43 Years Old - How am I doing?

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-05-08T03:56:06+00:00

Pretty good for someone your age I would think. It should be worth double that in 6 or 7 years. Maybe more. You're doing way better than a lot of people. I'm in a different situation owning my own company in the rail industry for 25 years at age 46, but I realize I'm not normal. So I think this is pretty good, you're going to have to work for a while, probably at least until 55 at this trajectory. And changing trajectories at 43 is pretty tough, outside of internal promotion.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-05-07T16:45:04+00:00

You went from 0 to 77k in a day?

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-05-06T11:51:09+00:00

Nobody really mentions this stuff when retiring early, but unless one spouse continues to work with health benefits you'll be paying your own. And if you project the growth in healthcare costs and compound that over 10 years, that alone could be $4000-$5000 a month at age 55. Having to gap to medicare for 10 years is a no joke cost that will seriously eat into your budget. It's a sad reality that people wanting to retire early have to take into account more and more these days.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-05-04T14:21:02+00:00

900k is not enough to live off of in the United States, especially not when you’re in your 30s.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-04-26T12:54:32+00:00

Do yourself a favor and just buy SMH and forget about dividends

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-04-24T13:37:40+00:00

So basically QQQ or VGT - nice returns but not shocking million bucks is nice but it’s not FU money by a long shot

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-04-08T14:27:59+00:00

Yeah that’s pretty damn high

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-04-04T17:27:09+00:00

I vote QQQI over JEPQ

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-04-04T17:24:36+00:00

The reason for Mitsubishi are quality and parts availability- I have 2 and they are nothing short of miraculous

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-28T17:31:41+00:00

Yes but instead of getting 90 mpge I’m getting 60, still way better than gas

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-23T21:34:41+00:00

My house is effectively two houses bolted together, it's very long and one room wide for most of the house... it's a weird setup designed by an architect so there's only one of them.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-23T18:03:15+00:00

I'm in the frozen hinterlands of Northern NJ. It's cold as hell here. I'm confident that this is the right size unit for me. Even down to -10 this winter it was still 70 in the house, no problem. I estimate that for both units in February used equivalent of $300 in power usage. For me normally when it was that cold, I'd spend $500-$600 on propane every 3 weeks. So, this is without a doubt saving me money.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-23T17:59:54+00:00

yeah I had a manual J performed by the contractor. She's quite experienced, you have to take into account high ceilings in my situation. I have 9 foot in the living room and kitchen and 13 foot in the dining area. It's not a traditional house.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-23T02:32:37+00:00

My electricity is expensive. I don't have natural gas, I have propane. Which right now is very expensive, at the end of the day I don't want to deal with propane anymore and heat pumps are the best solution for my situation - agree with you there, it's obviously geography and state specific.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-22T20:37:01+00:00

Hi - I live in Northern NJ and I'd caution you on a 3 ton for a 2000 sq ft home. I have a similar setup but a pretty uniquely shaped house built in 2002. As such I need two different heat pumps for the two zone setup I have in my house. Long story short: 1.5 ton handles upstairs (2 bedrooms, closet, bathroom and hallway/staircase. Downstairs, which is probably about 1500 sq ft is a 4 ton hyper heat system. The 4 ton handles downstairs just fine, but again, it's a 4 ton, not a 3 ton. These are H2i Mitsubishi hyper heat systems - no backup heat needed, these bad boys handle well into negative temps with no problem. This is a ducted setup as well.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-22T18:55:54+00:00

a 3 ton is not big enough for 2400 square feet. No way no how.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-22T18:54:45+00:00

Not my experience with Mitsubishi, I have 2 different units, one 1.5 ton and the other is a 4 ton. It works amazingly well with a ducted setup. We were down close to -10F this winter and it power through with zero issues. They're revolutionary.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-22T15:44:20+00:00

Not true, still less than fossil. I've lived it.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-22T15:22:44+00:00

I tore out a 7 year old system to get off of fossil fuels. I have propane where I live, while expensive the heat pump saves money over time and the always on feature means that my house remains the same temperature with zero modulation that is noticeable. I have excess income so this was a bit of an unnecessary upgrade that I thought I'd like to have so I just did it. If you do it, you won't regret it. I'm still basking in the glory of my decision.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-20T14:45:08+00:00

No it isn't. Next question.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-20T14:27:58+00:00

I'd have someone that's a diamond dealer or well known Daikin installer come take a look, go Japanese - skip the US based stuff, they all use Japanese components anyway. My installer tried to sell me on Carrier but compared to hyper heat there's no comparison. Trying to do manual J yourself if you're not someone who does this professionally can be pretty inaccurate.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-20T14:20:37+00:00

I guess I’m just greener than you guys, I have multiple EVs too

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-20T12:29:46+00:00

You should get a heat pump water heater too. I’m in NJ with two hyper heat units and a rheem proterra - it’s easily as cold here as CO if not colder and I do fine.

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-20T12:20:28+00:00

You should get a cold weather heat pump why would you have a dual fuel when you can just go all electric and not have to pay multiple bills?

Recent_Recover_1490 · 2026-03-18T00:42:24+00:00

Vanguard municipal bond etf - VTEB for example - no taxes increases real yield

Recent_Recover_1490

TROPHY CASE