Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
El Duderino
Posts: 177
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 12:24 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by El Duderino »

what's got you down man? bummed from the finish to the vacation? Where'd you go?

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

what's got you down man? bummed from the finish to the vacation? Where'd you go?
Thanks for asking. I went to a few countries in Asia. I'd like to say more but I'm concerned about anonymity.

Partially I think I was down from the finish to the vacation. I was ready to go home but going back to normal life is kind of a downer. Also, I went to a place where I've never been before and it was interesting and fun and a good cultural experience but it there was never any magic. It's been a long time since I've felt any "wonder" and I miss it. Also, when I posted I was just coming to the realization that I spent about $2000 on a vacation. It never felt like I was spending that much but somehow it still really piled up.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I went to a free financial advisor through the credit union recently. Actually a pair of them. The first walked through my spending with me. He was helpful but we didn't find much to get rid of. He was hunting for dinners out, car payments, etc. and was very skeptical that anyone could have a $12 phone bill. :)

The second advisor was more about investments. The problem is that she didn't understand the way that my tax deferred account can be used and also thought that vanguard adjusts index funds to account for how they predict the economy will do over the next year (this is against the basics of what an index fund is).

I think they would have been really helpful for someone with no idea where the money was going so I don't want to discourage anyone from an advisor, just be sure to do your own thinking.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

March 2016

A three paycheck month plus the stock market improving offset the last of the vacation spending. There were also some car repairs. Still looking for a better car but being patient looking for the right war rig.

Hoping to get spending under the $1800 goal, maybe under $1500, next month. All this spending results in some ugly time to FI numbers.

Expenses
Auto & Transport 165.7 Had to fix something on the car. Thankfully it was easy work as car repairs go.
Business Services 17.98
Groceries 113.02 Very low spending but only due to half of food being categorized under "Travel."
Internet 63.29
Laundry 20
Mobile Phone 12.23
Mortgage & Rent 960
Shopping 9.8
Travel 988.38 I could break this out but its not worth the trouble.
Total -FI 2350.4

Income
Paycheck 275.72
Amazon 137.04
Google 130.85
Checking 0.77 Didn't have enough debits to earn the higher interest rate. I set up a reminder in my calendar to check this at the end of the month from now on so that I can buy some food or gas if needed to meet the requirement.
Gift 34.47
457b 6000 Boom!
Total +FI 6578.85

Savings 4228.45
% Spent 36%
% Saved 64%


SWR 20%
SWR with IM Income 18%
Years Remaining 31.4
Years Remaining Including Interest 12


"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."
William Arthur Ward

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Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

April 2016

Although the numbers are my worst ever I do have a few things to be positive about:
1. I bought a different car, which is mostly why the numbers are so bad. It was $4500 and I sold my old car for $1200 for a total cost of $3300. Over time this should save money (as well as provide transportation I can count on) by not requiring so many repairs and getting significantly better gas mileage. I considered breaking the car expense into two or three months to avoid having it make my calculations and charts go crazy but decided against it. I really need to get back to low spending so I'm including the entire price in April to get it behind me.

2. I received notification that my pension fund is up to $48,000 in it. I've been ignoring this since I can't access it until age 55 but given the size its becoming a part of my plan. I'm still not including it in my calculations though. If I could cash it out and invest it elsewhere I would.

3. I've been applying to jobs. I'm not sure if this will go anywhere but it's worth a try to find out what my market value is.

Expenses
Alcohol & Bars 11.59
Auto & Transport 3644.36 (car purchase, tax, title, license, etc.)
Auto Insurance 321.16 (this happened to fall into April)
Business Services 42.14
Clothing 35.91
Gas & Fuel 77.58
Groceries 185.66 (not bad!)
Health & Fitness 147.09 (getting back into a sport and needed gear)
Internet 63.29
Mobile Phone 12.25
Mortgage & Rent 960
Restaurants 18.41 (not bad!)
Trade Commissions 7
Total -FI 5526.44

Income
Paycheck 158.49
Amazon 135.38
Checking 19.67
Gift 8.75
457b 4000
Total +FI 4322.29

Savings -1204.15
% Spent 128% (if the Auto & Transport expenses are removed this is a respectable 56%)
% Saved -28%
SWR 35% (if the Auto & Transport expenses are removed this is a respectable 12%, my lowest ever)
Years Remaining -59
SWR with IM Income 34%

"The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care."
- Hugh MacLeod

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NickHalden
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:48 am

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by NickHalden »

"The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care."
- Hugh MacLeod

Brilliant.

That car purchase killed your statistics but I suppose that is also part of FI-life. Perhaps you could work with a rolling average.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I do calculate a rolling average but I like the feedback that a month at a time calculation gives me. A 12 month rolling average would give a more realistic view of what's going on but month by month causes me to work harder at making sure each month is a good one.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

May 2016

Not bad by normal standards but not good enough either. I've really got to pull it together and get back down to $1500 - $1800 spending.

I did get a raise which will amount to about $252 per month - taxes. In a normal (non 457b, non three paycheck month) this puts my savings upper limit at 67%. Things would have to get Jacobean to hit that though.

Expenses
Alcohol & Bars 24.56
Auto & Transport 51.7 (repairs/maintenance on the new car)
Business Services 158.34 (domains renewed, have to spend money to make money)
Cash & ATM 140 (I'm not sure what this is. Cash & ATM is creeping up as a problem again, need to stop this.)
Charity 89.94
Gas & Fuel 122.08 (drove to a wedding)
Groceries 205.71 (not bad!)
Health & Fitness 51.7 (gym)
Internet 23.29 (sharing this with two other people)
Mobile Phone 12.25
Mortgage & Rent 960
Restaurants 7.91
Shopping 6.45
Sports 9.5
Travel 393 ($110 is passport renewal. The rest is wedding expenses and I'm not sure what else. Ugh.)
Total -FI $2256.43

Income
Paycheck 1753.74
Amazon 147.85
Google 155.17
Checking 16.47
Gift 120 (Not really a gift. I remember putting cash in the bank but I don't remember what from.)
457b 2062
Total +FI $4255.23

Savings $1998.8
% Spent 53%
% Saved 47%
SWR 18.9%
SWR with IM Income 16.4%
Years Remaining 27.6
Years Remaining Including Interest 11


Jim Bennett: "I've been up two and a half million dollars."
Frank: "What you got on you?"
Jim Bennett: "Nothing."
Frank: "What you put away?"
Jim Bennett: "Nothing."
Frank: "You get up two and a half million dollars, any asshole in the world knows what to do: you get a house with a 25 year roof, an indestructible Jap-economy shitbox, you put the rest into the system at three to five percent to pay your taxes and that's your base, get me? That's your fortress of fucking solitude. That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of fuck you. Somebody wants you to do something, fuck you. Boss pisses you off, fuck you! Own your house. Have a couple bucks in the bank. Don't drink. That's all I have to say to anybody on any social level. Did your grandfather take risks?"
Jim Bennett: "Yes."
Frank: "I guarantee he did it from a position of fuck you. A wise man's life is based around fuck you. The United States of America is based on fuck you. You're a king? You have an army? Greatest navy in the history of the world? Fuck you! Blow me. We'll fuck it up ourselves."
From The Gambler (2014) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfeXqHFmPI

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Last edited by Gilberto de Piento on Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

El Duderino
Posts: 177
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 12:24 pm

clarification

Post by El Duderino »

Hey Gilberto, it's nice to see your good progress, particularly on the consistently high % saved.

I had a couple of questions for ya because I like the charts you've got, but I'm not sure I really understand them. What formula are you using to come up with Theoretical Investment Income? Also, what does SWR with IM Income mean?

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

Thanks!

Most of the numbers I report are from the Akratic/M741 spreadsheet I downloaded when I first joined here.

Theoretical Investment Income is the total assets I can apply to early retirement (457b, checking, Vanguard) * 4.5% theoretical interest / 12 months per year.

For example this month: (assets * 4.5%) / 12 = ($143,202.72 * 0.045) / 12 = $537.01 per month in theoretical investment income.

SWR with IM income is my “safe” withdrawal rate if I subtract my actual internet marketing (google + amazon) income I received that month from my expenses before calculating SWR in the usual way with (expenses * 12) / total assets. The internet income is slowly sinking since I don’t work on it anymore so it’s probably not that relevant but I find it interesting to calculate.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

June 2016

An uneventful but solid month. Percent saved and SWR are looking decent again after a couple of rough months.

I managed to not need to buy any gas this month which is kind of cool. I thought this might be a record but it has happened before.

Expenses
Alcohol & Bars 23.18
Auto & Transport 166.36 (bought some low mileage wheels/tires/covers on craigslist to replace worn out tires)
Business Services 56.91
Cash & ATM 140 (some travelling, not sure what else. Need to get this back under control.)
Clothing 62.79 (unfortunately not everything can be found at the thrift store)
Gift 20
Groceries 178.66
Health & Fitness 51.7 (gym)
Internet 63.29 ($40 of this is covered by neighbors)
Laundry 20
Mobile Phone 12.25
Mortgage & Rent 960
Pharmacy 15.8
Total -FI $1770.94

Income
Paycheck 3349
Amazon 90.13
CafePress 71.56
Checking 17.75
457b 124
Total +FI $3652.44

Savings $1881.5
% Spent 48%
% Saved 52%
SWR 15%
SWR with IM Income 13%
Years Remaining 14.6
Years Remaining Including Interest 8


"People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I hit a net worth of $150,000 today! If you include my pension I'm at $200,000. I haven't been paying much attention to net worth since savings rate and SWR are more telling but it's still a fun milestone. :)

It took me eight years to get to $75,000 but only two and a half years to get to $150,000.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

As an update to the previous post, I should say that I also paid off $75,000 worth of student loans during that first eight year period.

cmonkey
Posts: 1814
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:56 am

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by cmonkey »

Nice job! Paying off debt is such a slow way to build net worth compared to investing. It'll get even quicker in the coming years.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

Thanks! I'm really hoping the curve starts bending upward at some point.

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jennypenny
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Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by jennypenny »

Gilberto de Piento wrote:Most of the numbers I report are from the Akratic/M741 spreadsheet I downloaded when I first joined here.
What spreadsheet is that?


Hang in there! You'll hit that hockey stick. You'll know you're close the day your money earns more than you do.

vraxxos
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Location: UK

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by vraxxos »

http://seekingalpha.com/article/313294- ... ompounding

"The first $100,000 is a b!tch" according to Charlie Munger.

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

What spreadsheet is that?
viewtopic.php?t=2557

Gilberto de Piento
Posts: 1942
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:23 pm

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

"The first $100,000 is a b!tch" according to Charlie Munger.
Ha!

cmonkey
Posts: 1814
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:56 am

Re: Gilberto de Piento's Journal

Post by cmonkey »

jennypenny wrote:You'll know you're close the day your money earns more than you do.
I believe you'd be far beyond at that point and will have worked longer than needed. I think she meant the day your money earns more than you spend. ;)

That first 100K is definitely hard. I am not there yet, and it feels longer since I am split between 3 accounts.

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