Last Update on: 1/6/2019….2018 4th quarter update

My FIRE journey started in 2014…07/21/2014 to be exact is when I write the About section of this blog. It has been almost 4 years now on the FIRE journey and it does feel good to reach almost $1000 per month in passive income in 2017.

But, the bigger feeling is that FI is still a long way to go. The days of big capital infusions are over…there is only so many times I can steal from the home down payment fund 🙂 Waiting for the dividend snowball to get bigger is it for now. I read often Dividend Mantra’s snowball post because it motivates me to stay patient and wait for the snowball to build up. Hope it is useful for readers of this blog also.

For those readers who think that FI takes a long time, I do agree….but here is my timeline which should give some hope. I went from accidentally learning about FI to earning the following Passive Income per month from 2014 to 2011. So, FI is possible….keep plodding…I will be with ya!!

• 2014:      $171.02
• 2015:      $705.80 …..dumped most of my home down payment here 🙂
• 2016:      $840.80
• 2017:     $1040.13
• 2018:     $1380.78

FIRE Target: The end-goal Financial Independence criterion for me are:

Financial Independence Criterion

Emergency Fund	$60k
College Fund	$80K $100K
Passive Income Streams	$4000 per month
Retirement Fund	$900k
Roof for our Family	$750k…HCOL area
Medical Fund	$100k….via HSA
Life Insurance	To protect my earning years…..done

2018: For 2018, I have thought about the following goals to get me closer to the financial independence targets listed in the previous table.

Financial Goals for 2018

1. Keep scouting for a possible home/multi-family residence/rental real estate
   1. 03/31/2018      Visited 7 open houses…not worth the years of slavery …
   2. 06/30/2018      Visited 3 open houses…how can people afford the money 😦
   3. 09/30/2018      Not looking…stole a chunk of down payment for investing
   4. 12/31/2018      Put offers on 6 homes…..got overbid on all big time!!  
2. Contribute $30000 towards Home Down payment Fund
   1. 03/31/2018        -$1281….took some money out for investments 😉
   2. 06/30/2018        -$48K….disgusted with high prices and invested instead •`_´•
   3. 09/30/2018        -$19K….stole money and invested instead. 
   4. 12/31/2018        Cheated…stole money from investments…so does not count.
3. Contribute $4800 to 529 College Fund 1
   1. 03/31/2018        $1,811.00……amount remaining is $2989
   2. 06/30/2018        $1000.00……amount remaining is $1989
   3. 09/30/2018        Done
   4. 09/30/2018 
4. Contribute $2400 to 529 College Fund 2
   1. 03/31/2018        $850.00…….amount remaining is $1550
   2. 06/30/2018        $500.00…….amount remaining is $1050
   3. 09/30/2018        Done 
   4. 12/31/2018 
5. Contribute $12k to Passive Income Streams(stretch goal of $24k) 
   1. 03/31/2018        $8,722.07…..amount remaining is $3277.93 (stretch $15277.93)    
   2. 06/30/2018        Done
   3. 09/30/2018 
   4. 12/31/2018 
6. Max out 401k contributions ($37K total for me and wife)
   1. 03/31/2018        $12,399….amount remaining is $24,601  
   2. 06/30/2018        $21,876….amount remaining is $15,124 
   3. 09/30/2018        $33,467….amount remaining is $3,533
   4. 12/31/2018        Done 
7. Max out HSA contributions ($6900)
   1. 03/31/2018        $3549……amount remaining is $3351  
   2. 06/30/2018        $4245……amount remaining is $2655    
   3. 09/30/2018        $6670……amount remaining is $230
   4. 12/31/2018        Done
8. Keep eating out expenses under $200 pm
   1. 03/31/2018        Not yet….
   2. 06/30/2018        Not yet….  
   3. 09/30/2018        Not yet….unfortunately 😦   
   4. 12/22/2018        Nope 😐
9. Estate Planning (Will, POD beneficiaries, Caretaker for children)
   1. 03/31/2018        Not yet  
   2. 06/30/2018        Not yet  
   3. 09/30/2018        Not yet…   
   4. 12/31/2018        Not yet..but did sign up for legal services…2019 it is.