29 year old just catching FIRE

unleveleddesigns

Confused about dryer sheets
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
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Hey all surprise surprise I'm curious if I'm on track:
29 years old, single, income base in the 70k range.. Retirement goal age 50 for working part time at whatever job to make my normal spending but let retirement grow on its own age 55 be able to quit for good if I feel like it but whose to say.

401k:68000 (9k roth rest traditional (95%stock 5% bonds) January I will start contributing maximum (18500)

Roth ira: just opened with 1k in target retirement fund furthest out vanguard offered

Taxable account: 9k bond funds in currently planning this as half my emergency fund (ie 3 monthsof 6)

Savings and checking accounts should have remainder of efund in place by April.

Hsa: roughly 4k cash account waiting for td options to open to invest all but 1500

Currently only debt is mortgage at 117k
Monthly expenses around 33k Im quite happy with my living currently but would like to be remodeling my house.

So am I on track, need to increase savings, where,, thinking I'd like to save Max in ira but not sure if I'll be able to stretch that thin or not. Maybe Max hsa instead to lower taxable income?
 
Great start and plan... key is sticking with it! One recommendation... see if you can contribute more this year to your 401k (since you plan to go to max next year, maybe you can get a little more in there before this year closes out too).

Every $1,000 more you can get invested before you file taxes on your 2017 reporting will grow to $13,400ish by the time you're 55 :) [assuming the average stock market return over the LONG haul with a 95% equity investment is similar to the last 50 years]. Inflation adjusted puts it at $1,000 invested today being as valuable as about $6,100 after growth in today's dollars when you're 55.

So if you somehow managed to get another $9,500 (easier said than done) in there for 2017 your 401(k) will be, on average, $127,000 healthier when you're 55. The age, and years of compounding really are amazing when you've got 25+ years to let it grow. If that's too difficult to do, I wouldn't stress too much on it. The best way to achieving FIRE is having a plan and sticking to it!

On that note, I can say that as I got into my mid-30's it became easier and easier to invest more. I spread myself thin to save in the 20's (so glad I did, it's a mindset thing) but as my income went up I set aside more and more as my spending and lifestyle just slowly increased. If you're able to hit those maxes at 29, you'll be set to increase them much easier as you move up in your career. See if you can set aside an additional 1-2% of your income every year towards taxable accounts if you've reached your match. I started my career at setting aside 20%, and now I'm up to saving 35% of what I make. That will really snowball into a huge amount sooner than you'd think. The key is making that plan work and not letting your spending out pace your savings plan. How much you spend (lifestyle normalcy developed over decades of living), has just as much to do with when you can FIRE as the amount you have saved. So don't lose focus on that part. It's why I recommend tracking how much you save as a percentage of how much you make. The better that ratio the better shape you're in :)
 
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Great start and plan... key is sticking with it! One recommendation... see if you can contribute more this year to your 401k (since you plan to go to max next year, maybe you can get a little more in there before this year closes out too).

Every $1,000 more you can get invested before you file taxes on your 2017 reporting will grow to $13,400ish by the time you're 55 :) [assuming the average 10.5% stock market return over the LONG haul with a 95% equity investment].

So if you somehow managed to get another $9,500 (easier said than done) in there for 2017 your 401(k) will be $127,000 healthier when you're 55. The age, and years of compounding really are amazing when you've got 25+ years to let it grow.
Yeah currently throwing 25% in with my increased travel it is catching me up a little at a time trying to get as close as I can to Max.
 
Yeah currently throwing 25% in with my increased travel it is catching me up a little at a time trying to get as close as I can to Max.

See my edited above for more info... I missed your response as I was adding more detail. ;)

Good luck! :dance:
 
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