Goal Number Updates

What happened this last month?

You’ll notice that some of the numbers that said they were completed no longer do. That’s because I updated our goal number to be 50% higher than what it was before. We should be able to meet this number sometime this year hopefully. It also more closely aligns with where I expect our annual expenses to land.

The old number was out of date compared to expenses, which means we may have eventually retired and our goal number wouldn’t have been sufficient to meet our annual expense, even though our actual number would have been enough to satisfy our expenses.

This month was also a bonus and RSU (restricted stock unit) vest month, so we saved more than usual, which bumped up several numbers under “How Much We Invested”. Last year, we had spent a good portion of these on several things, so not as much got invested and the average was starting to go down.

Where did we spend the most?

Our monthly expenses were up considerably compared to last last month. Annually, they’re still down from last May.

• $3535 Attic insulation
  • We decided to have part of our attic over our first floor completely cleaned out and then insulated up to the current standard. We knew it was far from it previously and it was obvious in winter. We also had some issues where snow would thaw in some areas and then refreeze creating and ice dam. Hopefully, now that more heat will be kept in the house, this won’t be an issue in the future.
• $723 Horse show weekend
  • Expenses related to horse showing for the weekend (travel, registration, trainer, hotel and food)
• $476 Eye doctor and glasses
• $440 Life insurance
• $400 Vacation
  • For dog and house sitting
• $327 Veterinarian visits
  • Just normal checkups and vaccinations
• $326 Vehicle registration fees

The Money Related Numbers

96.39% to target number (previously 136.40%)

This is our invested assets (401k, HSA, IRA, brokerage, etc.) divided by our target goal number.

26 months until original FI date (previously 27)

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

3.04 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

19.28 times annual spending (previously 17.74)

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.

77.14% to minimum FIRE (previously 70.96%)

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

20.01 times annual spending at goal number (previously 13.00)

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

343.73% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously -34.15%)

This number shows the change in what we saved in our investment accounts this month compared to the prior month.

321.33% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously -40.18%)

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

7.81% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 0.27%)

This number shows the change in our 12 month rolling average. This helps to smooth out months over time.

7.28% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 0.19%)

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.