The Intersection of FIRE and Disney

[RAL710]

Somewhat unrelated...but how is Disney stock up 10% today?

i had some cash on hand and started trying to buy the dip last week, but now I am thinking that maybe I should use the remaining cash to bolster my emergency fund from 6 months to a year

 

[Mome Rath]

Dis is up today because the whole market is rising today, and Dis had been down to 79 earlier, so I think many see it as a buying opportunity. Also, Disney raised a pile of cash by offering bonds, Shanghai is talking about reopening, and it appears the spread may be slowing in Italy.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

A few Random thoughts...

1) Do I get to celebrate that my 600k milestone again... I posted here before about that on Nov 9th... but if we have another good day in the market, perhaps I celebrate again??? LOL!
2) Since it bounces around so much, do I celebrate EVERY time it goes above that number?? LOL!

3) On a more serious note... I know that my savings efforts in the first 3.5 months of this year have had a huge impact on this BUT my NW is currently only off of my 2019 year end number by $27k. And I'm $107k over my 2018 number. For some reason it just makes me happy to see that kind of stuff.

 

[QueenIsabella]

A few Random thoughts...

1) Do I get to celebrate that my 600k milestone again... I posted here before about that on Nov 9th... but if we have another good day in the market, perhaps I celebrate again??? LOL!
2) Since it bounces around so much, do I celebrate EVERY time it goes above that number?? LOL!

3) On a more serious note... I know that my savings efforts in the first 3.5 months of this year have had a huge impact on this BUT my NW is currently only off of my 2019 year end number by $27k. And I'm $107k over my 2018 number. For some reason it just makes me happy to see that kind of stuff.

Feel free to celebrate with a small toast, every time it's appropriate. Seriously, if you are comfortable staying the course in the market, even with its current fluctuations, you deserve a little toast for remaining calm and keeping on the investment track. A lot of people panic, freak out, and pull out of stocks, thereby missing the gains that come with a recovery. Good for you for remaining on track, even if the track is a little downhill right now.

 

[mgarbowski]

A few Random thoughts...

1) Do I get to celebrate that my 600k milestone again... I posted here before about that on Nov 9th... but if we have another good day in the market, perhaps I celebrate again??? LOL!
2) Since it bounces around so much, do I celebrate EVERY time it goes above that number?? LOL!

3) On a more serious note... I know that my savings efforts in the first 3.5 months of this year have had a huge impact on this BUT my NW is currently only off of my 2019 year end number by $27k. And I'm $107k over my 2018 number. For some reason it just makes me happy to see that kind of stuff.

Sure. I wouldn't if it were just normal fluctuations: eg if when you reached it in November the market bounced around for the next 3 weeks you I'm sure you didn't celebrate every day it went back over. But here we all suffered a major setback and getting back over a hump through a combo of market bounceback and additional savings is worth some cheer. For purposes of tracking progress over time, I would mark the November date, however. You did reach it then, and it's worth knowing if it takes you longer to reach the next milestone because of the virus.

I think milestones are great, but I only have a record of one. I know exactly what day we reached $1mm excluding the house. That felt like a really big one.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

3) On a more serious note... I know that my savings efforts in the first 3.5 months of this year have had a huge impact on this BUT my NW is currently only off of my 2019 year end number by $27k. And I'm $107k over my 2018 number. For some reason it just makes me happy to see that kind of stuff.

I was surprised when I did our Q1 2020 NW calculation that we were only back to Q2 2019 numbers. I expected much worse.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I was surprised when I did our Q1 2020 NW calculation that we were only back to Q2 2019 numbers. I expected much worse.

I blame it on the media, lol. They love to play up each and every day of market performance as if it's the end all be all. And of course the "downs" make more for more clicks than the "ups". Whenever I allow myself to fall victim to an "article" on the stock market, I just have to do the kind of comparison you're doing here to remind myself that I was perfectly happy in Q2 of 2019 (or whatever day it was)... so why would I not be perfectly happy right now.

 

[WVMomof3]

DH sent my Q1 final numbers to put in the spreadsheet but I thought they were too depressing so I didn't do it. lol Maybe I should look again.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I blame it on the media, lol. They love to play up each and every day of market performance as if it's the end all be all. And of course the "downs" make more for more clicks than the "ups". Whenever I allow myself to fall victim to an "article" on the stock market, I just have to do the kind of comparison you're doing here to remind myself that I was perfectly happy in Q2 of 2019 (or whatever day it was)... so why would I not be perfectly happy right now.

Yeah and at the end of the day you know you own more shares (and are buying even more) so the rebound is going to fly past the previous point.

We got our stimulus check deposited today. Another brick in the wall towards our goal.

 

[AlohaNow]

1) Do I get to celebrate that my 600k milestone again... I posted here before about that on Nov 9th... but if we have another good day in the market, perhaps I celebrate again??? LOL!
2) Since it bounces around so much, do I celebrate EVERY time it goes above that number?? LOL!

I'm all for celebrating anything right now, so here's a toast to you!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm all for celebrating anything right now, so here's a toast to you!

Well... unfortunately I didn't earn that toast...yet. We fell $2,200 short of that milestone this week (where we sit right now). What a bummer, LOL!!!

 

[QueenIsabella]

Well... unfortunately I didn't earn that toast...yet. We fell $2,200 short of that milestone this week (where we sit right now). What a bummer, LOL!!!

There's always next week! Keep chugging along!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

A few Random thoughts...

1) Do I get to celebrate that my 600k milestone again... I posted here before about that on Nov 9th... but if we have another good day in the market, perhaps I celebrate again??? LOL!
2) Since it bounces around so much, do I celebrate EVERY time it goes above that number?? LOL!

3) On a more serious note... I know that my savings efforts in the first 3.5 months of this year have had a huge impact on this BUT my NW is currently only off of my 2019 year end number by $27k. And I'm $107k over my 2018 number. For some reason it just makes me happy to see that kind of stuff.

Well... unfortunately I didn't earn that toast...yet. We fell $2,200 short of that milestone this week (where we sit right now). What a bummer, LOL!!!

And today is the day folks... I get to celebrate the milestone again!! And with all the crazy ups and downs... I might get to celebrate it 10 more times this month!! HAHA!!

I hope everybody is hanging in there with the volatility. As the primary audience in this thread is those chasing FIRE, we fully expected this to happen at some point. Stay the course...keep investing what you can...and you'll come out on the other side in great shape here!

 

[cdg121990]

Love this thread! I have been working on FIRE since my early 20s. I am pretty much coast FIRE at this point, but am going to continue trucking along. I’d like to work at Disney once I “retire,” whenever that will be.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Well, good news for us--my DH loves his new job. He mostly works from home these days, but has had to visit a few places (his office, some warehouse), but that's nice, because he gets out of the house now and again.

On the good side for me, he's actually gotten his first pay check, and we officially have decent benefits--the cards came the other day. So, I can breathe a lot easier on that front. I've mentioned that we're FI, and DH could, technically, RE, but we'd prefer that he keep working for a number of reasons (benefits, fat FIRE, keeping him occupied). I just feel a lot better, now that there's a steady paycheck coming in. And that's something I'm going to have to work on, personally--eventually, probably 10 years from now, DH WILL , actually, retire. I think I'll be okay with it--we'll have pensions and SS coming in, plus RMDs (right now from an inherited IRA, eventually from our own). Plus, I should breathe easier with kids through college and out of the house. But, I definitely don't feel comfortable without a steady income stream. Something to think about, I guess.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I can't resist the urge to post this............We don't know whether to laugh or cry.............

On May 22nd we are both going to be fully retired. Both by 60.

The market had been really strong between Summer of 2019 and about late February 2020.

DH had been selling off small positions for about 8 months and had set aside 30 months of cash.......to cover the gap for when we can claim SS benefits.

We had all kinds of trips planned for Summer 2020 and beyond...........national and international

Then COVID-19 hit us all.

Obviously this means little or no travel for quite a while...................DRAT!

So here we are mostly hanging out at home..............financially secure but with not much to do.

Presently the highlight of any given week is getting some tasty food from any place that has curbside pickup or a drive through.

So far we are healthy but bored.

We know we have much to be thankful for.................but we kind of feel like a 7 year old that has just been told there will be no birthday party due to COVID-19.

We really look forward to things being mostly normal..............12 months? 18 months? 24 months?

I guess the silver lining is that our monthly spending is down and therefore our cash will last even longer.

We have also received cash back in the form of various travel refunds from deposits and other money paid for refundable trips.

I guess we can just go travel crazy once the virus is tamed.

This once in a hundred year episode is pretty darn crazy.

I hope that those that have suffered financially can pick themselves up and climb back up the savings and investment ladder.

We have personally lived through the Anthrax scare in DC, 9/11, the DC sniper situation, the Great Recession, and the Atlanta area drought .

This, too, shall pass.

 

[RamblingMad]

I can't resist the urge to post this............We don't know whether to laugh or cry.............

On May 22nd we are both going to be fully retired. Both by 60.

The market had been really strong between Summer of 2019 and about late February 2020.

DH had been selling off small positions for about 8 months and had set aside 30 months of cash.......to cover the gap for when we can claim SS benefits.

We had all kinds of trips planned for Summer 2020 and beyond...........national and international

Then COVID-19 hit us all.

Obviously this means little or no travel for quite a while...................DRAT!

So here we are mostly hanging out at home..............financially secure but with not much to do.

Presently the highlight of any given week is getting some tasty food from any place that has curbside pickup or a drive through.

So far we are healthy but bored.

We know we have much to be thankful for.................but we kind of feel like a 7 year old that has just been told there will be no birthday party due to COVID-19.

We really look forward to things being mostly normal..............12 months? 18 months? 24 months?

I guess the silver lining is that our monthly spending is down and therefore our cash will last even longer.

We have also received cash back in the form of various travel refunds from deposits and other money paid for refundable trips.

I guess we can just go travel crazy once the virus is tamed.

This once in a hundred year episode is pretty darn crazy.

I hope that those that have suffered financially can pick themselves up and climb back up the savings and investment ladder.

We have personally lived through the Anthrax scare in DC, 9/11, the DC sniper situation, the Great Recession, and the Atlanta area drought .

This, too, shall pass.

I’m over these hundred year events that happen every ten years.

I’ve learned that staying home allows me to break more appliances than when I work. I need to build into my retirement a budget for breaking things.

Good luck

 

[alryan]

I can't resist the urge to post this............We don't know whether to laugh or cry.............

On May 22nd we are both going to be fully retired. Both by 60.

The market had been really strong between Summer of 2019 and about late February 2020.

DH had been selling off small positions for about 8 months and had set aside 30 months of cash.......to cover the gap for when we can claim SS benefits.

We had all kinds of trips planned for Summer 2020 and beyond...........national and international

Then COVID-19 hit us all.

Obviously this means little or no travel for quite a while...................DRAT!

So here we are mostly hanging out at home..............financially secure but with not much to do.

Presently the highlight of any given week is getting some tasty food from any place that has curbside pickup or a drive through.

So far we are healthy but bored.

We know we have much to be thankful for.................but we kind of feel like a 7 year old that has just been told there will be no birthday party due to COVID-19.

We really look forward to things being mostly normal..............12 months? 18 months? 24 months?

I guess the silver lining is that our monthly spending is down and therefore our cash will last even longer.

We have also received cash back in the form of various travel refunds from deposits and other money paid for refundable trips.

I guess we can just go travel crazy once the virus is tamed.

This once in a hundred year episode is pretty darn crazy.

I hope that those that have suffered financially can pick themselves up and climb back up the savings and investment ladder.

We have personally lived through the Anthrax scare in DC, 9/11, the DC sniper situation, the Great Recession, and the Atlanta area drought .

This, too, shall pass.

Congratulations on your retirement! Not exactly what you envisioned for now, but I hope all your plans will happen in the future.

You mentioned selling to get your cash reserves up to 30 months and I’m wondering what others do to get to 3 years of living expenses. I know that for my own feelings of security I will want that cash cushion, but never really hear people talk about the best way to do that. Sell, even if that means moving into a higher tax bracket because you are still working? Stop or reduce contributing to retirement accounts and save that way? Combination of both? Any thoughts from those that have already retired?

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Congratulations on your retirement! Not exactly what you envisioned for now, but I hope all your plans will happen in the future.

You mentioned selling to get your cash reserves up to 30 months and I’m wondering what others do to get to 3 years of living expenses. I know that for my own feelings of security I will want that cash cushion, but never really hear people talk about the best way to do that. Sell, even if that means moving into a higher tax bracket because you are still working? Stop or reduce contributing to retirement accounts and save that way? Combination of both? Any thoughts from those that have already retired?

Our first key strategy was to live beneath our means for decades and did a buy and hold strategy in basic 70/30 or 60/40 stock/bond mutual funds.

We invested most weeks/months over that period of time.

Since we knew we had a short term goal to achieve, we started sell off a little here or a little there when the market either set new highs or was hovering around the highs. In a sense, we were dollar cost averaging our profit taking.

Yes, for the past couple of years we stopped putting money in our Roths so we had cash for our 24-30 month period to cover the gap in income until several pensions pay us. Our Roths were already a nice size when we ceased contributions.

Once again, here some basics we did to build our cash over time---
Refinanced the house several times and only lowered the payment, did not pull any cash out.
One vehicle is a 1998 truck with 165,000 miles
Other one is a 2015 car with 80,000 miles............both vehicles have been paid off.....and we do our own oil changes and brake pads and battery replacements and starters and alternators and spark plugs when possible.
We eat lots of house brand things like Kroger chicken or Kroger bread......not Tyson or Pepperidge Farms
Bought stuff from the clearance section of a store or the Thrift Store when possible.
We get stuff from the Dollar Tree frequently
Disney trips are our splurge but we always stayed off site or at a Value Resort.
We use a 2% rewards credit card and charge everything we can.
We have multiple online bank accounts to get the best rates on savings and CD's.

 

[alryan]

Our first key strategy was to live beneath our means for decades and did a buy and hold strategy in basic 70/30 or 60/40 stock/bond mutual funds.

We invested most weeks/months over that period of time.

Since we knew we had a short term goal to achieve, we started sell off a little here or a little there when the market either set new highs or was hovering around the highs. In a sense, we were dollar cost averaging our profit taking.

Yes, for the past couple of years we stopped putting money in our Roths so we had cash for our 24-30 month period to cover the gap in income until several pensions pay us. Our Roths were already a nice size when we ceased contributions.

Once again, here some basics we did to build our cash over time---
Refinanced the house several times and only lowered the payment, did not pull any cash out.
One vehicle is a 1998 truck with 165,000 miles
Other one is a 2015 car with 80,000 miles............both vehicles have been paid off.....and we do our own oil changes and brake pads and battery replacements and starters and alternators and spark plugs when possible.
We eat lots of house brand things like Kroger chicken or Kroger bread......not Tyson or Pepperidge Farms
Bought stuff from the clearance section of a store or the Thrift Store when possible.
We get stuff from the Dollar Tree frequently
Disney trips are our splurge but we always stayed off site or at a Value Resort.
We use a 2% rewards credit card and charge everything we can.
We have multiple online bank accounts to get the best rates on savings and CD's.

Thank you, your lifestyle sounds very similar to mine