Share your FIRE Milestones - 2013- 2020

[Downtown]

Donated $25,000 to donor advised charitable fund at end of December - higher than my annual salary when I graduated from college. Bulking up donations before income drops with FIRE, in next 4 (or less) years. It was a good year for my W-2, but MegaCorp nonsense/stress took its toll. Best wishes to all in achieving your FIRE milestones in 2016!


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[ShortInSeattle]

Reached the FIRE mark. Will enjoy independance from 2016.

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Congrats! A nice milestone, indeed.

 

[dadu007]

Paid off our 2014 vehicle last week and today paid off the Home Depot credit card (replacement windows).
No outstanding debt other than our mortgage. Good way to start the new year. What a relief!
I'm really trying to make 2016 the "Year of Saving".

 

[splitwdw]

Paid off our 2014 vehicle last week and today paid off the Home Depot credit card (replacement windows).
No outstanding debt other than our mortgage. Good way to start the new year. What a relief!
I'm really trying to make 2016 the "Year of Saving".

YAY! Good luck this year.

 

[rodi]

Paid off our 2014 vehicle last week and today paid off the Home Depot credit card (replacement windows).
No outstanding debt other than our mortgage. Good way to start the new year. What a relief!
I'm really trying to make 2016 the "Year of Saving".

Those are good milestones

 

[PoF]

Reached FI (25x expenses) in 2015, about 9 years after my first "real doctor" paycheck.

I plan to continue making hay while the sun is shining. I'll re-evaluate my situation when my nest egg reaches 50x expenses. I will most likely RE in 5 to 10 years in my mid-to-late 40s.

 

[tnbison]

As of today we've maxed out our 2015 tax advantage retirement space for the first time ever. We saved about 26% of gross(includes employer contributions) while having a second child.

 

[papadad111]

Already fired ... But A milestone hit and its not exactly a good one.

Wednesday was the first time that I've seen a daily yes ...daily ....loss of 6 figures in the portfolio...

Perspective - That's something like twice the annual household income in the USA. Twice the annual ... Gone in a day.

Mumble mumble ...

I had a triple bourbon before dinner to celebrate that one. F$&@.

And to put some whipped cream and a cherry on top it's been a cool half a million gone since the market highs of may 2015. Blame Oil and international. And now everything .... Poof. Or more like kaboom.

Had a double bourbon after dinner too.

Perspective: First world problem, And I have my health. Life is still good.

 

[OnTheBeach]

pre-fire milestone. less than 100 days to go. started transitioning my responsibilities to others on Jan 1. getting less and less involved - feels good. also less and less to do

 

[rodi]

Papadad - I feel for you. This is one of the reasons I have 40% in bonds/cash... it dampens the drops (as well as the gains.)

No need to blame anything or anyone... we know the market has cycles, corrections, gyrations... but it does sting to see big drops.

 

[rodi]

OnTheBeach... what a great feeling to have the end in sight.

 

[kgtest]

Already fired ... But A milestone hit and its not exactly a good one.

Wednesday was the first time that I've seen a daily yes ...daily ....loss of 6 figures in the portfolio...

Perspective - That's something like twice the annual household income in the USA. Twice the annual ... Gone in a day.

Mumble mumble ...

I had a triple bourbon before dinner to celebrate that one. F$&@.

And to put some whipped cream and a cherry on top it's been a cool half a million gone since the market highs of may 2015. Blame Oil and international. And now everything .... Poof. Or more like kaboom.

Had a double bourbon after dinner too.

Perspective: First world problem, And I have my health. Life is still good.

You have any more bourbon double shots and you'll lose your health...and apparently a lot of money!

 

[Sand Pounder]

My boss and I have been discussing my retirement for a few months now, and this week we agreed on a date: June 1, 2016. Megacorp is doing some re-organizing and they may be able to avoid laying off someone if I leave on that date. He said somehow "the numbers work out" that way. If it helps someone, why not?

I've been FI for a few years now, so the initial WR will be about 2.5%. That gives us a little bit of wiggle room if there's a big downturn.

Needless to say, DW and I are really excited and already have plans for the summer and beyond!

A huge thanks to the many contributors to this forum for your experiences and opinions that helped me make this decision!

 

[HadEnuff]

My boss and I have been discussing my retirement for a few months now, and this week we agreed on a date: June 1, 2016. Megacorp is doing some re-organizing and they may be able to avoid laying off someone if I leave on that date. He said somehow "the numbers work out" that way. If it helps someone, why not?

I've been FI for a few years now, so the initial WR will be about 2.5%. That gives us a little bit of wiggle room if there's a big downturn.

Needless to say, DW and I are really excited and already have plans for the summer and beyond!

A huge thanks to the many contributors to this forum for your experiences and opinions that helped me make this decision!

Serious congrats on the 2.5%...good work! Enjoy the bigR...you deserve it.

 

[Huston55]

Already fired ... But A milestone hit and its not exactly a good one.

Wednesday was the first time that I've seen a daily yes ...daily ....loss of 6 figures in the portfolio...

Perspective - That's something like twice the annual household income in the USA. Twice the annual ... Gone in a day.

Mumble mumble ...

I had a triple bourbon before dinner to celebrate that one. F$&@.

And to put some whipped cream and a cherry on top it's been a cool half a million gone since the market highs of may 2015. Blame Oil and international. And now everything .... Poof. Or more like kaboom.

Had a double bourbon after dinner too.

Perspective: First world problem, And I have my health. Life is still good.

A couple more weeks like this one, and you'll have to transition from Pappy Van Winkle to Evan Williams.

 

[Huston55]

Already fired ... But A milestone hit and its not exactly a good one.

Wednesday was the first time that I've seen a daily yes ...daily ....loss of 6 figures in the portfolio...

Perspective - That's something like twice the annual household income in the USA. Twice the annual ... Gone in a day.

Mumble mumble ...

I had a triple bourbon before dinner to celebrate that one. F$&@.

And to put some whipped cream and a cherry on top it's been a cool half a million gone since the market highs of may 2015. Blame Oil and international. And now everything .... Poof. Or more like kaboom.

Had a double bourbon after dinner too.

Perspective: First world problem, And I have my health. Life is still good.

A couple more weeks like this one, and you'll have to transition from Pappy Van Winkle to Evan Williams.

 

[papadad111]

You have any more bourbon double shots and you'll lose your health...and apparently a lot of money!

Usually a teetotaler... Ya. It's not often that I succumb to a nice bourbon on d rocks.

 

[papadad111]

Papadad - I feel for you. This is one of the reasons I have 40% in bonds/cash... it dampens the drops (as well as the gains.)

No need to blame anything or anyone... we know the market has cycles, corrections, gyrations... but it does sting to see big drops.

Yep. True.

I learned something in 2008. Was too conservatively positioned - was great as the maket came down but didn't get the gains on the rebound either and that actually hurt more than the fall. The conservative asset allocation hurt me significantly... So as I'm younger I'm trying to stay a bit more aggressive. Maybe I'm stupid !! But I keep thinking fool me once ...shame on market. fool me twice, shame on me

Decisions decisions ....

 

[Koogie]

Been buying some bank and insurance company shares on the Toronto exchange since the crash last week, since values are good and yields are juicy.

As of this morning, our yearly interest and dividends received now surpass my personal income from w*rking. We're about 2/3rds of the way to full retirement spending coverage and not ever having to dip into the capital in retirement. Theoretically, anyway.

 

[Willers]

Already fired ... But A milestone hit and its not exactly a good one.

Wednesday was the first time that I've seen a daily yes ...daily ....loss of 6 figures in the portfolio...

Perspective - That's something like twice the annual household income in the USA. Twice the annual ... Gone in a day.

Mumble mumble ...

I had a triple bourbon before dinner to celebrate that one. F$&@.

And to put some whipped cream and a cherry on top it's been a cool half a million gone since the market highs of may 2015. Blame Oil and international. And now everything .... Poof. Or more like kaboom.

Had a double bourbon after dinner too.

Perspective: First world problem, And I have my health. Life is still good.

Heck, you have enough money that a poor day caused you to lose 6 figs. That's worth celebrating...with a bourbon! So I guess a bourbon works no matter how you look at it.

 

[sengsational]

Milestone: First pull from my 401k today.

The withholding was horrific! 20% federal and 4% state, both mandatory. It's quite infuriating to have 20% withholding when I GET money from the treasury when I file.

Next time: I'm going to wait until December so the "interest-free loan" to uncle sam will only be a few months long.

 

[mikelish]

Early Retirement Planning: Taking Early Withdrawals Without Penalty From Your 401(k) or IRA — My Money Blog

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Share your FIRE Milestones

Milestone: First pull from my 401k today.

The withholding was horrific! 20% federal and 4% state, both mandatory. It's quite infuriating to have 20% withholding when I GET money from the treasury when I file.

Next time: I'm going to wait until December so the "interest-free loan" to uncle sam will only be a few months long.

Can you roll a portion into an IRA and withdraw your pull then from the IRA?


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[sengsational]

Early Retirement Planning: Taking Early Withdrawals Without Penalty From Your 401(k) or IRA — My Money Blog

The penalty isn't a problem. Of course that will be determined after the IRS has a chance to digest my 2016 tax return.

Can you roll a portion into an IRA and withdraw your pull then from the IRA?

I think that would nudge me back to the 59 1/2 category.

My next milestone will be when I get my interest-free loan back from uncle sam. The good news, I'd only be earning 0.10% annual on the funds anyway

 

[redduck]

One of my most significant FIRE milestones since retiring a year and a few months ago:

I have gone from 0.35 to 0.37 posts per day.


NOTE: The above numbers have now been edited by me, redduck, as rodi, The Ever-Vigilant apparently was suspicious (and rightfully so), of the original numbers claimed by me, which were 3.5 and 3.7.
(nice catch, rodi)


Kinda' does take away the thrill of the milestone, though....