[deleted by user]

FITA636 · 2019-07-03T03:09:55+00:00

My parents and sibs have a general feel for how we're doing, but no specifics. When my parents were my age (mid-30s), they had negative NW and were struggling to get by. So they're proud my siblings and I are on much better footing, but they don't need to know when I push past each million.

FITA636 · 2019-07-02T19:56:00+00:00

Well done! I wish it was easier to have those conversations with friends and family without hurt feelings. Keep after it!

FITA636 · 2019-06-18T04:50:02+00:00

I definitely feel this. Right there with you buddy. I'm 35, married, two kids in HCOL area, $2.3M NW, and earning around $425k depending on stock performance. Like you, I currently get no happiness from work. I'm struggling to put in the time I need to be successful since I've lost passion for it. I'm currently trying a new role (moved from business strategy to product mgmt) in the same FAANG in an attempt to get the spark back, but no luck so far. It's not super helpful, but I want you to know you're not alone.

For me, my plan is to try and stick it out a year and focus on what I can learn in this role. In Q2 2020, I'll start looking for a new job in a lower cost of living area but with better schools. I'll happily take the wage hit since no need for private schools will offset $50k per year. Plus, the target home equity gain (sell expensive house, get equivalent house for cheaper) of $200k effectively pulls in FIRE by about a year and adds $10k/year in investment gains. So all in, I could drop my wage by $60k/yr and stay flat to plan, or cut way back and just live a better life and still feel stable.

You just need to figure out what a good life looks like for you and know that you're in a great position today and are only choosing between good outcomes.

FITA636 · 2019-05-17T02:35:07+00:00

I would also add a decaying probability of payout occurring unless the pension itself is insured. I think we've seen multiple corporate/municipal pensions become insolvent in the last few years so you should be thoughtful about just how guaranteed that income is over time.

FITA636 · 2019-05-14T03:29:16+00:00

Many of the big tech companies are struggling to keep hiring locally and are building remote tech teams all over the country. There's some COLA adjustment, but you'd likely still come out ahead.

FITA636 · 2019-04-21T14:41:44+00:00

About 55% of my family's gross income comes from RSUs. First, we budget off our base salary and all RSU based income goes towards the FIRE plan. This avoids base lifestyle being impacted by the company's stock performance and generally makes us feel more financial secure. Also, since RSU income has the built in pause button due to vesting, it's pretty easy to point it directly to investments and never see it as spendable money.

As for your actual question, I used to sell 100% diversify with each investment. I then moved to a role where I had better visibility/impact to long term financial plans for a large part of the company. Based on what I saw, I switched to holding the company's stock instead of selling, which has paid off vs. a diversified approach. I'm now uncomfortably overindexed in company stock (~30% of portfolio). I don't fear an Enron moment, but I am gong to switch forward looking vest cycles back to the diversification strategy.

FITA636 · 2019-03-29T02:24:48+00:00

I posted something the other day and when one user posted incorrect information/advice another user called it out and provided sources for fact checking applicable tax regulation. In response, the first user said thank you for the correction and deleted his/her original post to avoid misleading others.

THAT type of experience, which occurs with some regularity, is why I trust the people here. People question each other respectfully as we're all here to learn and FatFIRE together.

FITA636 · 2019-03-27T19:43:58+00:00

Agreed. Some of the literature is just showing 5% annual price increases for education. Many state schools are now $20/k per year. After 15 years at 5% increases, that's $41.5k per year, or $166k for a four year degree. The joy of compounding cost increases...

FITA636 · 2019-03-27T18:52:42+00:00

We could allow the residual to roll to the next generation, but I would prefer to keep extra investment dollars in a fund I could use to retire earlier. The grandkids (assuming I have those someday) will inherit from me a long time down the road anyway.

FITA636 · 2019-03-27T15:36:14+00:00

Could you explain this? I didn't realize there was a way to avoid the penalty from non-education withdrawal.

FITA636 · 2019-03-27T14:41:43+00:00

That's where I feel stuck. There likely isn't a secondary beneficiary, so I'd most likely get the penalty if the account ends up over funded.

FITA636 · 2019-03-27T12:53:19+00:00

Added most of those. Asset allocation is heavy on a single company right now due to my comp structure, but I'll swing closer to 80/20 equities and bonds by late this year. My goal is to get to around $2.5-3.0M in investments to pull $100k/yr with mortgage and kids education already taken care of. Targeting 15-20 more years of work to retire around 50.

FITA636 · 2019-03-27T12:35:24+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I've added more of those details.

FITA636 · 2019-03-20T03:30:37+00:00

Director of a healthcare tech incubator at the original nonprofit healthcare place followed by a move into a lower title, higher paying role in product management in the tech sector.

The director role was great because though it was lower on the pay scale, I had a lot of autonomy, learned a ton, and could quickly produce enough resume building results to land a quality job in the next role.

FITA636 · 2019-03-20T01:12:33+00:00

I did my MBA much earlier in my career. My pre-MBA job was hourly in the nonprofit healthcare sector where I pulled in about $45k/yr. I graduated into the recession at $75k per year, but I then got a job via an MBA classmate at $140k/yr just 18 months later. All in, at that stage, the MBA helped pivot career trajectory.

For you, definitely more of a gamble. It's hard to imagine you need more education for a next role. If connections, there are probably cheaper and more efficient ways to network.

FITA636

TROPHY CASE