A little bit ago, I was looking through the forum at the White Coat Investor site. Someone posted looking for support in staying the course. They had discovered the financial independence movement 2 years ago, and were in the long slog (as described very well at Our Next Life) between the excited discovery stage and the finish line.
In reflection, I realized it was just over 4 years ago that I discovered Mr. Money Mustache and fell down the rabbit hole of the financial blogosphere.
At the time, big goals seemed so far away. My student loans were gone (thank goodness!), but we had a kid in college, a large mortgage near the beginning of its life cycle, and a decent–but no means huge–retirement fund.
I remember taking walks in the neighborhood and running numbers in my head: if we add a little more to the mortgage, we can knock off a year or two of payments. If I max out the 403(b), and returns run 7% (is that total? or compared to inflation?), we should hit our target retirement number in–a really long time. Argh!
Every month was a frenzy of paycheck arrival, automatic deposit into retirement funds, mortgage payment, bills. I would then wait impatiently for the next paycheck->retirement fund contribution->mortgage payment cycle. Even in the middle of this, I realized this was madness: wishing away the month to save faster.
Reading blogs and financial forums was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it was comforting to know that others were going through the same issues. Sometimes a particular blogger would hit their “goal:” retirement, or moving, or paying off all their debt, and I would be very excited for them. Sometimes I would make myself crazy reading posts about optimizing investments, or frugal tips, or saving more money than I will ever make.
To be sure, I can’t remember exactly when I realized it was time to stop wishing my life away to meet a numbers goal.
I suspect much of the mind shift occurred once my money situation improved.
About a year after discovering all this information online, we had a college graduation. A lot of money got freed up–enough to accelerate savings AND also splurge on some exciting trips. Income from my job increased. The markets continued to rise, lifting the investments totals more than the yearly contributions.
Eventually we decided to work on paying off the mortgage early. This was a big goal, but much smaller goal overall than trying to get to our goal retirement savings number. It has been gratifying to see our work pay off with a smaller and smaller loan total over the past few years. Between paying less interest on the smaller loan amount–so more of the required payments go to principal pay down–and finding periodic lump sum payments to contribute, we are on track to be mortgage free about 2 years before my original estimate.
At the same time, the retirement funds are significantly higher. (Not yet at “the number,” but still good.) There are lots of moving parts that make it hard to fix a date: what will the market return? What would we do for health care if I’m not working? How much will be be spending and saving if the mortgage is truly paid off? If I cut back hours a bit more? If we have to care for aging parents more actively? I don’t know what any of those answers look like. But, we have more saved than we did 4 years ago. That has to help.
I think overall, I would like the take-home message to be: it gets better.
If you are working on tackling your debt, or saving for retirement, and you are making real (but slow) progress, things will improve. You may not see it for a while, it may be partially buried by your daycare bills, your emergency sewer line repair, the student loans; but the day will come that those are behind you. And if you have stuck with a well-constructed plan, you may find the money freed up by sending your kids to public kindergarten, or paying off your loans, gives you a little more wiggle-room. You can save for retirement and for a replacement car. You can take the family on a vacation, and you have retirement savings that are worth looking at.
So my other take-home point is: enjoy the ride. Don’t wish those years away, waiting for daycare bills to end; or the decade of loan repayment to pass by in a crazed blur. Find support, find joy, find treats (that fit in your plan), to make those years something you will look back on with nostalgia and not regret.
Do you find support or inspiration in reading some of the many financial blogs out there? Or do you find that they make you feel like you are supposed to be doing more to get “there” [FI] faster?