FIRE Progress Report through February 2020

It’s been quite a month and the markets have been on a wild ride. Let’s see how that impact things.

The Money Related Numbers

29.79% (previously 30.78%)

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.

101 months (previously 102)

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

88.28 months (previously 88.97)

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

8.51 times annual spending (previously 8.81)

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.

34.03% to minimum FIRE (previously 35.25%)

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

28.55 times annual spending at goal number (previously 28.63)

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

61.87% 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.

76.88% 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.

65.86% of Gross Income Invested with Employer Contributions

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.

81.84% of Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions

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

This month’s contribution numbers look really high, but that’s only because I invested some extra income from the business. You’ll notice that most numbers are relatively flat or down a little. Towards the end of February, we saw the markets drop pretty dramatically because of the coronavirus. I know it has impacted a lot of people. However, I think the markets are overreacting to something they probably don’t fully understand.

This is definitely a buying opportunity for people who are looking to retire in the future. Imagine you walk into a store and your favorite jeans are 10-20% off. Normally, they would never be on sale. Do you think “I shouldn’t buy those, but I should probably sell all my jeans at home?” Of course not. Instead of thinking “I’m losing money”, think “stocks are on sale.”

Nothing too unusual this month from an expense standpoint. Our monthly expenses only increased about 6% from last year. February is our lowest expense month. March was our second highest expense month last year, so we’ll see how we do in next month’s reports.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *