October 2025 FIRE Update – Retire by 40

Wow, we don’t have much time left in 2025. Honestly, I’m ready to start over. This year was tough. In particular, I’m losing motivation to exercise, but I’ll try to keep going. Have you been working on your New Year’s 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. 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 want 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 and a new countertop. This will give our kitchen a much-needed facelift.

The kitchen remodel is done! It looks great. I’m calling this one done. Although we probably should get a new fridge and dishwasher to complete the makeover. I’ll see if I can find any good Black Friday sales.

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 10 months, I made $6,080. Woohoo! Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll break $8,000. It’s probably time to retire full-time soon.

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 9.4% since the beginning of the year! Wow, that’s insane. The AI stocks are unstoppable. I’ll enjoy it while the euphoria lasts.

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 4 times in October. That was terrible. I was sick for a week, and RB40Jr had so many things on his calendar. Hopefully, I’ll be able to pick up the pace in November. It doesn’t look good, though…

Win claim denial

Last year, RB40Jr got a Cochlear Implant to improve his hearing. He had 30%-60% hearing in his left ear. He tried a hearing aid for a few years, but it didn’t help much. He can hear some sound 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 the earlier you get the implant, the better. If you wait too long, the brain might not be able to adapt.

Anyway, he got the implant last year. However, our health 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 – The denial is final. Now, we are working with the hospital to reduce the bill. This is actually looking pretty good because the insurance preapproved the surgery. I’ll keep working on this.  

Fun goals

Sell my ceramic projects

I am taking ceramic classes at the community center and I am having a blast. My projects aren’t professional level yet, but I sold a few pieces at the Spring Art Sale.

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.

My mini fermentation crock. I fermented these Serrano peppers for 6 weeks and made a great hot sauce with them. Next spring, I’ll plant some chili peppers so I can make more.

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 October, we went out 3 times. The highlight was at Kann, the James Beard Best New Restaurant award winner in 2023. The food was excellent, and the price was somewhat reasonable. We spent $180 (including tips), but that wasn’t much more than other sit-down restaurants in town. Mrs. RB40 ordered way too much food because we haven’t gone out to a fancy restaurant in years. We enjoyed it immensely, so it was worth it.  Here are a few of the Haitian-inspired dishes we tried – the smoked shrimp curry, peanut creamed greens, and spicy cauliflower.

Happiness level > 8

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

I had a little depression in September because of the news, and Mrs. RB40 was away. In October, I mostly ignored the news and felt much better. I feel a bit guilty about having a good life while society is breaking down, but I have to take care of my mental health first. I’ll pay attention more when it’s time to vote.

Net Worth (+9.4%)

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 our earned income last year.

2025 has been crazy. The stock market is doing way better than I expected. The AI revolution continues to drive the market higher. It’s tough to be a worker these days, but at least the Billionaires are doing well.

***Important*** If you’re young (under 50), my best advice is to stay the course. Do not stop investing. You should invest whether the stock market is up or down. You might think stocks are too expensive, but they’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.

October 2025 FIRE Cash Flow

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

October 2025 FIRE Income: $4,256

• Real estate crowdfunding: $750.
• Dividend Income: $317.
• Rental Income: $488.       
• Online income: $212. Blogging income is approaching zero quickly. It’s probably time to move on to something else.
• Odd jobs: $428. I delivered 10 catering orders in October. That’s plenty of gig work for me. Once it starts raining more, I’ll take a break from this side gig. I don’t need to drive around in that condition.   
• Reimbursement: $2,061. Reimbursement from Mrs. RB40’s dad.      

Spending: $8,373

• Housing: $1,661. 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. 
• Transportation: $238. Gas, parking, and insurance.   
• Entertainment: $626. I got more take-out food than usual because Mrs. RB40 was out of town.           
• Groceries: $636.    
• Health: $736. RB40Jr broke his glasses and we needed to get one made very quickly. That cost $350. 
• Kid: $796. Whoa, a teenager is expensive. We paid for the orthodontist, Jiu Jitsu, Ultimate Frisbee, new glasses, and the debate club fee.  
• Personal spending: $399. My ceramic class, donations, light switches, and various other personal stuff.  
• Travel: $378. Mrs. RB40 visited her parents and charged a bunch of stuff on our credit card. Most of this will be reimbursed by her dad soon.   

Retirement Savings: –$4,117

October 2025 wrap-up

October was a good month for the RB40 household. Mrs. RB40 came back and put the house back together. I admit, I didn’t clean that much while she was gone. The kitchen remodel spread a layer of dust everywhere. At least, it’s done now. I hate remodeling. It was so stressful. The rest of 2025 should be pretty easy. I don’t have any big plans. Mrs. RB40 will go see her parents again in November, but it’ll be a short trip. I can handle 10 days. That’ll be no problem.

That’s it for October. 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.

Joe recommends Empower for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.