Star*Bucks ERE Journal

[Star*Bucks]

Q4 2023 & Year End Review:

Q4 Progress

October + $8,225
November + $11,995
December + $3,133

Total Q4 Progress $23,353

Q1 Progress $52,507
Q2 Progress $16,202
Q3 Progress $26,103
Q4 Progress $23,353

Current Net Worth $730,617

Current SWR 2.464%

Historical Annual Progress
2014’s Net Worth Increase $24,786
2015’s Net Worth Increase $43,912
2016’s Net Worth Increase $76,342
2017’s Net Worth Increase $68,122
2018’s Net Worth Increase $70,282
2019’s Net Worth Increase $42,274
2020’s Net Worth Increase $31,296
2021’s Net Worth Increase $77,022
2022’s Net Worth Increase $70,106
2023’s Net Worth Increase $118,165


By far the best year of my working career. Feels good when all of the hard work put into something begins to pay off. My goal was 450k at the start of all this and I am glad I kept going. All of the inflation in the states and worldwide has raised the cost of living and I may at some point change my estimated expenses in retirement from 18k annually to 24k or 2k per month. That still keeps me below 4% currently and would be more flexible now that prices everywhere have increased.

Looking back on my journey I am sick to my stomach for not investing the whole time. The stock market was/is over valued and is based on shell moves like stock buy backs, government intervention, etc. If I would have invested I would have easily been over a million in net worth by now.

Future plans, possibly transition to working online which would be ideal if I could find something for myself. If I can not get an online job then maybe I will work the first 6 months of each year and take the last 6 months off to travel and start putting a dent in the long bucket list I have. That would allow me to maximize the deferred tax savings in 401k & IRA. So taxable income would be low enough to hopefully qualify for discounted healthcare. That way I can keep US healthcare while I travel abroad just incase an emergency arises. Another option would be to work an overseas contract to take advantage of the foreign earned income exclusion. The final option would be to continue doing what I’m doing now since the money is stacking up pretty quickly but I can’t say I am happy. We will see what 2024 has in store…

[singvestor]

Impressive progress, growth of your investment has been speeding up quickly in recent time. Sub 2.5% WR - I'd say you made it!

[delay]

Thanks for your update and congratulations on the good year!

The stock market was/is over valued and is based on shell moves like stock buy backs, government intervention, etc.

Yeah, that's what it looks like to me. What if those "shell moves" switch sides, and start pushing stocks down instead of up?

[frugaldoc]

Looking back on my journey I am sick to my stomach for not investing the whole time. The stock market was/is over valued and is based on shell moves like stock buy backs, government intervention, etc. If I would have invested I would have easily been over a million in net worth by now.

I don't know if I would call share buybacks a "shell move". It is just one way a company can allocate capital. Granted, some companies are bad at share buybacks and purchase when their stock is overvalued. Also, some buybacks are just a means of compensating for all the stock based compensation that certain companies engage in. From an investors standpoint NET buybacks at attractive valuations are a wonderful thing. They aren't taxable like a dividend and can be better than letting a bunch of cash sit on the balance sheet.

[Star*Bucks]

January 2024 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash: $25,158
HSA: $25,758
IRA: $138,347
Roth IRA: $220,601
401k $9,597
Brokerage: $241,586
Home $70,000
Car $12,000

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$5,750

Prior Months Net Worth $730,617
Current Net Worth $737,297

Net Worth Increase of $6,680

Prior Months SWR 2.464%
Current SWR 2.44%

Dividends/Interest Earned This Month: $2,009
Minimum Cash Value Credit Card Rewards Points: $10,036

Life & Finance:
After over 2 years of unemployment during the great recession followed by a year working a shitty job for $10 a hour; I got my current job. I have always been grateful for my current job but I was always in fear of losing it. Every 6 months we have to take an exam. If we fail we get another chance but if we fail that second one then we lose our jobs.

I believe that is a big reason I have only taken 1 vacation in the 13 years working here. I have failed the exam on two different occasions over the years. Luckily, I was able to pass on the second try. I spoke with a co worker who has been here almost 30 years and he told me how he practices and I used his method during my exam in January and it worked out well! I don’t feel so stressed out about this job anymore. In fact I almost am looking forward to the next exam in 6 months to see how good I can do.

I completed the minimum spend necessary to get the 90k bonus points on two credit cards (180k total rewards points). I used the cards to pay property taxes, and other bills I would have paid anyways. Another perk is that there is a zero percent intro apr for the first year. So I will pay the minimum until October and earn over 5% interest on my money.

A co worker that was out on medical leave will be coming back to work next week. So my overtime will be drastically reduced. I will contact my supervisor and let him know I’m willing to go to another office which I know is incredibly understaffed if that means I can keep my hours higher.

I had a Traditional & a Roth high interest CD at a credit union that matured at the end of December. At maturity I had them put the cd’s into Traditional & Roth savings accounts which paid basically nothing but I wanted to avoid them being rolled over into new CD’s and going past the grace period to transfer over to Vanguard. That was a good idea because that entire fiasco took almost a month to complete. Which is why I am amazed on how I still earned over 2k in monthly dividends since a large amount of money wasn’t earning anything for the majority of the month.

Fitness/Health:
Started the year at nearly 209 pounds which is such a shame. Over the years I’ve lost and gained weight so many times it’s embarrassing. The last time I got down just below my ideal weight of 180 and I told myself I will never see my weight over 200 and here I am again.

I kicked off the year with a healthy vegan diet. There are plenty of vegans who eat highly processed foods which are junk; full of sodium and preservatives. After the first 10 days I felt great. The only problem was the weight was not coming off. So starting on the 11th I went to one meal a day and that did the trick. It worked for me in the past and so here we are again. I now weight 198. I try to eat vegan as much as possible but if I can’t I will not sweat it.

I purchased a really nice blood pressure monitor a couple years back when my doctor told me I had high blood pressure and put me on medication. In those 2 years that monitor sat unopened on the bookshelf. I brought it to work and started to check my blood pressure everyday. Eventually I would like to get off the blood pressure and cholesterol medications. This should be pretty easy since both medications and very low dosage anyways.

Fun:
None


Goals for January were:
-Work as much overtime as possible ((Done))

Goals for February:
-Get Back In The Gym & Keep The Diet Up

[Star*Bucks]

February 2024 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash: $22,957
HSA: $26,207
IRA: $138,887
Roth IRA: $221,510
401k $10,286
Brokerage: $249,855
Home $70,000
Car $12,000

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$5,564

Prior Months Net Worth $737,297
Current Net Worth $746,138

Net Worth Increase of $8,841

Prior Months SWR 2.44%
Current SWR 2.413%

Dividends/Interest Earned This Month: $2,515
Minimum Cash Value Credit Card Rewards Points: $10,063

Life & Finance:
Seems like there is always an issue with my job/company I work for. Well, I set my 401k pre tax contribution rate to 50% in late December 2023. In 2024 my company switched payroll providers and there were a lot of issues for the first 5-6 weeks. Everything has been corrected except for them taking the pre tax employee contributions. We are already in March and I like to preload my 401k to the best of my ability and save on all the taxes up front. I just sent another email above the local HR lady’s head because she hasn’t helped with this. So if corporate doesn’t get this taken care of I will have to do some googling. I am sure there is some sort of law being broken here whether intentional or not.

I am feeling a bit burned out. I could use a reset of some sort. These first two months passed by so fast I can’t believe it.

Fitness/Health:
A cheat day turned into a couple of cheat days. I ordered a pizza and had left overs so I had pizza over a few days. Not the end of the world. I went from 198 to 200 pounds. Back on the horse this month and hopefully lose some significant weight.

Fun:
None


Goals for February were:
-Get Back In The Gym & Keep The Diet Up ((FAIL))

Goals for March:
-Gym & Diet
-Work on Tax Returns

[Star*Bucks]

March 2024 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash: $24,991
HSA: $26,666
IRA: $139,963
Roth IRA: $222,471
401k $10,956
Brokerage: $253,561
Home $70,000
Car $12,000

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$9,156

Prior Months Net Worth $746,138
Current Net Worth $751,452

Net Worth Increase of $5,314

Prior Months SWR 2.413%
Current SWR 2.395%

Dividends/Interest Earned This Month: $2,856
Minimum Cash Value Credit Card Rewards Points: $8,667

Life & Finance:
Completed Tax Returns and I owe 3k combined State & Federal which I paid. My employer has been having difficulties with their new payroll provider and I still do not have 401k contributions being deducted from my checks. I set up 50% to go into my 401k and I’ve kept in close contact with HR & they keep saying it’s a known issue. I do not want the year to pass without me being able to max out the 401k and it’s been really pissing me off. I plan to google to see which governmental agency can assist me with this.

My 2015 MacBook Pro should have been replaced a while back. It is running painfully slow but I plan to hold off until Apples next keynote in June or July.

Fitness/Health:
I have been hitting the gym and taking creatine. I am getting stronger and I feel great but the scale isn’t moving. That is the struggle of putting on muscle while also trying to lose fat. At the end of the day I feel better and look better and I plan to keep this up

Fun:
None

Goals for March were:
-Gym & Diet Done & Ongoing
-Work on Tax Returns Done!!

Goals for April:
-Do my Parents & Brothers Taxes
-Keep Working Out/Stay Motivated

[Star*Bucks]

Q1 2024:

January + $6,680
February: + $8,841
March + $5,314

Total Q1 Progress $20,853


Current Net Worth $751,452

Current Safe Withdrawal Rate 2.395%

Overtime has gone down significantly which is a positive for me. It gives me more time to go to the gym and meal prep.