Author: JustinRoG

Retired at 33. I'm here to share some financial wisdom with everyone.

September 2016 Financial Update

Financial Independence, Personal Finance

I can’t believe September is already over! Our oldest two kids are settling into the back to school routine (with a few hiccups along the way) while our youngest starts one day per week pre-school next week. Fall usually brings cooler, dryer weather to North Carolina but this year summer decided to overstay its welcome by keeping the warm, humid air around much longer than normal.

September was another great month for us financially. Our income remained strong at $5,695 while our spending remained below budget at $2,781. Net worth increased by $12,000 to $1,647,000.

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How to Pay for College while Early Retired

Awesome!, Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Moneyhacks, Parenting, Personal Finance

One of the top questions I’m asked when people see “retired at 33 with 3 kids” is “yeah, but what about college?”. The truth is I never really gave it a lot of thought because the total cost is well into the future (though closing in fast for our oldest kid) and not huge relative to our total net worth. I had a very vague goal of being able to cover the tuition and fees for four years of in-state tuition for all three kids.

We funneled some cash into 529 accounts when North Carolina offered a tax credit for doing so. We earned a $350 tax credit for contributing $5,000 per year to the 529. When that tax credit was eliminated, I stopped contributing to the 529s and stopped thinking about college funding. Paying tens of thousands of dollars for college is no biggie when you have a million or two, right?

It turns out my lazy attitude toward college funding won’t spell disaster for my children’s higher education future. Between what we have saved in 529s, our large investment portfolio, and a plethora of other funding sources, the kids will be perfectly fine when the college tuition bills start piling up. You’ll have to read on to find out why I’m so confident (or is it cocky?).

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August 2016 Financial Update

Awesome!, Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Now that August is over, we are officially in the last third of the year! It’s hard to believe the year is already winding down. August was a decent month financially. Our net worth crept up another $2,000 to $1,635,000. Income totaled $5,191 while expenses were $2,817 for the month.

After spending the last half of July and the first part of August on our three and a half week road trip to Canada, we returned home in mid-August to a flurry of activity to get the kids ready for school. That meant buying school supplies (including a brand new fancy pants TI-84 CE color graphing calculator) and attending two back to school orientations. Our oldest daughter just entered middle school so now we have twice as many PTA meetings and school events to fit into our not-so-busy schedules. She’s loving middle school so far!

Here’s what our August 2016 looks like under a financial microscope.

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July 2016 Financial Update

Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Thanks July, you were great. Can you tell August to keep doing the same thing please? Our net worth continued to climb throughout July to an all time high of $1,633,000. Spending was very low at $1,190 while income was a bit higher for the month at $2,336.

We just returned home from our three and a half week road trip to Canada and it was a huge success! Some of those travel expenses are included in this post, however I hope to have a separate post outlining our trip and the travel budget later in August.

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June 2016 Financial Update

Financial Independence, Personal Finance

On a day to day basis, our net worth in June zipped around like a spooked jackrabbit chased by a wolf. That rabbit didn’t know the wolf’s name was Brexit. By the end of the month, nothing much changed, with our net worth increasing very slightly by $1,000 to $1,566,000. Income remained strong at $7,614 thanks to dividend payments at the end of the second quarter. Expenses continued to be low in spite of a hefty estimated tax bill coming due in June. Overall, our early retirement finances are looking great and our cash buffer account keeps growing.

The start of summer was remarkably mild here in North Carolina and we have enjoyed numerous days with temperatures in the 70’s. I expect we are escaping the heat just in time as we’re about to depart on a three and a half week road trip to Canada.

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A Night at the Focus Group

Awesome!

When I received a call one evening promising $75 in exchange for participating in a two hour focus group, I figured “easy money”. It turns out it’s not only easy money but a fun time if you’re into observing humans and watching the industrial marketing machine at its finest.

At the end of May I left the house a couple minutes past 5:00 pm destined for the office building where the focus group session was being held. Since I was traveling during rush hour I allowed a few extra minutes to reach my destination that, according to Google Maps, was supposed to be 12 minutes away during normal traffic.

I’ll be honest. I hardly ever drive in rush hour traffic (I’m retired). The drivers next to me gently reminded me it’s hell, or at least a scalding hot version of purgatory. Within a mile of my house, my minivan was almost the victim of insane aggressive driving not once, but twice. Where are all these people going in such a hurry? I bet commuting is the worst part of the work day for a large minority of employees.

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May 2016 Financial Update

Financial Independence, Personal Finance

May proved to be another good month financially for us. Our net worth continued its upward march with a $13,000 addition, bringing total net worth to $1,565,000. Our income ballooned to $10,826 while our spending increased slightly to $2,979 to almost match our monthly spending target.

Summer sneaked up on us this year. The hot, humid air that just appeared in North Carolina is a reminder that spring is no longer with us. Fortunately, we’re escaping the heat by heading north to Canada for a couple of weeks. Our kids have four more days of school before they are out for the summer, which means us parents get to sleep in seven days per week.

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One Thousand Days of Early Retirement

Awesome!, Financial Independence, Lifestyle

1,000 days ago I retired early without really knowing it. When I walked in the office on the morning of August 26, 2013, I didn’t know it would be my last day of work forever (probably). I suspected something might happen to me on that Monday because another coworker was suddenly and unexpectedly terminated the previous business day and housecleaning often happens in clusters.

I spent the first hour of that day catching up on emails from the previous week that I missed while I was on vacation in Chicago. Then I jumped on a quick 9:00 am conference call to discuss the financial model for a new toll road proposed for the southern part of town. Then BOOM! The boss walked in the door with a fistful of bad tidings.

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April 2016 Financial Update

Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Now that April is over, we are one third of the way through 2016. How are we doing? Where are we going from here?

Financially, April was a great month on all fronts. Our net worth increased by $23,000 to $1,552,000. Our income remained strong at $2,471 even though it’s been a few months since we received any pay checks from employers. Our spending dropped significantly compared to last month to $1,829 (not buying a new minivan certainly helped keep expenses low).

On the personal side, April was an incredibly busy month. The weather was nice so we spent a lot of time outdoors. We were busy with kids’ school events and volunteering, hanging out with friends, and enjoying the wonderful life we have built through a decade of financial butt kicking. We capped off the month with a day trip to the beach for a wedding.

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