August 2025 FIRE Update – Retire by 40

Hey Everyone! It’s September, and the long days of summer are almost gone. RB40Jr started high school, and he seems to be enjoying it. He is taking Physics, Advanced Algebra, Computer Science, Robotics, and other required classes. He loves these science classes. I guess tech is a good fit for him. That’s great. I hope it’ll work out. Who knows what will happen by the time he graduates from college? On the downside, we spent a bunch of money on back-to-school…

In August, our cash flow was not good. We spent more than usual on health, back-to-school, and housing. Our passive income was also a bit low. You can see the details in the cash flow section. On the brighter side, our net worth hit a new high. The stock market performed very well in August. I’m not worried about our cash flow because our net worth increased so much this year.  

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

2025 Goals

Here is my 2025 goal spreadsheet. It’s great. 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.

It looks like I’m on track for most of my goals.

Financial Goals

Sell Rental Condo

This was my main goal for 2025. The previous tenant moved out of our rental condo in January. I fixed it up and listed it for sale. Unfortunately, the condo market was terrible in Portland. We only had one viewing in 4 months! I think buyers are afraid right now. The economy is too uncertain and the interest rate is high. That’s why I decided to rent out the condo for now. We’ll put it on the market again in a few years.

Prep duplex for sale

Along the same line, I want to sell our duplex* after RB40Jr finishes high school in 2029. We plan to move to Southern California to be closer to families. Mrs. RB40’s parents are getting older, and they need help.

*We live in one unit and rent out the other.

This year, I wanted to repaint the exterior. However, the plan changed to kitchen remodeling. We are getting the cabinet resurfaced, a new countertop, and new flooring. This will give our kitchen a much-needed facelift.

Max out my Roth IRA

The Roth IRA is the best investment account you can have. You don’t have to pay tax on the gains when you withdraw. This is huge. If you start young and max out your Roth IRA every year, it’ll be a great resource in retirement.

I’ve maxed out my Roth IRA contribution for over 20 years. But that streak probably will end this year. My earned income is decreasing quickly. After 8 months, I only made $4,877. At this pace, I’ll be lucky to break $6,000 this year. That’s less money than I made when I was a teenager.

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 hoped for 10% gains. At this point, it’s all dependent on the stock market and there isn’t much I can do to influence this goal. I’ll track it and keep my fingers crossed. (This is a stretch goal.)

Our net worth has increased 6.1% since the beginning of the year! That’s way better than I expected.

Health Goals

Exercise more than last year

Last year, I set a goal to exercise 3 times per week. However, I developed elbow pains and I had to scale back a bit. The result – I exercised 120 times in 2023. That wasn’t bad, but I’d like to do more this year.

I exercised 8 times in August. Hopefully, I can improve in September.

Win claim denial

Last year, RB40Jr got a Cochlear Implant to improve his hearing. He had 40%-80% hearing in his left ear. He tried a hearing aid for a few years, but it didn’t help. He can hear some sounds with his left ear, but he can’t understand speech on that side. 

Recently, the FDA approved the Cochlear Implant for children. At first, I thought we could wait until RB40Jr is an adult. Then he can decide for himself. However, our audiologist said it’s better to get the implant while you’re young. If you wait too long, the brain might not be able to adapt.

Anyway, he got the implant last year. However, the insurance denied the claim. They said the Cochlear Implant is experimental and doesn’t improve overall health. This is ridiculous. The device has been used since the 80s to improve lives. We are fighting this denial. I think health insurance companies are denying as many claims as possible to improve profits. A lot of people get too sick to fight the denials. No wonder everyone hates health insurance companies.

Latest update – This goal doesn’t look good. We probably will have to work something out with the hospital because the insurance is not budging.  

Sell my ceramic projects

I took some ceramic classes at the community center and had a blast. My projects aren’t professional level yet, but I’ll try selling a few items this year at the community center’s art sales.

I sold about $190 in the Spring Art Sale! That was incredible. I didn’t expect to sell that many pieces. The community center took a 35% commission. That’s perfectly fine. I’m glad to support them.

Some pieces from last quarter.

More dates with the Missus

This year, I want to go out with Mrs. RB40 more often. If you’re a parent, you know how difficult this can be. Fortunately, our son is a teenager now. We can go out whenever we want. However, I need to overcome my reluctance to leave the house in the evening. We park in the street and finding a spot can be frustrating at night. Ugh! I’d rather hunker down at home than go out to a restaurant.

I‘ll go on date lunches with Mrs. RB40 instead. That’s way easier. Who wants to leave home after dark?

In August, we were busy with the kitchen remodeling project and went on only one date. September won’t be much better because Mrs. RB40 will be out of town for most of the month.

Happiness level > 8

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

August was a good month. I finished a bunch of pots in my ceramic class. I’m looking forward to getting them back. Other than that, we didn’t do much. The kitchen remodeling project kept us busy. Mrs. RB40 spent a ton of time in the garden because we were gone for 3 weeks. Our neighbor helped with the watering, but all the plants were dried out because of the heat. RB40Jr started highschool and he seems to be enjoying it.  

Net Worth (+6.1%)

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 our earned income last year.

2025 has been pretty crazy. The stock market is doing way better than I expected. I’ll enjoy feeling rich and stop complaining.  

***Important*** If you’re young, 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. If you’re retired, then you need to be more conservative and diversify.

This is a chart of our net worth from Empower. Sign up for a free account at Empower to help manage your net worth and investment accounts. They have great free tools for DIY investors.

August 2025 FIRE Cash Flow

This FIRE cash flow chart includes my online income, side gigs, and taxable passive income.

August was a rough month. We spent more than normal. The kitchen remodeling project increased our housing expenses quite a bit. Also, we spent over $1,000 for back to school. This includes class materials, summer class fee, activities fee, clothes, shoes, and more. Man, teenagers aren’t cheap. Lastly, we paid for RB40Jr’s speech therapy and audiology visits. We also paid the minimum on the surgery bill to prevent it from going into collection. Whew!

August 2025 FIRE Income: $2,133

• Real estate crowdfunding: $0. Slow month on the RE crowdfunding side. You can read more on the RE Crowdfunding Passive Income page.
• Dividend Income: $1,264. Nice month with dividend income.
• Rental Income: -$783. Repairs.      
• Online income: $379. Blogging income is approaching zero quickly. It’s probably time to move on to something else.
• Odd jobs: $495. I delivered about 12 catering orders in August. That’s plenty of gig work for the month. I plan to stop doing this side hustle in 1-2 years.       

Spending: $7,300

Our spending was higher than usual last month. It felt like a tsunami of expenses. Next month should be better, so I’m trying not to stress out about it.

• Housing: $2,907. This includes mortgage, utilities, furniture, repair, and maintenance. Our monthly housing expense is low because we live in a duplex. We split many expenses with our tenant. However, it will be higher than usual for 2 years because we’re slowly paying off the kitchen remodel. Home Depot had 0% interest for 24 months. Last month, we paid the deposit on the flooring.
• Transportation: $407. Gas, parking, and insurance. This one was higher than usual due to the $220 annual parking permit.   
• Entertainment: $177. We ate out only once, but had a couple of takeout meals and splurged on baked goods a few times.          
• Groceries: $618. Groceries are so expensive now. You’re delusional if you think groceries are cheaper than last year.  
• Health: $1,249. RB40Jr’s medical bills got stacked up behind his surgery bill. Last month, I paid his audiology visits and speech therapy sessions. I also paid the minimum on the surgery bill to prevent it from going to collection.
• Kid: $1,155. Whoa, a teenager is expensive. We paid for the summer class, clothes, shoes, orthodontist, Jiu Jitsu, Gi, Ultimate Frisbee fee, cleats, and more.   
• Personal: $378. Personal stuff like vitamins, shoes, new towels, gadgets, and clothes.  
• Travel: $357. This was for the tail end of our California trip.  

August 2025 wrap-up

August was a slow month for us. We didn’t do too much, but had a ton of expenses. Remodeling isn’t cheap. I’m not too worried, though. We are still under the 4% withdrawal rate. Next month should be much better.

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

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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.