September 2024 FIRE Update – Retire by 40

Hey everyone! Did you have a good month? September was glorious in the Pacific Northwest. The weather turned cooler, RB40Jr started 8^th grade, and life settled into a familiar rhythm after a hectic summer. RB40Jr joined the Ultimate Frisbee league and got back into Wushu. I enrolled in another ceramic class and worked about an hour per day on my side gig.  We capped off the month by exploring the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Life was busy in a good way and the month flew 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 positive. Our net worth increased quite a bit as well. We’re in great shape financially.

Alright, I’ll share how I’m doing with my New Year goals. Then, I’ll go over our net worth and cash flow. Let’s go!

2024 Goals

Here is my 2024 goal spreadsheet. It works well. Try it out if you can’t keep up with your New Year goals. The key is to review the spreadsheet monthly to track your progress. That way, you can see which goals need extra attention and work on them. We don’t have much time left in 2024.

Financial Goals

FI ratio > 100%

The FI ratio is passive income divided by expense. If you can generate enough passive income to cover your expenses, then you’re set. For 2024, I reduced this goal to 100%. We are getting older and I feel we can spend a bit more. After 9 months, our FI ratio is 116%. That’s very good.

*FI Ratio = passive income / expense

3% Rule

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 in 2024. This is a good way to test your retirement readiness. We’ll add everything up at the end of the year.

Track net worth and hope for +10%

I’ve been tracking our net worth since 2006. It’s great to see the progress. This year, I’d like to see 10% gains. At this point, the gain is completely dependent on the stock market and there isn’t much I can do to influence it. I’ll just track our net worth and keep my fingers crossed.

Our net worth gained 16.7% since the beginning of the year. Oh wow, that’s huge. Can the stock market maintain this pace for the rest of 2024? I seriously doubt it.   

Health Goals

Exercise 3x per week

Now that I’m 50, health is job 1. I need to exercise consistently so I can stay healthy longer. I joined a gym and plan to exercise at least 3 times per week. September was a good month. I went to the gym pretty often. I also took walks while RB40Jr was at Ultimate practice. I’m feeling pretty good. Getting fit after 50 is tough!

Health checks

Equally important is going to see the doctors. At this age, I have more maintenance and preventative care to deal with. Here is my list for 2024.

• Colonoscopy. Done!
• Annual physical. October.
• Dental exam. Done!
• Vision screening. Done!
• Immunization. Tdap booster Done! Flu vaccine later. October.

Fun goals

International trip

Mrs. RB40 turned 50 this year and she wanted to go on a fun memorable trip. We visited Japan for 3 weeks. It was awesome. We plan to visit again soon.   

Happiness level > 8

I’m a naturally happy guy so this should be easy. Life has been great over the last few years.

September was a good month. Life was busy in a good way and we didn’t have any big problem.

Help RB40Jr start a YouTube channel

We gave up on this one. RB40Jr. lost interest.  

Net Worth (+16.7%)

I’ve been tracking our net worth since 2006. It is very motivating to see our progress. The power of compounding is incredible. Our investment gains far outpace my engineering annual income. This year, our net worth is up 16.7% so far. That’s unexpected. I didn’t think the stock market would do so well this year.

***Important*** My best advice is to stay the course. Do not stop investing. You should keep investing whether the stock market is up or down. You might think stocks are too expensive, but it’ll look cheap in 10 years. Keep investing and you’ll achieve financial independence someday. Don’t try to time the market. 

This is a chart of our net worth from Empower. (Personal Capital is now Empower.) Sign up for a free account at Empower to help manage your net worth and investment accounts. I log in often to check our net worth 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 passive income. Mrs. RB40’s income isn’t here because she plans to retire in a few years.

September 2024 FIRE Income: $5,703

Our FIRE income was good in September.  

• Real estate crowdfunding: $29. You can read more on the RE Crowdfunding Passive Income page.
• Dividend Income: $2,168. Dividend income was good.
• Rental Income: $762. We had an uneventful month at the rentals.
• Blog income: $2,191. My online income continues to decline. September was a good month because I closed and cashed out an old account.
• Odd jobs: $553. Not bad for about 20 hours of work.      
• Other: $0.

Spending: $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. Our spending should be reasonable for the rest of the year. I think we should be right under $65,000.     

Here are some details.  

• Housing: $1,243. This includes mortgage, utilities, furniture, repair, and maintenance. Our housing expense is low because we live in a duplex. We split many expenses with our tenant.
• Transportation: $249. Gas and insurance.   
• Entertainment: $425. We ate out more often than usual last month. The Ultimate practice ran until 7pm and I didn’t have time to cook.       
• Groceries: $490. The grocery bill was lower than usual.
• Health: $74.   
• Kid: $1,107. Unfortunately, kid-related expenses are also increasing. We are making payments for his orthodontist and an international school trip. Wushu costs $550 every 3 months. Ultimate costs $100 per season.     
• Entertainment: $425.

Savings: –$2,064

September 2024 wrap-up

Alright, let’s wrap it up. September was a great month for us. The weather was perfect most of the month. It was a relief from a long hot summer. We kept busy and enjoyed life. Finance was good too. I feel very lucky.

That’s it for September. Did you have a good month? 

Passive income is the key to early retirement. These days, I’m investing in commercial properties with CrowdStreet. They have many projects across the United States. Go check them out!

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Joe started Retire by 40 in 2010 to figure out how to retire early. After 16 years of investing and saving, he achieved financial independence and retired at 38.

Passive income is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in commercial real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects across the USA so check them out!

Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.