Back after a 2 year hiatus and no chance of ER

[SLC Tortfeasor]

Hi all, quick status update:

It's been over 2.5 years since my last post. Since then my kids have both become potty trained, my wife's income has greatly increased, my income has gone down slightly, our monthly expenses have gone up, and we're about to receive a nice, medium-sized inheritance.

"Early retirement" for me now means a couple years earlier early, as opposed to retiring 10 or 15 years early as I used to fantasize. But I feel okay with that, because my new job is so much more enjoyable and lower stress than my old job.

Anyway, just thought I'd check in and give an update. It may be another 2.5 years before I check in again.

 

[someguy]

Thanks for the update, SLC.

 

[zesty]

Ah yes, the old Fork in the road. Everyone needs to make these decisions.

So far I have taken the one less traveled, and am hoping it will make all the difference.

 

[38Chevy454]

I was house poor when I first started out, but over time the payment stays the same and your available cash increases. So while starting young and taking advantage of compounding is a solid path, it is not the only path. Even with house payment being a large portion of your budget, you can still LBYM and save some.

One of the best and biggest bumps in my investments was selling my house and moving to lower COL area. Between the amount of principle paid down and house value increase, I walked out of the sale with a check over $400K. That is after-tax money. You can do the same, just stick to it and save as much as you can.

 

[someguy]

+1 on this. I wouldn't recommend counting on this to a young person looking to buy their first house, but it happened to work for me, too. The original mortgage was definitely more than 2x income at the time, but it has since dropped a ton (comparing original mortgage amount to current income). Some of that improvement was from refinancing to cut the interest rate in half, but most of it was from substantial increases in income.

I was house poor when I first started out, but over time the payment stays the same and your available cash increases. So while starting young and taking advantage of compounding is a solid path, it is not the only path. Even with house payment being a large portion of your budget, you can still LBYM and save some.

One of the best and biggest bumps in my investments was selling my house and moving to lower COL area. Between the amount of principle paid down and house value increase, I walked out of the sale with a check over $400K. That is after-tax money. You can do the same, just stick to it and save as much as you can.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

So far I have taken the one less traveled, and am hoping it will make all the difference.

I thought that when you come to a fork in the road, you should pick it up.

 

[kgtest]

So I haven't posted here in about 2 years. During that time I've gotten married, had a kid, sold a house, bought another house, and in the process completely given up on my ER dream.

The main culprit was the house. Our old house was fun, funky, hip, urban, and generally cool. And very affordable. But it wasn't a satisfactory for our new family for a bunch of reasons (neighborhood, layout, etc.). So we bought a new house with the intention of getting into the best school district, having a big yard for the kid to play in, never having to remodel again, etc. All of that costs a lot of money, so we got the biggest mortgage we possibly could (at least we put down 20%) and bought a ridiculously big, luxurious house on one of the city's most prestigious streets.

So even though I knew better, we are now the classic high-income-yet-cash-strapped young family. Our hope is that our incomes will rise over the years and that we'll "grow into" our new house.

There are lots of stories of young dreamers well on their way to ER success, unfortunately this isn't one of them. But at least we've got an awesome house!!

Just thought I'd share. Good luck to everyone else.

I immediately thought of you after recently singing a PA for a home. When we were looking for a home this summer it seems the price point kept rising ever so slightly until we signed for 377k. My original limit that my wife and I agreed on was 350 and therefore we spent 27k or almost 8% higher than we planned. I guess the trade-off is we get the choice of 2 great school districts, and a completely private and never to be developed wetland of a backyard. Will it set my ER back...probably not.

We ran our budget with the updated housing figure to see how it would affect our as we call it "expendable income". Surprisingly the difference between our limit and the actual paying price is not a huge increase to the monthly payment, but we still feel uneasy. Knowing I am maxing both Roths my 401k, and DH almost maxing her 401k we will still have a bit of expendable income to spare makes us feel a little bit better. We have a few places we can still trim the fat to ensure either a faster ER or at minimmum to stick to the 18year plan.

I didn't sleep right the night I signed this PA...which was strange but probably natural. The second night my anxieties were calmed after re-checking the budget and seing some expendable income. It also allowed me to recognize some further areas me and the DH can save money.

 

[Jmo1969]

Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

Checking in again after another 2.5 year absence

Not sure if anyone's interested, but after another 2.5 year absence, I'm back with another status report.

Kids are a little older and doing well. Wife and I are still happy. We've both had small raises.

The inheritance we received was not huge, but it did come at an opportune time and was a huge, undeserved boost to our financial condition. We invested about half of it in a few Vanguard funds, used some to buy our family car, and put the other half of it toward paying down the principal on our mortgage. At the same time, we refinanced from a 30 year to a 15 year loan. Our monthly payments are now much lower and would be sustainable on a single income if necessary. The house which previously was a huge burden will be paid off while our oldest is a sophomore in college. Huzzah!!

One of the really good things about the house we bought is that it truly has afforded us room to grow into it. We have stayed here longer than any previous residence and see no reason to move until we downsize once we're empty nesters.

So, things are looking up. I sleep so much easier now than when I started this thread seven years ago!

 

[samclem]

Thanks for thinking of us and for checking in. It is good to know all is going well for you guys. I suppose at this point getting to ER depends on:
-- Sticking to your savings plan (keep socking it away)
-- How your investments perform
-- How the real estate market in your area does between now and when you decide to sell your home and downsize.

All you can control is the first one, but usually that is enough to get the job done. Best wishes.

 

[ponyboy]

Bummer OP. Not everyone is cut out for FIRE. Life gets in the way at times. Good luck to you.

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

1000 days since my last update...

It's been almost 2 years and 9 months since my last update on this thread -- exactly 1000 days if my math's right.

A few months after my last post, the powers that be at my employer decided to significantly alter my job, which made me want to find another position elsewhere. My new job paid vastly more than I've ever earned before, but wasn't as fun and was a lot more time consuming and stressful. To compensate, I gave myself permission to buy a ridiculously expensive and luxurious sports car (Porsche 911, baby!!). So I stayed there for only a year before jumping ship again to another lower-stress position, with a relatively low salary again. My wife is in a similar lower-stress, lower-income job as well now. Still have the Porsche though!

So, our incomes are relatively low, but our job satisfaction is relatively high. Unfortunately, we have definitely allowed ourselves to live high on the hog for far too long. Our spending is barely under control. We're still saving about 16-18% of our salaries for retirement, as well as contributing to the kids' college funds. But wow, it's shocking how much money we spend every month. I'm trying to improve our budget in an effort to impose some newfound financial discipline on ourselves, but it's slow going.

If we had real financial discipline we could save way more. But with the stress of both me and my wife having significant full-time careers, plus trying to raise 8 and 10 year old little boys, plus now having new responsibilities to help care for my elderly and sick parents, there are many reasons to make financial splurges just to make it easier to get through the week.

Family net worth is a little over $2 million right now. It should be higher but, you know, Porsche.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

Wealth isn't always measured by money.

 

[pacergal]

Life is all about choices.
It appears that spending more money now for comfort is more important than ER for you at this time.
You are still saving for retirement and your kids college, you are doing OK.
It also never hurts to start a budget and check spending if you desire.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

When my Uncle Sam sent me to Germany to work for a few years, I really enjoyed driving on the Autobahn. Road conditions were impeccable compared to the US, and drivers predictably followed the rules. I considered buying a Porsche, but then we came home to the US for a couple of weeks on leave; I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to have any fun with a car like that where we were going to live long term (Washington, DC) once I retired from the military. Roads are crap, drivers are erratic, and the traffic is a beast. So I passed on the fun sports car.

I think you should have much better opportunities to enjoy that Porsche in Utah!

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

I think you should have much better opportunities to enjoy that Porsche in Utah!

Oh yeah, it's being thoroughly enjoyed! There are lots of great roads out here.

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

Life is all about choices.
It appears that spending more money now for comfort is more important than ER for you at this time.
You are still saving for retirement and your kids college, you are doing OK.
It also never hurts to start a budget and check spending if you desire.

Yes, I agree. We should be a bit more deliberate about our spending, but I can rationalize it by observing just how busy and stressful our day-to-day lives can be. As my boys are getting older though, I think we should be able to impose at least some financial discipline on ourselves. We're getting there.

 

[Nords]

Unfortunately, we have definitely allowed ourselves to live high on the hog for far too long. Our spending is barely under control. We're still saving about 16-18% of our salaries for retirement, as well as contributing to the kids' college funds. But wow, it's shocking how much money we spend every month. I'm trying to improve our budget in an effort to impose some newfound financial discipline on ourselves, but it's slow going.

If we had real financial discipline we could save way more. But with the stress of both me and my wife having significant full-time careers, plus trying to raise 8 and 10 year old little boys, plus now having new responsibilities to help care for my elderly and sick parents, there are many reasons to make financial splurges just to make it easier to get through the week.

Family net worth is a little over $2 million right now. It should be higher but, you know, Porsche.

We should be a bit more deliberate about our spending, but I can rationalize it by observing just how busy and stressful our day-to-day lives can be. As my boys are getting older though, I think we should be able to impose at least some financial discipline on ourselves. We're getting there.

When financial independence is a priority to you and your spouse, then you guys will make it happen.

 

[caninelover]

I think this sums it up. I don't think you're doing poorly, in fact I think you are living life and finding your true priorities, which are definitely individual.

Keep on it, sounds like you are on the path of happiness...which ER or not, is what everyone seeks.

Good luck on your journey!

Life is all about choices.
It appears that spending more money now for comfort is more important than ER for you at this time.
You are still saving for retirement and your kids college, you are doing OK.
It also never hurts to start a budget and check spending if you desire.

 

[ckelly78z]

"Yea, Porsche baby " I just sold my Porsche because it took up garage space, and no longer was fun to drive with increased traffic. I did pay off some bills with the proceeds, but we live in a much LCOL than you, so no need to prove I had "made it". I still have a GT Mustang convertible, because I like driving it.

It's all about decisions.

 

[zesty]

Wealth isn't always measured by money.

To be honest, $2 million in the early 40s is pretty close to wealthy.

 

[Retire52]

Not that I completely agree with Zorba, but it always gives a chuckle!

I thought the quote worth noting was, "what kinda of a-Man are yah, you don't-a even a-like a-dolphins?" Lol

 

[Retire52]

Just noticed the dates on this thread. I bought my dream car, a gently used 2010 Corvette w/ 1500 miles on it, back in 2011. My really enjoyed it for about two years, but started to realize the thrill of driving it waned while the $850 each month in payments and ins got to be more of a noticable drag on my new found ER goal. So I got rid of it and drove the family mini van. At the time my co-workers a bunch of soldiers in my unit were horrified I got traded in the vet for the minivan. I lost a bunch of cool points and some of them would shake there heads and poke fun. I told them I took to heart a quote from Dave Ramsey who says 'Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else.'

 

[Retire52]

When financial independence is a priority to you and your spouse, then you guys will make it happen.

See my comment above, but you are right Nords, it boils down to priorities.

 

[Extra Medium]

To be honest, $2 million in the early 40s is pretty close to wealthy.

It’s in the 93rd percentile for the US, and in the top 0.26% of the world. I’d say it qualifies as wealthy, though it’s not flashy. Secret wealth is my favorite kind.