Share your FIRE Milestones - 2013- 2020

[RobbieB]

Good for you Sous, glad to hear it. Losing my wife was the biggest pain I ever felt. It felt as if my soul was ripped. Crying and sobbing at the slightest things we used to share but alas no more. After 3 years I was doing better and thought I could watch Christmas stuff on TV again but "A Christmas Carol" reduced me to rubble. Good old Alistair Simm.

The dog got me through it. She would hear me sobbing and come in and lay her head in my lap or rub against me. Then the dog died and I was quite alone. Crap. But travel was easy now eh?, so I booked myself into the Peppermill (Reno) for 3 days of the usual debauchery. In addition to eating, drinking and hours of Texas Holdem I looked up a woman that I knew from work. She had gotten a divorce and moved to Reno and worked at a company my ex-company bought products from. We had lunch and she lit me up. I was ready, but she was not. She had a live in boy-friend. Crap again.

But it's kinda funny how stuff works out. Signed up on 2 internet dating sites and started playing again. Lotta scammers out there too, so be careful. But there are a lot of really good people too and I had a lot of needed "tune up" practice which after 30 years of marriage I really needed. My second girlfriend had 5 dogs. I really love dogs and have lived with dogs since I was 5 years old. She saw how I was with her dogs and suggested that I get another dog. Which I did. Shortly after that we broke up.

But I had a dog and she loved to go to the dog park and fetch tennis balls. Bingo, now you know "the rest of the story", met a single mom at the dog park exercising her new dog which she got after her dog died as shared custody of the child meant she was alone a lot.

Pure chaos theory. All the weird strange unconnected events that had to occur for us to meet. And she lives a mile from my house. Without dogs dying and lunch dates and internet dating that didn't work out (but really did) we would have never met.

It really is a wonderful life where strange and mystical stuff happens all the time!

 

[serie1926]

Oh mama, we're getting closer! God willing.

We were able to complete 2 of the final 3 major capex projects at our house this past week. New roof and HVAC systems. Both companies we hired did a great job and were a pleasure to work with. Really enjoyed programming the new Trane thermostat

Only 20.5 months to go, not that we're counting.

 

[Andre1969]

As of last night's close, it put my portfolio up to a new high, of ~$1,062,500. That breaks my previous record of ~$1,055,000 set back in May of 2015.

As far as rate of return goes, I'm still down, because of additional investments since then. But, it's nice to see my Excel graph on the upswing again!

 

[Markola]

I keep an investment journal and was interested to notice today that 10 years ago in 2006 at my age 40 our investable assets, not counting-home equity, totaled $400,000. 2006 seems vividly recent because I remember all kinds of details from 2006. Today that figure hit $1.2 million at my age 50, or 3X growth in a single decade that saw a massive recession and recovery.

Throughout, we just kept on saving in our 401Ks with 6-8% matches in index funds with around an 80/20 AA. We finally both maxed out our contributions in 2010, then maxed out our makeup provisions this year. Of course, I wish we'd done those earlier now. Another thing we did was downsize our house, both earning a $200,000 profit and lowering our mortgage by 25%.

I know it is all just predictable math but I admit that it is exciting and very satisfying to watch it all happen! Next up, paying off the mortgage in a few years is gradually becoming firmly in the crosshairs. I love having these practical goals and am grateful for this forum of like-minded people to celebrate achievements together.

 

[Lucantes]

I keep an investment journal and was interested to notice today that 10 years ago in 2006 at my age 40 our investable assets, not counting-home equity, totaled $400,000. 2006 seems vividly recent because I remember all kinds of details from 2006. Today that figure hit $1.2 million at my age 50, or 3X growth in a single decade that saw a massive recession and recovery.

Throughout, we just kept on saving in our 401Ks with 6-8% matches in index funds with around an 80/20 AA. We finally both maxed out our contributions in 2010, then maxed out our makeup provisions this year. Of course, I wish we'd done those earlier now. Another thing we did was downsize our house, both earning a $200,000 profit and lowering our mortgage by 25%.

I know it is all just predictable math but I admit that it is exciting and very satisfying to watch it all happen! Next up, paying off the mortgage in a few years is gradually becoming firmly in the crosshairs. I love having these practical goals and am grateful for this forum of like-minded people to celebrate achievements together.

Congrats!
My wife and I just crossed the $3M mark this month, and our FIRE countdown timer just crossed to under 1 year left now! Come on April 2017, we are heading home to the beach!

 

[Greencheese]

Just checked my retirement accounts today. As of 4/20 I've entered into the 6 digit club. Not too shabby for just under 4 years of work and being only 26 if I do say so myself.

 

[Andre1969]

Just checked my retirement accounts today. As of 4/20 I've entered into the 6 digit club. Not too shabby for just under 4 years of work and being only 26 if I do say so myself.

Happy 420 Day! Congratulations on entering the 6-digit club at such a young age! Time to celebrate...just don't smoke it all away!

 

[dvalley]

Just checked my retirement accounts today. As of 4/20 I've entered into the 6 digit club. Not too shabby for just under 4 years of work and being only 26 if I do say so myself.

Wow, great job Any words of advice for such an accomplishment? I'll guess you own a business of some sort?

 

[Greencheese]

Wow, great job Any words of advice for such an accomplishment? I'll guess you own a business of some sort?

Thanks! And no business ownership here. Just Chicago area accounting for the megacorps (skipped public but was offered similar pay in industry). Put the max into the 401k my plan would allow from day 1 and took advantage of the IRA/HSA savings like others do.

 

[RetireAge50]

I keep an investment journal and was interested to notice today that 10 years ago in 2006 at my age 40 our investable assets, not counting-home equity, totaled $400,000. 2006 seems vividly recent because I remember all kinds of details from 2006. Today that figure hit $1.2 million at my age 50, or 3X growth in a single decade that saw a massive recession and recovery.

Throughout, we just kept on saving in our 401Ks with 6-8% matches in index funds with around an 80/20 AA. We finally both maxed out our contributions in 2010, then maxed out our makeup provisions this year. Of course, I wish we'd done those earlier now. Another thing we did was downsize our house, both earning a $200,000 profit and lowering our mortgage by 25%.

I know it is all just predictable math but I admit that it is exciting and very satisfying to watch it all happen! Next up, paying off the mortgage in a few years is gradually becoming firmly in the crosshairs. I love having these practical goals and am grateful for this forum of like-minded people to celebrate achievements together.

Excellent job and amazing how it grows. We had similar results, $422k at end of 2006. $1.4M yesterday. Currently age 49.

 

[targatom2019]

Age 45, just paid off the last partnership investment on a building and 100% debt free. Net worth 4.5 mill and aiming for 6.5 after the next 9 years but might be a long shot.

 

[cooch96]

Congratulations, Outby54. And welcome to the forum. I hope to be in your shoes in about 30 months.

 

[moneymaker]

For the first time ever, we crossed over the $275k mark for our taxable and retirement accounts! The plan is to keep on plugging away and investing regularly.
We are 34 and I plan to retire at 44 from the Army and the wife plans to retire at 49 from MegaCorp

 

[moneymaker]

For the first time ever, we crossed over the $275k mark for our taxable and retirement accounts! The plan is to keep on plugging away and investing regularly.
We are 34 and I plan to retire at 44 from the Army and the wife plans to retire at 49 from MegaCorp

 

[splitwdw]

Wow, moneymaker, double congratulations, ya did it twice. I love when I hit different milestones, not just my overall net worth. Like when this new account I opened hit $300,000 next up $325,000. I cheer on all of my accounts. Go TEAM moneymaker!!

 

[syd03]

Excellent job and amazing how it grows. We had similar results, $422k at end of 2006. $1.4M yesterday. Currently age 49.

Our growth in value since 2006 also about 3.5x. Not sure about you, but a decent amount of our growth since '06 came through contributions. We're barely 50% stock

 

[Major Tom]

I've been swinging above and below the 750K mark for a while now (a year or so, I think). Every time I get meaningfully above that level (~780K was the high mark), market forces keep my dreams in check and pull it back down. My withdrawals (~2%WR) help to exert a modest and constant downward drag on the whole shebang too.

One of these days, I'll break through the 800K mark. The big one, of course, is a cool million, but I think that will be a long time coming, as I am now in the withdrawal phase and no longer making contributions. Donations though, are always gratefully accepted

 

[Major Tom]

I booked myself into the Peppermill (Reno) for 3 days of the usual debauchery.

Aaah, The Peppermill. I lived in Reno for 3 years in the late 80's and lost my entire first paycheck there. It took all of 30 minutes. Walking outside with a strong alcohol buzz, the hot, dry desert heat felt like divine judgement as I left that place without a penny to my name. It was the first and last time I did that, and the rest of my time in Reno was a happy one.

Great dog story. I lost track of how many dogs were involved

 

[nvestysly]

This FIRE milestone occurred a few years ago for DW and me but thought I'd post it here. I saw a few similar posts so maybe it's a recurring theme.

It was 2009 and 2010 (not too long after the housing bust, etc.). I had been using FIRECalc on and off for several years to consider and reconsider our situation. At some point in the 2009/2010 time frame... the light bulb finally came on. I realized we could actually do this.

So I guess the milestone, if you can call it that, was the fact that FIRECalc allowed me to finally come around and believe that we "had enough." It was almost a year later - in 2011 - that my megacorp employer offered an incentive to leave. Megacorp provided the soft landing I was looking for.

If I hadn't been using FIRECalc regularly up to the point that megacorp offered the incentive I suspect I'd still be working. So yes, that was a milestone in our road to FIRE!

 

[orangehairfella]

2.5 months to go from $500k to $550k. Though once again, home value was $5-10k of that.

I should just take our home out of Personal Capital, the number is misleading.

 

[2k6_TX_Dad]

Paid off Mortgage

Paid off our mortgage today.
It was a tough decision as I considered it "cheap money"
I ran the numbers, paying it off four years and two months early saves us a little over 3k in interest and the money wasn't earning that in our savings.
I'm sure I'll get over the hit to our savings account.
It's nice to be debt free.

46 now, will retire between 50 and 55.

 

[karen1972]

My milestone are a little non-traditional.

1) We managed to get approved on a home loan (given my BF bankrupted himself and his company 4 years ago and my "income" is all investments which bankers hate to verify) this was harder to do than I thought it would be.
2) My BF hit the $10k mark in investments (goal of $20k by EoY)
3) I've finally managed to cut our spending by 50% w/o giving up anything really meaningful. (mostly thanks to relocating).
4) Just happy to have stayed above the $1M mark in investments even after downpayment, closing, and misc costs of the new home.

 

[laurence]

My 401k with my current employer just passed $250k, that was kind of exciting as it's now the largest single account we have. DW and I are close to hitting the first big milestone of $1 million NW including equity in primary residence (I know a lot of people here don't count that but it's a milestone for us). Excited for that day to come.

 

[surferLife]

I recently reached a military FIRE milestone. 21 years of service as an O-5. Feels great to have that pension locked-in! We had kids late and I signed over my GI Bill late, so I'm committed to serving 2 1/2 more years before pulling the plug. Also, we are in the middle of our final move before FIRE! Investments have been hovering around mid 900s for nearly 18 months; very frustrating. I will update again when we hit the next magical mark.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Calico]

Paid off our mortgage today.
It was a tough decision as I considered it "cheap money"
I ran the numbers, paying it off four years and two months early saves us a little over 3k in interest and the money wasn't earning that in our savings.
I'm sure I'll get over the hit to our savings account.
It's nice to be debt free.

46 now, will retire between 50 and 55.

Congratulations!!

I'll be paying mine off in 13 months - can't wait for that feeling.