A new high

What happened this last month?

This month, we hit a new record in our investment total. Continued contributions, along with a recovering markets, has helped the number to grow to new heights.

Our expenses also grew considerably this last month. As part of our siding project for the house, we wanted to have our lines buried. The bill finally came this month and was paid. I also bought some new networking equipment to improve our Wi-Fi a bit. I like to tinker around with new tech things from time to time, so it’s kind of a hobby. If we were to subtract the powerline work and our network equipment, our expenses would have been lower than they were last April.

This month was also a bonus month, which helped to improve some of our numbers quite a bit. Next month is when the siding project will start, which will have a new set of expenses that go along with it and will add to our expense numbers quite a bit.

Where did we spend the most?

Our monthly expenses were up considerably compared to last month. Annually though, they’re about even with our annual expenses as of last April.

• $4681 Buried powerline
• $1244 Spring break
• $727 Network equipment
• $482 Dance competitions

The Money Related Numbers

60.98% to target number (previously 59.96%)

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.

63 months (previously 64)

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

27.38 months (previously 28.67)

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

10.84 times annual spending (previously 11.35)

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.

43.37% to minimum FIRE (previously 45.39%)

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

17.78 times annual spending at goal number (previously 18.92)

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

96.84% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously 15.35%)

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.

73.82% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously 23.41%)

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

3.19% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 0.11%)

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.

3.07% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 0.51%)

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

How we track the numbers

If you’re wondering what I use to track our numbers monthly, we use both Mint and Personal Capital. I use Mint to grab the numbers each month because they do a great job of consistently pulling them and then I put them into a spreadsheet that calculates the numbers you see above. I use Empower (formerly Personal Capital) for their planning and forecasting tools.