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Chadzok posted:So a bunch of wussies in some other thread were daring each other to make this thread, and I beat them to it.  quote:To kick it off, my current dilemma is how long I should stay in my full-time job, which earns me about 1/3 of my total income, when I could be earning 2/3 of my current total from 5 days of work per month. The job is related to the side business and helps with my profit margins and I learn mechanical skills which do come in handy on occasion, plus I can reach my financial aspirations sooner - of course I could also look for a higher paying job in the same field, but it may not come with the same benefits. But then again.. not having to work ALL WEEK, would free up a lot of time to pursue other potential income streams. It's hard to say without knowing exactly what the main job and the side job is and how exactly they are related. You say the main job is helps with profit margins - what do you mean? Could you quit it and still have the same level of income from the side job? Honestly, if the side job earns you 2/3 of your total income in just 5 days of work per month, in reality it makes up a much higher percentage of your total income than 2/3. Then again the way you explain it is kind of unclear.
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Jul 17, 2013 13:32
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Ignoranceisbliss88 posted:That's a pretty boring and mundane existence if you ask me. As opposed to your average corporate job, which is some kind of exciting, blissful experience.  quote:My point is that retirement can be dull and that many people get satisfaction out of the struggle to move up in their careers and may not even realize it. A lot of people find that the last half of their career is more satisfying than the first half because of added responsibility or time to find their niche. I think many of the people who buy into this concept are young and underemployed or just unhappy in their career and want it to go away. Maybe they should consider switching fields instead of leaving the workforce altogether. I like my job a lot. But I would like it even more if I didn't have to worry about getting laid off.
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Jul 18, 2013 16:32
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Cicero posted:In order to be financially independent, you have to have a huge bank to begin with, so $22,000, while not trivial, isn't an enormous hit either. Planning to hit that every year for thirty years seems like kind of a ridiculous worst-case scenario to plan for to me, equivalent to "well what if you get struck by lightning??". What percentage of physically fit people who don't have dangerous/very physically demanding jobs end up in this situation? I think this is worth stressing. Nobody picks their car insurance plan based on the worst-case scenario. Most people I know carefully assess their risks as well as other factors such as the value of their car before deciding on a plan that makes sense. Health insurance works the same way. Furthermore, people who are financially independent rarely pick jobs where they sit in front of a computer for 8-12 hours a day, and they tend to have significantly more time to exercise and cook their own (healthier) food. Therefore they are much less likely to need expensive healthcare.
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Jul 18, 2013 20:13
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zmcnulty posted:That's exactly what I'm talking about. A trip to Europe with your family will cost like a quarter of your annual budget. I agree there's plenty of down time, but how does <$2k per month for a family of 3-4 provide "flexibility??" A $10k trip to Europe?  Yeah if you want to stay in super expensive resorts where you can't even tell you're in another country, go ahead and pay that much. But if you want a cultural experience, ironically it will cost you a lot less. Besides, there are plenty of articles online for cheap travel. I like this one. And before you say "families can't do this kind of thing," my uncle owns a world-famous boutique hotel here in Turkey and he hosts backpacker families all the time. They pay very little since everything here is so cheap, and they have amazing experiences. In addition, during FI your annual budget may be $40k, but this doesn't mean you will spend all of that amount every year. Just like with regular salary, you can underspend one year and "save" so that you have a bigger budget the next year.
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Jul 19, 2013 11:06
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shrike82 posted:Do you actually have a family? $10K for a family of 4 isn't going to be a decadent vacation once you add in flight, stay, and touristy expenses. Not if you go off-season like a rational person.
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Jul 19, 2013 16:16
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canyoneer posted:There's an expression in high-finance, consulting, and i-banking called "gently caress you" money. As in, work the soul-sucking super high paying job for 10 years and save up all my money so I can buzz off at the end and go do a (low paid) fun job like being a forest ranger, climbing guide, school bus driver or goat farmer or something. More like, it's a version of it that is open to the 99% who don't work in those high-paying jobs.
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Jul 19, 2013 19:51
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moana posted:So once I own my house outright and need $40k for expenses, I would need to save... Well, if it turns out that what you have saved is not enough, you would have the option of cutting back a bit more on your expenses and/or freelancing and/or even starting your own business. You would have a tremendous amount of freedom that comes from not being chained to some corporate job.
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Jul 19, 2013 20:23
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Besides, we're probably due for another crash within the next 5 years. So if you're planning to retire 10 years from now, that's pretty much perfect timing! Just have plenty of savings so you can buy a ton of stocks when they become cheap, and ride them up! (I'm only half-serious. But deep down inside I am wishing for another crash soon...)
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Jul 19, 2013 20:29
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No Wave posted:All my poo poo's in equities. It's always very tempting to try to time the market but if I'd tried that I'd be down 20% from where I am. So, whatever, worst case scenario you wait another two years or so, work's still got its perks. I don't mean it in the sense of trying to time the market. I would continue to invest as usual, but if a crash happens then I would gladly dip into my savings (and/or liquidate some assets) to buy even more stocks, since they would be cheap. Let's say that I'm contributing to my 401k and Roth, and also have $50k saved for a house that I'm going to buy soon. In the event of a big crash, it would be worth (to me) investing that $50k in stocks and delay the purchase of a house for a few years.
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Jul 19, 2013 20:35
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No Wave posted:All my assets are stocks. Lol. I'll leave it to the professionals. Be very careful with this. Most people who say this kind of stuff end up losing huge amounts of money to various expenses.
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Jul 19, 2013 20:48
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:I think the idea of 4% is that you're achieving 7% and letting 3% remain to cover inflation? So that your, let's say, $40,000 annual withdrawal from your $1,000,000 savings has the purchasing power of $40,000 each year although it increases by ~3%. This is correct. We definitely hope the stock market does not return a mere 4% per year on average or we'll all be hosed, financial independence or no financial independence.
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Jul 19, 2013 21:55
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No Wave posted:Eh, I don't really like these types of calculators because I really only want to live on interest (not zeroing out the principal by death - that's kind of stressful) and it's not like the calculations are particularly difficult. They're kind of for newbies - I mean, if you're going down the route of FI you're probably thinking about $$$ and not % saved. You could always hire a hitman to arrange yourself to be assassinated the moment your principal hits a certain amount. That should be sufficient motivation to never zero it out.
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Jul 19, 2013 22:02
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LorneReams posted:One year at -35% really messes with your average. I'm +17% this year, but it was pretty bad between 2007 and 2008. Yeah, but it really only matters in the short run. Time in the market is much more important than timing the market. The important thing is to not let short-term events affect your perception and economic outlook. Just make sure that your assets are properly diversified and keep contributing.
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Aug 4, 2013 22:26
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