Hopefully you had a Merry Christmas and are off to a great start in 2020.

The Money Related Numbers

29.32% (previously 28.25%)

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.

103 months (previously 104)

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

93.88 months (previously 95.18)

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

8.17 times annual spending (previously 8.10)

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.

32.68% to minimum FIRE (previously 32.29%)

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

27.87 times annual spending at goal number (previously 28.66)

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

29.92% of Gross Income Invested

This is the amount we invested in things like 401k, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment.

36.91% of Net Income Invested

This is 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.

33.91% of Gross Income Invested with Employer

This is 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.

41.83% of Net Income Invested With Employee

This is 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.

What’s Happened and What’s Happening

In November, we bought new carpet, so our expenses were quite a bit higher than usual in that month. This month, we bought Christmas gifts and new couches, so expenses continued on an upward trend.

This rounds out a full year of tracking our expenses more accurately. From this point forward, we will hopefully see most of the expense related numbers level off. They may even improve assuming the markets continue on their current course. This year also saw a number of expenses that we normally wouldn’t have, such as carpet, furniture, and trips. Overall, I think this is a good starting point and should give us a good indicator of what we’ll be spending in the future. If we can save up enough to more than cover our expenses with investment returns, we should be in good shape well into the future.

It’s been a while since a market downturn or correction. If one does occur, we’ll continue our investment strategy to keep buying mutual fund shares at a discount.

Here’s to a great 2020!