Early Retirement Extreme Forums

7Wannabe5 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 11, 2018 11:22 am

30 years from now you will be giving her advice on how to best clean out the gutters on her own new home (sigh-cue Joni Mitchell.)

I've been thinking of how to use a drone to clean my gutters. I'll bet in 30 years it will be commonplace.

Congrats!! Its a huge moment in life for sure. Waiting to hear more from you how the life changes once the kid arrives.

theanimal wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 11, 2018 12:46 pm

Congrats cmonkey.

LiberateMind wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 12, 2018 11:26 pm

Congrats!!

Thanks to both of you!

October 2018 Update

Much of October was spent away from home. We stayed with family in MN for 2 weeks and saw DW's brother off and married. It was a great time! At the end of the 2 weeks we didn't want to go home, so we stayed for another week. Ah the joys of a WFH job!

The last week of September I also spent in Boston for business travel, so I was away from home for 4 full weeks. Not fun.

Because of that our expenses were a bit below average, but so much the better.

This was the second month since I started this journey that my FI balance shrunk. We were down about 2400 from September levels, ending the month at 243K despite my pay.

We saved 93% of my pay this month, which is a new record!

We are now 10 months from 4%. I also extrapolated out our expected expenses for the next 6-8 months and our TTM value is going to enter a nice range around 12K if we can control our spending. We might just drop below 12K. If it gets down to this level, 4% will come in April of May of next year, which is super exciting to me! It'll be a nice goalpost to knock out.

End Game Planning


So I've started thinking about when I'd like to call it quits and have begun making mental plans for it. First, accumulating a cash cushion to get us through the first 5 years when we wait for our first Roth IRA ladder distribution to make it out. Until now I've invested my pay within a few weeks of each paycheck but am going to start accumulating until I get around 20K - 25K in cash saved up. We'll only have about 7.5K or 8K in unlocked annual income, so we need some cash to make up for that. I don't want to rely on selling assets.

I've also figured out that once I'm done working, I cannot contribute to my HSA anymore. MN's low income healthcare options are basically 1. Medicaid and 2. MinnesotaCare. We'll be on MinnesotaCare and there are only a couple of (very good) plans available. Costs will be very low. No premiums for children and with my annual income engineered to (+/-) the federal standard deduction level, we'll pay about $14/month/person in premiums.

If I want private insurance in MN with subsidies, I need to make over 40K annually and then the subsidy is only about 50%. So we are pretty limited.

I'll have nearly 50K in my HSA when we pull the trigger which will cover our expenses and keep growing.

Expenses/Savings


Total Spend - $590.85
Total Savings - $7,378.00 ; 93%

Years Saved - 17.29
SWR - 5.94%

TTM Expenses - $14,090.65 (- $526.10)
Total FAI - $8,706.43 (+ $240.58)

Congrats on your crazy good savings rate this month. Keep it up and you'll get to your goal in no time.

prognastat wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 7:20 pm

Congrats on your crazy good savings rate this month. Keep it up and you'll get to your goal in no time.

Thanks! Time is flying by, it's true and with my daughter coming in 11 weeks (yikes!!) it will go even faster.

Exciting stuff!

Initially I was kinda stumped at the 93% savings rate and then I had one of those 'herpetty FI-math derp Batman' the closer you get to FI the more your savings rate approaches 100, it's kind of inevitable!

11 weeks is nothing! Whatever you expect from parenting: It's not going to be like that. Corrolary: You don't know what free time is, until you have children.

Congratulations to the both of you.

FBeyer wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:37 am

Initially I was kinda stumped at the 93% savings rate and then I had one of those 'herpetty FI-math derp Batman' the closer you get to FI the more your savings rate approaches 100, it's kind of inevitable!

11 weeks is nothing! Whatever you expect from parenting: It's not going to be like that. Corrolary: You don't know what free time is, until you have children.

Congratulations to the both of you.

Is that because the closer you are the more motivated you are to have a higher savings rate or because you also count investment income as savings?

thedollar wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 07, 2018 4:13 am

Is that because the closer you are the more motivated you are to have a higher savings rate or because you also count investment income as savings?

The 93% was without investment income, I guess I hadn't thought of including that. We just don't spend much money and I also got paid a little extra this month for reasons unknown to me actually.

FBeyer wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:37 am

Congratulations to the both of you.

Thanks!

I don't include investment income myself either, does anyone else?

No, investment returns are implicit in the compound returns of the "standard equations", so insofar you're using that it makes no sense to include it.

If you use the simplisitic: years = (25-current NW/spending)*(1-savings rate)/savings rate equation, which does not include compounding, then I can see the argument for using it. You'd have to update it as you go along. If so, the prediction will lead the data and get more and more accurate.

Thanks to Mr Manic Market, we closed over a quarter million in FI funds for the first time ever today. WooooooooHooooooo!

November 2018

November has been a crazy month. Our financials did very well! In fact market gains were more than my paycheck this month (including 401K/match). We ended the month just over 262K in FI funds. We received record dividends for this month of the quarter as well at $617 in received dividends.

I'm accumulating cash now in prep for pulling the trigger in just over a year. The stars are aligning for spring of 2020 on a number of fronts (although there is some uncertainty now...see below...)

Next month will see two very awesome milestones knocked out financially! Stay tuned.

Baby Update

DW's pregnancy is progressing well so far. She is 32 weeks as of yesterday and we are getting everything together that we need. Many things have been found on craigslist, lots of donated clothing and stuff as well. And some new purchases. For the year we are at $300 in money spent specifically for baby.

The last few weeks have been a sort of blur, however, and fairly stressful. DW's pregnancy had been going by uneventful until her appointment earlier this month. She was getting a second ultrasound because they thought the baby was a little big for her age. The technician asked us if we'd be seeing the doctor that day.....and DW and I looked at each other, both knowing she had seen something on the ultrasound.

Sure enough she had seen something alright! They missed it on the original anatomy scan, but turns out our little baby has a condition called Situs Inversus. It's estimated that 1 in 10,000 people have it! The exact cause is unknown - it could be genetic, but most cases are just spontaneous. Almost all people with it are totally fine as well, and the same appears to be the same for our little girl - with one exception.

Folks with this condition have a 5-10% chance of having a heart defect, so we had to get a specialist followup in Iowa City this week and they did an echocardiogram of her heart. The most common heart defect that occurs with this condition is something called TGV - basically her pulmonary artery and aortic artery would be connected to the wrong chambers of her heart. This condition requires immediate surgery right after birth. Thankfully, they confirmed she does not have this!

However, they think they could see a tiny hole between her ventricles (the bottom chambers) but they weren't convinced. The doctor "saw a flap of tissue" which he thought could be a hole. There also appeared to be a slight reduction in flow through the valve leaving heart going to the aorta, but they said it could be caused by the small hole.

I confirmed with them that, since they aren't convinced of a hole, if it is a hole it is probably super small.

Doing my own research, I've discovered small holes tend to heal themselves as the baby grows, especially if accompanied by a small flap of tissue and rarely require surgery. In fact most of these holes are not discovered until a heart murmur is heard! But we are now mentally preparing for the worst case. We also need to deliver the baby in Iowa City which means a 60 mile drive once DW goes into labor, which gives us more stress. I haven't driven at highway speeds in several years, so the plan is that her parents will be here to help when the time comes. But if baby comes early, I'm going to have to face my demons and get her there, albeit slower than most drivers.

There is a 20-25% chance she could have something else as well - something called primary ciliary dyskinesia. We won't know until after she is born, after which is might be totally obvious because she will have trouble breathing in the most severe case. They will do a genetic test for this, which I'm thankful for because I've read it can be difficult to get a diagnosis outside of the test. If she has this, she'll be more prone to ear and sinus infections and also lung infections. There is no cure for it, just daily management.

So far we are handling this pretty well I think, just focusing on the fact that the baby is perfectly healthy otherwise. She is 69th percentile and hanging on to that number. Her heart beat is strong each time we go in and she is suuuuuper active. She loves it when I talk to her.

We have another appointment on December 10, so I can post another update then.

Expenses/Savings


Total Spend - $1,242.80
Total Savings - $6,164.54 ; 79%

Years Saved - 19.40
SWR - 5.15%

TTM Expenses - $13,531.87 (- $558.78)
Total FAI - $8,870.83 (+ $205.08)

I admire your calm approach to the news. Nothing you can do but be the best parents once she's born. Keeping my fingers crossed that it's all minor.

Sorry about the medical issues. If she has PCD give me a ping--her maintenance regimen will be similar to DS. It's not a big deal.

Some babies let you wade into the parenting pool while others start with a cannonball off the diving board. Welcome to the deep end of the pool.

2Birds1Stone wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 01, 2018 11:56 am

I admire your calm approach to the news.

Ha! If only you could have been in my head during those 2 weeks between appointments. Having no information and reading all I could on it. We are definitely more at ease now. This is definitely letting me flex my "you don't have control" muscles though.

jennypenny wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 01, 2018 12:00 pm

Sorry about the medical issues. If she has PCD give me a ping--her maintenance regimen will be similar to DS. It's not a big deal.

Thanks jp! I'm curious now about your DS. I will certainly ping you if it turns out she has it. I am heartened by knowing not everyone with PCD has the worst symptoms. Many people don't have many symptoms at all.

@cmonkey, our fingers are crossed for smooth delivery, but just in case it doesn't go exactly to plan, a word of advice for you both. Next time you meet with doc, discuss what happens immediately after birth in worst case scenario. DD was taken away from DW pretty much immediately, (we got to pose for a really quick photo) but DD and I got whisked away leaving DW in the delivery room with midwives. DD was rushed off to HDU. DW, not knowing what was going on was pretty distressed and traumatised after the event because of it, because she had no idea what was happening next. Talking about it in advance, even if it never comes to pass puts you in a position of strength

ffj wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 01, 2018 6:17 pm

If this is her first birth than you should have plenty of time to get her where she needs to be in time, even after her water breaks. Her contractions can last for hours before the baby is born, so take your time and enjoy the fact that you'll soon be a father.

Word of warning, that wasn't our experience at all! <1 hour labour here for our first (and definitely last! ), things don't always go as you expect! If you haven't already, get your hospital bags packed and even if you think you won't need them, carry them with you every time you leave the house together!

@cmonkey, maybe get a bit of practice of the route under the belt before you get called to battlestations, especially if you are unfamiliar with the hospital location etc. Whilst you plan on getting parents to help you out, well, you know, Murphys law! You really don't want to be worrying about where you are going to park/how to get to get there etc in the heat of the moment, a trial run whilst it seems kinda crazy, it may pay off in a worst case scenario! However, hoping it wont come to any of the above!

Take care!

@vexed, Part of our Dec 10th meeting is going over expectations/plans for when we arrive at the hospital and after she's born. We are meeting with someone from pediatric cardiology, ob gyn, neonatal intensive care and perhaps someone else I can't remember.

I wonder if premature babies tend to come faster compared to full-term? Getting everything packed is high on my to-do list as frankly, I don't trust those due date predictions.

I was in labor for 36 hours with my first. Second was more like 12. It's kind of like if somebody embedded a billiard ball under your bicep and your muscles kept spasmodically flexing until the ball slowly, slowly, slowly pushed through the middle of the bicep and then ripped right through your skin.

I would be optimistic about the prognosis for your baby. All this early detection of potential problems is kind of a mixed blessing. Lots of kids need little fixes, and the bun isn't baked until it is out of the oven. My DS30 had a pinched ureter which had to be repaired, and my DD27 had to have her tear ducts surgically opened.

Thanks 7w5. It's true, prognosis even for the worst heart defects in newborns is excellent these days with near 100% success rate (meaning no followup surgeries or complications), albeit still a huge source of stress.