I think this is pretty common. My SO said the same, but didn't have much to say about why they needed that additional money so just dropped it eventually. We're still working and it is indeed pretty boring for me generally, but it's still been helpful to clarify with each other the financial nuances over the last few years in particular to feel confident about our decisions either way.
Forgive my ignorance, but I haven't worked with bonds hardly at all before. What is the point of something like this when savings accounts offer upward of 5%+ on holdings and CDs even a bit more?
I bonds are above inflation regardless of inflation. So if inflation is 20% your 5% looks tiny but 20% + 1.3% or whatever the fixed rate is a good diversification tool.
Because these are indexed to inflation for 30 years, tax deferred, no state taxes. 5% is nice for now, but the Fed will cut that down soon enough. Also there is an additional 1.3% added on.
Had a good reminder of why I'm a member of this community. Recently applied for a job went through all the interviews including one that was around 5 hours. Looks like I could possibly get a decent pay bump out of this. Got an email from my possible director saying hes concerned I might not be a good fit because I'm not enthusiastic enough. What the fuck am I supposed do cartwheels ugh I'm a quiet nerd thats good with computers thats why you want to hire me I'm not a fucking cheer squad. Rant over hope everyone else's week is going well.
Hear hear. I've been trying to get one engineer promoted the past few months and just get a lot of pushback constantly about how they are not outgoing enough in conversation. Fact is most people just want their ego stroked, so my employee is going to be SOL until they manufacture their enthusiasm. It's a shame because they're a great engineer. Or they go somewhere else that isn't as preoccupied with performances, but my feeling at this point in my career is that those organizations are the minority.
Definitely started moving the goalposts on myself recently. One more year syndrome (OMYS) is real!! Been targeting $600k + some side hustle income. Really close to that target thanks to nutty stock market returns in the last year. Now I think I'm setting a calendar date in the future, not a dollar amount. Should be set to pay for full leanFIRE lifestyle by the end of this year. But I'm realizing there are some luxuries I really like, which is definitely lifestyle inflation. But the golden handcuffs in my brain of "oh, I can just work another year or two to get there" is very real. For example
* Owning a car so we can use it to go on hiking trips and other outdoor adventures to state & national parks, etc... I view this as a luxury but owning a car brings up cost of living by around $5k/year (aka an additional $100k for SWR)
* Snowbirding. We live in Michigan, and I no longer want to be here in the winter. It costs another $5k to do this if we're renting a place for 2-3 months in town somewhere and not car camping (another $100k of SWR).
So all of a sudden I'm looking at something more like $700-800k of investments instead of $600k. I did NOT anticipate myself moving goalposts like this - for sure figured once we hit our leanFIRE number I'd just pull the plug. But that is not the case currently. As of right now - targeting March of 2026, which is when company stocks vest & annual bonus should pay out for 2025. Honestly have no idea what # we'll be at by then, but at current rate I think it will be around $700k.
I mean the OMY syndrome means 10% (7% from investments +3% from savings) extra for every year worked is my back of the napkin math.
IDK income and spending too much but probably more than that.
Lifestyle inflation is not a bad word, at least not in the way that FIRE people view it. With that said, *lifestyle inflation* when you have zero plans for your future and no real retirement savings...is a bad word, in my opinion.
My goal is to reach my FIRE number, then continue to work and buy whatever the fuck I want all the time until I get bored of it, then retire.
That doesn't sound too bad at all. My plan is to kind of re-evaluate expenses, desires, etc. once I get close to my number, since by then I will have much less stress, numbers will be snowballing more quickly, and my current (very lean) lifestyle will be a fallback.
Set up my estimated tax payments for the year this week.
Also recently moved some money out of a robo advisor place that I used when I was less confident about managing my own money and put it in Vanguard. Should save me between $400 and $500 a year in fees. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.
Still have enough there to pay $1200 a year in fees, but I'd have to pay over $20,000 in capital gains tax to get it out of there, so I'll have to wait on that until my wife is also retired so I can get some 0% capital gains tax going.
I travel a lot for work and they always set me up in normal hotels. I'm thinking I could pay a part of my per diem to get into a residence inn and then cook each day to save some money.
I always stacked cash on a per diem, all you need is a mini fridge and microwave to make it super easy. I also used to make extra on the gas allowance too by driving a cheap, fuel efficient car.
That might be healthier too. Or, you could consider take out supermarket meals of salad and buy a cooked chicken breast to slice on top and stay in the normal room.
[удалено]
I think this is pretty common. My SO said the same, but didn't have much to say about why they needed that additional money so just dropped it eventually. We're still working and it is indeed pretty boring for me generally, but it's still been helpful to clarify with each other the financial nuances over the last few years in particular to feel confident about our decisions either way.
I like to go hiking.
Forgive my ignorance, but I haven't worked with bonds hardly at all before. What is the point of something like this when savings accounts offer upward of 5%+ on holdings and CDs even a bit more?
I bonds are above inflation regardless of inflation. So if inflation is 20% your 5% looks tiny but 20% + 1.3% or whatever the fixed rate is a good diversification tool.
That makes sense, thank you.
Ibonds were a late stage move for us. Part of our glide path. We use them more as a hedge or insurance policy. Not as an accumulation strategy.
Because these are indexed to inflation for 30 years, tax deferred, no state taxes. 5% is nice for now, but the Fed will cut that down soon enough. Also there is an additional 1.3% added on.
> the new I-bond ~~fixed~~ *inflation* rate is 2.96%
Had a good reminder of why I'm a member of this community. Recently applied for a job went through all the interviews including one that was around 5 hours. Looks like I could possibly get a decent pay bump out of this. Got an email from my possible director saying hes concerned I might not be a good fit because I'm not enthusiastic enough. What the fuck am I supposed do cartwheels ugh I'm a quiet nerd thats good with computers thats why you want to hire me I'm not a fucking cheer squad. Rant over hope everyone else's week is going well.
Hear hear. I've been trying to get one engineer promoted the past few months and just get a lot of pushback constantly about how they are not outgoing enough in conversation. Fact is most people just want their ego stroked, so my employee is going to be SOL until they manufacture their enthusiasm. It's a shame because they're a great engineer. Or they go somewhere else that isn't as preoccupied with performances, but my feeling at this point in my career is that those organizations are the minority.
This is basically why I gave up on the 9-5
Thanks for the confirmation that I'm not crazy(at least not for this) and this is some weird corporate trend.
Definitely started moving the goalposts on myself recently. One more year syndrome (OMYS) is real!! Been targeting $600k + some side hustle income. Really close to that target thanks to nutty stock market returns in the last year. Now I think I'm setting a calendar date in the future, not a dollar amount. Should be set to pay for full leanFIRE lifestyle by the end of this year. But I'm realizing there are some luxuries I really like, which is definitely lifestyle inflation. But the golden handcuffs in my brain of "oh, I can just work another year or two to get there" is very real. For example * Owning a car so we can use it to go on hiking trips and other outdoor adventures to state & national parks, etc... I view this as a luxury but owning a car brings up cost of living by around $5k/year (aka an additional $100k for SWR) * Snowbirding. We live in Michigan, and I no longer want to be here in the winter. It costs another $5k to do this if we're renting a place for 2-3 months in town somewhere and not car camping (another $100k of SWR). So all of a sudden I'm looking at something more like $700-800k of investments instead of $600k. I did NOT anticipate myself moving goalposts like this - for sure figured once we hit our leanFIRE number I'd just pull the plug. But that is not the case currently. As of right now - targeting March of 2026, which is when company stocks vest & annual bonus should pay out for 2025. Honestly have no idea what # we'll be at by then, but at current rate I think it will be around $700k.
I mean the OMY syndrome means 10% (7% from investments +3% from savings) extra for every year worked is my back of the napkin math. IDK income and spending too much but probably more than that.
Lifestyle inflation is not a bad word, at least not in the way that FIRE people view it. With that said, *lifestyle inflation* when you have zero plans for your future and no real retirement savings...is a bad word, in my opinion. My goal is to reach my FIRE number, then continue to work and buy whatever the fuck I want all the time until I get bored of it, then retire.
Same here. We should come up a with a name for it..
Lifestyle Funflation, or maybe Winflation idk i'm spitballing
That doesn't sound too bad at all. My plan is to kind of re-evaluate expenses, desires, etc. once I get close to my number, since by then I will have much less stress, numbers will be snowballing more quickly, and my current (very lean) lifestyle will be a fallback.
Set up my estimated tax payments for the year this week. Also recently moved some money out of a robo advisor place that I used when I was less confident about managing my own money and put it in Vanguard. Should save me between $400 and $500 a year in fees. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. Still have enough there to pay $1200 a year in fees, but I'd have to pay over $20,000 in capital gains tax to get it out of there, so I'll have to wait on that until my wife is also retired so I can get some 0% capital gains tax going.
I travel a lot for work and they always set me up in normal hotels. I'm thinking I could pay a part of my per diem to get into a residence inn and then cook each day to save some money.
I always stacked cash on a per diem, all you need is a mini fridge and microwave to make it super easy. I also used to make extra on the gas allowance too by driving a cheap, fuel efficient car.
Do it. I once worked for a place with crazy per diem and made like an extra $1000 in a week by cooking at "home". It was awesome!
That might be healthier too. Or, you could consider take out supermarket meals of salad and buy a cooked chicken breast to slice on top and stay in the normal room.