Hello all! Wow, it’s almost summer. The months fly by quickly. This is what happens when life is good. May was a busy month for me. I went to the gym, made some lunches, worked on the blog, took the RB40Jr to all his activities, and had fun making ceramic bowls. Whew! This is the key to a satisfying retirement. You should be a little busy and get out of the house on a regular basis.
On the personal finance side, we had a good month. Our net worth is near an all-time high. The stock market had a good performance in May. Our cash flow has also been very good. Oregon had a revenue surplus last year and returned some money to taxpayers. The “kicking” gave our passive income a nice boost. We spent more than usual because I had a large car repair bill. That was about it, though. Other expenses were fine.
Well, I’ll share with you what I’m doing with my goals for the new year. Next, I’ll talk about our net worth and cash flows. Let’s go!
2024 goals
Here’s my goals spreadsheet for 2024. It works well. Try it if you can’t keep up with your goals for the new year. The key is to review the spreadsheet monthly to track your progress. This way, you can see which goals need more attention and work toward them. time is running out!
Financial goals
FI ratio > 100%
The FI ratio is passive income divided by expenses. If you can generate enough passive income to cover your expenses, you’re ready for retirement. For 2024, it lowered that goal to 100%. We are getting older and I feel like we could spend more. After 5 months, our FI was 123%. It’s really beautiful.
*phi ratio = Passive income/expenses
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 how prepared you are for retirement. We will add everything at the end of the year. It’s looking good so far.
Track net worth and hope +10%
I’ve been tracking our net worth since 2006. It’s great to see the progress. This year, I would like to see a 10% gain. At this point, the gains are completely dependent on the stock market and there is not much I can do to influence this target. I’m just going to track it down and keep my fingers crossed.
Our net worth has increased by 8% since the beginning of the year. I’m optimistic, but you never know what’s going to happen next.
Health goals
Exercise 3 times a week
Now that I’m 50, health is job number one. I need to exercise constantly so that I can stay healthy longer. I joined a gym and plan to exercise at least 3 times a week. May was not a good month. I stopped exercising because my elbows and knees were hurting. Getting fit after the age of 50 is difficult!
medical examinations
It is equally important to go see doctors. In this day and age, we have more maintenance and preventative care to deal with. Here’s my list for 2024.
- Colonoscopy. Finished!
- Annual physical.
- Dental examination. Finished!
- Glaucoma screening. I have a family history.
- immunization. Tdap booster done! Flu vaccine and Covid later.
Fun goals
International flight
The RB40 turns 50 this year and wants to go on a fun and unforgettable trip. We are planning to visit Japan for 3 weeks in the summer. I have already purchased the flight tickets and booked the hotel. I can’t wait for this trip.
Happiness level > 8
I’m a happy guy by nature so this should be easy. Life has been great these past few years.
May was a great month. I really enjoyed my ceramics class. The weather is getting better. Life was good. It wasn’t ideal, though. We had some problems at home. One night, a random man came to our door and took out the doorbell camera. what a jerk! Someone also messed up a small section of our new fence. Ms RB40 believes she was hit by a car. I’m tired of living in the city. There are a lot of donkeys in our area.
Help RB40Jr start a YouTube channel
RB40Jr wants to start a YouTube channel. I will help him do this in the summer. This doesn’t look good. RB40Jr lost interest in starting a channel. Maybe we can revive his interest this summer. He’ll have more free time then.
Net worth (+8%)
I’ve been tracking our net worth since 2006. It’s very motivating to see the progress we’ve made. The strength of the compound is incredible. The stock market did well in May. Our net worth has increased by 8% since the beginning of the year. The economy is slowing, but it is still very strong. I think the rest of 2024 should be good.
***Important*** My best advice is to stay the course. Don’t stop investing. You have to keep investing whether the stock market is going up or down. You may think stocks are expensive, but in 10 years they will look cheap. Keep investing and you will achieve financial independence one day. Don’t try to time the market.
This is a chart of Empower’s net worth. The small reason is because I converted my solo 401k to an IRA. Vanguard stopped supporting the i401k and the easiest option was to roll it over to an IRA.
(Personal Capital is now Empower.) Sign up for a free Empower account to help manage your net worth and investment accounts. I log in to check our net worth and use their free tools. This is a great site for DIY investors.
May 2024 Fire Cash Flow
The FIRE Cash Flow Chart includes my online income, side gigs, and taxable passive income. Ms. RB40’s income is not there because she is retiring soon.
May was a good month for cash flow. Our passive income got a boost from our Oregon tax refund. This was helpful because I spent more than usual on repairs for the car. Other than that, our spending was reasonable.
Fire income for May 2024: $7,519
Our fire income was good in May. Tax refund was nice.
- Real estate crowdfunding: 0 dollars. We didn’t get a boost from real estate crowdfunding last month. You can read more on RE Crowdfunding’s passive income page.
- Dividend: $1,384. Good month.
- Rental income: $666. We’ve had a quiet month for rentals.
- Blog income: $1,501. Good month on the blog.
- Odd jobs: $545. I spent about 4-5 hours a week delivering orders. These days, I focus on lunch catering orders.
- interest: $32.
- Tax refund: $3,391. Yay for Oregon State’s “kicker!” Oregon returns money to taxpayers when there is a revenue surplus. This is a good policy.
Spending: $5,454
This year, I plan to spend about $65,000. This is the amount we spent last year. However, we are also planning to update the kitchen this year. Maybe I should increase our budget to accommodate that. We’ll see how it goes.
Here are some details.
- Living: $1,324. This includes mortgage, utilities, furniture, repairs and maintenance. Our housing expenses are very low because we live in a duplex. We split many expenses with our tenant.
- communications: $1,563. Gas and insurance. We had a big bill for car repairs. Hopefully our car will be good for a while.
- entertainment: $224. We ate out several times last month. I also purchased some items for my ceramics class.
- grocery shop: $630. not bad.
- health: 501 dollars. Health-related expenses increase as we age.
- child: $307. Unfortunately, children’s expenses also increase as the RB40Jr gets older. We pay for his orthodontist and an international school trip. He also bought a suit for the mock trial at school. The baby bodysuit was from Target for $75, which is pretty cheap.
- Parents: $250. My brothers and I send $250 a month to my parents to help with expenses. He lives in Thailand, so his cost of living is much lower than in the United States
- Personal: $194. Ms. RB40 bought some personal items and got a haircut.
- Miscellaneous: $395. You’ve signed up for a new credit card. This annual fee is more than I like, but we will get $300 in travel credit.
savings: +$2,065
May 2024 summary
Well, let’s wrap it up. May was a great month for us. Our net worth is back at an all-time high. Cash flow was positive. I kept busy, enjoyed my new hobby, made a little income through side hustles, and spent a lot of time with my wife and kid. It doesn’t get better than this. I’m optimistic for the rest of 2024.
That’s all for May. Did you have a good month?
Passive income is the key to early retirement. These days, I invest in commercial real estate with… Crowd Street. They have many projects all over the United States. Go check them out!
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Passive income is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in commercial real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects all over the USA so check them out!
Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital to DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.
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