Hi everyone, just got my employment termination email today (no big deal, I was expecting it!).
I've been reading, learning from the Forum for the past 5+ years and preparing FIRE for about the same amount of time!
Am I ready? I'll share some data with you here.
I'll be 52 years young this summer, I'm an engineer (2 Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering); spent the past 28 years in various medium / mini corps in media software industry (B2B). I designed software systems, I loved it. I love complex stuff and solving complex problems.
My NW is $2.333M which breaks down in
$134k cash
$1059k individual taxable account (70/30)
$173k 401k (70/30)
$670k investment property (fair market value net -8% sales fees - broker fees, etc....)
$168k primary residence (fair market value net -8% sales fees)
$20k car (2021 Toyota Corolla Hybrid - used!, CarFax fair market value)
+ various other liquid and illiquid assets which are either planned spendings (new AC, etc...) or 'discretionary' assets
Budget is $65k including taxes, all controlled in Mint.com; it's been stable for the past 4-5 years. Income will come from:
$40.8k rental (gross)
$24.2k individual taxable account (so 2.3% draw; this account generated $25k dividends last year) for now.
Then I can / will draw from the 401k @ 59.5
Then I will get social security with the following options:
$1800 / month @ 64 (-20% penalty)
$2250 / month @ 67 (0% penalty)
$2790 / month @ 70 (+24% penalty)
The $65k budget leaves about $2.5k/month discretionary which is comfortable; it excludes:
- bills and utilities
- health care
- real estate taxes and HOA fees and income tax
- insurances
So $2.5k is really just food and dining, gas and discretionary.
Since I've been working part time for the last 2 years, I've had to pay for my own health care (I'm / was above the ACA cliff) and I settled for DPC (Direct Primary Care) + Health Share. I'm super happy with my choice (doctor is 6 min drive from home, e.g. I called at 9am for a 'mini' emergency, got an appointment at 11am and prescription / pills from the clinic; for a total cost $1.39 extra compared to my monthly subscription!). I never experienced the Health Share, and hope I will never have to.
Doing lot's of sports (more below) and eating healthy for the past 22 years! (BMI = 20).
No mortgage, no loan, no lease, no debt. Also no family / dependent.
I've run FireCalc and various other calculators and they all say 'Go!'. But if you have some comments, please feel free to chime in.
As my user name suggests I live in Florida (Treasure Coast); it's a condo in a non FEMA flood zone which is CBS, I have installed impact windows, I'm not on the ground floor nor top floor (the roof snapped in 2004 with Jeanne and Frances, but was rebuilt according to Miami-Dade code). So I think it's more than safe, hurricane wise...
Also as my user name suggests, I love surfing (done it for the past 22 years as well), so yes I started late, but I'm getting pretty good at it I think. Never miss a wave, never fall and can do couple of turns / snaps on a single wave. There is room for improvement; I'd like to be able to push / do more radical turns (I'm on a 6'0" quad shortboard / local shaper). I try to do 1 hour a day if the waves are decent. In the summer (there are no waves in FL in the summer!) I swim in the ocean.
I also love (mountain) biking, although it's flat in FL! I also try to do 1 hour a day around home.
And lastly, I love music. I design some sounds on various software and hardware synthesizers; can spend 3-4 hours a day on it!
The 2 first hobbies cost almost $0 per year, the last one can be expensive (if you think hardware - couple of $k per machine) but software is getting better and better (often less than $100 per license) which makes hardware less and less needed; and I have so many of both. Been doing sound design for almost 40 years!
In terms of travels, I'm grateful I got to visit so many countries with my family and also for business (and for surfing!) that I really love it here in FL. I just like to get to NY (LI) in September / peak hurricane season because usually the waves are great up north + I don't like the stress of hurricane preparation in FL. BTW that's one of my planned spendings mentioned above.
No dining out either, I don't like the options around here, love to prepare my own food with mostly organic produces (not as a 'religion' but because I think they taste better!). Baking my own bread as well!
So how I can I contribute to the forum, not sure about this one. I don't like dealing with finances (though you can see I'd love having some control around them); I do not know much about finances (I'm an engineer!).
Maybe I can share how to renovate some properties (I've done many many renovations, and I'm quite good at it I think!)?
Anyway, it's just a 'hello' to the Forum right now, and as we say: 'I'll see you in the water'.
Cheers,
surfFL
I've been reading, learning from the Forum for the past 5+ years and preparing FIRE for about the same amount of time!
Am I ready? I'll share some data with you here.
I'll be 52 years young this summer, I'm an engineer (2 Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering); spent the past 28 years in various medium / mini corps in media software industry (B2B). I designed software systems, I loved it. I love complex stuff and solving complex problems.
My NW is $2.333M which breaks down in
$134k cash
$1059k individual taxable account (70/30)
$173k 401k (70/30)
$670k investment property (fair market value net -8% sales fees - broker fees, etc....)
$168k primary residence (fair market value net -8% sales fees)
$20k car (2021 Toyota Corolla Hybrid - used!, CarFax fair market value)
+ various other liquid and illiquid assets which are either planned spendings (new AC, etc...) or 'discretionary' assets
Budget is $65k including taxes, all controlled in Mint.com; it's been stable for the past 4-5 years. Income will come from:
$40.8k rental (gross)
$24.2k individual taxable account (so 2.3% draw; this account generated $25k dividends last year) for now.
Then I can / will draw from the 401k @ 59.5
Then I will get social security with the following options:
$1800 / month @ 64 (-20% penalty)
$2250 / month @ 67 (0% penalty)
$2790 / month @ 70 (+24% penalty)
The $65k budget leaves about $2.5k/month discretionary which is comfortable; it excludes:
- bills and utilities
- health care
- real estate taxes and HOA fees and income tax
- insurances
So $2.5k is really just food and dining, gas and discretionary.
Since I've been working part time for the last 2 years, I've had to pay for my own health care (I'm / was above the ACA cliff) and I settled for DPC (Direct Primary Care) + Health Share. I'm super happy with my choice (doctor is 6 min drive from home, e.g. I called at 9am for a 'mini' emergency, got an appointment at 11am and prescription / pills from the clinic; for a total cost $1.39 extra compared to my monthly subscription!). I never experienced the Health Share, and hope I will never have to.
Doing lot's of sports (more below) and eating healthy for the past 22 years! (BMI = 20).
No mortgage, no loan, no lease, no debt. Also no family / dependent.
I've run FireCalc and various other calculators and they all say 'Go!'. But if you have some comments, please feel free to chime in.
As my user name suggests I live in Florida (Treasure Coast); it's a condo in a non FEMA flood zone which is CBS, I have installed impact windows, I'm not on the ground floor nor top floor (the roof snapped in 2004 with Jeanne and Frances, but was rebuilt according to Miami-Dade code). So I think it's more than safe, hurricane wise...
Also as my user name suggests, I love surfing (done it for the past 22 years as well), so yes I started late, but I'm getting pretty good at it I think. Never miss a wave, never fall and can do couple of turns / snaps on a single wave. There is room for improvement; I'd like to be able to push / do more radical turns (I'm on a 6'0" quad shortboard / local shaper). I try to do 1 hour a day if the waves are decent. In the summer (there are no waves in FL in the summer!) I swim in the ocean.
I also love (mountain) biking, although it's flat in FL! I also try to do 1 hour a day around home.
And lastly, I love music. I design some sounds on various software and hardware synthesizers; can spend 3-4 hours a day on it!
The 2 first hobbies cost almost $0 per year, the last one can be expensive (if you think hardware - couple of $k per machine) but software is getting better and better (often less than $100 per license) which makes hardware less and less needed; and I have so many of both. Been doing sound design for almost 40 years!
In terms of travels, I'm grateful I got to visit so many countries with my family and also for business (and for surfing!) that I really love it here in FL. I just like to get to NY (LI) in September / peak hurricane season because usually the waves are great up north + I don't like the stress of hurricane preparation in FL. BTW that's one of my planned spendings mentioned above.
No dining out either, I don't like the options around here, love to prepare my own food with mostly organic produces (not as a 'religion' but because I think they taste better!). Baking my own bread as well!
So how I can I contribute to the forum, not sure about this one. I don't like dealing with finances (though you can see I'd love having some control around them); I do not know much about finances (I'm an engineer!).
Maybe I can share how to renovate some properties (I've done many many renovations, and I'm quite good at it I think!)?
Anyway, it's just a 'hello' to the Forum right now, and as we say: 'I'll see you in the water'.
Cheers,
surfFL
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