HI Bill
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I would not include the HSA or the Education account contributions - these are not invested assets that will be around...they are meant to be spent!
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HNL Bill, thanks for the comment 
I may agree on educational accounts, but for HSA - they are no different for us than IRA, all fully invested and just one more asset accumulation vehicle. We have them since 2006 and never took any money out. Yes, eventually they will be spent - in retirement, as any other accumulated assets for that purpose.
I may agree on educational accounts, but for HSA - they are no different for us than IRA, all fully invested and just one more asset accumulation vehicle. We have them since 2006 and never took any money out. Yes, eventually they will be spent - in retirement, as any other accumulated assets for that purpose.
exnavynuke
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Coming along nicely. Keep it up
HI Bill
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Agree, as long as the money accumulates. With my prior company, which offered one, the money had to be spent every year, and the remaining balance was forfeited!
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That was most likely Healthcare FSA.
HSA is very different in that regard - money are all yours and after age of 65 could be taken out for any reason but taxes needs to be paid on them, works same as traditional IRA. If you take out for Healthcare expenses - it is tax free any time, now or in the future.
Nice! Congrats! 
PS. Agreed that HSA counts but perhaps 529 and primary residence not necessarily...still you could cash flow college and not have a 529 and you could sell the residence to cash in the equity and move to a LCOLA (my plan) so it all depends. I still include those things similar to you but also keep a mental note of what to count on for pure retirement nest-egg.
PS. Agreed that HSA counts but perhaps 529 and primary residence not necessarily...still you could cash flow college and not have a 529 and you could sell the residence to cash in the equity and move to a LCOLA (my plan) so it all depends. I still include those things similar to you but also keep a mental note of what to count on for pure retirement nest-egg.
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dvalley, thanks and agree on all points. I do count RE in total NW although it include 2 properties, not just primary residence, but also track investable assets with it's own subtotal- looking to join "two-comma" club on that number in 2018.
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Finally got around to calculate end of the year AA, no surprise here - large stocks are way out of wack vs target 
Changed 401k contributions to go 100% into bond fund plus will be moving one of the Large stock fund to the bonds also. Will need to remember to calculate it again at the end of Q1.
Pretty pleased with blended ER%
Changed 401k contributions to go 100% into bond fund plus will be moving one of the Large stock fund to the bonds also. Will need to remember to calculate it again at the end of Q1.Pretty pleased with blended ER%
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2018 Q1 updates
- that was a wild quarter for our portfolio: all time high gain in January followed by negative gain in February and pretty much flat March
- our net worth still went up but mostly due to our contributions
- 401k contributions are very limited to both of us as expected I was able to push $15k into mine before they cut me out this year, but still not sure if I will be able to keep all those money in the plan or if they will return big chunk of it at the end of they year
- our investable assets crossed $950k, looking forward to join 2 comma club on investments only later this year
- some movement of funds within portfolio that I made during Q1 put us closer to the asset allocation target and also reduced our ER% by a notch
- all the IRS saga that I thought was already resolved just moved to the new phase - state level this time; got form 1099G stating that I got refund for 2016 in the amount of ~$1800
and in reality we sent them check for $57; after multiple calls and faxes they issued corrected 1099G with $0 in box 1 as far as I was able to understand they did not even flag my returns for double submission "because only one was with refund"
- filed our 2017 tax returns by mail about week ago, crossing my fingers that no more letters and phone conversations with federal and state IRS
- all extra money that left after maxing out tax advantaged spaces still go into saving account - hoarding cash due to continued risks to our jobs
We have 25Qs to go
- that was a wild quarter for our portfolio: all time high gain in January followed by negative gain in February and pretty much flat March
- our net worth still went up but mostly due to our contributions
- 401k contributions are very limited to both of us as expected
I was able to push $15k into mine before they cut me out this year, but still not sure if I will be able to keep all those money in the plan or if they will return big chunk of it at the end of they year - our investable assets crossed $950k, looking forward to join 2 comma club on investments only later this year
- some movement of funds within portfolio that I made during Q1 put us closer to the asset allocation target and also reduced our ER% by a notch
- all the IRS saga that I thought was already resolved just moved to the new phase - state level this time; got form 1099G stating that I got refund for 2016 in the amount of ~$1800
and in reality we sent them check for $57; after multiple calls and faxes they issued corrected 1099G with $0 in box 1 as far as I was able to understand they did not even flag my returns for double submission "because only one was with refund" - filed our 2017 tax returns by mail about week ago, crossing my fingers that no more letters and phone conversations with federal and state IRS
- all extra money that left after maxing out tax advantaged spaces still go into saving account - hoarding cash due to continued risks to our jobs
We have 25Qs to go
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Hi, Exit 2024,
It looks like that you're chugging along. We've all been spoiled by the bull market the last 8-9 years. I review our investments twice a year so I'll see what I'll find at the beginning of July.
I didn't read the whole thread, but I'm curious. Do you continue to earn $250k? How long have you had such high income? I don't want to take the wind out of your sails, but based on your ages, high income and only one child, I would have thought that your NW should've been higher. However, the trajectory of growth is going up nicely. It's not fun to see stock market trending down a bit, but OTOH you're buying cheaper shares.
It looks like that you're chugging along
. We've all been spoiled by the bull market the last 8-9 years. I review our investments twice a year so I'll see what I'll find at the beginning of July.I didn't read the whole thread, but I'm curious. Do you continue to earn $250k? How long have you had such high income? I don't want to take the wind out of your sails, but based on your ages, high income and only one child, I would have thought that your NW should've been higher. However, the trajectory of growth is going up nicely. It's not fun to see stock market trending down a bit, but OTOH you're buying cheaper shares.
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aida2003, thanks for the comments
I got that question before and answer is "no, not that long"
Here is historical numbers that I posted before, with updates for full 2015 and added 2016 and 2017
2000 - $45k one income , NW $15k
2005 - $110k two incomes, NW $62k
2010 - $190k two incomes, NW $351k
2015 - $275k two incomes, NW $943k (taxes $90K)
2016 - $268k two incomes, NW $1,069 (taxes $89K)
2017 - $281k two incomes, NW $1,317 (taxes $92K)
Taxes include payroll taxes only - federal, state, local, SS and Medicare, less minimal tax refund that we get.
As you can see - we are earning above $200k less then 10 years, and taxes we pay take good chunk out of it.
We are fortunate to have high paying jobs and live in low cost area, but do we not take that for granted as both jobs are very shaky and will be hard to replace with same pay without moving - we are trying really hard to make most out of it now while we have that opportunity.
I got that question before and answer is "no, not that long"
Here is historical numbers that I posted before, with updates for full 2015 and added 2016 and 2017
2000 - $45k one income , NW $15k
2005 - $110k two incomes, NW $62k
2010 - $190k two incomes, NW $351k
2015 - $275k two incomes, NW $943k (taxes $90K)
2016 - $268k two incomes, NW $1,069 (taxes $89K)
2017 - $281k two incomes, NW $1,317 (taxes $92K)
Taxes include payroll taxes only - federal, state, local, SS and Medicare, less minimal tax refund that we get.
As you can see - we are earning above $200k less then 10 years, and taxes we pay take good chunk out of it.
We are fortunate to have high paying jobs and live in low cost area, but do we not take that for granted as both jobs are very shaky and will be hard to replace with same pay without moving - we are trying really hard to make most out of it now while we have that opportunity.
Thanks for sharing. You must both have unique skills and professions, because to go from $45k to almost $300K it's really mind blowing (at least from my perspective). It's good that you recognize it and build your wealth instead of increasing your lifestyle.
Just curious, did you totally change your field, skills to make such a huge jump in income or was it within the same industry? E.g. like a doctor getting paid as a resident and then having an awesome income as a MD.
Just curious, did you totally change your field, skills to make such a huge jump in income or was it within the same industry? E.g. like a doctor getting paid as a resident and then having an awesome income as a MD.
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Same industry, no doctors between us
we are both in IT and all was due to continuing education while working and building skills.
exnavynuke
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Coming along nicely Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
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exnavynuke, dvalley, thank you !
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Q2 2018 update
- continue to see progress with our NW, markets did not help much in Q2, but we kept adding new money every month, so overall we had healthy NW growth;
- just a little short of hitting $1M in investable assets, expect to hit by end of this month though
- tax refunds were processed without any issues, hope at least this issue will not show up again on our radar;
- jobs seems to be stable for both of us till end of the year at least, trying to get ahead on the current income by saving as much as possible;
- finally decided to start contributions to taxable investments and opened new Fidelity account, it did not go too well though
As soon as we deposited our first $10k - they blocked account for suspicious activity when called - they refuse to unlock access to our money unless we go to third party service provider and check all our computers and phones for viruses we are both in IT and diligently run antivirus software on all our computers, but Fidelity was not satisfied with that, said that going to "Geek squad" for example and produce receipt from them will do it Mind you to tell that it would cost us about $150 per device
After multiple calls to Fidelity and reading about similar cases on this and other boards we went to Vanguard and let them pull our money out. It took them a little longer than usual but transaction was completed without single phone call from our side, will never go back to Fidelity, NEVER
We are still not sure what triggered such hostile Fidelity policy, but suspect that logging in from work through proxy had something to do with it
On the bright side - kudos to Vanguard, we are all set with them and even added more money to new account already.
We have 24Qs left to go
- continue to see progress with our NW, markets did not help much in Q2, but we kept adding new money every month, so overall we had healthy NW growth;
- just a little short of hitting $1M in investable assets, expect to hit by end of this month though
- tax refunds were processed without any issues, hope at least this issue will not show up again on our radar;
- jobs seems to be stable for both of us till end of the year at least, trying to get ahead on the current income by saving as much as possible;
- finally decided to start contributions to taxable investments and opened new Fidelity account, it did not go too well though
As soon as we deposited our first $10k - they blocked account for suspicious activity
when called - they refuse to unlock access to our money unless we go to third party service provider and check all our computers and phones for viruses we are both in IT and diligently run antivirus software on all our computers, but Fidelity was not satisfied with that, said that going to "Geek squad" for example and produce receipt from them will do it Mind you to tell that it would cost us about $150 per device After multiple calls to Fidelity and reading about similar cases on this and other boards we went to Vanguard and let them pull our money out. It took them a little longer than usual but transaction was completed without single phone call from our side, will never go back to Fidelity, NEVER
We are still not sure what triggered such hostile Fidelity policy, but suspect that logging in from work through proxy had something to do with it
On the bright side - kudos to Vanguard, we are all set with them and even added more money to new account already.
We have 24Qs left to go
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exnavynuke
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Wow, sorry to hear about your bad experience. Glad I'm happy with where my accounts are at currently...
Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
swakyaby
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A similar thing happened to me with a small IRA at Dreyfus bank where they blocked my access to my IRA account for reasons they would not disclose. After 6 months of fruitless written and phone correspondence, I requested T. RowePrice initiate transfer of my IRA to them. It took nearly 3 months for Dreyfus bank to finally cooperate with T RowePrice, but it finally transferred.
It's one of the reasons I am reluctant to hold all my investments in only one financial institution.
A similar thing happened to me with a small IRA at Dreyfus bank where they blocked my access to my IRA account for reasons they would not disclose. After 6 months of fruitless written and phone correspondence, I requested T. RowePrice initiate transfer of my IRA to them. It took nearly 3 months for Dreyfus bank to finally cooperate with T RowePrice, but it finally transferred.
It's one of the reasons I am reluctant to hold all my investments in only one financial institution.
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exnavynuke, thank you
swakyaby, sorry to hear about your ordeal, and I thought mine was bad Now I do see clear reason to spread our accounts across multiple financial institutions.
swakyaby, sorry to hear about your ordeal, and I thought mine was bad
Now I do see clear reason to spread our accounts across multiple financial institutions.
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dvalley, Thank you If market will cooperate - hope to finish year at 1.5 NW
If market will cooperate - hope to finish year at 1.5 NW
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Q3 2018 update
-NW continued to climb to all time high for us as $1491k, target for this year was to reach $1.5M and if markets will cooperate we should be on track
- Investable assets crossed $1M mark this quarter, and we are officially in 2 comma club now
- Increased our cash position during this quarter for 3 reasons:
1. Spouse's contract will end in December and we potentially could be facing risk of living on one income again
2. Looking to buy rental property anyways, but want to pay cash to not rely on income for mortgage payments
3. Markets look somewhat overheated, and we already have pile of money there
- Back again to crunching numbers for plan B - changing jobs to ones with less stress and less pay, may be part time ones, but work longer, basically semi-retire around 2020(?) and continue with that till 2030(?)
Does anyone have experience with such approach? Did you ever regret not sticking it out full time and retiring completely much earlier? Would appreciate your stories and outlook
We have 23 Qs to go
-NW continued to climb to all time high for us as $1491k, target for this year was to reach $1.5M and if markets will cooperate we should be on track
- Investable assets crossed $1M mark this quarter, and we are officially in 2 comma club now
- Increased our cash position during this quarter for 3 reasons:
1. Spouse's contract will end in December and we potentially could be facing risk of living on one income again
2. Looking to buy rental property anyways, but want to pay cash to not rely on income for mortgage payments
3. Markets look somewhat overheated, and we already have pile of money there
- Back again to crunching numbers for plan B - changing jobs to ones with less stress and less pay, may be part time ones, but work longer, basically semi-retire around 2020(?) and continue with that till 2030(?)
Does anyone have experience with such approach? Did you ever regret not sticking it out full time and retiring completely much earlier? Would appreciate your stories and outlook
We have 23 Qs to go
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Congrats on reaching the $1M mark!!!
Regarding your thoughts on changing to less stressful / less hours careers, I do not have any advice, but I am also interested in hearing what others may say on this issue. We occasionally wonder that ourselves. We've started thinking it is highly likely that we will do some sort of part-time or seasonal work in retirement anyway - mainly to have something to do. We haven't been planning any income into our retirement projections - I'm still of the mindset that whatever income we earn is all bonus money that we can spend in good years and use to offset living expense withdrawals from our portfolio in down market years.
Regarding your thoughts on changing to less stressful / less hours careers, I do not have any advice, but I am also interested in hearing what others may say on this issue. We occasionally wonder that ourselves. We've started thinking it is highly likely that we will do some sort of part-time or seasonal work in retirement anyway - mainly to have something to do. We haven't been planning any income into our retirement projections - I'm still of the mindset that whatever income we earn is all bonus money that we can spend in good years and use to offset living expense withdrawals from our portfolio in down market years.
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MoneyChic, thanks for your kind words 
As of today we are also working on our Plan A - full early retirement in 2024 through working full time jobs till then, after that all side income will be just cherry on the cake.
Plan B right now is more of a theoretical exercise and also to see if that could be viable backup plan in case we will be forced out of the jobs and have hard time to fine new ones with similar pay.
As of today we are also working on our Plan A - full early retirement in 2024 through working full time jobs till then, after that all side income will be just cherry on the cake.
Plan B right now is more of a theoretical exercise and also to see if that could be viable backup plan in case we will be forced out of the jobs and have hard time to fine new ones with similar pay.
