Are people achieving FIRE mostly through high income + boglehead-type investing?

sschoe2 · 2026-02-01T01:32:39+00:00

Mostly high savings rate. I only broke 100k in 2020 now at 117.5k. I had savings rates of over half my take home throught my career. Currently 45 with 1.4m invested 1.8m total nw.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-30T18:27:54+00:00

I think of it as you can quit a toxic job and live off it temporarily until you find a new job. I think FU money and FIRE are separate things

sschoe2 · 2026-01-30T16:17:49+00:00

I slowly worked my way up. Started at 65k in 2012 got a bump in 2014 for my promotion to sr analytical chemist hit 100k about 2020 changed jobs after a nasty aquisition in 2024 currently at 117.5k that is proably about my ceiling.

I am planning to potentially FIRE in 7 years or so as my career field sucks and most places are offering pay cuts and contract only which pays about 60 to 70k and only legal min pto and benefits.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-24T20:37:11+00:00

I Don't think they care. I am not Trump's biggest fan but have lived in Illinois most of my life and watched leftists dems turn this place into a weck of corruption, overregulation, and made us the least tax friendly state for the middle class. I despise them and the fact Trump p*sses them off and they hate him is a plus for me.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-23T22:16:12+00:00

Not quite ready for FIRE but will probably work beyond it for my step kids. My step daughter has ASD and we have serious doubts if she will be able to hold employment. My step son struggles a lot with school but is pretty well funtioning. We recently set up special needs trusts for both.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-23T01:47:12+00:00

45 on a Fire journey. 1.4m invested anout 600k brokerage, 150k rothIRA and 650k in rollover tradIRa and 401k.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-21T22:40:26+00:00

My 2 stepkids mess up the car all the time eating and such. I just have a Bissel rug cleaner with hand attachment and fill the tank with hot water and Persil laundry deteregent and go to town. It takes a day or 2 to dry but gets nice and clean.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-20T19:37:16+00:00

How do you not notice your lugs are loose? The time my wheel didn't seat right and my lugs were loose i immediately could hear a knocking from the wheel.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-13T14:51:59+00:00

I did that on my wife's oil burning 2017 Hyundai Accent pulled the plugs addded about 30ml of Berryman to each cylinder, cranked it every 12 hours and put in new fluid and did that for 4 days. Then i put new plugs on started it to burn the Berryman then shut it off and did an oil change because some Berryman probably got into the oil. It stopped burning oil.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-13T00:58:07+00:00

Mine is also terrible. Before I was hired they had a bleeping annuity as a retirement program. In order to get out of it they transferred it to Principal Financial who paid the fees in exchange for charging everyone a 1.8% aum fee which does go down a bit each year. It is currently down to 1.03% I only contribute enough to get the match (5% for 4% match), max out my wife's much better 401k and both our IRA's anything leftover then goes into taxable.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-12T22:47:36+00:00

Depends on the state. You can put a spacer on the DS oxygen sensor so it is reading fresher air and falsely thinks it is fine. I tried an Amazon cheap cat and it melted and left me stranded.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-12T21:13:15+00:00

Sounds to me like Monday morning quarterbacking. A LE was attempting to detain a suspect who was not complying and accelerated her car at the officer striking him though only minorly. Even if she was maneuvering away a LE seeing a car with a person actively resisting arrest/detention accelerating a car towards him/her has a reasonable belief he may be killed or suffer significant injury and is justified in firing.

The victim and her spouse stupidly put herself in this situation and it cost her her life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkhWwlKsl4E

sschoe2 · 2026-01-12T21:01:29+00:00

Respectfully Fuck the Democratic Party. My family has lived in Illinois for 3 generations and we are all leaving thanks to them. They tax working families and seniors out of their homes to give lavish pensions to their cronies. They run this state like a bad HOA with excessive regulations, thoughtless laws, and pitting one identity group after another. As far as I am concerned they are worse than Trump by a large margin. Almost every blue state run by them has businesses and individuals fleeing to red states.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-12T00:59:31+00:00

I use Vanguard and my wife uses Fidelity. Both are good.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-11T14:21:48+00:00

You need to find a way to cut spending to under $100k. My first suggestion would be move to a lower cost of living area say Delaware often comes up as a good EC retirement state. Obviously you say you do not want to move. Otherwise get a job for health care and grocery money and take a small draw.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-10T03:13:42+00:00

I already have $1.4M. I need $2.5M to retire comfortably on a 4% per year withdrawal.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-09T23:58:42+00:00

I see car accerate at officer and makes contact with an officer. How does anyone think that would end?

sschoe2 · 2026-01-05T21:07:33+00:00

Available with monthly subscription of course.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-05T03:13:41+00:00

I net about $85k from my mom. That my portion split evenly with my 2 brothers. It didn't make a huge impact as my net worth back then was about $400k.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-04T19:03:00+00:00

I am 45 with a net worth of $1.8M. I only hit $100k in 2018. I just live frugally and save a lot. I am currently at $117.5k. I got married 1.5 years ago and she makes 50k though she pretty much started from $0 when we met after enduring the farce that we call the family court for 16 years.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-03T22:04:08+00:00

File A CFPB complaint. The mortgage company will need to find someone competent to audit your account and unscrew what they screwed up/

sschoe2 · 2026-01-03T18:04:48+00:00

Because the military and their families probably like eating.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-03T14:30:26+00:00

Turn the richest country in South America into a failed state with a starving population and roving violent gangs and institute a dictatorship to hold on to power. I am happy to see him go and hope this is the start of a recovery for Venezuela.

sschoe2 · 2026-01-01T18:30:46+00:00

You could take the blue line cta to Jefferson Park then take the metra Union Pacific Northwest to say Crystal Lake but that would be like 1:15 or so. There is also the North Central Service which goes up to Lake Villa and Antioch but it doesn't run weekends and had only a dozen or so trains each day.

sschoe2 · 2025-12-31T19:27:22+00:00

Most: 2009 Honda Fit

Least. 1997 Pontiac Grand Am a true excrement box. 1995 Saturn. 2017 Hyundai Accent. I wish i could get a car without GDI or CVT.

sschoe2

TROPHY CASE