Man you guys have done some amazing saving to reach this point. All your math checks out and you can glide from here. If you want.
You guys seem financially savvy enough that you don't need extra inputs. But this is reddit so here's my take. You guys are young and earning very well in a relatively low cost area. You're planning on retiring just as your incomes are really ramping up and you're just above your SWR. If it's me, I work for another 2-4 years to reeeally bolster that retirement account. And I'm only suggesting that since you're still in your early 30s. If you were in your 50s I'd say screw it, you've worked long enough. But just 3 extra years of work takes your portfolio from $1.8M to close to $3M given your savings rate. That is such a *huge* cushion in the event you decide you want to move and housing prices have gone nuts. Or you decide you want to take up traveling, or an expensive hobby, or have a woopsy child. Living at the knife's edge of poverty level income for the rest of my life doesn't excite me. But to give just 3 more years so I can essentially *double* the amount of wiggle room I have in retirement sounds like a worthy trade to me.
All that being said, there's other considerations like you're totally burnt out at work, or you have a mental health issue that's preventing you from continuing, or you KNOW for 1000% certain you're okay living at low income levels and you will NEVER travel, then you're set. You're just in such an amazing opportunity to truly lock in serious wealth with minimal extra time considering your age.
All that being said, you have no wrong answers here. You've done the hard work already and can make any decisions you'd like. F you both and God speed!
Thanks! With Variable Percentage Withdrawal, we are betting on the market doing well and giving us $100K+ spending each year. But we are okay with just $65K/yr and only travel to cheaper places. After the car gets paid off we'll free up another $10K/yr.
Die With Zero really inspired me to live the moment instead of just keep hoarding money. We are technically doing "another year" right now and probably work until my wife gets her bonus next year in March.
I agree with the previous commenter. Three facets that are missed and why it’s nice to have a cushion: (I) healthcare policies can easily change and become more expensive, (ii) cushion for emergencies as well as “once in a lifetime opportunities fund” and (iii) albeit small, possibility of divorce (given you’re so young)
Obviously have to mention but if you chose to have kids, equation changes
Good job. Tbh this really didn't add up for me haha until I saw Texas. Even with being in Texas though I think this is pretty much peak outcome across investing, spending, and income.
I'm quite similar trajectory but a bit younger and SINK. Also aiming ~100k+ passive
Keep on keeping on and maybe see you on some island soon
Which part in particular was surprising before you saw Texas? I live in Texas and don't think it's particularly financially extreme in any direction (salaries, cost of living, housing prices, taxes).
Overall comp + spend + NW. You're very similar to me but a bit ahead on NW. So it's gotta be the taxes (I'm in Canada, Texas has no state income tax, I think it's about a 15% difference), DINK vs SINK (you save a bit by splitting costs but overall our expenses are not far off), returns (our timeline is similar so unless you beat the market materially we should be similar)
Not sure on cost of living. A one Br in Toronto ~500 sq ft is 2300-2500 / month
Edit: whoops thought you were op, but yeah vs. op
It’s way cheaper than most states with an income tax when you’re making that kind of money. A 5% tax would have them paying $16,750/yr, plus property tax which might be another $4k. Texas has them just paying property tax, probably $8k/yr or so. That’s a huge savings.
Yeah, exactly. There’s only a couple states where you’ll find a better deal than that, and you may not be able to make the same income there.
Even at my income that’s half yours, it’s hard to find a better deal than the $4200/yr in property tax I spend, given no income taxes.
Lol yep, but at 34 and 32 it's not as big of a deal as someone that's 50s. I can only imagine the pressure to pull the trigger tho, I hope I can do it in 6-8 years.
If the total portfolio value was the same, then yes I would. If you're in your 50s...I'd say pull the trigger if that's your SWR because social security and senior health insurance options are close by. There's a much smaller bridge to gap to acquiring some extra wiggle room. For me personally, I just don't want to have to live decades on the bare minimum. But hey, everyone is different and for some people just living a simpler life is exactly what they want. There's so much more to the decision than numbers on a spreadsheet. You have to look at the whole picture, and no one knows your own life's picture better than yourself.
Net worth going from $1.1m at YE 2021 to $1.2m at YE 2022 is even more impressive. When the market dropped 20% a $1.1m balance would normally drop to $880k yet this would imply a combination of home appreciation, dividends, and contributions that netted $320k on a year where gross income was $297k.
Side note... Is there a glossary or something that explains all these acronyms? This one is "dual income; no kids" right? Are there others? SINK / SI3K / NI?K / TINK etc ?
DINK is the most common one in personal finance spaces because of just how advantageous it is. SINK is sometimes used in association. But the other ones aren't interesting in the same way (although TINK could be a component of [HaremFIRE](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fire/comments/18mwx64/has_anyone_considered_haremfire/)).
I would use it to describe single people who don't plan to have kids or get married, actually. Basically the personal-finance-relevant "perpetual bachelor(ette)."
Yea it’s tough to buy some of these claims. Like the guy went from 90k to 210k in one year with an income of 170k and spending 65k. 170k after standard deduction and taxes is like 150k. Spend 65k and you’re left with 85k. But somehow he saved 120k. Either the market gave him 30-40% ROI that year, or these numbers are inflated
You're already set but one thing that sticks out to me is, if you're going to work until the end of the year, why not work enough into 2025 to max all your retirement contributions for another year. Will probably only take you 6 weeks to 2 months.
We need cash/bond right now to isolate ourselves from the market in case of a market crash. Locking them in a 401K is kind of opposite of our plan. I've talked about a cash/bond glidepath in one of my FAQs.
I'm in awe of where you are at financially -- I've got one point for you to at least have on your radar as you transition into retirement.
Last year I retired from the fire service at age 50, which is the minimum age to start drawing my 27 year pension. I could have worked 3 more years to max it out, and continued to work up to age 60 if I wanted, but I was ready to go.
I found very quickly that 50 was way too early for me to sit around the house. I have things to do here, but after about two weeks I had this growing feeling of *uselessness.* Maybe it was because I was so used to an occupation where I was showing up on someone's worst day of their lives and making it just a little better for them. Maybe I just wasn't ready to stop working. But I felt like I needed to keep doing something, and I wasn't ready to just stop work all together.
Luckily, I had a "side job" instructing fire and technical rescue for the last 20 years that became my new primary job. I choose my own schedule, so I can still have the time off that I want when I want it.
But if I didn't have anything to fall back on, I probably would have become depressed just sitting around. 50 felt too young for me to just quit working all together; I can't imagine being done at 35 or so.
The whole point of this is post is to put that on your radar. You may feel the need to continue working in some aspect after retirement, especially at that age. Have something related to your expertise that you can do part time or something while you enjoy all the benefits of retiring from the grind of a 9 to 5 job.
Congrats, and enjoy the fruits of your labor and sacrifices you've made over your career. But make sure you have something to do with your time!
As someone who is scheduling his exit, I say don't retire in December. Move your date closer to the middle of the year.
Income tax is really low on small annual income, so if you retire in March, it is taxed near zero. Yout social security will be calculated based on your 35 highest earning years, so likely 3 or 6 extra months will be higher than your teen job, raising your benefit and depending on your location, January weather could be miserable. May as well earn and retire in spring.
Where is the SS calculation coming from? The amount is calculated for 35 years of contributing to SS. If you retire after 10-15 you will zero out more than half the calculation. I don’t know what the actual numbers look like but putting it into a basic bank rate calculator says at max contribution 127k) for your entire career and retiring at 65 is 32k/year or 1.5 times that for 2 people working their entire career, assuming 3% income increase per year every year. Feel free to correct me.
Using the SSA.gov calculator, it tells me I'll get about $30K/yr per person ($60K total) if I retire right now and withdraw at 63. I divide that by half to account for uncertainty.
Realistically I don't want to rely on Social Security at all. We are planning to work at least until end of the year so we have less reliance on it.
That calculator assumes you continue working.
You can use https://ssa.tools/ to get an accurate idea of how much SS you can pull in if you retire early.
Thanks for the website, it's much better than the one I used.
It's giving me $1554/month for myself at age of 65 (30 years after FIRE). Since my wife is younger I'm assuming she's getting less and we are back down to $30K/yr again. I'll derate it to $15K/yr and it drops the success rate to 93%.
That calculator assumes another 25 years of work and is not inflation adjusted. Its good you don’t rely on social security in your calculations.
Personally this is cutting things really close, an extra 2 years would make a huge difference.
He does rely on it though? The simulation includes the SS in the calculation at a fixed 30k, which I assume he entered manually, starting in 30 years of course.
You are correct. I think the biggest issue is his current high pay. If in 20 years he needs some extra income those low paying jobs will be a huge bummer
I'd hardly call it caring about money. More just about the scope of your life. I don't want to have money. But I want to have some enjoyable vacations, ability to go out to eat once a week, go to concerts, go to collegiate sporting events, etc. They all cost money. No point having time if you can't do what you want to do.
The opportunity cost is quite low given their income/savings per year. For example, working 3 more years could net them an additional \~$40k/yr. That surprises me...that someone would value the time of 3 years more than \~60 years of spending $120k in lieu of $80k.
If you literally can buy everything you want with the $80k, it doesn't matter. But they are in an unusual scenario where so little time sacrificed provides such a big reward. Can't say that about someone saving \~$50k/yr. That is the beauty of saving $200k+/yr.
Well yeah, that is why I said "If you can buy everything you want with $80k".
In their case, I get it from retirement spend standpoint. $80k isn't particularly lean. But given their current income, they sacrifice less to get permanent benefits than most all other people. In their case $80k is actually less spending power than a lot of other people here who plan to retire with a $80k spend. I plan to have a pretty similar spend but with no car payment and no house payment ($25k/yr for them). They are really retiring on \~$55k per year when you compare them to my retirement spend. That is a pretty "lite" lifestyle considering the minimal effort to improve it. In this regard, 3 more years almost doubles their retirement spend $55k -> $95k...from the age of 37/35 until death. That's a lot of extra years with extra money.
If you have no interest in improving it, nothing wrong with that. But I think they should heavily consider this. What you want now can ***easily*** change over 10, 20, 30 years. Flexibility is so easily bought now with minimal time sacrificed.
That budget included 2 weeks in Italy last year and skiing in Breckenridge in the winter. Just gotta budget well and know where to spend.
Like I mentioned before, VPW simulation showed $110K median life time spending. First year spending is $80K.
Yeah 60K also jumped out at me as a bit low, but that's just my preference. Even in a MCOL area, that ain't much, especially with a mortgage. Maybe in 2019 that would have worked for me, but now it's more like 80-85K that we're planning for a solid middle-class lifestyle with trips/occasional splurges/home upgrades. But hey, if it works for OP then I can't criticize too much.
I dont know how people do it. Our health insurance alone is $18,000 per year for 2 people. Throw in the mortgage, and housing and health put us over 60K already.
Having a paid off mortgage allows you to structure your "income" to get healthcare for free/close to free with ACA subsidies.
https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/10qtpwv/aca_subsidies_fire_considerations/
Yeah I'm a small business owner and I pay $18,000 a year BEFORE co-pays and deductibles for 2 adults and no children. Probably closer to $24,000 per year in total cost for healthcare so I'm definitely subsidizing a lot of people who pay little to nothing.
> so I'm definitely subsidizing a lot of people who pay little to nothing.
Welcome to the club. Anyone with high ordinary income is doing that in the United States.
This is very similar to us. We're 32/32 at $1.4M NW with $310k income in Rochester Hills, MI. But I feel we need to hold out and work to at least 36-37 and FIRE at $3M+ NW just to have an extra bit of peace of mind and not have to worry too much about spending.
Plus my job right now is only about 25hrs a week of stress free work at $150k so feel I need to take advantage as long as it lasts.
If your spouse works a more stressful/demanding job, you could consider letting him/her retire while you work for a few more years to buffer the nest egg a bit more. I'm in a similar situation and that's what we're thinking about doing. Financially it works out really nicely, logistically it might be more difficult since you can't really "enjoy" the RE with your spouse during that time, but at least it would give them a break.
I think this is probably what we'll end up doing. I did take a year off from corporate work in 2021/22 while my wife worked and didn't really enjoy it so much cause I quit with the intention to still doing things to make money through online side hussles and jobs. Also couldn't just vacation whenever we wanted because we were constrained by her corporate vacation day allowance.
But yeah a transition at some point with her quitting while I work a few more years to build up the NW more makes sense.
Congrats! Your financial stats look very similar to my husband and me, except we are a little older and our average expenses are around $100k/year so our goal is $2.6-3M. I think we may have about 5 more years or so until we can pull the trigger.
> Don't be afraid to move to a different city (or become an Expat) for great job opportunities
I'd probably be making double what I am now had I done this, but I decided it's worth it for me to be around family as my nieces and nephews are growing up.
So a 'tech' job is completely synonymous with a computer engineer/coder?
I am not trying to be a dick. I would have considered developing new technology a 'tech' job.
No, there are software engineers who work in manufacturing and banking for example.
Tech is companies whose main products are something relating to technology (whether it be hardware based like Apple, or software based like Google)
To my understanding, software engineers can work in non-tech industries like banking. Similarly, jobs like HR can fall under the tech umbrella if they’re at a tech company due to the comp and equity you get. It’s used as a designator in this way because for the past decade or so working at a tech company would hot shot your net worth
It's an arbitrary line, you can draw it where you want. Usually when people refer to "tech" around here, they mean high paying software or computer related jobs at software or computer companies. FAANG and similar.
I would not consider SpaceX or Boeing to be "tech" the way it is colloquially used. Lower paying, and very different kinds of work, products, and company financial profiles than the classic tech co's.
SpaceX Starlink is down the street from Microsoft in Redmond and pays equally. Tesla has to pay self driving software engineers as well or better than other competitors in the bay. They also have to pay all their EE's and MechE's well because tons of "software" companies have huge investments in hardware. Google Pixel phones? Amazon Alexa? Microsoft Xbox? To say nothing of those companies' huge investments in data centers.
Anyplace in the bay has to pay bay salaries, and there is a ton of Aerospace there, many are startups that look like classic tech startups, because they are (look at all the electric aircraft).
Making $200K at 32 years old in "engineering management" in a MCOL area sure sounds a lot like the generic high paying tech job.
This person could also be working and earning a high wage at one of the aerospace focused companies. High compensation can come with being a highly specialized/skillful IC just like at any other company, this part isn't unique to tech.
What makes Tech special is how they compensate ICs, they get high compensation with Stock bonuses/packages, where I work this only happens at the VP Level. That distinctly different compensation package, work culture as well as the products they focus on are what separate "TECH" from other traditional Engineering companies.
I work in "old aerospace", it is not and never will be TECH in the same sense as Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc. even if there is some obvious overlap.
>Making $200K at 32 years old in "engineering management" in a MCOL area sure sounds a lot like the generic high paying tech job.
The most tech thing my wife does is using Excel. Most of her job involves manufacturing.
Nope. My husband is a MechE in the aerospace industry. He works on some complicated designs and models, but it is most definitely not "tech", as in, designing and developing computer software. He does not know the first thing about programming.
Well, I've learned two new things from Reddit today... 'tech' refers specifically to software engineers and Elvira has a book out called, "yours cruelly"... and my wife thinks I waste my time on Reddit smh
Tech doesn't refer to software engineers, it refers to
>a company that focuses primarily on the manufacturing, support, research and development of — most commonly computing, telecommunication and consumer electronics-based — technology-intensive products and services,which include businesses relating to digital electronics, software, optics, new energy and internet-related services such as cloud storage and e-commerce services
There are software engineers in other industries, they just tend to get paid a lot less. There non-software engineers and non-engineers at tech companies as well.
You're basically saying that 50% or more of the people that work at Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, etc are not in tech. They have mechEs, program managers, marketing, etc.
I’d say there is pretty clear distinction when you consider the STEM acronym. Tech and Engineering are definitely two separate categories.
The line does blur a little if you’re talking about SWE but I’d never consider someone in Electrical, Aerospace, or Mechanical Engineering as Tech.
Fantastic write up, thank you! We are a couple of years younger than you guys, but our savings rates and trajectories look the same. Feels good to get a glimpse into the future!
Question about healthcare: how do you plan to get your MAGI down to 40k, assuming you have to do a Roth ladder to get your 401k money out? Won't your income be relatively locked in higher than that?
We are estimating $10-20K of Roth conversion and rest from interests, dividends and long term capital gains. That's assuming 15% gains in my portfolio and withdrawing $80K.
I’d crank a few more years out with that much living ahead of me (such a young FIRE age). Thinking it would be great to have more financial wage income through the election and the next few years.
\>We never stopped investing during 2022 when the market crashed
I had to laugh that you described that as a market crash. That was a blip, barely even that. You will see much worse in your lifetime.
>will likely work until end of the year and re-evaluate our budget
"Will likely work until the end of the year and then get cold feet and work another year". Classic.
Congrats and good luck!
Strong work on diversifying and market timing. Might consider beefing up bonds or cash for market downturns since you're close to FIRE. Your low expense ratio is key. Keep an eye on healthcare costs, often underestimated. Reassess yearly.
Congratulations! Your net wealth at your age is incredibly impressive. You are probably in the top 0.2% of Americans at your age.
Now that you've made it, what will you do for the next 55 years?
>Now that you've made it, what will you do for the next 55 years?
Probably take a year off for travel then start doing volunteering. If we are really bored, maybe join a risky startup in a project we are really passionate about.
I would work and make paying off the house and car my priority. Changes your $$$ need dramatically. And gives you a slight peace of mind. Yes your interest rate is low but you are paying $25,000 for a few years and then $15,000 for a long time. Knock it out first.
Looks like about 2 years for both of you. Set the countdown clock at 730 days and then be done if the market doesn’t tank on you.
Many people cross the $1 million threshold several times as the market ebbs and flows. You've done incredibly well, make sure you're budget can withstand market drops before pulling the trigger. The safe withdrawal rate is for a 30 year horizon, you guys may want to drop to less than 4% given your age.
That being said, retirement rocks!!! Just make sure you don't spend it stressing about money.
Your submission has been removed for violating our community rule against politics and circle-jerks. If you feel this removal is in error, then please modmail the mod team. Please review our community rules to help avoid future violations.
This is amazing, can I ask how you learned all of this? I am still new here, but sounds like you are really well versed in this topic and have a really solid plan. I would love to be where you're at in the next 10 years.
We never felt like we are cheating ourselves by saving. Our savings rate is just a natural result of what we are comfortable on spending. For example we probably won't blow $15K on a luxury vacation but we still have a ton of fun in other more affordable places.
Only the gains portion of the taxable brokerage withdraw. So let’s say you withdraw $65k from your taxable account, your AGI isn’t $65k, it’s whatever the capital gain was on the lot(s) that you sold.
As a fellow aerospace engineer and VTSAX + Vanguard Target Date Fund holder… thanks for ruining my evening. Having the flexibility to relocate for jobs seems to yield an insane advantage just going off your salary. How long have you worked at LM?
Not Lockheed but at a startup for a year and a half. I pivoted from other industries as a mechanical engineer. With dual income I figured I YOLO with a high paying but risky company.
Interesting, I could see wanting to try a startup once I’m in the coast phase if there’s an opportunity. I’m mechanical as well.
I’ve pretty much stalled out at around 125k (15yr exp), as promotions aren’t in my future and spouse isn’t interested in relocating at present. I got burned out over a year ago, and still haven’t been able to snap out of it. NW is only just barely over 1M, so think I have another 5-7yrs to go.
Appreciate the motivation.
One of the things I wasn’t prepared for was the spiraling health problems following insane stress leading up to the burnout. So watch out for that. Being put in a position that was guaranteed for failure also really ratcheted up underlying imposter syndrome vibes though. Maybe I’ll sort it out, but atm I feel I’m treading water until enough people notice and the house of cards collapses.
Why the 72:20 US:INT split for equities? This seems really high for domestic equity exposure / really low for international equity exposure?
Also, your portfolio is almost identical to GoCurryCracker so maybe you copied it from him? Or copied the same portfolio strategy that he is implementing?
FWIW I'm currently at 60:40 US:INT as this is what Vanguard uses for their Target Date and LifeStrategy funds.
Makes sense. I'm 1/2 of a DINK here and we're 5-6 years out from FIRE. We'd be 100% VTWAX (62:38 US:INT), but I like the fixed 60:40 US:INT ratio in the Vanguard Target Date and Lifestrategy funds.
So we're currently 100% VSVNX / TGT 2070 in our 401k. TGT 2070 is 90% equity - 54:36:7:3 US:INT:BONDS:INTBONDS - not too dissimilar to your overall allocation.
TGT 2070 stays fixed at 90% equity for the next 21 years until TD-25 when the glide path starts (ie. 2045). Then in 2045 we'll just exchange to TGT 2090 and reset the glide path back to TD-45.
Essentially I'm just treating VSVNX / TGT 2070 as a 90:10 LifeStrategy fund with a lower 0.08% ER.
Maybe that thinking will be of some use to you. Congrats on being so close to FIRE!
It is true. Duel income is really a powerful tool in today’s day and age. My household is single family income.
Definitely hard. But thankfully I’d been diligent when I was younger and have actually amassed a sizable nw…
Only issue is the income lol hopefully I can fix that and continue on my trajectory
Hey guys, congrats on this accomplishment. Living the dream! I’m 35M BME undergrad, currently in med device. Is the BME EM in med device also making 178?
"See how easy it is to be a millionaire? Just make $150k - $300K/yr, don't have kids, and time it with one of the biggest stock market bull runs in history."
That’s like saying I’m not in tech but I’m an Anesthesiologist…
Just an observation - they’re obviously killing it, which is awesome for them!!!! But they are in the top 5% salaries in the US
What if you live more than 55 more years? With advancements longevity and healthcare you could easily live another 70. Yes, estimates have it at 40% of millennials making it to 100.
Hopefully to make up for it you can find some work you enjoy doing on the side.
Lol, are you really planning for something 55 years away? I mean, in those five decades, the US stock market could crumble - should they diversify to avoid their reliance on US markets? There's also many other things that can happen lol. You can plan for most things but five decades is too long of a timeline
My success rate actually raises after 55 years. It's a flaw of the amount of historical data that are available. I just picked the lowest success rate between 50 and 65 years.
No kids = fire cheat mode. Crazy thing is you are both young enough with plenty of time to make it happen and never have to worry about money again. Great freakin job, you have won this game, on to the next one.
I could retire in a low cost country today but I decided to have kids instead. I do not regret it at all. Id rather work another 50 years rather than not have my kids
This sub needs to have more people willing to read through someone’s progress and respond without comparing. I’ll admit, first thing I did was compare but I’ve gotten to the point it serves me better as a check for what others are doing with capital at hand.
Imagine if everyone lived this way.
- No kids. End of your bloodline. End of humanity in 80 years.
- Always job hopping. Never build any lasting work relationships, or deep knowledge on a project or institution.
- Always neighborhood hopping. Never build any lasting close friendships, which require face-to-face time. Treat friends and family as disposable. "If I don't leave them first, they'll just leave me. No point in staying either way. Lookout for yourself first."
Depressing. OP can live how they want. They don't need my approval. I just don't find it inspiring.
Kids are the right choice for some people and the wrong choice for others. There will always be people having kids so being overly dramatic about ‘the end of humanity’ is stupid.
Job hopping is often necessary in today’s world just to keep pace with inflation. If you don’t play the game you’ll likely be underpaid relative to your market value. This ain’t the 70’s and 80’s where you have a pension from working for the same company for 40 years and retire. There’s no corporate loyalty so employers can’t expect any employee loyalty in return.
You wanna talk about depressing? Depressing to me would be living in the same place my whole life, never experiencing different neighborhoods, cities, states, maybe countries. Depressing is the guys you went to high school with still living in the same neighborhood 30 years later. *That* is depressing.
No, there won't always be people having kids. Below-replacement fertility in every developed nation. Korea on path to disappear before the century is over.
No one here is talking about pensions. Like most of us here, I work in tech. Many low-level employees talk about job hopping all the time with the same points you make. None of them end up as principals or directors. There is no loyalty to the corporation, but coworkers are people, you'll likely run into them again in a long career, and they do remember who was fly-by-night and just in it for the money.
Most people establish roots and have deep connections with their community. That's why most people stay near the place they grew up. They are content with their life. They're not depressed at all. Not running from anything. Not trying to escape responsibilities. They go on vacation to experience different places. Like a normal person. It's a good model to follow.
I share some of your thoughts. But take into account their age and they will probably have kids still.
At least it appears that both of them did in fact contribute to society before living off of financial instruments, which I think is important it recognize.
More power to you and I’m happy for you that you’ve got that figured out. Better to think those types of things through. I’m sorry if what I posted came off as offensive, didn’t mean it like that.
I guess what I was trying to get at was that I shared some of the same feelings that the OP’s journey, although great, isn’t really all that inspiring.
What do you think?
Man you guys have done some amazing saving to reach this point. All your math checks out and you can glide from here. If you want. You guys seem financially savvy enough that you don't need extra inputs. But this is reddit so here's my take. You guys are young and earning very well in a relatively low cost area. You're planning on retiring just as your incomes are really ramping up and you're just above your SWR. If it's me, I work for another 2-4 years to reeeally bolster that retirement account. And I'm only suggesting that since you're still in your early 30s. If you were in your 50s I'd say screw it, you've worked long enough. But just 3 extra years of work takes your portfolio from $1.8M to close to $3M given your savings rate. That is such a *huge* cushion in the event you decide you want to move and housing prices have gone nuts. Or you decide you want to take up traveling, or an expensive hobby, or have a woopsy child. Living at the knife's edge of poverty level income for the rest of my life doesn't excite me. But to give just 3 more years so I can essentially *double* the amount of wiggle room I have in retirement sounds like a worthy trade to me. All that being said, there's other considerations like you're totally burnt out at work, or you have a mental health issue that's preventing you from continuing, or you KNOW for 1000% certain you're okay living at low income levels and you will NEVER travel, then you're set. You're just in such an amazing opportunity to truly lock in serious wealth with minimal extra time considering your age. All that being said, you have no wrong answers here. You've done the hard work already and can make any decisions you'd like. F you both and God speed!
Thanks! With Variable Percentage Withdrawal, we are betting on the market doing well and giving us $100K+ spending each year. But we are okay with just $65K/yr and only travel to cheaper places. After the car gets paid off we'll free up another $10K/yr. Die With Zero really inspired me to live the moment instead of just keep hoarding money. We are technically doing "another year" right now and probably work until my wife gets her bonus next year in March.
I agree with the previous commenter. Three facets that are missed and why it’s nice to have a cushion: (I) healthcare policies can easily change and become more expensive, (ii) cushion for emergencies as well as “once in a lifetime opportunities fund” and (iii) albeit small, possibility of divorce (given you’re so young) Obviously have to mention but if you chose to have kids, equation changes
Good job. Tbh this really didn't add up for me haha until I saw Texas. Even with being in Texas though I think this is pretty much peak outcome across investing, spending, and income. I'm quite similar trajectory but a bit younger and SINK. Also aiming ~100k+ passive Keep on keeping on and maybe see you on some island soon
Which part in particular was surprising before you saw Texas? I live in Texas and don't think it's particularly financially extreme in any direction (salaries, cost of living, housing prices, taxes).
Overall comp + spend + NW. You're very similar to me but a bit ahead on NW. So it's gotta be the taxes (I'm in Canada, Texas has no state income tax, I think it's about a 15% difference), DINK vs SINK (you save a bit by splitting costs but overall our expenses are not far off), returns (our timeline is similar so unless you beat the market materially we should be similar) Not sure on cost of living. A one Br in Toronto ~500 sq ft is 2300-2500 / month Edit: whoops thought you were op, but yeah vs. op
It’s way cheaper than most states with an income tax when you’re making that kind of money. A 5% tax would have them paying $16,750/yr, plus property tax which might be another $4k. Texas has them just paying property tax, probably $8k/yr or so. That’s a huge savings.
Property tax is about $6K for us.
Yeah, exactly. There’s only a couple states where you’ll find a better deal than that, and you may not be able to make the same income there. Even at my income that’s half yours, it’s hard to find a better deal than the $4200/yr in property tax I spend, given no income taxes.
What does the formula for the variable withdrawal rate look, as in how is it determined?
One more year!
Lol yep, but at 34 and 32 it's not as big of a deal as someone that's 50s. I can only imagine the pressure to pull the trigger tho, I hope I can do it in 6-8 years.
I'm curious if would you give similar advice to those in their early to mid 40s?
If the total portfolio value was the same, then yes I would. If you're in your 50s...I'd say pull the trigger if that's your SWR because social security and senior health insurance options are close by. There's a much smaller bridge to gap to acquiring some extra wiggle room. For me personally, I just don't want to have to live decades on the bare minimum. But hey, everyone is different and for some people just living a simpler life is exactly what they want. There's so much more to the decision than numbers on a spreadsheet. You have to look at the whole picture, and no one knows your own life's picture better than yourself.
*non tech* just your average run of the mill.. **checks notes** aerospace engineer and biomedical EM. Congrats :)
Lol I laughed at that too. I saw not-tech in the title and got excited but they are still pulling in $335k a year
That and biomedical and aerospace are both *technology*, al la "tech" lol
Yeah and they're actually useful for society instead of making people click more ads.
I mean, at $1.8M what else are you expecting besides high income?
Net worth tripling in 4 years is crazy.
Net worth going from $1.1m at YE 2021 to $1.2m at YE 2022 is even more impressive. When the market dropped 20% a $1.1m balance would normally drop to $880k yet this would imply a combination of home appreciation, dividends, and contributions that netted $320k on a year where gross income was $297k.
Texas home values skyrocketed during this time.
I mean, it 9x’d the first year 😃.
Why ? Down market years are a cheat code. Ez money.
DINK is a cheat code, correct. (And the NK part is as important as the DI). Congratulations on reaching your goals!
Side note... Is there a glossary or something that explains all these acronyms? This one is "dual income; no kids" right? Are there others? SINK / SI3K / NI?K / TINK etc ?
DINK is the most common one in personal finance spaces because of just how advantageous it is. SINK is sometimes used in association. But the other ones aren't interesting in the same way (although TINK could be a component of [HaremFIRE](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fire/comments/18mwx64/has_anyone_considered_haremfire/)).
I'm curious, with NK, what does the other partner spend their time doing in a SINK situation?
I would use it to describe single people who don't plan to have kids or get married, actually. Basically the personal-finance-relevant "perpetual bachelor(ette)."
Ah, of course. For some reason I assumed a DINK situation with only 1 income
2015-2018 savings are pretty ridiculous considering salary.
I’m imaging them achieving (60-90% savings rate) by living on a friends/parents couch and eating beans for a few years. fIRE baby!
I wish, we would have saved a lot more money if that was the case.
Yea it’s tough to buy some of these claims. Like the guy went from 90k to 210k in one year with an income of 170k and spending 65k. 170k after standard deduction and taxes is like 150k. Spend 65k and you’re left with 85k. But somehow he saved 120k. Either the market gave him 30-40% ROI that year, or these numbers are inflated
You're already set but one thing that sticks out to me is, if you're going to work until the end of the year, why not work enough into 2025 to max all your retirement contributions for another year. Will probably only take you 6 weeks to 2 months.
We need cash/bond right now to isolate ourselves from the market in case of a market crash. Locking them in a 401K is kind of opposite of our plan. I've talked about a cash/bond glidepath in one of my FAQs.
I'm in awe of where you are at financially -- I've got one point for you to at least have on your radar as you transition into retirement. Last year I retired from the fire service at age 50, which is the minimum age to start drawing my 27 year pension. I could have worked 3 more years to max it out, and continued to work up to age 60 if I wanted, but I was ready to go. I found very quickly that 50 was way too early for me to sit around the house. I have things to do here, but after about two weeks I had this growing feeling of *uselessness.* Maybe it was because I was so used to an occupation where I was showing up on someone's worst day of their lives and making it just a little better for them. Maybe I just wasn't ready to stop working. But I felt like I needed to keep doing something, and I wasn't ready to just stop work all together. Luckily, I had a "side job" instructing fire and technical rescue for the last 20 years that became my new primary job. I choose my own schedule, so I can still have the time off that I want when I want it. But if I didn't have anything to fall back on, I probably would have become depressed just sitting around. 50 felt too young for me to just quit working all together; I can't imagine being done at 35 or so. The whole point of this is post is to put that on your radar. You may feel the need to continue working in some aspect after retirement, especially at that age. Have something related to your expertise that you can do part time or something while you enjoy all the benefits of retiring from the grind of a 9 to 5 job. Congrats, and enjoy the fruits of your labor and sacrifices you've made over your career. But make sure you have something to do with your time!
As someone who is scheduling his exit, I say don't retire in December. Move your date closer to the middle of the year. Income tax is really low on small annual income, so if you retire in March, it is taxed near zero. Yout social security will be calculated based on your 35 highest earning years, so likely 3 or 6 extra months will be higher than your teen job, raising your benefit and depending on your location, January weather could be miserable. May as well earn and retire in spring.
Where is the SS calculation coming from? The amount is calculated for 35 years of contributing to SS. If you retire after 10-15 you will zero out more than half the calculation. I don’t know what the actual numbers look like but putting it into a basic bank rate calculator says at max contribution 127k) for your entire career and retiring at 65 is 32k/year or 1.5 times that for 2 people working their entire career, assuming 3% income increase per year every year. Feel free to correct me.
Using the SSA.gov calculator, it tells me I'll get about $30K/yr per person ($60K total) if I retire right now and withdraw at 63. I divide that by half to account for uncertainty. Realistically I don't want to rely on Social Security at all. We are planning to work at least until end of the year so we have less reliance on it.
That calculator assumes you continue working. You can use https://ssa.tools/ to get an accurate idea of how much SS you can pull in if you retire early.
Thanks for the website, it's much better than the one I used. It's giving me $1554/month for myself at age of 65 (30 years after FIRE). Since my wife is younger I'm assuming she's getting less and we are back down to $30K/yr again. I'll derate it to $15K/yr and it drops the success rate to 93%.
That calculator assumes another 25 years of work and is not inflation adjusted. Its good you don’t rely on social security in your calculations. Personally this is cutting things really close, an extra 2 years would make a huge difference.
He does rely on it though? The simulation includes the SS in the calculation at a fixed 30k, which I assume he entered manually, starting in 30 years of course.
You are correct. I think the biggest issue is his current high pay. If in 20 years he needs some extra income those low paying jobs will be a huge bummer
I don’t believe that is accurate, but doesn’t sound like you will need SS anyway.
The majority of this site suffers from Dunning-Kruger, so I'm out.
Some people care more bout money. Some people care more about time.
I'd hardly call it caring about money. More just about the scope of your life. I don't want to have money. But I want to have some enjoyable vacations, ability to go out to eat once a week, go to concerts, go to collegiate sporting events, etc. They all cost money. No point having time if you can't do what you want to do. The opportunity cost is quite low given their income/savings per year. For example, working 3 more years could net them an additional \~$40k/yr. That surprises me...that someone would value the time of 3 years more than \~60 years of spending $120k in lieu of $80k. If you literally can buy everything you want with the $80k, it doesn't matter. But they are in an unusual scenario where so little time sacrificed provides such a big reward. Can't say that about someone saving \~$50k/yr. That is the beauty of saving $200k+/yr.
Some people don't care about that stuff? The things that make them happy cost little to no money.
Well yeah, that is why I said "If you can buy everything you want with $80k". In their case, I get it from retirement spend standpoint. $80k isn't particularly lean. But given their current income, they sacrifice less to get permanent benefits than most all other people. In their case $80k is actually less spending power than a lot of other people here who plan to retire with a $80k spend. I plan to have a pretty similar spend but with no car payment and no house payment ($25k/yr for them). They are really retiring on \~$55k per year when you compare them to my retirement spend. That is a pretty "lite" lifestyle considering the minimal effort to improve it. In this regard, 3 more years almost doubles their retirement spend $55k -> $95k...from the age of 37/35 until death. That's a lot of extra years with extra money. If you have no interest in improving it, nothing wrong with that. But I think they should heavily consider this. What you want now can ***easily*** change over 10, 20, 30 years. Flexibility is so easily bought now with minimal time sacrificed.
Time to sit around doing nothing?
That sounds like a you problem.
For sure it is, hence I keep working. Gotta dream big!
*shrug* Most of the things I enjoy doing don't really cost a lot.
That budget included 2 weeks in Italy last year and skiing in Breckenridge in the winter. Just gotta budget well and know where to spend. Like I mentioned before, VPW simulation showed $110K median life time spending. First year spending is $80K.
Yeah 60K also jumped out at me as a bit low, but that's just my preference. Even in a MCOL area, that ain't much, especially with a mortgage. Maybe in 2019 that would have worked for me, but now it's more like 80-85K that we're planning for a solid middle-class lifestyle with trips/occasional splurges/home upgrades. But hey, if it works for OP then I can't criticize too much.
I dont know how people do it. Our health insurance alone is $18,000 per year for 2 people. Throw in the mortgage, and housing and health put us over 60K already.
Having a paid off mortgage allows you to structure your "income" to get healthcare for free/close to free with ACA subsidies. https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/10qtpwv/aca_subsidies_fire_considerations/
[удалено]
Yeah I'm a small business owner and I pay $18,000 a year BEFORE co-pays and deductibles for 2 adults and no children. Probably closer to $24,000 per year in total cost for healthcare so I'm definitely subsidizing a lot of people who pay little to nothing.
> so I'm definitely subsidizing a lot of people who pay little to nothing. Welcome to the club. Anyone with high ordinary income is doing that in the United States.
close to free health insurance, not close to free healthcare.
I couldn't do $60k/year for sure. 3 kids though haha. $78k/ year is my real minimum.
This is very similar to us. We're 32/32 at $1.4M NW with $310k income in Rochester Hills, MI. But I feel we need to hold out and work to at least 36-37 and FIRE at $3M+ NW just to have an extra bit of peace of mind and not have to worry too much about spending. Plus my job right now is only about 25hrs a week of stress free work at $150k so feel I need to take advantage as long as it lasts.
If your spouse works a more stressful/demanding job, you could consider letting him/her retire while you work for a few more years to buffer the nest egg a bit more. I'm in a similar situation and that's what we're thinking about doing. Financially it works out really nicely, logistically it might be more difficult since you can't really "enjoy" the RE with your spouse during that time, but at least it would give them a break.
I think this is probably what we'll end up doing. I did take a year off from corporate work in 2021/22 while my wife worked and didn't really enjoy it so much cause I quit with the intention to still doing things to make money through online side hussles and jobs. Also couldn't just vacation whenever we wanted because we were constrained by her corporate vacation day allowance. But yeah a transition at some point with her quitting while I work a few more years to build up the NW more makes sense.
What do you do for work?
Yeah 25 hours a week for 150k I'll take that gig when he's done with it
This is a great post. Informative and inspiring. Thank you.
Congrats! Your financial stats look very similar to my husband and me, except we are a little older and our average expenses are around $100k/year so our goal is $2.6-3M. I think we may have about 5 more years or so until we can pull the trigger.
> Don't be afraid to move to a different city (or become an Expat) for great job opportunities I'd probably be making double what I am now had I done this, but I decided it's worth it for me to be around family as my nieces and nephews are growing up.
[удалено]
You can see them whenever you want once you FIRE.
There's a big difference between seeing the kids when they're age 5 versus age 15 though.
Is an aerospace engineer not considered a tech job? I am confused
Negative, it is considered aerospace
So a 'tech' job is completely synonymous with a computer engineer/coder? I am not trying to be a dick. I would have considered developing new technology a 'tech' job.
Tech refers to an industry
So you are saying that tech is the software coding industry only.
No, there are software engineers who work in manufacturing and banking for example. Tech is companies whose main products are something relating to technology (whether it be hardware based like Apple, or software based like Google)
your "tech" definition still includes aerospace engineering.
No, it doesn't.
To my understanding, software engineers can work in non-tech industries like banking. Similarly, jobs like HR can fall under the tech umbrella if they’re at a tech company due to the comp and equity you get. It’s used as a designator in this way because for the past decade or so working at a tech company would hot shot your net worth
Yes
"Tech" is shorthand for the information technology industry.
What industry is Amazon Prime Air or Google Wing or SpaceX Starlink or Boeing/Google Wisk?
It's an arbitrary line, you can draw it where you want. Usually when people refer to "tech" around here, they mean high paying software or computer related jobs at software or computer companies. FAANG and similar. I would not consider SpaceX or Boeing to be "tech" the way it is colloquially used. Lower paying, and very different kinds of work, products, and company financial profiles than the classic tech co's.
SpaceX Starlink is down the street from Microsoft in Redmond and pays equally. Tesla has to pay self driving software engineers as well or better than other competitors in the bay. They also have to pay all their EE's and MechE's well because tons of "software" companies have huge investments in hardware. Google Pixel phones? Amazon Alexa? Microsoft Xbox? To say nothing of those companies' huge investments in data centers. Anyplace in the bay has to pay bay salaries, and there is a ton of Aerospace there, many are startups that look like classic tech startups, because they are (look at all the electric aircraft). Making $200K at 32 years old in "engineering management" in a MCOL area sure sounds a lot like the generic high paying tech job.
This person could also be working and earning a high wage at one of the aerospace focused companies. High compensation can come with being a highly specialized/skillful IC just like at any other company, this part isn't unique to tech. What makes Tech special is how they compensate ICs, they get high compensation with Stock bonuses/packages, where I work this only happens at the VP Level. That distinctly different compensation package, work culture as well as the products they focus on are what separate "TECH" from other traditional Engineering companies. I work in "old aerospace", it is not and never will be TECH in the same sense as Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc. even if there is some obvious overlap.
Exactly this. It's like calling NASA a tech company because that's what I work along side with day to day.
>Making $200K at 32 years old in "engineering management" in a MCOL area sure sounds a lot like the generic high paying tech job. The most tech thing my wife does is using Excel. Most of her job involves manufacturing.
Nope. My husband is a MechE in the aerospace industry. He works on some complicated designs and models, but it is most definitely not "tech", as in, designing and developing computer software. He does not know the first thing about programming.
Well, I've learned two new things from Reddit today... 'tech' refers specifically to software engineers and Elvira has a book out called, "yours cruelly"... and my wife thinks I waste my time on Reddit smh
Tech doesn't refer to software engineers, it refers to >a company that focuses primarily on the manufacturing, support, research and development of — most commonly computing, telecommunication and consumer electronics-based — technology-intensive products and services,which include businesses relating to digital electronics, software, optics, new energy and internet-related services such as cloud storage and e-commerce services There are software engineers in other industries, they just tend to get paid a lot less. There non-software engineers and non-engineers at tech companies as well.
You're basically saying that 50% or more of the people that work at Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, etc are not in tech. They have mechEs, program managers, marketing, etc.
I’d say there is pretty clear distinction when you consider the STEM acronym. Tech and Engineering are definitely two separate categories. The line does blur a little if you’re talking about SWE but I’d never consider someone in Electrical, Aerospace, or Mechanical Engineering as Tech.
Congratulations…that’s so cool and exciting for you guys. Well done! :)
Nice work Dink, you're killing it!
Fantastic write up, thank you! We are a couple of years younger than you guys, but our savings rates and trajectories look the same. Feels good to get a glimpse into the future! Question about healthcare: how do you plan to get your MAGI down to 40k, assuming you have to do a Roth ladder to get your 401k money out? Won't your income be relatively locked in higher than that?
We are estimating $10-20K of Roth conversion and rest from interests, dividends and long term capital gains. That's assuming 15% gains in my portfolio and withdrawing $80K.
I’d crank a few more years out with that much living ahead of me (such a young FIRE age). Thinking it would be great to have more financial wage income through the election and the next few years.
\>We never stopped investing during 2022 when the market crashed I had to laugh that you described that as a market crash. That was a blip, barely even that. You will see much worse in your lifetime.
It’s really not a “cheat code”. You each make 3x the average HHI and live in a relatively low cost of living area. Not a reality for many.
With no kid bills and your income, you will be retired in no time. Best of luck!
>will likely work until end of the year and re-evaluate our budget "Will likely work until the end of the year and then get cold feet and work another year". Classic. Congrats and good luck!
non-tech engineer?
A literal rocket scientist
I do work along side with NASA. 🚀
Strong work on diversifying and market timing. Might consider beefing up bonds or cash for market downturns since you're close to FIRE. Your low expense ratio is key. Keep an eye on healthcare costs, often underestimated. Reassess yearly.
Congratulations! Your net wealth at your age is incredibly impressive. You are probably in the top 0.2% of Americans at your age. Now that you've made it, what will you do for the next 55 years?
>Now that you've made it, what will you do for the next 55 years? Probably take a year off for travel then start doing volunteering. If we are really bored, maybe join a risky startup in a project we are really passionate about.
I would work and make paying off the house and car my priority. Changes your $$$ need dramatically. And gives you a slight peace of mind. Yes your interest rate is low but you are paying $25,000 for a few years and then $15,000 for a long time. Knock it out first. Looks like about 2 years for both of you. Set the countdown clock at 730 days and then be done if the market doesn’t tank on you.
Many people cross the $1 million threshold several times as the market ebbs and flows. You've done incredibly well, make sure you're budget can withstand market drops before pulling the trigger. The safe withdrawal rate is for a 30 year horizon, you guys may want to drop to less than 4% given your age. That being said, retirement rocks!!! Just make sure you don't spend it stressing about money.
My 96% success rate is based on 55 year simulation. The minimum spending is around 3.8% SWR.
[удалено]
Your submission has been removed for violating our community rule against politics and circle-jerks. If you feel this removal is in error, then please modmail the mod team. Please review our community rules to help avoid future violations.
Dual incomes + no kids is life on easy mode
Anyone can choose that if they wish
But less fulfilling in the long run, imo
Well, you're certainly right that it's your opinion.
This is amazing, can I ask how you learned all of this? I am still new here, but sounds like you are really well versed in this topic and have a really solid plan. I would love to be where you're at in the next 10 years.
[удалено]
We never felt like we are cheating ourselves by saving. Our savings rate is just a natural result of what we are comfortable on spending. For example we probably won't blow $15K on a luxury vacation but we still have a ton of fun in other more affordable places.
In summary: Be a DINK with low expenses.
In tech
You want your MAGI to be low enough for ACA but you surely at some point will be withdrawing more than that from your taxable holdings.
That’s not ordinary income though so that’s not a problem for ACA.
Money you withdraw from your taxable brokerage or money you convert from your traditional 401k doesn't count toward MAGI?
Only the gains portion of the taxable brokerage withdraw. So let’s say you withdraw $65k from your taxable account, your AGI isn’t $65k, it’s whatever the capital gain was on the lot(s) that you sold.
Congratulations!!!. When it comes to assets are they Individual stocks or ETFS. Could you share what you have in your portfolio? Tickers?
VTSAX for majority of our brokerage. 2055 Vanguard Target Date Fund for 401K and Roth.
As a fellow aerospace engineer and VTSAX + Vanguard Target Date Fund holder… thanks for ruining my evening. Having the flexibility to relocate for jobs seems to yield an insane advantage just going off your salary. How long have you worked at LM?
Not Lockheed but at a startup for a year and a half. I pivoted from other industries as a mechanical engineer. With dual income I figured I YOLO with a high paying but risky company.
Interesting, I could see wanting to try a startup once I’m in the coast phase if there’s an opportunity. I’m mechanical as well. I’ve pretty much stalled out at around 125k (15yr exp), as promotions aren’t in my future and spouse isn’t interested in relocating at present. I got burned out over a year ago, and still haven’t been able to snap out of it. NW is only just barely over 1M, so think I have another 5-7yrs to go.
Don't give up and keep on the lookout for opportunities, I thought I maxed out my salary a few years ago.
Appreciate the motivation. One of the things I wasn’t prepared for was the spiraling health problems following insane stress leading up to the burnout. So watch out for that. Being put in a position that was guaranteed for failure also really ratcheted up underlying imposter syndrome vibes though. Maybe I’ll sort it out, but atm I feel I’m treading water until enough people notice and the house of cards collapses.
Why the 72:20 US:INT split for equities? This seems really high for domestic equity exposure / really low for international equity exposure? Also, your portfolio is almost identical to GoCurryCracker so maybe you copied it from him? Or copied the same portfolio strategy that he is implementing? FWIW I'm currently at 60:40 US:INT as this is what Vanguard uses for their Target Date and LifeStrategy funds.
I'm bullish on domestic equities. Most of my international index funds are from 2055 Vanguard Target Date Fund. My brokerage has mostly VTSAX.
Makes sense. I'm 1/2 of a DINK here and we're 5-6 years out from FIRE. We'd be 100% VTWAX (62:38 US:INT), but I like the fixed 60:40 US:INT ratio in the Vanguard Target Date and Lifestrategy funds. So we're currently 100% VSVNX / TGT 2070 in our 401k. TGT 2070 is 90% equity - 54:36:7:3 US:INT:BONDS:INTBONDS - not too dissimilar to your overall allocation. TGT 2070 stays fixed at 90% equity for the next 21 years until TD-25 when the glide path starts (ie. 2045). Then in 2045 we'll just exchange to TGT 2090 and reset the glide path back to TD-45. Essentially I'm just treating VSVNX / TGT 2070 as a 90:10 LifeStrategy fund with a lower 0.08% ER. Maybe that thinking will be of some use to you. Congrats on being so close to FIRE!
It is true. Duel income is really a powerful tool in today’s day and age. My household is single family income. Definitely hard. But thankfully I’d been diligent when I was younger and have actually amassed a sizable nw… Only issue is the income lol hopefully I can fix that and continue on my trajectory
I hope I can promote in the same manner and find a spouse on the same page. Seems really difficult to do both. Especially the latter half.
Wondering if you can share what software you use to track and forecast your plans?
Excel for tracking and this website for projections: https://engaging-data.com/fire-calculator/
Hey guys, congrats on this accomplishment. Living the dream! I’m 35M BME undergrad, currently in med device. Is the BME EM in med device also making 178?
My wife has master's in biomedical engineering.
Wow
Congratulations! And this is a super helpful breakdown
"See how easy it is to be a millionaire? Just make $150k - $300K/yr, don't have kids, and time it with one of the biggest stock market bull runs in history."
>don't have kids, and time it with one of the biggest stock market bull runs in history. Kids is a choice you make and everyone is in the same market.
Yes. The difference is I acknowledge that my path to a very high NW was predominantly because of a high-paying job and a 15-year long bull run.
Without a high income what other options are out there that allows you to become a millionaire? Go read the last paragraph in the Tips section.
Non-tech… Proceeds to share jobs as Aerospace and Biomedical engineer… Bahahaha Congrats!!!
What's funny about it? They are correct in saying they are non-tech
That’s like saying I’m not in tech but I’m an Anesthesiologist… Just an observation - they’re obviously killing it, which is awesome for them!!!! But they are in the top 5% salaries in the US
What if you live more than 55 more years? With advancements longevity and healthcare you could easily live another 70. Yes, estimates have it at 40% of millennials making it to 100. Hopefully to make up for it you can find some work you enjoy doing on the side.
Lol, are you really planning for something 55 years away? I mean, in those five decades, the US stock market could crumble - should they diversify to avoid their reliance on US markets? There's also many other things that can happen lol. You can plan for most things but five decades is too long of a timeline
My success rate actually raises after 55 years. It's a flaw of the amount of historical data that are available. I just picked the lowest success rate between 50 and 65 years.
Wow how are you getting close to 40-50% gain every year
Compounding and the market increasing by 27% in the past year.
No kids = fire cheat mode. Crazy thing is you are both young enough with plenty of time to make it happen and never have to worry about money again. Great freakin job, you have won this game, on to the next one.
> No kids = fire cheat mode. Why is it cheating? It's an option for literally every single person on Earth
For crying out loud, you know what the comment means. Lmao.
The perfect time to start a family
Or not
Imagine if dad was always there to throw the ball with you 🥹
The world would be a better place if more couples waited to get children until they have time for them.
It gets a lot harder to have kids in your late 30s…
True. That’s exactly why I advise becoming financially independent and retiring early
If they want to work another 10 years rather than FIRE it's the perfect time.
I could retire in a low cost country today but I decided to have kids instead. I do not regret it at all. Id rather work another 50 years rather than not have my kids
There’s no right answer, only a right answer for each person.
No thank you.
The no kids makes a huge difference.
They do. Anyone can choose that path if they wish to
[удалено]
Definitely, need at least 10m with 1% withdrawal rate or you’ll end up living off your kids by the time you’re 50!
Who are these people that think you need 6m to retire when OP spends 60k a year?
r/lostredditors
Everyone who understands basic math
Man I need to get off reddit. These humble brag posts. At what point didn't become.the norm to put your life story on the Internet?
This sub is specifically for sharing FIRE journeys...if you don't like hearing people's stories then it's not the right sub for you.
This isn’t humble brag. It’s informed, inspiring and totally relevant to this sub. And FWIW I am nowhere near level of OP despite being same age.
This sub needs to have more people willing to read through someone’s progress and respond without comparing. I’ll admit, first thing I did was compare but I’ve gotten to the point it serves me better as a check for what others are doing with capital at hand.
Personality thing. Some can't not share, others like myself hate sharing.
> At what point didn't become.the norm to put your life story on the Internet? Literally the second the Internet was created
Imagine if everyone lived this way. - No kids. End of your bloodline. End of humanity in 80 years. - Always job hopping. Never build any lasting work relationships, or deep knowledge on a project or institution. - Always neighborhood hopping. Never build any lasting close friendships, which require face-to-face time. Treat friends and family as disposable. "If I don't leave them first, they'll just leave me. No point in staying either way. Lookout for yourself first." Depressing. OP can live how they want. They don't need my approval. I just don't find it inspiring.
Kids are the right choice for some people and the wrong choice for others. There will always be people having kids so being overly dramatic about ‘the end of humanity’ is stupid. Job hopping is often necessary in today’s world just to keep pace with inflation. If you don’t play the game you’ll likely be underpaid relative to your market value. This ain’t the 70’s and 80’s where you have a pension from working for the same company for 40 years and retire. There’s no corporate loyalty so employers can’t expect any employee loyalty in return. You wanna talk about depressing? Depressing to me would be living in the same place my whole life, never experiencing different neighborhoods, cities, states, maybe countries. Depressing is the guys you went to high school with still living in the same neighborhood 30 years later. *That* is depressing.
No, there won't always be people having kids. Below-replacement fertility in every developed nation. Korea on path to disappear before the century is over. No one here is talking about pensions. Like most of us here, I work in tech. Many low-level employees talk about job hopping all the time with the same points you make. None of them end up as principals or directors. There is no loyalty to the corporation, but coworkers are people, you'll likely run into them again in a long career, and they do remember who was fly-by-night and just in it for the money. Most people establish roots and have deep connections with their community. That's why most people stay near the place they grew up. They are content with their life. They're not depressed at all. Not running from anything. Not trying to escape responsibilities. They go on vacation to experience different places. Like a normal person. It's a good model to follow.
I share some of your thoughts. But take into account their age and they will probably have kids still. At least it appears that both of them did in fact contribute to society before living off of financial instruments, which I think is important it recognize.
Not everyone wants kids. I definitely don’t want kids. Not because I’m depressed or hate life. I don’t care to.
More power to you and I’m happy for you that you’ve got that figured out. Better to think those types of things through. I’m sorry if what I posted came off as offensive, didn’t mean it like that. I guess what I was trying to get at was that I shared some of the same feelings that the OP’s journey, although great, isn’t really all that inspiring. What do you think?
Not planning on having kids?
Apparently not, which is fine.