Hi all. It's has been about three years since I first introduced myself. I have been lurking every now and then and have decided to recently get more involved. So, here's my update.
I am 38 and my wife is 35 with no children and no plans for any children. Our house has been paid off since early 2007. I was recently downsized from work as an engineer. I am currently looking, but taking my time to be sure it's something I will enjoy. My wife still works full time. We have no payments of any kind. I have tracked all expenses for many years, the last twelve months our expenses averaged $3,200 per month. This has started to come down quite a bit since I have not been working.
As far as assets, we were able invest about 80% of my paycheck and live on the other 20% and my wifes paycheck. I learned to invest and treated it like my job and had good results. Our assets are as follows:
Stocks - $1,000,000+
IRA / 401k- $200,000+
Cash - $30,000
House - $75,000
We are 100% stocks which are (largest to smallest): PM, MO, XOM, TOT, GPOR, ABT, WMT, MRK, PG, E, BMY, PEP, KO, D, LMT, JNJ, FE, CVX. These are about 90% of our holdings. They all pay solid dividends except for GPOR. As a rule, I don't speculate. I broke that rule for GPOR because of the potential in the Utica Shale (FYI I live in Stak County Ohio). It has worked out well by growing into one of our top five holdings. Anyway, our dividends are currently $59,000 per year.
So, as you might notice, our living expenses are covered by our dividends. If necessary, we can cut our expenses further or increase our dividends when ever needed. FI is a great feeling.
Well, that's my update. Thanks for reading.
I am 38 and my wife is 35 with no children and no plans for any children. Our house has been paid off since early 2007. I was recently downsized from work as an engineer. I am currently looking, but taking my time to be sure it's something I will enjoy. My wife still works full time. We have no payments of any kind. I have tracked all expenses for many years, the last twelve months our expenses averaged $3,200 per month. This has started to come down quite a bit since I have not been working.
As far as assets, we were able invest about 80% of my paycheck and live on the other 20% and my wifes paycheck. I learned to invest and treated it like my job and had good results. Our assets are as follows:
Stocks - $1,000,000+
IRA / 401k- $200,000+
Cash - $30,000
House - $75,000
We are 100% stocks which are (largest to smallest): PM, MO, XOM, TOT, GPOR, ABT, WMT, MRK, PG, E, BMY, PEP, KO, D, LMT, JNJ, FE, CVX. These are about 90% of our holdings. They all pay solid dividends except for GPOR. As a rule, I don't speculate. I broke that rule for GPOR because of the potential in the Utica Shale (FYI I live in Stak County Ohio). It has worked out well by growing into one of our top five holdings. Anyway, our dividends are currently $59,000 per year.
So, as you might notice, our living expenses are covered by our dividends. If necessary, we can cut our expenses further or increase our dividends when ever needed. FI is a great feeling.
Well, that's my update. Thanks for reading.