Impact of War and Uncertainty
What happened this last month?
We went from our highest investment balance last month to one that set us back about 5 months. It’s not unusual for there to be uncertainty in the world and in the markets, but the important thing is to stay consistent. Keep your eyes on the goal and follow the plan that you establish instead of trying to pivot at every curveball.
I know I talk a lot about our expenses, but that’s where you can tell where a person’s values lie. Because of recent spike in fuel prices, I figured we should get our airline tickets for our summer vacation early because I figured that as fuel prices rise, so will ticket prices.
We also had expenses related to our short trip to Washington. I’m a board member of Winebrenner Theological Seminary and was invited to a conference put on by InTrust. We decided to make a week out of it with our youngest since we’d never been to the Pacific Northwest. As we drove from Seattle to Vancouver, WA, we stayed at a couple unique places as we visited Olympia National Park and Astoria. The evening we stayed in Astoria is when we discovered that The Goonies was filmed there, along with Kindergarten Cop and Free Willy. Our next day was spent traveling around to different filming sites until we had to drive to our final destination.
Finally, we took our trailer in for an annual inspection. We also decided to have some extra work done on it so we knew everything was in great shape for the summer.
Where did we spend the most?
Our monthly expenses were down considerably compared to last last month. Annually, they’re still down considerably from last March.
- $1835 Summer vacation airline tickets
- $1359 Trip to Washington (the state)
- $1059 Trailer inspection and repairs
- $696 Animal related expenses
- $548 Gifts
The Money Related Numbers
Completed! – 123.71% to target number (previously 130.39%)
This is our invested assets (401k, HSA, IRA, brokerage, etc.) divided by our target goal number.
28 months until original FI date (previously 29)
The number of months until my 45th birthday and our Financial Independence date.
Completed! – 0 months until calculated FI date (previously 0)
The number of expected months until we reach our target number. This is based on our current expected monthly contributions, assuming a 10% annual return.
The Expense Related Numbers
15.81 times annual spending (previously 16.45)
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.
63.24% to minimum FIRE (previously 65.80%)
The minimum number to achieve FIRE is 25 times our annual spending. This number shows how close we are to the absolute minimum.
12.78 times annual spending at goal number (previously 12.62)
We’d like to save 25 times our annual spending. This is how many times our annual spending we’ll have saved when we reach our goal number. If it’s 25 or greater, than our goal number will be enough to cover our expenses. If it’s lower than 25, we’ll need to either cut our expenses or increase our goal number.
How Much We Invested
-46.71% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously 126.90%)
This number shows the change in what we saved in our investment accounts this month compared to the prior month.
-38.19% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously 118.35%)
Same as the prior number, but with employer contributions counted.
2.25% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 0.97%)
This number shows the change in our 12 month rolling average. This helps to smooth out months over time.
2.99% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 0.89%)
Same as the prior number, but with employer contributions counted.
How we track the numbers
I’ve been using Empower (referral link) to track our numbers. I put them into a spreadsheet that calculates the numbers you see above.