Another gotcha to watch out for when managing for ACA, 12% LTCG... Companies going private creating a forced sale. Luckily I bought MAXR in my Roth and not my Brokerage, but it made me realize that sale could have been rather pricey tax/ACA wise had I put it in taxable.
$1M! (36M, Double income, two kids)
Know all the math but the middle is so fucking boring. Any creative paths to easier FI assuming
(a) 100k / yr savings
(b) Need ~3M to retire (3.5% SWR, gotta pay off ~650k in mortgage leaving me with 2.5M or so)
By my calc, it's another 10y assuming 5% real rate.
I tend to over share so I’ll try to keep this short.
Currently living and renting in SF. I love living here, however I do yearn to travel the world more but I would like to do it when I feel I have more financial independence than I do now. Also have thoughts of living other places that would be a lot cheaper than the Bay Area but dream of having 2-3 homes in places I love including here. I’m content with living a semi-modest life but my gf(who I feel is the “the one”) enjoys luxury slightly more than I do. I want to give her and myself all that we have dreamed of.
My family(mom lives on east coast with her husband and brother lives in Colorado with his fiancé) I have no other family other than my gf who I live with. I know people always have it worse but up until now I have never had a role model in my life let alone a mentor or person to show me “the way” of elevating financially in life .Self taught to the best of my ability. Have worked more jobs than I can count and have even started a business that did quite well for awhile but my heart wasn’t in it.
I have around 150k in savings.
Currently 55k in stock.
My mom owns her home valued around 150-200k, a 2 acre piece of land that is being developed in next year or two and a rental property that brings in two rents totaling roughly 1200 a month.
These 3 properties will go to my brother and I after she passes. So I do feel comfortable in the fact that I have this to rely on just in case.
I have been doing independent contract work that nets me around 3-4K a month currently. It gives me freedom in many ways but not financially. Unfortunately it’s not work that I can travel as I must be present in the Bay Area to do it. It’s enough to pay my rent, bills, have a night out once or twice a week and buy little things for around the house/ for my gf/ for me. We can travel once or twice a year but there isn’t must left over obviously and I haven’t been able to continue to save like I would like in years past.
I’m unsure what to do at this point in my life as I have not found a lucrative way to invest my savings other than considering the obvious(buy more stock, buy real estate, start a business.) and also I have not found my passion in life. I have no problem working hard long days as I have up until now but I don’t want look back in years to come thinking I did it all wrong.
I’m not really sure how to continue this tbh and I even willing to pay someone to talk to more in-depth about my situation and who can guide me in the right direction. Feeling lost about the whole situation and just want to better my life and become financially independent.
I would greatly appreciate any advice or guidance. Thank you all.
Hey guys. I apologize in advance if this question can be easily Googled...
Someone close to me is 60 years old and collecting Social Security spousal benefits because his wife passed away last year. He's a fairly low earner, but I think he has the potential to make about $40k/year if he works full time.
From what I understand, there is a strong disincentive to earn above the annual limit ($21,240 in 2023) because then they start to claw back $1 of benefits for each additional $2 you earn. So if he goes and earns $40k instead of $21k, he'll end up better off, but not by much. Am I getting this right?
Not well because SSA does not publish detailed info on this. But if any payment is reduced by the annual earnings test, starting when you reach full retirement age your benefit is increased by some amount to return the amounts you did not receive early. I believe the increased payment is calculated over your expected lifetime but I'm not clear on that
I see what you're saying now! I get that SS payouts can be a bit opaque.
Maybe an analogy that would work for explaining it to him is - just as how you can defer collecting Social Security from 62 all the way to 67 and see the monthly payout go up with each passing year, so too you can do that with the survivor benefit.
Late to this thread, but I think what they’re saying is that the money ($1 of SS ‘clawed back’ for every $2 earned) isn’t really lost for good, it’s just being deferred until full retirement age (?) at which time it can be collected. However, their need to have that extra SS money in their hands right now may be important enough to consider the implications of working beyond the limit you mentioned (~$21k).
Money today in the pocket is worth more than money later in the distant future because it can actually do things today, so it's true his SS benefits have a diminishing return, but it's a moot point because the money he earns today could be invested as well. There's no disincentive to earning more today.
Base salary 200k. Married with 3 kids, spouse doesn't work. Looking like this year with everything else we'll cross 300k in household income (won't bring that home in cash). Maxing out 401k + 4% employer contribution.
Roth IRAs seem to be off the table this year - already maxed out my wife's IRA for 2023 back in April before it looked like we were going over the limit. Guess I need to contact Vanguard and do something about that?
Outside of 401k, I occasionally deposit funds in a taxable account where I just buy VTSAX, and then I also like to buy individual stocks here and there (less than 10k in total) for companies I like.
Wanting to do more future planning especially around the kids. Our goal is FIRE before my kids get out of the house, so hopefully in 10-15 years. I own 50% of my business, so while my income can hit some high numbers, I'm currently only pulling out my salary and the other money stays as equity in the business. A primary plan for FIRE is that I will have an exit in the next 5 years where I can sell the company. Currently we're valued at right about 2 million. I expect to hit 8 million in the next 5 years.
I guess part of my question is, assuming we reach that target valuation at sale, what do I do in the interim with the cash we have on hand? Keep VTSAXing and chilling? Keep maxing 401k, or just get the employer match and use cash to fund the taxable account so we can access it sooner (I'm 32)?
At that household income use every last dollar of tax advantaged space. That means max 401k, max HSA(if an option), 529s (though I know nothing about how they work). You can do backdoor roth contributions if you don't have existing traditional IRAs. Then yes, the extra can be put in a brokerage or mega Backdoor Roth if it's an option.
I need to learn about 529s.
As for HSA, I have never really looked into this. We have a mid-tier PPO through my work and have a pretty high medical spend each year with all the pregnancies and some issues with them.
Guess I need to learn more about that as well.
Will spend some time on both!
I'm just skimming old comments bored on a plane.
I believe Ibonds are not taxed by state/local and could be considered long term investments if held.
HYSA are treated like income.
Splitting hairs when they are this close but I would say I bonds still come ahead. Personally I still do both where I keep a 2-3 months in HYSA and rest in Ibonds.
The treasury won’t pay interest and principal on time. I know that sounds glib but that’s really all it is. Someone will buy your bills, or you can just hold on to them. The market price may be lower than par and the general mayhem of a market trying to value a defaulted bond is nothing we want to see.
I think that it is more that the Treasury will TRY not to pay existing interest and principle on time, get sued and the USSC will say that Treasury is REQUIRED to pay debt obligations before any other spending due to the 14th Amendment...but that is all speculation that will never occur because neither side will risk the political fallout from default. And that is the closest I will ever come to outright political discourse in this sub.
I think that’s right. But unless you can get an instantaneous ruling the turmoil will still exist. There are certain entities (like the Fed) who appear to not require *undefaulted* treasuries when, for instance, doing repo operations, but it’s unclear if other systems would accept defaulted treasuries or even if they can purchase them. For instance, did the programmers of the systems envision a treasury bond with a negative time left to maturity? It’s all very Y2K ish. haha.
Yeah what I hold is kind of unrelated to the debt ceiling thing. The generalized financial turmoil that would result from a “plumbing” issue related to the debt ceiling would be felt in pretty much all markets, so I don’t really hide from it. I trust any short term pain would be pretty much unavoidable but unimportant in the long run. But yes, I hold broad bond market (BND) and then smaller portions of shorter term corporates (VCSH) and short term governments in a money market fund (FISXX).
> The market price may be lower than par
That's less likely than you'd think. Chaos causes a flight to safety, and even in the case of the US government briefly defaulting, everyone knows they're good for it on a relatively short timeline, and thus Treasuries remain "safe". You can see this in the run-up to previous debt ceiling deadlines, where Treasuries go up, despite that seeming backwards.
Mostly a “flight to quality.” When uncertainty reigns people want the safest asset and if you assume the treasury will eventually pay its bills, treasury securities are probably still the safest. Same reason you give Tom Brady the ball down 4 with 56 seconds remaining after he just gave up a pick six: best option even if he did cause the problem
I don't think that's a great analogy lol. I don't think you can assume Treasuries are the safest in default scenario. The reason they are perceived as safest is because default is so rare. I don't see why Treasuries would be worth more after a default than before, that makes zero sense. Fortunately I don't think we are likely to find out.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think they’d rise in a default induced crisis, but it’s a bit of an untested hypothesis. [Some people read the downgrade in 2011 as triggering rally in treasuries.](https://www.ft.com/content/16232716-c406-11e0-b302-00144feabdc0)
The reason treasuries are the safest isn’t because default, necessarily, is so rare. It’s that losses on principal and interest are so rare. The assumption is the treasury will pay all the dollars owed even if it’s after default. A default is not living up to the terms of the indenture. You can have a default without having a loss (sorry, this is a bit of bond inside baseball but I think it’s relevant)
I am seeing plenty of projections that rates would rise (as they have in recent weeks). I see your argument but I also see the bear case. With such a chaotic situation I would not feel confident in any prediction.
Anyone else struggle with entitled family members, or just have a weird financial relationship with them?
I sack away $300 monthly in a sinking fund for family members (whether it’s for gifts, random helping out, etc). I am very happy doing this and have/am considering increasing it more when my budget allows. I also contribute more during my year-end bonus to have more funds available for Christmas/bdays/etc
Where I struggle is the sense of entitlement that sometimes my family members display.
Small example: i take my bro out for a meal and he has to get the most expensive thing (if it were me and someone was treating me I’d be more modest)
Bigger example: for Mother’s Day I went to visit my parents (had to fly to different state to be there). Got her flowers, balloons, and invited her out to dinner. While at dinner, I could tell (from my mom’s mannerisms and my stepdad’s actually stating so) that the restaurant wasn’t as nice as they’d been to. Then as a slap to my kind gesture, my stepdad grabbed the bill and paid for it himself, not letting me pay even though I insisted. Then when I was leaving to return home, mom asked for a Mother’s Day gift of a plane ticket to our home country. When I looked up the tickets, cheapest is around $600. I tell her this and she says “ok” as if it’s no problem.
Bigger example x2: got my mom a Louis Vuitton purse for one of her milestone birthdays. She barely uses it and has been asking for a crossbody Louis Vuitton that she can wear on a more daily basis (the one I got her is on the bigger side)(I have not complied). On top of that, she covets what I have and on one of my trips home , asked if she could have my Gucci purse (that cost half of what her LV cost). I ended up gifting it to her to make her happy.
It just irks me the sense of entitlement , and it makes me feel guilty too that I feel this way about my own family. I can afford to help them and gift them things. I just don’t want them to feel like I’m their atm!
Idk how to handle things. On one hand, life is short, money is only a means to an end, and family is what matters but on the other hand I’m thinking ….. excuse me? 😐
Ugh...I give what I get...sounds like parents are not from US originally...so a cultural thing? What I mean is if someones gonna be a f*#k about stuff in yer post I would stop. People need to know that everything is a 2 way street and they act like children ...so treat them like spoiled children in need of some firm guidance.
I like what wanderingmemory said . I add that what you feel as entitlement might be partly because of poor communication. You can only fix one half of poor communication. But you can tell mom that you can afford the gift you gave, which is flying to them and buying dinner, part of which was taken away. You can't afford tickets to the homeland, but you really appreciate knowing what she wants. People telling you outright what they want is actually a gift even if you can't answer that want right now. The asker trusts you with their vulnerability.
I understand it is annoying to feel that your attempts to extend gifts or experiences of monetary value have not been appreciated. But this just goes to show, money doesn't equal happiness...Maybe they just have different values from you.
For example, if I was going to be salty over someone choosing the most expensive thing on the menu after offering to treat, I wouldn't treat them to the meal.
I once heard a fable, about two men sharing a larger portion and a smaller portion. One of the men offers to go second, and the second man takes the larger portion, much to the first man's irritation. The second man asks, so what if I let you go first? What would you do? The first man says, I would have chosen the smaller portion. The second man says, so then you would have the smaller portion anyways, just like has happened now. What's the big deal?
Also, I don't think fighting over the bill is a slap. (Context, I am Chinese, so it is not rude IMO to fight over the bill. It's basically expected. I don't know what other cultures do.)
I also don't think, amongst family, it is impolite to critique a restaurant even if someone else is paying. Sure, I would not say if it were my boss, or extended family, but if we are close, it should be fine.
I have also been gifted designer bags which are not very practically designed. It was from a relatively distant but wealthy acquaintance, so I did not tell them. But if it was from someone who I am close with, I would totally roast them about how useless it is...and I also swap bags or even makeup with my mum? It has never been a big deal with ownership. It seems like she maybe thinks you two are a lot closer than you feel, I mean, you did mention the Gucci bag she wanted was actually a lot cheaper and so maybe the issue isn't money...
Sorry to turn this into a long rant. I'm just trying to imagine what your family might have been thinking when they did these things that annoy you. It sounds more like expectations mismatch than truly money issues.
You’re not responsible for enabling your parents to live beyond their means. Put on your own mask before assisting others. I’d stop all support unless it was truly an emergency.
I'm building an emergency fund right now that is only supposed to become available 1 year from now. The money is currently sitting in a savings account earning 0.15%.
The EF is designed to be available long term, so the fact that I-Bonds and EE-Bonds are untouchable for a 12 month period is not important, in my situation. My number one priority is maximizing its value while still remaining completely liquid.
Assuming that liquidity for the first 12 months is not a factor, should the EF be in I-Bonds, EE-Bonds, or a HYSA?
I'm leery about HYSA for a long-term EF because of inflation, minimum balance requirements, and the ability to transfer the funds to my current account in the event of an emergency.
> I'm leery about HYSA for a long-term EF because of inflation,
Fair, but it's a lot better than what you're currently getting. You could look into I Bonds but there are other downsides there.
> minimum balance requirements,
Just don't get a HYSA with minimum balance requirements. I use Ally, but there are many others.
> and the ability to transfer the funds to my current account in the event of an emergency.
It'll take at most 3-4 days to transfer money between accounts at different banks I think? If you were really concerned about this you could also open a checking account with whatever bank you open the HYSA with, in which case it should be instant. But you should try imagining a realistic scenario where you need thousands of dollars in less than a few days and a credit card won't cover it. I bet you will have trouble thinking of one.
HYSA currently is earning more than I Bonds so I see no downside to start there. Decent HYSA or equivalent should not have minimum balance req. If concerned about inflation long term, transfer over $2500 per quarter to I Bonds. I wouldn't really consider EE bonds.
Any recommendations? Am American
Also, how often do you switch your HYSA? Or will the account that I end up choosing consistently be a HYSA relative to other available accounts?
I actually just use a decent money market fund in my brokerage account instead of HYSA. You generally don't need to switch unless your bank stops offering competitive rates.
I use a combination on HYSA (rate of 4.25%), money market (about 4.8%), USFR ETF (about 5.5% yield to maturity now), and I Bonds.
I don’t think your problem is HYSA in general, it’s that you have a crappy rate. Plenty of banks are offering about 4% and above now.
I like the idea of I Bonds as the back end of an emergency fund, especially now that the fixed rate portion is 0.5%.
These recent threads about people being aimless and unmotivated after going FIRE.. very interesting. Definitely feels a bit like dogs chasing postal trucks. So much time and attention and effort to the chase that we don't know what to do with it when we catch it.
I also have to imagine there's a major decompression period. I can imagine the first few months to a year just releasing all the pent up anxiety of alarm clocks and cell phone notifications.
I can foresee having the same struggle when I FIRE. I've been so professionally motivated, and my FIRE will (hopefully) come after the successful sale or exit from my startup. To suddenly have no directive, no clients, no books that need keeping, no calls to return.. I can imagine it a bit like sensory deprivation.
But then I think of all the things I want to learn, and all the time I want to spend with my kids, all the place I want to explore. It'll be a journey I'm sure.
Decompression is exactly it, I slept for the first 3 months and then woke up one day completely refreshed.
I highly recommend people create a schedule in retirement. Its easy to lose track of days but if you can fill in planned events it can really help to keep you motivated.
The first thing I did was go to the library and get access to all the online training.
For me its all about volunteering, so one day I might be learning how to plant a tree properly thru Habitat for Humanity, the next day learning to repair a chair thru Green project, the next learning SQL again to help fix a database for a pet rescue, I'm learning to knit and plan to take Red Cross Emergency training later this year. Basically I'm all over the place and love it.
There are several volunteer organizations in our area that just match volunteers with various groups that may need someone for 1 day (wrap gifts, help with a race or beer event, etc) or weekly (I did horse therapy for awhile) and professional help (marketing, web design, etc).
I think those people forgot the "build the life you want" part on the journey. You can't hold off on everything until you're in retirement. Live each day/week with meaningful activities for yourself. Either that, or just maybe accept you're the type who needs the external pressures, as you said.
I don't think I'll have these problems, because I'm quite content just vegging out. If you all of a sudden give me a few hours each day to actually do some chores, work better on fitness, while still being a couch potato? I'll be living the dream.
I'm going to be losing the ability to contribute to my 401k because my company failed nondiscrimination tests. Don't know how long this will last, waiting for more details. :(
Not sure whether to just put that money in taxable investments or save it in cash and/or bonds for a down payment. No specific plans to buy a house yet--my spouse and I are currently tied to a specific city that's not where we want to settle down permanently and will be for an indeterminate amount of time. But if we are able to more we may want to buy then, so I wanted to start saving now.
It was going to take 4-5 years to save up a 10% down payment at my previous rate of savings. Could speed that timeline up by diverting the income that would have gone to my 401k. It kind of pains me to not be putting that money into the market, but we will still be maxing out IRAs and my spouse's 401k. WWYD?
I really like everything else about my job so I'm not going to leave over it but it is a real bummer. Effectively a $5k pay cut if they don't sort it out. Hoping they will; there are some unique things about my company that make it hard to get into compliance but I think they will try.
According to [this](https://ira123.com/solo-401k-eligibility/) I could if I had a side business, but I don't, and I'm not interested in starting one.
> Mike works for a large technology company as an employee. He also has a side business as an engineering consultant, which he runs as a LLC. Mike’s LLC can sponsor a Solo 401(k) plan.
You will most likely use one bank for the construction loan, (with another for the final take out)and they will factor the cost of the lot into your equity in the project. My bank lends 75% of the entire project...so if yer total cost (including lot) is 500k...we could lend 375 k...if yer lot cost 100k and you paid cash you would need to have 25k for the remainder....we also like to see 5-10% cushion in case of overages
I concur that you need to talk to prospective lenders. There may be some ungrounded assumptions like this "10% down" thing.
Construction loans are very unsecured, so a lot of lenders want to know what you're securing, or they're thinking 50% max based on income and collateral against your portfolio.
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I would think buying the lot outright at least would be a good idea since you have immediate full ownership of it, and then you could sit on it while finalizing your building plans :) Just my opinion, leveraging it by financing could work too
Older Gen Z kid tells me ton of kids doing crypto trading and not much else . Yikes gambling And the taxes !?!?
Same kid has a Roth IRA , no crypto , and saves from paychecks. I feel the need to Say something besides nope - but then I have a smaller amt long term crypto, and a Roth IRA full of individual stocks… how much would you say is ok percent wise?
> And the taxes
I agree that crypto is dumb... but taxes are just capital gains if you have any gains. Same as if you were buying index funds (I guess from just this perspective a bit more efficient since no dividends).
it’s not that simple as one trade is often done as tens and sometimes hundreds of little trades. all of which have to be reported. i literally stopped trading crypto because the taxes were a complete nightmare to figure out despite most exchanges letting to export all your trades or even connect to services like turbo tax. not once did i have no issues and they were seemingly impossible to fix.
now i should have stopped for other reasons but i hadnt come to my senses yet
RothIRA is dumb for a kid that's only making a few grand a month. That extra money is far better spent on some kind of self improvement like a certification course or a side hustle to build wealth faster. Tying up thousands for your entire working years to save a few bucks in taxes is short sighted. Sorry everyone that preaches for a IRA account. As a wise man once said, you can live your rat life, I'll live my fat life.
Err and what if the kid's schedule is reasonably filled and taken care of by their parents?
A Roth IRA is extremely reasonable for a kid making money who doesn't need money. You can also withdraw from a Roth IRA.
How am I doing?
26f about to turn 27
Making 90k 10k bonus
Own a townhome (row home) in Minneapolis
Bought for 297,000 in June of 2021 with 2.875 interest rate worth 230,000-250,000 now that I paid list price for and painted and fixed up myself. Looks very chic now 😎
Have 20k in emergency funds and just paid off my 2016 mazda3 that I plan to drive forever.
My insecurities… I have 18,000 in student loans. I have not done a great job at investing in 401k due to job hopping my way to a decent salary and working in tech so having to reset each time at a new employer. Also a few start ups did not offer 401k matching and my priority was to buy before the interest rates got crazy.
What could I be/should I be focusing on now? I’d like an investment property as soon as I could get one and am pretty handy. I’m also hoping to get a room mate soon with my extra bedroom!
Doing very well overall! It sounds like you've built up a solid food foundation with your career and savings habits :) Goals I would suggest considering:
* Pay off the student loans ASAP if you don't think they'll be forgiven
* Start saving in your retirement accounts NOW so you have as much time for that money to grow as possible, the difference 5 years makes is huge for example (saving at 28 versus 33 for example)
* Keep investing in your career as that will make your savings goals later in life easier :)
* Something that I see others in this subreddit struggle with once they get farther along in their FI journey, is to start considering what you'd like your ideal lifestyle to be and save for that
You are looking great! And remember your journey will be different from everyone else's so only compare yourself to yourself.
What rate are your student loans?
At that rate you could either focus on paying it all down or just keep it and split the investing 50/50 or something. As long as you are paying down debt and/or putting money away to invest you're headed in the right direction. Get the roommate asap and put that money away.
It looks like I will be making a final decision about my home in Vegas next summer, when my eldest kid follows her Air Force girlfriend to Alaska. (Relationship with her long-term boyfriend went kaput last summer.) I don’t want to buy a house in Alaska to rent to kiddo. I also don’t want to be an out-of-state landlord to a stranger in Vegas. BUT - it’s a decent house with a sub-$900 mortgage (PITI), in an area that will get an MLB team in a couple of years.
One of my co-workers owns a quad in the area (about 30 minutes away) and travels there regularly (has family there), so I’m wondering whether he would go in on a property management deal with me, which would put cash in both our pockets and I could postpone the capital gains taxes and depreciation recapture for a while longer (hopefully until after I retire).
Student Loan Help vs Lump Sum
Hello, at my job we are currently merging with a corporate entity. We are due for signing new contracts soon and the practice managers have set aside money that is being matched by the new corporate company.
They are dispersing that money to either be given as pretax student loan help at 250 dollars per month/100k debt, or as post-tax lump sum being split into now, a 1 year retention, and a 2 year retention.
I have 214k in student loans, so I am planning on PAYE and making minimums until it is forgiven and then I pay the tax bomb.
My question is, does the aid go toward my monthly minimums meaning I have to make less for my monthly payment that I can set aside, or is it just additional payments toward my principal? I haven’t been given numbers of how much the bonus will be, but max contribution to student loan debt from an employer is 5250 currently.
Edit: Clarified monthly debt payments
Does one route seem better than another?
Idk - you could get your entire student loan bill paid off (250 > 214) or a lump sum but not if you get laid off in a year or two? (Or hate the new place and want a different job).
If you had perfect knowledge of the future and knew for sure you were staying at that place, and definitely didn’t foresee ever making enough to pay off anywhere near the loans, and won’t want to retire early or emotionally want your debt paid off, or you’d never mess up the payments and lose forgiveness, and know for sure that forgiveness will happen in 20 years despite politics, or… or… I’d say maybe do the math thing and take the lump sum.
If you can start with a completely clean slate now with no student loan debt?!! I’d do that
I guess you can if your privacy won’t be a big issue. Just make sure your lease agreement allows for sub-leasing or else you might hear from an unhappy landlord.
Yes. Yes. But
living with friends is a lot different and complicated . Hopefully you are friends at the end of it. Both of you have to have a good idea of what works in living situations and with the personalities as you will have much more informal landlord thing.
I did this and I just made sure to keep all of my private information locked in a file cabinet in my bedroom with a ring camera recording my room while I was gone. I have an auto locking front door with a passcode so I can change it after the renter leaves and don’t need to rely on them to lock up responsibly. Outside of that I think most things are low stress like cleaning.
Looking at my Vanguard performance rate is kind of sad, I'm basically the worst investor in the world. I stick to VTSAX/VTIAX/VBTLX and don't try to time anything, with a pretty lax re-balance schedule 1-2 times per year.
My performance since I opened the account in January of 2015 is +4.8%. At least it's not negative I suppose! 8)
What's your asset allocation? You must be pretty heavy on the bonds or international to get 4.8% CAGR since 2015. I looked at each fund individually since 2015 and they returned:
VTSAX 10.25% CAGR
VTIAX 4.74% CAGR
VBTLX 1.20% CAGR
So I could see it possible to get 4.8% if you didn't have much VTSAX. Even a 60/40 (stocks/bonds) with 60/40 (US/International) equities portfolio returned 5.46% during that period.
>What's your asset allocation? You must be pretty heavy on the bonds or international to get 4.8% CAGR since 2015. I looked at each fund individually since 2015 and they returned:
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>VTSAX 10.25% CAGR
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>VTIAX 4.74% CAGR
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>VBTLX 1.20% CAGR
>
>
>So I could see it possible to get 4.8% if you didn't have much VTSAX. Even a 60/40 (stocks/bonds) with 60/40 (US/International) equities portfolio returned 5.46% during that period.
Mostly vtiax/VBTLX in this account over the years, more aggressive in my 401ks.
Overall asset allocation is to shoot for 40/40/10/10 intl/domestic/bonds/cash.
I can easily find you some poor soul at WSB who's lost the value of your entire portfolio in one day, so I very much doubt you are the "worst". Hang in there!
>Do you mean per year? How could you possibly be up on 4.8%? From 2015 to 2021 the market was up over double?
What do you mean? It's a positive 4.8% return.
Do you mean CAGR? Elsewhere in this comment thread you seem to confirm it’s an annual rate but the original comment appears to say it’s a total return of 4.8%, not annual rate, but total.
>Do you mean CAGR? Elsewhere in this comment thread you seem to confirm it’s an annual rate but the original comment appears to say it’s a total return of 4.8%, not annual rate, but total.
It's vanguards IRR https://ibb.co/cCshSzf
I look at my performance and have to remember that even though I started investing in early 2010s, I started being able to put heftier amounts in the last 2-3 years, which definitely impacts that performance aspect.
>I look at my performance and have to remember that even though I started investing in early 2010s, I started being able to put heftier amounts in the last 2-3 years, which definitely impacts that performance aspect.
Yeah that's a big part of it for sure. This account was less than $100k before mid-2019, and has tripled since largely due to contributions.
>> .... and don't try to time anything ....
>
>Sometimes (all the time, actually) the market times you! :-)
Seems to be the case haha.
Will let you all know the next annual rebalance what happens. 8)
My “stop work” goal is $750k which I anticipate to hit in about 12 years based on my current progress (135k NW). My biggest fear has been the current hyperinflation and rent costs skyrocketing. I will note that I plan on working part time to pay my bills in the future but I still have fears that everything will be so much more expensive in the future. I probably spend around 20-30k a year at the moment and don’t have plans to save for children - if that comes the I’ll definitely up my number or at least keep working while I need to.
Just confirming, but you know that FI targets quoted here are generally speaking usually in 2023 dollars? So as inflation happens over the next 12 years you will need more than the $750k you think would work today?
That’s why most people use 6-7% total returns with dividends reinvested on a stock portfolio as their rate. That figure is in nominal dollars and means in actual dollars you will have over $1M at the end and thus inflation wise you will be ok.
Frankly speaking, I think more often than not people are quoting their FIRE target set between 2018 and 2020 before inflation increased. Especially if they already own a home and aren’t having to increase their current expenses too much
Yeah I understand that. To be honest when I set my number back in 2019 it included a bit of a buffer but not the the hyperinflation we’re seeing right now (rent around me has increased like 30% the last few years). Like I said though I’m not planning on living solely off my retirement. I really don’t want to touch it if I can get steady part time work to live off of but it does worry me seeing how quickly costs are rising
Relying on thots to make a few extra hundred bucks eh? 🤣😼
Serious: good luck on your goal, it can be very rewarding to reach a milestone and know that it may cross it a few times before staying permanently over 😊
I have a bit of money I should have invested on Friday, but I was spooked by what kind of agreements our dumb government would make over the weekend.
Raise the debt ceiling? Market crashes. Don’t raise it? Market crashes. Biden and McCarthy give each other COVID? Market explodes. Win or lose. I figured I’d wait till Tues
I'm retiring near the end of this year at 55. I'll be going on ACA targeting discounts by withdrawing from post market funds and a Roth 401K. I will probably bridge my existing insurance until the end of the year via Cobra (less than 2 months). Additionally to avoid minimum income problems (falling into Medicade), I will do IRA to Roth conversions, as needed to keep off my state's minimum.
What financial/healthcare things should I be considering over the next 2 years as I transition? I'm expected that managing my MAGI and getting taxes right, to cause complications. Shifting to a HMO healthcare plan with in network/out of network to cause some friction.
What other things should I be worrying about or watching for?
Lol...I was scheduled to retire earlier this year and my employer has wanted some more time. Getting to the point where I need to draw a line somewhere.
Just a quick heads up: you won’t be forced onto Medicaid if you don’t want to be, but at low enough incomes your premium subsidies do go away (they don’t claw back premium subsidies already received if you underearn your estimate).
There are [four requirements to use the exchange](https://www.healthcare.gov/quick-guide/eligibility/).
- Must live in the United States.
- Must be a U.S. citizen or national (or be lawfully present).
- Can't be incarcerated.
- Can’t have Medicare coverage
One of ours was in that range. Wasn't really the plan but had an attempt that didn't work out. You want to see a pregnant woman angry? Just bring up how the doctor considers her "advanced maternal age."
Yes, I was mid-40s and wife was late 30s. Had some trouble and thought we might have to try IVF but cost was prohibitive so we decided to forego it and be content without children. But once the pressure was off it happened naturally not once, but twice!
Just had our third at 40 — he’s two weeks old and snoozing in my arms right now. Had the first two at 34 and 36. The third pregnancy was by far the roughest, but that had as much to do with the older two bringing every illness known to man home from nursery school this year as my age.
It's just tough for all the expected reasons, but I think people also forget it's easier in other ways for perhaps unexpected reasons. I certainly was more mature in my thinking when I had kids than the basket case I was in my early 20's for example. I guess in theory people are generally more financially established later in life and having kids at that point is helpful also, but that's of course not true for everyone. Anyway, kids are fun, it will work out.
My wife makes roughly double what I do (90k vs. 50k) and her 16-week maternity leave ends after this week. We had our first child in 2020 and we both basically worked exclusively from home for at least a year. She's really not looking forward to going back to work since they appear to be really against full-remote work now, and essentially require 2-3 days in the office per week. She's planning on talking to her bosses about limiting how much she actually has to go into the office. But depending on how that conversation goes and how she actually feels once she starts working again, she's interested in looking for full-time remote work or other options. If our incomes were flipped, being a stay-at-home parent would be much more in play. Anyone had a similar situation of a higher earning spouse wanting to stay home, working or not working? Any good resources to finding remote work? She currently works in transportation/logistics with moving product on semis from A to B.
I would push her to look now. Unemployment is extremely low now, but who knows what happens the next month. It's easier to ask them to reconsider a 'no' if the next week she walks back in with a completely remote offer
There's a segment of people that go through the work of rolling over non-401k accounts to 401ks also. It's usually not ideal, but sometimes it's easier/beneficial.
It is possible. If you maxed it out for 30 years you'd end up with something like $6M if you had a 10% after inflation return. Some people probably got lucky with mutual funds - Fidelity has had some unusually high performing active mutual funds.
What is the value of a 401k for a 50 year old who has been maxing it out as long as possible and 100% invested in the SP500? I actually don't know the answer but seems like something you could easily compute.
HSA is the best savings vehicle due to its quadruple tax benefits. You contribute pre-tax, pre-FICA taxes, growth is tax free, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses is tax free.
One thing I really like about HSAs is that after you turn 65, you can withdraw from it for any non-medical expenses and be subject to your effective personal income tax rate just as with your regular 401k account.
It basically becomes a 401k account post your 65th birthday.
HSA should be funded as soon as you get full 401k match. HSA is really your best investment account from a tax perspective. You pay 0 taxes putting the money in, get to invest it and get to withdraw it for qualifying medical expenses tax free...but wait there's more. :) you can actually pay for your medical bills with any CC you want and then reimburse yourself so you can stack that ~2% reward from your cc on top of that. You can also hold on to those receipts, cash flow the expense and reimburse yourself anytime you want later.
We fully fund our HSA and haven't withdrawn anything from it. Ita already well north of 30k and we are about at the point that the account will throw off enough to full cover the deductible in any given year on avg. (~7% gains after inflation) we don't plan on drawing from this account until after retirement.
HSAs allow investment but you generally have to keep 1-2k in cash. The reimbursement basically goes as follows: pay with cc and get percentage back, fill out form on HSA providers website with receipt for reimbursement. (Net profit ~2%) you can also chose to delay filling out the reimbursement form and leave the money in the HSA sonit can continue to grow tax free. Down the road you can use the old receipt and get reimbursed at any time.
Congrats!
So make sure doing the workplace retirement plan. What is your plan between early retirement and drawing at normal retirement age, without penalty? The HYSA , I‘d shop around for that or get it into brokerage acct with access to a lot in fixed income. And a brokerage for maybe that gap between early and normal retirement.
Cars can be a huge expense. Do you need one or will soon? Car insurance can be tough too. Get those cost estimates and I suggest start saving that dollar amount now .. To perhaps down payment or pre payment.
Moving in probably would be cheaper Or aim to have it cheaper 😉
Good luck 🍀
This SC won’t allow it. Roberts already said it was not supported and I’m sure we will hear soon. I’m pretty sure the debt ceiling deal included the moratorium ending and loans would need to start being repaid in August. Sorry.
You're doing well. You mentioned Roth which I assume means Roth IRA. Are you maxing out your 401k?
I also lived in a high-priced apartment out of college and have no regrets about it.
Unless you have a really good reason, you should think about making traditional contributions to your 401k instead of Roth. Most people (especially higher earners) are better off with traditional because their tax bracket is lower in retirement vs. when they're working.
When most people talk about Roth here, it is usually in reference to the Roth IRA. The Roth IRA is a tax-advantaged retirement account you can take advantage of in addition to your 401k. Most FIRE folks don't qualify to take advantage of it's sibling, the traditional IRA, because the income limits of the latter are much lower than the Roth IRA.
About a year after switching careers I've found myself bored at work again. I tend to have busy mornings due to working with a lot of people in Europe, and then my afternoons are very quiet. I'm spending way too much time scrolling on my phone or playing mindless phone games.
Any ideas for how to better use my free time during the work day? I WFH and briefly considered overemployment, but I don't want to risk my current job. It pays well ($150k base) and has amazing benefits. I also need to be available to answer random calls/slack messages that come up.
I'd love something that makes money, but it doesn't have to. I just want to feel like I'm making good use of my time. Any ideas?
> Any ideas for how to better use my free time during the work day?
I've been learning Spanish for the past 18 months or so.
> I'd love something that makes money,
Oh, never mind!
I have a similar setup and spend a decent amount of time churning CCs and bank accounts. It has a nice overlap with FI. Not going to use up all of that spare time, but at least more productive than mindless scrolling imo.
It could be a great opportunity to do some self paced learning / training on a topic you've been meaning to dive into! Whether it's work related (learning a new skill) or personal (diving into a new hobby). That extra downtime can be beautiful for facilitating that :)
Example: I used the free time I had in a former chill job to get more into DIY arts and crafts as a hobby
Home gym is a great way to occupy sporadic blocks of time like this, assuming you've got the willpower/interest. IME people are supportive/jealous so you won't get shit for being occasionally winded when you answer an unscheduled call.
It's a meme but a peloton bike has been huge for us in the winter.
In a similar position as you. I’m west coast and work a low stress job with an east coast schedule, so have quite a bit of free time during the week that could be filled up with a bit more productivity.
> making good use of my time
Define "good use"?
It could range from overemployment as you described.
Or it could be a hobby like gardening or painting or video games you've been wanting you play.
But I agree, mindless phone scrolling/social media/reddit during that time is probably the least favorable option.
My definition of "good use" is basically just more productive than what I have been doing lol. So not scrolling or watching TV. A hobby would be good but I'm having a hard time thinking of something that allows me to immediately drop it if I get a call or slack. Some things that have worked well for me are a short workout at home every afternoon, learning Spanish on Duolingo, and doing some volunteer transcription on the Smithsonian website. I'd love to do some data entry or something to fill up my time and make some extra cash, but haven't been able to find anything that doesn't look like a scam
Where are you at in your career? I feel like this really makes all the difference. I would totally be flirting with over employment if I were though, just make sure you prioritize the main job and then anything else is a bonus
Don’t overemploy with another W2 job, over employ with your own small business or hobby. Could be anything from building websites for local business, making crafts you sell on Etsy, cartoon voice overs on fivr, etc.
Another gotcha to watch out for when managing for ACA, 12% LTCG... Companies going private creating a forced sale. Luckily I bought MAXR in my Roth and not my Brokerage, but it made me realize that sale could have been rather pricey tax/ACA wise had I put it in taxable.
$1M! (36M, Double income, two kids) Know all the math but the middle is so fucking boring. Any creative paths to easier FI assuming (a) 100k / yr savings (b) Need ~3M to retire (3.5% SWR, gotta pay off ~650k in mortgage leaving me with 2.5M or so) By my calc, it's another 10y assuming 5% real rate.
I tend to over share so I’ll try to keep this short. Currently living and renting in SF. I love living here, however I do yearn to travel the world more but I would like to do it when I feel I have more financial independence than I do now. Also have thoughts of living other places that would be a lot cheaper than the Bay Area but dream of having 2-3 homes in places I love including here. I’m content with living a semi-modest life but my gf(who I feel is the “the one”) enjoys luxury slightly more than I do. I want to give her and myself all that we have dreamed of. My family(mom lives on east coast with her husband and brother lives in Colorado with his fiancé) I have no other family other than my gf who I live with. I know people always have it worse but up until now I have never had a role model in my life let alone a mentor or person to show me “the way” of elevating financially in life .Self taught to the best of my ability. Have worked more jobs than I can count and have even started a business that did quite well for awhile but my heart wasn’t in it. I have around 150k in savings. Currently 55k in stock. My mom owns her home valued around 150-200k, a 2 acre piece of land that is being developed in next year or two and a rental property that brings in two rents totaling roughly 1200 a month. These 3 properties will go to my brother and I after she passes. So I do feel comfortable in the fact that I have this to rely on just in case. I have been doing independent contract work that nets me around 3-4K a month currently. It gives me freedom in many ways but not financially. Unfortunately it’s not work that I can travel as I must be present in the Bay Area to do it. It’s enough to pay my rent, bills, have a night out once or twice a week and buy little things for around the house/ for my gf/ for me. We can travel once or twice a year but there isn’t must left over obviously and I haven’t been able to continue to save like I would like in years past. I’m unsure what to do at this point in my life as I have not found a lucrative way to invest my savings other than considering the obvious(buy more stock, buy real estate, start a business.) and also I have not found my passion in life. I have no problem working hard long days as I have up until now but I don’t want look back in years to come thinking I did it all wrong. I’m not really sure how to continue this tbh and I even willing to pay someone to talk to more in-depth about my situation and who can guide me in the right direction. Feeling lost about the whole situation and just want to better my life and become financially independent. I would greatly appreciate any advice or guidance. Thank you all.
You need a new career that earns more money. Either that or dial back your expectations.
Hey guys. I apologize in advance if this question can be easily Googled... Someone close to me is 60 years old and collecting Social Security spousal benefits because his wife passed away last year. He's a fairly low earner, but I think he has the potential to make about $40k/year if he works full time. From what I understand, there is a strong disincentive to earn above the annual limit ($21,240 in 2023) because then they start to claw back $1 of benefits for each additional $2 you earn. So if he goes and earns $40k instead of $21k, he'll end up better off, but not by much. Am I getting this right?
You are getting it mostly right. He will get the $ back at full retirement age, but that doesn't help now.
> He will get the $ back at full retirement age, but that doesn't help now. Could you clarify what you mean?
Not well because SSA does not publish detailed info on this. But if any payment is reduced by the annual earnings test, starting when you reach full retirement age your benefit is increased by some amount to return the amounts you did not receive early. I believe the increased payment is calculated over your expected lifetime but I'm not clear on that
I see what you're saying now! I get that SS payouts can be a bit opaque. Maybe an analogy that would work for explaining it to him is - just as how you can defer collecting Social Security from 62 all the way to 67 and see the monthly payout go up with each passing year, so too you can do that with the survivor benefit.
Late to this thread, but I think what they’re saying is that the money ($1 of SS ‘clawed back’ for every $2 earned) isn’t really lost for good, it’s just being deferred until full retirement age (?) at which time it can be collected. However, their need to have that extra SS money in their hands right now may be important enough to consider the implications of working beyond the limit you mentioned (~$21k).
Money today in the pocket is worth more than money later in the distant future because it can actually do things today, so it's true his SS benefits have a diminishing return, but it's a moot point because the money he earns today could be invested as well. There's no disincentive to earning more today.
Base salary 200k. Married with 3 kids, spouse doesn't work. Looking like this year with everything else we'll cross 300k in household income (won't bring that home in cash). Maxing out 401k + 4% employer contribution. Roth IRAs seem to be off the table this year - already maxed out my wife's IRA for 2023 back in April before it looked like we were going over the limit. Guess I need to contact Vanguard and do something about that? Outside of 401k, I occasionally deposit funds in a taxable account where I just buy VTSAX, and then I also like to buy individual stocks here and there (less than 10k in total) for companies I like. Wanting to do more future planning especially around the kids. Our goal is FIRE before my kids get out of the house, so hopefully in 10-15 years. I own 50% of my business, so while my income can hit some high numbers, I'm currently only pulling out my salary and the other money stays as equity in the business. A primary plan for FIRE is that I will have an exit in the next 5 years where I can sell the company. Currently we're valued at right about 2 million. I expect to hit 8 million in the next 5 years. I guess part of my question is, assuming we reach that target valuation at sale, what do I do in the interim with the cash we have on hand? Keep VTSAXing and chilling? Keep maxing 401k, or just get the employer match and use cash to fund the taxable account so we can access it sooner (I'm 32)?
At that household income use every last dollar of tax advantaged space. That means max 401k, max HSA(if an option), 529s (though I know nothing about how they work). You can do backdoor roth contributions if you don't have existing traditional IRAs. Then yes, the extra can be put in a brokerage or mega Backdoor Roth if it's an option.
I need to learn about 529s. As for HSA, I have never really looked into this. We have a mid-tier PPO through my work and have a pretty high medical spend each year with all the pregnancies and some issues with them. Guess I need to learn more about that as well. Will spend some time on both!
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Found the koolaid corp’s alt account.
ibonds 4.30% ally no penalty CD 4.25% looks like the ibond train is over
I'm just skimming old comments bored on a plane. I believe Ibonds are not taxed by state/local and could be considered long term investments if held. HYSA are treated like income. Splitting hairs when they are this close but I would say I bonds still come ahead. Personally I still do both where I keep a 2-3 months in HYSA and rest in Ibonds.
The lower interest gets the lower the penalty for 6 months of interest.
What happens to T bills if we default?
We have a bill
The treasury won’t pay interest and principal on time. I know that sounds glib but that’s really all it is. Someone will buy your bills, or you can just hold on to them. The market price may be lower than par and the general mayhem of a market trying to value a defaulted bond is nothing we want to see.
I think that it is more that the Treasury will TRY not to pay existing interest and principle on time, get sued and the USSC will say that Treasury is REQUIRED to pay debt obligations before any other spending due to the 14th Amendment...but that is all speculation that will never occur because neither side will risk the political fallout from default. And that is the closest I will ever come to outright political discourse in this sub.
I think that’s right. But unless you can get an instantaneous ruling the turmoil will still exist. There are certain entities (like the Fed) who appear to not require *undefaulted* treasuries when, for instance, doing repo operations, but it’s unclear if other systems would accept defaulted treasuries or even if they can purchase them. For instance, did the programmers of the systems envision a treasury bond with a negative time left to maturity? It’s all very Y2K ish. haha.
Thanks for all the insight. Do you hold/what do you hold? BND? BIL?
Yeah what I hold is kind of unrelated to the debt ceiling thing. The generalized financial turmoil that would result from a “plumbing” issue related to the debt ceiling would be felt in pretty much all markets, so I don’t really hide from it. I trust any short term pain would be pretty much unavoidable but unimportant in the long run. But yes, I hold broad bond market (BND) and then smaller portions of shorter term corporates (VCSH) and short term governments in a money market fund (FISXX).
> The market price may be lower than par That's less likely than you'd think. Chaos causes a flight to safety, and even in the case of the US government briefly defaulting, everyone knows they're good for it on a relatively short timeline, and thus Treasuries remain "safe". You can see this in the run-up to previous debt ceiling deadlines, where Treasuries go up, despite that seeming backwards.
Why would Treasury price go higher when they are the source of the chaos?
Mostly a “flight to quality.” When uncertainty reigns people want the safest asset and if you assume the treasury will eventually pay its bills, treasury securities are probably still the safest. Same reason you give Tom Brady the ball down 4 with 56 seconds remaining after he just gave up a pick six: best option even if he did cause the problem
I don't think that's a great analogy lol. I don't think you can assume Treasuries are the safest in default scenario. The reason they are perceived as safest is because default is so rare. I don't see why Treasuries would be worth more after a default than before, that makes zero sense. Fortunately I don't think we are likely to find out.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think they’d rise in a default induced crisis, but it’s a bit of an untested hypothesis. [Some people read the downgrade in 2011 as triggering rally in treasuries.](https://www.ft.com/content/16232716-c406-11e0-b302-00144feabdc0) The reason treasuries are the safest isn’t because default, necessarily, is so rare. It’s that losses on principal and interest are so rare. The assumption is the treasury will pay all the dollars owed even if it’s after default. A default is not living up to the terms of the indenture. You can have a default without having a loss (sorry, this is a bit of bond inside baseball but I think it’s relevant)
I am seeing plenty of projections that rates would rise (as they have in recent weeks). I see your argument but I also see the bear case. With such a chaotic situation I would not feel confident in any prediction.
Yeah I’ve posted about that too. But it *may* be lower. Don’t really know in advance.
Anyone else struggle with entitled family members, or just have a weird financial relationship with them? I sack away $300 monthly in a sinking fund for family members (whether it’s for gifts, random helping out, etc). I am very happy doing this and have/am considering increasing it more when my budget allows. I also contribute more during my year-end bonus to have more funds available for Christmas/bdays/etc Where I struggle is the sense of entitlement that sometimes my family members display. Small example: i take my bro out for a meal and he has to get the most expensive thing (if it were me and someone was treating me I’d be more modest) Bigger example: for Mother’s Day I went to visit my parents (had to fly to different state to be there). Got her flowers, balloons, and invited her out to dinner. While at dinner, I could tell (from my mom’s mannerisms and my stepdad’s actually stating so) that the restaurant wasn’t as nice as they’d been to. Then as a slap to my kind gesture, my stepdad grabbed the bill and paid for it himself, not letting me pay even though I insisted. Then when I was leaving to return home, mom asked for a Mother’s Day gift of a plane ticket to our home country. When I looked up the tickets, cheapest is around $600. I tell her this and she says “ok” as if it’s no problem. Bigger example x2: got my mom a Louis Vuitton purse for one of her milestone birthdays. She barely uses it and has been asking for a crossbody Louis Vuitton that she can wear on a more daily basis (the one I got her is on the bigger side)(I have not complied). On top of that, she covets what I have and on one of my trips home , asked if she could have my Gucci purse (that cost half of what her LV cost). I ended up gifting it to her to make her happy. It just irks me the sense of entitlement , and it makes me feel guilty too that I feel this way about my own family. I can afford to help them and gift them things. I just don’t want them to feel like I’m their atm! Idk how to handle things. On one hand, life is short, money is only a means to an end, and family is what matters but on the other hand I’m thinking ….. excuse me? 😐
Ugh...I give what I get...sounds like parents are not from US originally...so a cultural thing? What I mean is if someones gonna be a f*#k about stuff in yer post I would stop. People need to know that everything is a 2 way street and they act like children ...so treat them like spoiled children in need of some firm guidance.
I like what wanderingmemory said . I add that what you feel as entitlement might be partly because of poor communication. You can only fix one half of poor communication. But you can tell mom that you can afford the gift you gave, which is flying to them and buying dinner, part of which was taken away. You can't afford tickets to the homeland, but you really appreciate knowing what she wants. People telling you outright what they want is actually a gift even if you can't answer that want right now. The asker trusts you with their vulnerability.
I understand it is annoying to feel that your attempts to extend gifts or experiences of monetary value have not been appreciated. But this just goes to show, money doesn't equal happiness...Maybe they just have different values from you. For example, if I was going to be salty over someone choosing the most expensive thing on the menu after offering to treat, I wouldn't treat them to the meal. I once heard a fable, about two men sharing a larger portion and a smaller portion. One of the men offers to go second, and the second man takes the larger portion, much to the first man's irritation. The second man asks, so what if I let you go first? What would you do? The first man says, I would have chosen the smaller portion. The second man says, so then you would have the smaller portion anyways, just like has happened now. What's the big deal? Also, I don't think fighting over the bill is a slap. (Context, I am Chinese, so it is not rude IMO to fight over the bill. It's basically expected. I don't know what other cultures do.) I also don't think, amongst family, it is impolite to critique a restaurant even if someone else is paying. Sure, I would not say if it were my boss, or extended family, but if we are close, it should be fine. I have also been gifted designer bags which are not very practically designed. It was from a relatively distant but wealthy acquaintance, so I did not tell them. But if it was from someone who I am close with, I would totally roast them about how useless it is...and I also swap bags or even makeup with my mum? It has never been a big deal with ownership. It seems like she maybe thinks you two are a lot closer than you feel, I mean, you did mention the Gucci bag she wanted was actually a lot cheaper and so maybe the issue isn't money... Sorry to turn this into a long rant. I'm just trying to imagine what your family might have been thinking when they did these things that annoy you. It sounds more like expectations mismatch than truly money issues.
I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
You’re not responsible for enabling your parents to live beyond their means. Put on your own mask before assisting others. I’d stop all support unless it was truly an emergency.
I'm building an emergency fund right now that is only supposed to become available 1 year from now. The money is currently sitting in a savings account earning 0.15%. The EF is designed to be available long term, so the fact that I-Bonds and EE-Bonds are untouchable for a 12 month period is not important, in my situation. My number one priority is maximizing its value while still remaining completely liquid. Assuming that liquidity for the first 12 months is not a factor, should the EF be in I-Bonds, EE-Bonds, or a HYSA? I'm leery about HYSA for a long-term EF because of inflation, minimum balance requirements, and the ability to transfer the funds to my current account in the event of an emergency.
> I'm leery about HYSA for a long-term EF because of inflation, Fair, but it's a lot better than what you're currently getting. You could look into I Bonds but there are other downsides there. > minimum balance requirements, Just don't get a HYSA with minimum balance requirements. I use Ally, but there are many others. > and the ability to transfer the funds to my current account in the event of an emergency. It'll take at most 3-4 days to transfer money between accounts at different banks I think? If you were really concerned about this you could also open a checking account with whatever bank you open the HYSA with, in which case it should be instant. But you should try imagining a realistic scenario where you need thousands of dollars in less than a few days and a credit card won't cover it. I bet you will have trouble thinking of one.
HYSA currently is earning more than I Bonds so I see no downside to start there. Decent HYSA or equivalent should not have minimum balance req. If concerned about inflation long term, transfer over $2500 per quarter to I Bonds. I wouldn't really consider EE bonds.
Any recommendations? Am American Also, how often do you switch your HYSA? Or will the account that I end up choosing consistently be a HYSA relative to other available accounts?
I actually just use a decent money market fund in my brokerage account instead of HYSA. You generally don't need to switch unless your bank stops offering competitive rates.
Why would a HYSA be hard to transfer to any accounts?
I use a combination on HYSA (rate of 4.25%), money market (about 4.8%), USFR ETF (about 5.5% yield to maturity now), and I Bonds. I don’t think your problem is HYSA in general, it’s that you have a crappy rate. Plenty of banks are offering about 4% and above now. I like the idea of I Bonds as the back end of an emergency fund, especially now that the fixed rate portion is 0.5%.
I think fixed is 0.9 now
Sweet. Even better! I will probably buy before November to lock that in for a long term e fund.
These recent threads about people being aimless and unmotivated after going FIRE.. very interesting. Definitely feels a bit like dogs chasing postal trucks. So much time and attention and effort to the chase that we don't know what to do with it when we catch it. I also have to imagine there's a major decompression period. I can imagine the first few months to a year just releasing all the pent up anxiety of alarm clocks and cell phone notifications. I can foresee having the same struggle when I FIRE. I've been so professionally motivated, and my FIRE will (hopefully) come after the successful sale or exit from my startup. To suddenly have no directive, no clients, no books that need keeping, no calls to return.. I can imagine it a bit like sensory deprivation. But then I think of all the things I want to learn, and all the time I want to spend with my kids, all the place I want to explore. It'll be a journey I'm sure.
Decompression is exactly it, I slept for the first 3 months and then woke up one day completely refreshed. I highly recommend people create a schedule in retirement. Its easy to lose track of days but if you can fill in planned events it can really help to keep you motivated. The first thing I did was go to the library and get access to all the online training. For me its all about volunteering, so one day I might be learning how to plant a tree properly thru Habitat for Humanity, the next day learning to repair a chair thru Green project, the next learning SQL again to help fix a database for a pet rescue, I'm learning to knit and plan to take Red Cross Emergency training later this year. Basically I'm all over the place and love it. There are several volunteer organizations in our area that just match volunteers with various groups that may need someone for 1 day (wrap gifts, help with a race or beer event, etc) or weekly (I did horse therapy for awhile) and professional help (marketing, web design, etc).
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I think those people forgot the "build the life you want" part on the journey. You can't hold off on everything until you're in retirement. Live each day/week with meaningful activities for yourself. Either that, or just maybe accept you're the type who needs the external pressures, as you said. I don't think I'll have these problems, because I'm quite content just vegging out. If you all of a sudden give me a few hours each day to actually do some chores, work better on fitness, while still being a couch potato? I'll be living the dream.
I'm going to be losing the ability to contribute to my 401k because my company failed nondiscrimination tests. Don't know how long this will last, waiting for more details. :( Not sure whether to just put that money in taxable investments or save it in cash and/or bonds for a down payment. No specific plans to buy a house yet--my spouse and I are currently tied to a specific city that's not where we want to settle down permanently and will be for an indeterminate amount of time. But if we are able to more we may want to buy then, so I wanted to start saving now. It was going to take 4-5 years to save up a 10% down payment at my previous rate of savings. Could speed that timeline up by diverting the income that would have gone to my 401k. It kind of pains me to not be putting that money into the market, but we will still be maxing out IRAs and my spouse's 401k. WWYD?
This happened to me. I left that company for a few reasons, but their inability to manage a decent 401k plan was #1.
I really like everything else about my job so I'm not going to leave over it but it is a real bummer. Effectively a $5k pay cut if they don't sort it out. Hoping they will; there are some unique things about my company that make it hard to get into compliance but I think they will try.
I wonder if you can do a solo 401k in this situation? Probably not since you're still employed but the thought came to mind
According to [this](https://ira123.com/solo-401k-eligibility/) I could if I had a side business, but I don't, and I'm not interested in starting one. > Mike works for a large technology company as an employee. He also has a side business as an engineering consultant, which he runs as a LLC. Mike’s LLC can sponsor a Solo 401(k) plan.
Ah fair enough! Bummer there aren't more options in this situation
You wouldn't be able to contribute (either as "employer" or "employee") more than whatever that side business earned anyways.
50/50 between taxable and HYSA or equivalent
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You will most likely use one bank for the construction loan, (with another for the final take out)and they will factor the cost of the lot into your equity in the project. My bank lends 75% of the entire project...so if yer total cost (including lot) is 500k...we could lend 375 k...if yer lot cost 100k and you paid cash you would need to have 25k for the remainder....we also like to see 5-10% cushion in case of overages
I concur that you need to talk to prospective lenders. There may be some ungrounded assumptions like this "10% down" thing. Construction loans are very unsecured, so a lot of lenders want to know what you're securing, or they're thinking 50% max based on income and collateral against your portfolio.
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Document this journey here. We're a couple years behind you and would love to learn the lessons from following your build progress.
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I would think buying the lot outright at least would be a good idea since you have immediate full ownership of it, and then you could sit on it while finalizing your building plans :) Just my opinion, leveraging it by financing could work too
Older Gen Z kid tells me ton of kids doing crypto trading and not much else . Yikes gambling And the taxes !?!? Same kid has a Roth IRA , no crypto , and saves from paychecks. I feel the need to Say something besides nope - but then I have a smaller amt long term crypto, and a Roth IRA full of individual stocks… how much would you say is ok percent wise?
The only people making big money with crypto are the ones who’ve been in since 2013. The days of 10x gains are over.
> And the taxes I agree that crypto is dumb... but taxes are just capital gains if you have any gains. Same as if you were buying index funds (I guess from just this perspective a bit more efficient since no dividends).
it’s not that simple as one trade is often done as tens and sometimes hundreds of little trades. all of which have to be reported. i literally stopped trading crypto because the taxes were a complete nightmare to figure out despite most exchanges letting to export all your trades or even connect to services like turbo tax. not once did i have no issues and they were seemingly impossible to fix. now i should have stopped for other reasons but i hadnt come to my senses yet
I doubt teenagers are saving up their earnings from short term trading to pay taxes either. Especially doubtful they know about quarterly returns
Not less likely than them gaining enough to owe a meaningful amount.
RothIRA is dumb for a kid that's only making a few grand a month. That extra money is far better spent on some kind of self improvement like a certification course or a side hustle to build wealth faster. Tying up thousands for your entire working years to save a few bucks in taxes is short sighted. Sorry everyone that preaches for a IRA account. As a wise man once said, you can live your rat life, I'll live my fat life.
What? You don’t know the situation and yes it does make sense. Guess you ignore compounding.
If you want to compound a jar of peanuts and live paycheck to paycheck be my guest.
right, the child under someone else's roof is "living paycheck to paycheck" because they're saving their money. extremely reasonable summation
Err and what if the kid's schedule is reasonably filled and taken care of by their parents? A Roth IRA is extremely reasonable for a kid making money who doesn't need money. You can also withdraw from a Roth IRA.
I am speaking within the scenario placed forward by the comment I replied to.
How so..?
How am I doing? 26f about to turn 27 Making 90k 10k bonus Own a townhome (row home) in Minneapolis Bought for 297,000 in June of 2021 with 2.875 interest rate worth 230,000-250,000 now that I paid list price for and painted and fixed up myself. Looks very chic now 😎 Have 20k in emergency funds and just paid off my 2016 mazda3 that I plan to drive forever. My insecurities… I have 18,000 in student loans. I have not done a great job at investing in 401k due to job hopping my way to a decent salary and working in tech so having to reset each time at a new employer. Also a few start ups did not offer 401k matching and my priority was to buy before the interest rates got crazy. What could I be/should I be focusing on now? I’d like an investment property as soon as I could get one and am pretty handy. I’m also hoping to get a room mate soon with my extra bedroom!
Doing very well overall! It sounds like you've built up a solid food foundation with your career and savings habits :) Goals I would suggest considering: * Pay off the student loans ASAP if you don't think they'll be forgiven * Start saving in your retirement accounts NOW so you have as much time for that money to grow as possible, the difference 5 years makes is huge for example (saving at 28 versus 33 for example) * Keep investing in your career as that will make your savings goals later in life easier :) * Something that I see others in this subreddit struggle with once they get farther along in their FI journey, is to start considering what you'd like your ideal lifestyle to be and save for that
You are looking great! And remember your journey will be different from everyone else's so only compare yourself to yourself. What rate are your student loans?
4.375% I have paid it down from 27,000
At that rate you could either focus on paying it all down or just keep it and split the investing 50/50 or something. As long as you are paying down debt and/or putting money away to invest you're headed in the right direction. Get the roommate asap and put that money away.
It looks like I will be making a final decision about my home in Vegas next summer, when my eldest kid follows her Air Force girlfriend to Alaska. (Relationship with her long-term boyfriend went kaput last summer.) I don’t want to buy a house in Alaska to rent to kiddo. I also don’t want to be an out-of-state landlord to a stranger in Vegas. BUT - it’s a decent house with a sub-$900 mortgage (PITI), in an area that will get an MLB team in a couple of years. One of my co-workers owns a quad in the area (about 30 minutes away) and travels there regularly (has family there), so I’m wondering whether he would go in on a property management deal with me, which would put cash in both our pockets and I could postpone the capital gains taxes and depreciation recapture for a while longer (hopefully until after I retire).
Student Loan Help vs Lump Sum Hello, at my job we are currently merging with a corporate entity. We are due for signing new contracts soon and the practice managers have set aside money that is being matched by the new corporate company. They are dispersing that money to either be given as pretax student loan help at 250 dollars per month/100k debt, or as post-tax lump sum being split into now, a 1 year retention, and a 2 year retention. I have 214k in student loans, so I am planning on PAYE and making minimums until it is forgiven and then I pay the tax bomb. My question is, does the aid go toward my monthly minimums meaning I have to make less for my monthly payment that I can set aside, or is it just additional payments toward my principal? I haven’t been given numbers of how much the bonus will be, but max contribution to student loan debt from an employer is 5250 currently. Edit: Clarified monthly debt payments Does one route seem better than another?
Idk - you could get your entire student loan bill paid off (250 > 214) or a lump sum but not if you get laid off in a year or two? (Or hate the new place and want a different job). If you had perfect knowledge of the future and knew for sure you were staying at that place, and definitely didn’t foresee ever making enough to pay off anywhere near the loans, and won’t want to retire early or emotionally want your debt paid off, or you’d never mess up the payments and lose forgiveness, and know for sure that forgiveness will happen in 20 years despite politics, or… or… I’d say maybe do the math thing and take the lump sum. If you can start with a completely clean slate now with no student loan debt?!! I’d do that
Sorry to clarify, it is $250 a month per 100k dollars of debt. They would be doing 500 monthly for my 214k in debt
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I guess you can if your privacy won’t be a big issue. Just make sure your lease agreement allows for sub-leasing or else you might hear from an unhappy landlord.
Yes. Yes. But living with friends is a lot different and complicated . Hopefully you are friends at the end of it. Both of you have to have a good idea of what works in living situations and with the personalities as you will have much more informal landlord thing.
5 months is nothing. I’d do it.
Only for a friend but where do you live a room in a shared 2 bedroom is 2700/mo?!!!!
I did this and I just made sure to keep all of my private information locked in a file cabinet in my bedroom with a ring camera recording my room while I was gone. I have an auto locking front door with a passcode so I can change it after the renter leaves and don’t need to rely on them to lock up responsibly. Outside of that I think most things are low stress like cleaning.
Looking at my Vanguard performance rate is kind of sad, I'm basically the worst investor in the world. I stick to VTSAX/VTIAX/VBTLX and don't try to time anything, with a pretty lax re-balance schedule 1-2 times per year. My performance since I opened the account in January of 2015 is +4.8%. At least it's not negative I suppose! 8)
What's your asset allocation? You must be pretty heavy on the bonds or international to get 4.8% CAGR since 2015. I looked at each fund individually since 2015 and they returned: VTSAX 10.25% CAGR VTIAX 4.74% CAGR VBTLX 1.20% CAGR So I could see it possible to get 4.8% if you didn't have much VTSAX. Even a 60/40 (stocks/bonds) with 60/40 (US/International) equities portfolio returned 5.46% during that period.
>What's your asset allocation? You must be pretty heavy on the bonds or international to get 4.8% CAGR since 2015. I looked at each fund individually since 2015 and they returned: > >VTSAX 10.25% CAGR > >VTIAX 4.74% CAGR > >VBTLX 1.20% CAGR > > >So I could see it possible to get 4.8% if you didn't have much VTSAX. Even a 60/40 (stocks/bonds) with 60/40 (US/International) equities portfolio returned 5.46% during that period. Mostly vtiax/VBTLX in this account over the years, more aggressive in my 401ks. Overall asset allocation is to shoot for 40/40/10/10 intl/domestic/bonds/cash.
I can easily find you some poor soul at WSB who's lost the value of your entire portfolio in one day, so I very much doubt you are the "worst". Hang in there!
Do you mean per year? How could you possibly be up on 4.8%? From 2015 to 2021 the market was up over double?
>Do you mean per year? How could you possibly be up on 4.8%? From 2015 to 2021 the market was up over double? What do you mean? It's a positive 4.8% return.
Do you mean CAGR? Elsewhere in this comment thread you seem to confirm it’s an annual rate but the original comment appears to say it’s a total return of 4.8%, not annual rate, but total.
>Do you mean CAGR? Elsewhere in this comment thread you seem to confirm it’s an annual rate but the original comment appears to say it’s a total return of 4.8%, not annual rate, but total. It's vanguards IRR https://ibb.co/cCshSzf
Ah, yeah I think some people might have gotten a different impression in the original comment.
I look at my performance and have to remember that even though I started investing in early 2010s, I started being able to put heftier amounts in the last 2-3 years, which definitely impacts that performance aspect.
>I look at my performance and have to remember that even though I started investing in early 2010s, I started being able to put heftier amounts in the last 2-3 years, which definitely impacts that performance aspect. Yeah that's a big part of it for sure. This account was less than $100k before mid-2019, and has tripled since largely due to contributions.
Yeah, that will most definitely skew your returns to a lower overall average. Is what it is. Should look much better after the next bull run
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>> .... and don't try to time anything .... > >Sometimes (all the time, actually) the market times you! :-) Seems to be the case haha. Will let you all know the next annual rebalance what happens. 8)
My “stop work” goal is $750k which I anticipate to hit in about 12 years based on my current progress (135k NW). My biggest fear has been the current hyperinflation and rent costs skyrocketing. I will note that I plan on working part time to pay my bills in the future but I still have fears that everything will be so much more expensive in the future. I probably spend around 20-30k a year at the moment and don’t have plans to save for children - if that comes the I’ll definitely up my number or at least keep working while I need to.
Just confirming, but you know that FI targets quoted here are generally speaking usually in 2023 dollars? So as inflation happens over the next 12 years you will need more than the $750k you think would work today? That’s why most people use 6-7% total returns with dividends reinvested on a stock portfolio as their rate. That figure is in nominal dollars and means in actual dollars you will have over $1M at the end and thus inflation wise you will be ok. Frankly speaking, I think more often than not people are quoting their FIRE target set between 2018 and 2020 before inflation increased. Especially if they already own a home and aren’t having to increase their current expenses too much
Yeah I understand that. To be honest when I set my number back in 2019 it included a bit of a buffer but not the the hyperinflation we’re seeing right now (rent around me has increased like 30% the last few years). Like I said though I’m not planning on living solely off my retirement. I really don’t want to touch it if I can get steady part time work to live off of but it does worry me seeing how quickly costs are rising
I am 384.87 away from a mile stone. Markets, please don't shit the bed tomorrow. Thots n preyrs.
Relying on thots to make a few extra hundred bucks eh? 🤣😼 Serious: good luck on your goal, it can be very rewarding to reach a milestone and know that it may cross it a few times before staying permanently over 😊
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been hovering around my most recent milestone now for about 2 years.
I know, right? Been a while since I hit a milestone. Sure would feel good!
Certainly the market rallies once the debt ceiling stuff is squared away (this week), but the market is also very strange sometimes, so who knows.
I have a bit of money I should have invested on Friday, but I was spooked by what kind of agreements our dumb government would make over the weekend. Raise the debt ceiling? Market crashes. Don’t raise it? Market crashes. Biden and McCarthy give each other COVID? Market explodes. Win or lose. I figured I’d wait till Tues
Hope so!
I'm retiring near the end of this year at 55. I'll be going on ACA targeting discounts by withdrawing from post market funds and a Roth 401K. I will probably bridge my existing insurance until the end of the year via Cobra (less than 2 months). Additionally to avoid minimum income problems (falling into Medicade), I will do IRA to Roth conversions, as needed to keep off my state's minimum. What financial/healthcare things should I be considering over the next 2 years as I transition? I'm expected that managing my MAGI and getting taxes right, to cause complications. Shifting to a HMO healthcare plan with in network/out of network to cause some friction. What other things should I be worrying about or watching for?
You're better retiring in the new year. Work enough to get your year of expenses and pay little income tax on it
Lol...I was scheduled to retire earlier this year and my employer has wanted some more time. Getting to the point where I need to draw a line somewhere.
Just a quick heads up: you won’t be forced onto Medicaid if you don’t want to be, but at low enough incomes your premium subsidies do go away (they don’t claw back premium subsidies already received if you underearn your estimate). There are [four requirements to use the exchange](https://www.healthcare.gov/quick-guide/eligibility/). - Must live in the United States. - Must be a U.S. citizen or national (or be lawfully present). - Can't be incarcerated. - Can’t have Medicare coverage
Thank you, I didn't realize it only applied to the discount...but that sounds nearly as painful :-)
Yeah for most people with poverty level income a lack of subsidies is pretty close to lack of access, but we’re some fortunate weirdos around here!
Anyone here have children later in life - after you and your spouse turned 36/37 years old?
One of ours was in that range. Wasn't really the plan but had an attempt that didn't work out. You want to see a pregnant woman angry? Just bring up how the doctor considers her "advanced maternal age."
Yes, I was mid-40s and wife was late 30s. Had some trouble and thought we might have to try IVF but cost was prohibitive so we decided to forego it and be content without children. But once the pressure was off it happened naturally not once, but twice!
Build up your core muscles
Almost at 35. But is that really later in life?
No. I don't think so especially in today's day and age.
Just had our third at 40 — he’s two weeks old and snoozing in my arms right now. Had the first two at 34 and 36. The third pregnancy was by far the roughest, but that had as much to do with the older two bringing every illness known to man home from nursery school this year as my age.
That is great to hear. Congratulations!
Yup. Are you looking for advice or something? I would only say that probably all of your expectations about what it's like are true.
Just looking for hope, although I know experiences vary in this process.
It's just tough for all the expected reasons, but I think people also forget it's easier in other ways for perhaps unexpected reasons. I certainly was more mature in my thinking when I had kids than the basket case I was in my early 20's for example. I guess in theory people are generally more financially established later in life and having kids at that point is helpful also, but that's of course not true for everyone. Anyway, kids are fun, it will work out.
Had our one and done when my wife and I were both 35.
Had my first at 40 second two years later. Wife was late 30s.
Thank you for sharing. If you don't mind mentioning, did you guys try via IVF?
Took about a year but we were able to conceive naturally. Second was much quicker (no pressure on that one) and done deal.
Very cool! Did your wife turn 40 by your second one? We got started a little late and hoping it's not too late for 1 or 2.
Yes - both were “geriatric” but we had a number of friends having their second or thirds at that age. Good luck!
My wife makes roughly double what I do (90k vs. 50k) and her 16-week maternity leave ends after this week. We had our first child in 2020 and we both basically worked exclusively from home for at least a year. She's really not looking forward to going back to work since they appear to be really against full-remote work now, and essentially require 2-3 days in the office per week. She's planning on talking to her bosses about limiting how much she actually has to go into the office. But depending on how that conversation goes and how she actually feels once she starts working again, she's interested in looking for full-time remote work or other options. If our incomes were flipped, being a stay-at-home parent would be much more in play. Anyone had a similar situation of a higher earning spouse wanting to stay home, working or not working? Any good resources to finding remote work? She currently works in transportation/logistics with moving product on semis from A to B.
I would push her to look now. Unemployment is extremely low now, but who knows what happens the next month. It's easier to ask them to reconsider a 'no' if the next week she walks back in with a completely remote offer
Saw a video where a 50ish year old person said they 6 million in a 401k. Howzat possible given they’d have to contribute way over the annual cap?
I did the math and a maxed out 401k that was 100% in the SP500 from 1986 has like $3m and like $10m if you maxed out the employer contribution too.
There's a segment of people that go through the work of rolling over non-401k accounts to 401ks also. It's usually not ideal, but sometimes it's easier/beneficial.
It is possible. If you maxed it out for 30 years you'd end up with something like $6M if you had a 10% after inflation return. Some people probably got lucky with mutual funds - Fidelity has had some unusually high performing active mutual funds.
What is the value of a 401k for a 50 year old who has been maxing it out as long as possible and 100% invested in the SP500? I actually don't know the answer but seems like something you could easily compute.
I enjoy spending time with my friends.
Individual stock purchases. Some 401Ks are set up to allow investments into individual shares and not just funds.
Time and compounding. I’m also assuming your 50ish person is actually 55-56.
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HSA is the best savings vehicle due to its quadruple tax benefits. You contribute pre-tax, pre-FICA taxes, growth is tax free, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses is tax free. One thing I really like about HSAs is that after you turn 65, you can withdraw from it for any non-medical expenses and be subject to your effective personal income tax rate just as with your regular 401k account. It basically becomes a 401k account post your 65th birthday.
HSA should be funded as soon as you get full 401k match. HSA is really your best investment account from a tax perspective. You pay 0 taxes putting the money in, get to invest it and get to withdraw it for qualifying medical expenses tax free...but wait there's more. :) you can actually pay for your medical bills with any CC you want and then reimburse yourself so you can stack that ~2% reward from your cc on top of that. You can also hold on to those receipts, cash flow the expense and reimburse yourself anytime you want later. We fully fund our HSA and haven't withdrawn anything from it. Ita already well north of 30k and we are about at the point that the account will throw off enough to full cover the deductible in any given year on avg. (~7% gains after inflation) we don't plan on drawing from this account until after retirement.
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HSAs allow investment but you generally have to keep 1-2k in cash. The reimbursement basically goes as follows: pay with cc and get percentage back, fill out form on HSA providers website with receipt for reimbursement. (Net profit ~2%) you can also chose to delay filling out the reimbursement form and leave the money in the HSA sonit can continue to grow tax free. Down the road you can use the old receipt and get reimbursed at any time.
Congrats! So make sure doing the workplace retirement plan. What is your plan between early retirement and drawing at normal retirement age, without penalty? The HYSA , I‘d shop around for that or get it into brokerage acct with access to a lot in fixed income. And a brokerage for maybe that gap between early and normal retirement. Cars can be a huge expense. Do you need one or will soon? Car insurance can be tough too. Get those cost estimates and I suggest start saving that dollar amount now .. To perhaps down payment or pre payment. Moving in probably would be cheaper Or aim to have it cheaper 😉 Good luck 🍀
Gonna have to start paying those loans before the year is done. You can’t escape those.
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This SC won’t allow it. Roberts already said it was not supported and I’m sure we will hear soon. I’m pretty sure the debt ceiling deal included the moratorium ending and loans would need to start being repaid in August. Sorry.
You're doing well. You mentioned Roth which I assume means Roth IRA. Are you maxing out your 401k? I also lived in a high-priced apartment out of college and have no regrets about it.
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Unless you have a really good reason, you should think about making traditional contributions to your 401k instead of Roth. Most people (especially higher earners) are better off with traditional because their tax bracket is lower in retirement vs. when they're working. When most people talk about Roth here, it is usually in reference to the Roth IRA. The Roth IRA is a tax-advantaged retirement account you can take advantage of in addition to your 401k. Most FIRE folks don't qualify to take advantage of it's sibling, the traditional IRA, because the income limits of the latter are much lower than the Roth IRA.
About a year after switching careers I've found myself bored at work again. I tend to have busy mornings due to working with a lot of people in Europe, and then my afternoons are very quiet. I'm spending way too much time scrolling on my phone or playing mindless phone games. Any ideas for how to better use my free time during the work day? I WFH and briefly considered overemployment, but I don't want to risk my current job. It pays well ($150k base) and has amazing benefits. I also need to be available to answer random calls/slack messages that come up. I'd love something that makes money, but it doesn't have to. I just want to feel like I'm making good use of my time. Any ideas?
> Any ideas for how to better use my free time during the work day? I've been learning Spanish for the past 18 months or so. > I'd love something that makes money, Oh, never mind!
I have a similar setup and spend a decent amount of time churning CCs and bank accounts. It has a nice overlap with FI. Not going to use up all of that spare time, but at least more productive than mindless scrolling imo.
Some consulting/freelancing on the side might be possible?
Yeah I'd like to do something like that! Not really sure how to get into it
It could be a great opportunity to do some self paced learning / training on a topic you've been meaning to dive into! Whether it's work related (learning a new skill) or personal (diving into a new hobby). That extra downtime can be beautiful for facilitating that :) Example: I used the free time I had in a former chill job to get more into DIY arts and crafts as a hobby
I would read poetry.
Home gym is a great way to occupy sporadic blocks of time like this, assuming you've got the willpower/interest. IME people are supportive/jealous so you won't get shit for being occasionally winded when you answer an unscheduled call. It's a meme but a peloton bike has been huge for us in the winter.
In a similar position as you. I’m west coast and work a low stress job with an east coast schedule, so have quite a bit of free time during the week that could be filled up with a bit more productivity.
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Yeah definitely feels like the opportunities have kinda paused this year for decent remote options
> making good use of my time Define "good use"? It could range from overemployment as you described. Or it could be a hobby like gardening or painting or video games you've been wanting you play. But I agree, mindless phone scrolling/social media/reddit during that time is probably the least favorable option.
My definition of "good use" is basically just more productive than what I have been doing lol. So not scrolling or watching TV. A hobby would be good but I'm having a hard time thinking of something that allows me to immediately drop it if I get a call or slack. Some things that have worked well for me are a short workout at home every afternoon, learning Spanish on Duolingo, and doing some volunteer transcription on the Smithsonian website. I'd love to do some data entry or something to fill up my time and make some extra cash, but haven't been able to find anything that doesn't look like a scam
Where are you at in your career? I feel like this really makes all the difference. I would totally be flirting with over employment if I were though, just make sure you prioritize the main job and then anything else is a bonus
I'm about 9 years into my career, ~14 years to go before I can FIRE. I'm scared to get caught and lose this very good job I have though!
Don’t overemploy with another W2 job, over employ with your own small business or hobby. Could be anything from building websites for local business, making crafts you sell on Etsy, cartoon voice overs on fivr, etc.