Friday could be a big day for me. Friday could be the day that the sum of all my financial accounts reaches six figures.
At first I was going to wait, to celebrate when it actually happens. But I realized that this is just too tenuous of a number to celebrate. It’s one thing to celebrate a 401k passing the $50,000 mark, because you likely have other buckets of money to back that up with. But when you are adding all your money up, well, anything could tip it back down. A car repair. A market drop. Buying a TV, or a soundbar. It’s not that it wouldn’t still be worth celebrating, but I decided that stating this early would do it more justice: I’m excited, yes, but nothing is a guarantee. It’s just a number.
Several weeks ago, my accounts actually passed it. This was temporary, though, because there were bills to pay and whatnot. I became a bit more emotional than I expected. Who would’ve thought? In three years…I could have six figures of wealth? For all my degree choices, my school choices, my own distrust of wealth (early on), my own upbringing, even my desire to be a writer, or a scholar, or whatever, that life would take such a different turn? I’m not the ‘self-made man’. I was clearly set-up by Someone. Just looking at the Vanguard account, mentally adding the quantity in the bank. “God…what?”
It’s not easy, but it may be easier than you think. Not everybody can do it, but many more can do it than is commonly thought. It’s not the most important thing, and it doesn’t give you security. But it sure is exciting. And I’m sure some of my friends have already done this, and others will be there before too long.
See, my original goal was to hit $300,000, hit the road, and use that good-old 4% rule to draw down $1,000 per month (or less) to hack it in far away places. I still don’t know whether this will go the way I think it will go, but to think that I’ll be 1/3 of the way there. And in theory, in theory, I might be able to reach this in 5 years.
But the fear is there, too. I mean, $1,000 per month only gets you so far in the United States. Why not another 5 years to hit the 600-700k range? Why not 15 years and hit the 1 million range? I’d be set, I’d be set!
Except…no. I would not be set. The ache grows. The yearning. I’m not even guaranteed another 15 years. I’ve recently felt that the five-year goal has been reintroduced to me. Because what I’m trying to achieve is such a first world problem. It’s not by any means wrong, people do it all the time just by not spending more money than they really need, but I don’t think the plan was for me to hit that cool 1.2 million and THEN choose to live. It’d be different if I loved programming and wanted to settle down in a nice little town and simply raise a family, yes, that would make perfect sense, and there are good things to that, too. But there’s this deep restlessness inside. That changes things. And it was always going to change things.
I also understand that people are called overseas all the time, and all they really have is faith and calling…and they go. What to do about money? Will they build up enough social security to have some sort of fallback once they’ve returned and grown old? How will they buy a house and settle back down? What about returning to the job market?
“You, too. You’re going to have to trust me in this. You’re a strategist and I want you to use your strategy. But your strategy won’t save you. Besides, you’re going to have a lot more fun doing it my way”.
Hey, I’m not going to put God in a box, but here’s the goal: $300,000.
There’s so much stirring in my heart right now. Things are shifting; changing. Next year may actually be the year I travel overseas. I feel a lifting, and I want to pay more attention to what that really means. I have this goal to hit, and maybe a smaller one, too, and then I plan to start building a large travel fund for short-term trips, because there are some things that need doing and some places that need visiting.
What surprised me was watching my G-IRA get placed on the backburner. I think there is a danger in making something like giving a sort of penance, a sort of thing to check-off or use to prove something about yourself. Like, if I don’t immediately start working on my giving fund, I’m mishandling God’s money! – so it becomes some sort of weird religious thing. All avenues: blocked. I couldn’t do it because the season isn’t right, yet. But I still very strongly believe that when God puts money in your life, it isn’t exclusively for you.
I like to think, too, that this is a way of setting my future family up for success. But I have no idea if/when that will happen. I would, however, strongly speak against the attitude some hold that you should spend-up while you’re single or before you have kids because you won’t be able to afterward. Not only is that attitude defeatist, but it also assumes that habits make radical swings based on life circumstances. In reality, habits change rather slowly, and if you are blowing your money before you’re married, you’re probably going to keep blowing your money after you’re married. You still need to be cautious.
What I do find encouraging is that if I keep programming for the next five years, I’ll end up totaling over 10 years of experience. Even if you only lightly keep up with new trends, this is enough for you to be taken seriously in the future. I even know one missionary family where the husband was a database programmer before going into the mission field, and although it was tough returning, he did eventually get back into a database programming role. Besides, faith. You gotta have some if you want things like this to work out.
Today was a day of rest for me, back to the mountains next week, I hope. An unexpectedly long journey last week has really reignited my desire to hit up some of these difficult-to-reach lakes. Plus my new boots are amazing. So there’s a lot to look forward to right now.