1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

Performance Update (Day 1764): You’re Now Free To Roam About Your Life

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My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal last year and my 1500 Days are over, but in the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share my numbers.

Not Working For Money

October was a stellar month. My portfolio went from $1,462,077 all the way up to $1,502,059 for a gain of about $40,000. For perspective, my first real programming job paid me $37,000/year. And that job wasn’t fun.

My entire career was spent working in the Windy City

My boss had a bunch of old school rules:

  • We had to wear a tie to work. (I hate ties!)
  • I had to be in the office from 8:30am until 5:30pm. Because I wasn’t allowed to come in early and miss rush hour, I spent at least 90 minutes in traffic every day.
  • I got a 15 minute break and a 45 minute lunch that I was only allowed to take at mandated times.

My portfolio is a lot more fun. I spend about 5 minutes per month managing it. The 5 minutes mostly consists of depositing checks from my private loans with my bank’s smartphone app. It’s ridiculous that this money can’t be direct-deposited, but if this my only complaint, I have nothing to complain about.

And the bigger picture is even prettier. My portfolio is up almost $250,000 this year. $44,000 is from contributions. The other $206,000 is appreciation. I never made anything close to $200,000 when I was working.

We don’t have to draw down any of our money since Mrs. 1500 is still working. But even if we did, our portfolio would still be growing. The 4% rule states that we can spend $60,000 per year, but we don’t need anything near that to get by.

 

The Best Is Ahead

And even more amazing, the best years are yet to come.

Our home will be paid off in about a decade. At that time, our expenses will be $12,000 less per year.

Our kids will also be out of the house in 10 years. At that time, we’ll be able to live in a far cheaper part of the world. I’m not sure if we’ll move, but it’s nice to know we have this backup plan. And even if we stay in Boulder County, we’ll be able to sell our 4 bedroom and move into something smaller.

And I’m only 43. I’ve been working and saving for less than 20 years. I still have 40 to 50 years left. Within a couple of decades, I’m sure I’ll have a month where my portfolio appreciates $100,000.

I fully acknowledge that everything is inflated right now. The stock market will correct down 30% or more, but that’s just the natural cycle. The long term investor doesn’t worry because in decades, even major corrections look like little blips.

 

You’re Now Free To Roam About Your Life

Would you rather work for money or make money work for you? The latter is better.

Once you’ve saved enough and your money hits critical mass, that’s it, you’re done. You’re now free to do whatever you want. That money will keep making money so you don’t have to. Those little dollars are the best employees in the world.

No more spending 2,000 hours per year at a job you may not like. No more traffic. No more pointy haired bosses. You’re now free to roam about your life. The sooner you can get to this position, the better.

 

Performance Update: October

Chart from Personal Capital!!!***

 

These days, I’m an index fund investor. However, I still hold stocks from when I was younger and ignorant. Luckily, the stocks that I bought including Amazon, Google and Tesla have been on a stellar ride.

Much of my excellent October was due to Amazon and Google. In a month where the S&P 500 was up 2%, Amazon was up 14% and Google 8%. If I had to commit to owning one stock for the next 10 years that I wasn’t allowed to sell, Google would be my choice. Amazon would be a close second.

 

2017 (as of 11/1/2017)

Since the start (1/1/2013)

  • Days elapsed: 1764
  • Portfolio gains since 1/1/2013: $916,016
  • Needed to quit work ($1,120,000 in investments): Mission accomplished!
  • Net worth: $1,967,059 which includes:
    • Investment portfolio and cash: $1,502.059
    • Home equity: $400,000
    • Silly toy car: $45,000
    • Other cars, bikes, dinosaurs: $20,000

 

153 Pounds

Back in 2015 at the end of the year, I found myself at 180 pounds. That didn’t hang well on my slender, 5′ 11″ frame. And by “didn’t hang well,” I mean that I was in terrible shape.

Over the summer, I went to the doctor. My weight was 173 and my blood pressure was 130/80 (not good). At the end of August, I committed to get my health in order.

Since then, I’ve been doing a lot of walking with a little bit of strength training. The physical part is easy. The eating, not so much. But I’ve made progress. I’m now down to 153 and my body fat percentage is between 17 and 18 percent. With about 5 more pounds to lose, I’m on the home stretch. In the interest of transparency, here are the pictures:

September, October, November

After I make my weight/body fat goal, I’ll switch my routine over to more strength training and less cardio. I’d like to end up at around 160 with a body fat percentage of around 12. Stay tuned…

 

Just can’t get enough?

 

*My goal wasn’t to have $1,120,000 at the end of 1500 days, but at any time before the day count was up. Why? It all goes back to the 4% Rule. Remember that our little friend, Mr. 4%, is nothing more than the most conservative safe withdrawal rate. So, if I were to quit my job now, I could spend about $60,000 in my first year of retirement. I’d stick way that number too because market valuations are ambitious. And I just don’t need to spend $60,000 per year.

**My original goal was $1,000,000 and no debt, I later raised the goal by $120,000 to $1,120,000 because I will have debt in the form of a mortgage and I firmly believe in not paying it off. My compromise is to have enough money put away to cover the mortgage at the time of retirement. So, to retire today, I would need about $1,120,000.

***This is an affiliate link. If you sign up, the blog (me) makes some cold, hard, beautiful, cash. Personal Capital is a totally free and awesome way to keep watch over your investments. It’s worth it for the fee analyzer alone. I would never recommend anything that I don’t personally use and completely believe in, so give it a try. If you’ve already signed up through the link, please know that you are a fine person of above-average intelligence.

****My 401(k) contributions include my own, Mrs. 15oo’s, and the contributions from my corporation. Self-employment with a solo 401(k) is a very powerful savings tool. I should have done this years ago.

Join the 10s who have signed up already!

Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.

*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.

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Comments

  1. You’re still killin’ it dude, It’s a great ride isn’t it!

    As for your fitness progress – huge kudos to you! When I turned 40 I went on a “fitness bender” after keeping several microbreweries in business in my 20’s and 30’s. I’ve never looked back. I just feel so much better ALL the time. Getting to 12% body fat for a guy is pretty good, that’s about where I’m at now. I had it down to 10% for a while but the training it took to keep it there was a little more than I could maintain consistently.

    Keep at it. We get one body in life, there are no trade-ins!
    Accidental Fire recently posted…Area Savant Pays $62.73 For $40 Item On Sale For $29.99My Profile

  3. Ah yes…those “first” corporate gigs and our need to feel “compliant”. This tongue in check saying always makes me smile…
    “The beatings will continue until morale improves”….you’re just getting warmed up…fun to watch/follow!

  4. Congratulations on your ongoing progress. I’m glad you’re no longer stuck with that commute; Chicago’s traffic can be terrible, especially at the wrong times. I live and work in downtown Chicago, but I can at least walk. As you mentioned, having time to focus on what’s important and interesting can make such a difference.

    On the fitness side, also congrats on your results. And agreed with you on the eating – it’s so much easier on the workout side (at least for me). You mentioned cardio and weight training – is there anything you found works well for you? My issue is consistency and motivation. I joined Orangetheory Fitness earlier this year and love it.

    Balanced Dividend recently posted:
    https://www.balanceddividends.com/balancing-account-types-to-balance-lifes-unknown-milestones/

  5. Woot woot Carl’s no loser! Who says you stop making money after FIRE. Pish posh.

    Our FI number needs to be a little higher too. I have zero interest in paying off the mortgage early at our current 3.75% interest.

  6. I just change a spare bedroom to a gym this past week, need to get into better shape. I’ve tried going to gyms always hated the travel time and waiting for machines so a home gym I will fit better into life.
    Also, good job on still killing it with the networth I’m hoping next year I can turbocharge the savings rate with wife finishing college in December.

  7. Oh man! I started out in web design and my first job out of college was in an office where I had to wear a tie to work every day. I was never in any customer facing roles, and it’s not like I wanted to wear shorts and flip flops to work. But suit and tie was the “business professional” attire required by all.

    I DO NOT miss those days.

    Keep up the great work!
    Aaron | Live Your Wage recently posted…3 Money Rules I Learned by Accident – Part 3My Profile

  8. Nice job Carl! Like you, we’ll probably see gains (both capital and dividends) worth about $250k this year (barring a giant crash in the last few weeks of the year). That’s a huge amount of money!

    Liberating isn’t it? Suddenly you quit work and you’re making more than you ever did at a job. It’s an amazing feeling!
    Mr. Tako recently posted…Margin MattersMy Profile

  9. Still financially going strong, way to go! Woot on the fitness goals! Whether it’s the exercise side or the eating or the drinking, most folks find avenues that are harder than others… kudos for sticking to your plan.
    Have you tried HabitShare? Free app that the Chautauqua folks clued me into…. a way to drag your friends into supporting your goals (whatever they are) and gently harassing you if you don’t stick to them.

  10. Congrats on the weight loss! What kind of diet are you on? I just hit the 3 month mark of the slow carb diet (it involves lots of beans, and a crazy cheat day once per week!), and I’ve had quite a bit of success. Feel free to check it out on my latest post!

  12. OK great there are many stories of what I did 10 years ago or 4 years ago etc BUT no one really ever writes a blog about – ok from November 23 2017 – I will invest this much in these stocks or funds.
    It sounds like another “10 years ago if you invested in Bitcoin, GOOG, AMZN etc” but moving forward no one ever states – from Nov 2017, I see the market run has been long and I will invest in REITS, GOLD or these stocks.

    • Yeah, it’s pretty easy to make yourself look like a superhero looking back and I fully admit to being very lucky.

      I do publish regular portfolio updates though (most recent one: https://www.1500days.com/portfolio-update/) and I can tell you how I’ll be investing. I’m going to stay in most of those individual stocks for a while. I’ll probably sell a little off every year, but not much. This is mostly because I don’t want to pay capital gains. I’ll continue to invest in real estate (mostly syndication deals) through my self-directed solo 401(k).

      And I did say in the post that I think Amazon and Google are strong holdings. DO NOT take that as investment advice though. I’m just an amateur.

  15. Great progress, Carl, on both your portfolio and weight loss metrics! I love it that you have given both equal importance and determination to succeed. I haven’t been able to succeed much on the weight loss goal I have set this year due to my frequent work travel (and besides, food is so tasty in many countries!), Still, I am sticking to vegetarian diet regimen and brisk walk in the mornings with some stretching. At least, my weight isn’t increasing! Still, my BMI at 25.6 puts me just above normal, would like it to be 23-24, so I must lose 10 pounds.
    When I retire ‘fully’ (whatever that means), I would love to be able to add some resistance training into my routine and focus more on exercise to drop that 10 pounds. Any tips would be appreciated! Keep up the great job!
    Ten Factorial Rocks recently posted…The Value of a Tiny IncomeMy Profile

  16. Totaly agree with the Google and Amazon stocks! Wish I bought more and earlier. What do you think about the up and coming Shopify or the good old Adobe?

    Just keep it coming with the strength training, and watch what you put in your mouth (that’s going to make the biggest difference). Try going vegan for a week, or on Mondays.

    • I’m not sure about Shopify and Adobe as I don’t follow them closely.

      Do pay close attention to Google though. I believe that Waymo is the leader in autonomous car software. And that is huge.

  17. Gogogogogogogo on the weight loss. Since going FIRE, I read posts like this with a ‘meh, me too’ sort of mindset. But the weight loss journey really speaks to me. I topped out at 250 pounds (stupid desk job) and have lost a little over 40 of that. It is enormously difficult to get lower but I remain committed to a long term lifestyle change. If the best I can do going forward is 10 pounds a year, I’ll eventually get to my target weight (and stay there!)
    Financial Velociraptor recently posted…New trades in GRUB and NAPMy Profile

  18. Congratulations! You not only made it, but far exceeded your goal.

    I like the concept “Roam about your life”. Freedom is really cool, and gives me time and energy to explore. I have retired for 2+ years, and it has been the best time of my life so far.

  20. Hello there new friend,

    For some odd reason, I was performing a Google search for buying and selling millionaire side hustle. So I was flipping through the pages of Google and I came across a listing that sounded quite interesting on BusinessInsider.com. Henry Blodgett made a post or I guess someone who writes for the site on August 20th 2017 and it’s titled I retired a millionaire at 43 – here’s why I should have quit my job. So I was looking at a little bit of the description in the Google search and it said that you were the founder of a financial blog and it had your blog address. I decided to check you out and rank you on Alexa. I see that you’re Alexa us traffic rank is pretty good. I do commend you for retiring at age 43 with a net worth of 1.8 million dollars. Are you in affiliate marketing by chance? And how long have you been blogging for if you don’t mind me asking? 🙂
    DNN recently posted…#BloggingMillionaire: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner Featured on #CNBCMy Profile

  21. The first time I learnt about passive income, I totally lost interest in my 9 – 5 job. I realised that I needed to start investing in securities that can earn me income when I am not even there. Passive income is the real money. I shall surely get there.

  22. It’s nice to see some success stories out there, I think it’s the Smith and Wesson retirement plan for me, though.