Mrchopboy's Roady Road to ERE
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 7:58 pm
I've been browsing through the journals here since I found Jacob's blog two weeks ago. The quality, diversity and thoughtfulness of the posts surprised me. I've paid to be part of forums that would be lucky to have a fraction of the depth of conversation and thoughtfulness that this one has. Life is so busy these days with two young children at home that it feels like I don't have any bandwidth to communicate much beyond my family, but something compels me to share here. I tend to follow my gut (for good or ill), so here goes!
Mid 30s father of two (DS 4 and DD 10 months) and husband to an amazing wife. Stay at home dad/trader by day, video game developer/writer/budding composer by night. In a past life, I worked a variety of jobs in order to pay the bills while I tried to live the life of an artist (writer, filmmaker and now maker of video games). I've made some horrid financial blunders in the last decade of adulthood. The regret could eat me up for many years to come if I let it. The only saving grace as it pertains to FI and ERE in particular is that I've always been quite frugal. I had my first credit card in college and when I got my first interest charge after I put a bunch of books and other "necessities" on it, I was horrified at both the APR and the actual dollar amount. After that experience, I became vigilant about living below my means.
If not for the financial mistakes (I'll go into this in a future entry) I've made thus far, we would be in a very good position to move on from our current life situation even with two kids. However, as it currently stands, we're looking at another 1-2 (years) depending on how long DW can handle staying at her current job.
Our current NW is just under 300K. It fluctuates a bit as we have a chunk in equities with at least half of that chunk in individual equities (not index funds). I invest/trade our assets with the goal of capital appreciation. DW brings home the bacon (we're pescatarian, though we love bacon) with her hard earned W2 income. Our goal is to have around 400K, though ideally 500K (with some help from investments) before DW leaves her job. She makes a bit above the American median salary, though below the median salary for our HCOL city. Our current SV rate is hovering around 82% YTD. While DW doesn't make much, the benefits of her job include housing with nearly all expenses included. This is what allows us to save at such a high rate, while still paying $400 a month in car insurance and payments (sub 1% APR). We're both frugal by nature, though in the past we've spent more liberally on items (production equipment for me, clothes and health products for her). Since covid19 hit, we've been in extreme savings mode. Next month we'll be switching our cell phone plan to a pay-what-you-use company, which should bring our SV closer to 85%.
On the Wheaton scale, I'd say we're around 6-7 with aspirations for 8. DW would love to be a homesteader with a nice plot of farmland. I grew up as a city boy but have spent time in rural Japan and have come to appreciate the relative peace and solitude of non-city life. Perhaps a longer term goal of ours. Our more immediate plan is to leave the States and head to Asia and take advantage of some geoarbitrage while also giving our children a chance to develop their foreign language skills.
Our projected budget is roughly 2x JAFI, 2.5x JAFI would be comfortable. 1.5-1.6x JAFI would be doable, but a leaner existence. Living abroad will give us to live on our assets more comfortably while we work on this video game together which should take us a few years. I don't see us staying beyond 2 years, originally the hard stop was 1 year but covid19 spooked my wife a bit and since discussing it at greater length, we decided it would be prudent to give ourselves more runway if possible. Her job is taxing on her for a variety of reasons and if it ever comes down to it, we will choose to leave with less financial security than risk jeopardizing her mental health. The one decision I've made in my life that I can unequivocally say was spot on was marrying my wife. It's been a wild and turbulent ride, but we've come out of it stronger and more connected than we've ever been. Besides, given our ability to live quite frugally, we feel reasonably confident that we can pick up part time jobs in our destination country that will cover our expenses if our investments take an extended beating.
Overall, I'm incredibly grateful for Jacob and this community for opening my eyes up to the possibility of ERE. If I had known about this sooner, I don't think I would have made nearly as many financial mistakes (mostly investing/trading blunders) as I would have realized that I didn't need millions of dollars to escape the rat race that I've resisted for as long as I can remember. Oh well, if there's anything I've learned in the last few years it's that dwelling on the past is a giant waste of time. I'm optimistic about the future, not because I think everything is going to go our way, but rather because I feel empowered by the ERE mindset. I've come to realize and believe that there is a sustainable way to live the creative life we both desire. Tons more to share, but I'll let it flow as it will in future posts. Thanks for reading!
Mid 30s father of two (DS 4 and DD 10 months) and husband to an amazing wife. Stay at home dad/trader by day, video game developer/writer/budding composer by night. In a past life, I worked a variety of jobs in order to pay the bills while I tried to live the life of an artist (writer, filmmaker and now maker of video games). I've made some horrid financial blunders in the last decade of adulthood. The regret could eat me up for many years to come if I let it. The only saving grace as it pertains to FI and ERE in particular is that I've always been quite frugal. I had my first credit card in college and when I got my first interest charge after I put a bunch of books and other "necessities" on it, I was horrified at both the APR and the actual dollar amount. After that experience, I became vigilant about living below my means.
If not for the financial mistakes (I'll go into this in a future entry) I've made thus far, we would be in a very good position to move on from our current life situation even with two kids. However, as it currently stands, we're looking at another 1-2 (years) depending on how long DW can handle staying at her current job.
Our current NW is just under 300K. It fluctuates a bit as we have a chunk in equities with at least half of that chunk in individual equities (not index funds). I invest/trade our assets with the goal of capital appreciation. DW brings home the bacon (we're pescatarian, though we love bacon) with her hard earned W2 income. Our goal is to have around 400K, though ideally 500K (with some help from investments) before DW leaves her job. She makes a bit above the American median salary, though below the median salary for our HCOL city. Our current SV rate is hovering around 82% YTD. While DW doesn't make much, the benefits of her job include housing with nearly all expenses included. This is what allows us to save at such a high rate, while still paying $400 a month in car insurance and payments (sub 1% APR). We're both frugal by nature, though in the past we've spent more liberally on items (production equipment for me, clothes and health products for her). Since covid19 hit, we've been in extreme savings mode. Next month we'll be switching our cell phone plan to a pay-what-you-use company, which should bring our SV closer to 85%.
On the Wheaton scale, I'd say we're around 6-7 with aspirations for 8. DW would love to be a homesteader with a nice plot of farmland. I grew up as a city boy but have spent time in rural Japan and have come to appreciate the relative peace and solitude of non-city life. Perhaps a longer term goal of ours. Our more immediate plan is to leave the States and head to Asia and take advantage of some geoarbitrage while also giving our children a chance to develop their foreign language skills.
Our projected budget is roughly 2x JAFI, 2.5x JAFI would be comfortable. 1.5-1.6x JAFI would be doable, but a leaner existence. Living abroad will give us to live on our assets more comfortably while we work on this video game together which should take us a few years. I don't see us staying beyond 2 years, originally the hard stop was 1 year but covid19 spooked my wife a bit and since discussing it at greater length, we decided it would be prudent to give ourselves more runway if possible. Her job is taxing on her for a variety of reasons and if it ever comes down to it, we will choose to leave with less financial security than risk jeopardizing her mental health. The one decision I've made in my life that I can unequivocally say was spot on was marrying my wife. It's been a wild and turbulent ride, but we've come out of it stronger and more connected than we've ever been. Besides, given our ability to live quite frugally, we feel reasonably confident that we can pick up part time jobs in our destination country that will cover our expenses if our investments take an extended beating.
Overall, I'm incredibly grateful for Jacob and this community for opening my eyes up to the possibility of ERE. If I had known about this sooner, I don't think I would have made nearly as many financial mistakes (mostly investing/trading blunders) as I would have realized that I didn't need millions of dollars to escape the rat race that I've resisted for as long as I can remember. Oh well, if there's anything I've learned in the last few years it's that dwelling on the past is a giant waste of time. I'm optimistic about the future, not because I think everything is going to go our way, but rather because I feel empowered by the ERE mindset. I've come to realize and believe that there is a sustainable way to live the creative life we both desire. Tons more to share, but I'll let it flow as it will in future posts. Thanks for reading!