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• 1/2/2021: First Draft

History

My FIRE journey started in 2014…..07/21/2014 to be exact is when I wrote the About section of this blog. I have completed 6 years on the FIRE journey and moving to my 7th year. I went from accidentally learning about FI to earning the following Passive Income dollars per month from 2014 to 2020 with a 2021 estimate as well.

Year	Dividends per month
2014	$0171.02
2015	$0705.80
2016	$0840.80
2017	$1040.13
2018	$1380.78
2019	$0868.90
2020	$0733.73
2021	$0900.00 (goal for 2021)

FIRE targets for life

My Financial Independence criterion, that I followed for the period 2014-2019, is listed here. In 2020, I changed the way I track the path to reach that goal. Why? I educated myself on a different way of looking at my portfolio called Bucket Investing Approach. I have listed my rationale and explained how I want to use the Bucket Investing approach in my financial life here.

With that in mind, I am going to introduce my FIRE targets for life! From this table, I will derive the 2021 yearly financial goals later.

Bucket 1: CASH	3 yrs of living expenses
Bucket 2: BONDS	7 yrs of living expenses
Bucket 3: EQUITY	30 yrs of  living expenses
Bucket CF1: College Fund 1	$100K
Bucket CF2: College Fund 2	$100K
Bucket Mort: Mortgage Loan-to-Value ratio	0% (fully paid off mortgage)
Bucket Med: Medical Fund	$100k….via HSA

Using the above targets table, my goals for 2021 will be derived next.

FIRE goals for 2021

For 2021, I have the following mini goals to get me closer to the FIRE targets for life listed in the previous table.

1. Contribute $12K to Bucket 1 (CASH Bucket…3yrs of living expenses)
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021      
   3. 09/30/2021      
   4. 12/31/2021      
2. Contribute $0K to Bucket 2 (BOND Bucket….7yrs of living expenses)
   1. 03/31/2021 Done (Nothing to do this year)
   2. 06/30/2021      
   3. 09/30/2021      
   4. 12/31/2021      
3. Contribute $12K to Bucket 3 (EQUITY Bucket) via Brokerage Account
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021
   3. 09/30/2021
   4. 12/31/2021      
4. Contribute $39K to Bucket 3 (EQUITY Bucket) via 401K…30yrs of living expenses
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021
   3. 09/30/2021
   4. 12/31/2021      
5. Keep Loan to Value (LTV) ratio <= 75% for 2021
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021  
   3. 09/30/2021      
   4. 12/31/2021 
6. Max out HSA contributions ($7100)
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021      
   3. 09/30/2021     
   4. 12/31/2021          
7. Contribute $1800 to 529 College Fund 1
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021      
   3. 09/30/2021      
   4. 12/31/2021    
8. Contribute $4800 to 529 College Fund 2
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021    
   3. 09/30/2021
   4. 12/31/2021     
9. Estate Planning (Will, POD beneficiaries, Caretaker for children)
   1. 03/31/2021
   2. 06/30/2021     
   3. 09/30/2021      
   4. 12/31/2021

Bucket Status 2021

Name	Purpose	Percent Complete
Bucket 1	CASH (3 yrs of living expenses)	27.06%
Bucket 2	BONDS (7 yrs of living expenses)	73.32%
Bucket 3	EQUITY (30 years of living expenses)	40.75%
Bucket CF1	College Fund 1	91.68%
Bucket CF2	College Fund 2	22.27%
Bucket Mortgage	Loan to Value ratio	67.72%
Bucket HSA	HSA Medical Fund	29.81%