New guy, 30 years old

[pacergal]

Enjoyed reading your story.
Great job so far, working towards your goals and making adjustments along the way!
Keep up LBYM, but have fun while you go.

 

[YoungSaver]

2022 update. Everything going smoothly. Job is going well. Hit my retirement number a few times during 2021, but am now a couple hundred thousand below that number. Inflation is the new worry. My cost of living has increased over 10%. I am revising my retirement number up a bit now, but I will likely move on to Barista/Coast FIRE in a year or two.

I haven't done very many of the house upgrades yet, but hoping to get moving on that this year.
Getting married later this year, it's quite a bit more expensive than originally planned, but that's okay.
2021 was my highest income ever. Big raise at work. A lot of capital gains.

$539k in 401(k)
$263k in Roth IRA & non-qualified
$145k in HSA & non-qualified
$(72k) mortgage

Approx Total savings minus mortgage is about $875k.

2021 update.

Approx Total savings minus mortgage is about $791k.

I am now semi-actively planning for retirement. We are starting to purchase items in the anticipation that we will use them for a very long time. We are getting rid of things we really don't need and have plans for a few upgrades around the house. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[freedomatlast]

Great job with your discipline of saving. More savings = more freedom. From here on out, you'll really see your savings continue to increase at an increasing rate due to the wonders of compounding. It's especially fun when your annual investment income surpasses than your annual W-2 income.

 

[YoungSaver]

2022 was interesting. Wedding actually ended up costing less than expected. Inflation is pretty bad. My cost of living increased about $5000 for the year. House values rise, which causes property tax to rise as well as house insurance. Investments were down. I had a few individual stocks that gained over 70%, so that helped a tiny bit. I've revised my retirement number up to 1.4 million now.
Still buying stuff in anticipation for retiring. Haven't done many house upgrades due to pricing and tradespeople being booked up.

$500k in 401(k)
$237k in Roth IRA & non-qualified
$139k in HSA & non-qualified
$(68k) mortgage

Approx Total savings minus mortgage is about $808k.

 

[YoungSaver]

2023 was interesting. Another major health event, but everything is fine now. Big tax refund covered the health care deductible. Inflation is still bad. 1.4 million is still my number, but my spouse worries it's not enough. Hoping to start house upgrades this year. It's weird sometimes when I'm out and about thinking I'm a millionaire in my early 40's.

$655k in 401(k)
$289k in Roth IRA & non-qualified
$312k in HSA & non-qualified
$(63k) mortgage

Approx Total savings minus mortgage is about $1.2 million.

 

[GrayHare]

Excellent progress, up 50% in a year!

 

[NgineER]

Nice work! I haven't reread the thread but IMO if you include the mortgage as a negative in your net worth, you should include your house as an asset... Otherwise take the mortgage out and just include the monthly payment as an expense.

 

[street]

You are doing very well!!

 

[2029FIREaway]

Nice reading this thread and regular progress updates!

 

[donheff]

Welcome aboard and congrats on being ahead of the curve. Way too many people don't wake up to saving & investing until 40-50 yo if then, when it's probably too late. Don't worry about ER, make FI the goal and worry about what to do then when you'll have options few others do...

+1 This is a good approach. Things change over the years, and you will change. When you get to the "number" you are targeting you will be financially independent and free to choose your future.

 

[brydanger]

2023 was interesting. Another major health event, but everything is fine now. Big tax refund covered the health care deductible. Inflation is still bad. 1.4 million is still my number, but my spouse worries it's not enough. Hoping to start house upgrades this year. It's weird sometimes when I'm out and about thinking I'm a millionaire in my early 40's.

$655k in 401(k)
$289k in Roth IRA & non-qualified
$312k in HSA & non-qualified
$(63k) mortgage

Approx Total savings minus mortgage is about $1.2 million.

Just stumbled upon this thread again.
You're clearly doing great on the savings... but Im also curious about the initial goals/wants you described 12years ago here when you started this thread.

"I enjoy my freedom"
"See myself living overseas 4-5 months out of the year"
"40 years old is the "I'm dreaming" age, however retirement at 50 is very realistic"

Rough math has you at 42 now and well beyond your initial $ goals (great work!).
How are you feeling about those other goals? Have you been spending as much time working on the dream board/making travel plans as you have watching the retirement account?

Numbers often shift in our minds as the years pass by, which often means the "finish line" keeps moving further ahead as well. In most cases thats because with those years comes comforts and higher spending, as where the 30yr old self had different priorities/goals.

Just thought I'd pop in and be the little devil on your shoulder and make sure you're considering/weighing things beyond the dollars in the account (happiness, dreams, travel, freedom, etc).

Many of us are surprised/learning how much cheaper some places in Europe/the rest of the world are compared to their home in the US (especially when including health care, etc).

Maybe it's time for some daydreaming. Imagine you're in Europe right now (for your 6th month straight) and actively trying to decide whether to or not you CHOOSE to head back to the US or stay...
Maybe you've found a little town on the coast you love, you've happened in to some remote/online work that doesn't really care where you are (and that you LOVE doing) - AND it's suddenly sounding oddly great to simply let the tenant that has been taking care of those house projects and paying your mortgage (as well as much of your travel expenses) keep doing it for a while longer while you play.

Seriously... you're doing great.
Just don't forget to remember what you were saving for back when your goal was $400k.

Especially on forums like this it can be pretty easy to get so heads down on the calculations that we forget that the one metric/row missing from the calculator is freedom (or happiness or travel or dreams).

Maybe it's time for a sabbatical (or a gap year) to go to Europe and try that lifestyle on for size??
Here's the secret almost nobody else will tell you - you can always come back!

 

[Patience]

Wow, you're doing great! We are about the same age and I'm a little jealous that you found this group so early on. Was nice to read your yearly updates, thank you for taking the time to post. It's reassuring to see others in similar scenarios.
Keep at it and you'll be FI real soon.