update: we’ve expanded our early retirement plan page to spell out our financial approach (mostly index funds with one rental property that will pay off down the road). check it out if you’re curious.
y’all already know we don’t share numbers as in dollar figures (read why that is here), but we have no problem sharing percentages. we talked two weeks ago about our planned financial independence day, and wanted to share a clearer sense of where we are now, and how that’s changed over time.
so this is our first post with an actual chart in it. we know, fancy.
as of right now, we’re at 76 percent of what we need in order to retire. factored into this are mortgage balance (we will pay off the mortgage and we’re 2/3 of the way there — we know it’s controversial to include primary residence in net worth, but we’ve included it here because it’s a progress measure), taxable investments and our tax-deferred 401(k)s. of course, there are scenarios in which we might need more than 100 percent — if, for example, our 401(k)s climb in value because of market gains but we do a lousy job saving money, then we’re also not making much real progress. but so far we’re on track with the saving and investing.
we plan for the 2015 point to keep moving upward — we’re only in april after all. we made huge progress last year — from 52 percent to 70 percent of what we need. some of that was market gains, though. if we can get to 80 percent this year (not too much farther to go, and we should be able to surpass that), then 90 percent by end of 2016 and 100 percent by 2017 should be do-able. we’ll be right on schedule. but given that we’ve gone from 70 to 76 percent just since the start of 2015, we’re feeling downright stoked. (all market dependent, of course — knock on wood!)
if you glance at the chart, you can definitely see the point at which we got serious about saving: 2011. even though we’d been saving for a few years before that, and had already saved up for and bought our first place in a very pricy city, that’s the year when the idea of early retirement became real for us. we bought the house we call our retirement house, changed our lifestyle to be a lot less extravagant, and got serious. (earning more over time for sure helps, too.) it’s pretty amazing how much motivation a goal can provide, and the chart is proof that having a goal — even if it was abstract back in 2011 — has worked mightily well for us. do you keep track of your net worth, year over year? what other motivational tips have you found to keep yourself on track?
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