It has officially been 5 years. Every year that goes by, I still can’t believe how my life has changed so dramatically. I often feel it’s very unusual that many of my peers are living like busy bees while here I am living life on my own pace. Kind of sucks in an odd way to be honest.

It’s been 5 years since I sold my business back in August 2015 and finally achieved FIRE. Back then I didn’t even know there was such a thing called FIRE. I simply thought of it as achieving financial independence and freedom where I never have to worry about money ever again.

What came with FIRE was the biggest luxury of life. TIME. It helped me reclaim my life so I can live my life the way I choose fit. If you are wondering, yes it is freaking awesome and liberating!

I now have spent 12.5% of my whole entire life in FIRE. More than 1/10^th of my life has been spent living in this flame. It’s quite unbelievable to me even today just to fathom this reality.

Keep in mind, it’s common to see many spending anywhere from 70-80% of their entire lives working.

Anyhow, one of the biggest things I worried about prior FIRE was income growth projections. So, I like to keep an eye out on that every year to make sure it grows as expected. You want to make sure your income is growing above inflation at minimum to maintain your buying power. After all, I have decades more to go in this FIRE journey!

Let’s take a quick look at the Income Growth.

 

Income Growth

• Objective: 6% minimum income growth per year.

2015: Went FIRE!

2016: -69.5% (Drop in annual income)

2017: 122.29%

2018: -23.7%

2019: 12.4%

2020: TBD

Post FIRE Income Growth Average: 10.4%

Can’t complain about the numbers. A 10% income raise every year is not to shabby for doing nothing but putting money to work in the markets.

 

Cost of Living Inflation

The next area of focus is keeping an eye on inflation! Inflation is that invisible pest that eats up on your living standard.

• Property taxes have been increasing on average 2.6% per year.
• Insurance has been increasing on average 8.2% per year.

You can’t get away from these two. They seem to only have one direction. UP. If you are in hot pursuit of FIRE, make sure you account for such expenses to increase year after year.

 

7 Things I have Noticed After 5 Years Into FIRE

1. Arthritis Pain. It’s gone. Last year I reported that it was about 95% gone. Today, I can happily report that It is 100% gone. I have not felt any pain in my right hand for the last few months. I guess if you don’t overuse your hands much the pain goes away!
2. Vanishing White Hairs. FIRE has reversed my sporadic sprouting of white hairs. It’s 100% gone. Not a single white hair in sight. It’s a miracle…
3. Much Improved Oral Hygiene. I brush my teeth after almost every meal. I floss and mouth wash religiously. Sometimes I brush my teeth 4-6 times a day. I know I know it’s overkill but why not?!
4. Infected by the Smile Gene. Apparently, I am more hyper and filled with too much energy lately. I smile and laugh more. That’s huge! I wasn’t much of a smiler!
5. Joy from helping others. Watching my family and friends get started with their investing journey fills me with joy. And if I can add even the slightest amount of value to their financial journey and knowledge, I couldn’t ask for more. Just the simple fact that I was helpful in any way makes me happy. To my followers! Thank you for the occasional emails you guys send me with such kind words!
6. No Regrets. Financial freedom was worth the sacrifices in my 20’s and I have absolutely no regrets.
7. Grateful for My Past. My life is nothing near perfect but my happiness level is quite high. I think it has to do with my humble beginnings. Having experienced what it feels like to be at rock bottom really helps me today to appreciate the little things in life.

 

Achieving FIRE Is Not the End but Start of a New Life

I am thinking a lot about how I want to live my life going forward. It kind of feels like reaching FIRE is like getting a blank canvas to draw whatever you want on it.

I view life in a few ways. Every goal is like climbing a hill. You can’t see what’s behind the hill you’re climbing but once you reach the top, you’re often presented with a view of the next many hills you may choose to tackle next.

Achieving FIRE was just one hill and now that I have reached the top, the advantage point from above gives you a better idea of how you could traverse towards your next path in life.

Lately, I have been thinking about buying a RV to hit the road! Travel to every state visiting every single attraction I want to see with no timeline! I have been running the numbers on this and it is doable! I may share more on this on a later post. Perhaps I may become a road warrior someday! 😊

 

Growing Wealth

With more wealth comes more options. Luckily, my wealth has continued to grow even during this crazy year. I am continuing to put money to work every month. That is the only job I have now. Capital allocation is the name of the game. Similar to what Warren Buffett does in his life.

My expectations for 2020 were very low ending Q1 but it looks like things have turned around dramatically quick and my net worth is up nicely at about 6% YTD as of this writing.

My focus has been improving cash flow and savings rate this year. Those efforts have seemed to be more fruitful than I have expected thanks in part to this pandemic.

Savings rate YTD for this year is currently sitting at about 40%.

Cash flow is steadily improving month after month while income is also showing a nice bump towards the upside for every month of this year.

 

Final Thoughts

To me time is the single most valuable asset in life. Time is greater than any luxury cars or luxury vacations. I would choose time and health over anything now more than ever before.

The first year after FIRE had me nervous. I wasn’t sure what to expect and how my finances will play out even after all the planning I had done prior.

I knew life can throw curve balls and because of this fact it took me 2-3 years to slowly adapt to this new lifestyle.

I’m guessing many will experience the same thing as I did once achieving FIRE. It was a dramatic change going from a fast-paced life to a much slower one. The emotional changes and adapting to this new life weren’t completely easy. The medicine that helped me adapt better was to have continuous growth in parts of my life.

I chose to seek growth internally. Inside my mind. Little did I ever know that I could find joy from learning. It may be different for you and it’s ok. What’s important is you find what brings you joy in your life. It could be anything such as gardening, traveling, sports, teaching, etc. Mine just happens to be learning about business and investing.

If FI/RE is your goal, thinking deeper about your life beyond FIRE may help you make better decisions before you decide to light your campfire. Make sure you take the time to think about what you will do with all that newly reclaimed time.