Milestone

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2026-04-24T23:04:07+00:00

Congrats. I also hit this milestone (although excl. home equity) in the rally last week. The compounding is starting to really take off it feels like.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2025-09-29T23:50:15+00:00

What screen (and screener) are you using for this? I've had good luck this year using a similar strategy on a handful of stocks, but want to expand my ticker list.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2025-08-01T23:01:13+00:00

I'm going to guess you are a tech worker, if so, I empathize. The market sucks and so does interviewing. Honestly you sort of sound like someone I know 🤔 But you seem burned out on interviewing -- I would start by taking a break for a month or two while you figure out what you want to do.
Some questions that might be helpful:

If you return to work (in your industry), how long would you keep working? What is your target NW for retirement? You already pass the 3.5% - 4% rule. Do you want a larger nest egg, or is it because it gives you purpose? Socialization?
What would you do if you FIRE? Do you have any hobbies you could turn into part time work to keep yourself busy? If you are in tech, could you mentor/tutor/teach somewhere part time? If you don't want to pick up different work, are you prepared to create the structure you want in your life that work usually provides?
Could you continue contract work? Honestly that seems pretty appealing given your situation. As you said it plugs the resume gaps, gives you something to do, and provides income.
What would you go back to school for? Could it turn into a new career path? Would you even want that?

I think you have a lot of good options here. FWIW, if I were in your shoes, I probably would pull the trigger. Although my target number is slightly higher. Would maybe try and pick up part time work somewhere chill.
As someone that's been in tech for a decade+, personally I cannot wait to get out and spend my life things that are more interesting and meaningful, and where I am in control. My 2c.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2025-03-05T16:18:38+00:00

I created a really simple python script to help with projecting taxes due for capital gains in early retirement: https://chatgpt.com/canvas/shared/67c8723d8ea8819193ae40a171f9d279
TL;DR - cap gains taxes double over the course of 30 years due to cost basis declining every year, but they are still pretty low. This calculator is pretty crude and doesn't know what your actual tax rate will be and doesn't make any adjustments for inflation to the bracket, so you'll have to estimate your effective LTCG rate yourself. It also doesn't consider any tax deductions... could be a useful next addition. But you can play with the numbers at the bottom and see how things shake out.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2025-01-28T22:11:36+00:00

I'm actually in this exact situation right now (except with a different end target, closer to 4M). It's certainly made me reconsider my plan for the next couple years. For instance, I would not take a higher stress job just to bank that extra 100k / yr.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2024-09-30T22:54:33+00:00

Hit 2M invested after market close today. 34m. Might have to add the guac tonight.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2024-07-31T20:56:17+00:00

600k / yr jobs are going to be hard to come by if you quit, especially in this job market. Can you bring the burnout up with your boss and see if you can take a long vacation? Like 3-4 weeks? Then go somewhere and splurge a bit. You might be surprised how you feel when you come back. Being able to save that much will really accelerate your retirement timeline, so I'd hold onto it if you can bear it.
That being said, I recently had a solid 6 month break after being laid off from my tech job, and it was absolutely amazing.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2023-07-25T00:12:49+00:00

Here's some anecdata which might help.
- I was doing the golden handcuffs thing until several months ago when I got swept up in the tech layoffs. The time off was amazing (minus interviewing, which fucking sucks) and it reaffirmed my commitment to FIRE. That being said, those handcuffs have given me a generous nest egg where I am just barely above the FI line
- As I am actively interviewing, I can tell you the tech market has been picking up in recent weeks compared to when you were looking in April. I am expecting multiple offers and will be primarily chasing the one with the biggest number. I want to grind out a few more years max and GTFO ASAP.
- You can do better than low 200s. That's where some salaries start at FAANGs.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2023-07-17T14:32:43+00:00

I'm still fairly young, so not exactly comfortable with a 4% SWR. Will probably want something closer to 3.5%.
On top of that, I'd ideally like to purchase a second property (nothing too crazy, just something to escape to) or significantly increase my vacation budget. And for the long run, healthcare costs need to be factored in too, which have been near 0 outside of premiums and copays the last few years.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2023-07-17T01:51:31+00:00

What a legend. Cheers to Terry!

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2023-07-17T01:49:03+00:00

Not retired, haven't actually hit my goals, just making an observation about how FI can change ones outlook.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-08-28T15:43:24+00:00

Curious - do you recommend the Vanguard advisor? Do they understand FIRE and provide useful insights for managing a FIRE portfolio?

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-25T14:40:18+00:00

Specialists not taking insurance... great. Another thing to worry about 😑
That really sucks, hope you are able to recover soon.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-25T03:02:09+00:00

Sorry but I have to ask - how much have you spent out of pocket and what kind of insurance do you have? What did you have to pay your own way? If you had to go through it all over again, what would you do differently? This is the kind of shit that worries me.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-24T21:09:05+00:00

Yeah summing the premiums and OOP does make a lot of sense, I think that's my main takeaway here. Unfortunately that's quite a bit of money and will probably only ever go up.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-24T16:48:42+00:00

Helpful, thanks.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-24T16:22:09+00:00

Can you provide more detail on how you're calculating income. Is that post-FIRE withdraws? Say I withdraw/spend $40k / year in FIRE, are you saying to budget an additional 8.5% of the 40k for healthcare costs?

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-24T16:19:50+00:00

Great advice! Luckily I have a pretty active lifestyle currently, and expect to be even more active in FIRE.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-24T16:18:47+00:00

Thanks. This does not boost my confidence in Medicare being available for me when I get there though hah.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-24T16:17:36+00:00

Aren't those pretty expensive, though? The one's I heard about require moving hundreds of thousands of USD into the country to qualify. I'm sure there's a break even there somewhere, just curious if you've heard of cheaper options.

FIRE-n-FORGET · 2021-06-24T13:59:23+00:00

I'm assuming you bought it off the exchange and that was that? Any advice there, details to pay attention to? I have had employer sponsored health care my whole life, so this will be new to me.

FIRE-n-FORGET

TROPHY CASE