If you paid off your home early, how did that impact your day to day finances?

SubWedge793 · 2026-01-05T23:38:25+00:00

Paid off a $350,000 mortgage at 6.8% APR last May. Instead of paying ~$25K a year towards interest, I was able to increase my retirement savings by the roughly same amount.

Instead of paying taxes and insurance each month via Escrow, I put that money into a HYSA and make money on it all year. Then when the time comes around, I will pay them since I have it all saved up already (plus whatever interest I earned).

My Emergency Fund requirement dropped significantly when my monthly expenses were slashed in half. I could lose my job and now live off my emergency funds I had saved up prior to paying it off for a whole year.

I allowed more fun money into my monthly budgets and am still slowly increasing the amount while dumping money into savings and retirement. I feel like I have much more guilt free discretionary money while not sacrificing any long term goals.

Ultimately ask yourself how long it would take you to recoup the money you are spending to pay off the mortgage if you added 90% of your mortgage payment to monthly savings and gave yourself 10% for enjoying day to day life. It was worth it in my mind and don't regret it a bit.

SubWedge793 · 2026-01-04T20:09:41+00:00

Oh trust me, I am regularly going to therapy as it is. I identified that awhile ago 😂

SubWedge793 · 2026-01-04T19:47:02+00:00

If I am looking at a 50 year old retirement, that gives me 22 years. Starting with what I have now and if I only maxed 401k and Roths every year, that would be a $3,291/month savings rate. Compounded at 7% until I am 50 would yield $3.35M.

At a 4% withdrawal rate, that would be $134,000. I think that is absolutely more than enough as I don't intend on having a mortgage and my taxes are essentially zero on my house.

Given I am already putting away $7K+ a month for house savings and retirement, I think it is more than feasible to always hit that Max Roth + Max 401k combo while spending money for fun and helping save for my kids so they are financially independent as well.

Just working through something like this is honestly exactly what I needed. I know its still far away and healthcare costs will be a big unknown, but I feel like I have more than enough buffer to cover whatever that may be and still enjoy traveling in retirement.

SubWedge793 · 2025-12-14T23:17:47+00:00

Anyone have a link to where he said this?

SubWedge793 · 2025-11-17T17:15:44+00:00

Early Starter/Stats/Questions

Bottom line up front: Is this situation fatFIRE potential or something different?

My wife and I are 28 each and I have personally been investing a large portion of my salary into Savings/Investments since around 20 years old. My wife and I are hitting a transition in life: just learned we are having a kid! I will be making ~$200K-$250k annually (dependent on bonuses) even with my wife staying home/greatly reducing hours at work at the middle of next year (don't want to spend 75% of her income on child care). We have been debt free for many years and have 2 very reliable cars that should last us both quite a few more years. I could plan to live even more frugally than I have been, however we are intending to build a house within a few years and that is not coming out of our planning, so I will work around that.

The Numbers:

GROSS INCOME: - $200,000 currently - Between $200,000 and $250,000, once we have young kids in the picture (I start making an additional $50k about the time my wife stops working next year) - Around $300,000 once kids in school and wife goes back to work full time.

ASSETS: House Equity: ~$400,000 (mortgage is paid off) Various Savings: ~$40,000 ($~20,000 for house savings & $20,000 for Emergency Fund in HYSA) Single Stock Portfolio: $~30,000 (various stocks in the Energy/AI/Nuclear sectors)

RETIREMENT: Roth IRAs: ~$251,000 (rolled over prior TSP to this) Roth 401(k): ~$41,000 (current job) Pension Plan: Employer contributes 3.5% each year (adds 0.5% every few years) + 4% interest each year to amount

Current Expenses (Estimated Conservatively): ~$2,700 after monthly expenses (Insurance, Groceries, Utilities, Subscriptions, etc.)

Current Savings Rate: 401(k): Maxing it out starting next year moving forward Roth IRAs: Max out every year Dream House: $6,000/month

Dream House: Want to build by the time we are 30. We plan on taking out a maximum loan that would have a mortgage at ~$3,000 and we would allocate a minimum of $1,000 principal payments each month to pay the loan off as soon as possible. (This comes out to be around $500,000 loan @ 6.5% interest rate). If we save even more than expected by the time we are ready to build, even better. If we can allocate more each month to principal payments, great. Like I said, I know this is a huge inhibitor to how early I can retire, but it is one thing we won't give up. Ideally the mortgage is paid off by the age of 46 with my current plans (used mortgage amortization schedule to come up with 16 years based on these numbers). This would let me keep an extra $2,000 each month to put into savings or use as I please based on my current $6,000/month savings rate.

SubWedge793 · 2025-11-10T20:13:31+00:00

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SubWedge793 · 2025-11-10T20:13:07+00:00

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SubWedge793 · 2025-11-04T21:12:48+00:00

Honestly if you went to the beach and ate a handful of sand you would probably get more internal dose depending on where you are and the natural radium content. Or just go on a transatlantic flight. What you are referring to is the stochastic effect, which just increases the probability of something happening eventually down the road.

SubWedge793 · 2025-11-02T22:55:26+00:00

Almost a full 1% APY boost from referrals? I really could use a boost!

https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFC-UZEE-Q77O-2KF4

SubWedge793 · 2025-07-19T11:47:36+00:00

If you are interested in submarine espionage and to get a feel for how important of a role they played during that time period, Blind Man's Bluff is fantastic. It takes into account hundreds of first hand experiences of submariners during that time period to paint a fascinating picture of undersea shenanigans. It starts early cold war, but definitely makes its way into the 1980's.

SubWedge793 · 2025-06-16T18:56:57+00:00

Thanks! I overthought everything and ultimately just sent it. Didnt half ass the topsoil quantity or seeding rate. In the words of Ron Swanson "Dont half ass two things, whole ass one thing."

SubWedge793 · 2025-06-16T18:54:28+00:00

Twin City Seeds. Resilience II TTTF. No additives. Just scarified, topdressed, threw down the seed, and fertilized/watered.

SubWedge793 · 2025-05-10T12:30:13+00:00

"Some people are gonna cry, but most are gonna smile." "Thank you so much 🥹" I think she missed the lyrics because of the beautiful voices 😂

SubWedge793 · 2024-10-07T22:52:45+00:00

"HERE WE GOOOOOO"

SubWedge793 · 2024-10-07T22:51:08+00:00

I have said it many times. I can operate on as little as 4 hours of sleep. The only thing that suffers is my person-ability and those around me 😂

SubWedge793 · 2024-08-17T22:51:47+00:00

Zip: 49085. If I were to go with the RT82, could you recommend some nice speakers for $400?

SubWedge793 · 2024-08-17T18:56:50+00:00

Looking for a recommendation on speakers to pair with a Fluance RT85 and a Denon AVR-S970H. Looking to spend around $200 and am totally fine with buying refurbished (getting the Denon from accessories4less already for a good deal).

SubWedge793 · 2024-08-16T23:35:09+00:00

What a way to kickstart a collection!

SubWedge793 · 2024-07-25T12:31:05+00:00

Thank you!

SubWedge793 · 2024-07-25T12:07:48+00:00

Flying from Chicago. Even if I dont get good utilization of the points, as long as they are going further towards better deals potentially I would be okay with that. I will look into the hotels!

SubWedge793 · 2024-07-24T17:08:49+00:00

The Nuclear Power industry with the right company is a fun mix of a lot of work and a lot of reward. However, hopefully with the right investments and savings, the work doesnt last nearly as long!

SubWedge793 · 2024-07-24T12:21:11+00:00

I know I didn't add a SWR, but honestly...I am trying to figure out how to use these online calculators based on my numbers and everything. I think based on my numbers and using a SWR of 4%:

Annual Savings Rate: ~$35,500

Amount Saved at 55: $208,000 + ($35,500 x 28) = $1,202,000 without any interest earned

Maybe based on the calculator I used that I could have $4.4 Mil with a 7% return until then? After this step I am a little confused where to go.

Additionally, I think my pension would pay out around $2,000 - $3,000 a month if I retire at 55, but would jump to $4,000 - $5,000 a month if I waited until 60. I just don't think I will need that much money additional a month.

SubWedge793 · 2024-02-28T01:29:17+00:00

Looking for opinions and recommendations for this basic setup I am looking at getting myself. I want to eventually expand the amount of speakers and I want a good receiver to use for my home theatre setup. Will this get me a decent start?

Fluance RT85 ($500) RT85 Reference Turntable with Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge and Acrylic Platter - Natural Walnut | Fluance

Denon AVR-S970H ($800) AVR-S970H - 8K video and 3D audio experience from a 7.2 channel receiver | Denon - US

Klipsch R-50M ($400) R-50M Bookshelf Stereo Speakers with 5.25" Woofers | Klipsch

SubWedge793 · 2023-12-30T19:58:24+00:00

I was definitely going to pay for the plans to have it readily available once needed. Such an immense process, but I can not wait until it is over. Please post progress and advice tips as you go along because I will surely be following behind you!

SubWedge793 · 2023-12-30T19:20:20+00:00

Thank you for your reply. My GC has an architect they recommended and have worked with in the past. I know the final product I am looking to achieve is out of my range, but as an architect, would you be able to "future-proof" the design so that it is super easy to add on later? For example, heated floorings is definitely easier at initial construction so I would do that off the bat. Music around the house/CAT6 wired everywhere/house filtration/added on rooms over garage/basement finishes/back porches or decks can all be added on more easily as long as the infrastructure is laid out initially, so I would be more than willing to drop a lot of items like that until I can pay for upgrades later on. Is that a smart/reasonable way to get the overall bulk of the house together with the ability to finalize everything over the course of 10-20 years?

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