I love that!
A few thoughts:I'm not sure what to do to move towards anything FI and/or RE.
My dh just sunk 6k into the stock market about 4 weeks ago after hearing family just going on and on about how much they were making. No more than a day or two after he put money in, it started to fall. This is seriously not the first time. Every stinking time we put money in the market, it begins falling. I told him before that as soon as he put money in, it would begin declining. And it did...
I'm not sure what we need to do. I'm curious how those of you who are on this path handle the tough stuff life throws at you. How do you get back on track?? I read one of the top reasons people go bankrupt is medical expenses. We did not go bankrupt but I can see how devastating medical costs are. You can deplete a nice, healthy bank account very quickly
I'll try to find out. It was against my better judgement as we are still thick in medical costs and I would have preferred he not put so much in but I try to just let him lead.A few thoughts:
- Don’t worry that the market went down. I’m not sure what you invested in, but if it was some sort of broad mutual fund it will go back up eventually. (Maybe in a week, maybe in a month, maybe in a year or more). Just be patient - if you want to share what the investment was I’m sure there’s some of us here who could opine further on that
- Saving anything at this point moved you towards FIRE. Celebrate any small savings you can make.
- I do not have a lot of experience with adversity on my FIRE journey. I consider us very fortunate in that regard but my best advice is to just keep doing your best. That’s all you can do
So uhhhh how about that stock market?? I was doing my weekly financial update in my spreadsheet and it seems there was another rough one.
My approach is that I don't watch shows about the market, I don't follow the market regularly, I don't attempt to time the market, I buy when it's up, I buy when it's down, I buy when it's flat (basically because I buy when my 401k gets deducted, lol). My strategy (as is that of many FIRE chasers) is index funds, set it and forget it...
What's happened in the last quarter is interesting to me though because for many in the younger FIRE crowd this is the first time you may have lost substantial money. My net worth has declined by $60,000 in the past 3 months. It's never done that before...largely because I never had a net worth large enough to lose that much during past declines. I have thought about this before...how would I react when I "lose" a substantial sum of money. Now that it's happened, I'm glad to report that I feel no different. I don't feel like I'm worth less, I have no desire to change course or adjust strategy, I don't feel like I need to save more, I don't feel the desire to sell. This is super encouraging to me - On the path to FIRE there is no way it will all be "ups". There will be downs, and all the articles I've read suggest that you can't panic during those down times. The strategy is proven, stay the course, keep buying and wait it out.
Curious to hear thoughts & reactions of others (especially in that 25-40 crowd who are midway through their FIRE journey).
My dd got sick less than a month after turning 15yo so it was her high school years. Her sophomore and junior years were spent barely being able to get out of bed. She’s about 75% better now. It’s really uncommon to have Lyme here in CO as well but people travel and my dd was bit in TX where there is a lot of Lyme.I'm glad it's under control. I have 2 family members (not immediate family) who had Lyme and it's not as common in CA and they went undiagnosed for a long time. One is better but for her son it's become a chronic issue, which is tough for a young man just starting out. It's great that you can go to a lower cost insurance, too. Medical expenses (current and the unknown future of it all) are what I see as the real wild card in terms of savings and retirement. And 1K per month is still high - insurance costs are out of control these days.
and yes the medical community is just oblivious.
I feel I watch the stock market prices too much and shouldn’t since I’m invested with mutual funds intended for long term holding. That said, the markets lately have made me feel tense regarding our funds and I understand the feeling some hear about being averse to investing or the fear of downturn in economy because I feel that way particularly the last few months. Part I think stems from an intent to purchase a home using down payment from our non taxable fund in the next few years. I began thinking maybe just rent. Then I began thinking do I want to even “invest” in a home purchase, perhaps this will affect home value. I’m reminding myself to think positive. I am however going ahead and switching some nontaxable savings, not all, considering 2-3 year CD ladders or a high interest savings because I want more liquidity savings than putting money in the fund I may have to pull out in a down market if I do make a downpayment. But for ROTH IRA though I’m rather gung-ho feeling about the market state rate now, like I don’t care, I’m maxing out ROTHs next year, maybe because that funding feels very long term to me. We aren’t in the age range you’re talking though, closer to 50s.So uhhhh how about that stock market?? I was doing my weekly financial update in my spreadsheet and it seems there was another rough one.
My approach is that I don't watch shows about the market, I don't follow the market regularly, I don't attempt to time the market, I buy when it's up, I buy when it's down, I buy when it's flat (basically because I buy when my 401k gets deducted, lol). My strategy (as is that of many FIRE chasers) is index funds, set it and forget it...
What's happened in the last quarter is interesting to me though because for many in the younger FIRE crowd this is the first time you may have lost substantial money. My net worth has declined by $60,000 in the past 3 months. It's never done that before...largely because I never had a net worth large enough to lose that much during past declines. I have thought about this before...how would I react when I "lose" a substantial sum of money. Now that it's happened, I'm glad to report that I feel no different. I don't feel like I'm worth less, I have no desire to change course or adjust strategy, I don't feel like I need to save more, I don't feel the desire to sell. This is super encouraging to me - On the path to FIRE there is no way it will all be "ups". There will be downs, and all the articles I've read suggest that you can't panic during those down times. The strategy is proven, stay the course, keep buying and wait it out.
Curious to hear thoughts & reactions of others (especially in that 25-40 crowd who are midway through their FIRE journey).
I'm sorry to hear of your daughter's illness, but glad to hear that she is on the road to recovery. You are right, having paid those huge medical expenses for the past two years has impacted how much you have saved. So where do you go from here? First, look at the positives, you were able to incur those expenses without going into debt, you have been living within your means on one income. Since the costs for your daughter are starting to go down is there room in the budget, even a few hundred dollars to start saving? I think psychologically it is easier to invest small sums monthly, taking advantage of dollar cost averaging, especially during these times of market volatility. Maybe your FIRE path will be you going back to work for 10 years after the kids are grown, and since you have been living on one income you save your entire income. Or maybe you downsize your house and use that equity to give your nest egg a boost. If the stock market is going to worry you too much, maybe you save your money to buy some rental homes. I don't know your exact age, but guessing mid to late 40s maybe so you still have time, maybe your aggressive saving will be from 50-60 or even 55-65, but it can be done!So, I'm wanting to jump into this thread. We are nowhere near FI or RE. We married young and started having babies young. We both have a college degree but felt strongly about me staying home once our dc were born so I've been a SAHM for 18+ years. For the record, I do not regret that decision but I know we are further behind because of that decision. Again, it's not something I'd change even with 20/20 hindsight.
We were not raised with very good financial training so got into debt quickly.
About 10 years ago, we did Dave Ramsey and got 100% out of debt except for the mortgage. For the most part, we were doing well...saving about $1000 month but not contributing to a 401k or anything to do with stocks...but saving. Then our dd18 got sick. It took about a year to get her diagnosed and now she has been in treatment for 2.5 years. Her diagnosis and treatment is NOT covered by the $900 a month premium we pay in health insurance, and so we have spent at least $1500 mo (but $2000 many months) for the last 2.5 years. We blew through our savings...we simply did not have that much extra in our budget to cover the costs. Our church helped us as well as some family members but an extra 2k per month for 18 mos is hard to manage. We are now back to barely any savings. We've never contributed regularly to any retirement account so we have nothing really there. I'm not sure what to do to move towards anything FI and/or RE.
My dh just sunk 6k into the stock market about 4 weeks ago after hearing family just going on and on about how much they were making. No more than a day or two after he put money in, it started to fall. This is seriously not the first time. Every stinking time we put money in the market, it begins falling. I told him before that as soon as he put money in, it would begin declining. And it did...
I'm not sure what we need to do. I'm curious how those of you who are on this path handle the tough stuff life throws at you. How do you get back on track?? I read one of the top reasons people go bankrupt is medical expenses. We did not go bankrupt but I can see how devastating medical costs are. You can deplete a nice, healthy bank account very quickly
So uhhhh how about that stock market?? I was doing my weekly financial update in my spreadsheet and it seems there was another rough one.
