FIRE Progress Report through August 2020 (Cell Phone Edition)
What Happened and What Is Happening
This month saw a significant boost to most of the numbers. This was partially related to the huge market run that we saw towards the end of August. In addition, I was awarded more restricted stock units. Technically, they are not mine to spend yet. Every year, I’ll receive a quarter of them until they’re gone. Obviously, that’s a huge benefit that I’m getting at work. It’s kind of like a delayed bonus. If the stock price goes up, the bonus goes up. If it goes down, the bonus goes down. Also, if I leave, I stop receiving them and forfeit what is left.
Since an amount of our portfolio is attached to a single stock, this means we may see our valuation swing more wildly. Every year when I’m awarded a portion of the RSUs, I’m converting it to mutual funds. This lowers my risk and also stabilizes our portfolio. The more that are converted, the more stable the portfolio will become.
One expense we had this month was the purchase of Verizon prepaid cards. I’ve found that I can get them at a discount at Target and sometimes even find them on sale. This decreases our phone bill even more. Plus, when paying by gift card, they don’t charge you all the taxes and fees, saving an an extra $5.82 a month. We’re using Verizon’s prepaid service. I’m not sure if you could do the same on their postpaid service.
How did this affect us?
In addition to the phone cards mentioned above, we replaced a ceiling fan this month. It was broken by our youngest during a sleepover.
Finally, we bought Julie a new phone this month after the screen broke on her old one. We’ll be focusing on replenishing the savings account this month. and then on to saving to remodel the kitchen.
- Phone service – $268.37
- Ceiling Fan – $100
- Julie’s New Phone – $455
The Money Related Numbers
43.75% to target number (previously 38.39%)
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.
95 months (previously 96)
The number of months until my 45th birthday and our finish date.
65.29 months (previously 71.20)
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
12.76 times annual spending (previously 10.84)
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.
51.06% to minimum FIRE (previously 43.35%)
The minimum number to achieve FIRE is 25 times our annual spending. This number shows how close we are to the absolute minimum.
29.18 times annual spending at goal number (previously 28.23)
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
38.87% of 6 Month Average Gross Income Invested (previously 42.98%)
The amount we invested in things like 401k, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment.
48.37% of 6 Month Average Net Income Invested (previously 53.52%)
The amount we invested in things like 401k, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment, but with taxes subtracted.
41.64% of 6 Month Average Gross Income Invested with Employer Contributions (previously 46.35%)
The amount we invested in things like 401k including employer contributions, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment.
51.81% of 6 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 57.73%)
The amount we invested in things like 401k including employer contributions, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment, but with taxes subtracted.