What does FIRE mean?

FIRE is a new acronym spreading like fire (pun) throughout the personal finance world.  It stands for Financially Independent and Retired Early.  FIRE is the new personal finance goal replacing “I want to be rich.”  Being rich really means nothing—the same as being wealthy.  FIRE is the new standard because it allows us to define goals and objectives, and more importantly, measure our progress.  Let’s look at each one separately.

Financially Independent – The goal of being financially independent is to create a lifestyle focused on passively earning income while minimizing expenses.  There are many objectives you can use to achieve being financially independent and here are some: 

• Generate passive income – You can do this by investing and earning interest and dividends.  Renting out real-estate properties is a very common method.  You can also do this by having a side job like blogging.  The main objective is to create multiple “streams” of passive income so you minimize risks of losing a stream.
• Minimizing expenses – The most common mistake people make is losing control of their expenses or living beyond their means.  Minimizing expenses allows you to make the most out of your income and to save more.  This means staying away from debt, making smart purchases, and being aware of how much you’re willing to spend on entertainment and services 
• Increase your savings rate – By using your primary income to generate passive income and minimize expenses, you should be able to increase your savings rate.  Unfortunately, many people struggle to save at least 10%, when we should be striving for a 25-50% savings rate (or higher if possible).  In an age of seemingly infinite resources and excessive consumerism, people are struggling to save any money.

Retired Early – Defining “early” is a personal goal.  There is a huge movement to break away from retiring at 60 or later, and having very limited time to enjoy your retirement years.   Retiring early also doesn’t mean a specific retirement savings goal either.  For example, some people just want one million dollars without thinking what the $1M will provide or how long it will last in retirement.  The objective of working towards retiring early involves identifying how much you’ll need to generate by the time you retire.  You calculate how much retiring will cost you annually and then figure out much you’ll need to retire at the specified time you’d like to retire.

• Identify WHEN and HOW you’d like to retire – A common retirement goal for military members is to retire from the military at ~45 within the same lifestyle they were living.  When military members retire after 20 years of service, we receive 50% of our basic pay plus an additional 2.5% for each year after that.  In the beginning of 2018, the retirement system will change significantly.  The main problem with that goal is that BAH (Housing Allowance) is not part of our retirement, so military members actually only retire with 35% of their paycheck.  They’d need to generate an additional 65% of that income through investing and passive-income strategies in only about 20 years—a difficult task.  A generic FIRE goal is to retire at 55 with a lifestyle slightly less than having full-time jobs.  It’s recommended that your expenses (living, traveling, hobbies) only make up 80% or less of pre-retirement expenses.
• Your savings rate is within your control – The easiest ways to retire early are to have a high savings rate and live a retired lifestyle within your means.  It would be difficult to retire early saving only 10% of your income.  Conversely, one could retire early within an aggressive savings rate of 50% or more.  Additionally, you could also live a life in retirement which requires very little income.  I know one military family that will only need $25K a year for their retirement plans.  The military member’s retirement income will fully cover the cost of their simple retirement.

The people most interested in FIRE tend to be minimalists.  They have no interest in excessive consumerism or working until they’re old.  They want to enjoy life earlier and without the distractions of excessive TV consumption, celebrity worship, and the exhaustion of a hectic life.  Is this something that interests you?

2015 New Year's Resolution Breakdown

2015 was not a great year for my personal finance goals.  Here’s a quick rundown of my 2015 financial resolutions and how I plan to meet them in 2016.

1.       Max out my IRA.

a.      Accomplished.  It’s the first thing I do every year so I have money to invest with.

b.      2016:  This is always my first goal, so I’ll definitely accomplish this.

2.      Save $X in my savings account.

a.      Accomplished.  This is the second thing I do every year now that I have a house, to cover large maintenance expenses.

b.      2016:  This will come second after my IRA, and I have no doubt I’ll accomplish this.  I plan to buy a car in cash this year too, so this near-term goal will be a primary objective.

3.      Save at least $X every paycheck.

a.      Not accomplished.  We had some large expenses this year, and we basically took 3 vacations.  We went back home for two weeks, Vegas in December for two weddings, and my in-laws came to my house for the holidays.  I came close though; just needed one more paycheck in the year.

b.      2016:  I’ve already implemented some routine deductions in expenses throughout the year.  This should help balance some of the larger expenses like car and housing maintenance.  I’m also going to try and publish blog posts more frequently and build some side income.

4.      Increase 2015 passive income (dividend/interest/mutual fund distributions) by 50%.

a.      Not accomplished.  I waited too long in my investing career to focus on passive income from investments—which explains the goal of trying to reach a 50% increase.  There were several factors contributing to me not reaching my goal in 2015.  The first was a reduction in end-of-year mutual fund distributions.  There weren’t a lot of short- and long-term gains with the market dropping this year.  Additionally, some of my dividend stocks gained quickly and I sold the profit.  For example, WWE offered a 5% dividend when I bought it a low of $9, but then it skyrocketed to $18—doubling my money, and I sold it.

b.      2016:  I’m going to put more money into mutual funds during large market drops.  I will also put more money into large dividend payers whose industry isn’t doing well like oil companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).  I have a solid chunk of money in bonds, so I’ll need to keep a close eye on the bond market and make sure that I don’t take a huge capital loss by keeping my money in those bond mutual funds just to get a passive income.

5.      Net assets of $X on 31 Dec.

a.      Not accomplished.  I rarely reach my net asset goal, mainly because the percentage increase is always higher than the market average.  I’ve also never measured my progress monthly or quarterly.  I guess I just hoped I would land on the arbitrary amount at the end of year.  The main reason for not meeting my goals this year was the massive loss I took trying to get quick money.  I invested in some speculative, risky, short-term investments and underestimated how quickly I could lose money. 

b.      2016:  I’ll need to split the goal into monthly and quarterly goals and work harder if I’m not meeting those goals.  I won’t make those same risky investments I tried in 2015 either.

I have a feeling that 2016 will be a great year for those prepared and ready to take advantage of it.  What are your 2016 New Year’s goals?

It Takes Money to Make Money

You’ve probably heard the phrase; It takes money to make money. Have you ever wondered what that actually meant? Let’s take a look at different aspects of life and how this phrase applies. Also, I’ll provide tips on how to navigate through this so you can make money without having a lot of money.

• Young Adult Head Start: When parents buy or provide their children a car at a young age, they are giving them access to get a job. By having a job, the children can save and invest the money at a younger age giving them more money to make money. Also, when parents pay for college, their children are able to make more money quicker, be promoted faster, and be insulated better against long periods of unemployment.
  • My parents weren’t able to buy me a car or pay for college. I joined the Air Force and was able to acquire them myself. I was 19 when I bought my first car and didn’t receive my degree until I was 26. Someone who had a car at 16 and graduated college at 22 had much more time to save and invest than I did.
  • Advice: Help your child work and save for a car so they can start working at an earlier age; doing the same for college yields exponential dividends for your children. There’s not a lot you can do if your parents couldn’t afford these for you except to make it right for your children.
    

• Debt: People who have a lot of money tend to avoid debt. Having a lot of debt means you’ll continuously have less money and it’s a negative feedback loop that is hard to get out of. People without money need more money but money is more expensive when you’re in debt.
  • Advice: Reduce and/or eliminate your consumer debt now (credit cards and small loans)

• Credit Scores: You need a good credit score to be issued credit but you can’t get a good credit score until you can get credit. This is a double-edged standard many people face. Typically, it takes having money to sustain a good credit score. A good credit score is extremely important because it saves you from 1) having to put large deposits on common utilities 2) makes college, car and house loans cheaper which means you can save more money and 3) keeps credit card interest rates low so if you do run into financial trouble you won’t get buried quickly.
  • Advice: If you have children, then establish teen credit accounts. Starting early is essential is important because each loan you take out will save you money with a good credit score. If your credit is in shambles then repairing it should be the first thing you start working towards after you establish an emergency savings account.

• Fees: For bank and brokerage accounts, the more money you have, the less you have to pay in fees. Minimum account balance fees will eat away at your savings. It’s better not to invest your money, avoid the fees, and then wait until you have the minimum account balance. People who don’t make a lot of money are forced to take out $20 at a time from the bank and pay ATM fees each time. A $2 ATM fee on a $20 withdrawal is the same as a 10% loss to your savings. Also, people with money usually don’t worry about Overdraft fees. Some banks charge $29 regardless of the overdrawn amount. If you overdrew your account by $1 and have to pay $29, then you theoretically suffered a 2,900% loss.
  • When I started my first bank account, I was getting charged $8 a month for not having direct deposit to my checkings and $3 a month for not having the required minimum balance in my savings account. $11 a month in fees is a lot of money for an E-3. This was before internet banking really took off so reconciling accounts was difficult.
  • Advice: Check your bank and brokerage accounts right now and make sure you’re not being charged any fees. During the financial collapse of 2008, banks had to restructure their accounts to regain confidence with the public. A benefit to customers was a serious reduction in normal fees. If you’re being charged fees, then you need to switch bank accounts or stop whatever action is causing those fees. For example, USAA doesn’t charge an ATM fee and will reimburse up to $15 a month for ATM machine fees.
    

• Investments: This is the simple “Time Value of Money” principle. The more money you have to invest now will be worth more in the future. Mathematically, if you’re over 30 without $100K saved up in non-pension/military retirement accounts, then you’re seriously jeopardizing your retirement goals. People who have more money to invest earlier get to reap the benefits of compounding returns.
  • Advice: Start investing now in an IRA and/or your TSP/401(k).

Having money means you can make more money and so on. If you’re flat broke, then it’s time to start moving. It takes money to make money is just a parable form of the math behind investing early.

Betterment Review

I started an account with Betterment today. From what I can tell this is a perfect way for many of us to invest and I’m recommending people try it.

Click here to set up your own account.

The User Interface is really simple and offers a service that I appreciate the most in the investing world yet it’s so rare: Transparency! Your summary page shows you all the necessary details to track how much you’ve invested, how much you’ve earned and how much the fees cost.

It’s basically an automated system investing in low cost Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).  As the website says, “Through diversification, automated rebalancing, better behavior, and lower fees, Betterment customers can expect 4.30% higher returns than a typical DIY investor.”

This speaks to me personally because I have not been able to excel in investing by doing it myself. Last year I decided to reassess my investing style and move towards Index Funds and this Betterment account should help me reach my goals faster than what I’ve been able to do.

If you’re interested in setting up a Betterment account, please click here to participate in their referral program where you and I both get 30 days free account usage (no fees).

Ready to Become a Military Millionaire

Most of my blog posts are written for people just starting out on their path to financial independence. I focus on that demographic because I feel most people in the military that may read my blog are probably just starting or have a surface-level knowledge base of personal finances. This blog post however, is for people already financially secure and who are ready to turn it up a notch. This post is for those aspiring to become military millionaires.

• Ditch the “all cash” emergency savings. This first step is in direct contradiction with what I tell 95% of the people I help. I always recommend people have easy access to cash for emergencies. An emergency savings account is extremely important for people just starting out because it will shield them from unexpected expenses that may derail their financial success. Having an “all cash” emergency savings account isn’t as important for those that are higher ranking, have almost no real debt and have excellent credit. For these people, they should invest their money in conservative to moderate-conservative investments. For me, it takes less than 3 days to sell mutual funds and transfer the cash. Right now, I have cash only in my short-term goal account and it only earns a .75% interest rate (that’s less than 1%). People looking to become wealthy need to maximize their returns at all times and having a significant cash withhold can hamper those returns.
• Debt is not a bad thing. Think big. For people with low financial knowledge and for the majority of America, debt is the new slavery. We are enslaved to consumerism and the banks own all of our debt. We have no assets to claim for that debt; i.e. college loans and credit cards. This is simply our slavery to banks and insurance companies. For people with high financial knowledge, debt is simply a tool. They have assets to claim for that debt and ensure they always have equity in that debt. Real estate, smart auto purchases, margin investment accounts and business loans are types of leverage where people earn more money than it costs to owe the money. For example, purchasing a home creates a large “debt” but is also a large “asset.” In the military, if we don’t invest our BAH, then we lose it. Going into “debt” with a home loan allows us to reap the BAH benefit. I spend most of my time helping people dig their way out of consumer debt and I wish I could spend more time helping people with their leverage.
• Promote, save, retire, work, save and retire. This is a model most people in the military talk about but rarely execute correctly. Whether you enlisted or commissioned right away, the goal is to promote quickly. For commissioned officers, you need to complete all the things you have control over; right positions, professional certifications, Master’s degree and PME. For enlisted, study for each rank and focus on making the next rank. I made E-4 early, E-5 first time but then took 4 times to make E-6 before crossing over to the dark side in becoming a commissioned officer. This represents a large loss of income as I tried to focus on my degree. While in the military you should save as much as you can in your IRAs, TSPs, real estate and taxable accounts. Then when you retire from the military, some people as early as 37/38, get another job, save all your money and retire from that job; again, some people as early as 45-55. It doesn’t matter if you transition to civil service or corporate life. A lot of people don’t calculate their military retirement correctly and then find out they don’t have sufficient money to actually retire. Remember, our military retirement is only 50-75% of our base pay and doesn’t include COLA, BAH or BAS. For my current location, my retirement would only be 35% of my current paycheck.
• Get another job. Even with excellent investment returns our pay doesn’t make it easy to become a millionaire in 20-30 years. After raising a family and normal expenses, we simply don’t make enough to put away a million dollars. Most people get another job or position their spouse to launch a successful company. I know friends who’ve opened their own business and after years of hard work have eclipsed their own military paychecks making retiring from the military an easy transition.

Unless you’re in an excellent financial position, I wouldn’t follow this advice. For most people, following “vanilla” advice will help secure a good financial position. This blog post is for people ready to invest and have the ability to position them to become military millionaires.  

USAA Index Funds (USSPX & USPRX)

This March, LeBron James asked Warren Buffett for investing advice. Mr. Buffett simply told him to keep 10% in cash and 90% of his money in an S&P 500 Index Fund (http://www.cnbc.com/id/102467435). This is becoming the common advice from most professional money managers now. As a whole, individual investors are unable to beat the market and often pay more fees to brokerages trying. Hedge and Private Equity Funds, which are sometimes able to beat the market, are often outside the reach of individual investors. To make the most of your money, Index Funds offer the greatest exposure to American (domestic) stocks; diversify for the lowest overall risk; and often have the least amount of fees.

Military members often choose to bank with USAA because of its exceptional customer service and understanding of the military lifestyle. Personally, I use Fidelity for my brokerage for my IRA and taxable accounts but there have been times when some of the uniqueness of my military career has made transactions difficult. Thanks to fully online services, my military service hasn’t interfered with much of my banking needs. But if you do like to bank with USAA, then USAA offers two S&P 500 Index Funds.

1. USSPX – S&P 500 Index Fund Member Shares with a minimum investment of $3K. The expense ratio is ~.26% which is really low (a good thing) compared to the category’s average of .59%. The Fund has a 4-star Overall Morningstar Rating which is good and has a 7.78% 10-year average return.
2. USPRX – S&P 500 Index Fun Reward Shares with a minimum investment of $100K. The expense ratio is ~.16% which is lower than the Member Shares Index Fund because it’s a larger amount of money being spread across the mutual funds and reduces overall transactions for the fund manager. The fund also has a 4-star Overall Morningstar Rating and has a 7.9% 10-year average return which is only slighter higher than the Member Shares fund probably because of the lower expense ratio. If you have $100K to put into one investment then you probably don’t need the advice of this blog (joking).

Index funds are a great way to invest in the stock market without having to make individual stock and mutual fund selections. An S&P 500 Index Fund is still exposed to stock market risk so if the stock market sinks so will the Index Fund. If the market does sink, regular monthly investments, you will be buying more of the fund at lower stock prices. Another risk is the S&P 500 invests in the Top 500 American companies so you may not be exposed to international growth from emerging markets. The Index Fund is ~98% in stocks so as you get older you may be exposed too much stock. LifeCycle Funds often provide better protection as you get older so having a LifeCycle Fund and an Index Fund is the ideal investment strategy.

 

Stocks to Consider (November 2014)

I’ve made most of my returns through sound value-investing principles. Buying stocks at cheap prices because of temporary weakness, either in the company or the sector, has provided me the best returns. I’ve lost the most money by using other investing principles and ended up buying at the high point and then having to sell at a loss. In my opinion, a good value strategy in this rising market may be Solar Energy stocks.

The two companies on my watch list are First Solar (FSLR) which is the industry giant and SunPower (SPWR) Corporation which has a huge presence in the deserts of California. FSLR once hit close to $180 in Feb/Mar of 2011. As of 13 Nov, its 52-week high is at $75 and is currently trading at $48. SPWR once hit $130 in 2008 and its 52-week high is at $42 and its currently trading at $27. SPWR has been on a tremendous run since the end of 2012, being as low as $4 in November 2012, as it gains more momentum in the industry.

The Solar Energy industry was the darling of the stock market when Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” swept through the world; putting alternative energy options in the spot light. Ever since then, politics have shied away from the Climate Change debate, focusing more on the struggling economy.

The alternative energy is politically dependent. As the Republicans take over the House and Senate, I imagine the industry will suffer and stock prices will go lower, providing ample opportunities for value investors. In 2011, the solar-cell company, Solyndra, filed bankruptcy after receiving a huge grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The company was a major donor to President Obama’s presidential campaign. Once the company filed for bankruptcy, the administration dodged all implications of corruption costing the taxpayers $385 million, once/if the projected $142.8 million is recouped. The executives all received “golden parachutes.” Instead of the administration taking the hit, the solar energy industry took the blame and climate change discussions were halted.

These temporary political weaknesses may give us an attractive buying opportunity this year and into 2015. I think the industry will continue to expand with or without political support. Once the support has returned, the stocks should skyrocket. It’s also satisfying to invest in industries you feel good about. As always, be careful taking stock advice from any blogger.

DISCLOSURE: As of this writing, I’m not currently invested in FSLR or SPWR but will most likely buy soon.

Big Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Returns

In my previous blog post titled, Active TSP participation, I recommended taking advantage of the recent market dip by changing your portfolio allocation or by doing an Interfund Transfer (IFT). In less than two weeks, you could have earned over .5% in most of the funds besides the “G” and “F Funds”. Considering that the national average for the ANNUAL return of savings accounts is less than .5% (http://www.bankrate.com/checking.aspx), then you could have made more in two weeks than all year in a typical savings account while keeping your money in your TSP accounts.

Date	L Income	L 2020	L 2030	L 2040	L 2050	G Fund	F Fund	C Fund	S Fund	I Fund
14-Oct-14	17.11	21.98	23.55	24.84	14.00	14.55	16.71	24.66	32.31	23.94
22-Oct-14	17.24	22.38	24.11	25.53	14.44	14.56	16.68	25.63	34.15	24.35
Gain/(Loss)	0.74%	1.79%	2.32%	2.72%	3.04%	0.06%	-0.20%	3.78%	5.38%	1.67%

*Data as of 23 Oct 14

You don’t have to be passive when it comes to major market swings and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). I understand most people want to invest and forget when they participate in the TSP. “Dollar cost averaging” or investing at regular intervals can earn you average results compared to the market; but by taking a passive approach to investing, you can achieve above average results.