MedSaver's Journal

[MedSaver]

Not that reducing this line item matters financially at your income level, but I am intensely curious how two people manage to spend $1800/month on food. Is there some waste reduction that could happen here?

It's 2 reasons. We usually treat friends/family when we eat out. Probably on average 2 times per month, resulting in "overages" of a few hundred dollars. The other is that we are including restaurants when we travel and those tend to be more expensive than those we frequent at home.

[DutchGirl]

So close to the $4 million! But you'll get there, no doubt.

Do you have a favorite dining out experience that you can tell us about? A favorite chef, or favorite restaurant?

[MedSaver]

April 2024 Update

Assets:

IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $3,348,966
Estimated Home Worth: $1,200,000

Liabilities:
Mortgage: $661,918 @ 2.75% fixed

Net: $3,887,048

[MedSaver]

So close to the $4 million! But you'll get there, no doubt.

Do you have a favorite dining out experience that you can tell us about? A favorite chef, or favorite restaurant?

The only thing I can say is, if you love food, go to Tokyo. They can do almost everything very well.

[thef0x]

Wondering if you're read any pushback on the 4% or 3% rule. Specifically: https://www.madfientist.com/discretiona ... -strategy/

For folks with a serious nestegg like yourself, this strategy becomes possible specifically because discretionary spending eats up a large amount of ongoing spending (in madFientist's example, his is 50%).

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts as I'm in a similar boat NW wise and flirting with these ideas myself.

Also, any specifics eating in Tokyo? I'm planning on going this Fall. Cheers and congrats on your continued successes!

[MedSaver]

May 2024 Update

Assets:

IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $3,480,390
Estimated Home Worth: $1,200,000

Liabilities:
Mortgage: $660,618 @ 2.75% fixed

Net: $4,019,772

[MedSaver]

Wondering if you're read any pushback on the 4% or 3% rule. Specifically: https://www.madfientist.com/discretiona ... -strategy/

For folks with a serious nestegg like yourself, this strategy becomes possible specifically because discretionary spending eats up a large amount of ongoing spending (in madFientist's example, his is 50%).

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts as I'm in a similar boat NW wise and flirting with these ideas myself.

Also, any specifics eating in Tokyo? I'm planning on going this Fall. Cheers and congrats on your continued successes!

It's an interesting concept, but for us, it isn't entirely about retiring early. We want to be in a position to retire without much risk of having to cut discretionary spending; retiring in style as it were. We could retire right now and meet all of our basic needs, but would rather work a few extra years and be able to do whatever we want.

As regards Tokyo, we are also heading back in the Fall. It's funny in that Tokyo is the one place where we feel we do not need to plan ahead when it comes to meals. We just walk around and find great food on a whim. Yes, you could book all your meals at Michelin starred places if you wanted, but we have not had a problem finding good restaurants. Please post back if you find something truly worthy of a visit and we will try to make it there.

[DutchGirl]

Congrats, and well done, on reaching the $4 million. I'm sure you have colleagues who had a similar trajectory to yours whose net worth still hovers around zero as they spend it all. I heard that you can call them HENRYs and some will stay that way forever.

For you guys, the biggest risk I see is working longer than you want to. I would keep checking in with yourselves every once in a while whether you're still on the right path for you. For example, if a job is no longer fun, money is not the reason to keep doing it anyway.

[Scott 2]

For you guys, the biggest risk I see is working longer than you want to. I would keep checking in with yourselves every once in a while whether you're still on the right path for you. For example, if a job is no longer fun, money is not the reason to keep doing it anyway.

I'll add - even when the job is fun and rewarding, time closes other paths. Family ages, friends leave for new phases of life, bodies wear, borders close, etc. That opportunity cost is the risk. Finally retiring into "whatever we want" can barrel head first into non-financial constraints.

With the benefit of hindsight, I'd say the risk argues for spending more while working, as much as retiring early.