All Forum Posts by: Mitch Vogatsky

@Randy Bloch @Benjamin Hewitt

I agree with this as well. A financial planner has been in my thoughts for after I get my first property. From the quick searches I have done, I feel it may be difficult to find someone local to me who specializes in FIRE concepts while using investments like real estate. The quick conversations I’ve had with a couple average financial planners always seem to shrug off FIRE concepts because it’s just not what the average person coming to them is looking to do. But I’m sure they’re out there.

@Randy Bloch

I like the point you made about diversifying accounts based on tax deferred, advantaged, and after tax. This is definitely something for me to consider.

I’m currently looking for that house hack and hope to find one in the next few months to kick things off for myself.

Thanks again for your advice, it’s very helpful!

@Randy Bloch

I appreciate your input Randy! I believe the $1.5 million in projected 401k savings is a more conservative number than what the savings will really be at that point, however, I agree with your statement concerning inflation. it’s something I thought of briefly, but thinking over it again… 30 years until age 59, then another 30 after that. That’s a significant amount of time for the value of that $1.5 million to decrease. I have to do more calculations considering inflation, but maybe doubling that number should be the goal.

For me, my tax rate is below 30% (with potential to go above 30% if I stay in my W2 job). So for now, I see it as worth it to allow some of my money to be taxed today. As for what I would plan to do with the excess money I don't put into my 401k, I would like to invest it in a personal brokerage and real estate. I'm working towards buying my first rental now and I'm interested in flipping in the future. I do currently put some money into a Roth IRA, but I'm leaning towards putting it somewhere that is easily accessible for my time before the age of 59.

I have focused on saving for my retirement through my 401k for my first few years of work after college. I managed to save up $100k to invest and have decided that I will no longer contribute more than my employer match (4%). At an 8% return until age 59 (30+ years to go), even if I don’t contribute any more starting today, I will still have about $1.5 million saved. More than enough to live out the rest of my life “fat FI”. I would like to turn my focus to saving for today so I can become FI and last until age 59 when I can access that money.

My question is, is there any reason I should continue to invest towards my retirement accounts? Even though I would have enough money to live my life financially free after that point if I stopped. The only reasons I can think to continue to do so are (1) the tax benefits gained from investing into a traditional 401k, and (2) potentially using the 401k to fund FI before age 59 (through the Roth IRA conversion ladder).

To me, the tax benefits gained are not a reason to justify continuing to save more for retirement. The Roth IRA conversion ladder is. However, why not just start saving money in a personal brokerage and avoid the hassle of that strategy?

I’m looking for any thoughts and advice on these points!

@Mike D'Arrigo

That’s a great point and something I hadn’t considered! Thank you.

I just started looking for my first property, a small multi family to house hack. To give myself a maximum price of what I can buy, I’ve been basing it off of the monthly mortgage that I’d prefer to stay at or under ($1600). I set this based off of, worst case scenario, if I had to pay it all, what am I ok with? I realize that I may be limiting myself to less desirable properties by not accepting a higher monthly mortgage. Am I right to manage the risk this way? Or am I being too conservative when realistically, I probably won’t have a situation where I have to pay the entire mortgage for too long. How do you calculate the maximum you can/want to afford?

@Mason Hickman

Thanks for your input, Mason! That’s what I had in mind myself. It’s good to hear some reassurance behind my thinking.

I’m just getting started in real estate and will be looking for my first property soon. Particularly a duplex, triplex or fourplex. My friend and I share the same goal in wanting to house hack, and we’ve discussed partnering on our first deal. This way, we can get started sooner by putting our money together and also assume less risk by sharing the risk together. We’ve discussed using an attorney to write up an agreement/contract for us. Can anyone share their thoughts on this? How do you go about finding an attorney? What are the pros and cons of this kind of partnership?

I’m looking to hear some thoughts on cutting back on my 401k in order to put more money towards my savings rate and invest it in real estate and other areas where it is accessible to me. I currently max out my 401k with an 8% match from my employer. My plan is to cut back once I reach $100k (end of this year). I’m in my mid-twenties. I figure if I continue to put in about 4% (with this I’ll still get the 8% match) for the next 5-10 years while I try to reach FI, I’ll have plenty of money compounded by age 59.5 to last the rest of my life. By putting the rest of that monthly money into a brokerage account or something like real estate, I can start to focus on the money I need to last me from ~30 Years old to 60. I know there are some potential cons here with paying more taxes now, etc. Are there any other considerations I should take into account for this method?

Hi everyone, I’m having trouble finding an answer to this question in the forums and on the web in general. I’m wondering how you all calculate your income savings rate? It’s obvious that you would go off your net pay. But my confusion comes in when I consider my 401k. My 401k contributions are taken out before taxes. I don’t want to leave these savings out, as I currently put 23% of my gross pay into my 401k. How do I consider these savings along with the savings from my net pay?