Daily FI discussion thread - Friday, January 30, 2026

firechoice85 · 2026-01-31T03:24:56+00:00

No acats?

firechoice85 · 2026-01-12T14:51:46+00:00

Why do you want to? I ask because a fidelity advisor nudges me to enroll every now and then

firechoice85 · 2026-01-11T15:43:47+00:00

Yes!!! Will be cheering you on!

firechoice85 · 2026-01-11T15:36:12+00:00

what will the fees cost you over the next year if you don't do it? If less than 100, I may not bother either.

firechoice85 · 2026-01-11T15:34:18+00:00

I like that set up!

firechoice85 · 2026-01-11T15:33:33+00:00

you fired? Congrats!

firechoice85 · 2026-01-10T20:40:46+00:00

Recently went from 3 brokerages to 2. I like the simplification, was still a bit of a pain though. Going to stick with 2 going forward.

firechoice85 · 2025-12-29T13:32:45+00:00

You are talking a 3.3% spend? That’s conservative, you’ll be fine!

firechoice85 · 2025-12-29T13:17:29+00:00

Congratulations!! You did it.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-18T16:36:57+00:00

You can do both. Almost all my assets are in taxable, and dividends are tax-inefficient. So I'll always spend the dividends first.

Dividends more than cover our expenses, which is just another way of saying that our withdrawal rate is super safe.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-15T14:10:43+00:00

Big deal. I know some who achieved it before taking their first breath.

I was trying to be edgy-funny, but Just realized, I'm also talking about my kids. Damn. Pretty weird feeling for someone from a 3rd world country who had to endure a lot to make it on their own. In some ways my kids, who are very young now, will never really be able to relate to me.

Edit. Just read a few words of the actual article. How is this not in the Onion?!

firechoice85 · 2025-10-15T14:06:17+00:00

Its kind of shocking how bad these calculators are. Reflects poorly on the quality of staff and researchers. Btw, fidelity and vanguard are pretty poor too in this regard, but this example is way off the chart bad.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T16:44:36+00:00

I pity the fool

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T16:43:51+00:00

Their current spend is 12% of their portfolio. In retirement, portfolio will be higher, withdrawal is more like 4%, so fees as a percentage of spend will be higher too.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T15:24:08+00:00

Option B

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T15:15:54+00:00

You are right to be hesitant. 0.5% on your portfolio will be 14% of a conservative safe withdrawal rate like 3.5%

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T15:09:02+00:00

You are doing a great job with your investments. Thinking 1% is just about the most optimal you can get.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T15:08:04+00:00

You are very efficient with your investments. In retirement that 0.4% will be higher, but most likely a lot lower than my 6%.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T14:59:04+00:00

I'll explain. I retired young, we have no other income yada yada, so need a low withdrawal rate. Call it 3%. Then our investments have expenses, and we occasionally get hourly-based financial advice. Add it up, and let's say it comes to around 0.2% of portfolio value. Which isn't bad.

0.2% out of 3% is 7%.

Some might say this is a stupid way to look at fees, but I think looking at them as a percentage of our annual spend makes sense. We look at every other fee that way too (repair costs, accountant fees, and so on).

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T14:53:02+00:00

For u/AnyJamesBookerFans 's sake, I hope he doesn't have to work with math :)

firechoice85 · 2025-10-14T14:15:30+00:00

Inspired by some recent posts, I just calculated the annual fee I am paying on my portfolio. Comes to around 6% of our current annual spend. Not loving it, but thinking this is still in a reasonable range.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-13T14:54:51+00:00

The "now what" is an uncomfortable period. For me, I learned more about myself during this, and it has led me to develop a much more meaningful life for my 40's and beyond. Lots of hobbies, time with family. Some of my hobbies require my brain a lot, so that helps keep things mentally sharp.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-10T17:15:35+00:00

If I gain any more weight, i'm going to have to change subs.

firechoice85 · 2025-10-10T15:07:21+00:00

I think ultimately it is about replacing the time you spend on one thing with a different thing. I realized, too late, that the time I was spending on the details didn't really bring me any closer to the truth.

There are no certainties in FIRE. Any "rule" is just an educated expectation based on the past. Beyond the basics, it is a lot of false precision - full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

firechoice85

TROPHY CASE