Hi from Seattle

[ShortInSeattle]

Greetings everyone!

I've been lurking for a bit and I like what I see. Smart folks having good discussions, thought I'd join in.

I'm a 33 y/o married business owner & part time professor from Seattle. Hubby and I have no kids and we're motivated to retire early and travel the world. I think we're doing OK so far, about 800k in assets (25% is equity in our fabulous condo we bought at deep discount this year) and we're upshifting to saving 30% of our income for ER starting in 2012.

Our end goal is to get close to 2.5 mill before pulling the plug on full time work. Like most ppl in our age group we don't have pensions & we are not banking on social security.

Looking forward to learning from you all.

SiS.

[MichaelB]

Hi SIS, welcome to the forum.

[panacea]

Welcome, Short. Impressive start to FIRE- congrats!

[Cassius King]

Welcome. Seems like you're off to a fantastic start.

[tony d tiger]

Just popping in to say hello from nearby...

[Midpack]

Welcome aboard and congrats on excellent progress toward FI. There are many here without pensions or full faith in Soc Sec who will identify with your situation. And there are also many with (generous) pensions and/or retiree health care that they earned during their careers. I've found it to be a great site, and I hope you do as well - jump right in!

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tony d tiger Just popping in to say hello from nearby...

I am starting to worry that soon there may be no one still at work in Seattle.

Ha

[Gotadimple]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I am starting to worry that soon there may be no one still at work in Seattle. Ha

Nope! I watch going every morning, heading to I-90 Westbound.

-- RIta

[ShortInSeattle]

It's been about a year on the forum, so I'm going to put in a little update.

1. We broke the 1 Million mark in total net worth. Whee! While I know this number would surprise our family and friends, it feels no different to us. Just steady on the path to FI. We are eager to get to the point we no longer depend on others (employers) to meet our needs.
2. Our investible assets are hovering around 850K
3. We're accelerating into the accumulation phase. Income is pretty high, and we've also cut expenses. I helped hubby see how every X dollars saved adds months to retirement, so he's on board. He was pretty frugal to begin with.
4. I read a ton of investment books, and wrote an investing policy statement (currently reviewing with DH). It will take some time to adjust our mix, as we are about 35% in taxable accounts. We have about 200k in a managed account (1% fee) and I'm trying to pull it back under our control, DH is not yet convinced.
5. Turns out we did buy our condo near the market bottom. It's going up in value. I'm perversely pleased by this, even though it will just mean higher property taxes down the road. We hope to keep our condo indefinitely, so it won't pad our nest egg.

It's been a good year, and I think you've all helped me get a bit smarter about investing - thank you. I'm also feeling grateful I read the Millionaire Next Door and Your Money or Your Life when I was starting out. Investing 15%+ from the age of 20 and being LBYM from the start has made all the difference.

SIS

[MBAustin]

Great story, Seattle! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work. I'm sure it's inspiring to some of the other Young Dreamers as well as useful for those of us with kids getting started on their own.

[obgyn65]

Congrats, SIS. Thanks for the update.

[supernova72]

Nice to see another Seattlite on the forum and quite an accomplishment at such a young age on the nest egg.

I'll need to look up the "investing policy statement" since that is new term for me but I'm also pretty darn new to this forum.

Had to also read the Dryer Sheet history. Quite funny!!
I have not yet cut my dryer sheets in half but you never know : )

[Huston55]

Well done SIS!

Following some common timelines on this forum...

34-$1M
41-$2M
46-$3M
>46-FIRE

Best of luck to you and DH.

[growing_older]

OMG. Do people really plan on that trajectory of millions from 34 to 46. I'm so far behind I don't see how I could ever do that.

[BigE]

Thanks for the update and congratulations on the savings, quite an accomplishment at your age. Well on your way to ER. My wife is dying to take another trip to Seattle and the San Juan Islands. I assume haha is making a reference to the legalization of wacky weed, kind of funny!

[ShortInSeattle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huston55 Well done SIS! Following some common timelines on this forum... 34-$1M 41-$2M 46-$3M >46-FIRE Best of luck to you and DH.

Those timelines seem pretty wild, but I guess compound interest will help. Thanks for the kudos.

[xyz]

Great work Short ! I was truly inspired by the Millionare Next Door also. One other book I read which was suggested on this forum was Younger Next Year. The original book is geared toward men so there is also one called Younger Next Year for Women. I really liked the no nonsense advice I expect you may too. Congratulations on your progress it is quite impressive.

[Huston55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortInSeattle Those timelines seem pretty wild, but I guess compound interest will help. Thanks for the kudos.

Not really. I'll make some reasonable assumptions to show you.

Assuming you each make $100k/yr, max out your 401k/403b & and get some employer match, max out your IRAs, and save a bit more after tax. Also assume a modest 5% annual return over the 7 yr period.

Your stated savings + employer match = ($100k*2)*30% +($100k*2)*5% = $70k ~= $6k/mo

$70k*(1.05)^7=$600k (deposited and compounded monthly)
$1,000k*(1.05)^7=$1,400k
Total =$2M

From $2M to $3M would be easier.

I don't know if these assumptions are accurate for you but, they are certainly reasonable ones.

All the best.