Share your FIRE Milestones - 2013- 2020

[Al18]

My net worth hit a nice big, round number last Saturday. Only one more milestone to hit before I retire - my investable assets should hit the same big, round number. Assuming the stock market doesn't crash in the next two years, this should be achievable.

 

[kgtest]

Another milestone. I targeted an actual FIRE date of 2031 @ age 50. DH says fat chance and I plan on spending the next 17-18 years proving her wrong.

 

[eta2020]

Met what I judged to be the minimum to retire early. But won't retire for another 5 years (well voluntarily anyway). So everything else that is saved into the retirement accounts is gravy.

+1
This is exactly where we are finding ourself.

 

[Snowcat]

Today I am one month from ER. I only have 14 days at work. DH has a few less! Happy dance.

 

[Sea Kayaker]

Snowcat, I'm 5 days in... it's bloody great.

 

[Snowcat]

Snowcat, I'm 5 days in... it's bloody great.

Looking forward it more everyday. Enjoy!

 

[Debinnov a]

Three and a half months in here... and I agree, it is great! We are heading out for our retirement cruise vacation to the UK, then upon return we will be finalizing 401k rollover and asset allocation with Vanguard and then it will all be "real".


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[daylatedollarshort]

We are still working on cutting recurring expenses. This past energy bill (gas + electric) was the first time our usage was below the usage for energy efficient homes in our area. We have a good sized house with high kwh rates in our local area and our bill was below $70 this month. Some months we used to spend up to $500 on energy so we have come a long way.

 

[knucklehead 61]

just calculated that our net worth is up 1.8m in the last 2 years.
that makes me smile!
hope to FIRE in another year & a half.

 

[rodi]

Knucklehead - that's an impressive figure.

 

[pletal]

Need help writing a resignation letter? I only charge pocket change, like $400k or so Seriously though, congrats! what was the main contributing factor to your impressive net worth?[/QUOTE]

The main contributing factor to hit the 5 million dollar net worth was three decades of saving at least 20 percent of my take home pay. When my wife and I married she did the same and we never spent it. I blame my father on my savings habits. Most of our money in muni bonds or CD'S . Our return is about 3.2 percent. Not great and some may say we are foolish to be so conservative.

 

[phil70]

Milestones

I'm new to the site, and relatively new to the FIRE community. I'm on my way there, but still about 10 years out. My wife and I have passed some meaningful milestones. Early on, I tried to think of milestones other than net worth, because net worth is subject to the whims of the market. Here are some non-net worth milestones I have thought of:

- Amount of income generated by assets (or this amount as a percentage of your spending). (Last year, we generated income to cover 7% of our annual spending and 12% of what I think we will spend in a post-FIRED life)
- Having an emergency fund that would cover a full year of expenses (check)
- Years of college you have saved in CASH for your kids (I have 2 kids in high school/middle school, and enough cash right now to cover 6 years of college at good schools)
- Have enough insurance that if me or wife gets hit by a bus, the kids are covered (check)
- Have an estate plan (check)
- Increasing savings to 50% of take home pay (check)

So, I'm not FIRED, but I sleep a WHOLE LOT better at night compared to a few years ago.

 

[Totoro]

Hi Phil,

Welcome! Looks like a great trajectory you are on.

Sitting at the beginning of the exponential curve feels nice doesn't it, you start feeling the uplifting emotional effects of your reserves

Poetics aside, with a hefty 50% savings rate you seem to be doing great financially.

 

[phil70]

Pletal - Your story reminds me of my grandmother who built a substantial nest egg on CDs. She grew up in the depression and never trusted the stock market. My grandfather got social security and small ($5k- no COLA) pension after he retired at the age of 60. They lived off that income and even managed to save. They never once complained about being poor. If you're cheap, you don't feel poor! I use her as an inspiration and a warning - save for the future, but make sure I get a chance to enjoy it too!

 

[phil70]

Totoro - Thanks. My income is volatile (my wife's is more stable). 50% savings rate this year could be a lot less next year. Further motivation to not lock in an expensive lifestyle - but makes the "uplifting emotional effects" somewhat fleeting!

 

[dallas27]

Hit a major milestone - saved (over) 100,000 this year between my wife and myself. 20 cash, the rest roth & 401k. Set a big goal in January to get my expenses way down and hit this. Honestly 80 was my goal, 100 my "stretch" goal. Nailed it with 2 months to go!

Was hoping to get lucky and hit 500K total egg this year, probably won't reach it until after the market bounces back fully. I'm hoping to keep my savings rate consistent, and should be able to get 500 during Q1, short of a meltdown.

 

[A Bird In Hand]

We (barely!) crossed $900k in investments and savings yesterday for the first time. Some looming expenses this summer mean we're all but guaranteed to go below that threshold soon, but hopefully that will be the last time we cross it going the wrong direction!

We crossed the same threshold again late last week. I hadn't checked our balances in a while, and I had the misfortune to check them right at the bottom of the recent downturn. Scary! On the bright side, I got to watch the bounceback on a daily basis all last week. Fun! Now we're back to where we were four months ago, but with another $9k paid off on the mortgage.

 

[Jmo1969]

Crossed a milestone fwds and backwards 3 times this week. Brcd, UYG, and FFIV were the reasons why.


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[Andre1969]

Well, as of last night I re-joined the Millionaire's Club. Barely. $1,001,220. I had first popped that milestone back in August, topping out around $1,016,000, but the portfolio took a bit of a rogering in September and the earlier part of this month.

Anyway, yay! It's a milestone I'm sure I'm going to hit several more times, in each direction!

 

[Huston55]

Well, as of last night I re-joined the Millionaire's Club. Barely. $1,001,220. I had first popped that milestone back in August, topping out around $1,016,000, but the portfolio took a bit of a rogering in September and the earlier part of this month.

Anyway, yay! It's a milestone I'm sure I'm going to hit several more times, in each direction!

Excellent!

This will allow you to one day tell your grandchildren that you've "been a millionaire several times over."

 

[Totoro]

Think I have mentioned this before:
Countries where you're a Millionaire

I'm a two-comma-member in 170 countries!

Only 61 to go. You need roughly $2.8M for that, silly Bahraini dinar. Euro-millionaire is the biggest hurdle though (roughly 1.26M usd right now).

 

[Maenad]

Well, as of last night I re-joined the Millionaire's Club.

Congrats! We're not there yet, but as of yesterday's close we're above $700,000.

 

[Tyrobi]

Congrats to all the folks that make it to the millionaire club!

This month is the first time ever that we cross the half million mark. Is there a half millionaire club?

It will take us many more years before we will join the M-Club.

 

[Mo Money]

Crossed a milestone fwds and backwards 3 times this week. Brcd, UYG, and FFIV were the reasons why.

By my way of thinking, as long as you are following an asset-building plan in a consistent way, once you hit a milestone, you shouldn't feel bad about the market drop that will sometimes knock you back below the milestone. Celebrate hitting the goal, and don't focus on the slide backward. Just persist. After a while, you will hit what a lot of smart folks on this site call "critical mass" -- when your portfolio earnings far outstrip what you are contributing from your earnings. It will happen! Just persist, and in the interim, celebrate the milestones and don't lament the slide backward. Keep on

 

[engprodigy]

My NW crossed $600k for the first time

Five years ago when I started tracking, it was only $108k. I hope I can keep this accumulation rate up for a few more years.