Quarterly Updates

2020 Goals and Quarterly Updates

/ humblefi / Leave a comment
  • Update 1: 02/15/2020
  • Update 2: 04/18/2020
  • Update 3: 07/02/2020
  • Update 4: 10/03/2020
  • Update 5: 12/22/2020

History

My FIRE journey started in 2014…..07/21/2014 to be exact is when I wrote the About section of this blog. It has been almost (5) 6 years now on the FIRE journey. I went from accidentally learning about FI to earning the following Passive Income dollars per month from 2014 to 2019.

  • 2014:      $171.02
  • 2015:      $705.80
  • 2016:      $840.80
  • 2017:     $1040.13
  • 2018:     $1380.78
  • 2019:     $868.90
  • 2020:     $733.73 ($650.00 target)

New Tracking system starting 2020: 

My Financial Independence criterion, that I followed for the period 2014-2019, is listed here. The spirit of that has not changed at all…but I have decided to change 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 2020 and track them via a new tracking format. From this FI target table, I will derive the 2020 yearly financial goals listed below the table.

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

Using the above tracking table, goals for each year from now on will be derived.

Financial Goals for 2020

For 2020, I have thought about the following mini goals to get me closer to the financial independence targets listed in the previous table.

  1. Contribute $12K to Bucket 1 (CASH bucket)
    1. 03/31/2020 Done
    2. 06/30/2020      
    3. 09/30/2020      
    4. 12/31/2020      
  2. Contribute $0K to Bucket 2 (BOND bucket)
    1. 03/31/2020 Done (Nothing to do this year)
    2. 06/30/2020      
    3. 09/30/2020      
    4. 12/31/2020      
  3. Contribute $39K to Bucket 3 (EQUITY bucket) via 401K
    1. 03/31/2020 29.33% Done
    2. 06/30/2020 90.30% Done     
    3. 09/30/2020 100%    Done     
    4. 12/31/2020      
  4. Keep Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio <= 75% for 2020
    1. 03/31/2020 75.13% LTV (Realtor.com Median price)
    2. 06/30/2020 76.29% LTV (Realtor.com Median price) 
    3. 09/30/2020 70.51% LTV (Realtor.com Median price)     
    4. 12/31/2020  67.72% LTV (Realtor.com Median price)
  5. Max out HSA contributions ($7100)
    1. 03/31/2020 $4615.71
    2. 06/30/2020 $5851.00      
    3. 09/30/2020 $6042.08     
    4. 12/31/2020 $7100.00 Done          
  6. Contribute $1800 to 529 College Fund 1
    1. 03/31/2020 $1,505.00
    2. 06/30/2020 $2105.00 Done      
    3. 09/30/2020      
    4. 12/31/2020  $2311.00    
  7. Contribute $1800 to 529 College Fund 2
    1. 03/31/2020 $600.00
    2. 06/30/2020 $900.00    
    3. 09/30/2020 $2100.00 Done
    4. 12/31/2020 $2900.00     
  8. Estate Planning (Will, POD beneficiaries, Caretaker for children)
    1. 03/31/2020 No progress
    2. 06/30/2020 No progress     
    3. 09/30/2020 No progress      
    4. 12/31/2020 No progress

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2018 Goals and Quarterly Updates

/ humblefi / Leave a comment

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.

2016 Goals and Quarterly Updates

/ humblefi / 7 Comments

NOTE: Quarterly Numbers Updated on 12/30/2016…

I started my humble journey towards Financial Independence in 2014. But, I really did not have any formal goals for 2014. I just wanted to create multiple passive income streams, protect my family with life insurance, etc. I established what Financial Independence means to me and what the goals were. I accomplished all the implicit goals I had for 2014.

For 2015, I was a little bit more formal about goal setting and set my 2015 goals and updated my progress quarterly (here). In addition, I also tracked my progress via a Monthly Progress Report (here). At the end of year 2015, I reviewed my progress towards FI and I was happy to have reached and/or exceeded most goals I set (here). I did fail to reach some goals and they will be rolled over to 2016 (below).

For 2016, I have achieved most of the goals I set out for myself. The two goals where I failed badly are: Keep eating expenses under $200 per month & Estate planning. I will try again this year.

The Financial Independence criterion for me are:

Financial Independence Criterion
Emergency Fund $72k $60k (as of 2016)
College Fund $80k
Passive Income Streams $4000 per month
Retirement Fund $900k
Roof for our Family $750k….HCOL area 😦
Medical Fund $100k
Life Insurance To protect my earning years…..

For 2016, I have thought about the following goals to get me closer to the above financial independence goals.

  1. Keep scouting for a possible home
    1. 03/31/2016        Not much scouting done…job hunting kept me busy
    2. 06/30/2016       Went to two open houses….prices are un-affordable still….
    3. 09/30/2016       Went to three open houses….prices are even more un-affordable…..
    4. 12/31/2016        Decided to wait for interest rates to go up and prices to go down…
  2. Contribute $9600 towards Home Downpayment Fund
    1. 03/31/2016           $3100/$9600 done                         $6500 remaining
    2. 06/30/2016          $5314/$9600 done                         $4286 remaining        
    3. 09/30/2016         $8495/$9600 done                         $1105 remaining
    4. 12/31/2016           Done
  3. Contribute $2400 to 529 College Fund 2 DONE (03/2016)
    1. Vanguard 529 Plan
      1. 03/31/2016        $3k/$2.4k done   Minimum investment 3k
      2. 06/30/2016       Done            
      3. 09/30/2016       n/a 
      4. 12/31/2016    
  4. Contribute $4800 to 529 College Fund 1
    1. Vanguard 529 Plan
        1. 03/31/2016        $1400/$4800 done   $3400 remaining
        2. 06/30/2016       $2400/$4800 done   $2400 remaining    
        3. 09/30/2016       $3600/$4800 done   $1200 remaining
        4. 12/31/2016        Done    
    • Contribute $16k to Passive Income Streams (stretch goal of $24k) DONE (03/31/2016)
      1. VCADX, VWIUX,VTMFX, VWELX,VDIGX, VHDYX, VTCLX, VTMSX, VTMGX
        1. 03/31/2016        $36k/$16k done       $0K (severance,tax refund, espp)
        2. 06/30/2016       Done
        3. 09/30/2016       n/a  
        4. 12/31/2016
    • Max out 401k contributions for both me and my wife.
      1. 2016 401k limit is $18000 per person => $36k contributions for family
        1. 03/31/2016        $8.6k/$36k done         $27.04k remaining
        2. 06/30/2016        $27k/$36k done          $8.97k remaining
        3. 09/30/2016        $32k/$36k done          $4k remaining
        4. 12/31/2016         Done
    • Keep eating out expenses under $200 pm
      1. Last year, it ballooned to $377 pm..
        1. 03/31/2016    $356 pm     ….job hunting lunches 😦
        2. 06/30/2016   $393 pm     ….still out of control…need to tighten up….. 
        3. 09/30/2016   $362.53       ….not much improvement….$30 pm is less  
        4. 12/31/2016    Failed badly….     
    • Start and finish Estate Planning
      1. Will, POD beneficiaries, Caretaker for our child, etc
        1. 03/31/2016  No progress yet      
        2. 06/30/2016  No progress yet        
        3. 09/30/2016  No progress yet      
        4. 12/31/2016   Motivation lacking….perhaps due to tough choices…
    • Get a more stable job. DONE (03/2016)
      1. Current job is on very shaky foundations
        1. 03/31/2016  New job yeah!!      
        2. 06/30/2016  3 months into new job…doing okay.      
        3. 09/30/2016  6 months into new job…doing okay.      
        4. 12/31/2016  9 months into new job…doing okay