Financial Independence Pursuit of FIRE side benefits- I bought my son! |
- Pursuit of FIRE side benefits- I bought my son!
- John Oliver video on Manufactured homes and FIRE thoughts on living in one
- Best Apps or Resources for the FIRE Crowd
- "Selling all equities, discuss why I'm wrong. :)" A cautionary tale.
- How to use my computer programming skills to fund a early semi-retirement lifestyle?
- FI on "Normal" Engineer Salary: Love/Hate for FI post
- FI and parenthood - what was your strategy to save for child expenses? Recommendations for those looking to be parents in the next year?
- Long Term Savings vs Retirement Savings
- Daily FI discussion thread - April 09, 2019
- People who have taken a leave of absence before FIRE, what steps did you do to prepare?
- Entrepeneurs who've failed to or succesfully sold their business to FIRE. What was your experience?
- Really like the thoughts of /u/ALL_IN_VTSAX for savings/investments. But, why not all in on VTI? Isn't an index fund more tax advantageous long term for nearly identical fund? Doesn't it make sense to choose index fund in this case unless your purchases are lower than the cost of the index share?
- How do you factor potential future medical costs in your FIRE plans?
- On the path to FI in a LCOL area
- I'm working on a small FIRE calculator python program.
- Fire in different countries and taxes
- Wage Stagnation - Impacted by FIRE?
- Wrong reasons to pursue FIRE?
| Pursuit of FIRE side benefits- I bought my son! Posted: 09 Apr 2019 09:54 AM PDT Although I am on the front end of pursuing FIRE, I wanted to share what it has already done for me and my family. My wife and I decided it was time to family up and have some kiddos once we hit 30. After a year we were not able to conceive and decided to go with IVF. The first embryo transfer didn't take, the second brought us our now 18 month old son, and the most recent transfer sadly ended with a late miscarriage earlier this year. The struggle to conceive is frustrating, but the miscarriage put us at an all time low. All that to say the pursuit of FI put us in a position that we could spend +25K on what felt like endless fertility doctor visits without stressing about money. This journey has been a tough one, but smart financial decisions have made it somewhat easier. So my FI date keeps getting pushed out, but we will take some of our savings to get away for a week and just focus on our marriage. I'm not sure how this process would have looked if we didn't have the financial means to do so through the pursuit of FIRE. Just wanted to let everyone know how the pursuit of FIRE can help in ways you may have never imagined, like paying for the opportunity to have a family. Stay strong y'all! [link] [comments]  |
| John Oliver video on Manufactured homes and FIRE thoughts on living in one Posted: 09 Apr 2019 02:33 AM PDT A curious segment on manufactured homes. I live in one currently with my partner. I'm not sure what it says about the bay area peninsula that the manufactured home we live in has only gone up in value. My partner bought it before he met me, in hindsight, it is arguably one of the best decisions he made in America. There's some luck involved in the purchase by a number of factors, including being bought during the recession and paying for the house in cash. But I can say, this manufactured house is one of the best places I've lived in in the bay area peninsula and rent is significantly cheaper. He could not have afforded a real home when he moved here, and I couldn't have saved money paying rent on a crap apartment. I'm not sure I can suggest purchasing a mobile home in the current environment in the bay area. I can say, buying a manufactured home and renting the land at a low cost of living area is probably a terrible idea. That's a poverty trap. For comparison:
Calculated monthly payments on mortgage using this. I'm not sure this is accurate feel free to correct me. I personally live off 35k a year and make around 100kish of my income, and he also lives of 35k and makes 200kish. Everything else is invested. When we FIRE, we are moving out and moving far away. I plan to FIRE in 18 or so years. My partner could FIRE it probably 10 years (We'll probably split the difference, we are not currently married but plan on. For the time being our investments and long term plans are calculated separately.) I feel as though he landed on a gold mine, my very simple math ( accounting for the annual ~3% rent raise that is locked) says we'd pay ~289k over the course 18 years to my FIRE which around the price of a down payment on one of these real houses. The Manufactured house will probably be worth less in 20 years, manufactured homes that are 40 years old today are going for ~130k today. I don't quite think we're the same type of people John Oliver talks about in his piece, but I'm curious to see what you guys think on the topic. I'm curious as I don't quite know how to do the math, I feel like there are a lot of variables here. Are we coming out ahead? Or once we get married should we pull our money out of the stock market and try to purchase a "real home" for the remainder of our stay in the bay area? Due to HOAs, we can not sublease out current home and keep it as a rental (a huge minus, but if we're living in it I don't see the issue because we already own it). [link] [comments]  |
| Best Apps or Resources for the FIRE Crowd Posted: 09 Apr 2019 06:01 AM PDT Any thoughts on the best Apps/Resources to use during early/mid stages of FIRE? Ideally I'd like more efficient ways to manage expenses, maximize return, and maintain organization. Also, any solid podcast or book references would be appreciated. I'm not a believer in paying for budget/money management apps (seems counter productive). I'm currently using:
Thanks for the help [link] [comments]  |
| "Selling all equities, discuss why I'm wrong. :)" A cautionary tale. Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:53 PM PDT If you haven't come across it yet, there is a gem of a thread on the bogleheads forum. A young investor reads the tea leaves and decides that high CAPE valuations, instability in the EU, and turmoil in Chinese manufacturing mean he should sell all equities in anticipation of the inevitable crash... In Sept 2015. Needless to say, he missed out. He started gradually getting back into equities after his 0% equity portfolio was down >30% from where his old allocation would have been. This thread is an incredible learning opportunity. You can think you know the market, but you really don't. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=173073 [link] [comments]  |
| How to use my computer programming skills to fund a early semi-retirement lifestyle? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 11:25 AM PDT 43M. 1.2Mil in retirement savings. Have 20yrs of software industry skills. Worked for very large corporations in both individual contributor and managerial capacities. Full stack development experience. A little bit of mobile development under the belt as well. I am wondering how I can use my computer skills to retire early but continue working part time (semi retirement). The "work from home - anywhere, anytime" aspect of software jobs has been something that I have taken advantage of very much so far and I am hoping it will help me here. Been reading a lot of early retirement blogs but none so far discusses in more detail on how to capitalize on such a background so far.
Edit: I am in a HCOL location in the US and so retiring right away while continuing to stay here isn't possible. [link] [comments]  |
| FI on "Normal" Engineer Salary: Love/Hate for FI post Posted: 08 Apr 2019 04:01 PM PDT I'm a long time lurker, but I was inspired by u/PoppaUU recent post: Love/Hate for FI to share my own story, as like many other people on the forum it does feel that those within a more 'normal' range do not share their experiences/plans to the same degree as higher earners. Now I'll certainly admit that my situation as shown below is likely above the stated average of 30-90k from PoppaUU's post of what is considered 'normal' but I still hope those within the more typical income ranges (not ~300K/year; not that i'm disparaging those in this range doing fire: it can just be hard to relate to those posts.) can find something to relate to: My situation: I live in a MCOL area. I'm married to a wonderful spouse who is very supportive of the FIRE mentality. We were both frugal ppl to start with so adopting a FIRE mindset has been relatively easy for us. I only officially stated us down the FIRE path about a year and a half ago. We have one ~2year old and a 2nd one due in the summer. My spouse works from home a couple days a week for their parents business. I also contribute my time to that business a couple evenings a week after my kid is asleep. I consider this our side hustle atm, though we really see it as in investment as we hope to build the business to a point that it can support all of us. Income: (Pre tax) -Household base income: $128.6 K/year** -The company has a SPP I take full advantage of this and wait a year before selling. (assuming stock doesn't move in 1 year period this adds ~1.4K) ==> ~$131k/year total pre-tax **Note: This is my base pay with 'expected' bonuses, the bonus's the past couple years have outperformed their expected bounds and company stock maturation this will often push this a little bit higher as well. I didn't originally show this as I was hoping to keep the post relatively simple and somewhat vague for privacy reasons. Yet some users rightfully noted the numbers were not adding up. Again, to keep numbers simple I included an additional line item in 'general finances' to capture the influence of these on my effective 'true' income. I recognize this is hand wavy and won't satisfy some, but I don't intend to expand as at that point I'd have to publish my full finances, which I'm not inclined to do. General Finances: Without going into too much detail we spend:~$5,120 a month ($61,500/year) on our bills/needs, hobbies, and mortgage (Monthly breakdown below). The mortgage (and the additional principle we pay down every month) accounts for nearly half this quantity at $2450. We purchased the house at a great time in the market (2013) but was still at our upper price range at the time. If I was more cognizant of the FIRE mentality when we purchased we likely would have gone for something smaller. (though I do love our neighbors, the schools are great for the area, and the location is also great) We have some fluff in the budget for sure (like a pet 'health' plan for our two dogs that I intend to get rid of (1,200/year), and a whole life insurance plan on my wife ($1700 a year), that I'm rethinking) ~$9k Taxes paid: With tax advantaged investments (see below) and child tax credits ~$11K towards health plan, SS, medicare etc. ==> ~$111K/Year true Base income ==> ~$4K in SPP/RSU/bonus growth Investments: $19k max into 401(k) $5k Employer match in 40(k) $6k max into spouses Trad IRA $6k max into my Roth IRA ~$22.5k remaining invested through the year in non advantaged accounts ==> $58.5K/year investment Sorry if all the numbers don't quite add up, I did a fair bit of rounding from my master sheet and didn't double check that the figures here line up FI Plan: My current retirement goal is $44k/year at 3.5% CAPE adjusted SWR. This puts my investment goal at ~1.3M. At my present state that puts me ~12years until FI. I'll likely work a bit longer to pay for my kids college education and this will put me around 45 for retirement. This will align with when we have the house paid off as well. Debts: None, other than the mortgage. Cars are paid off Current invested assets ~$200K Cash on hand ~$20K (emergency and investment opportunity fund) Edit1: Corrected some of my rounding from my master sheet so the math on here actually works Edit2: Including monthly expenses due to requests Typical Monthly costs: Mortgage: $2450 Day care (2x week): $450 Groceries: $450 Utilities/Internet: $300 Life Insurance: $205 Home Supplies: $200 Gas/Fuel: $130 Eating out: $120 Pet Insurance: $115 Auto Insurance: $100 Entertainment: $100 Home maintenance: $100 Phone: $70 Hobbies: $60 Health/Fitness: $40 Clothing: $30 Other/Typical overages: ~$200 [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:24 PM PDT Hello, I'm interested in having kids in the next year or two. To all parents, what was your strategy for saving for all the expenses that go into having a kid? Since maternity leave isn't a federal policy - how did you manage leave? What did you wish you did in hindsight? Interested in hearing about FI-friendly ideas I haven't thought of to make new parenthood managable. [link] [comments]  |
| Long Term Savings vs Retirement Savings Posted: 09 Apr 2019 04:15 AM PDT EDIT: Most people seem to be misinterpreting my question so I'll simplify. Most case studies I've seen do not specifically list long term non-retirement savings as significant expenses, but I've discovered that these are very significant (~1K per month), so why is it that most people don't account for it? ORIGINAL POST: A lot of the posts I've seen seem to suggest that for many people: After Tax Income - Expenses = Retirement Savings But I've found that this doesn't factor in long term savings. FWIW I'm referring non tax advantages savings here, I would still prioritize 401K, IRA etc. but even maxing those isn't enough to RE. By long term savings I mean saving for very large purchases several years in advance, things that many people would finance: necessary house repairs (new roof in Xyrs, new siding etc.), house renovations (I own a very old house), car replacement. In my case these should easily be $1200 per month given that some of these things are pending in <5yrs Follow on question, would you use a high yield savings for such 5 year goals or index fund it. [link] [comments]  |
| Daily FI discussion thread - April 09, 2019 Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:08 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]  |
| People who have taken a leave of absence before FIRE, what steps did you do to prepare? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 02:59 PM PDT I have been considering taking a leave of absence 3-4 years from now to enjoy life for a year or so. What steps should I do now to prepare myself. If I keep saving the way I have been, early retirement for me will be in another 15 years, but I need a break sooner. My first choice would be a leave of absence in order to keep my current job, but if that is not available I'm thinking I'd quit and find something new after a year off. My thought is to start putting money into an investment account for a few years instead of maxing out my Roth and 401k. Does this make sense? Has anyone taken a significant leave of absence from working, despite delaying early retirement? If you've done this, do you recommend this strategy to combat burn-out? [link] [comments]  |
| Entrepeneurs who've failed to or succesfully sold their business to FIRE. What was your experience? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 05:42 AM PDT I've been on the FIRE path pretty much since the beginning. I adhere to all the normal high saving, low spending frugal principles, and at my current trajectory I could probably retire in my 40's But I also think I have a great opportunity to blaze my own trail, build something from the ground up, work for myself and reach FIRE even sooner all at the same time. Mid 20's HCOL. I've been building a business on the side for over a year, and things are progressing nicely, but the work is piling up, and I know this is just a taste of how intense things could get. Not to mention continuing to progress in my office career requires more attention, time, focus, determination, etc. I feel dissociated from my hobbies. I haven't had much time to focus on them. Work, gym, and a light social life take up most of my available to time. I don't feel burnt out per se, but I know these things don't always work out, and that there's more to life then work. And if I don't nurture my hobbies now, I might find myself bored in retirement. I feel fulfilled in my work, but it can often be lonely or tiring, and i do miss my hobbies. Have you FIREd from building and selling a business? Was it worth the time and effort? How did you find time for hobbies? And how did you find FIRE after a world where work took up the vast majority of your free time? If you tried and failed, what happened? When did you decide to give it up? How is your path to FIRE going after? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 11:03 AM PDT Anyway, big lurker and looking forward to everyone's thoughts. I have read and seen conflicting info and would love to be pointed in clear direction or hear thoughts. Thanks everyone. Love you all [link] [comments]  |
| How do you factor potential future medical costs in your FIRE plans? Posted: 08 Apr 2019 09:01 PM PDT I wish everyone here good health, but we all get old at some point and medical costs can be a bit of an unknown factor in our later years. I've seen my grandparents (who were healthy people when younger) fall ill as they get much older simply due to age, and their medical costs racked up astronomically, so this is something that does worry me. I'm not in the US (so not familiar about how good the coverage is there), but if you assume you won't automatically have access to free (and decent) healthcare, how does this factor into your FIRE plans? Do you plan to take out health insurance policies now, or are you just planning a larger cushion for medical costs? [link] [comments]  |
| On the path to FI in a LCOL area Posted: 09 Apr 2019 09:49 AM PDT I was inspired by u/Eldorwanabe's recent post which was inspired by u/PoppaUU's recent post to provide another perspective on the path to FI. We are on the higher end of income given our LCOL area, but have a relatively lower income compared to those in HCOL and VHCOL areas. My wife and I got a somewhat later start in our careers due to extended schooling (MS for her, PhD for me). At 28 we had student loans paid off and put essentially all of our net worth into buying a house in our current city. Our individual incomes have varied dramatically over the past five years due to her reducing hours as our family has grown (two kids, ages 3 and 1) and me moving up from post-doctoral positions to become a research scientist. In spite of the individual variation, our combined gross income has been fairly steady at $120-150k annually. We are both naturally frugal people, and feel that our early years living on our graduate student stipends were a great blessing as they helped us develop good habits that have helped to keep lifestyle inflation controlled to a reasonable level. Current age - 33/33Current Net Worth: $430k
Annual Income (pre-tax): $154kAnnual Expenses: $94kTaxes - $25000 Mortgage - $18000 Charity - $12000 Childcare (family member) - $9600 Home Improvement/Maintenance - $6200 Travel/Vacation -$5000 Utilities - $3800 Groceries - $3600 Restaurants - $2400 General Stuff (Amazon) - $1900 Medical+Dental Insurance - $1700 Cell Phones - $1300 Gas -$1300 Clothes - $600 Other - $2000 Annual Savings: $60k
FI setpointsIt's unlikely that we'll go for a true early retirement as I love my job and have the potential to go part-time for a semi-retirement. Still, we have our eyes on a few set points where we could fully RE with a given lifestyle without counting on SS or my pension.
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| I'm working on a small FIRE calculator python program. Posted: 08 Apr 2019 08:25 PM PDT Here is the link to the Github repository It's really small right now, but I am working on improving it and adding more features like including tax functions and variable income. A little background, I am 19 and going to college. I recently switched my major from Computer Science to Economics and a lot of my future plans have been turned upside down. I have decided after finding this community a few months ago on pursuing an early retirement using FIRE. Because of the volatility of my situation though, I obviously cannot plan too far ahead into the future without really knowing what I'm going to do as a career. So I created this program to be able to quickly run a bunch of different calculations on how long it would take to retire at various incomes and expected rate of returns. I am still unaware of a lot of the technical side of the actual trading and taxes and inflation rates (This is my first semester in the Econ field) so I need some help including it into my program. Any help is appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Fire in different countries and taxes Posted: 09 Apr 2019 02:03 AM PDT Hello everyone. Not sure if this question has came up before (probably yes), but couldn't find an answer, so I'm asking it :) Imagine a guy from country A, working and paying taxes there. He has a bank account and invests from that account in index funds. In country A index funds are taxed when selling and you pay 20% of the capital gains. He then moves to country B. He starts working and paying taxes there. Every month he transfers his savings to the country A bank account and invest that amount in index funds. In country B, instead 20%, index funds are taxed with 50%. After a few years, he moves back to country A and cash out all of his index funds shares. What % does he have to pay in taxes? You can assume country A is Spain and country B is Ireland if that's important (the % of taxes in the example are made up). [link] [comments]  |
| Wage Stagnation - Impacted by FIRE? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:16 AM PDT This interview with Benjamin Tal from the CIBC is really good. It also got me thinking, does the FIRE community contribute to wage stagnation or the exact opposite. A lot of people trying to achieve FIRE are trying to front load as much money as possible by pushing for salary growth. In that sense FIRE is fighting wage stagnation. However, there is also the flip side, where those looking to retire early may not be interested in moving up the ladder (possibly at the expense of not getting a raise). For those FIRE folks who are engineers (software or otherwise), they may stay in an individual contributor role for one reason or another. Management roles don't always come with more pay, at least I found that, but frequently have other benefits. Also is FIRE big enough to have any impact on this... So that's the question: is FIRE helping, hurting, or having no impact at all on wage stagnation. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Apr 2019 11:54 PM PDT Toward the end of high school I pushed hard to get the grades I needed for uni and it went well, but I think I was burned out by the end of it. I could become anything but couldnt decide what I wanted to do in life. Started Engineering school, hated it but kept going for about 2,5 years during which I was suicidally depressed for half of it. Finally got out of it and just recently paused my studies and now work full-time in IT but far from where I want to be in life. Have 3 years left of Engineering school but still not sure thats what I want. Im 21 and worried my FIRE plans is an excuse to be mediocre, as in of course it is possible to retire early on a 40k income, even though I know I have the potential to exceed that through uni. Anyone with a similar or otherwise relatable story? I appreciate any guidance I can get! [link] [comments]  |
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