Share your FIRE Milestones - 2013- 2020

[2k6_TX_Dad]

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.


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[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2k6_TX_Dad 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.

[DyNess]

Greetings All!

I needed a non-personal outlet to share.

Milestone: $250,000

Taxable: $160,000
Roth IRA: $ 29,000
TSP: $61,000

Thank you for all of the great reads!
~DyNess

[laurence]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DyNess Greetings All! I needed a non-personal outlet to share. Milestone: $250,000 Taxable: $160,000 Roth IRA: $ 29,000 TSP: $61,000 Thank you for all of the great reads! ~DyNess

Congrats! It's easy to see the people who've hit 3-4 million here and not give yourself enough credit but this is huge. I think the majority of older Americans don't even have 100k, you've reached a huge level of financial independence in that you aren't trapped or living paycheck to paycheck. Freedom at all levels tastes good!

[DrRoy]

Quote:

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.

I had just tweaked out a new portfolio high at the end of April vs last May also, so yesterday was another new high by 1.1%.

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DyNess Greetings All! I needed a non-personal outlet to share. Milestone: $250,000 Thank you for all of the great reads! ~DyNess

DyNess, Congratulations!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrRoy I had just tweaked out a new portfolio high at the end of April vs last May also, so yesterday was another new high by 1.1%.

DrRoy, YAY!

Here's hoping for a great year for all of us.

[TrophyHusband]

Reached a Net Worth in excess of $2M. Actually this is the third time we've reached this milestone.

First was just before New Years, then the markets contracted in January.

Did it again in March, then one of our stocks (NFLX), took a 30% hit after a less than stellar earnings report.

And now, end of May, as both the general market and NFLX has recovered.

Hopefully we'll stay above the $2M threshold to stay.

[Dreaming of Freedom]

We hit several milestones the past two months: I turned 40, my net worth hit $350,000, & my savings excluding pension contributions hit $250,000. I now own more than 50% of a future rental house, and the combined retirement savings with my S.O. hit $1.25 million, which was our original FIRE goal. The fear of unaffordable healthcare has driven our "number" up between $1.35 & $1.45 million. Combined net worth crossed the $1.4 million mark today. As of May, I have been saving for retirement for 10 years. Last but not least, this summer I will finally pay off my undergraduate student loans. If this is what they mean by the snowball effect, I am lovin it! Now if we could only find decent, affordable, portable health insurance in retirement; current cobra premiums would run us $15,000/year + $2,600 deductible which is more than half of our current living expenses. Ouch!

[jollystomper]

On 5/31 hit another "$100K" milestone - total cash+investments reached $1.9M for the first time. It will be interesting to see if it makes it to $2M by my planned retirement date (HA!).

[54andchange]

Net worth passed 1 Million today. Planning to FIRE in three years at "54 years and change" everything, if portfolio portion of net worth stays on track for a modest relocation to a lower cost location, likely Kentucky or Tennesse.

[tripods68]

We just reach $500K in Net Worth at the end of May. We still have a long ways to go. Our goal is to reach $1.25K investable asset target goal. With 70/20/10 allocation equity/bond/REITs hope to get there in 10 years maybe less. We are maxing 401/457 + ROTH this year.

[timo2]

Since DW hit ER Jan 1, today we signed a contract to sell the house (we've already moved to a rental house). Will stay in the rental house until retirement in a year or two. Rental house is 2 miles from work instead of 57 miles from the house I just sold. We are on the glide path to retirement.

[pacergal]

Def Comp program at work FINALLY partnered with Vanguard. Just transferred entire amount over to 4 low cost index funds. Hate to think of the fees I have paid for the last 30 years, but at least heading into and while in retirement, they will be much less!

[kgtest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pacergal Def Comp program at work FINALLY partnered with Vanguard. Just transferred entire amount over to 4 low cost index funds. Hate to think of the fees I have paid for the last 30 years, but at least heading into and while in retirement, they will be much less!

Wise move.

[Taxman59]

It seems fitting that at 5pm tomorrow, a Friday, I will celebrate my one year retired date/time!! I plan on celebrating with DW with a dinner after I send an email to former co-w*rkers reminding them of the anniversary !

I have had a few days in this past year when I have questioned my decision, but when think about it, that was the best decision I have made since I proposed to my GF 31 years ago (our 30th anniversary is in July!). I am not as active as I would have liked to be, but there have been some impediments. We have travelled and have more on the way, I have been able to be there for DW when she wasn't able to get around after breaking her leg (we would have had to hire someone for about 3 weeks if I was still w*rking). We have been able to drop and go visit our 3 sons when we wanted or they needed us. I would do it all over again without hesitation.

[kgtest]

Bday is this weekend and I will be 35, I suppose that in itself is a milestone itself. Been reporting to SSI for 19yrs now since I was 15.

Milestone1: I'm alive
Milestone2: In those measly 19 years SSI reports $581,383 or avg salary of 30,600/yr
Milestone3: Investable assets closed over 100k for the second time this month so we are calling it a milestone reached to have 100k invested in this fickle and exciting market.
Milestone4: Residential RE equity has cleared 250k, own 80% of a Townhome and 10% of my home. Which leads me to a cool milestone...
Milestone5: I have a networth of $350k at 35, or 10k/every year I've been alive


How did I do this...
Well from 1997-2007 I was all cash, then from '07 to now I bought/sold/retained four properties and invested my 401k + MegaCo Match, and Roth when I could.

To be honest I've only actually had 48 sporadic contributing months where I put into the market... and I had some sporadic gifts along the way from family that I also shoved in during the past 7yrs. Not a lot about 20k.

which leads me to some obscure milestones:

Milestone6: blessed to be knowledgeable and not react to fear like some investors
Milestone7: Since I switched from carpentry to IT in '07 my avg salary per year has gone up to 63k/yr over the past 10yrs
Milestone8: I cleared 100k salary by 35
Milestone9: albeit a bit late, tnx to ER.org I discovered that being in 80% BONDS during the '09 market recovery is bad unless I am about to die,
Milestone10: I've lived in 7 different cities, travelled to 9 different countries and over 20islands and countless cities, closed 6 Real Estate deals, including 2 commercial txn
Milestone11: Created a little tax deduction

Future Milestones:
Future1: ER via FIRE by 50 with over 2MIL and 3 RE
Future2: Buy another RE perhaps @Senator will be MN nice and entertain a cash offer from me for something in his portfolio...I live in Twin Cities and it may make a lot of sense
Future3: Have more little tax deductions, while maintaining LBYM w/o sacrificing QOL and investing wisely but aggressively in US markets.

[43WorkYears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound 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.

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