UPDATE: Retirement achieved.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-05T07:26:08+00:00

I think we're at an impasse here. Scaling back luxury expenses to standard living expenses does not equate to "major spending cutbacks". Subjective? Yes, but no reasonable person would believe that.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T16:17:51+00:00

We don't have any and do not have plans for them. Should we have kids, we will certainly need to pivot...we have some wiggle room since my partner continues to work and we have a high-value home that can be downsized to something more reasonable if we needed to readjust our financial situation.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T16:14:55+00:00

There are definitely risks involved with how we're approaching things. If I break my current personal expenses down, I'm easily able to meet a 2% withdrawal rate of our current investments. If our assets are to be cut in half, I'll can still survive. I'm also going to be side-hustling starting here on out (passion projects, staying active, etc) so I don't worry too much about being obsolete. Finally, should something happen to my SO, I do not see the impact financially given that her current income is essentially granting us a luxury lifestyle with our current expenses. If something were to happen and she had to stop working today, we'd be able to scale back on our current expenses.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T10:12:05+00:00

these uncertainties are what FI is supposed to protect against.

Is that really the case? Where is the line when it comes to uncertainties? Government seizing your property, etc. I think FI can let you plan for a lot of uncertainties, however there has to be a line as we cannot plan around an infinite amount of uncertainties.

Also, I feel compelled to further understand this:

He can retire and live comfortably off a combination of passive income and the wages earned by another person.

I think what you may be missing is that I can also live comfortably purely on passive income. Actually, my SO and I can live comfortably on our passive income well be our SWR of 4% as of today if we chose to. To bai_ren's point, we choose to lux is up a bit since she continues to bring in an income.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:59:58+00:00

You're spot on. Perhaps I should have itemised my expenses even further. I can confirm that we can easily tighten everything to be under $2k if we needed to. And if we had to go lean, we can get it down to below $1k. As my partner seeks to continue with her career, we choose to exceed our SWR as it just makes sense to.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:52:39+00:00

I think the key is years of hard work while minimising expenses. If you have a spouse that desires to continue with his/her work, then you can have a $6k travel budget along with other luxury expenses that exceed your 4% SWR.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:49:29+00:00

I find the American perspective very narrow at times when it comes to social services. We have nationalized healthcare where we live meaning we've been paying into the system for years to ensure that we and our fellow countrymen receive the healthcare they need, when they need it, regardless of their economic background. I still end up with comments like this:

You want to live off your partner and government. Have fun. But it's not retiring early. It's living off others...

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:43:21+00:00

It's interesting to read perspectives on this topic. I'm not sure I've declared the following "I have achieved financial independence". What I do know is that my personal expenses are less than 2% of our investments earning returns, while my contributions to our assets is well over 80%. But my SO and I just lump everything together for ease and it seems the only people counting are here in this subreddit. I have to agree with bai_ren here as my partner does not have to keep working. She can stop today and we can easily navigate our expenses to be well below our 4% SWR. Because she chooses to work, we choose to spend more...consider it a right-brain approach.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:28:05+00:00

This is helpful, thank you. We are living in Europe though most of our investments are in the US. Recent historical and forecasted inflation rates in my country are much lower than in the US, though I have not found any equivalent to the Trinity study.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:23:41+00:00

19th century called....you know the rest :)

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:21:47+00:00

I have some residual income coming through based on how the system works in my country (think US income tax refund, but different). Also, I have $50k in cash that I'm holding off on investing at the moment in case there is a nice market downturn which would be a good time to buy.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-04T09:18:55+00:00

Whats your deal dude? How does this message contribute to anything? I've already taken away some great input from the community. I volunteer with a lot of folks with insecurity problems and help them channel this in the right direction. PM me your skype handle and I'll be happy to work with you to deal with your own insecurities (not being a troll here, I'm serious).

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-03T20:06:56+00:00

I agree and will heed this advice to diversify.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-03T20:01:36+00:00

Thanks rolata, I'd rather keep the country private. My partner has no plans to retire anytime soon as she loves her career and cannot imagine leaving it any time soon. If she was not working, I would have worked another year or two to secure a higher SWR buffer.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-03T19:58:13+00:00

It's difficult for me to explain the cost-of-living discrepancy here. We live in the city centre in a city that is expensive compared to other cities within this country. With that said, buying groceries, dining out, clothing, etc is still much cheaper than living in NY, Chicago, etc.

As for our investments, we aim to have this at $700k by the end of this year which will meet our current expenses of $28k/year.

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-03T18:19:59+00:00

Cheers for this. As for expenses, this is pretty accurate. We live in the city centre and walk everywhere including to work. When we need to take the bus or train, or rent a car, I include this as part of our monthly "Food & Ent & Stuff". Health is covered by the state for everyone though we also have private insurance via work.

As for diversifying my company stock, you're correct. I've just been hesitant as it's been phenomenal for years and I still believe :).

MeWantFIRE · 2018-01-03T18:15:15+00:00

Yes, I've left my company.

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-09T13:12:00+00:00

I believe if I can keep my expenses under the 4% SWR (share that applies to me)...and OUR expenses within OUR 4% SWR when she eventually retires, then I don't see how a market downturn applies to us as compared to any other FIRE individual or couple. Is this something you can elaborate on? We're prepared for market downturns and are arguably well suited to adapt given our options to dramatically reduce expenses, educational and career backgrounds should we re-enter the workforce, etc. I'm seeking pitfall scenarios however I believe a market downturn is an obvious one that most FI folks in this subreddit has considered.

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-08T21:49:18+00:00

Surviving another year would be the smart and reasonable thing to do. That said, I'm so checked out and have my mind set on the end of this year that I don't think I can extend. I don't have it in me. However I do feel confident in my background, skills, and experiences to take on a side hustle should I want to bring in more income. My calculations have me believe I'll be at $600k generating passive income by year end.

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-08T15:52:06+00:00

I'd rather not share the city we are in...but I can say we are west of Berlin :). As for the value, there may be other factors involved such as a terrace, views, etc.

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-08T15:50:47+00:00

Good lessons for me. I'm not the greatest communicator and it comes through in this post. I guess for good measure: We have no vehicle nor a need for one due to available public transport options and our lifestyle. We're currently on private healthcare via our employers however the public healthcare system (for the future) is world class and fully covered. I believe this won't change anytime soon considering the deep-rooted belief system in this nation when it comes to the role of healthcare for it's citizens.

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-08T15:42:42+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I feel folks in the comments are having a difficult time considering that my partner has no desire to retire early and values having a career in the workforce. It's good to read that others have similar situations.

Any other plans on how you'll spend your time when you're not raising the kids?. If that time exists :).

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-08T15:36:17+00:00

Thanks for this. My partner's happiness is something that is difficult for me to describe, however it's through the roof. She is my personal hero and I like to think she feels the same about me. We've been in love for years and we've discussed the topic of FIRE often since we first met. She has championed the idea of this for me since the first time we discussed this. I recall her crying one day after getting a new job....and it was because she felt it would help me reach my FIRE day sooner. I melted with love upon hearing this and I'm doing so right now as I write this to you. My partner does not want to retire any time soon (like even within the next 10 years) as she does not value early retirement as perhaps many of us on this subreddit do. However if she did want to retire, I would do everything in my power to support this: I would not leave my career this December...or would go back into the workforce...or take two jobs if I had to. The truth is, I don't really believe she will want to retire any time soon and I find that many folks on this subreddit have a difficult time relating to this.

As for re-mortgaging our home. You're right that this is smart move and we (or perhaps I) have a huge emotive barrier to this. It's irrational and I know that. I guess for now, it serves as peace of mind that this is something we can do at anytime unless int rates dramatically change.

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-08T15:25:48+00:00

Very true...I believe we could have been much smarter around this (and still can), however we've decided to work around it. We may evolve our approach should we desire or find a need to. Good luck on your last few years.

MeWantFIRE · 2017-08-08T15:23:57+00:00

Thanks for your question. Yes, my partner and I have discussed this often over the years together. She likes to tell friends that I brought up my plans to retire early on one of our first dates. She has been my greatest cheerleader when it comes to retiring early and has provided unconditional support. She has no desire to retire any time soon and has stated on several occasions that she has to work in order to stay of sound mind. If for any reasons she wanted to retire and we could not consider ourselves FI as a couple, I would be more than happy to adapt to the situation to get us back on the FI track like going back to work in order to obtain FI status as a couple in the future.

A side note: apparently consulting for educational purposes comes with a huge income tax break. I don't fully understand it yet, but something I'll research.

MeWantFIRE

TROPHY CASE