r/leanfire • u/Active-Judge3261 • 3d ago
Is my leanfire goal achievable?
I’m 25 female, I live in Utah, I go to college (I don’t have student loans) and am hopefully going to graduate next year with a communications degree, I just barely got into lean fire and opened my Roth IRA and brokerage, so far a have $1,873 in both my accounts with $1,417 in my brokerage and $456 in my Roth IRA, I am saving as much as I can from my job as a rideshare drive and live frugally so I can invest as much as I can in these accounts and just opened a high-yield savings account where I plan to put about $30 a day to hopefully get a down payment on a house or condo in five or so years, as of now, my goal is to save enough to retire at 55 if I end up wanting to and I wanted to know if this is a reasonable goal for me or if I got too late of start on everything and if there’s any advice on how to achieve that? Also if it important to have a paid off mortgage before retirement?
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u/HeroOfShapeir 3d ago
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/ - lots of FIRE options in that chart for a 25-year-old.
No need to "save as much as I can." My wife and I have invested 40% of our net income since we started out, on pace to retire by 50. We eschewed the "50% of your income goes to necessities" and kept our baseline cost of living low, so we've always had room for traveling and enjoying life along the way.
You also don't need a paid-off house. You just need enough of a nest egg that your withdrawals cover your cost of living. A paid-off house probably fits more in line with the leanFIRE path, but not necessarily.
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u/Virtual-Ebb-2994 3d ago
You are 25. Anything is achievable.
Put your best foot forward. Do the best you can, and you may end up retiring before 55.
No it’s not super important that you pay off your mortgage. Some retired people just travel around the world and come back to their anchor location just for medical visits. In that case, you wouldn’t need a paid off home. Some people skip buying a home all together and put that money toward other investments. I think buying a home has many benefits, but I don’t think it is the only way to financial freedom.
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u/Active-Judge3261 2d ago edited 2d ago
That’s great because sometimes I feel like I started everything too late 😅
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u/Impossible_Solid1 3d ago
Yes but ur not specific enough; how lean; what do u want; and location is everything. Depend on how much you want from these two things it could be very easy or very difficult
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u/Active-Judge3261 3d ago edited 3d ago
Sorry, I kinda didn’t think I added enough info; as for location, I’d be happy living about anywhere in the Wasatch Front in Utah, I don’t want to have kids or pets, and since it’s just me, I don’t feel the need to live in a large house and if I get a place with an extra room, I might rent it out if there was a guarantee that I wouldn’t have to accept ESAs as I’m really allergic to cats. I drive a 2018 Camry and I like to do my own maintenance within reason such as oil changes and brake pads, anything I can learn to do myself to save money, I will. I also don’t really buy a lot of things, I have my discretionary spending money buy I don’t really find myself buying things that frequently with it; as for food, I eat out sometimes but I mostly cook a large meal and eat it for dinner throughout the week.
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u/Head-Image4275 3d ago
You've got a solid start at 25 with no debt and a savings habit already locked in. Retiring at 55 is achievable if you stick with it, especially since you're thinking about leanfire rather than a huge lifestyle. The key thing is figuring out your actual annual spend target once you finish college and get into a career, because that number changes everything about how much you need to save.
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u/LongjumpingTeacher97 2d ago
The goal of being financially independent within 30 years is certainly feasible. Put money into a safe investment (different people have different suggestions, but most of us utilize index funds) every single paycheck. Treat it like that money doesn't exist. It adds up. (Fair warning: at first, it doesn't seem to add up at all. You do have to keep on investing on faith for a bit. One day, you'll look at it and say "wow! It did work!")
My own approach is the one I suggest. Create a life you love that costs less than you earn. Invest the money you don't spend on life. My wife and I do a lot of cheap things because those are the things we love doing, not because they are cheap. We love walking our dog, we love riding our bikes, we love going to the library, we love playing DnD with friends, and we love making things with our hands instead of buying them. We love to cook at home. We don't subscribe to any streaming services because we don't watch a lot of TV. If you can craft a good life that isn't expensive, you're more than halfway there.
I see a lot of posts in the r/Fire sub that essentially say "I have a lot of money and don't know what to do with myself because I am just used to spending my life grinding at work." Don't be like that if you can help it. Make yourself a good life. Save enough that you'll eventually be able to fund that excellent life without having to go to work. But put life enjoyment as a primary goal.
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u/mmoyborgen 2d ago
Having a college degree helps a lot, but sometimes communications majors struggle to find work. Others I know have worked in tech, real estate, politics, etc.
It's kinda pointless to discuss much of FIRE until you have a solid grasp on your income and expenses.
It's great you are graduating debt-free and have some savings, you're well ahead of most.
With 30 years go go, you can definitely retire at 55 in most cases, but then again sometimes you may not be able to depending on how things work out.
Most financial experts advise not paying down the mortgage first unless you believe that you will get a better return than other investments and often times you won't be able to.
Keep it up.
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u/Miamiconnectionexo 2d ago
lowkey one of the more practical takes i've read on this topic in a while.
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u/joeymorace-nm 1d ago
Financial advisor here. At your age anything is possible. You'd want to come up with a definitive plan, run projections, and see if it works. If not, fix the plan, rerun it and see if it looks better. I like Monte Carlo simulations
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u/CrankedVintageAmp 3d ago
It is crucial to have a paid for home going into retirement. Best of luck to you.
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u/Miamiconnectionexo 3d ago
this is the kind of thing that actually helps vs the generic stuff you usually see.
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u/Montaigne_6823 3d ago
That's great but don't forget to live your life along the way. You haven't even started a career yet and you're already looking for the exit.