FIRE Progress Report – August 2019

The Money Related Numbers

25.65% (previously 25.16%)

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.

108 months (previously 109)

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

102.62 months (previously 104.23)

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

8.66 times annual spending (previously 8.45)

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.

34.63% to minimum FIRE (previously 33.81%)

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

33.75 times annual spending at goal number (previously 33.61)

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.

Where We Saved This Month

401k – $1882 total (employee and employer)

HSA – $430

Roth IRA – $1000

ESPP – $495

Taxable Investments – $235

What’s Happened and What’s Happening

Surprisingly, all of our numbers moved in a positive direction this month. That’s great news and most likely due to the markets hitting record highs.

Our expenses for last month were lower than they were the previous year. This is the first time that’s happened in a while. There were several factors that probably helped with that. We changed our homeowners and car insurance and paid it the previous month. We also cancelled a cruise we had planned for January and got our deposit back.

On the expense side, as is true every year this time, our property taxes were paid. Finally, we had some regular maintenance to do on our 2006 Toyota Prius. It crossed the 250,000 mile mark this month! I ran some numbers and realized that we’ve put over 20,000 miles a year on average on it since we bought it.

Next month is a 3 paycheck month. We’ve decided to take the extra paycheck and split it across three different things: saving to replace a car, house projects, and vacations or trips. We keep separate budget categories for each one. We used to throw it all into one savings account, but then we would question whether paying for maintenance on the car would jeopardize our ability to pay for an upcoming vacation. By separating it, that’s no longer a concern.

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