{"id":911,"date":"2019-10-24T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfimily.com\/?p=911"},"modified":"2019-12-08T08:54:40","modified_gmt":"2019-12-08T15:54:40","slug":"fire-community-interview-1-empowerment-through-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfimily.com\/fire-community-interview-1-empowerment-through-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"FIRE Community Interview #1 – Empowerment Through FIRE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sorry to interrupt the Investing 101 Series (Part 2 on Compound Interest is coming out next week) but we are SO excited to announce we are starting our monthly FIRE Community Interview Series!\u00a0 Each month, we will be posting a Q&A with an outside member of the FIRE community who we have connected with along our journey.\u00a0 We feel it is extremely important to hear other people’s views and to learn as much as possible from others.<\/p>\n

This interview series will cover people within the FIRE community who are on their way to becoming financial independent, have already reached financial independence, or who have retired early.\u00a0If you are reading this and you are financially independent, retired early, or close to reaching these major financial milestones, please reach out to the Modern Fimily!<\/a><\/p>\n

For this first interview, I’m delighted to welcome D who sent over her responses within 24 hours of me sending over these questions (you goody two shoes rock star)! I met D through Instagram, you can find her at eating_to_fire<\/a>, and she honestly cracks me up.\u00a0 She is always providing comments that make me laugh out loud and she has one of the best senses of humor out there. And we were both Floridians in our past lives too!<\/p>\n

So without further ado – take it away D!<\/p>\n

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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><\/div>\n
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I’m a 33 year old woman living in Washington, DC and working in corporate America, specifically, in management consulting.\u00a0 I’m also an immigrant and spent the first 10 years of my life in a war zone in the Middle East before moving to Florida with my family.\u00a0 I always feel as though I need to clarify the picture of my childhood immediately after disclosing it because the description at face value sounds so bleak to a Western audience; I had a happy and loving home life with AH-MAZING parents, an enormous, loud, intrusive, and self-sacrificing network of relatives, and a rigorous and happy school environment.\u00a0 I was so happy as a kid that I never noticed we were refugees… or that I was missing big chunks of school because a militia took over our neighborhood and we couldn’t leave…or that my mom would ration my medication because we couldn’t get more.\u00a0 I legitimately had no idea that this wasn’t normal, but am so grateful for the experience and what it taught me about the wealth and resilience that comes from having strong relationships with people you care about.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I found FIRE through Go Curry Cracker… I think I stumbled across the Yahoo article sometime around September 2015, and immediately fell down a rabbit hole that I’ve yet to resurface from.<\/div>\n
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2. When in your journey did you realize financial independence was actually possible?\u00a0 Was that the original goal at the beginning?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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I was lucky to find FIRE just as I was moving to a higher paying job and wrapping up my student loan repayment, and very quickly became OBSESSED.\u00a0 I come from a culture where people work until they physically can’t, so the concept of having enough money to live a life of leisure BLEW. MY. MIND.\u00a0 I’ve set a FI number of $750K with an RE number of $1 million.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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3.\u00a0\u00a0To 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?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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I don’t have perfect numbers for 2019 yet, but I’m anticipating a 37% pre-tax savings rate and a 51% post-tax savings rate.\u00a0 This was not my original target.\u00a0 2019 was a slower year for me financially as I took up the costs of my amazing sister’s fight against breast cancer so she could focus on annihilating it, which she did.\u00a0 My goal for 2020 is to hit 70% post-tax savings rate.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I work pretty long hours and I’m anticipating a promotion this year, which may increase my hours even more and will definitely increase my salary.\u00a0 If the economy improves a bit, I’d like to switch jobs as I don’t see myself sustaining a 60-110 hours\/week for the 8 or so years I have until I FIRE.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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4.\u00a0 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><\/div>\n
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No! I have NEVER in my life felt this empowered, this financially stable, or this in touch with my values.\u00a0 I’ve also never been this capable at my job, this connected to my family, or this invested in my health.\u00a0 I’m not suggesting FIRE is a cure all that will eliminate all woes, but boy does it help whip an apathetic butt into shape.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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5. What do you spend your money on and what don’t you spend your money on? Do you use a budget?\u00a0 Do you track your expenses?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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I *suck* at budgeting.\u00a0 I have a budget and find it helpful to see how the numbers flow, but I use it more as a general framework.\u00a0 I really just try to keep a handle on the big stuff – rent, transportation, and food while maxing out retirement accounts and throwing extras into a brokerage account.\u00a0 I do use both Mint and Personal Capital, but mostly for a rearview look into my financial behavior. I’m not a big shopper, drinker, or consumer, but I do spend money on travel and take 2-7 trips a year.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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6.\u00a0 What brings you happiness and joy? How much money do these things cost?<\/strong><\/div>\n
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My family and friends, making things, traveling, having my hands in dirt, being in nature, and learning new things.\u00a0 Most of these activities are free, with travel being the exception.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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7. 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><\/div>\n
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I invest in Vanguard Index funds\/ETFs (total stock market, S&P 500, and international stock market) when possible, otherwise the cheapest Blends available .\u00a0 I currently work for one of the “Big Four<\/a>” and have to maintain something called “independence compliance” per the terms of my employment.\u00a0 This means I cannot invest in any company that my company is providing Audit, M&A, or Regulatory services to, even if I’m not in any way involved in those activities.\u00a0 This limits what I can invest in on the market.\u00a0 Consequently and in the interest of simplicity, I just use the Vanguard funds my company has made available and call it a day.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My currently allocation, which costs me <1% in fees, is:<\/div>\n