Share your FIRE Milestones - 2013- 2020

[Sea Kayaker]

Jumping the gun just a little bit, but was so excited to be CLOSE to 1M in investment net worth I just had to be part of this thread - as of an hour ago after going through our various online accounts I came up with 985k in investable assets.

A million has always been my "number" - a good week ahead in the markets, plus a few paydays coming in and I should be there. The question is, how much longer do I work?

In summary, I'm 41, almost 1M in investments, 1.7m in networth, no debt, and a wife making six figures who wants to work perhaps another ten years - and most importantly supports me in exiting my meat grinder career.

2014 is looking to be a good year for me.

 

[DFA]

Hit $751,126 after Friday's close on the market in invested assets and savings. NW just north of $1MM. Still hoping to get laid off this year with a year's severance and then the wife will retire in mid 2015 with 30 years military and 25 years civil service. I retired USAF in 1996 with 20 years.

 

[NW-Bound]

Hope you're feeling better lately. Is the HSA out just because it's not easy to include it? It is a "Savings Account", after all

Thank you for the well-wish.

About that HSA, for a few years now, my wife made a monthly payment to the health insurer, and it was for both the premium as well as the HSA portion. I always treated this as an expense, and did not realize how much that HSA had grown. It was only when my son who was on our policy last year was hospitalized that I asked my wife about that account. I was astounded when my wife said it was close to $40K.

After 2 years of meeting the $10K annual deductible, I would hope for a break next year. At this point, if this HSA is depleted, paying out-of-pocket from my cash account is absolutely not a problem, but the fact that my state of health requires that kind of healthcare would be the real concern.

I am grateful that while going through a difficult time with the health issue, I do not have to also worry about potential financial ruination, as many people might have. The issue is for me to stay around to spend some. I never thought I was going to live to the 80s, even back when I was in perfect health. And now, I have a sudden health issue, at still a few more years before I can even claim SS. My more frugal wife would not know how to spend some "real money", if I am not around.

Should I have included this HSA in Quicken? The correct answer is yes, and it is not too difficult to do. But as the HSA has become a depreciating asset the last 2 years, perhaps I do not care to.

 

[BTravlin]

My portfolio just passed the $15 million mark! Yay!

Sadly, that's only when denominated in pesos.

 

[Marc]

Through today, for the first time, my portfolio has gained $500,000 in a single calendar year; of course, it could lose all those gains in the last two months. This year the retirement portfolio has grown from a little over $2.1M to a little over $2.6M.

If only this could keep going for a few more years.

Marc

 

[NW-Bound]

So, you have gained 24% YTD, which is comparable to the S&P. Are you 100% in equities?

I looked back at my records, and my highest yearly gain was during 2003, and it was 40%. My portfolio then was climbing out of a hole, so that performance gave me a relief, not a reason for exuberance.

 

[Huston55]

Jumping the gun just a little bit, but was so excited to be CLOSE to 1M in investment net worth I just had to be part of this thread - as of an hour ago after going through our various online accounts I came up with 985k in investable assets.

A million has always been my "number" - a good week ahead in the markets, plus a few paydays coming in and I should be there. The question is, how much longer do I work?

In summary, I'm 41, almost 1M in investments, 1.7m in networth, no debt, and a wife making six figures who wants to work perhaps another ten years - and most importantly supports me in exiting my meat grinder career.

2014 is looking to be a good year for me.

Protect your most valuable asset!

 

[Marc]

So, you have gained 24% YTD, which is comparable to the S&P. Are you 100% in equities?

I looked back at my records, and my highest yearly gain was during 2003, and it was 40%. My portfolio then was climbing out of a hole, so that performance gave me a relief, not a reason for exuberance.

70% in equities and new contributions have been around 30K so far. Every 100K milestone I move 30K additional to bond funds. I was 100% equities until I turned 50 and have been slowly moving money over to bonds ever since. I am in the process of consolidating from 12 FIDO funds and three ETFs (only non tax advantaged funds) down to only eight FIDO funds and the three ETFs. Most in indexes that are either "institutional" or "advantage."

Goal is to get down to 65% equities by time I retire and then continue to get it down to 60% equities.

Marc

 

[NW-Bound]

Your contribution is not that much compared to the gain. And as you are not 100% in stocks, yet matching the S&P, it tells me that your funds are doing very well.

You call them index funds, but they cannot be the S&P index if they beat it. Hence, my curiosity.

There are many different indices other than the broad market S&P500 which comes fairly close to the US total market index, because the 500 companies in the S&P500 are so huge.

For example, the midcap index returns 31.7% in the last 12 months compared to the 24.7% of the S&P500, albeit with higher volatility.

 

[Marc]

I am overweighted in mid-cap and small cap. Also, my largest position is in FLPSX which I have held for twenty years. I also have large positions in FSEVX and IWM. I have almost 90K in junk bonds as part of my bond holdings. Probably a little too aggressive for 55 but that is why I am consolidating. I am over 20% in small caps and I want to get that down to 10% in the next few months.

Marc

 

[gowgow]

Hello all, I'm new here. First off, I'm truly impressed by all of you! So far I've never paid much attention to any particular milestones and haven't set any specific goals for ones I want to reach and when.

I'm 44, and my wife is 39.

Stocks/401K/IRA: $857,000 (I guess passing 850k this week is a pretty good milestone!)
Home Equity: $420,000 (which is a guess. Zestimate is $479 and will be paid off in less than 2 years)
Farmland in Illinois: $400,000 (another guess based upon what I hear land is going for these days)

So that's 1.67m net worth which I'm pleased with, but feel it could be better. I never should have sold that Apple stock! I'm somewhat obsessed with the idea of retirement and having enough to live comfortably in the future. I'm not sure when I'll retire. Hopefully by 60 or so but time will tell!

I earn around 100k/year plus around $11,000 in annual farm income. We don't live a very lavish lifestyle by any means, which allows me to save 25% of my income in my 401k.

I'm in the process of trying to start my own business. I've written a piece of investing software that I feel is unique and works pretty well. I'm currently using it to create investing strategies that have historically provided returns significantly above the "buy and hold" returns of the S&P. I'm now using these strategies for my own investments. The software is nearly completed. I just need to figure out how to sell the damn thing. Maybe I should advertise in on here? At some point I'll be setting a google adwords/adsense account so perhaps you'll see my banner sometime.

Good luck to you all,

Steve

 

[Retire44]

Crossed the $2.6m mark for the first time today. Wonderful start to the weekend! 40 years old, with eyes on ER when youngest off to college in 2018. Our # is about $3.2m.

 

[project2501]

Went from net of -18k at 29yrs old to today a net of 0.575M at 36yrs old. Big realization of doing better than I thought was when I paid off the house in 3yrs flat. It's not put a huge divot in my saving motivation.

Short time frame is started a 6figure salary and ignored the naysayers completely.

 

[Huston55]

Went from net of -18k at 29yrs old to today a net of 0.575M at 36yrs old. Big realization of doing better than I thought was when I paid off the house in 3yrs flat. It's not put a huge divot in my saving motivation.

Short time frame is started a 6figure salary and ignored the naysayers completely.

That's a very impressive turn around! Supercharged savings will do that for you.

A technique I used several years back was to evaluate my NW versus my Number; I then calculated what annual return rate I needed to be FI at the age if wanted to retire. The return rate was sporty (12% IIRC). So, and here's the good bit, I had to commit to make up any market return shortfall in a particular year with additional savings. I was able to stick very closely to this plan, and 6 yrs later I was FI, even though the period included 2008-09. You likely have a longer horizon than 6 yrs but, the technique could work for you. I can say that it was psychologically powerful for me. I felt as if I had more control over my financial fate. I also derived great satisfaction from looking each year at my 'actual' NW bar versus my 'planned' NW bar on the chart tracking my progress.

 

[kikechico]

Went from net of -18k at 29yrs old to today a net of 0.575M at 36yrs old. Big realization of doing better than I thought was when I paid off the house in 3yrs flat. It's not put a huge divot in my saving motivation.

Short time frame is started a 6figure salary and ignored the naysayers completely.

Congrats! I hope I can be you when I am 36.

I am currently 28 will be 29 in January, me and my wife have a NW of 150K and only 60K left on our mortgage. We are shooting for 600K in investments for me to ER. From online calculators it seems that I will reach that number when I am 36 with a yearly return of 7%. Will see what happens .

 

[project2501]

That's a very impressive turn around! Supercharged savings will do that for you.

A technique I used several years back was to evaluate my NW versus my Number; I then calculated what annual return rate I needed to be FI at the age if wanted to retire. The return rate was sporty (12% IIRC). So, and here's the good bit, I had to commit to make up any market return shortfall in a particular year with additional savings. I was able to stick very closely to this plan, and 6 yrs later I was FI, even though the period included 2008-09. You likely have a longer horizon than 6 yrs but, the technique could work for you. I can say that it was psychologically powerful for me. I felt as if I had more control over my financial fate. I also derived great satisfaction from looking each year at my 'actual' NW bar versus my 'planned' NW bar on the chart tracking my progress.

Thanks, and yes it would be about 12%/yr to hit at least the 1M mark. I'm guessing my number to be 1-1.2M. My expenses are much less than 30k/yr even with my hobbies. Just keep on keeping on. About to quit the 6figure job in April though which will change my entire outlook. If they offer enough, I may stick it out till the end of 2014.

Congrats! I hope I can be you when I am 36.

I am currently 28 will be 29 in January, me and my wife have a NW of 150K and only 60K left on our mortgage. We are shooting for 600K in investments for me to ER. From online calculators it seems that I will reach that number when I am 36 with a yearly return of 7%. Will see what happens .

Thanks, I do feel I'm in my own bubble. There are some I know in better situations and just as aggressive but it's extremely rare. I envy a few friends of mine that have dual incomes doing aggressive savings at the same time spending living a little. Another motivational friend recently retired this past May at 48. He's living my dream. Even as far as I've come in a short time, sometimes I just feel I need to hit the lotto or something. At times it feels like a weight; seems society want's us to be poor and depend on handouts. Some don't have exact knowledge of my situation but make comments. They'll act like getting ahead is greedy and selfish and honestly I think all that talk is pure crap. It's called thinking of myself first cause nobody else is going to.

Your starting out better than I did, so no doubt you can make it to those figures.

Sorry if this is ranting but there really isn't another forum like this one


"i know they think it's all champange
traveling through timezones jet lagging insane
while others turn into rockstars following lines of cocaine
living life against grain
never tempted by fame
being free was the aim"

-unknown

 

[Gumby]

Some don't have exact knowledge of my situation but make comments. They'll act like getting ahead is greedy and selfish . . . .

Tall poppy syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Andre1969]

On Friday, 11/29/13, I surpassed the $900K mark, in investable assets. At least, I think that's what you call it...not including home equity, material possessions, debt, etc.?

So, I'm closing in on the $1M mark, which used to seem so lofty and far away. As I get closer, I would think the excitement would build up, but I'm finding that's not the case. Probably in part because $1M ain't what it used to be!

I finally got out of the financial hole my divorce got me into, in 1998, and was able to start focusing more on investing. $1M back then was the equivalent of $1.43M today! I think I discovered the Early Retirement website in 2005, and that doesn't seem all that long ago. But even from that point, $1M then would be roughly $1.2M today. Just shows what a beast inflation can be, and how it can creep up on you!

 

[Letj]

It may not seem like a lot of money to you, an American but it's a hell of a lot of money almost anywhere in the world. I was surprised to learn that there are so few millionaires per capita elsewhere in comparison to the US but even in the US, you are better off than 95% of American households. You can live a comfortable lifestyle in Ecuador on just 3% withdrawal. It doesn't seem like a lot because we always fall victim to "I want more" mentally.

 

[wingfooted]

Passed the 50% rate of return threshold (time weighted) on my main brokerage account. What a great year 2013 has been so far in the markets.

Big winners were the energy names and not giving up on Apple (and buying more) when it was doing poorly in the first half of the year.

 

[smileydog]

Happy 59 1/2 to me

Not really doing anything different on the day but it does feel good to see the day. This starts phase 2 of my plan - and my post 59.5 spending plan.

Maybe we will splurge and go out for a nice meal.

 

[TallTim]

Assuming the whole market doesn't tank in the next 24 days ... this will be the first year when I have made more cash investing/trading than my salary (not investing or trading). I know that it has been helped by a very good market this year, but still DW and I regard it as a good sign. IMO it's a sign that FIRE is getting a lot closer.

We also crossed the $3MM NW threshold this year (sale of former primary home and mortgage payoff was key with that!) ...

Still modeling the exact end date of full time work, but starting to feel more confident that it will happen fairly soon

 

[NW-Bound]

Too many dancing emoticons on this thread!

The time to sell, sell, sell cannot be too far ahead.

 

[MooreBonds]

Recently crossed a numerical milestone with the portfolio - but expecting it to not be the last time it's crossed (from going down then back up....).

Also hit another milestone of sorts by willingly shackling on a pair of golden handcuffs by my immediately family with my return to the family business. Offered me a generous salary with a few perks, as well as an equity stake. Can't really complain too much, since I wouldn't be retired yet anyway (due to the lack of a future Mrs. MooreBonds), but the job will entail a bit more stress/aggravation, some of which brought on my aforementioned family members.

Perhaps I'll be able to help the family dynamic out with a few strategic observations and directives...or perhaps I'll start a new thread in 2 years lamenting "what was I thinking?!?!?!"

At any rate, the finances for FIRE at 45 should be fairly well cemented in stone at this point, so now it's just the gradual countdown to November 2021. If things go even better than planned due to the equity stake, I could even bump up the FIRE date a year or two.

 

[Huston55]

Recently crossed a numerical milestone with the portfolio - but expecting it to not be the last time it's crossed (from going down then back up....).

Also hit another milestone of sorts by willingly shackling on a pair of golden handcuffs by my immediately family with my return to the family business. Offered me a generous salary with a few perks, as well as an equity stake. Can't really complain too much, since I wouldn't be retired yet anyway (due to the lack of a future Mrs. MooreBonds), but the job will entail a bit more stress/aggravation, some of which brought on my aforementioned family members.

Perhaps I'll be able to help the family dynamic out with a few strategic observations and directives...or perhaps I'll start a new thread in 2 years lamenting "what was I thinking?!?!?!"

At any rate, the finances for FIRE at 45 should be fairly well cemented in stone at this point, so now it's just the gradual countdown to November 2021. If things go even better than planned due to the equity stake, I could even bump up the FIRE date a year or two.

Huh?