Share your FIRE Milestones - 2013- 2020

[ckelly78z]

Milestones already accomplished;
-Mortgage paid off at 48.
-Daughter successfully established at a great CAD job after graduation.
-Son in last quarter of UNOH diesel tech program with offers on the table.
-Paid off vehicles.
- Wife got a 50% raise last year, I got a 10% raise this year....just need to work 3 years
at these rates to increase SS
-Have 20 years of pension built up so far.
-Parents are living well on less than we will have, and still healthy at 77.

 

[Markola]

Milestones already accomplished;
-Mortgage paid off at 48.
-Daughter successfully established at a great CAD job after graduation.
-Son in last quarter of UNOH diesel tech program with offers on the table.
-Paid off vehicles.
- Wife got a 50% raise last year, I got a 10% raise this year....just need to work 3 years
at these rates to increase SS
-Have 20 years of pension built up so far.
-Parents are living well on less than we will have, and still healthy at 77.

I like your Milestone List. Congrats on your huge accomplishments. As for us, now at ages 53 and 55 with no kids, the next goal is semi-retirement. Our milestone biggies so far:

- Started saving early in late 20s with a nice employer match. Somehow found our way early to a convincing book by John Bogle and the VG Total Stock Index Fund and just dumped money for years in that.
- Found Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” in a bookstore 15 years ago, which was revolutionary and inspired us to live without consumer debt.
- DW and I both finally maxed our 403bs starting 2009.
- Shaved a quarter off our house debt and mortgage when we moved to our current cheaper city for work. Unlike you, we have a mortgage at 4.1%, which I dislike, but the long term math is compelling that we should keep it.
- We always buy 2-3 year old quality Japanese cars and keep them at least ten years. In 2018 we sold appreciated stock and paid cash for a 2016 Acura MDX, which ought to last another 10.
- DW semi-FIREd in March at age 54! This was not part of any plan but she’d gained a struggling boss who was in over her head, resulting in too many nights in tears, so DW left. Because she left in the year in which she turned 55, she started withdrawals penalty-free from her 401k-equivalent plan. The Rule of 55 is a mighty helpful thing. She had a great 2018, has lost 30 lbs and is happier, so we’re both happier. She is volunteering a lot and looking for part time fun paid work, such as being a tour guide at an historic home in our neighborhood.
- I found I was worrying about the economy and fiddling more than I should be with our AA trying to navigate certain obvious national problems we have these days. I didn’t make any big mistakes, fortunately, but I recognized I couldn’t both read the newspapers and control my itchy investing trigger fingers. So, another 2018 milestone was hiring Vanguard Personal Advisor Services to manage our money. We like our advisor, trust Vanguard’s immense expertise, and it has honestly been a huge relief to have them do the worrying and reduce me in the equation. It is already clear it was the right decision for us.
- I remain on track for joining DW in 2021 in our planned semi-retirement consisting of a variety of paid fun work.

Thanks for reading.

 

[ckelly78z]

I like your Milestone List. Congrats on your huge accomplishments. As for us, now at ages 53 and 55 with no kids, the next goal is semi-retirement. Our milestone biggies so far:


- I remain on track for joining DW in 2021 in our planned semi-retirement consisting of a variety of paid fun work.

Thanks for reading.

Congrats on what sounds like a good plan. My wild card is health insurance for all of my past issues, and what Cobra will cost compared to buying outright.

We have a small home equity loan, and my daughter's wedding to pay off this year, then I will back up to the 20% 401K dumping, along with building cash, and bonds (3 buckets).

 

[Dtail]

We are finally back at our original investment asset portfolio number as when we first retired 19 months ago.
Perhaps a silly milestone and certainly can be temporary, but it does feel good.

 

[Al18]

Retired 6 weeks ago and scheduled my first 401K withdrawal today!



My financial representative said once you withdraw funds using the 'rule of 55', you can't return to work for the company without paying the 10% early withdrawal penalty. There's no going back now

 

[HI Bill]

I met last week with my manager to discuss succession...who will be running my projects after my departure. Knowing they will carry on without me, left me with a feeling that a large weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I said September-ish during the meeting. Seems like a long way to go.

About to go on a 17-day vacation with a camper van in New Zealand. Not exactly a milestone, but more preparation, to see how it goes!

 

[YoungFlyingSaver]

Just crossed 200k in total liquid assets, exactly 2 years after reaching 100k! Took me 4 years for the first 100k! It really goes quicker from 100k to 100k.

 

[targatom2019]

Share your FIRE Milestones

Finally saw my 401k hit the 7 digits again for one day so far and took a screen shot this time.

 

[kgtest]

After finally getting an accurate forecasted budget into 2020, it looks certain that DW and I should max 401k's this year. $37k of much needed above the line deductions.

I consider this a milestone, next few milestones will be
1. Max Both 401ks 37k (EOY 2019)
2. maxing Roth Contributions (by EOY 2020)
3. exceeding 5k/yr broker deposit goal (By EOY 2019)
4. paying down extra 25k of mortgage per year in 2025.
5. Decrease spending to ER levels 1yr before ER as a backtest (2030)
6. Determine what the heck healthcare will look like in 10/11 yrs

So likely won't be updating until next year, the following year, and then not again until 2025.

Side goal to continue contributing to 529/HSA. Firing on all cylinders.

 

[Huston55]

After finally getting an accurate forecasted budget into 2020, it looks certain that DW and I should max 401k's this year. $37k of much needed above the line deductions.

I consider this a milestone, next few milestones will be
1. Max Both 401ks 37k (EOY 2019)
2. maxing Roth Contributions (by EOY 2020)
3. exceeding 5k/yr broker deposit goal (By EOY 2019)
4. paying down extra 25k of mortgage per year in 2025.
5. Decrease spending to ER levels 1yr before ER as a backtest (2030)
6. Determine what the heck healthcare will look like in 10/11 yrs

So likely won't be updating until next year, the following year, and then not again until 2025.

Side goal to continue contributing to 529/HSA. Firing on all cylinders.

Sounds like you’ve mapped out a great plan. Why wait until 2030 to test drive ER budget? Any savings from doing it earlier could go into your broker account. Our experience has been that having a substantial portion of our NW in an after-tax broker account significantly improves our flexibility in early FIRE; rebalancing, zero/low tax LTCG capture, Roth conversions, etc.

 

[kgtest]

Sounds like you’ve mapped out a great plan. Why wait until 2030 to test drive ER budget? Any savings from doing it earlier could go into your broker account. Our experience has been that having a substantial portion of our NW in an after-tax broker account significantly improves our flexibility in early FIRE; rebalancing, zero/low tax LTCG capture, Roth conversions, etc.

Oh we are pinching every penny here. The plan is to ER when the kids fledge the nest...so im assuming our ER budget will drop just by nature of empty nest. Still paying daycare and a mortgage...when that frees up we will have many more options for brokerage. Always more room for improvement.. A pemny saved is a penny earned

 

[ChiliPepr]

A penny saved is a penny earned

Actually... A penny saved is about 1.3 pennies earned (before taxes)!

 

[simple girl]

Oh we are pinching every penny here. The plan is to ER when the kids fledge the nest...so im assuming our ER budget will drop just by nature of empty nest. Still paying daycare and a mortgage...when that frees up we will have many more options for brokerage. Always more room for improvement.. A pemny saved is a penny earned

I agree - as soon as you can build that brokerage account. It is critical to have a non-MAGI source of income if you plan to purchase healthcare on the marketplace. Many do not plan well for this.

 

[Dtail]

I agree - as soon as you can build that brokerage account. It is critical to have a non-MAGI source of income if you plan to purchase healthcare on the marketplace. Many do not plan well for this.

Got lucky myself. Didn't specifically plan for age 57 retirement nor use of the ACA, but built up a decent size taxable account not involving stocks more out of conservatism.

 

[simple girl]

Got lucky myself. Didn't specifically plan for age 57 retirement nor use of the ACA, but built up a decent size taxable account not involving stocks more out of conservatism.

A bit of luck here, too. The only reason we started a taxable account was because we hoped to retire before 59.5 and knew we needed money we could access that wasn't in retirement accounts. I only thought about that due to being on this board (thank heavens for this board!). We had no idea the ACA would even exist back at the time we opened the account, which was around 2005.

Even with having the taxable account, we still are going to have to manage it VERY carefully to make sure we have enough MAGI $ to last us 14 years until I hit Medicare. I wish we had more in it!

 

[Kabowest]

Funny this came up, last week we reached $100k.

I was just thinking of what my next milestone is. Maybe $250k.

What's funny is that as we accumulate, I keep thinking its just not that much. When I started saving I remember thinking, "man, if I had 100k. Wow... ". Back then it seemed like a lot.

I wonder if when we reach $1M... will it also be "not enough" in my mind. Anyway didn't mean to hijack the topic, so back to it...

$100k. Woohoo

Curious, six years after your post where are you now? You must be in good shape. I share your feeling, no amount ever feels like enough. I have $1.5M and she has $600K and we are still nervous about having enough.

 

[AginMS]

,,

I am excited to post that DW and I have reached the 2 comma club -- Whoop! This is from a mix of cash, taxable, Roth, and TSP/401K accounts. We are still targeting retirement in 2028, and so far we are ahead of our savings goals to meet that that date.

I joined this site in early 2017, and this thread helped me think a bit deeper about what we were trying to accomplish, our "number", and our strategy for getting there. It also helped me break down the final "number" into smaller, bite sized goals that didn't seem quite so daunting. A few months later we reached a mini-milestone of $750K. A year and a half later we've reach $1M. Thanks to everyone here who has posted and helped inspire us.

$1.5M here we come!

 

[Calgary_Girl]

NW is at an all-time high of $2.79 million. Trying to hit $3 million by Dec. 2019 when DH hits 50.

 

[sassnco]

I ran FIREcalc for the first time in a long time of saving aggressively, and got 100% for the first time! This was using a very tight budget, but it felt really good at a time when my j*b is discussing need for layoffs in my department. It feels good to know that I am currently working for "gravy" in the future budget and not for necessity!

 

[Kabowest]

NW is at an all-time high of $2.79 million. Trying to hit $3 million by Dec. 2019 when DH hits 50.

That's fantastic, congrats! We are currently at $2.1M not including a debt free house (~$700k). I plan to retire Dec 2019 as well at age 59, and DW will work a few years longer (unlike me, she loves her job).

 

[moneymaker]

Wife and I are both 37. Shooting for an active duty military pension in 7 years, should be an O5 pension. With that said, we just crossed $775k in net worth which includes equity in 3 homes and retirement /taxable accounts.
RE equity- a solid 375k
Retirement/taxable accounts- $400k

Very proud of our progress!

 

[TDub]

Wife and I are both 37. Shooting for an active duty military pension in 7 years, should be an O5 pension. With that said, we just crossed $775k in net worth which includes equity in 3 homes and retirement /taxable accounts.

RE equity- a solid 375k

Retirement/taxable accounts- $400k



Very proud of our progress!

Congrats! We’re right behind you
Hope you get to pin on O-5 soon!

 

[cnocmmz]

Congrats! We’re right behind you
Hope you get to pin on O-5 soon!

Congrats......so young and doing so well. Retired Navy CMC with close to 1MM. Thank you sooooo much for your service[emoji106]

 

[KCGeezer]

Hit the button and filed for my ss. Feels weird.

 

[TDub]

I ran FIREcalc for the first time in a long time of saving aggressively, and got 100% for the first time! This was using a very tight budget, but it felt really good at a time when my j*b is discussing need for layoffs in my department. It feels good to know that I am currently working for "gravy" in the future budget and not for necessity!

This is excellent! Congrats!