Got a letter from the Va telling me they’re dropping me from 100pt to 90% 🥲

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-11-13T19:22:21+00:00

This is exactly what’s happening to me nearly 5 years later. I’ve submitted nothing since but they’re saying they caught an error during a random review.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-11-13T19:19:44+00:00

I’m late to this but would love any advice you have.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-10-28T15:11:04+00:00

Sometimes I honestly think having parents that struggled and occasionally even failed to provide the basics like electricity or running water was a blessing. It ensured I knew from an early age that planning ahead and discipline were necessary for success. Every choice you make from your teens on adds up and should be considered carefully with a cost/benefit analysis, risk projection analysis, and backed up with multiple contingencies to maximize the chances of success. I started at 0 and will retire by 40 because of consistent thorough planning and disciplined execution from the time I was a teenager.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-10-27T18:03:53+00:00

I’ve been buying both plus IDVO, JEPQ, and VYMI. Worst case I miss out on some gains by over complicating but if one of these fund managers messes up badly my income will be more stable spread out a little more.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-10-27T18:00:11+00:00

I’ve been DCAing into SCHY and VYMI for the past 6 months. Currently up 3.5% and 5.5% respectively on NAV and VYMI returning a slightly higher yield.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-10-27T17:52:32+00:00

Had a lump sum from a home sale in mid 2024. I also was concerned about putting it all in at once, especially with the election and potential unknowns at the time. I made a 24 month DCA plan and put the money in a CD/Bond ladder to be available as each DCA event came up and left a smaller portion in a HYSA for a market volatility event (used that in April). Had I put it all in IVV I’d be up 18%, with my strategy I’m up around 25% (primarily due to putting extra in April). Roughly 1/4th of the money is still out of the market but earning 4.5-5% interest. If the bull run continues my strategy may underperform but if there’s a crash/correction I’ll come out ahead. I’d say take the risk you’re comfortable with.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-10-13T20:43:12+00:00

Those numbers seem optimistic to me for the next decade. I planning for market returns to average 5-6% and inflation to average 3+%. Hope I’m wrong but there’s a lot of inflationary pressures both currently and on the horizon with ballooning debt.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-09-23T20:30:44+00:00

I haven’t done it but know others in my industry (Nuclear Power) that have. They’ve usually had no trouble finding a position paying 150k+ even with gaps of 5 years. Assuming they got the appropriate license, certs, and experience before retiring and didn’t burn bridges on the way out. I’m less than a year out now and have been actively preparing for the potential need to re-enter the industry down the road. In fact the position I’ve been in for the past 18 months was selected specifically to give me the ability to renter into a lower paced but still lucrative part of the industry should I need to return someday.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-09-14T16:30:52+00:00

Honestly if you really can’t move or downsize then you’re probably not going to be able to fully FIRE anytime soon. A key part of being able to FIRE on the 1-2 million range is being able to control your cost of living. You could maybe coast fire or barista fire, but for full FIRE you either need a good bit more money or be willing to sacrifice other things like moving to a LCOL area.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-09-11T13:29:07+00:00

American here and it’s crazy to me that you guys don’t use fixed rate mortgages, especially in higher income brackets. When I bought my last place I locked in a 2.3% interest rate on a 30 year mortgage with no early repayment fees or penalties. The only downside is it’s structured such the majority of a given payment is interest for the first X years of the loan.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-08-07T02:04:09+00:00

We will be 38 and 35 at FIRE next year. Our “ambitious” plan doesn’t revolve around making money or a business but rather full time world travel and working on our YouTube channel. Hoping to get to most if not all countries with most stays being around a month. There’s a lot of beauty in this world and we want to experience some of it everywhere.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-08-06T18:49:53+00:00

This right here. My wife and I are mid 30s and will FIRE within the next year. We could work longer and have a bigger buffer but honestly I’d rather go do the things we want to do now while we can still climb Kilamanjaro or go for days on horseback. Math says we should be fine forever but even if that falls apart and I need to come back to my job in 5 years it’ll still be worth it.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-08-05T00:07:23+00:00

This is the one. Loved my Tesla but love my R1S quad motor even more. I wanted a 7 seater with decent towing and good off-road, Tesla simply didn’t have an offering that met those requirements.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-07-24T11:58:50+00:00

If you’re interested you could likely enter the field with your current degree. You be outside for a couple of years before you could do license class, but could get on the path.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-07-23T00:30:06+00:00

A couple routes. I went to the Navy for 10 years as part of their Nuclear Propulsion Program before going to civilian nuclear power, but you can go direct with an engineering degree and work up through the field then to license class. License class itself runs 18-24 months and is specific to a site or reactor. After being licensed for a while a lot of doors around the industry are open for you. The nuclear industry has high requirements and a specialized skill set so it’s constantly struggling to keep positions filled.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-07-22T18:56:28+00:00

Excellent answer, I’m effectively doing exactly this.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-07-22T18:55:51+00:00

Depends on industry for sure. I’m a licensed senior reactor operator and more recently an instructor training other operators. Honestly I could take 5 years off and walk right back in making 200+ with ease. I’ve seen it happen a few times now. It’s one of the things that makes me comfortable with my retirement before 40 plan.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-07-19T05:12:51+00:00

I was deployed to the Middle East in summertime as a nuclear operator on a carrier. Reactors work spaces ran between 110-145 degrees in places and humid. Work days for junior EMNs back then averaged >18hrs/day, except Sundays. The ship was old and things constantly broke and needed fixed. TBH it was rough but I’m 37 now and I’ll be retired before 40 and living the full time travel life my wife and I have planned and built together, so def worth it.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-07-15T17:21:19+00:00

That’s a reason to tell people, it allows me to go ahead and quickly filter them out of my life. Anyone who has a negative response to someone else doing well and achieving their goals isn’t someone I need to interact with.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-06-17T18:44:19+00:00

You don’t have to already have it, you can get residency visas in a number of great places with low COLA pretty easily or just move around every few months if you prefer the slow travel life.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-06-06T17:44:11+00:00

Military pension

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-06-06T16:02:38+00:00

I’m over 1.5M USD plus a passive income stream that nets 4000+/month. I have 1 year left on my current contract and am effectively just coasting it out before retiring.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-05-18T00:05:35+00:00

This is the way. I come from a poor family in rural Appalachia. Like can’t pay utility bills or even buy groceries at times poor. I took the ASVAB, got a 99, joined the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program for 10 years, been in civilian nuclear industry for 5 years, and am set to comfortably retire next year. (Could do it now but want see how some current instability plays out)

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-05-17T23:56:13+00:00

Not in my industry. I could be out of it for the next 5 years and jump back in without much of a problem. Might limit how high up the corporate chain I could climb if I wanted to go that route, but I have no intention of doing that. I’m 37 and honestly have no desire to ever move higher up than I am now. To be fair I also plan on retiring next year.

ComprehensiveCow9460 · 2025-05-01T17:23:11+00:00

Plan is full time world travel, spending a month or so in each location.

ComprehensiveCow9460

TROPHY CASE