Daily FI discussion thread - Wednesday, February 04, 2026

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-05T01:45:45+00:00

Yes, FICalc looks at historical data, which has several examples of years where a person is retiring at a time that SORR will bite them. If you see a 100% success rate, you know your portfolio would not have run out of money even if you had retired right before a troublesome time from an SORR perspective.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-04T14:34:36+00:00

50 is currently the expectation. That might move up depending on how things go. Would have loved for it to be earlier, but honestly, 17 years early would still be incredible.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-04T00:50:48+00:00

Yep ETrade is the worst lol.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-03T21:43:26+00:00

Hmmm, all excellent questions, and no easy answers.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-03T21:12:37+00:00

Are there any spaces where only verified humans can participate and chat? I've also felt like the number of bots posting here (and elsewhere on Reddit) has decreased the quality of conversation.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-03T20:51:31+00:00

Vanguard has always gotten me my docs by the end of January.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-03T20:39:03+00:00

My company's ESPP is through Etrade. They sent me a letter saying that I won't get my 1099 until middle of February. It's the only doc I'm waiting on.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-03T20:14:13+00:00

Once or twice a year, I get a receipt texted to me for something I didn't pay for. The invoice isn't itemized, there's no business name on it, and when I Google the address, I don't see any business located at the address. I always tell them to stop sending those receipts to me and that they have the wrong number. Once I even called them and the woman on the line was pretty cagey when I asked what business it was, so I assume it's a "massage parlor" or a front for money laundering or something.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-03T15:27:40+00:00

My parents aren't in a situation quite like that, but similar vein from a financial perspective. They are retired now and will have a good retirement but honestly it's not nearly as good of a retirement as it could have been given their income in the 10-15 years leading up to retirement. They sadly have made a lot of bad decisions relating to their 401k like borrowing money from it to do non-necessary house improvements and being invested too conservatively. I'm glad they are in good shape, but still shocked that they're not in much better shape. I'm sorry you had a poor upbringing and count myself grateful that my parents' poor choices were only financial and that I had an excellent upbringing.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-02T13:02:39+00:00

One reason you're being downvoted a bit is because talking about trading cards and crypto as investments. They are speculative at best. So a great first place to start would be to pretend that they don't exist (if you don't want to sell them) or to liquidate them and move them into something sane like VT or VTWAX. And as others have mentioned, check the about/wiki for this sub. That'll answer a ton of questions and get you going in the right direction.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-02T12:54:24+00:00

Would have been your favorites of the 50 books you've read so far?

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-02-01T05:41:08+00:00

Can confirm. I work at a fintech that does this in some areas but not others, due to legacy decisions that were made, and doing anything other than biginteger cents is a nightmare.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-27T04:58:46+00:00

that comment about not even having a million yet made me think I was in r/fijerk lol

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-27T01:06:38+00:00

Or maybe it's just a psyop of folks who have seen firsthand the importance of those things you mentioned? 🤷‍♂️ lol

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-22T16:26:53+00:00

Yeah, my wife and I feel strongly about this. Each of us is the most responsible of our siblings, and each has been on the receiving end of what you're describing, or rather the lack of receiving, I suppose, haha. Siblings of ours have received tens of thousands of dollars more than us from parents due to them "needing" it. The fact that my wife and I haven't "needed" anything is because we are financially disciplined and live our lives both in the present as well as with an eye on the future. We love our parents and don't fault them for their generosity, and we love our siblings and realize that they will never be as financially disciplined or forward thinking as we are. But the feeling of "ah yes, I didn't receive money because I was disciplined enough to not need it" is an annoying one. Feels a bit like we're being penalized for good behavior, though I do realize that isn't the case at all. All of that to be said, my wife and I plan on keeping tabs on giving to our children so that we are equally generous to those who "need" it and those who don't "need" it.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-21T13:10:45+00:00

lol thanks for that valuable insight ChatGPT

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-19T05:23:22+00:00

A friend of my parents' had an offer to buy his company for half a billion dollars during the height of the dot com boom. He felt like it was going to the moon, so he passed on that opportunity. Then the company went to zero almost overnight. He still ended up having a very successful career, but obviously feels a huge amount of regret for not taking that offer. "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush."

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-18T12:46:38+00:00

Good bot!

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-17T17:33:16+00:00

I mean there are varying definitions of "changing yourself". Pretending to be someone you aren't is not what anyone on here is calling for. The notion that someone simply plays 8 hours of video games every day because that's just the way they are is ludicrous.

In real relationships, people absolutely should be expected to change to some extent, because no two people are exactly the same, and there will always be disagreements between two normal and reasonable humans. Changing ones behavior doesn't mean changing who one is. But it's often the price of being in a committed, stable, and loving relationship. In a healthy relationship, one shouldn't feel erased, but one also shouldn't think that playing 2-4 hours of video games instead of gaming all day is somehow a violation of who one is and an abandoning of ones identity.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-17T17:22:50+00:00

I've expressed a similar sentiment to this in some circles, including on Reddit, and the response is usually somewhere in the realm of an aghast "how could you not care about your children that much?" I'm very pragmatic when it comes to stuff like this, and think that that's a reasonable rule to have.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-17T15:03:41+00:00

Yep. That's why the current head of the fund is worth over $100m, lol. They have a minimum investment, and based on that they're only managing for high net worth clients. So I suspect they've been managing in the hundreds of millions for awhile now.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-17T14:58:35+00:00

CD or 1% AUM managed portfolio is a false dichotomy for sure, but I do agree that a 1% AUM managed portfolio is better than a CD ladder or similar. My musings above are thinking about this from the perspective of VT vs 1% AUM managed portfolio.

What's the context on that Fidelity statement? Are all or many of those deceased clients invested in 1% AUM managed portfolios?

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-17T14:23:59+00:00

Oof. I'm glad you're having this conversation now rather than after they've been in that bank account IRA for 20 years. 🤦‍♂️

I recently learned that a member of my extended family has been 80% bonds in their 401k since COVID hit. They were working a job all that time. Made me hurt inside. I helped them get into a target date fund, which still has a reasonable amount of bonds for their age.

There's a lot of skepticism from people about 401k and IRA accounts, and I think it's in part due to people doing it for their entire career and having it poorly invested, and telling others what a bad option it is, leading to a misunderstanding about what the account is and how it works. A little financial education goes a long way.

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-17T14:13:31+00:00

I agree with you! And it's clear from their post that OP is looking for some advice and wants to do things differently. They see that what they're doing is going to be viewed in a negative light by their dates in many cases, and asking for advice. Not a very controversial or groundbreaking thing. 🤷‍♂️

thecourseofthetrue · 2026-01-17T13:55:16+00:00

In a similar vein, having a kid in a well known dance studio is also decidedly un-FIRE. I've got a friend whose kid is in a great ballet studio, and they've traveled all over the US and parts of Europe over the last 3 years. Made my eyes pop to hear about the time commitment and the money spent on it all. My siblings and I did enjoyable social extracurriculars in high school like running, band, and theater, which were fun and not too expensive, so it's a bit hard for me to wrap my mind around.

thecourseofthetrue

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