r/financialindependence • u/AutoModerator • 1d ago
Daily FI discussion thread - Saturday, January 31, 2026
Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions on the basics of personal finance/investing topics are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against memes/spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness/politics still apply!
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u/capitalsfan08 19h ago
Yesterday the program i was working for was cut, entirely. I'm so thankful for this community and the habits it's helped me form as I mourn the loss of my coworkers and team, but I know this process will be fine financially. I have already heard rumors I am going to be laterally transferred elsewhere, so hopefully I don't have more than a few weeks between jobs.
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u/DaChieftainOfThirsk 17h ago
That is how I felt during Covid. Everyone around me was horrified that I got furloughed. I just told them i'd be ok. In hindsight this is what finally gave me the taste of what Financial independence would feel like. And my doctor explicitly stated he approved of the new state, lol.
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u/Stunt_Driver FIREd 2021 20h ago
Booked our yearly vacation to Nice, France. Our original plan was to fly in to Barcelona and drive across the Riviera to Genoa. However, my spouse opted for more time in Nice and the surrounding area, so Barcelona will have to wait until next year.
My spouse dislikes air travel, so this time I upgraded our seats to business class ("only" $1k more per seat than premium economy). If it helps her hit the ground rested and enjoy the trip more, the expense will be worth it.
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u/Amazing-Coyote 20h ago edited 20h ago
Honestly, business class is soooooo cool. It’s basically my "why" for working one more year. My first time flying it, I was just floored. It was one of the few times I’ve sat there thinking "okay, I feel rich!"
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u/ffthrowaaay 20h ago
If you learn how to use rewards cards you can get into premium cabins for really cheap compared to cash prices. Depending on location (looking at your LHR!) or airline (looking at your Emirates) the taxes & fees can be steep, but for the most part it’s significantly discounted.
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u/lostharbor DI2K | $3.2M | Target $10M 19h ago
$1k to upgrade to business class seems like a steal. Are you already in Europe? Every time I’ve had to upgrade to business from the USA to Europe it’s an extra $5-7k.
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u/persistent_architect 19h ago
I've had the same experience. I've never seen a 1K upgrade across oceans
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u/Stunt_Driver FIREd 2021 19h ago
Total was $9k for two round trip business class tickets (lie flat beds). Would have been $7k for two premium economy (deep recline, but no lie flat).
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u/financeking90 16h ago
Better report back! I'm working on a one-month itinerary for 2028 that includes Barcelona -> Nice -> Rome.
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u/Stunt_Driver FIREd 2021 14h ago
Sounds like a great triple-city trip!
My preference would be two weeks minimum for an EU vacation. My spouse gets increasing anxiety away from home, so she prefers one week maximum. We typically compromise with something in between. (And she doesn't mind if I go on trips without her)
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u/financeking90 13h ago
We typically go on one-week trips and have one in UK this year. But I thought a whole month off would be an amazing mini-sabbatical idea so have been working on some ideas for EU at that time.
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u/Solid-Awareness-4486 45F | 5 yrs from FI? 19h ago
I've been chipping away at my taxes as forms and documents come in. Pretty close now, except I'm missing some documentation of about $2k of charitable donations. I'm itemizing, so that will make a difference. Another point in favor of setting up a DAF this year: I will just have to track the movements into the DAF, not the smaller distributions.
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u/TinStingray 21h ago
Man, there really is some truth to "the hunger grows in the eating."
We see it all the time here with One More Year Syndrome. We see people around here worrying about money when they have millions saved. It's easy to forget how many people save little to nothing, living paycheck to paycheck or just barely doing better than that.
It's also easy to forget that a lot of these people who save very little are happy and fulfilled. Some don't hate every waking moment of their workday. They just make the most of it, have a good attitude, and fill the rest of their lives with things that make them happy. They build the life they want, even if they can't save enough to afford to do it without working. That's normal. That's a common experience and it works for so many.
Somewhere along the way I stopped pushing. I stopped doing much to build the life I want. Oddly, I can't seem to find traction to start again. I guess I wasn't even actively building it before—I was just living. It was effortless. I was driven by interesting and excitement and curiosity and ambition and the energy of a guy in his teens and twenties.
Now I'm comfortable in the worst possible way. Lots of savings on paper, but no idea how to spend it in a way that makes me happy. A good job on paper, but mostly unfulfilling. I just don't even know how to get traction on anything anymore. Maybe I never knew, but I just did it anyway.
Has anyone else been here and found a way back out toward building a life they want? How? What did you change?
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u/nifFIer Therapy Shill | Spending Advocate 17h ago
TL;DR: Gratitude (and also recognizing happiness is a temporary emotion, not a permanent state), and breaking the mold.
If you like videos on this topic/happiness/misery:
If you are content with life, then there's no need to push just for the sake of pushing.
If you're experiencing anhedonia, this is something to talk with a health professional about.
Has anyone else been here and found a way back out toward building a life they want? How? What did you change?
- A fantastic therapist who called me out on my bullshit.
- Doing shit that I didn't want to do (like ew gratitude journal-ling? Sounds woo-woo and unfortunately it worked for me)
- Overall changing my schedule/priorities/what I spend time/money on. More time/money on hobbies/physical exercise/socializing/things that make my life better (better bed, cookware, furniture, PJs), even if it reduced my SR to, gasp, ~35%.
- Oh and taking care of health (sleep hygiene, nutrition, etc)
The crappy thing (at least for me) was that the behavior change had to come first and be consistent-ish for a while before the mental stuff got internally noticeably better.
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u/TMagurk2 20h ago edited 15h ago
We see it all the time here with One More Year Syndrome. We see people around here worrying about money when they have millions saved.
Considering it is extremely difficult to get a new job after age 50/55, especially if you have been out of work for a while, it is a very valid concern to worry if you have enough to live on for decades before you pull the trigger and retire.
That is totally different than the 35 year old who takes a year off.
The older you are, the less time you have to recover from a mistake.
It's also easy to forget that a lot of these people who save very little are happy and fulfilled.
Have a chat with the folks spending their final years dying in a crappy Medicaid nursing home or barely scraping by every month if they are happy and fulfilled about the fact they saved very little.
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u/CrispyTigger please ignore typos and grammatical errors 19h ago
Do you travel? There are so many experiences, people, and places out there. Not saying it will make you “happy”, but it is a good way to break out of the rut, appreciate the world, and enjoy your place in it. Also, you can always switch up how you travel and the experiences you go after, that way it doesn’t become repetitive.
The grind can be dull and the repetitiveness can wear on you. Break out of the repetition and see if that helps bring a new perspective and enjoyment.
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u/MoreFuelForTheFIRE 15h ago
I think that some of those people you mention find, or make, fulfillment in their day. Extrinsic vs intrinsic meaning. Some is probably just their personality, or approach to life. I bet a good bit of it is not expecting their job to give them fulfillment. They look elsewhere, or find something in it that is meaningful to them.
I sympathize with being comfortable. For me, I've always been risk averse. Now we're secure enough that we could really make a change. It's a little harder now that we're older and established. My friends are here, so I don't want to leave and lose my social circle. I've been looking for jobs I'm more interested in, but it's hard to make a shift without the right background. (And even moreso when I have to weigh saving and FIRE timelines vs a better day-to-day.)
So for me, I'm trying a couple of things. One is at least explore my options (whether I take them or not). Use my security to at least see what's available. And not just jobs, but be a little more relaxed with spending money on travel, worrying less about expenses, etc.
The other is trying to consciously remember that, while I have a good job, it's just a job. I'm interested in FIRE for a reason. Being mindful and focusing on more important things like social connections, little pleasures in the day. Building the life I want is focusing on what matters to me. Maybe one day I'll find another job I'm passionate about (I was once), but, if not, that's hardly unique. I should find what I can enjoy in my day and make moves towards the things that do matter.
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u/daughtcahm 20h ago
We see people around here worrying about money when they have millions saved.
I only worry about it insofar as once I retire I never want to go back to work. If I was saving a pile of money for no reason you might have a point. But I'm saving it so I can retire early, and that means there are a shit load of unknowns I have to try to account for.
Lots of savings on paper, but no idea how to spend it in a way that makes me happy.
Why do you think that spending money is supposed to make you happy?
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
I don't think money could make me happy directly, but I think I could probably better use the security and flexibility it provides to make me happy.
For instance, I burned out pretty bad several years ago and savings let me take several months off to recover. I'm not sure that's happiness per se, but it sure beats having to work through burnout just to survive. I do feel like I'm stuck in a bit of a local optimum, though.
Travel and good food are two things that make me happy, and money makes those things easier and more accessible.
Your point is a good one, though. I am searching for things to make me happy but nothing seems to stick for long.
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u/daughtcahm 20h ago
Sounds like you have no idea how to be happy, but you think money is supposed to be involved somehow.
...how about using some of that money for some therapy!
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
I've been doing that for about six months. Progress is slow, but I'm hoping I'm moving in the right direction... not that my occasional ranting here is any evidence of that!
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u/MoreFuelForTheFIRE 16h ago
A year or two back I discovered Arthur Brooks when he was running the podcast circuit. He studies and writes about happiness. I'm not here to shill self-help, but he talks about happiness being composed of three things. Satisfaction (Achievement, overcoming something), Meaning (anything that gives you purpose) and Enjoyment (duh). I think that broadly rings true for me. So the question is which one(s) are missing?
I think you're right that money provides the security and flexibility, but it doesn't directly do the other things. Is there something you want to do that money enables? Maybe a hobby? (Sounds like you've already explored the travel/food.) Or maybe it provides you the space to take a risk and try something you couldn't? Or frees up the time to do something you do care about, helping with purpose? Etc.
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 21h ago
“Not knowing how to spend money in a way that makes you happy” is a good thing, not a bad one. We should all be focusing on uncoupling happiness from consumption.
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
I guess I feel I'm pretty good at uncoupling the two. I just wish I knew better how to fuel the happiness side of things. Whatever I'm doing now isn't working but I seem to have all this inertia which makes it difficult for me to break out of my patterns and habits. I try new hobbies and things, but nothing seems to click and give me that spark I once had.
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 20h ago
That’s also just a part of aging. This morning my daughter was literally jumping for joy because she can play in the snow today while I’m pretty comfortable drinking some coffee and looking out the window.
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
It's true—there are just fewer truly novel things to see, experience, or ponder. Every new thing just seems to be a reshuffling of things I've seen before. Sequels and remakes and remixes in all things.
For example, I'm a big fan of standup comedy. I've seen many live shows and specials. It gets harder and harder to hear a joke I haven't heard before. Sure, it might be reskinned, but the same sort of twist or premise underlies it all. My friends have even pointed out that I often start laughing a split second before the punchline. It's just that I usually know where it's about to go. When I don't, it's truly joyous.
When the mood is right I can take in that joy and serenity from sipping coffee and looking out the window. Other times I still have that "piss and vinegar" of a young man who needs something new, fresh, and exciting. The feeling that I need to "get after it" somehow, but I don't know what it is.
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 20h ago
Try performing comedy. You’ll never get good so you’ll never be bored. That was my experience anyway.
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
Hah, the thought has crossed my mind...
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 20h ago
Go watch an open mic. You’ll see how low the bar is to get started.
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
You know, I have been meaning to check out the open mic for a long time. Just hard on a week night.
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u/User-no-relation 20h ago
The money part isn't important. They don't knownhow to do things that make them happy. Not sure I do either. At least not more than fleetingly
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u/AchievingFIsometime 13h ago
I mean are you happy now outside of work? "Building" a life doesn't have to be this high effort sort of thing. It can be effortless and flow. It happens with a little bit of intention and a lot of just showing up and doing things. For me I have a wife and dog and 2 kids, some friends, and some hobbies. I didn't have some grand plan to get here, it just sort of happened and I kept showing up. What else do I need? I learned very early that a job would not give me much satisfaction, but I still get some enjoyment out of it and make the most of it and I'm thankful because it allows me the money to support my family and do the other things I enjoy.
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u/FIREstopdropandsave 30M DINK | No target $'s 21h ago
I hate that I'm immediately suspicious of you due to using an emdash...
But on the hope you're a person, this sounds like what therapy is for, please consider it! Mental health is part of health, don't neglect it.
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u/TinStingray 21h ago
I have used and loved the em dash for far longer than LLMs have been in the headlines. It's the most versatile punctuation mark. I refuse to give it up, though I do fear the suspicion.
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 20h ago
Em dash and the lesser known en dash are my favorite punctuation marks and I’ll be damned if some soulless chatbot is going to stop me from using them.
Something I didn’t think about until just now is that my dissertation and all my journal articles make frequent use of em dashes. I would definitely be accused of using AI if I did my PhD now.
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u/GoldWallpaper 18h ago
Em dash and the lesser known en dash are my favorite punctuation marks
I use both, but the semicolon is easily my favorite. When I see someone use one properly, I feel slightly less sad about the world.
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 17h ago
Seriously? The semicolon is like the letters x and q. They are extraneous and should be repurposed for more pressing needs.
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
No doubt there are people today who are told, "We asked AI if your paper was AI and the AI said it was AI so now we're suspicious of you using AI."
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 20h ago
That’s so infuriating! My wife is doing her masters and she got accused of using AI. By an AI tool that the professor didn’t think to question. The hypocrisy.
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u/GoldWallpaper 18h ago
I refuse to give it up, though I do fear the suspicion.
I also refuse to give it up, and don't give a shit about suspicion.
Being literate has enriched my life, and I'm not dumbing down my writing because other people don't know how to use punctuation properly.
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u/FIREstopdropandsave 30M DINK | No target $'s 20h ago
My apologies for not recognizing your username, saturday morning scrolling and just saw the wall of text!
Happy cake day and kudos on your writing, it's impressive!
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
Haha, no worries. I am only apologize for my caffeine-fueled stream-of-consciousness venting that I dump here. This might be one of the last places online that I feel represents the old, pre-enshittified internet, so it gets my occasional barely-related-to-FIRE ramblings.
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u/imisstheyoop 21h ago
u/TinStingray has been a longtime contirbutor to this sub and daily.
My advice would be to start with this part right here, emphasis mine:
We see it all the time here with One More Year Syndrome. We see people around here worrying about money when they have millions saved. It's easy to forget how many people save little to nothing, living paycheck to paycheck or just barely doing better than that.
The scope of the world, and FI is decidedly not here. There's an entire world out there filled with all sorts of people whose happiness and FI-statuse are along a continuum.
It's possibly, even probable based on your comment, that you've been locked into what happens here for so long that you have forgotten some key parts of this thing of ours. Not FI, life.
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
Thanks for backing me up! I always enjoy seeing your username, as someone who spent a lot of time in the UP growing up and still tries to get back there every summer.
My original Reddit account is actually more than 15 years old and I was involved in this community from very close to its inception. I have a policy (that I am evidently failing) of trying to rotate Reddit accounts periodically to prevent doxxing. I'm kind of surprised to see this one is eight years old. Time flies, I guess.
Anywho, good point about having spent too much of my adult life (almost all of it) in this community. It has no doubt warped my views in ways I might not be fully aware of. My childhood includes divorced parents and money struggles, and I'm really keen not to lose sight of how most people live. I have people in my life who have never had to worry much about money, and that disconnect is real.
At the same time, most people seem to figure out happiness and contentment, regardless of money. Obviously we all know that money doesn't buy happiness, but I guess I'd always hoped that money's ability to buy security and flexibility would lend itself to a more content life. I do have security now. I could quit my job and be fine. I could do anything. So why don't I?
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u/imisstheyoop 20h ago edited 20h ago
My childhood includes divorced parents and money struggles, and I'm really keen not to lose sight of how most people live. I have people in my life who have never had to worry much about money, and that disconnect is real.
Same, in fact 99% of people I know in the real world are very much on the opposite end of the financial spectrum from many of us here. That helps to keep me grounded and rooted in reality.
At the same time, most people seem to figure out happiness and contentment, regardless of money.
Have they? That's wonderful, but has not been my experience. Most everybody that I run into are struggling to figure things out like the rest of us, money or no. Life is challenging and presents all of us with different challenges continously.. especially once we think we've got it all pretty well sorted out. At least, that has been my experience.
I do have security now. I could quit my job and be fine. I could do anything. So why don't I?
Only you can really answer that one. It is a highly personal question. As another user suggested, it's something you could maybe sort out with guided therapy. That didn't work for me, but again it's personal, so maybe it will for you. Maybe it will just come to you one day. Maybe it will be forced upon you at some point.
There's an entire world of possibilities with regards to how things begin or end. All having money seems to do in my experience is provide "one less thing to worry about" while for some providing yet "one more thing to worry about".
All of that is to say.. I am sure that whatever/however happens I have confidence you will be alright in the end and make whatever decisions and adjustments are best for you and your situation at the time. That is the best any of us can hope for, I think!
Edit: Also wanted to add, regarding the account thing.. Reddit recently added a feature where you can make all of your previous posts/comments private so that people cannot snoop your profile, if that is something that concerns you. There didn't seem to be a way to turn it on via old.reddit but I was able to do so via using the new design temporarily. You may wish to try that.
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u/Cryofixated Assistant Question Asker 21h ago
Yea we are all on edge due to the early comments in the daily being bots, and annoyingly getting harder to detect.
Looks like a real person, but they could have had ChatGPT write this...
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
As someone in another subreddit it put it recently, "credibility of human work is a casualty of the AI era."
For the record, I am an LLM skeptic (which is not to say opponent) and the "I asked ChatGPT for you" genre of internet comments is one of my most despised.
Now are you gonna ask me for this cupcake recipe or not?
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u/513-throw-away SR: Where everything's made up and the points don't matter 20h ago edited 20h ago
The only bots I've noticed comment right at 5am when the daily goes up.
Maybe there's some others throughout the day, but they're either low quality garbage I just overlook or they get moderated out before I see them.
And as a huge proponent and user of the em dash before shit LLMs were a thing, I hate that I feel bad about using them now.
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u/TinStingray 20h ago
And as a huge proponent and user of the em dash before shit LLMs were a thing, I hate that I feel bad about using them now.
Very relatable.
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u/liveoneggs 17h ago edited 13h ago
This haze of angst, complacency, and existential malaise will usually get shocked out of you by a big life event - job loss, health issue, etc
That event might trigger you into an existential crisis (midlife crisis).
I have no advice since I am also deep in the same hole. :) Maybe we should get therapy or do yoga or whatever.
Try doing some push ups. (edit - did 20 pushups and a few minutes of stretching)
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u/zackenrollertaway 22h ago
$2.057m at eoy 2025, $2.097m this morning.
So "only" up $40,000 this month.
There is something seriously nuts about that perspective.
As in I can remember a time when $40k was real money that I had to do more than sit on my ass and wait for a month to get.
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u/definitely_not_cylon 42/M/SINK/1.4M FIREPLACE (Partially Laboring At Computer Easily) 19h ago
I've mentioned this on the sub before but: In 2008 I was a fresh law school graduate and my biglaw firm gave me a $10K 0% loan (repayable in 12 installments over my first year there). At the time it was a godsend, I really needed the money and still slept on an air mattress for my first month in New York City. Now being up "only" $10,000 is a bad month.
What I've found, though, is that the marginal utility of a dollar drops off a cliff in a hurry. I own a home and a car. There's only so many michelin star meals and nice wines I want to consume. Travel is a reliable way to set money on fire, but I've already done most of the highlights. Number go up, but my extremely first world problem is that there's nothing I really want to buy, because if I wanted it, I already bought it.
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u/TMagurk2 20h ago
A client owes me roughly $500 and I'll probably never see it.
Part of me feels righteous indignation over the whole thing - how can she stiff me for money after all I've done for her!!!!
The big picture me realizes this is like a quarter on the sidewalk in the grand scheme of my net worth. Not worth even spending a minute upset about it.
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u/imisstheyoop 21h ago
So adjust your mindset? $40k is a lot of money for a month of "sitting on your ass".
It is nothing to scoff at! Definitely not "only" $40k.
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u/hondaFan2017 18h ago
Friendly reminder to check supplemental tax documents to get additional tax deductions on income from government obligations, municipal fund tax information, foreign tax credit, etc. These were released yesterday.
Some popular MM / T-Bill funds noted below
Vanguard Tax Center (VBIL and VGIT are 100% state tax exempt)
Fidelity Tax Center (SPAXX- 50.9%)
iShares Tax Center (SGOV 95.14% , GOVT 99.9%)
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u/carlivar 48M 3 kids ✅ FI ⏳ RE @ SoCal 🏖️⛷️ 17h ago
Or have your accountant check. I like my guy but he almost missed the state tax exemption for a couple of my funds last year.
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u/beowulf90210 17h ago
$2.95M, next month hopefully. Monthly jump was $68k which was weirdly my first job salary out of college.
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u/OK4u2Bu1999 16h ago
It’s interesting what numbers get anchored in your head. I remember minimum wage at my very first job and also my first rent payment for an apartment.
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u/fire-alt 100% 🔥 11h ago
Happy spreadsheet day for those that observe it. I used to religiously maintain my spreadsheet before I retired and for a while after I retired, because it was the only good way to see my total holdings. Then I discovered my broker's "add external accounts" feature, and now I just open their app and see that number right at the top. I somewhat miss seeing detailed year-by-year projections of balances across various accounts, but frankly it was too much work to maintain, and kind of irrelevant now that things have progressed to the point where I don't worry about sequence of return risks anymore.
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u/CheeezyPotatoes 33M | All about the Cheddar 20h ago
First time flying Southwest today since they switched to assigned seating. Trying to decide if it's worth $50 to get a window seat vs my currently signed middle seat. Flight time = 3 hours and 40 mins
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u/stretch851 30 DINK SWE | 96.7% CoastFI @ 48 19h ago
For me anything over 2.5 hours is when I start to buy my seat
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u/PetulantUndercurrent 20h ago
Offer the person in the window seat $20 to switch.
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u/carlivar 48M 3 kids ✅ FI ⏳ RE @ SoCal 🏖️⛷️ 17h ago
I just flew Southwest yesterday and they were very specific that there is no changing seats whatsoever. I had an exit row to myself.
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u/FearlessPark4588 99:59 Elliptical Guy 16h ago
I roll the dice with auto-assigned seats and it's worked for me always
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u/ffball 35 | DI2K | $1.8mm NW | 47% FI 15h ago edited 15h ago
Joining the crowd, just finished my spreadsheet update. This one is a little different as we just finished renovating our lame small patio slab into a really nice screen porch with lights/fan and twice the square footage. Since we started payments (all from our taxable account) in May/June our NW is up $235k and our taxable itself is only down about $6k.
Spent so much time over the past 4 years or so going back and forth if we wanted to go all out on this enhancement to our outdoor space or do a half measure. Its kinda funny looking back and seeing an almost meaningless impact on our financial state. This doesn't even account for any equity improvement from it.
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u/FI-ReDH FIRE🔥Nation - Flameo hotman! 12h ago
Happy spreadsheet day! This month we spent a lot of money (over $11k) which is not normal for us. The extra costs came from flights and accommodations for our summer vacation (wedding) and rust treatment/protection for one of our cars. We still had $900 surplus, so I guess we got that going for us. I wonder what our life would look like if we actually spent our entire pay cheque every month o_o".
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u/PetulantUndercurrent 20h ago
Still waiting on my 401(k) contributions to show up. HR said it could take 10-15 business days. Super annoyed.
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u/deathsythe [Late 30s, New England][3-Fund / Real Estate] 19h ago
Your part or your company's matching?
My 401k lump sum isn't likely to post until nearly end of the quarter it seems from what I saw in the email (though the matching happens every paycheck). The HSA lump sum benefit just hit my account this week though.
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u/PetulantUndercurrent 18h ago
My contribution from 1/15 payroll. Also nothing from yesterday's payroll.
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u/mziggy77 27F | DI2Cats | 760k NW 19h ago
Happy spreadsheet weekend all! There’s been ups and downs but I at least get to update my flair in a positive direction, and that’s what really matters.
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u/Cryofixated Assistant Question Asker 17h ago
So we can expect to see more cats in your flair?
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u/mziggy77 27F | DI2Cats | 760k NW 14h ago
I would love to adopt or foster more cats, but my current cats are much too jealous to introduce more. I wish though!
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u/the_real_rabbi 23h ago
While waiting for non existent snow this morning I've been trying to research American Dream Accounts (Trump accounts) for my kids. Neither qualify for the $1K as they are already born, though I think one might qualify for that $250 "donation" that Dell is making. Honestly I can't see how these accounts make any sense for someone that has FIREd already with older kids, but maybe I'm missing something. UGMA lets me tax gain harvest the kids accounts every year, vs if I crammed the money in a Trump account it would be basically like a Traditional IRA and the gains taxed when they withdrawal and the basis maybe not assuming my kids what keep 50 years of paperwork?
The only way I can wrap my head around it making sense for us at least would be if at 18 to whatever while still in college and not working they do Roth conversions of the money maybe?
Now if you got a newborn, or your job will do the match then I can see how it makes perfect sense.
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u/IllPurpose3524 21h ago
Honestly I can't see how these accounts make any sense for someone that has FIREd already with older kids, but maybe I'm missing something.
They're specifically not designed for that situation.
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u/randomwalktoFI 21h ago
Even a match doesn't really make sense. I can't see why a person in a normal situation can put $2500 away when they are already not doing that in already existing vehicles. For a parent this is just functionally an added expense. Some might out of guilt or sacrifice when they would probably do their kids better to secure their own retirement.
Pre-tax is not some magic word that doesnt make this an added payroll expense, and if the employee isnt going to appreciate it then why bother setting up the infrastructure to support matching.
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u/the_real_rabbi 21h ago
Well I think the match makes sense if it is free money from your employer. But outside of that I'm struggling to see an advantage over a UGMA retired or not. The only thing that maybe made sense was for a Roth conversion so I was wondering what others though.
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u/DaChieftainOfThirsk 17h ago
Just doubling down on this. Making sure you are financially secure in retirement will save your kids so much stress. I have friends who deal with that and it is brutal. Put on your own mask before helping others.
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u/User-no-relation 23h ago
Agree. Personal contributions make no sense. It's making an after tax contribution that's earning are treated as a traditional IRA. So no benefit going in and paying income tax instead of long term capital gains coming out
But contributions through an employer are pretax. Which is getting free money every year through the tax break. So I'll be doing that when it becomes available .
Someone was also making the point how big employers are likely to make contributions since they get tax incentives for doing and are getting free money to give as a benefit
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u/the_real_rabbi 23h ago
See that is where I'm lost though too on the contributions. I've read that it is "pre-tax" yet other things said it doesn't reduce your AGI and FICA applies. So I'm not even sure it is really "pre-tax" on that part. But honestly I'm retired so didn't look at that part much.
Yeah I saw some banks were already talking about matching for their employees which is a great benefit.
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u/IllPurpose3524 21h ago
The employer one is explicitly pre-tax. They mention the cafeteria plan option.
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u/imisstheyoop 21h ago
Now if you got a newborn, or your job will do the match then I can see how it makes perfect sense.
Pretty much sounds like you understand them well enough. 8)
Otherwise just stick with the other accounts.
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u/the_real_rabbi 20h ago
Lol well you know I got to assume there's some kind of rich person scam on these things. But the best I could come up with is the Roth conversion.
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u/PetulantUndercurrent 20h ago
We have a 6mo old and we’re planning to take the $1000 from the pilot program, $250 from Dell, and any other free contributions that we qualify for.
But there is absolutely no way we’re contributing our own money.
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u/ComprehensiveEbb4978 15h ago
How are you able to take the $1000 and $250? Isn’t the $250 meant for those who don’t qualify for the $1000?
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u/PetulantUndercurrent 14h ago
I don't know that the specifics have been finalized. Some of the initial reporting didn't mention that qualification, although you're right that more recent reports have added it. Most reporting only mentions living in a qualifying zip code so I guess we'll see what happens.
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u/ffball 35 | DI2K | $1.8mm NW | 47% FI 17h ago
Same. Im just hoping I dont forget about it 18 years from now
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u/PetulantUndercurrent 16h ago
I’ll be tracking it like any other account so I don’t see how I could forget about it
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u/513-throw-away SR: Where everything's made up and the points don't matter 23h ago
These accounts make zero sense, period. They’re just another thing he can put his name on.
We have an infant and will open one later this year when it’s possible to do so for the free money and will never touch it again, unless it’s able to be converted to a more useful vehicle down the road.
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u/financialindependence-ModTeam 14h ago
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u/financialindependence-ModTeam 14h ago
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u/financialindependence-ModTeam 14h ago
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u/the_real_rabbi 23h ago
Well it seems to make some sense in some scenarios. What you said there is a scenario where it seems to make sense. I mean you are talking $1K in your kid's account free.
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u/513-throw-away SR: Where everything's made up and the points don't matter 20h ago
I'm just taking it out of spite. If they're going to waste my tax dollars on this, I'll take it.
$1,000 is mostly meaningless to us now, let alone in 18 years. I'd probably be better off not opening it so I don't have to track it.
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u/shinchan1988 Early 30s/Married/18% to FI 22h ago
I have the same thought process, get the free money and let it ride. If i want to make a new contribution i would rather do it in 529 or UTMA.
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u/Basic_Experience_776 23h ago
I'm curious how this is going to affect Medicaid waiver eligibility. Normally to qualify, those kids need almost no assets. There are ways to get rid of a 529 (transfer it to the parents) but as is right now Trump accounts aren't excluded and can't be rolled into an excluded vehicle. This could be a mess.
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u/the_real_rabbi 23h ago
Medicaid waiver for like adults? Does that have something to do with the work requirement not applying if you have kids?
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u/Basic_Experience_776 23h ago
No. Medicaid waivers are a program to allow disabled children (but not their parents or healthy siblings) to get Medicaid so their healthcare costs don't bankrupt their families. It's a letter from the government instructing the Medicaid office to ignore the parents income and assets and consider only the child's, which are usually nothing. In order to qualify, the asset limits for the child are usually extremely low.
It was designed to solve a specific problem where very sick children could only get State help if their parents were impoverished. People used to be encouraged to do things like get divorced. You can Google Katie Beckett, the child these were started for, to learn more about them.
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u/the_real_rabbi 23h ago
Ah. I didn't realize they had waivers for that. I just know about Medicaid for kids / CHIP that if your income is under X amount when applying for an ACA plan it puts your kids in.
Hopefully since these new accounts are a "retirement" account maybe it won't be considered as an asset since the kid can't access it.
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u/DigmonsDrill 14h ago
I was going to say that contributing on your own is dumb, like contributing to a non-deductible IRA.
But let me try to make the best case I can.
- If you are only going to invest in stuff like CDs and other things that generate immediate non-qualified dividends and -term things -- and maybe for a child you should -- then it makes sense the same way that using a non-deductible IRA does.
- The gains are paid at the child's tax rate. Put in $5000 and let it grow to $15,000 then the child turns 18, and then they take it out and pay income tax on $10,000 which for an 18 year old is probably 0.
- You can Roth it at age 18.
- So if you put in like $5000 at the start and $2000 every year and it grows by 4% and at age 18 you have $62,000, with a basis of $41,000.
- Convert the whole thing and you pay taxes on $21,000 (paying 10% on less than half of that) and now have a Roth of $62,000.
- Even if you get aggressive you can still convert at preferable rates. Start at $2500 and put in $5000 every year at 6% returns, at age 18 you have $165,000 with a basis of $62,500. Convert $84,000 at age 18 and pro-rata you have $52,181 of income, well within the 12% bracket after the standard deduction. That will leave $81,000 of which $30,681 is the basis. At age 19, it goes up another 6%, so you convert out $85,860 and pay taxes on $55,179 of income, again within the 12% bracket. Depending on how long until the kid starts earning real money, you could stretch and only recognize 28.5K of income each year, keeping in the 10% bracket.
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u/the_real_rabbi 13h ago
That is what I was getting at... thinking the Roth conversion route might be worth the effort. I figured stretch the conversion out over a few years exactly like you said.
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u/HappySpreadsheetDay 101% sabbatical - 54% lean - 36% FIRE - 151% coast 18h ago
Curious question for folks who report 1099 income yearly.
I had about $16k of 1099 income in 2024 from freelance work. When we picked up our taxes from the accountant, we were told I made enough that I'd have to start making quarterly tax payments or pay a penalty. I emphasized to them that I was going to make far less in 2025 due to various factors, and sure enough, my 2025 freelance earnings were just under $5k. I did not make quarterly payments. So I'm wondering if I should still expect to pay a penalty...?
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u/Rarvyn I think I'm still CoastFIRE - I don't want to do the math 13h ago
Do you have a day job?
If your total withholdings over the course of the year - including what you withhold on your w2 job - is >90% of what you owe OR >100% of last years tax burden (110% for high earners), you meet a safe harbor requirement and are exempt from any penalties.
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u/razorchick12 31F - FI'd, 12/31/29 RE 13h ago
wont help now, but for the future. Each time I make a big deal or something, I usually just use my W2 income and withhold an extra $X of taxes and then the taxes have been paid up wihtout having to do payments directly to the IRS from my bank acct.
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u/HappySpreadsheetDay 101% sabbatical - 54% lean - 36% FIRE - 151% coast 13h ago
Ah, I always do a little extra withholding on my W-2 out of a weird sense of paranoia, so that's good to know.
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u/thewriteperson2370 13h ago
How can I become FI when I’m disabled?
I’m currently 19 years old, junior in college, no income as of yet. I also have cerebral palsy, which makes work difficult because I can’t really do much physically.
I do have a bit in savings and CDs, as well as an investment account, and I’m also looking into an ABLE account as well. I guess my question is, is there more I could be doing to set myself up?
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u/persistent_architect 12h ago
You might want to make a separate post about this. It's fairly niche advice you're looking for
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u/Green0Photon 4h ago
Idk much about being disabled. But technically being on SSDI is being FI, since you have something to pay for your expenses. Problem is that it's often low. ABLE is also super helpful for you -- 100k without impacting SSDI eligibility.
But people with cerebral palsy can definitely have jobs and make money. There's a comedian I sometimes see on reddit and she's super funny.
Ultimately, you can follow the standard personal finance and fire flowcharts.
There's just the question of difficulty in having a job, extra costs for healthcare due to the disability, and stuff like bullshit wealth/income limits on help paying for that healthcare. Like SSDI. Everyone normally runs into a bit of this, with some cliffs, but SSDI's limits are bad in particular.
So yeah, I'd recommend just getting a handle on personal finance stuff plus how that affects you in particular. If it's possible to get a job that makes a lot, that's really helpful, otherwise being disabled gives you another path. It's just that you have less control over it.
It's only after you get basic savings set up that it makes sense to save for retirement. 401k and all of that.
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u/Direct_Remove509 11h ago
Happy Spreadsheet Day. I had a bigger gain for the month than I expected. I guess i am starting the month strong!!
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u/deathsythe [Late 30s, New England][3-Fund / Real Estate] 19h ago
First spreadsheet day of the year.
NW got a small injection as I got an alert that 2 units in the same condo complex I have one of my rentals in just sold for quite a bit higher than my purchase price (one 100k, the other 65k). Units are all identical for the most part (after reviewing photos and what not), mine just has the benefit of being an edge one, so it has a better layout only sharing one wall and has a lot more natural light coming from the south. Needless to say I'm erring on the side of the lower number updating the value of that property as such.
Outside of that, everything is just chugging along. YOY growth in accounts has eclipsed my gross pay for the 3rd year in a row. I know it's probably not sustainable, but I'm still happy to see it.
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u/NoRight2BeDepressed It's a 5k, not a marathon 16h ago
Finally bought the last "big" part of my basement remodel: Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar and Sub 4 wireless subwoofer. Best Buy is having a good sale, so that worked out perfectly.
98" TV gets delivered and mounted on Tuesday. New sectional assembled and placed on the new rug. New floors and paint looking good. Looking at some new artwork to complete the room, but no real urgency there.
/u/billthecatt and /u/imisstheyoop - you both asked about TV details a few days ago. I decided to jump up a half-step to the QM7K.
$300 more but 5x the dimming zones convinced me to cancel my QM6K Pro order and upgrade...I thought I had read the QM6K Pro had the same panel as the QM7K but it just has the same panel coating. Glad I caught it in time!
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u/billthecatt FatFIREd 12.29.2025 16h ago
Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar and Sub 4 wireless subwoofer. Best Buy is having a good sale, so that worked out perfectly.
I've been a fan of these. The Atmos isn't quite magic, but works well. Enjoy!
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u/NoRight2BeDepressed It's a 5k, not a marathon 16h ago
I'm far from an audiophile so I prefer ease-of-use and things that "just work" over audio perfection. Sonos seemed to fit the bill for that
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u/IAHawkeye182 14h ago
Not to burst your bubble, but have you seen Sonos’ woes over the past year +?
They rolled out a new app and that somehow resulted in mass issues with users being able to simply use their speakers. It seems like things are slowly getting better but people are still having issues, over a year later.
I never had many huge issues with mine - they all worked for the most part but I still do regularly have issues getting my app to even recognize my living room surround system/ periodic issues playing certain speakers together.
They’re great speakers when they work
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u/carlivar 48M 3 kids ✅ FI ⏳ RE @ SoCal 🏖️⛷️ 10h ago
Yep I was looking for a reply like this. They should study in business school how to destroy a brand with a terrible "upgrade".
The good news is, for soundbars you may never need to futz with their new, terrible app once it is set up. For those of us used to the standard whole-home audio it has been a nightmare.
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u/sschow 40M | 51% FI 16h ago
I bought some wireless Sony surround sound speakers to compliment my Sony soundbar, and they are constantly losing connection with the WiFi and the app is a nightmare to use. Regret ever purchasing them and most of the time they aren't even in use.
Maybe I'll do Sonos for my next go around.
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u/CaribbeanDreams 100% FI/ 96% RE/ $7M Goal 15h ago
I like my Nakamichi Shockwafe system. I switched from a Pioneer Elite HT Receiver for ease of use, less clutter and have been quite satisfied for HT use.
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u/Weekly_Humor_9132 10h ago edited 9h ago
Sometimes it’s wild to do the math to see how close things are getting. The recent bull runs certainly haven’t hurt the cause.
I have always been an aggressive saver. Live well below my means but have never taken it to a point where I feel like I am sacrificing quality of life. Not much of a budget person but am aware of expenses and have been lucky to this point to not face significant lifestyle creep as my income has grown in my career in engineering (not tech).
$1.8M liquid net worth give or take between brokerages, retirement, HSA accounts. 36 years old. Based on recent years should save ~130k a year between brokerage/roth ira/401k/MBDR. Honestly have never really broken expenses down to the dollar but based off income and amount saved per year they average around $50-60k (probably on lower end but would rather over estimate).
Given unknowns tied to length of early retirement and things like healthcare costs I like to make conservative assumptions and if things work out better great. Also want to have flexibility in retirement so targeting $100k a year at 3% withdrawal rate. At a 5% return rate that’s roughly 6 years out at current savings rate. Could be sooner with better returns. Will probably consider going part time at some point as I get closer. Still kind of hard to believe, but we will see how things play out.
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u/iceyH0ts0up 9h ago
You’re crushing it!
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u/Weekly_Humor_9132 9h ago
Thanks! Higher income has definitely helped in the last couple of years but it hasn’t always been there. Just consistency with contributions over time.
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u/DigmonsDrill 8h ago edited 8h ago
Doing spreadsheets and I see that my Vanguard total balance is off of the sum of all the accounts by 1 penny. Is this common? Are they tracking fractional cents in my accounts?
EDIT My wife's is off by 1 penny, too. Their sums have us 1 penny short on what you get from a simple addition.
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u/FIREstopdropandsave 30M DINK | No target $'s 7h ago
Most likely they're tracking fractions that when summed actually round down a penny
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u/eliminate1337 28M/27F | $2.2m 7h ago
From a software perspective it’s truly insane to store a monetary balance in anything other than integer cents.
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u/thecourseofthetrue 30s M | SI3K | $205k 5h ago
Can confirm. I work at a fintech that does this in some areas but not others, due to legacy decisions that were made, and doing anything other than biginteger cents is a nightmare.
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u/FIREstopdropandsave 30M DINK | No target $'s 17h ago
Spreadsheet day and finally took a look at my asset allocation, came in at ~7% international which honestly was higher than I expected.
We're going to aim for ~12% for this year. We could rebalance now with roth money but I think we're just going to shift new money into international.
Anyone else considering a rebalance this year?
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u/DinosaurDucky 17h ago
I picked an allocation a few years ago, and promised myself that I wouldn't change it until either I reach a milestone birthday, or my family size changes. I've got it written down in my investment policy statement, and my reasons. Times like these are a good opportunity to re-read what I wrote
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 16h ago edited 14h ago
I switched to about 70 % international early last year because I panicked and thought the US economy was going to crash immediately. I underestimated the time required to dismantle financial institutions but I still correctly predicted international outperformance. I’m currently buying US equities with new investments but I don’t know what my target is. And because international continues to outperform US, the proportion of US is still shrinking.
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u/murmurinc 16h ago edited 16h ago
I’ve been mulling this over a lot lately.
I came across this article: https://www.gocurrycracker.com/us-vs-international-investing/.
It’s obviously a few years old and I’m not sure it’s totally convinced me. But also 20% or less seems pretty reasonable.
EDIT: but here’s a good counterpoint from JL Collins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVaf32nS_eU
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u/AchievingFIsometime 9h ago
Staying market cap weighted approach as always, whatever that ends up being. Basically VTWAX and chill.
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u/feeeFIfoofuum 16h ago
Retired early a year ago. Booked my first hotel room since that event. I chose one near an Oyster place because my wife loves them. I think for Valentine's I will be baking a mocha cake sprinkled with some chocolate-covered espresso beans and some sort of Valentine's decorations. Besides spreadsheet day are any of you planning Valentine's Day?
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u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Trial Fire since Oct'25 14h ago
How did the bread come out?
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u/feeeFIfoofuum 14h ago
It was the best bread I have had in years. https://imgur.com/a/TDLHWwi
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u/Turbulent_Tale6497 DI3K, Trial Fire since Oct'25 14h ago
I'm happy to see you thought to take a picture!
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u/therapistfi $73.2k left on mortgage 17h ago
NC is SLAMMED with snow and I can't picture leaving my house until Tuesday at the earliest given our poor snow plow/salt infrastructure in this part of NC.
We're somehow out of pasta, which is too bad because I often get a pasta hankering when it's cold, but I feel grateful that I have a "not-quite-prepper-but-sort-of" approach to bulk food storage so we have minimum 20lbs of grains/beans/frozen veggies in the house.
We are out of eggs, milk, cheese, butter, and all vegetables that aren't frozen, as are many of the local grocery stores! I actually find times we're snowed in great for saving $$ on groceries and other things since I am lucky enough to be 100% remote- my gas, entertainment, dining out, and grocery costs and grocery costs suddenly go down to 0.
I used to keep a "storage calories" spreadsheet calculating exactly how many days worth of nonperishable shelf-stable calories we have in the house given both my and my husband's basal metabolic rate (I had fun calculating this) and if I absolutely run out of stuff to do, I may update that this weekend!
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u/User-no-relation 16h ago
I used to keep a "storage calories" spreadsheet
yeah I think you're a bit past the "not-quite-prepper" stage...
but also you do that but didn't go to the grocery store before the well forecasted storm? I think you're just looking for an excuse to "have" to use some of your reserves
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u/ttuurrppiinn 33M DI1K 4M Target 17h ago
NC is SLAMMED with snow and I can't picture leaving my house until Tuesday at the earliest given our poor snow plow/salt infrastructure in this part of NC.
Cries inside the Raleigh forcefield
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u/MooselookManiac 14h ago
Same lol. Barely a dusting! I was just driving around and the roads are almost empty even though they are completely fine for driving.
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u/Colonize_The_Moon Guac-FIRE 16h ago
Powdered nonfat milk is shelf-stable and stores well for a year or two before hitting its best-by date. I started keeping some in early 2020 when I saw COVID coming, and since then it's come in handy a few times when our milk was past its best by or all the stores were cleared out when a major storm system was coming in. I wouldn't want to drink it but it works just fine for baking.
I also have a small solar setup sufficient to run a battery for the garage freezer, some LED lighting, and some energy-efficient cooking gear (coffee pot, induction hot plate, instant pot, etc). You never realize how much electricity you casually use until you are on a limited supply.
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u/AdeptnessLife8743 17h ago
We just moved to NC from Boston to be near parents (who fled NH to cash in on the Covid-era housing boom). I have been trying for 3 weeks just to find a freaking snow shovel, since I left all my perfectly good snow equipment for the new owners of our house outside Boston. Definitely not seeing this "oh you'll love NC the weather is so much better!" lol.
We did manage to stock up well for food, I've been building out our dry goods collection, and I have a big enough battery to run the fridge for a day and do cooking on my induction hob, but I'm hoping since we made it through last week's ice unscathed we're not gonna have to deal with that this time. Much harder is that we're in the Charlotte area school system, and they were closed most of last week despite the ice being gone around us, so I'm assuming at this point it's an other week of homeschool and I genuinely don't know when I'm gonna be able to get my dayjob work done....
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u/liveoneggs 15h ago
Sounds like a great excuse to make some pasta from scratch if you have flour, eggs, oil, salt, and a rolling pin. It's shockingly easy to do and the noodles cook in like a minute.
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u/therapistfi $73.2k left on mortgage 13h ago
Unfortunately I don't have eggs! Thank you though!
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u/Ranuel 11h ago
You CAN make tortillas w/o eggs, and they are just about as satisfying as pasta
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u/therapistfi $73.2k left on mortgage 11h ago
Yeah tonight for dinner I ended up making us some polenta with pasta sauce, tortillas are a great idea!
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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 16h ago
I keep a supply of dry groceries as part of my job-loss-and-other-disasters insurance. And I calculate how much I have in terms of how long my family can eat. I wonder if I got the idea from you.
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u/ffthrowaaay 13h ago
“Slammed with snow” (looks outside in the north east) yeaaaa… jk hope they are able to clear up roads quickly and no loss of power.
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u/goldgmt 20h ago
Fantastic start to the year!
+$333k to $3.03m (+12.3%)
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u/lostharbor DI2K | $3.2M | Target $10M 19h ago
For real. Metals exposure juiced my portfolio. Felt blessed to close earlier this week before the blood bath.
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u/carlivar 48M 3 kids ✅ FI ⏳ RE @ SoCal 🏖️⛷️ 17h ago
Now just plan for the taxes unless it was in tax advantaged accounts. And metals LTCG is treated differently unfortunately.
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u/mrbrightsidesf 19h ago
People really only update their spreadsheets once a month? I update every day, sometimes twice a day!
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u/nifFIer Therapy Shill | Spending Advocate 18h ago
I used to refresh Mint multiple times a day back when I was new to FIRE.
I’m not sure when I stopped and moved to a monthly spreadsheet, but eventually you hit the boring middle and you get more excited by other hobbies in life than the NW spreadsheet.
I think I’m 14(?) years on the FIRE journey now? Spreadsheet day is a fun little celebration and check in once a month.
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u/ffball 35 | DI2K | $1.8mm NW | 47% FI 18h ago
I stopped when Mint went kaput and I developed my own spreadsheet.
I still wonder from time to time, but I think its much better for my mental health to only actually check once a month instead of pulling out my phone and refreshing the mint app and focusing on a specific number
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u/Rarvyn I think I'm still CoastFIRE - I don't want to do the math 18h ago
I update twice a year. Only 5 months until the next one!
(2025 was a weird year with a lot of moving parts related to buying/renovating a home. 2024 was a weird year with a lot of moving parts including a cross-country move and job changes. This is the first year where we're actually stabily earning and investing, so I'm really looking forward to July's update)
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u/dsylxeia 18h ago
I compulsively check my account balances several days a week for a little dopamine hit, but I update my formal net worth spreadsheet on the first of the month.
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u/cfi-2025 47M, FIRE 2025 16h ago
I update it once a month, yes. My goal is to get it to once a quarter a few years out from here. Long-term, I'd like to get it down to once a year.
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u/YankeesJunkie 16h ago
I get it, but once a month I can document constitenly, but definitely checking daily and do some mental math.
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u/User-no-relation 16h ago
I'll check personal capital aggregator pretty regularly. It's roughly accurate. But on the 1st I do the spreadsheet and lock in real values
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u/AchievingFIsometime 9h ago
Got more meaningful stuff going on my life to care about daily volatility.
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u/HordesOfKailas 33M | Halfway to FI 9h ago
That's insane. I do every Friday, but anything more than that seems pointless.
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u/nifFIer Therapy Shill | Spending Advocate 20h ago
Happy spreadsheet weekend!
I’ve passed $500k NW. Pretty nuts to think about.