SWB's path to financial independence

Where are you and where are you going?
SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Progress: 76.1% ($1,217,500 / $1,600,000)

Normally, try to total it up end of the day of the month but this time it includes some of today. Down due to drop in investment values. Still holding for the long term (and buying in as possible).

Edit: updated numbers slightly as double counted something.

ether
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by ether »

noticed you want to buy a home. please consider just taking the real estate exam it will save you easily 10k just on the buy side.
Congrats again on being LEAN-FI!

It's amazing how much money is in the software game. It's like playing FI on easy mode lol

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

@ether Do you mean save 10k by knowing enough about the process that you can work without an agent and have a real estate lawyer on your end of the deal and get the percentage off (roughly) that would go to (my) buyers agent? Or something else? It's an interesting idea and I have thought about it. There are some roadblocks here in Michigan though. Like you need 40 hours of approved prelicensure instruction (brief googling revealed some ~$300 online packages for this). Curious if I'm understanding what you were thinking as I might be missing some aspects of it.

I'm still amazed how much money there is in the software game too. I sometimes feel like it's obscene.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Progress: 83% ($1,329,000 / $1,600,000)

Not too much new although some changes in long term outlook. My wife is more open to the idea of living and traveling on a boat. I caught up on the boat market and discovered it suffered the same fate as the RV market with COVID. But we're not ready for actually buying anything yet. I think we could swing some kind of two year-ish timeline though and maybe, if we're lucky, COVID will be petering out and all the people that bought in and realized it wasn't for them will be selling. I can dream I guess! The two years would give us more time to accumulate, time for the baby to get a bit older and his older brothers to fully learn how to swim (lessons interrupted by COVID, eagerly waiting for the 0-5 year old vaccine) and for me to get our little sailboat back on the water and get some serious sailing time. So that's the focus for the spring and summer (at least for me).

The boat idea means hopefully we can defer buying a house too. If we do go away and travel by boat, I certainly don't want to have to worry about a house and the market is still pretty bad here. After looking at the real estate on the market, I'd much rather get to where I can stop working for a while and build our own house although that would definitely start smaller and would still be hiring a lot of work out (not easy here though particularly now but that might get better too).

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

My wife is still excited about the traveling via a boat idea. I've been back to researching boats. I was trying to convince myself a monohull would work as it would be much more affordable however I really want to do this for a while and my wife's motion sickness plus a monohull just seems like a bad bet. I'm sure she'll get motion sickness even with a catamaran however if I went with a monohull and we ended early due to motion sickness that might be the end of the dream. So I've concluded taking the catamaran route is the better bet.

It's interesting to see the boat market has had the same sellers market ramping up with COVID as the RV market (and housing/etc) markets have had. Our timeframe is still at 2-3 years out so I'll be watching to see if things calm down and those that bought in during COVID sell as that calms down over the next couple of years. So far, that kind of anticipation has not worked out for us (ie the housing market is still painful even if it is slowing). But fingers crossed all the same.

Oddly enough, I came back to one brand of catamarans that I've been interested in for some time. Way back when, they were so expensive that I put them out of reach however that is not so true now. I actually found a blog about a family living on one and then, in a round about way, found a post about how they saved up the money to do it and one of the links was to one of Jacob's blog posts on the ERE blog. Then I found their journal here from almost 10 years ago. Small world.

Net worth taking a real pummeling with the stock market pull back. Obviously, what is going on in Ukraine is more important. I've bought in a little with it being low but am hesitant to go in too fast (after doing so a couple months ago). I think I'll pay our taxes and mull that over more. It's tempting to average down on some LEAPS but I've had a bad experience with trying to catch falling knives in the past so I hesitate.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Progress: 75% ($1,209,500 / $1,600,000)

Stock market up and down this month -- today a big down. Oh well, so it goes. It really helps to zoom out to the 1 year view.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Progress: 59.1% ($945,800 / $1,600,000)

Actually, a bit worse than that as some outstanding checks for health insurance are going to be cashed shortly and I am behind on the quarterly self-employed tax payments. Huge drop with the stock market pulling back. I'm just going to keep on trucking for now though.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Starlink has enabled roaming for everyone. I'm tempted to order the equipment (I can right now at our location, it's available) however I don't think we have a clear shot of the north sky from ~25-90 degrees from the horizon. Trying to figure that out. We're in a rental still. Reason I'd like to buy it is with roaming, I could take it camping on top of the RV or, if we buy a catamaran (a ways out, most likely on order of 2+ years), I could work from the boat when we're still coastal in the USA (it roams up to ~10-12 miles out from coast and then cuts out apparently). Apparently, Starlink has to get local permission country by country but I do wonder if at some point it'll work in international waters too. It'll take having the satellite to satellite mesh network working (instead of the current bounce up to the satellite which bounces down to a local access point). But that is coming.

It would be much easier to go for it if I can use it for home internet too. We already pay nearly the same price although our cable internet company is smart and offered inexpensive mobile phone service so we'd have to go up a little bit there. So maybe we'd pay about 1.2-1.3x what we pay right now for cable internet plus subsidized part of the cell service.

Tempting... I know they are still in beta but it would probably be good enough for me and I do have backup 4G internet (that wouldn't always work as there are some remote areas near us where Starlink would work but it would definitely work at home).

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

Does the water have to be flat for starlink to work or can there be waves?

sky
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by sky »

Visible is working very well for us as the main internet data provider. It is on the Verizon network and only $25 per month.

Van living is much easier than boat living. I may live on a boat someday, but it is not the most comfortable way to live, with rolling, moisture, humidity, hot/cold weather, not much to do at anchor, difficult to provision. Van living has its own challenges but if you choose the right areas in the right seasons, it is much easier than boat living.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Gilberto de Piento wrote:
Thu May 05, 2022 9:39 pm
Does the water have to be flat for starlink to work or can there be waves?
Apparently, it can work under way although it's not supported and/or voids your warranty. It's very interesting to see though -- the first post in this sailboat cruising forum thread is of a man sailing off the coast of California and it shows it active. Apparently, if you change directions, it can take a little while to adjust and there is likely to be a signal drop/interruption at that point in time but if you're sailing relatively straight, there is a wide range of motion that doesn't prevent it from working. That forum thread is here:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f2 ... 63609.html

It is hard geo-locked to not work more than ~10-12 miles from the edge of the continent though. Apparently, Starlink also introduced a +$25/month roaming fee if you want to use it roaming.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

@sky Yeah, I have a backup mifi connection which is on AT&T LTE and that works fairly well with our camper. The latency is kind of high though -- apparently, when Starlink is working well, the latency will be much lower compared to cell service at least up here where we are (but I think that is just a tech thing so would apply anywhere unless 5G has lowered latency).

I do agree van living (or camper living) seems a whole lot easier.

Pilgrim
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by Pilgrim »

Hi SWB, I came across your journal and got caught up. Thanks for sharing consistently over the years. Quite the journey from 2016 until now. Congrats on reaching your goal so quickly.

(TL / DR below: I ramble on about my boating history and water stuff with the family / kids. Maybe you’ll find something in there interesting and perhaps it will inspire you in some small way to move up cruising plans sooner than later.)

I enjoyed your boating thoughts in the journal as I like boating too. I noticed your very first post (from the original thread in 2016) and one of your most recent posts both mentioned wanting to buy a cruising boat and go sailing. I saw you’re leaning towards a catamaran and I think that’s a better fit for your family situation.

I have 2 children (currently 4 and 1) and we currently live on a 39’ Privilege Catamaran at a local marina here in Florida. We’ve lived on this Catamaran about 6 months. I still have a day job. Our kids are not in daycare or school so my wife takes care of them during the day and she is also an active realtor. Marina living is not cruising, but it is a step in that direction, and allows everyone to feel comfortable living on a boat and time to more fully outfit the boat.

From 2017-2019 my wife and I also lived at the same marina on a 31’ monohull (a Hunter). My wife was pregnant with our first when we moved aboard, so DS came home from the hospital to the boat and lived there until he was about 18 months. The boat became too tight when our son started walking so we moved to a rental house a couple years. Now we are back at the marina with the Cat. My DD is starting to walk now and the Cat is fine for her, she has room to walk around. It’s nice being back at the marina, it feels like home because we know many of the long-term liveaboards there from last time we lived there.

The idea of living on a boat and the reality can be two separate things, but for those who love it there’s nothing else like it. I’m fortunate my wife enjoys it too and isn’t just going along with the plan for me.

You mentioned swimming lessons. We’ve been working on that too, from different angles. I think kids learn quicker because they are so much more active. They are like warp speed of movement!

My wife has had a longer journey. She is only swimming well now in the last few months. She couldn’t swim a lick when we lived on the monohull. Since we moved to FL about 6 years ago she tried various stabs at learning to swim, including YMCA lessons, private lessons, and summer lessons from the local aquatic center. While she got comfortable being in the water, she still couldn’t swim (or not drown even, which I would have been happy with). She naturally seems to sink more than usual. Finally, she had a friend who swims competitively who took her under her wing over this past winter and she also also did more 1 on 1 lessons from another swim tutor. Suddenly it clicked and she is swimming like a fish. Even thinking about joining a swim team.

For our firstborn, my son, I did lots of play time in the pool when he was little and also YWMCA classes and such. I also had him wear the swim floaties on his arm. Problem was, he became too comfortable in the water because of the floaties. So I got rid of those and let him get scared a few times to gain respect back for the water. Then he would just play on the steps.

Last Fall, we did the Infant Swim Rescue for both our DS and DD. My daughter was only 6 months when she started. I was amazed how well she did at that age. They got to where they would toss her in the pool with her clothes on and even if she landed face first, she would flip herself around and float on her back. She wasn’t happy about it and would wail, but at least she didn’t sink right away. I thought ISR was just for babies, but our DS learned valuable skills too. He was 3 years old at the time and they taught him to float on his back when he gets tired. We have them both back with the ISR instructor now and she has been working with our DS (now 4) on his front stroke with kicking. I’m surprised how well he has picked it up and now he swims all over the pool with confidence. He does the front crawl as long as he can hold his breath and then flips over and swims on his back until he catches his breath, then flips back over and keeps doing the crawl.

Now that my wife can finally swim, she is excited to take sailing lessons.

My thought is that even though we can’t afford the cruising lifestyle, there is lots of groundwork that can be laid during this time in gaining skills. Living at the marina also has the benefit of building relationships with many interesting people, and some real sailors too.

In one of your posts you mentioned meeting a family living the RV life on a budget with kids. I could see how just meeting them was making you re-think possibilities. That is how it is at the marina, we meet all sorts of people who inspire and teach. For Christmas our son got a fishing pole and so he has been fishing around the marina. I don’t know anything about fishing so we are learning together. The cool thing is there are people here who are fishing gurus. One guy in particular has taken a real interest in my DS and has taught us both so much. He does fishing charters and fishing is pretty much his life. So far my DS has caught pinfish, mangrove snapper, sheepshead, a blowfish, a crab, a squid, and a number of bigger fish that keeps breaking his line. He has also learned to cast by himself. One thing that surprised me is how good my DS has got at seeing fish in the water. He’ll jump out of the stroller and run to the side and say, “Look Dad! You see that fish!” It will take me a moment but then I’ll see it. Without him pointing them out I’d have missed it. I think at a very young age when the brain is still developing it can learn skills like this quicker.

When we think cruising on a sailboat we think sailing. However, that is only a small part. In fact, we’ve taken our Cat out as a family a number of times in the last 6 months (a few times for a couple nights) and so far haven’t put a sail up. I do have some good excuses for that, and I do plan to sail it, but the point is these things have engines!

I do love sailing. I learned to sail on a 14’ Lido which I bought right after graduating college for a hobby. I sailed that regularly for several years in the Midwest and loved it. I also had two Sunfish that were fun to take out and blast around on. I also bought a 22’ sailboat and did many overnight trips on lakes in the Midwest in my late 20’s. The Hunter 31’ we had for a few years also sailed quite nicely and was great fun to take out. But, as the boats get bigger and I’m now moving my entire home with all our wordly possessions and children and such, keeping everyone safe and happy is more important than the sailing.

Anywho, I’m rambling, and could go on all day about boats and water stuff, but I’ll quit high-jacking your journal for now!

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Thanks for posting @Pilgrim! I caught up on your journal and I'll keep reading.

I think one of your points is we could be taking steps to get towards the lifestyle we want today and I completely agree. However, my wife wasn't really onboard with the whole idea until 6 months ago and she is still uncertain about marina living (we have 3 boys - 6, 4 and 1 years old). Right now the 4 year old might duck out the front door to play in the yard while his older brother is doing homeschool and she isn't sure what that would be like in a marina. I wondered if some marinas had areas kids could play. Does yours or not so much? I think this is another thing she'd have to see in person.

The other tricky bit is we have some family (my parents) moving closer to us to be near us. We did tell them about our dreams so it won't be a surprise however we feel like we need to stay for roughly another year. Although we actually invited them along on the whole sailboat cruising dream if they wanted to go. My dad actually has a 30 foot monohull so I think he is excited by the idea but my mom is a bit more on the fence.

But I'm definitely thinking about how to take steps to get us to where we want to be. I think for my wife visiting some marinas would be good so we might go on an extended RV trip (probably next winter) to Florida and see some there.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Progress: 70.5% ($1,127,500 / $1,600,000)

My brother visited and we went camping/RVing. I took one day off so I worked the others. I was happy to find my MiFi 4G/LTE connection worked great if I used a VPN. Zoom even worked great without the VPN (guessing they boosted the priority on it) but regular browsing kind of plods along with very slow image loads. But turn on the VPN and you're back in fast land. I suspected prioritization was causing it to feel clunky but I was lazy about setting up a VPN but it turned out to be well worth it.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

A boat came up for sale that would work really well for us. It's about 12-18 months too early however a boat like it doesn't come up that often. If my parents were not moving near us to be near us this summer, I would definitely go see it and likely buy it. So now I'm trying to figure out if my parents want to come with us but the first 6-12 months isn't going to be particularly fun living aboard in a marina. My parents lived in the same house since the early 80s and are not used to renting and/or moving around and my mother is retiring right now. So I'm making their life difficult but maybe things will work out. Maybe they won't. There is always another boat of course but I worry about pushing things off too much as kids grow awfully fast. So I definitely want to go within the next 18-24 months.

Timing is a bit tricky with the down market too. Thinking about financing it via a margin loan at Interactive Brokers but as low a percentage as possible of my holdings and paying it off quickly (or accumulating the cash to pay it off if needed). Definitely a more risk prone approach however the interest rate on the margin loans is attractive as is not cashing out my holdings right now. I've been transferring my accounts over to get my ducks in a row just in case.

MBBboy
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by MBBboy »

Also an IB margin user here. I'm assuming you're IB pro for the lower margin rate. Since IB pro has commissions on trades, I typically buy at another brokerage and then ACATS it over when I want to have something available for a margin loan. I then ACATS it back over to my brokerage when I've paid it back.

Having it sit in IB and have to pay to trade is obviously bad while accumulating, but what people don't think about is tax loss harvesting. It's very easy to buy and sell different lots of securities to TLH at Fidelity, and it's free. At IB, that is not the case.

So my IB account currently holds some really old lots that are not realistically ever going to have losses on them so that I have "quick" liquidity. If a known event is coming up where I may want a margin loan, the ACATS process is pretty easy and settles in about a week in my experience. So plenty fast for known events, and probably plenty fast for unknown events too. After all, there are few things you can't slap on a credit card for a few weeks for free while you wait for transfers / withdrawals etc to settle between brokerages.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

@MBBboy Ah, that is helpful to know how you use IB and I think I will do the same as you (transfer back and forth as needed). I am indeed using IB pro. I started setting my account in 2018 but never actually finished until a week ago. I'm realizing my plan may not work -- I wasn't sure how the margin loans worked and I transferred over these accounts:

- regular (post-tax) brokerage - $500k
- Roth IRA - $100k
- Rollover IRA - $270k

I initially opened a margin account and tried to transfer all of these in and quickly realized I needed separate accounts for the IRAs. But I don't think I can do margin loans on the IRAs which makes complete sense (as IB can't liquidate the positions if the margin was called or at least can't easily do so -- googling revealed IRS forbids it too). I think I'll transfer these IRAs right back to Vanguard once they finish transferring into IB.

So that leaves margin on just the $500k account. I think I need to wait 30 days for my account to season before I could use the maximum margin amount -- right now, it's showing $60k available.

Boat is ~$300k. So if I did max margin amount at $250k (after 30 days) and used cash on hand to cover the difference, I could just make it work but I'm not comfortable at all going to that 50% margin rate as the risk is too high. So that means I'd have to sell some positions to get cash or wait until I have more funds. I'm going to wait.

Just writing this all out as a reminder but maybe someone else will find it useful or maybe I've made a mistake.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Oh, and I didn't miss the tax loss harvesting bit. That is a very good point. I'm not very savvy with TLH but I should start to think about it more.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: SWB's path to financial independence

Post by SavingWithBabies »

In unrelated news, the startup that I did that failed ICO sub project for 3-5 years ago in which I later got shares in lieu of final payment is still maybe going to SPAC and maybe worth something. I swear they are always 1-1.5 years behind the trends. Who tries to SPAC now? Well, clearly all the SPAC people who stand to loose out on all that management money if they don't use the funds before the two years are up. The stock grant terms says we have some kind of holding period which will vary but ours are supposed to be the same as any officers of the company. So it'll be interesting to see what happens. The SPAC deal is very convoluted and I know nothing about the internal share details of the startup so I don't have any idea what the potential value is. The cash value of the missing payment would probably be around $18k USD (they did make a couple thousand payment at one point so I'm deducting that). But it was clear the project was falling apart so I just put it at $0. But I have tickets to the casino! It feels like the casino is about to be torn down though and it's a race to see if anything actually happens.

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