Spooky recession ahead… or is there?

What happened this last month?

After last month’s almost entirely red month, this month took a turn in the opposite direction. There has been a lot of discussion and news about a recession. However, the more it’s talked about, the more people will start looking for things in their everyday life that indicates there is recession happening. Not to mention, they’ll start cutting back on their spending in an effort to prepare for something uncertain. It ends up making the entire thing a self-fulfilled prophecy. Even if it wasn’t being covered so much, and a recession did occur, I have to imagine that it wouldn’t be nearly as severe if there wasn’t so much discussion around what might happen.

We built some tack cabinets for the riding barn that our youngest rides horses. To make the job easier, I decided to purchase a small table saw. It’s really the last tool that I didn’t have and would need to borrow. I could use a circular saw, but the table saw is much better for long straight cuts.

In addition, we ended up renewing our oldest’s password for her school trip next year. If she had went this year, it would have been fine, but next year will be too close to the expiration date.

If you’re wondering what I use to track our numbers monthly, we use both Mint and Personal Capital. Personal Capital has a lot of cool planning tools that I haven’t seen anywhere else. You can check them out and we both get $20: https://pcap.rocks/adam4058

Where did we spend the most?

Our monthly expenses decreased a significant amount compared to last month. They were also quite a bit lower than last October. Many of the the expenses this month were just purchases for things we wanted and or needed, but nothing extreme.

• $374 – Table Saw
• $204 – Barn Supplies
• $150 – Passport Renewal

The Money Related Numbers

53.31% to target number (previously 49.16%)

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.

69 months (previously 70)

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

33.28 months (previously 37.44)

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

10.98 times annual spending (previously 9.76)

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.

43.91% to minimum FIRE (previously 39.06%)

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

20.56 times annual spending at goal number (previously 19.86)

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

62.42% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously -8.47%)

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.

62.28% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously -6.15%)

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

3.45% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 0.98%)

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.

3.54% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 1.43%)

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