Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hi DutchGirl, thank you for your positive post. Unfortunately, our savings rate isn't quite 82% because some of the net worth increase can be attributed to stock market gains and dividends. But I agree that $3M is very comfortable. I could probably go to part time at $2M, but my fiancee plans to continue at or near full time, so we will continue to accrue income regardless (or pay down a future mortgage).

Our incomes are thankfully stable with the potential for my income to increase 40% or so in the next year if I continue on in my current position. Once we pay off our loans we could definitely live well (maintain our current standard of living) between $60k-70k/year.

Read through your journal, great progress, awesome approach to handling the high income.

I think it can be hard to appreciate the sacrifice that goes into reaching that point. I bet your 20's looked very different than most on the board. Even now, I doubt you're clocking a 9-5. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Hey Scott 2, thanks for dropping by and leaving a message.

It is actually a very strange feeling to have a "real" job that pays so well after 12 years of low pay (or active debt accrual). It's hard to be taken seriously by some people if I say I have sacrificed so much and I make what I make now. I would call this more of a long term investment. Hopefully it pays off!

March 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Fiancee loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $48,782

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $157,889

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $484,411
Travel fund: $4000

Net:+$277,740

April 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Fiancee loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $47,619

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $154,417

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $509,629
Travel fund: $2000

Net:+$307,593

May 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Fiancee loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $46,465

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $150,940

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $516,167
Travel fund: $2000

Net:+$318,762

Nice, MedSaver. You're doing well. Keep it up. How do you like your work?

Hi DutchGirl. Thanks for the words of encouragement. With regards to work, it's a mix. Some days I really dislike it and other days I help save someone's life.

MedSaver wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 18, 2017 4:29 pm

Hi DutchGirl. Thanks for the words of encouragement. With regards to work, it's a mix. Some days I really dislike it and other days I help save someone's life.

I guess ups and dows are kind of normal, IMO. I experience same feelings about work. Well, maybe you know if there are more better days than worse days?

June 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Mrs. MedSaver loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $43,303

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $147,508

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $555,299
Travel fund: $3000

Net:+$364,488

Interesting note: I now have enough in my taxable accounts that I could pay off my entire loan balance should I need/want to (i.e. I have passed the "break even point" on my student loans). The plan was to invest that money, which I have done and been rewarded for doing. For now, we will continue to plug away at our loans like usual, but it is nice to know that if I lost my job, I would still end up debt free.

MDFIRE2024 - With regards to work, I'm not sure I can break down my good days and my bad days. But some days are definitely worse than others. Due to some changes at work, good days are becoming more prevalent though.

July 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Mrs. MedSaver loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $44,134

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $144,003

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $568,509
Travel fund: $4000

Net:+$380,372

*edit - some of the numbers were a little off.

Good to read in your June-update that there are more good days now. I hope that trend continued, anyway?

You guys are doing pretty well financially. Keep going!

August 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Mrs. MedSaver loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $42,920

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $140,561

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $576,093
Travel fund: $2500

Net:+$392,612

September 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Mrs. MedSaver loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $41,750

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $137,052

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $605,512
Travel fund: $2500

Net:+$426,710

Keep it up!

October 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Mrs. MedSaver loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $40,620

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $133,548

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $620,228
Travel fund: $3500

Net:+$446,060

Wow MedSaver! You have an impressive change in your net worth from September to Oktober. Things look very positive financially. Take care and keep it up.

November 2017 Update

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Mrs. MedSaver loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $39,402

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $130,031

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $642,937

Net:+$473,504

Annual Update

Another year down. This is the first full year of completely tracked expenses for both me and Mrs. MedSaver. So, how did we do?

MedSaver gross income 2017: $345,448 (2016: $302,997), up 14%.
Net income 2017: $212,622 (2016: $188,695), up 13%.
Monthly net: $17,719

MedSaver Fiancee gross income 2017: $160,633 (2016: $157,529), up 2%.
Net income 2017: $87,121 (this number is low because we are maxing her pretax retirement accounts)
Monthly net: $7,260

This year was weird for cash flow because we paid for a wedding at $20k (hopefully a one-time endeavor) and received about $8k in wedding gifts. Additionally, we had fairly significant dividend income from our investments at $8k. Previously this was negligible. We are also apparently going to get pounded by the marriage penalty to the tune of about $20k, based on my back-of-the-napkin calculations, but that will be considered a 2018 expense.

Spending breakdown (monthly):
Food: $1000
Rent: $1850
Insurance: $735
MedSaver student loan: $4030
Fiancee student loan: $1300
Utilities: $180
Gas: $180
Internet/cable: $127
Cleaning service: $80
Cell phone: $65
Travel: $2500
Other: $4700

Total 2017: $16,747

The "Other" category is obviously enormous and includes additional taxes, wedding expenses, gifts, cash withdrawals, entertainment, family support, professional expenses, car maintenance, financial planner fees, investment fees, healthcare expenses, clothing, home maintenance, charitable giving, etc. Hopefully this falls next year, but it's hard to compare with last year since I wasn't closely tracking my wife's expenses.

Liabilities:

Credit cards = $0

Mrs. MedSaver loans
Total student loans (5 year fixed 3.5%) = $38,217 (Jan 2017 $52,176)

MedSaver loans
Student loans blended (5 year ~3.5% fixed) = $126,507 (Jan 2017 $168,200)

Assets:
IRA/Brokerage/403b/457/cash: $673,387 (Jan 2017: $427,817)

Net: $508,663 (Jan 2017: $207,441), which is +$25,102/month

Assuming moderate 5% growth and continued similar savings, we can expect to reach the lower margin of our FI number in about 7 years. However, I expect greater wage growth for 2018. Additionally, I am now eligible for company profit sharing which is substantial. Our federal taxes are predicted to drop significantly as the marriage penalty and AMT have essentially been eliminated. This is in spite of our inability to deduct SALT. I'll let you all know how our paychecks fared come the end of January. Best wishes to everyone in the New Year.

Congratulations on getting married MedSaver! (So subtle there between your May and June updates!) And congrats on another fantastic year and breaking 500k NW! That hard work in your 20s is now paying off in a very big way.

Do you plan to continue renting your home, or will you buy one eventually? I'm impressed that you've managed to keep expenses reasonable (by my standards anyway) all this time. Do you feel any peer pressure from your more spendy colleagues? (Or from us here?)