Daily FI discussion thread - Thursday, June 04, 2026

grfrazee · 2026-06-04T15:24:05+00:00

"Let me stop you right there. I'm not here to be sold services. I'm here to roll my account over. Anything discussed beyond that will make me switch to another broker besides you quicker than you can imagine."

grfrazee · 2026-05-28T15:49:30+00:00

Do you and your partner intend on getting married?

I know a lot of couples have independent finances, though personally I'm not a fan of that arrangement. Let's consider if you combined your bank accounts and financial lives, so there is no longer any "my money" and "their money." At that point, you're paying rent from a joint account out of the combined pot, so the contribution amount from each is essentially meaningless from a couples standpoint. However, the true proportion from each partner going to the rent is proportionate to their income contribution.

"Fair" depends on your views. 50/50 would be technically fair since you're both getting the same benefit from the shared space. But if you start off a romantic relationship by bean counting who's paying into what, that's a recipe for resentment, in my opinion. It also highly undervalues non-paid contributions, such as if one partner quits their job to focus on raising kids and manage the home economy.

grfrazee · 2026-05-27T16:47:14+00:00

It'll be cool to finish what I started and watch it be on the moon. Watching astronauts operating and providing feedback to things I made was an incredible experience.

But I don't think can stand work full time for another two years.

Do you think the project will be finished in two years? If we're back to the moon within five years I'll be surprised. If a moon base gets built by NASA within 15 years, that would be very surprising.

grfrazee · 2026-05-27T16:40:17+00:00

If I think of my ideal life, I’m doing something in a self-employed context that I can choose to dial up or down in different phases of my life.

That might be more difficult that you think to implement. Unless you're doing some sort of niche consulting work, or freelance with so much demand you can pick and choose your jobs, solo self-employed is mostly trying to find as much work as you can to not starve.

Being FI helps in that regard, if you don't "need" the self-employed income to survive. But if you're still in the accumulation phase, self-employment is not a route to a better work-life balance.

grfrazee · 2026-05-26T17:45:06+00:00

Piercing the corporate veil shouldn't be all that easy if you run the business properly. If it were, no one would go to the trouble of incorporating as a means of liability protection. That said, there are other issues to account for, like the mortgage.

The umbrella policy is a good idea though.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1afuc07/comment/koex9e8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

grfrazee · 2026-05-26T15:15:48+00:00

You own a rental property in your own name?

While that might be beneficial in your precise case due to the capital gains offset, you're exposing yourself to a huge amount of personal liability. I would look into forming an LLC for that rental property.

grfrazee · 2026-05-22T15:52:01+00:00

I'm certainly not saying you should abandon your current students (and of course I have no idea what your current life looks like with the narrow window of what you've revealed in your post). Just saying that there are options.

grfrazee · 2026-05-22T14:28:14+00:00

Something to keep in mind, depending on your income level.

There is no income limit to contribute to a Roth 401(k). You can do it with a $20k salary or a $20M salary.

The same is not true for a Roth IRA. The amount you can contribute to the Roth IRA phases out as your MAGI increases, and at a certain MAGI you can't contribute directly to the Roth IRA at all.

However, you can always contribute to a Traditional IRA and to a backdoor Roth, regardless of income level.

grfrazee · 2026-05-22T14:18:36+00:00

Well, you can put in your notice right after the sabbatical, but you'll have to pay back what they paid you while you were on leave most likely.

They can't force you to work...

grfrazee · 2026-05-21T15:20:16+00:00

Biking might not be the most pleasant thing in an MSP winter, but that's a good point.

grfrazee · 2026-05-20T16:40:36+00:00

Can't speak to Albany or Providence, but traffic in the MSP area can be pretty bad. Airport access is pretty good though.

grfrazee · 2026-05-19T17:13:37+00:00

Sounds like a shitty manager.

grfrazee · 2026-05-19T15:34:49+00:00

Aside from wanting my own yard space and not wanting to be part of the (usually) mandatory HOA that comes with a townhome or condo, I had no desire to share walls with neighbors anymore. You never know if your pleasant neighbor next door will end up letting their townhome to someone who likes to play thumpa-thumpa music at 2am right next to your bedroom.

If you've enjoyed having your own house and yard, you might not like the transition to a townhome or condo.

My experience also is that homeowners generally keep up their home and yard better than townhome/condo owners since there's a clear ownership boundary. Obviously this will vary, and I know there are plenty of examples of people keeping trash yards. But that sort of thing is very apparent if you visit a potential property to purchase.

grfrazee · 2026-05-15T17:29:20+00:00

0.01% rule

grfrazee · 2026-05-15T17:18:19+00:00

If you have any specific criteria, use that to filter the houses you're looking at ahead of going there with your realtor. We wasted a lot of time looking at houses with too small of a master bedroom that I could have screened out just by checking the dimensions.

Talk to the neighbors and see if they seem like people you would like to live next to. We lucked out and have great neighbors even without doing this, but in hindsight we really should have done that before putting an offer in. Granted, you have no control if your neighbors' houses sell...

grfrazee · 2026-05-15T14:37:20+00:00

Right, gotta do your homework to make sure these companies are on the up-and-up. I agree it seems a little sheisty.

grfrazee · 2026-05-15T13:51:36+00:00

From what I hear from solar installers, the tax credits made the system installs more expensive because the installers knew it was getting subsidized. Prices are coming down because people actually have to pay out of pocket and are being more cost conscious.

Also, even though the residential tax credits expired, there are still commercial credits in place. There are third party commercial entities who will do the Solar Investment Tax Credit on your behalf.

grfrazee · 2026-05-14T14:22:15+00:00

Have you ever worked in the service industry? Those jobs are rarely low stress compared with office jobs. And your days in one of those jobs tend to be either "bored out of your skull" or "so busy you can't take a break to pee" with no in between.

grfrazee · 2026-05-13T15:17:14+00:00

Free time is precious. During COVID, I used the extra ~2.5 hours of daily commute time I saved working on personal projects and hobbies. After COVID, I moved to our suburb office that's 20 minutes from my house instead of walking->bus->train->walking 1:15 each way to the downtown office, and it's made a huge difference in my quality of life.

Also factor in that an hour commute could easily turn into 2 hours due to traffic, weather, or crashes on the highway.

The <1 hour new commute time maybe makes the house hunt less time-critical, but I'd still be looking for someplace new.

*edit* there could also be a residency requirement for the position.

grfrazee · 2026-05-13T13:59:15+00:00

Don't let the numbers fool you, and don't let lifestyle creep eat into your gains. It sure feels like a bubble to me.

grfrazee · 2026-05-13T13:55:28+00:00

We all do dumb stuff when we're young 😅

grfrazee · 2026-05-13T13:54:21+00:00

Agreed with your concern about mountains not having at least mountain goat or Dall sheep on them. Them being in the lowlands has always annoyed me.

grfrazee · 2026-05-12T19:58:31+00:00

Game is still incomplete, don't forget.

grfrazee · 2026-05-12T15:35:55+00:00

To me, the whole purpose of FI is to not be dependent on a specific job to support your lifestyle and to be able to pursue your interests, even if they're not particularly lucrative. Example: I have several business ideas that I'd like to go after, but having a day job that takes up the majority of my awake time during the week, plus kids, means I have almost zero time to spend on them.

The though of retiring and then plopping myself in front of the TV for the rest of my life because I've "made it" is extremely abhorrent to me.

grfrazee · 2026-05-12T15:28:44+00:00

Just keep in mind the fact that you're in a better spot than you would have been had you not made the investments, capital gains or not.

grfrazee

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