An article I read this morning made me realize something: early retirement is inevitable. I currently have almost a $200,000 net worth (so close!). I could stop saving now, not touch my money and let it grow. If I did that then based on historical averages I would have enough money to retire at 43 years old. That’s 12 years before my mom and 19 years before the earliest social security payout options without me adding another penny to my accounts. I could suddenly quintuple my lifestyle, live like that for the next 15 years and still retire earlier than I could have ever imagined. That’s INSANE! I might start thinking of all the money I invest from this moment as money that’s buying back my time between 32 and 43 years of age. I’m slowly rolling back the clock. I like that visual. Even if I do nothing I will get there. And fast. Let’s do this!
Looking back I think I’ve always been fascinated by money. I tried to negotiate prices with the tooth fairy (proof below), was a bank for my siblings (a bad one) and loved collecting foreign currency. My aunt and uncle would often bring me coins from wherever they were living at the time. I also bought fake foreign currency with the little chore money I received. I was such a normal kid 🙂 .
I’ve mentioned that part of my morning routine is catching up on the financial blogs that have been published since the following morning. I find which blogs I’ll read through twitter. I have a twitter list that only includes my financial bloggers and it’s very helpful to keep up not only with their blog posts, but latest news. It’s how I found out one of my favorite and most inspiring bloggers was having a meet up in Seattle and I ended up hanging out with him (and others) all night. It was amazing. 
On this 4th of July I’m reminiscing on this crazy country I live in. Despite my pessimism it’s a pretty great place to live. We do have a large amount of opportunity and diversity that slightly combats all our issues. I’m happy to live here and wouldn’t roll the dice again if given the chance. That’s one way to show someone’s true feelings 🙂 .
We’re halfway done with 2017 and this year is flying by. Let’s check in on my goal to decrease my spending from $22,491.86 last year by $4,491.86 to $18,000 this year. These are my averages for the first half of 2017:
I feel like we were just here celebrating $150,000 net worth. It was only 3 months ago. Money is compounding stupid fast it seems. As of today I have $177,746 in net worth thanks to my last paycheck and the stock market hitting a new all time high. $175,000 seemed impossible when I started seriously saving and investing 3 years ago. I kind of can’t believe it. Going from leaving college with $5,000 to my name to now doesn’t even seem real. Having 25% or 1/4 of my retirement net worth goal at the beginning of the year and now having 33% or 1/3 is crazy. I feel incredibly grateful that I was able to learn the power of saving and investing early and can’t wait to see what the rest of the year will bring. My goal for the end of 2017 is to have $200,000 in net worth. If the market holds steady that seems doable. I’m half way to my goal of investing $60,000 this year and simply investing the rest will push me past that $200,000 goal. That number also doesn’t feel real. Oh well: Let’s do this.