6. What are some of the more unique\/uncommon ways you\u2019ve cut down costs? <\/strong><\/p>\n

We of course do the typical: owning used (and old!) cars, living in a house several times cheaper than what we could afford, buying second hand a lot, re-evaluating our providers (insurance, internet etc) to compare rates, travel hacking, etc. I think where we are probably more unique is that we are really low maintenance. I almost never buy makeup, jewelry, new clothes, and usually we could care less about \u201cstuff\u201d. We also make tons of things from scratch (our bread, burger buns, tomato sauce, yogurts, granola, cakes, mustard, and just meals in general but also I make my own shampoo now!). We garden, and we have made lots of eco-friendlier transitions: cloth diapers and washcloths, soapberries for laundry, lots of tips to avoid food waste, cloth towels and napkins, air drying (when feasible outside only!).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As mentioned above, we have significantly cut our groceries expenses (by 2!) by 1) stretching time between grocery hauls (not going every weekend by default anymore but instead being more creating with what we have, so avoiding food waste) 2) having a running list where we capture what we run out of, and then we add what we need based on meal planning 3) comparing prices between stores 4) buying in bulk when we can (ex: I order our bread flour by 50lbs)<\/span><\/p>\n

7. 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

I\u2019m a spreadsheet nerd! I track every cent spent and whether we are within our $400 every week, then our savings rate monthly. Also have been tracking Net Worth monthly for the last 6 months probably and I wish I had started sooner because it is really cool to see it grow!<\/span><\/p>\n

8. I know you are very eco-conscious.\u00a0 How would you say sustainability, minimalism, and FI are intertwined?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like a virtuous circle! Add slow life to the list and here is what I aspire to! Each brings meaning to and enables the other. It really goes back to what is essential: TIME. Money is just an enabler in our story, we have no desire to be rich because we know we don\u2019t need much, we don\u2019t want to accumulate \u201cstuff\u201d that will add stress into our life instead of joy. What we want is to be with our kids while they grow (free, no impact to environment, no \u201cstuff\u201d needed), run\/hike outside (same), read books, grow our food, cook, really be in the moment (watch a animal, smell the freshly cut grass, listen to a river flow, feel the air, touch a tree, hug each other,…). That probably sounds idealistic but I believe there is no other truth and our modern consumerist over active lives are insane (literally, lack of sanity).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

9. As a FI 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<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mostly pros since we are still there \ud83d\ude42 We could never save and invest that much money back in France, and would not have the career opportunities we have had. In general, life here is also more convenient (stores are open all the time, you can usually pick your daycare vs being on a waiting list for months, large roads, parking spots everywhere, people and businesses are service oriented, administrative activities can usually be done online and efficiently (I\u2019ll tell you another day about how much easier and quicker it is to buy real estate in the US vs France!!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Only con really is distance with our families, especially since we have kids. I feel bad for taking grandparents\/grandkids time away from these two generations! And it\u2019s obviously been really bad with Covid as we haven\u2019t gone back for over 1.5 years so they haven\u2019t met our baby daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

10. What is your investment strategy? Do you invest in index funds, dividend stocks, real estate, other businesses, etc.?\u00a0 Has your investment strategy changed over the years?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We started with the french real estate shares SCPI (remember, like REITs but not really), then massively invested in rental properties (we have 9 now, including 7 apartments in France and 2 single-family here in the US). We also have our 401k\u2019s where we invested in low fee index funds (have contributed to the employer match, never maxed out), and a whole life insurance (I know – everybody in the FIRE community is screaming right now!) that we are going to be borrowing from as one of our sources of passive income. Our strategy has been evolving consistently as we learn things, run numbers etc. We are now at a point where we have put everything in place and \u201cjust\u201d have to pay off to become financially free. We are focusing on our US mortgages first (higher rates) and paid off our first purchased property in December 2020. It has been SO nice to receive our first truly passive income and we are on a roll to keep adding to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

11. 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 when the time comes?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have an HSA that we use for our medical expenses for that year (not investing that money and not letting sit because we won\u2019t be retiring in the US), a dependent care FSA for daycare and our 401k. We have \u201conly\u201d been contributing to the employer match because of the restrictions around withdrawals before age 59.5 (10% penalty). Our goal is really to retire while the kids are still kids so we want to put all the money possible towards accelerating that. Depending on our scenarios (FIRE or FAT FIRE) and therefore how many years we keep working, we might or might not withdraw part of our 401k to complement income until we start borrowing from whole life insurance in 2031 and\/or as downpayment for a house.<\/span><\/p>\n

12. Speaking of withdrawals, what is the withdrawal rate you plan to use when you withdraw from your portfolio?\u00a0 Are you a fan of the \u201c4% rule\u201d or something else?\u00a0 Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not applicable in our case! \ud83d\ude42 If it was, my guess is we would probably target a 3.5% or even 3% to be on the safe side, because to us it isn\u2019t because the market has always gone up that it will continue that way forever. Global warming is \u201cnew\u201d and its impacts aren\u2019t fully known yet but we think there will be areas no human can live in anymore (due to heat, flooding, erosion, etc), there will be lots of immigration to certain zones as a result. We believe that at some point, degrowth will be inevitable (whether it is \u201cchosen\u201d by humans or forced).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also we believe that the fact that more and more people invest passively in index funds has an impact on the market itself (there are articles out there to explain that way better than I would!).<\/span><\/p>\n

13. How has being an immigrant impacted your FI journey?\u00a0 I know you have some real estate back in France while living in the US.\u00a0 How has that process been?\u00a0 Are there any hurdles to being French expats living in the States?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being an immigrant has impacted our journey in many ways I believe. It has accelerated it due to our saving rate as explained before. I also think the fact we are away from our family\/friends\/the society in which we grew up, has given our brains more freedom :-). We have been able to dream, make plans etc towards financial independence without somebody telling us right away how crazy\/impossible this is. We have of course shared our plans with our parents, at different degrees depending on which parent it is, but it was only once we already were convinced this was our path. So some of their reactions (some laughing, some being scared for us), did not affect us and our plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

As far as Real Estate: quite a process for sure! Mainly the first purchase(s). It took us a lot of time to find a lender. We had gone \u201call in\u201d in 2017, deciding to move forward with 3 apartments that needed significant rehabs. The company we were contracting was managing it all (turnkey type), and for the projections to actually work, we needed the rehab to be financed as well. Except no bank accepted us because we live in the US. So we ended up having to cash flow all the rehab work, furniture (these 3 are furnished), closing costs + 20% down payment. Needless to say 1) it was no longer a good investment from an ROI perspective 2) we were extremely fortunate we could absorb this additional cost without going broke. We didn\u2019t know better, went with it, and in the end we also aren\u2019t anywhere close to the projected (by that company) rents. BAD investments, LOTS of mistakes. Would we do it differently knowing what we know today? ABSOLUTELY! Do we have regrets? No. We did something. We took actions towards our future selves. We started the motion. And now, although not the best investments for sure, we still have 3 apartments that are around 40% paid off and on which we have less than 7 year of mortgage to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back to the process of buying real estate in France from the US: everything over there is slower and more complicated. Takes forever to close. Takes lots of follow up to get people to respond. We bought 3 properties in the US within 6 months and I can tell you, it was MUCH easier and headache free.<\/span><\/p>\n

In general also, it is complicated to open (or even keep sometimes) a bank account in Europe when you live in the US. IRS has scared everyone off! \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n

And yes, we do plan to go back there to retire mainly because that is where our families are and that we look forward to being able to visit the different french regions, eat the good food and also go to Spain and Italy easily as we both love these countries. The authenticity, culture and history there is really cool.<\/span><\/p>\n

14. How does life in the US compare to life back in France?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I mentioned above how everything is more convenient and efficient here in the US. People are also very nice, helpful, they mind their own business in general. In France, there is more \u201cconflict\u201d (not always in a bad way) in general. People love to complain, to debate, to judge what other people do, etc. Consumerism and materialism are stronger in the US, although I\u2019m not sure France has been evolving in the right (to me) direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

And as far as food\u2026 no comments \ud83d\ude42 Finer there for sure, and probably healthier too. There tend to be more fat\/salt\/sugar and less variety in the food we find\/buy here. Like for instance the food that is provided at daycare\/school for kids is soooo different. In the US sometimes you feel like the only vegetables that exist are like carrots, zucchinis, peas, potatoes and green beans \ud83d\ude42 There are so many more!!<\/span><\/p>\n

15. What are your post-FIRE thoughts\/plans regarding health coverage?\u00a0 As a reference, what do you currently pay annually or monthly for health related costs (be it insurance, co-pays, deductibles, etc.)? What do you estimate your post-FIRE health costs to be per year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ugh that is a good question but I don\u2019t have a firm answer just yet. In France, health insurance is part of social security and it isn\u2019t totally clear to me what our options will be (depending on if we have a small business for instance). We projected 500 euros\/month for now but this will need to be refined as we get closer and study more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We currently have insurance through our employer. We have a fairly high deductible plan with an HSA and pay less than $200\/month for medical, dental and vision for the family.<\/span><\/p>\n

16. As a parent, have you found that having children has greatly delayed your timeline to FIRE?\u00a0 How much money have you spent on your children per year (per child)?\u00a0 What were some of the bigger costs that were worth it and what were some of the bigger costs that were not worth it?\u00a0 Do you have a 529 account open for their post-secondary education?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean… our biggest expense is our kids. We pay around $2700\/month just in daycare. So probably yes it has delayed us in some ways but at the same time, they\u2019ve always been part of the \u201cplan\u201d and our motivation to get to FIRE has increased since they were born. Our WHY has gotten bigger and stronger and we have therefore taken more aggressive steps towards it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of spendings, we have done better with #2. For our son we did disposable diapers and wipes until he was 2.5 yr old before we transitioned to cloth at the same time we did for our 6 month old daughter. I also breastfed my daughter longer thanks to work from home so we\u2019ll likely skip the formula costs. Labor and delivery probably around $3500-$4000 out of pocket each. We also spend money in IUIs and fertility related exams to conceive them (but our plan was very generous with these). Clothing for both has been, for the most part, hand-me-downs. More details on one of my IG posts on random kids related items (usually 2nd hand) we have purchased and their cost!<\/span><\/p>\n

No 529, nope. To be honest, because we are planning on moving back to Europe we haven\u2019t even looked into how these work. And the idea is that putting all our money towards building these assets will allow us to spend lots of time with them while they grow up and will eventually be theirs.<\/span><\/p>\n

17. If you could go back in time and change things, what would you have done differently?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a very forward thinking person so I don\u2019t carry regrets. Hubby is different. For instance, out of the many mistakes we have made throughout our journey is that at the beginning of Covid we had money we had to withdraw from a pension fund and he had the brilliant idea to invest in oil. At first, we had talked about selling after like 6 months (the time we initially thought the pandemic\/crisis would last\u2026 LOL). We invested 120k (!!) and it quickly went up to $140ish. We debated about selling at that point but decided not to as we were supposed to be in it for longer and were hopeful it was going to go up. Then it went down to like half, and hubby was freaking out and telling me to sell. At that point we committed to never do that again, never try to be the smartest in the block anymore and never speculate again. But still had to align on our exit strategy. Eventually, we ran some numbers and decided that whenever it would be back to a number that would allow us to pay off our first rental property, we would sell. Which we did (well, a little lower than this actually but that is just a detail). Also, as I\u2019m typing this, I am waiting for a Turo guest (renting our car is our main side hustle) who was supposed to return the car several hours ago. Worst case it\u2019s been stolen or in an accident. Best case I have lost precious hours of sleep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So yeah, many mistakes along the way that have for sure delayed us but we\u2019ve learnt a lot from them so not wishing I could re-write things.<\/span><\/p>\n

18. Has discovering financial independence changed how you view your job and life overall?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Totally! A lot of my friends are going through a sort of mid-life (or at least mid-thirties) crisis, challenging why they do what they do and wondering if it is all worth it. I often tell hubby I\u2019d be on the same boat if we didn\u2019t have our FIRE plans. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I like my current job, I am never bored, am compensated fairly well, like my coworkers and my boss. But if we didn\u2019t have our mid-term plans to retire early, I would not be okay with dedicating as much time and brain space to work as we do today if we had to keep doing it until we are 65+ and then what? Our kids are grown up and our parents have passed or are too old to enjoy life with us?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I highly respect those who take the Coast or Slow FIRE road but every time we consider these other options (make significant changes to our life now towards what we want our FIRE life to be, while delaying when we get to retire), we agree that this isn\u2019t our path. We want to be work optional and we want it to happen as quickly as possible. We would not do ANYTHING to accelerate, which means we would not accept jobs with long commute or lots of travel for instance even if it meant more money (unless it was for a very short period of time and very significant amount of money :-)). Although we know work takes more space than it ideally should, we are also aware that we are really lucky and spend more time with our kids than the majority of working parents we know.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

19. 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 is such a taboo topic?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haha the \u201cFIRE closet\u201d \ud83d\ude42 Yes, we have come out for the most part. Our parents know, at different levels of details and they probably all doubt we are going to actually make it (either actually get to a passive income that would be sufficient for support our family for the rest of our lives, or that we will have the guts\/desire to actually quit our well paid and promising careers). Some friends we have told everything, including some numbers to some, and other friends we have told very little. Most laugh when we mention it, mostly because we\u2019ve been telling them we would come back to France soon for a long time now and they don\u2019t believe us anymore \ud83d\ude42 Others have said they would get bored without work. I respect that opinion, but do think it is an evidence of alienation. Some people, and I don\u2019t blame them because that\u2019s all most know, can\u2019t even picture a life without work which is crazy when you think big picture. We\u2019re so into it every day we don\u2019t even question it. But WTF are we all doing? Rat racing for years, counting the days until the weekend, counting the weeks until the next vacation, and then wondering where our time has gone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is pretty cool because we have friends (she was actually our co-worker and her and her husband became our close friends) are now on their own path to FIRE after hearing about our plans. At the time we had the same, completely messed up, boss and it really motivated us all because you never know who your next F* up boss will be and you need your F* you money to say bye-bye! With them, we definitely share more details on our journey. They have had a different approach, focusing on an online business they launched and they are absolutely killing it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

20. 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

The best day to start the journey was the day you started to make money. The second best day is today! Just get started, action is what matters. You are going to make mistakes, and that is okay because you will learn from them. Obviously I\u2019m not recommending to just go do crazy things with your money without studying but 1) get your 401k to employer match TODAY 2) track all of your expenses, identify opportunities to decrease, combine, negotiate,… THE NEXT DAY 3) Define an amount you are going to save on each pay check (pay yourself first) and make it automatically hit your savings on pay day. THE DAY AFTER 4) then define your strategy, how can you increase your saving rate (by reducing expenses but also, absolutely, because \u201cmoney is unlimited\u201d (per Financial Freedom book), increasing your income), how\/where you will invest these savings, what your ideal life is and how you can get there. Early retirement isn\u2019t necessary the answer for all. You might be happier with a part time job now than no job in 10-15 years. No one size fits all. And track progress, celebrate the little milestones!<\/span><\/p>\n

21. What does the word \u2018success\u2019 mean to you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Might sound cheesy but it means happiness to me. It means I feel good about what I\u2019m doing with the little time that my one life has allocated me. That hubby and kids are happy, that we enjoy our time together. I\u2019m not necessarily wanting to spend much more time with the kids. I will enjoy having time for myself, time alone with hubby etc to do other things. But I want that time to really be WITH them, interacting, observing, listening, playing, singing, learning,.. Instead of getting all of the household stuff done while they are there as it often happens. When I am work optional, I want to learn new skills, I want my brain to have time to think and have new ideas like I did during my second maternity leave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

22. Are there any books, blogs, or podcasts that you would recommend for our readers to check out?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanja Hester\u2019s blog (\u201cOur Next Life\u201d) and book (\u201cWork Optional\u201d), \u201cQuit Like a Millionaire” book, \u201cChooseFI\u201d podcast and local groups (we joined the one in my area and went to a meet up before Covid, it was really nice to meet FIRE community folks around me and super helpful for local tips), \u201cAfford Anything\u201d podcast and the \u201cPurple Life\u201d blog. I have to say though, with work from home I have not been listening to podcasts in a while and the last book I read was during my maternity leave. So most of the resources I check out nowadays are Instagram accounts – Modern Flmily being one of them! \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/p>\n

23. How can people get in contact with you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through my IG account! @myown_terms<\/span><\/p>\n