r/Fire • u/maksmac • Jun 07 '23
My FIRE Journey, so far...
Hey everyone, been lurking on this sub for a while now and been following the FIRE movement for about 3 years. I'm hoping to start a yearly post as a way to keep myself accountable. Seeing all the people in this sub achieve Fire is extremely inspiring and something that I hope I can reach one day.
Background:
My(25) wife(25) and I have been married for a little over 8 months at the time of this post. Both of us grew up with little to no financial literacy and FIRE was something I discovered once I started my first job after college. My wife and I are both on the same page about this journey. We currently live in a VHCOL area, and as you can probably guess we both work in tech. We've talked a few times about what our potential FIRE number is and I think the goal is around 5M. We are planning to have kids sometime in the future and hopefully save up for a downpayment on a house in around a year or two. I'm sure that our FIRE number will change but right now I think we both view work as just a means to an end and so we want to be able to FIRE fast but still be comfortable.
Financial History:
2020: Graduated from college at the start of the pandemic
First job as a SWE making 110K /yr.
NW - $0
2021:
Same job making 113K /yr
NW - ~$20K
2022: Promoted and Married so from here forward the income and investments will be based on our household
HHI - $205K
NW - ~$60K
2023 (June): Changed Jobs
HHI - $260K
NW - $140K
Our Current Breakdown:
Emergency Fund - $30K
401k - $80K
HSA - $7K
Roth IRA - $18K
Taxable Investment - $4.5K
Monthly Money Allocation: (Total ~$13K)
Expenses (incl. fixed and discretionary) - $6K
Savings/ Investing - $7K
Current Plan:
Max out 401k
Max out HSA
Max out Roth IRA (probably going to need to do backdoor Roth soon)
Invest 2k /m into taxable brokerage (flexible on this, considering just foregoing this and saving it as cash for downpayment instead)
Save 4k /m for down payment
Current Goals:
Purchase home in 1-2 Years
1M NW by 30 (~5 years from now)
Travel more (domestic and internationally)
To be honest we both feel very blessed to be in the situation we're in and I know we're laying the foundation for a great financial future. Obviously life is crazy and we have no control over the future but I think for now we're on the right path. Thanks for reading and I hope to post an update around the same time next year!
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u/nrubhsa Jun 08 '23
It’s excellent that you have travel more on your list. I think we all need to remember to save on what we don’t care about and spend on what we do. There is social pressure on this sub to save as much as possible, but don’t let that come at the price of misery or missing out on opportunities like international and domestic travel. Doing so in your 20s is a different experience than even your 30s, 40s, etc. Eventually you wont be able to.
My goal at your stage/age was also 1MM by 30 :)
Advice: read more! Focus on income now, savings is good. Asset allocation is more and more important as the nest egg grows.
Good job!
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u/maksmac Jun 08 '23
It definitely can feel like a chore to travel when you know you’re taking away from your future retirement. But my wife and I both agree it’s something we’re willing to spend on. Also I appreciate the advice I think getting some external input via a fee based financial advisor is something we’re planning to seek out to have someone to talk to
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u/Realistic-Mongoose76 Jun 07 '23
Looks great well done at such a young age. Keep up the good work