Websites and Apps Archives - Cruisin' to fire

34 working days left

I have have officially started my countdown to retirement and freedom is near. Well, lets be honest here, I’ve been counting it down for the past few months but it’s really getting close now. I have 34 working days left and I will work those over the next 10 weeks. I know that sounds weird because I work a 4 on, 4 off schedule. If I plan everything strategically perfect, my last working day will be May 2, 2020 and then hello…..freedom.

Burning the Leave

From May 3rd to July 1, 2020 I will be burning through all my annual leave that I have accrued and saved. I haven’t taken much annual leave in I don’t know how long, just so that I can peace out in this way. That will give me 2 and a half months pretty much of continuously getting a paycheck while not having to show up for work at all. In fact I won’t have to show up anywhere for work after that because I will be retired! Some were suggesting that I cash out the annual leave and have it deposited into my retirement account but my thought was why? I would rather just leave a few months earlier, not work, get paid and extend out my official retirement date.

Wow, I still can’t believe it. Everyone asks, right after they congratulate me, “what will I be doing next?” My first response is what ever I want to do. I have the freedom to do what ever I want. I have reached financial freedom and damn if it doesn’t feel amazing.

Financial Freedom

What does financial freedom mean to me? That means I have the freedom to do whatever I want to do because my passive income supports my needs. My retirement accounts, pension, and rental property provide me more money than I spend on a year worth of needs. My pension I think of as my bond fund theoretically which will never run out and pays for life. After the first full year of retirement, it will provide an increase in cost of living yearly. My 457, 401 and Roth will be drawn down at a 4% draw down rate and it will just exponentially grow due to the average rate of returns those funds provide. Currently my funds are returning anywhere from 11-17% ROR. I will essentially never run out of money if I stay the course and don’t fall victim to lifestyle inflation.

Lifestyle inflation

Lifestyle inflation is where you gradually start living beyond what you originally projected out for. So hypothetically lets say I’m real comfortable living on $75,000 a year in the Fairfax County area with my pension and draw downs. Maybe I’ll get bored and I pick up a hobby or join a vacation group for retirees. I now spend an additional amount monthly to maintain my hobby costs or go on 2 -3 vacations a year instead of 1-2 and I go large instead of mid line on those vacations. I mean heck, I’m retired now, wohooo. Let’s do it! Then your monthly income isn’t cutting it and you take out more from the investments and this just keeps going up and up each year or bi-monthly. You get what I’m saying here. The link below from investopia is an article on managing lifestyle inflation.

I did not inflate my lifestyle at all while working in the fire department for 20 years. Even though my salary went up in huge chunks throughout my career, I stayed the course in my little townhouse and paid off all my vehicles and ran them to the ground. If I had to buy a new (used) car, it was paid for within 2 years. My nicest gift to myself was my 2011 Harley Davidson Road Glide Custom. I even bought her used. Pearl is her name.

Ups and downs of the market and my draw downs

So as long as I live within my means, enjoy doing what I want to do and don’t have lifestyle creep, I will be set. I will seek out things to do that make me enjoy life. Spend time with my family, especially those grand babies. Go fishing with my mom. Spend time with my babe and plan out our travel trips to check off our bucket list. Let’s not forget that I’ll hang out with my Motorcycle club sisters also and go on amazing trips. outriderswmc.com

The market will go up and down and I will pay extra attention as I move through my retirement years. I know elections have consequences and global issues can effect our markets. As I write this now, the coronavirus is killing thousands of people in China and now is creeping out to other parts of the world.

I will continue to listen to all my favorite podcast, upkeep my rental property, stash funds to buy vehicles out right when needed and plan for the move down to warmer climates as I get older. Hell, we could live super large in Central America.

I’m just about done cruisin’ my way to FIRE. I will be 52 on my official retirement date of 7-1-2020. I have reached Financial Independence and will soon Retire Early. It has also brought me great pleasure in coaching some of my colleagues with the ways I have reached early retirement. Hopefully they will stick to it and enjoy a life of freedom too when it’s their time. I sure hope so. Until next time, earn more, spend less and invest the rest.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/092313/how-manage-lifestyle-inflation.asp

Personal Capital

This is free website. I put all my accounts in here and it provides a great outlook on what I’m spending. It will show what you have saved, what your mortgage balance is. It will also show the value of your home according to Zestimate and so much more. You can see where you need to catch up to plan for your retirement needs. It gives you a net worth amount. I prefer this over Mint but it’s generally the same thing.

Free consult

Everyone gets one free consult with a financial adviser, although I’ve never used it. It has this awesome tool to show you different scenarios. You can see when your money will run out or how long it will last. I really love it.

YNAB, you need a budget.

This app is a paid app for those of you who may need a little extra guidance. I’ve heard this is it. All the blogs and podcasts I listen to states this one is by far the most beneficial. They have great customer support to get you through the workings of the budget plan. If you want to get started for free, just listen to the podcast YNAB. You can find out what the free trial is all about. It’s free for 45 days or something, not just 30 days like most. It’s also a podcast so go sign up to listen.

Award Wallet

I use this to track my reward points on my cards. Yes, I use credit cards, however, they are always paid off every month. Even before they are due because I get all crazy about owing money to anyone. I use credit cards and award cards to take advantage of the free stuff or upgrades etc.

Max Rewards

This app is still in beta testing and I asked to get on the email list to participate. I LOVE THIS APP! It is still working through quirks but man when it works, it is amazing. This is for folks who are credit card hacking and travel hacking and all the good hacking. LOL. It tracks all the cards you have that you have entered in to the app. When you pull it up where ever you are, it recommends which card will give you the best reward.

Example, I’m at a restaurant and pull up the app. It will select Barclays Uber Visa. That’s because I will get 4% cash back as opposed to maybe 1% if I used Capital One. So, when you open the app, and hit the map icon, it brings up all the surrounding stores. It will then recommend the card to use at those places. I love it.

Pay your bills

Remember, I always pay my bills in FULL at the end of each pay period. Don’t even think about keeping the bill for the end of the billing cycle. I dislike owing money with a passion. I use cards to get airline miles, hotel perks, higher cash back percentages etc.

Credit card hacking

A new thing I just discovered at the Mad Fientist site is his travel cards page. If you sign up for his emails, he will instruct you through hacking the recommended cards. The page breaks it down to which cards have points that transfer, have fees, and all the perks. The mad fientist traveled to 14 countries and spent $947 dollars in 3 months.

This was due to his awesome travel card hacking skills. That was just for the flights and some were even flying in business class. He spent hours figuring this all out, so why not learn from him, and use his awesome tool he has on his page. I can’t get enough of this travel and credit card hacking stuff.

To be clear, I didn’t spend any extra money to charge up my cards. I would have purchased the stuff or eaten out anyway. I simply used the cards the apps recommended. To date I have $750 dollars’ worth of perks on one card already!!

Let it simmer

A little tip I want to pass along. If you know you are a spender, remove all those shopping apps off your cell phone. I removed the Amazon app and realized I spent so much less because it wasn’t so convenient. If I really want a particular item, it can wait until I get to my computer. Later when I log in to Amazon, I let it sit in the shopping cart for a few days. If after a few days, and you still really want it, then get it. You did your due diligence. LOL.

If you are going to shop on line, use the Honey extension, and camelcamelcamel. Those two things save me a few bucks. I like to use those for items I can wait on. Camelcamelcamel can set up alerts. When prices drop on Amazon for the things on your wish list, you will get sent an email.

The websites and apps I mentioned are as follows:

https://www.personalcapital.com

https://www.madfientist.com

https://www.maxrewards.co/

https://awardwallet.com

https://www.youneedabudget.com/

Save these links for apps to your favorites. Until next time, spend wisely, make sure you get a perk worth every dollar.