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06-29-2007, 11:35 PM
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#1
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 567
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FIRE me, please!
Apologies... it's long winded, but it's theraputic. The summary is at the bottom!
Hi, my name is Ben and I made it to this stellar forum by way of Passion Saving. My wife and I have been trying to save like mad for several years now but things are really just now coming into focus; we're continuing to answer the 'why do we save?' question.
I turn 30 this year, which is disappointing on some level. I wish I could go back to my 20 year old self and hit me upside the head. My wife is 28 and we've been married for six and a half wonderful years (except during some budgeting sessions).
I first realized I needed something different in my life at my last job. The pay was great! If you didn't think too hard about the 60-80 hour work weeks that is. After three months of working 110 hours and ending up with a trip to the ER to see if I was just stressed out or having a heart attack (at the urging of others, but don't worry, it was just stress), I decided it was time to start changing. The first order of business was to at least right-size my job. I took a 20% pay cut but I only work 38 hours a week now. So, nominally, I guess I'm actually much better off.
We're currently saving between 21% and 27% of our gross income. I actually have a second job as a freelance programmer. All of that money, after taxes, is invested... so, projecting what I'll most likely bill for the year, that gets us to 27%. That seems like such a pitifully low number, though. We've got goals and dreams we want to reach after all! We're working to 40% while still enjoying life (I love the point that Rob Bennett makes on passion spending / passion saving).
We also just fired our Amerprise financial advisors . While they didn't churn us out of our life savings (unlike some of the horror stories I've heard), we just never saw eye-to-eye on life. So, we're going it alone now. Well, I guess that's not really true, though. I've got you guys and the Fool. It's probably more fair to say that we're finally taking control of our financial future. It's a combined feeling of exhilaration and dread. I don't know why it's so scary, though. After all, the worst that can happen is that we end up broke and living on the street when we're 60. What's scary about that?!
In the next few years, we want to find a nice piece of land and build a small homestead where we can explore sustainable living and farming. Right now, I think we can FIRE in 25 more years. That's way to far out for me, though. I'm hoping I can get FIREd (sorry, I just love that acronym) in 12 years.
Short form version of everything you do and don't need to know about me:- Ben
- Software programmer in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Married
- No kids, one dog
- Aspirations of being a farmer
- Likely a hippy at heart
- Plans to get a phd in a field I know nothing about
- Convinced we could save more if we could just figure out how to recycle our dental floss a little more
My current 'investment' 'strategy': IRAs in Vanguard targeted retirement funds (the 2050 because we want the extended stock exposure... I've left enough money out to off myself if I need to wait that long to actually retire). 401k's blended. Non-retirement currently in the Vanguard S&P 500 with plans to add an international fund soon.. and a bond fund as soon as I can understand if that's not a bad thing outside of a tax-sheltered account.
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06-30-2007, 01:39 AM
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#2
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 468
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Webzter
I wish I could go back to my 20 year old self and hit me upside the head. .
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Is there ANYONE out there that doesn't feel the same?
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06-30-2007, 05:58 AM
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#3
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gone traveling
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,146
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Oh my 20 Yrs old and that trip to Cancun in 1976. I still remember her name!
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06-30-2007, 07:47 AM
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: minnesota
Posts: 13,228
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Man, I'll pass on being 20 again. I might not survive the second time through.
Webzter, good to hear from another Minnesotan, there are a number of us regularly posting here. It sounds like you are doing great on saving, much better than I was when I was your age.
__________________
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No more lawyer stuff, no more political stuff, so no more CYA
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06-30-2007, 10:52 AM
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#5
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 944
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Webzter,
Great start -- I think you will find that 25 years will not be necessary with your motivation!
__________________
Freed at 49. You only live once - live it
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06-30-2007, 11:13 AM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,860
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Welcome to the board, Ben.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Webzter
... and I made it to this stellar forum by way of Passion Saving.
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Hunh-- a referral from H0cus. Are you referring to the book or the website?
__________________
*
Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."
I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
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06-30-2007, 11:29 AM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,375
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Hey Ben, another Minnesotan here. You sound like you got your head and financial act together. Your post reads like the place where my head was at when I was around 30, well except for the hippie and homesteading part - nothing wrong with that though and sounds like good goals. I'm guessing you also turn the lights off when not needed, eh?
I think you'll be just fine doing your investing on your own. I have no use for FAs. I put them a little bit above lawyers (there are exceptions - one nice lawyer graces us with her presence).
Ease into investing, kinda like wading into a cold Minnesota lake...pretty soon you're up to your neck and thinking hey that wasn't so bad and you really don't feel that cold once everything goes numb. Maybe that wasn't such a good analogy or was it a metaphor :confused: I know it wasn't a similie, right Martha?
As far as being happy and broke, I was with a bunch of Sisters at a social last night at St. Kate's - they don't have any money and they are one fun happy bunch of nuns, especially after a glass of wine. Anyone who says the Twin Cities doesn't have a great night life, hasn't spent enough time here, am I right?
Good luck and don't forget to smell the flowers on the way to your goals.
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06-30-2007, 04:39 PM
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#8
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Ballard - Seattle
Posts: 14
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I'm 26, and I've also wanted to go hit past-self for doing such stupid things with money! No way would I want to go relive those times tho
I've also tried the same FAs, and I decided to go it alone after doing it for one year. I wanted the FA to help me with learning how to save, etc, but all they tried to do is sell me life insurance. And the Money Market account I have set up with them earns half the rate of ING accounts. I'm going to be switching my savings over there soon.
I learned more from browsing the financial book section of the library than I did from having a year of help from a FA.
Anyway, welcome to the board!
__________________
"I'm not INsane. Indeed, I'm so far out of sane that you appear but a tiny blip on the distant horizon of sanity." - Bucky Cat
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06-30-2007, 07:08 PM
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#9
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 567
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Wow! Thanks for the welcome all. Nice to see so many Minnesotans here. Hopefully you're all out enjoying this fantastic weather (the lights are all off, the a/c is off, and the windows are all open right now).
>Are you referring to the book or the website?
The website, PassionSaving.com. I haven't been able to work through all of it yet, but I like the core message that not all spending is bad but being passionate about all of your goals is even better.
>I learned more from browsing the financial book section of the library than I did from having a year of help from a FA.
Same here. It was actually five years for us... with the culmination of 'it's not working for you because you're not following our plan'. Well then, educate me, tell me what the plan is. 'You need a big pile of money first'. That's not a plan, thank you very much.
It's been a slowly building pile of knowledge followed by some intense few weeks of really learning, reading and absorbing.
> Ease into investing, kinda like wading into a cold Minnesota lake
'What happened to your investment package?!?' It's because it's cold, I swear!
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07-08-2007, 10:28 AM
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#10
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 567
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So, I got further into PassionSaving. Once you get past the part about saving for what you really care about and get into his investment 'advice', it turns out that he's just a nut job.
I was then able to make the connection that Rob is ***** and, after looking over at the retire early homepage forums, was able to conclude that, yes, he is pretty much is a certifiable nut job.
love the hocomania board there, though.
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