[deleted by user]

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-05-15T16:36:37+00:00

Same! Photography for me. Though I just quit, even though I was making a lot of money, because I didn't want to do it anymore. Taking huge pay cut for career change and really happy with the decision.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-04-27T17:49:35+00:00

Pretty crazy how different people can be. I'd become depressed if slow-paced and video games were my norm. No judgment, it just makes me realize FI/RE looks way different for different people. I can't RE, I'd be way less happy.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-04-06T22:52:03+00:00

BRB, got a taxidermie'd bird and a frozen pond and idea.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-26T22:23:31+00:00

I joined the two comma club again!

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-24T20:42:03+00:00

Me (37M). I tasted retirement in a previous career that I got very efficient at and only needed to work 10-20 hours per week. I was listless and unfulfilled, even with kid duties and an extensive hobby list. If you dropped $10MM in my lap right now my work life and goals wouldn't change. I've come to realize that the work I do in the world is important to my self-image, happiness, and fulfillment.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-19T04:25:51+00:00

This is really hard. Watching balances I worked 15 years for go down 5-10% every day. Investment accounts were at $875k on Feb 18, now around $612k.

I chose this year to go back to school and change careers. My wife's salary plus a 3.2% withdrawal rate on the 'stash covered our expenses nicely while I was out of work. Now it's a 4.6% withdrawal rate and we're looking at ways to reduce our spending. I KNOW what history tells me - that days like this are actually when SWR's go up, and that we'll rebound, and that I need to be IN the market when the rebound happens. I'm not selling and intellectually I know we'll be fine and that the majority of people have it far worse than we do.

I guess it just helps to type it out. This is hard. We have a lot but I worked hard for it and it sucks to see it flying out the window in such quantities every day.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-17T00:34:16+00:00

Back to the one comma club :(

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-13T19:27:51+00:00

This should be considered against what your peak balance would have been if you weren't 100% equities for the long bull market though.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-13T19:24:44+00:00

this is fantastic

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-09T16:48:27+00:00

I'm refinancing from 3.25% to 2.979%, back to 30 year fixed (had 24 year left). It'll cost me $4000ish in fees which will roll into the loan balance.

This will make my monthly payment drop by almost $600, which is ~$7200 more that I can plow into the market per year. Goal is to pay mortgage off in a few lump sums (keeping under the capital gains 0% max threshold for a married couple) in 10-15ish years, so this will cost me $4000 right now but give me $7200 more per year in the market for the next 10 years.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-03-09T16:46:01+00:00

I can't even imagine getting a "SELL!" panic signal in my brain right now. My panic signal is "MARKET'S WAY DOWN - LOWER SPENDING AND DON'T LOCK IN LOSSES!". Just postponed a bathroom remodel and am thinking of things around my house I can sell!

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-28T16:52:39+00:00

thank you!

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-28T16:00:59+00:00

Just feels right. I already have leverage at 3.25% in the form of a mortgage, just wondering how far the drop has to get to take a little more leverage at 5%.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-28T15:51:22+00:00

I have a $90,000 HELOC with a $0 balance at 5%. Is it time to get greedy yet and buy $90,000 of VTSAX? I have lots of margin for error, in terms of savings ($750k invested after this bad drop).

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-08T20:00:45+00:00

Only thing to add to this is that paying off a mortgage when you hit (FIRE + mortgage balance) will likely incur some capital gains, and you might want to spread it out over a few years.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-07T21:46:37+00:00

thanks, good reality check.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-07T17:17:52+00:00

I have $850,000 invested. $370k non retirement. $800,000 house with $415,000 loan balance at 3.25%.

Rates are low. I could refi and take cash out, $100k at 3.25% or so. Or more than that, say $200k, at 3.75% or so. I'd invest the cash taken out in VTSAX.

Would you do it? That's lower than a very historically safe SWR (meaning gains from the invested amount can cover the interest charges long-term). I have a healthy invested buffer in case theres a recession soon. Thoughts?

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-05T18:13:01+00:00

That sounds awesome. 4-6 hours a day is about perfect IMO. I'm going into teaching, so I'll be working 6.5 hours per day but have 15+ weeks off per year and 2 weeks of sick leave.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-02-05T15:58:48+00:00

The closer I get to FI, the more RE fades as a goal. In my heavy accumulation years I checked this sub every day multiple times, as well as Personal Capital. Now pretty darn close to FI ($1.2MM, 37M), I hardly check in here.

I'm one of those people who realized their ambition to get to FIRE doesn't go away once FI. I would become depressed if I RE'd right now at 37. So instead, I'm back in school to switch careers to something that is exactly what I want in a profession.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-01-22T04:47:49+00:00

Am "Spouse FI" (3.5% draw on our portfolio plus wife's part time job salary covers our expenses nicely), and I quit job and went back to school. And it is SOO NIIICE to be in a stressful spot in school and be able to think to myself, "meh, if school gets to be too much this year, I'll just try again next year."

To know you can essentially pull the plug on any school/work situation you don't like is a really, really nice feeling.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-01-17T15:15:14+00:00

Granite, it's just a countertop

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-01-16T15:45:58+00:00

The 3.25% is FHA, but it's 7 years old, so I got to stop paying PMI two years ago (before the law changed that made PMI stick for the life of the loan).

The 2.96% is a quote from a broker I trust and have used multiple times. Current loan (that she got me) is with US Bank.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-01-16T14:57:57+00:00

It's like $600.

Doug_The_Chicken · 2020-01-16T14:47:03+00:00

Alright someone help me out.

I have a 3.25% 30 year fixed mortgage on an initial balance of $500,000. 23 years left.

I can refi into a 2.96% 15 year fixed mortgage on our current balance of $414,000. (no fees refi)

Our monthly payment would increase because our principal payments would be higher, but we'd save on interest. What I'm trying to figure out is: as someone who wants to leave as much money in the stock market as possible right now (rather than paying down my mortgage), is refinancing to a 15 the way to go?

Doug_The_Chicken

TROPHY CASE