October 2024 FIRE Update – Retire by 40

Hey everyone! Did you have a good month? October flew by for us. RB40Jr was busy with Ultimate Frisbee and Wushu almost every day. I started a ceramic class and a ukulele class. It was a lot of fun, but I was driving all over town. It was a relief when the Fall season was completed. RB40Jr’s team placed 3^rd in the B division. That was great! They plan to move up to the A division in spring. All in all, life was busy in a good way.

On the personal finance side, October was okay. We didn’t spend too much, but our passive income was lower than I’d like. Our monthly cash flow was negative, just under -$100. Our net worth decreased a little bit as well. We’re still way ahead this year.

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 have less than 2 months left in 2024!

Financial Goals

FI ratio > 100%

The FI ratio is passive income divided by spending. 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 10 months, our FI ratio is 113%. Not bad!  

*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% 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 this goal. I’ll track it and keep my fingers crossed.

Our net worth gained 16.4% since the beginning of the year. That’s huge. 2024 is a great year for investors.   

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. I got a bit behind in October. I took a week off because I was a little sick. Getting fit after 50 is tough!

Health checks

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

• Colonoscopy. Done!
• Annual physical. Done!
• Dental exam. Done!
• Vision screening. Done!
• Immunization. Tdap booster, Flu, and Covid vaccine. Done!

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. I’d love to live there for a year or so.   

Happiness level > 8

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

October was a good month. We were busy with various activities. Life is good when you’re a little busy.

Help RB40Jr start a YouTube channel

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

Net Worth (+16.4%)

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 16.4% so far.

***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.

I’m not sure why the chart looks like this. The update interval probably got messed up in August and September.

Oct 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.

October was a good month. Our cash flow was negative, but by just a little bit.

October 2024 FIRE Income: $3,352

Our FIRE income was lower than usual in October.  

• Real estate crowdfunding: $563. You can read more on the RE Crowdfunding Passive Income page.
• Dividend Income: $515. Slow month with dividend.
• Rental Income: $693. We had an uneventful month at the rentals.
• Blog income: $342. My online income continues to decline. October was a very slow month. Things are not looking good.  
• Odd jobs: $644. Not bad for about 20 hours of work.      
• Other: $550. I finally filed tax and got a refund.
• Interest: $45.

Spending: $3,449

This year, I plan to spend about $65,000. That was how much money we used last year. After 10 months, we spent about $54,000. We should be under budget this year. However, I didn’t start any remodeling projects this year. It’s been too busy. I’ll work on it next year.

Here are some details.  

• Housing: $1,304. This includes mortgage, utilities, furniture, repair, and maintenance. Our housing expenses are low because we live in a duplex. We split many expenses with our tenant.
• Transportation: $320. Gas and insurance. I also had to renew my registration and annual parking permit.  
• Entertainment: $210. We ate out a few times.       
• Groceries: $499. The grocery bill was lower than usual.
• Health: $135.    
• Kid: $447. Unfortunately, kid-related expenses are also increasing as RB40Jr gets older. We are making payments for his orthodontist and an international school trip.    
• Travel: $413. Mrs. RB40 went to California for a short vacation.

Savings: –$97

October 2024 wrap-up

Alright, let’s wrap it up. October was a good month. We kept busy and the month flew by. The rest of the year should be uneventful. We’re looking forward to hunkering down for the winter. Life will be busy again soon enough.

That’s it for October. 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.