I am so excited to have Brett and Meredith from Driving Towards F.I.R.E.<\/a> on to tackle our interview questions this week. Brett and Meredith are a very unique edition to the FIRE interview series as they are living full time in an RV while working and exploring the US.\u00a0 We are all about diversity over here and we’re trying to showcase that there is no one-size-fits-all path to FI.\u00a0 What better way to think out of the box to increase your income while simultaneously cutting your housing related costs by living in an RV?!<\/p>\n I hope you appreciate these responses as much as I do and I hope you gain some knowledge along the way! \u00a0If you have any follow up questions or would like to get in touch with this awesome couple, please leave a comment below or check out their blog<\/a>. Brett & Meredith, take it away!<\/p>\n 1. Can you give us a little background of who you are, what you do, and how you became interested in personal finance? How did you discover the idea of financial independence?<\/strong><\/p>\n We are the Shoemaker\u2019s (@DrivingTowardsFire), married for almost 9 years, together for 12.\u00a0 We have 2 big rescue dogs who travel with us in our 5<\/span>th<\/span> wheel RV.\u00a0 Brett works in Healthcare Information Technology and Meredith works as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist who works in surgery ensuring her patients are comfortable and safe during their surgical procedures.\u00a0 Meredith takes contracts all across the country, typically 3-6 months at a time and Brett travels and works full-time remotely where her contracts are. Personal Finance has always been important to us, but once the reality and gravity of our student loan debt set in, we became more aware and dedicated to it.\u00a0 We initially found out about FI from Dave Ramsay, which is likely the foundation for many like us<\/span>. 2. When in your journey did you realize financial independence was actually possible?\u00a0 Was that the original goal at the beginning?<\/strong><\/p>\n We started watching Tiny House Hunters on HGTV and began asking ourselves if that was something we could do.\u00a0 We came to the realization that Meredith\u2019s job offered contracts that would enable us to travel, increase our income, and spend more quality time with each other.\u00a0 Brett\u2019s job was the easy one. He already worked remotely and could go where Meredith went. We opted for the RV because it would drastically decrease our monthly expenses, we could bring our dogs, and our home would remain consistent even when in a new area.\u00a0 Our goal from the beginning was to achieve being student loan debt free.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 3. To help put things into context, if you are comfortable sharing some numbers, what is your savings rate, FIRE number, net worth, salary, how many hours a week do you work, etc?\u00a0 How long have you been working towards financial independence and where are you today?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Our numbers are a bit hard to share at the moment, because our entire focus has been putting everything extra towards our student loan debt, but I can tell you that we intend to drop from full-time to part-time at some point and continue working in a part-time fashion.\u00a0 For Meredith, she loves her career, but would love it more without the requirement of being full-time with full-time hours. For me, I\u2019d love to grow our investments to a passive income rate that supplements my income so that I can pursue other passions. With contract based work, Meredith doubled her salary.\u00a0 Because of this and the decrease in monthly expenses, we started with over $125,000 in student and personal loan debt in October 2018 (this value is much higher, but it\u2019s the point at which we started tracking it). As of November 8, 2019, we have paid off all of our debt. That was paid off in exactly 12 months time from when we started our RV journey.\u00a0 Now that the student loan debt is gone, we plan to have a savings rate of at least 50%. For us, we believe our FIRE number is $2-2.5 million in net worth. We are mostly targeting the FI portion of FIRE with the plan to retire from full-time work. We have 2 real estate investment properties and we are looking to add a 3rd towards the end of this year.\u00a0 We also have successfully opened 2 SEP IRAs with a 3 fund (ETF) approach in January 2020.\u00a0 So far, its up 2%.\u00a0 We currently have $70,000 total debt on the truck and RV remaining and the plan is to have that paid off in May\/June 2020. We both work 40 hours a week. We started our FI journey 12 months ago and we plan to travel full-time in our RV for the next 2 years to achieve our definition of FI.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 4. What made you decide to transition to the nomadic lifestyle and become full time RV-ers? How long have you been living in the RV? Do you plan to be in an RV long term? What has been your favorite place you’ve been to in the RV and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n Several factors went into the decision to live, travel, and work from our RV.\u00a0 First was the comfort and consistency of the same bed to sleep in at night. Living in short term hotels, condos, etc had little appeal to us.\u00a0 The RV is something that allows us to remain mobile as we can travel to new places while under contract. It\u2019s a reminder to keep moving. We also have our 2 rescue dogs which finding places that allow big dogs is both challenging and costly.\u00a0 Since I work from home, they are with me all day every day and it makes it easier for them to know this is home. We\u2019ve been in our RV full-time now for 12 full months. We don\u2019t plan to be in the RV for long term, but plan to live the nomadic lifestyle for the next 2 years.\u00a0 Because Meredith\u2019s contracts come every 3 months and making sure her licenses are established, we haven\u2019t taken the RV too many states yet. Only Tennessee and Virginia. Our favorite place so far has been Williamsburg, VA. So much history in the area with mountains and beach as well as Washington DC and other historic states nearby.\u00a0 We\u2019ve traveled to many of them at this point.<\/span><\/p>\n 5. As full time RV-ers, how are you able to work while on the road? Do you stress out about work? What has been the most unique part about living in an RV?\u00a0 Do you ever feel like you need more space or need space away from each other?<\/strong><\/p>\n Working on the road is relatively easy.\u00a0 As long as I have a stable internet connection, I am able to work from anywhere.\u00a0 We purchased a similar device that emergency responders and police officers use that allow us to use a dual SIM card setup for the best signal for data use.\u00a0 It\u2019s a range extender as well, so it provides us the strongest signal up to 50 miles away. Meredith\u2019s CRNA licenses are the biggest hurdles that usually dictate where we go next.\u00a0 If she likes a particular site and they offer to extend her contract, it was often best to accept the extension and continue earning the income to pay off the student loan debt. We do have work stress like anyone else, but we don\u2019t stress for work as it\u2019s been consistent in our specific careers.\u00a0 The most unique part about living in a RV is the simplicity of our lives outside of work. Cleaning takes such a small effort and amount of time comparably to a traditional home and cooking in a small space has proven challenging, but totally doable. We cook at home 4-5 nights a week, which also saves us costs.\u00a0 I\u2019ll say this, I\u2019ll never underestimate the power of a dishwasher ever again. Hand-washing dishes isn\u2019t a bad thing, but the convenience of a dishwasher is something we miss most. We have days where we miss having more space, but we are instantly reminded of what the life was like before RV life. We had more space, but no time to spend with each other.\u00a0 It might sound clich\u00e9, but we are each other\u2019s best friends. We have the same interests and we love doing things together. We realized we spend so much time with each other usually in one room, that the RV wouldn\u2019t be an issue. It also helps that we purchased a 42 foot 5<\/span>th<\/span> wheel RV.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not as small as you would think<\/span>. 6. Do you feel deprived?\u00a0 Do you feel like you are sacrificing and missing out on life?\u00a0 How would you say your mindset has shifted throughout your FI journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n We definitely don\u2019t feel deprived.\u00a0 We take trips to beautiful places, we see new places, we experience new things together, and most importantly, we have more time together than we did before.\u00a0 We do feel like we are sacrificing but it is for our own benefit in the short future. Suffer present pain for future gain, something my dad used to say. Our RV is super nice though with all the comforts of home and it even has a king bed, so there\u2019s a reason they call it \u201cGlamping\u201d.\u00a0 Our mindset is definitely heavily focused on our financial freedom the closer we get to achieve each milestone. We are now more motivated than ever because we crossed the 1 year mark of RV life, which was a feat we thought before we started was a challenge within itself. FI is real for us now and we are hustling now more than ever to make that a solid reality.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 7. What do you spend your money on and what don’t you spend your money on? What brings you happiness and joy? How much money do these things cost?<\/strong><\/p>\n Our typical expenses are our monthly rent and our grocery bill.\u00a0 Those likely make up the greater percentage of our budget. As mentioned before, we cook healthy meals 4-5 days a week in our RV and we reserve the weekends as our opportunity to get out for date days and date nights to try fun and exciting restaurants in the areas we travel to.\u00a0 We avoid spending our money on \u2018knicknacks\u2019, things that sit on shelves, etc. When we do feel the need to buy a new shirt or something clothing related, the RV helps us get rid of something old that we don\u2019t wear any longer. Space is limited and it has to be something we like or it will get sold or donated.\u00a0 Our monthly expense for the RV and lodging typically costs $1200 with our monthly groceries and dining out being our biggest budget offender. We usually spend $2,000-2,200.\u00a0 Which as we\u2019ve been told, is quite high for the two of us, but with our combined income, we make it work. We are also very into health and fitness and generally prepare our food for the week from scratch.<\/span><\/p>\n 8. Do you use a budget?\u00a0 Do you track your expenses? Do you track your net worth? If so, how often do you update these?<\/strong><\/p>\n At the moment, we don\u2019t track our net worth.\u00a0 We have a ball park that we keep in the back of our mind, but now that we have recently removed the student loan debt, we have a better idea of what that value is.\u00a0 We do use a budget and typically stick to it consistently and make adjustments where necessary. Because Meredith is a full 1099 contract employee and we have other investments, we track virtually 90% of our expenses.\u00a0 The only expenses we don\u2019t currently track are vacation related expenses. These we cannot claim for tax purposes. I use just 2 things to track expenses. The first is an Excel spreadsheet with formulas broken down by category and month.\u00a0 The second is an App called \u201c<\/span>Expensify<\/a><\/span>\u201d. Expensify captures all of our receipts and I can build reports off of them for tracking and for tax reporting purposes. I track expenses every month.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 9. As a FIRE member living in the US, are there any pros to living in America specifically that have helped you along your journey?\u00a0 Conversely, any cons?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a great question.\u00a0 Arguably, the US has pros and cons.\u00a0 I would state that in America, the ability to find a job that works best for us living nomadically is definitely a pro.\u00a0 Another \u2018pro\u2019 may be the abundance of RV parks and campgrounds across the country that provide electricity, water, Internet, and TV for a bundled monthly rate oftentimes less than what rent would be on an apartment.\u00a0 Not having to pay separately for utilities in our case helps our FI journey. Conversely, America doesn\u2019t want you to live nomadically. Our system is built on a physical address for everything. Receiving mail, paying your taxes, registering your automobiles, applying for loans, etc.\u00a0 It\u2019s ironic because America at its roots was a nomadic culture so many years ago. The Government makes it difficult to work and travel at the same time. These are all cons that take careful planning and constant review. For Meredith, the licenses for her profession are often independent of each state which prevents her from applying for one and using that same state license in another state.\u00a0 Some states have agreed to build a \u2018multi-state\u2019 license, but that is a relatively small amount of states. Each state has different requirements for her to be approved and a lengthy application process. The ironic part about this is that these states and specific areas experience staffing shortages, but make applying to assist with these shortages a challenge. <\/span><\/p>\n 10. What is your investment strategy? Do you invest in mutual funds, index funds, dividend growth stocks, real estate, other businesses, etc.?\u00a0 Has your investment strategy changed over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Currently our investments are mixed mutual and dividend funds and stocks with real estate.\u00a0 We are more interested in building a real estate portfolio than investing mostly in stocks and funds.\u00a0 We realize the importance of IRAs and want to ensure we continue investing in them, but we like real estate.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tangible asset, something you can leverage for the present while also planning for the future. We are also strategizing other businesses to build and invest in as well.\u00a0 The strategy has changed a bit over the years. We were taught to maximize in your employer\u2019s retirement plan. These days we don\u2019t believe solely on this strategy.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 11. If you could go back in time and change things, what would you have done differently?<\/strong><\/p>\n We would both answer with wishing we would have started our full-time RV life journey sooner.\u00a0 We\u2019ve already experienced the benefits in just one year\u2019s time. We always say, \u2018can you imagine if we had started 3 years ago where we\u2019d be\u2019?\u00a0 If we had it to do over again, we may have opted to hit the road full time first instead of purchasing our home. We have a hard time fully committing to that thought though, because if we hadn\u2019t we may have never found the journey we are on now.\u00a0 If we didn\u2019t have one we likely wouldn\u2019t have found the other.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 12. Has discovering financial independence changed how you view your job and life overall?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Absolutely.\u00a0 I (Brett) was recently laid off from my employer for the first time in my life.\u00a0 Fortunately, this happened early in my life so I was able to bounce back quickly, but it served as a reminder that my life and my life with Meredith is more important than the time and effort I put into a career or with an employer.\u00a0 Life\u2019s too short to be identified solely based on \u2018what you do\u2019 career-wise. We\u2019ve changed our life drastically so that we leverage our skills and experience to benefit us and our lives outside of work. An employer these days only care about their bottomline and could care less about the lives of their employees.\u00a0 Why should we care about the employer\u2019s success? We provide what they need to be successful, not the other way around. It\u2019s about getting some control back in our lives. RV life and travel has helped provide this. Life is short and we\u2019d rather experience it for what it truly was meant for than sacrifice it for work.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, we love our careers and what it took to accomplish them, but for us it\u2019s about working smart, not hard. For Meredith, she loves her career, but it is and can be highly stressful. Her ability to take contracts gives her freedom to choose her hours and days worked as well as opting to not take call, etc.\u00a0 She essentially wants much more work life balance. 13. Do you take advantage of tax advantaged accounts offered to you?\u00a0 If so, which ones and how so?\u00a0 Do you have a game plan to be able to withdraw from these funds without getting hit with a penalty?<\/strong><\/p>\n We have as my former employer offered them.\u00a0 To start building our real estate investments, we utilized this benefit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 14. Do you have any thoughts\/plans to have kids in the future? If so, is RV life still in the plans post kids? What do you estimate your annual child related costs will be each year?<\/strong><\/p>\n We get the kids question asked pretty frequently.\u00a0 If we are blessed to have a family, we’d be happy.\u00a0 If that doesn’t work into the equation, there’s other options and we’ll be happy with that too.\u00a0 RV life with kids can absolutely be done.\u00a0 There’s so many full-time RV families out there making it happen now! We likely would continue this RV journey if we are able to.\u00a0 As for cost, I’m sure it would dip into the savings rate a bit, but we honestly haven’t punched in any numbers for that at this point.<\/p>\n 15. As an American pursuing FIRE, what are your post-FIRE thoughts\/plans regarding health coverage? As a reference, what are your current annual or monthly health related costs (be it insurance, co-pays, deductibles, etc.)? What do you estimate your post-FIRE health costs to be or year?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As a side note, I\u2019d really like to start a business for early retirees related to health insurance.\u00a0 Something unlike anything offered in our country currently.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to go into the specifics now, but I\u2019d like to think it would be a game changer.\u00a0 Especially for us younger generations.\u00a0 This is something I plan to research further on our journey to see if it could be attainable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 16. Where do you see yourself in the next year, 5 years, 10 years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Hopefully, working part-time for an employer, and full-time for our investments.\u00a0 Helping our money work for us. The goal is to continue our RV life and build our investments while removing all debts to possibly reach the RE side of FIRE at some point.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 17. Have you come out of the FIRE closet yet? Meaning, do your friends, family, co-workers etc. know about your financial independence goals?\u00a0 If so, how did you bring it up and what were their reactions?\u00a0 If not, why not?\u00a0 Why do you struggle with this conversation and why do you feel that money such a taboo topic?<\/strong><\/p>\n We did when we told them we were selling everything and hitting to road in our RV full-time to achieve FI.\u00a0 We were pretty nervous to tell them truthfully. Much to our surprise they supported us and our decision to do something differently.\u00a0 When people ask us where we are from, we tell them EVERYWHERE! We love the confused looks and then once we tell them what we do and what we\u2019ve achieved, they almost always want to know more, how, etc?\u00a0 In our experience we\u2019ve met so many people both young and old who love what we are doing and support it 100%. At the beginning we didn\u2019t want to share for fear of judgement, but now\u2026we can\u2019t wait to bring it up.\u00a0 Discussing money and personal finance is still a tough one to discuss openly, you never know who you can trust. People can be vindictive, want what you have, and make it their mission to take something from you. We remain as open as possible on this topic, but in some cases we do hold back.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 18. What pieces of advice would you suggest to someone who is just starting out or someone who is working toward reaching financial independence?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Read, research, and reach out to like-minded people.\u00a0 Find a community that supports your thoughts. Leverage others\u2019 experiences to help educate yourself on what would work best for you.\u00a0 There\u2019s a ton of material out there that can help you build what your goals should be. Stay true to what your passion is and don\u2019t accept that it cannot be done.\u00a0 Ask questions, even if it\u2019s a silly one. Understand that there is no perfect guideline to follow as everyone\u2019s situation is different. Make lists, develop a budget, and track every expense.\u00a0 Leverage your career to maximize your worth and what will give you the best success. If the opportunity to move for your job opens up, take it. Especially if it increases your income. 19. What has been your greatest accomplishment to date?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to pick a single instance as independently we\u2019ve both accomplished quite a bit. But for us together, accomplishing 1 full year of living, traveling, and working from our RV full-time.\u00a0 This was a feat that seemed larger than life when we started. We had many setbacks, some of them major and we kept pursuing our goals. Financially speaking, we\u2019ve removed over $125,000 worth of student loan and personal debt in just a year\u2019s time.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 20. Are there any books, blogs, or podcasts that you would recommend for our readers to check out?<\/strong><\/p>\n Books:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Websites:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Podcasts:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 21. How can people get in contact with you? (if you want to remain anonymous ignore this question)\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n We have our blog (<\/span>www.drivingtowardsfire.com<\/a><\/span>) and we usually respond quickly on our Instagram (@Drivingtowardsfire).\u00a0 We also have a Facebook page (DrivingTowardsFire).\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n 22. Anything else you’d like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n Just to encourage those that think differently and want more from life, there\u2019s no better time than now to start.\u00a0 You can make changes anytime you feel something is working right for you. Don\u2019t accept what \u2018you are supposed to do\u2019, challenge that and find what you are meant to do<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Well FImily it\u2019s that time of the year for the next installment of the FIRE Community Interview Series! For anyone new here, this interview series …<\/p>\n
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