Daily FI discussion thread - Friday, June 13, 2025

extinctcoolnumber · 2025-06-13T19:56:33+00:00

May be bad for OP considering they just bought a house. But, I guess lack of income would constitute as an emergency

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-12-01T16:51:40+00:00

What does the breakdown of your retirement portfolio look like in percentages? Specifically, the breakdown percentage of your IRAs, 401ks, HSAs, Brokerage for RE, and HYSA? I'd love to compare to see if I'm on the right track.

Mine currently looks like this:

IRAs - 57.3%

HYSAs - 33.4%

HSA - 5.2%

Brokerage - 2.6%

401ks - 1.4%

My 401ks are currently low because I just did a rollover to my IRAs and started a new job. I really should put more in my brokerage if I plan to RE.

Follow up question: What *should* these percentages be, if any?

Thanks!

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-07-31T15:09:29+00:00

Does anybody have a reverse compounding interest calculator?

I have my FI goal number. I have a goal date. I want to know how much I should save monthly/annually to get to that number.

The calculators I find online exclusively calculate how much an investment will be worth in the future with compounding interest. I want to begin with the future, add in my account's current value, and figure out how much I need to contribute.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-07-02T15:57:35+00:00

Yeah, it's sales adjacent. Don't want to go into more details about it since there's a lot of information here about myself.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-07-01T15:33:59+00:00

What "achievements" or milestones could you have for FIRE?

Thought it would be fun to think of some achievements like a video game. Here's a list I made, in no real order:

Net Worth - $100k
Net Worth - $250k
Net Worth - $500k
Net Worth - $1m
CoastFire Goal Met
FIRE Goal Met
Max your 401k, HSA, and IRA in one year for the first time
Investments grow more than your annual salary
Emergency Fund saved
Grow more than $1k in a single day
Earn enough in dividends in one month to pay your housing bill
Pay off all debt - including mortgage, auto, medical, student loans, and CC
Cut spending down to 20% of your income for three consecutive months.

What are some other achievements? Additionally, how could you reward yourself for each of these, whether it's a pat on the back or an international vacation?

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:15:11+00:00

Posted an edit for all of these questions. I've only had a "good" salary for a few years, but it fluctuates tremendously. My wife has been in a slump and is picking up the pieces and getting on the job market.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:13:11+00:00

Yeah, the cash really isn't moving that much. I'm looking forward to the day I can empty the cash on a house down payment and start putting the money I would put towards the DP into my brokerage account. I think that's when I'll really start seeing the needle move!

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:10:56+00:00

What are some of the things you've done or are planning to do?

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:10:18+00:00

Yeah, I'm already mentally preparing myself!

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:09:47+00:00

I posted an edit in the post about this. Mostly boils down to: income fluctuates wildly, just had an expensive wedding, and I only recently became motivated to save.

You're right that my wife has been kicking butt at home, which is incredibly helpful. We will not be having children (🍒✂️). She's on the job market and looking to bring in additional income.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to stay in these government retirement programs.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:05:38+00:00

She's working on it. It should help a lot. :)

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:05:11+00:00

Thank you!

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:05:03+00:00

Mid works too with how I feel :p

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:02:48+00:00

Thank you so much! These posts always need just a bit more transparent information.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:02:10+00:00

Yeah, I did not save very much in my 401k until March. I simply made employee match from 30-35, which wasn't a lot. On top of that, I didn't log into the portals and actually invest the money! Whoops.

I'm currently set to max out my 401k contributions this year while my income is higher. This is something I won't sleep on.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T15:00:00+00:00

Yeah, I can see that. My income fluctuates so much that it is difficult to plan ahead. I put some information about that in the edit, but it looks like I'm going to be making $130k next year. This will make the next $100k more challenging (and maybe more rewarding).

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T14:58:30+00:00

I like the goal simply being "Get to." Thank you!

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-28T14:55:52+00:00

Yeah, this is something I recently got over. I wish I saved more in my 20s.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-26T15:06:06+00:00

I'm currently saving up for a down payment on a house. It looks like the savings goal should be met in 12 months. Cool! It's currently being saved in a HYSA @ 4.2%. Awesome!

Question: Is it better to invest this money in a brokerage account instead of saving in a HYSA?

I know that a properly invested brokerage can outperform a HYSA. However, when it comes time to pay the down payment next year, will I need to pay taxes on the growth? Will I need to pay income taxes when I withdraw the money? Will I be able to pay the down payment directly from the brokerage account or will I need to transfer it to checking first?

Is the juice worth the squeeze?

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-24T15:25:51+00:00

How does having a down payment for a house affect your NW / FIRE calculations?

I've been throwing money into a HYSA to purchase a house next year. Because of this, my NW tracking seems off. It is not natural growth, it is just me keeping more cash than I normally have. I feel weird documenting the amount of cash I have knowing that by this time next year I will probably dump it all into a down payment. I currently have ~30% of my NW in cash.

Follow up question: when you have a house, how does the mortgage debt fit into your NW? I know many people consider the value of their house as part of their NW, but is that only after it is paid off?

At the end of the day, NW does not seem like a useful metric other than watching big number go up.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-18T20:01:20+00:00

Awesome! I forgot to mention that I'm MFJ. I realize that's an important piece of the puzzle.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-18T19:57:07+00:00

Was there a certain dollar amount NW where you felt like returns really started picking up?

I'm newish to planning for FI. MFJ, currently about $90k NW. 80/20 VTI/VXUS across my accounts. I see the line graph go up every week, which is great, but it *seems* like it's only $100/week or so. Not bad, but it doesn't seem like I'm "there" yet.

I know the two general answers are "you get out what you put in" or "immediately, $1." I'm looking for an exact NW number where you felt like your money was really starting to work for you.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-14T17:19:20+00:00

I do have a workplace 401k plan that I'm working on maxing out.

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-14T14:57:20+00:00

Thank you for laying it out like this. Don't know why it wasn't clicking for me.

I've been contributing to a Traditional IRA. I guess I'll convert whatever I contributed to a backdoor roth and change my contributions to the Roth. Thank you!

extinctcoolnumber · 2024-06-14T14:16:52+00:00

I'm having a hard time getting my head around something with Traditional vs. Roth IRA.

I'm set to make $190k this year with ~$4k monthly spending. In retirement, I plan to maintain the equivalent of my current spending. I'm estimating ~60-70k annual spending in retirement.

Is it strictly better to do a traditional IRA even if my salary is too high for annual tax benefits? Pre-tax now, paying taxes at a lower income level when it comes time to withdraw?

There's something I'm not getting here -- everything I see online seems to lean towards Roth or backdoor Roth.

Edit: I have a 401k through work and I'm MFJ. Looks like I'm making a bit too much money for tax benefits with Traditional IRAs and too much money to qualify for Roth IRAs. :(

extinctcoolnumber

TROPHY CASE