FIRE from Overseas

[InjeraHummus]

Hello. I am a 32 year old with a net worth of 140k. 90%stocks 10% cash. All my investments are Index Funds(SWSSX, SWISX, SWPPX). I have a 2055 Target date fund for my 401k(maxing out contribution). Also have an HSA and Roth IRA maxing those out for the year. The rest goes into an individual brokerage account.

I live and work overseas in East Africa. I really just started to get serious about retirement a year and a half ago. I make pretty good money and have basically no bills because of my employment situation. I have always been pretty frugal and have been aware of the FIRE movement for a few years now. I am able to invest about 78-82% of my after tax income a year because of my employment situation right now. I have no debt, I do not own property. Right now I am on track to increase my net worth to over 200k by the end of the year.

I am more interested in the FI part of fire. Right now my plan is to hit 1mil before 40 years old and continue living overseas in a relatively cheap country. Not sure where yet, but I don't plan to live in the USA anymore. If I do it will be some where with a lower cost of living.

I think I am on a fast track to achieve financial independence, but the reason I found this forum is because I am starting to feel like its not happening fast enough. I am curious if anyone else gets this "fatigue" sort of feeling about stacking your money during their FIRE journey. I am also starting to notice that it is difficult to talk about money with my friends because no one around me is saving like I am. I went from about 10k to 100k net worth in 2020.

I have considered that I am going to hard, but idea of having my time be my own completely by the time I turn 40 keeps me going. I am willing to sacrifice some quality of life now for a future where I don't have to work 60+ hours a week.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Congratulations, that's a huge leap you made last year! For me, it was important to not feel like I was living like a monk, so when I got a raise, or paid off a loan, 75-90% went towards savings, but the rest was spending money. The good news is that, when you're frugal like we are, a buying plain coffee one morning every few weeks instead of brewing it yourself feels like a treat! Find little things you can splurge on that won't break your budget, or save up for a larger treat, like a (frugal) trip. See if those work for you, as I know they work for me and more than a few of my friends who are also savers.

The only part you may need to seriously reconsider is the 60+ hour weeks. I know for some people that's not unusual, but I only did that for a couple of years in my early 20s, when I was hourly. I know I couldn't have done it when my child was little, or now. Personally, I'd rather have a very lean retirement than do that, but luckily I found an industry and company that really does value work/life balance. IMO that is more likely to burn you out than your savings rate.

 

[upupandaway]

You can also work on expanding your circle with like minded people. Very few of my early adulthood friends are into saving, FIRE, or retirement planning as I am. These older relationships are still valuable to me in many other ways just not this particular interest. I have made a conscious effort to expand my social group with people that are into this interest and I find those conversations very rewarding and help with motivating myself and eliminating the fatigue as you put it of long term saving.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Congratulations, you are doing great.

To help with the fatigue feeling, remember that it is a marathon, not a sprint!

 

[InjeraHummus]

Thanks for the advice. I did not consider the toll working so much might have to do with how I am feeling lately. I haven't been on a vacation for over 2 years now. Guess I needed to hear it from a stranger to really think about it! Thank you. I think I will start planning a trip soon.

 

[InjeraHummus]

1 Year update

It has been nearly a year since my first post. I did end up going on a month long vacation and ended up changing jobs. I found another job that fit my skillset better and I am back in a technician roll as apposed to being a technical manager. Funny thing is that while I sort of went backwards careerwise I was able to negotiate the same salary for the new position (I will call that a lateral move). I think I was really underpaid and overworked before and it was really stressing me out. The new job is much more relaxed and I don't have to manage people now. I can work on electronics like I love to do.

I attribute this move working so well because of all the money that I saved up. Having enough money saved up really gave me the take it or leave it attitude when negotiating salary for my new job. Just one of the many benefits of pursing FIRE.

My net worth has increased from 140K to just about 216k over the course of the last year. I am still invested entirely in passively managed index funds and I have been continuously educating myself on different investment types. I am still very cautious about changing things up as it seems to be working well even with the recent downturn in the markets. I am looking forward to investing as much as possible, but then again I already am at about 70% of my income.

I am starting to really plan out where I plan to retire early and how I will use my nest egg in early retirement. Dividend investing is the most attractive option for me, but I haven't invested specifically in dividend stocks yet besides the ones in my S&P 500 index. I have been doing research on covered call ETF's like QYLD, JEPI, NUSI ect. however I am very skeptical. I will have to take a look around the forum to see if anyone is pursing these avenues and what pitfalls to avoid. I think I will hit lean FIRE in 4-6 years at the rate I am going now. Seems like a long time but I am at the point now that I can coast fire and be a millionaire by the time I am in my late 60's if necessary. I think I am on the right track, but of course I am open to any wisdom and experience that others may have. I still haven't been able to find too many people around me that share the same goals as me. Feels weird to still be in the rat race, but have a plan to get out.

**SPOILER WARNING for Roots below**

I have found myself looking at different media in a new light now. For example: I recently re watched Roots and found myself relating to the character Chicken George (Kunta Kente's grandson). Chicken George was the first slave in the story to actually become free. He did this by saving the money he earned fighting chickens over the course of approximately 14 years to buy his freedom. While I am certainly no slave, I found inspiration in his story. His grand father never achieved what he did, but he laid the seed of the importance of freedom in his mind through his daughter Kizzy and he earned his freedom. Unfortunately he is only able to buy his own freedom, but there is more to the story of course I don't want to ruin all of it if you haven't seen it. It's a great Limited series for those who haven't watched it. The themes of natural freedom really resonated with me.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Congratulations, InerjaHummus! (Your username is making me hungry!) Staying up from last year even over this last month or two is great, but more importantly, you sound ready to stick to your long-term strategy whatever the markets do. And in my opinion if they're only going to pay you technician wages, you might as well just be a technician!