Plan for Exit 2024

[calmloki]

Morbid personality - this thread title really didn't match what I expected it to be about.

[dvalley]

Great to see your progress, congrats on joining the 2 comma club!

Are you counting the RE equity based on what zillow shows minus the balance? Also are you planning to relocate to a cheaper COL area in retirement?

[Exit 2024]

dvalley, thanks for congrats and to answer your questions:
---RE assets accounted for at purchase price, looked up estimates on zillow and it shows $56k higher for 2 properties combined, but at this point will keep equity calculation as is, prefer to go conservative (do not agree on condo estimate, I think it is too high, and too lazy to keep up with updates on those)
--- we are in the "cheaper COL area", and our city almost every year on one or another list of "best places to retire", so no plans to relocate yet, although may consider part time living in winter somewhere more warm.

[Exit 2024]

Q1 is over, below is our progress notes

- Paid off all RE, zero debt
- Added $11K to our Roth IRAs through back door, it was late 2016 contribution, plan to do 2017 one around summer time if all is ok
- As expected, 401k HCE limit lifted for me for 2017, upped contribution to max it out
- Markets have been hot in Q1 and contributed nicely to our net worth

On not so good note:
We both work for the same company (I am directly and SO through third party contract), and it is going through some crazy times currently with a lot of restructuring under way, we got new CEO and new corporate team with very different objectives - now #1 task for them seems to be massive RIFs domestically and move more work to India I already opened taxable account at Fidelity with plans to push there all our free cash every month, but looks like we may need to beef up our saving accounts some more in case one of us or both will be loosing job we have $24k there currently but also need to replace one car this year, so looking to add may be $25-30k more before starting taxable investing.

Here are our Q1 results and we have 29Qs to go:

[Golden sunsets]

Good Progress. ******1 on beefing up the cash, seeing that you and DW are dependent on the same employer. I would also think again before buying investment real estate.

[Markola]

Am I reading correctly that you paid off a $100,000 mortgage in 1.5 years or so? Wow.

[Exit 2024]

Golden sunsets, agree and yes, buying rental property is on hold for now till we get more clarity with job situations.

[Exit 2024]

Markola, yes you are reading it correctly

It was our focus for last year and half and we put every single free dollar into it. I was actually transferring big chunks ($20-30k) from regular mortgage to HELOC that is at the same bank where our main checking account is, and allows to make unlimited number of payments any size above $1. We have been sweeping there all paycheck money during the month and at the end took back only enough to pay bills (strategically made all due dates on the last day of the month). It helped to reduce interest paid as it is calculated daily based on the balance and also artificially made it look like we are borrowing money to pay bills - mental trick that helped to curb expenses

But in reality what is mostly helping our case:
- live in low cost area,
- have reasonably high paying jobs for that area,
- live well below our means.
Last one is the hardest - can not tell you how many time we went to look for better and bigger house or for new flashy cars, and every time came home, calculated by how long it will delay FIRE - no, thank you, still in old house (may require some updates soon, still cheaper than to buy new) and still driving our old cars (1998- will need to replace this year, 2005 - hope to run it 7 more years if lucky enough)

[Markola]

I will add one to your list: - have spouse who is on board and will sacrifice as necessary with you to work the plan. That is huge. Give that spouse a hug, because you hit the jack pot!

[Exit 2024]

Markola, agree 100% that it is huge, we had our fair share of problems over the years but finance in general and FIRE specifically never resulted in much disagreement, can not complain here.

[Markola]

Fortunately, we haven't fought much over money either but sometimes I wish I wasn't the only one who ever thinks about it. I really can't complain either though. In most ways, I get to run the money department so I guess I should be grateful that DW doesn't care and doesn't know a back door Roth conversion from a make up provision, god bless her.

[kgtest]

I've told my wife when we've lost multiple thousands of dollars and she says "yeah but that is today, what about tomorrow?" Smart women.

[Lawrencewendall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola I will add one to your list: - have spouse who is on board and will sacrifice as necessary with you to work the plan. That is huge. Give that spouse a hug, because you hit the jack pot!

I am struggling with this right now. Not sure what to do. "Stuff" has spilled into the "guest room" (DS1's old room). Can be discouraging to see the night of payday having <$10 in the account. I max out retirement contributions just so it's not in the account. DISPITE DW actions, RE in less than 5 years and that includes a wedding on the horizon. Would be a lot easier with DW's support.

[Exit 2024]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola Fortunately, we haven't fought much over money either but sometimes I wish I wasn't the only one who ever thinks about it. I really can't complain either though. In most ways, I get to run the money department so I guess I should be grateful that DW doesn't care and doesn't know a back door Roth conversion from a make up provision, god bless her.

Markola, think positive, if she would care about all of it - it could result in disagreement (read fights) in investment strategies or parameters for FIREcalc

[Exit 2024]

Lawrencewendall, I really feel for you that is tough but you are still doing great with FIRE on the horizon.

[Exit 2024]

Got letter 4883C from IRS today, asking to call to verify identity.

All was going well through our personal info verification and through 2015 return verification till we got to 2016 one, lady on the phone said that she can not match any info and now I need to go to local IRS with all paperwork and 2 forms of ID.
Closest appointment they gave me is on May 18. Looks like I got identity theft going - do not have any other explanation. Lady on the phone refused to give any additional info. Our refund is now stuck there for unknown period of time (?) Did anyone have experience with similar letters and all? what should I expect?
I checked my credit reports through creditkarma - no suspicious activities so far. Do I need to freeze it just in case?

[Standard Staples]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exit 2024 Got letter 4883C from IRS today, asking to call to verify identity. All was going well through our personal info verification and through 2015 return verification till we got to 2016 one, lady on the phone said that she can not match any info and now I need to go to local IRS with all paperwork and 2 forms of ID. Closest appointment they gave me is on May 18. Looks like I got identity theft going - do not have any other explanation. Lady on the phone refused to give any additional info. Our refund is now stuck there for unknown period of time (?) Did anyone have experience with similar letters and all? what should I expect? I checked my credit reports through creditkarma - no suspicious activities so far. Do I need to freeze it just in case?

I would have the exact same concerns as you, but it may not be as bad as you think. I found this on a quick Google search:
===============================================
Hi everyone.

My name is Benny, I am a Senior Moderator here on the AnswerXchange forum, and an Official Intuit TurboTax Employee.

I was affected by that same letter last year after E-filing my return, it is a move on behalf of the IRS to protect taxpayer identities. It didn't matter what software I used, or that I actually worked for a tax software company.

The IRS simply wanted to confirm it was me that filed my return, so I visited my local IRS office and got the verification instantly. They also advised me that it would process within nine weeks, but it was faster than that in the end.

I just wanted to provide some background on what the letter is, why they are doing it and my personal experience with it. I hope this helps all of you feel more comfortable about the experience and what the IRS is doing.
===============================================

So, hopefully, once you go to the office, it'll be a simple verification, and they can process your refund. Maybe you were just one of the "lucky" ones that got picked for ID verification.

[Exit 2024]

Thanks for posting it, Staples! Very hopeful that it is the case for us also, although my concern is that based on reaction of lady on the phone it was obvious that she was looking at something different than our 2016 form 1040 as she was asking multiple times to repeat different numbers from different lines and was trying to make sure that I read from the correct line, final "oh" was when she asked me to read account number and routing number for DD - and we did not provide any on our tax return, expected refund by check, she definitely had something listed there but when I asked, she said that she cannot confirm my identity and can not answer any questions because of that.

[Exit 2024]

Update on visit to local IRS office:
Despite assigned time had to sit in line for more than 1 hour, agent was nice and apologetic, reviewed my docs and my file in their system, found nothing suspicious, made notes on our case, said wait additional 4-6 week, we either will receive refund or new letter. I asked what type of letter, she said she does not know and thinks it was just random identity verification, but on other hand there is case opened and assigned to someone and ID verification could be just part of some bigger process. At this point I am still monitoring our credit report, will post again as soon as there are any news.

[Standard Staples]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exit 2024 Update on visit to local IRS office: Despite assigned time had to sit in line for more than 1 hour, agent was nice and apologetic, reviewed my docs and my file in their system, found nothing suspicious, made notes on our case, said wait additional 4-6 week, we either will receive refund or new letter. I asked what type of letter, she said she does not know and thinks it was just random identity verification, but on other hand there is case opened and assigned to someone and ID verification could be just part of some bigger process. At this point I am still monitoring our credit report, will post again as soon as there are any news.

Very frustrating, but I'd put that in the 'W' column. Identity theft is nasty business, and if they had evidence of fraud and/or told you someone already claimed your refund, I can only imagine the time and headaches involved. Good luck, and I'll sure you'll get your money soon!