The month for lovers, but not the market

What happened this last month?

February is always a lower expense month. Part of that is likely due to the fact that there are fewer days than other months and part of that is because it’s winter and nothing really going on to spend money on. The school musical is in March along with the a dance recital in April. Because of that, we had some fees and costumes we had to pay for.

The markets were down yet again this month. Since I’m not retiring tomorrow, this is a great opportunity to invest and will create greater long term value. When the markets were at their peak, it felt as though there would be a period of low or no growth heading towards our goal. Fluctuations in the market create opportunities that we wouldn’t otherwise get.

I finally got around to preparing our taxes for the accountant. I have no idea what the end result will be, but hopefully it’s better than we’ve estimated so far.

On another note, we ended up cancelling the Europe trip we were paying for in favor of taking a voucher for a future trip. There were too many uncertainties with COVID before we had to make a final decision. It seemed like the best decision at the time, and she’s got over a year to travel to use the fully voucher amount.

If you’re wondering what I use to track our numbers monthly, it’s Personal Capital. You can start using them too and we both get $20: https://pcap.rocks/adam4058

Where did we spend the most?

Our monthly expenses dropped considerably compared to last month. Unfortunately, they were higher than last February though. Starting next month, we should start to see our yearly expenses drop considerably each month through the end of the year. This should really help out our savings numbers compared to our estimated future expenses.

• $391 – Musical and Dance
• $221 – Hotel for Dance Competition
• Spent extra on gifts

The Money Related Numbers

53.60% to target number (previously 54.76%)

This is our invested assets/target number. Our invested assets span across a variety of investment vehicles such as 401k, HSA, IRA, Roth IRA, ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Program) and standard taxable mutual funds.

77 months (previously 78)

The number of months until my 45th birthday and our finish date.

44.10 months (previously 43.12)

The number of expected months until we reach our target number based on our current expected monthly contributions, assuming a 10% annual return.

The Expense Related Numbers

8.80 times annual spending (previously 9.06)

This is how many multiples of our annual spending we have saved up towards our goal. For example, if this value was 9.1 and we spent $10,000 annually, we would have $91,000 saved up.

35.20% to minimum FIRE (previously 36.22%)

The minimum number to achieve FIRE is 25 times our annual spending. This number shows how close we are to the absolute minimum.

16.42 times annual spending at goal number (previously 16.54)

We have a goal amount that we’d like to reach. Given our current annual spending, this is how many times our annual spending we’ll have saved when we reach our goal number.

How Much We Invested

-18.30% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously -44.94%)

This number shows the change in what we saved this month compared to the prior month in things like 401k, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program.

-15.85% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously 41.96%)

Same as the prior number, but with employer contributions counted.

1.98% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 2.19%)

This number show the change in what we saved this month compared to the prior month, but on a 12 month rolling average. This helps to smooth out months over time and shows a more general trend.

2.76% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 3.04%)

Same as the prior number, but with employer contributions counted.