Hello everyone! Did you have a good month? September was glorious in the Pacific Northwest. The weather turned for the better, RB40Jr started at 8th distance, and life settled into a normal rhythm after a busy summer. RB40Jr joined the Ultimate Frisbee league and returned to Wushu. I enrolled in another ceramic class and worked about an hour a day on my side gig. We ended the month by exploring the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Life was very busy and the month went by.
On the personal finance side, September was a good month. We had a lot of fun without spending a lot of money and kept our cash flow healthy. Our total is up a lot again. We are in a good financial position.
Ok, I’m going to share how I’m doing with my New Year’s resolutions. Then, I’ll look at our net worth and cash flow. Let’s go!
2024 Terms
Here is my goal spreadsheet for 2024. It works well. Try it if you can’t keep up with your New Year’s resolutions. The key is to review the spreadsheet every month to track your progress. That way, you can see which goals need more attention and work on them. We don’t have much time left in 2024.
Financial Terms
FI ratio > 100%
The FI ratio is revenue divided by expenses. If you can generate enough income to cover your expenses, you’re good to go. By 2024, I have reduced this goal to 100%. We are growing and I feel we could use more money. After 9 months, our FI rate is 116%. That is very good.
*FI rating = income / expenses
3% Law
Everyone is familiar with the 4% retirement withdrawal rule, right? Basically, you should have a successful retirement if you withdraw less than 4% of your investable assets annually. Let’s see if we can spend less than 3% of our net worth by 2024. This is a great way to assess your retirement readiness. We will put everything together by the end of the year.
Track net worth and hope by +10%
I have been tracking our value since 2006. Nice to see progress. This year, I would like to see 10% gains. At this point, the profit is completely dependent on the stock market and there is not much I can do to influence it. I’ll just track our value and cross my fingers.
Our total has gained 16.7% since the beginning of the year. Wow, that’s huge. Can the stock market maintain this momentum until the end of 2024? I highly doubt it.
Health Goals
Exercise 3 times a week
Now that I am 50 years old, health is a job 1. I need to exercise regularly to stay healthy for a long time. I joined a gym and plan to exercise at least 3 times a week. March was a good month. I used to go to the gym more often. I also went for a walk while the RB40Jr was in Ultimate practice. I feel fine. Life after 50 is hard!
Health check
Equally important is going to the doctor. At this age, I have more care and protection to deal with. Here is my list for 2024.
- Colonoscopy. Done!
- Physical year. October.
- Dental examination. Done!
- A vision test. Done!
- Immunization. Tdap booster Done! Flu vaccine later. October.
Happy goals
International travel
Mrs. RB40 was turning 50 this year and wanted to go on a fun ride he’ll never forget. We visited Japan for 3 weeks. It was good. We plan to visit again soon.
Happiness level > 8
I’m a happy guy by nature so this should be easy. Life has been good these past few years.
March was a good month. Life has been pretty busy and we haven’t had too much trouble.
Help RB40Jr start a YouTube channel
We stopped this one. The RB40Jr. lost interest.
Total Merit (+16.7%)
I have been tracking our value since 2006. It is very encouraging to see our progress. The power of integration is amazing. Our investment returns far outweigh my annual engineering fee. This year, our total number is up 16.7% year to date. That was unexpected. I didn’t think the stock market would do so well this year.
***Important*** My best advice is to stay with the lesson. Don’t stop investing. You should continue to invest whether the stock market is up or down. You may think stocks are expensive, but they will look cheap in 10 years. Keep investing and you will achieve financial independence one day. Don’t try to time the market.
This is our total value chart from Empower. (Personal Capital is now Accredited.) Sign up for a free account at Empower to help manage your net worth and investment accounts. I check in regularly to check all of our value and use their free tools. It’s a great site for DIY investors.
Sept 2024 FIRE Cash Flow
This FIRE cash flow chart includes my online income, side gigs, and taxable income. Mrs. RB40’s salary is not there because she plans to retire in a few years.
September 2024 FIRE Income: $5,703
Our FIRE salary was good in September.
- Real Estate crowdfunding: $29. You can read more on the RE Crowdfunding Passive Income page.
- Dividend IncomePrice: $2,168. The budget was good.
- Rental Fee: $762. We’ve had an uneventful month in rentals.
- Blog income: $2,191. My online income continues to drop. The month of September was good because I closed and removed the old account.
- Unusual activities: $553. Not bad for about 20 hours of work.
- Other: $0.
Cost: $3,639
This year, I plan to spend about $65,000. That was the amount we spent last year. After 3 quarters, we spent about $50,000. The way we spend money should be reasonable until the end of the year. I think we should be under $65,000.
Here are some details.
- HousesPrice: $1,243. This includes mortgage, utilities, furniture, repairs, and maintenance. Our housing costs are low because we live in a duplex. We split most of the costs with our tenant.
- TransportationPrice: $249. Gas and insurance.
- Entertainment: $425. We ate out more than usual last month. Ultimate practice went until 7pm and I didn’t have time to cook.
- GroceriesPrice: $490. The grocery bill was lower than usual.
- Life$74.
- A childPrice: $1,107. Unfortunately, child-related costs also add up. We make payments for his dentist and international school trips. Wushu costs $550 every 3 months. The latter costs $100 per season.
- EntertainmentPrice: $425.
To save:-$2,064
Closing September 2024
Okay, let’s wrap it up. September was a good month for us. The weather was very good during the month. It was a relief from the long hot summer. We kept ourselves busy and enjoyed life. Finances were also good. I feel very lucky.
Still in September. Did you have a good month?
A minimum wage is the key to early retirement. These days, I invest in commercial properties with CrowdStreet. They have many projects throughout the United States. Go check it out!
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A minimum wage is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects all over the USA so check them out!
Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital for DIY investors. They have many useful tools to help you achieve financial independence.
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