Excited to be here
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:06 am
I have lurked these forums for a while and figured its now time to make an account.
Background
I am 25 years old, prior military, married, and I have one child - a boy about 7 months old. I began my ERE journey about a year or so ago. Previously I had always saved up some money and invested because that is a topic I fell in love with; however, I didn't exactly know what I was saving up the money for. I would always thinking "it will compound and I will get rich one day or something." Once I realized that early retirement is possible, that became my primary focus. Personally, I would like to have $1,000,000 so I can live quite luxuriously off $40,000 a year. My wife is a foreigner from the Philippines and we have plans to retire there one day. As far as we know, the $1,000,000 goal is subject to change (if we can effectively learn to live on less) or whether we want to stay in the Philippines (maybe / maybe not so much to consider and too far ahead for my thinking)
Career
I have recently just separated from the military and I am seeking employment. In fact, tomorrow I have a job interview for a government GS internship so I hope I can get it because it will be my first form of employment since leaving the military. I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Finance and will be pursuing a 2nd Bachelor's in Accounting beginning this Fall. If I get this internship, I plan on relocating so I can live pretty close to its location (this is a strategy I learned from the Early Retirement community that I can't wait to implement - the strategy of living close to work to reduce commuting costs). I feel as if I am in a career re-building stage. In the military, I worked construction; a line of work that had nothing to do with Finance. I separated knowing I may have to take a step backwards to make a step forward.
Current Net Worth
I currently hold 3 investment accounts
-TSP from the military: $2,000 or so. I don't know the exact number actually but wish I allocated more to this when I served
-Roth IRA: $18,000
-Brokerage: $31,000
-My Son's 529 College Savings: $300
-Savings - $7,000
-Total Investments (not counting kid's college and savings): $51,000 (5.1% towards my goal)
My investments are simply spread across several Vanguard index funds (VOO, VO, VIOO, VCIT, VEA, VWO) and a REIT (Realty Income Corporation: O). My strategy is simply buy and hold and I simply invest when I have funds ready to put in the funds that area underweight in my allocation.
Frugality
I'm still learning much in this department but my biggest accomplishment so far, last year, was cutting down my electricity bill from $250 to $74 at one point. I bought a kill-o-watt and learned about phantom loads, using LED lights, efficient shower heads, turning off the water heat (or just lowering it), hang drying cloths, and washing my clothes on cold water to name a few.
Some of my future goals
-Savings rate of 70%. I managed to hit 62% for a one month period. The 70% truly alludes me.
-Start a garden and grow my own foods
-Finish my 2nd Bachelor's Degree and get closer to earning a CPA
-Side business?
-Lose 25 pounds
Thanks for reading my post. I am thinking of starting a journal. I also have my own retirement blog but I won't be advertising that here.
Background
I am 25 years old, prior military, married, and I have one child - a boy about 7 months old. I began my ERE journey about a year or so ago. Previously I had always saved up some money and invested because that is a topic I fell in love with; however, I didn't exactly know what I was saving up the money for. I would always thinking "it will compound and I will get rich one day or something." Once I realized that early retirement is possible, that became my primary focus. Personally, I would like to have $1,000,000 so I can live quite luxuriously off $40,000 a year. My wife is a foreigner from the Philippines and we have plans to retire there one day. As far as we know, the $1,000,000 goal is subject to change (if we can effectively learn to live on less) or whether we want to stay in the Philippines (maybe / maybe not so much to consider and too far ahead for my thinking)
Career
I have recently just separated from the military and I am seeking employment. In fact, tomorrow I have a job interview for a government GS internship so I hope I can get it because it will be my first form of employment since leaving the military. I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Finance and will be pursuing a 2nd Bachelor's in Accounting beginning this Fall. If I get this internship, I plan on relocating so I can live pretty close to its location (this is a strategy I learned from the Early Retirement community that I can't wait to implement - the strategy of living close to work to reduce commuting costs). I feel as if I am in a career re-building stage. In the military, I worked construction; a line of work that had nothing to do with Finance. I separated knowing I may have to take a step backwards to make a step forward.
Current Net Worth
I currently hold 3 investment accounts
-TSP from the military: $2,000 or so. I don't know the exact number actually but wish I allocated more to this when I served
-Roth IRA: $18,000
-Brokerage: $31,000
-My Son's 529 College Savings: $300
-Savings - $7,000
-Total Investments (not counting kid's college and savings): $51,000 (5.1% towards my goal)
My investments are simply spread across several Vanguard index funds (VOO, VO, VIOO, VCIT, VEA, VWO) and a REIT (Realty Income Corporation: O). My strategy is simply buy and hold and I simply invest when I have funds ready to put in the funds that area underweight in my allocation.
Frugality
I'm still learning much in this department but my biggest accomplishment so far, last year, was cutting down my electricity bill from $250 to $74 at one point. I bought a kill-o-watt and learned about phantom loads, using LED lights, efficient shower heads, turning off the water heat (or just lowering it), hang drying cloths, and washing my clothes on cold water to name a few.
Some of my future goals
-Savings rate of 70%. I managed to hit 62% for a one month period. The 70% truly alludes me.
-Start a garden and grow my own foods
-Finish my 2nd Bachelor's Degree and get closer to earning a CPA
-Side business?
-Lose 25 pounds
Thanks for reading my post. I am thinking of starting a journal. I also have my own retirement blog but I won't be advertising that here.