apr 2019 09:53 AM PDT Some folks talk about travelling and other passions but for me honestly the most fun comes from surfing laptop; I feel the whole world is in there. Watching stuff (youtube, netflix, hulu), reading forums (mmm, reddit), going up and down my FIRE & expense spreadsheets, searching up stuff and learning I surf sitting in sofa, lying in bed. I also enjoy talking to my wife and we both sitting and watching a movie together. mix it up with some walk in the park. This is how i currently see my weekends going on. I believe my FIRE will be same. Honestly I don't see much wrong with it (as long as we keep it healthy; walks and eat right). Does anyone else do this kind of fire or weekend spending? What are your thoughts. Do you think this can become boring in the long FIRE run? [link] [comments]  |
| 25 y/o male trucking his way to Fi Posted: 27 Apr 2019 08:07 PM PDT I've been a huge lurker in this community for the past year or so and credit it to helping me getting started to become financial independence while still young. I wanted to share my experience since I see so many high paid tech workers posting here but few blue collar workers. It's possible to earn a great living trucking and become financially independent. I started truck driving a year ago with a $4,000, 4 week CDL "school". I applied for a T.W.I.C., hazmat background check, passport and got all endorsements on my license (tanker, double/triples, hazmat). Within about 5-6 weeks I was all set to begin a career in trucking. Now there is a myth that you need to start trucking with a crappy company and work your way to a good one after you "pay your dues" for a year or two. That is completely false. You have several types of truck drivers. Dry Van Refrigerator Van (dry van with a a/c unit) Tanker (think gas trucks) Flatbed Oversized and/or overweight Dump truck drivers You can be a local truck driver or an over the road (OTR) truck driver. I am and have been doing OTR driving for the past year. Now to make good money, about $75k-$110k, you need to specialize: flatbed/tanker/oversized/oil fields will make you that type of money. Husbands and wives can drive the same truck together and "team". This can effectively double a single truck drivers income. So $150k+ going to the same household. I have averaged about $1,700+ a week this year. I'm on track to do about $90k for the year. I specialized and got hired on at a great company from day 1. I was previously married, owned a house, had high credit card debt, etc I filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. Moved all of my belonging into a relatives house and took up the job. I went from nearly 300k in debt 18 months ago to having 0 debt (thanks to bankruptcy) and a NW of about $60k. I have very little expenses, cell phone, food and child support. If you want a high paying job, want to cut your overhead expense and be homeless like me, go for it! It's insane that in a bit over a month nearly anyone can be trained and ready for a career making this type of money. I've made stupid mistakes in the past but I have learned from them. Thanks to reddit and the many books I've read, I'm certain I will be financially independent in the future. If I can help or pass on any knowledge about being or becoming a trucker please don't hesitate to ask. [link] [comments]  |
| Ending a relationship for the pursuit of FIRE Posted: 28 Apr 2019 12:16 AM PDT Throwaway so my bf doesn't see this on my reddit My bf & I have been dating for 5 years and we recently started talking about moving in together. We are in SF where I consider myself to be very fortunate to have my living situation. I live with housemates and pay $800/mo. Our house is spacious, well-kept, and in a quiet neighborhood. I love living here. After talking about our ideal apartment, my bf is pretty much locked into the idea of paying $4000/mo for a place in a shiny new tower. While I can certainly afford that, I don't want my living expenses to triple. He is generally very careless with his spending. He has a 401k and IRA but contributes maybe $15k/yr to both including his match. He also has a small emergency fund of around $10k. But everything else is spent. Food, clothes, trips, alcohol, partying, electronics, etc. He's even talking about buying a Model X. He's not in debt but he definitely spends too much and doesn't understand why I don't. He is convinced that he doesn't have to worry about saving and investing until later in life. Meanwhile, FIRE is looking like a real possibility for me. My SR is 70% but when I'm with my bf, I tend to spend a lot more than I normally would. It's like a weird form of peer pressure. The apartment conversation really got me thinking about the fact that we aren't compatible from a personal finance standpoint. I've tried talking to him and explaining my concerns and plans for the future but he just brushes it off. It's at the point where I'm considering ending the relationship. Looking for some advice for how to approach this. He is an amazing guy otherwise and we are very much in love but, we can't see eye-to-eye when it comes to money. Is breaking up my only solution here? [link] [comments]  |
| Daily FI discussion thread - April 28, 2019 Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:10 AM PDT 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]  |
| How to plan FIRE with a wife/girlfriend? Posted: 28 Apr 2019 03:17 PM PDT Hi, i recently found this community and I read all these wonderful posts of people declating FIRE but i don't see alot of people talking about a girlfriend/wife. I feel like it changes the whole game? I'm currently 20 years old and I just got a new job, I'm now making €33.400 gross a year. I plan to buy my first house in about 16 months with my girlfriend, our relationship is very serious and I don't see it ending (every 20 year old ever). My girlfriend makes roughly €14.000 gross a year which is alot less. We want to buy a house together, meaning if we would break up we would split it 50/50, it would make my chances at declaring FIRE alot harder. I could pay for the house myself, I asked it carefully before but it's not really fair in both our opinions. Any advice / stories for this youngster just stepping into the real world? [link] [comments]  |
| My investment Portfolio for FIRE Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:04 PM PDT 23 year old Male. Any advice from someone who's been here before. I started this journey a year ago. Will be getting into real estate investing in near future by way of rentals and flips. Currently a tradesmen making just north of 50k a year. I understand I need to start increasing my income. I contribute 10% into 401k that employer matches 4%, and plan on maxing out my Roth IRA every year. I have about 8k in taxable investments that I contribute minimum of 50 per week. I currently have 20k in high yielded savings account that will be going towards real estate in near future so I keep it out of the market. No debt! Any suggestions or advice on my financials or investments. Thank you. Taxable: https://m1.finance/IzcL1aHjG Roth: https://m1.finance/uRlT2aU2H 401k: 2060 Aggressive [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Apr 2019 12:04 PM PDT Just turned 45, have around $560k in investments currently with a split of 63% Domestic equities, 20% International and 17% Intermediate bonds. I contribute around $60k/yr between my 401k, Roth and Taxable. I'm hoping that the last year I will work will be in the year I turn 50 which will be 2026, so in effect I will work through that year inclusive, so almost to my 51st birthday. So I have about 5.8 yrs left from this point. My FIRE # is $1M. I plan to withdraw 3% from age 51 to 65, then withdraw 2% + balance rely on SS. I plan to keep my current allocation until the very end, then shift to 70/30 Stocks/Bonds if the market is at a high. If not, to mitigate sequence risk I would be willing to work a couple years extra until age 53-54 and build up a liquid portfolio to last a few years. This also reduces the initial draw as I work a few extra years... so it's more of a wait and see plan. Welcome critiques of the above plan and also opinions on what you think is my success rate! [link] [comments]  |
| Should I roll over my Thrift Savings Plan into an IRA, and then a Roth IRA? Posted: 28 Apr 2019 11:38 AM PDT Backstory: I'm 32, I worked for the VA for 9 years, and I have about $135k in my "Thrift Savings Plan", the government retirement fund. I am currently in medical school, so for the next several years I am going to be in a very low tax bracket as I will have pretty minimal income (even in residency). Because of the recent tax bill, and because I'll be in a lower tax bracket for the next few years (but hopefully 10+ years from now when I'm an attending physician, I'll be in a higher bracket), I've been advised to roll over my TSP into an IRA, and then a Roth IRA. I already use Vanguard for my mutual funds (470k), so I'm planning on just using them. Any disadvantages to this? While I'd love to RE and have the option to withdraw money before age 59.5, I probably won't be done residency until age 40, and I do actually think I'll enjoy being a doctor for quite a while. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Apr 2019 10:01 AM PDT Hello all, I recently found this community and have learned a ton in such a short period of time so I'd like to say thank you to everyone who contributes to this invaluable information goldmine! Since the progress can seem so slow sometimes, especially for those who are in their early stages, what are some fun ways you guys use to keep track of it and set milestones? I personally enjoy writing down all of my expenses and then creating milestones of when certain expenses can be covered with the 4% SWR. Example: Let's say you spend 50 dollars on your phone bill per month. 50 x 12 = $ 600 per year. 600 x 25 = $ 15,000. This means that if you have $15,000 invested, your phone bill is covered by the SWR and you can cross it off the list. Exciting :p As you continue making more progress you can rope in some of the higher expenses. Looking forward to reading some of the ways everyone else tracks their progress! [link] [comments]  |
| What are the best Solo 401(k) and Roth IRA account options out there? Posted: 28 Apr 2019 11:52 AM PDT Life Situation: I'm single, 21M, living in a MCOL area in the midwest U.S. I've been self employed my entire working career with no employees, so I have absolutely no experience with tax advantaged accounts. FIRE Progress: I'm only a few months into the FIRE journey, but I did have the advantage of having some savings and taxable investments. Not counting some private local investments, I have about $40,000 between savings and investments Gross Salary/Wages: ~ $50,000 (After necessary business expenses) Yearly Savings Amounts: ~$20,000-25,000 Current expenses: Rent: $850 + Cell Phone Related: $200 + Vehicle (fuel, maint, ins): $200 + Food: $125 + Personal Care/Clothes: $100 + Entertainment: $75 + Vacation Fund: $350 = Total: ~$1,900 / month Assets: Savings: ~$35,000 (high because saving for some real estate investments) + ~$30,000 in local private company investments + ~$5,000 in taxable investment accounts Liabilities: None Specific Question(s): I've recently learned about Solo 401(k) accounts, Roth IRA accounts, and the Roth Conversion Ladder. This has sparked a new desire to find the best one for my goals. Google is full of advertisements, and I'm not sure I trust what the general internet results recommend, so here I am. Which companies offer the best services for 401(k) and Roth IRA plans? Which ones offer VTSAX and the other commonly talked about funds here? Any other general advice is greatly appreciated as well, thank you! Sorry for mobile formatting [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:34 PM PDT Hey all, I just bought a new house and am renting my old house out. I've decided I'm going to put all of the profit from rent to work towards financial indepenance. So my question is , should I invest in a Roth IRA in a vangaurd index fund or should I just save it in a CD and use it for a down payment on another rental a few years from now? [link] [comments]  |
| Stock Tracker vs SPY (A Resource for the FIRE Community) Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:05 PM PDT Hi FIRE Reddit! I've found this subreddit useful and wanted to give back to the community. I'm a big advocate of diversified, passive index investing - 90% of my equity is in boring Vanguard index funds. That said, I acknowledge my itch to see if I can do a bit better. I enjoy a limited amount of stock picking, but never had a great tool to track my investments vs the S&P500 (in my mind if you're not beating SPY you are failing as an active investor). So, I created a Google Spreadsheet that tracks the performance of my stock and other public equity positions vs SPY. Note, the weakness of this spreadsheet is that it does not incorporate dividends into the comparison as I have been unable to find an appropriate Google Finance formula to do so. If someone can make it better, please share. Otherwise, I hope you all use it in good health. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r6tVXHRGcT2M8P8sDUJVjwld-216T8U5ynklklhHoaI/edit?usp=sharing [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Apr 2019 09:05 AM PDT Can the experts here help me understand taxes post-FIRE? In retirement (2 years from now), I am targeting around $100k from dividends and about $15-30k in K1 income from a commercial RE investment. No other income. Married, no kids yet. I am thinking that long-term gains and qualified dividends up to $78k will not be taxed at federal. They will get around 5% state-tax. 15% tax above $78k. I'm unsure how the K1 income will get treated. If I assume that K1 is treated similar to long-term gains, then I'm looking at an effective tax (state+federal) of around 10%. Am I thinking about this right? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:01 AM PDT Basically, I have 2MM invested in the sp500 market and the basis is nearly the same as the current price (bought recently). If I fired today, that portfolio would throw off 40k+ in qualified dividends yearly which fills up my 0% tax bucket entirely. Instead, I would love to match the growth of the market and only sell my stocks as my "withdrawal" so I can take advantage of capital gains harvesting, 0% tax on ALL my yearly withdrawal. Make sense? If I sell stocks right now, my gains are so low (high basis) that even if I sold the same 40k, I'm only actually realizing like 3-5k in gains. Much more preferable than a fund that throws off divs. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Apr 2019 09:24 AM PDT Hi FIRE Community, I see a lot of conflicting advice from different financial independence proponents. Some say you should focus on income producing assets. Others say, if you don't yet need the income you should automatically reinvest into the same asset class for equity growth rather than diversifying and buying different income producing assets. What do you think? Would this advice be the same to someone 5-years from FIRE, 10-years from FIRE and 20-years from FIRE?
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| Where to park reserves/e-fund? Posted: 28 Apr 2019 08:22 AM PDT I've got about 50k (and growing) set aside for emergency fund and future investments that is doing nothing in my regular savings account. I was looking at a high yield savings account like CIT that gets 2.45% APY but it got me thinking, why not just put it in a relatively low risk bond fund like VBILX or the like? In the event of an emergency, my credit cards would surely be able to cover any situation that I can think of while the funds transfer back to me. Although, I really do not know how long a transfer from a fund back to me would actually take. I'd assume 3-5 business days? What do you guys think? Edit to add: The emergency fund is on the higher side because of the reserves I carry for my rental properties + personal expenses (about $30k). On top of that, the fund as a whole includes money saved to go towards future investments and will be increasing every month with my savings. [link] [comments]  |
| Retire Early? Work Forever? Both Are Both Wildly Unrealistic Posted: 28 Apr 2019 10:08 AM PDT I found an article today you might enjoy. 😃 I'm betting their expert has very little saved for retirement. Retire Early? Work Forever? Both Are Both Wildly Unrealistic [link] [comments]  |
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