The Intersection of FIRE and Disney

[QueenIsabella]

Anyone else update their spreadsheet for the new year? We are finally in the 2 comma club. I'm 41, my husband is 47. In 5.5 years all the kids should be done with high school, and we plan on selling the house and moving south (still deciding where). My husband as of now wants to work until 55, I'm not going to try to transfer my license to work in any other state so I will just stop working when we move. If I get bored I may work in another field just for fun, but I don't want to deal with continuing education and all that after we move.
Lots of unknowns still (like college costs...three of the five kids get college paid for up to $30k a year due to being adopted, so that will help. And 4 of the 5 have 529s - last one was adopted his senior year so he doesn't have one), but we are on track as of now. We haven't used a financial planner yet - my plan is to get one once we think we are 5 years from completely retiring so they can help guide us if things should be re-allocated or anything else we can do to optimize the years before SS starts.
Anyone have any updates?

My husband has a Spreadsheet of Phenomenal Cosmic Power where he tracks all the numbers. If he's updated it for 2026, he hasn't shared it yet--we're in a place where I don't need to see it immediately.

We're at Coast FIRE--DH is a few years from 65, likes his job, and we had our kids later, so we're still dealing with college costs (youngest is 19).

I know people run hot and cold on a financial planner, but we've used one for decades. It helps us to consider things we might not otherwise, and see that we're on track. It's also been good for our kids. They each got money money from their late grandmother, and all 4 have been very prudent (so far!) on their thoughts for using it. (full disclosure: youngest doesn't have access, yet, but he's the most financially savvy of the lot, so I'm not too worried).

 

[Sleepy425]

Highly recommend the Bogleheads discussion group. There's a whole lot of collective investing/financial knowledge there. It has helped me a lot over the years.

Kudos for meeting your investing goals. Stay on track!!

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php

Actually it was me reading over there that made me realize I hadn't seen this thread updated in a while. I like the boglehead forums and mrmoneymustache forums. And lately I have been listening to Ramit Sethi's podcasts while exercising. I find him entertaining.

 

[Cfabar1]

Actually it was me reading over there that made me realize I hadn't seen this thread updated in a while. I like the boglehead forums and mrmoneymustache forums. And lately I have been listening to Ramit Sethi's podcasts while exercising. I find him entertaining.

Yeah, I enjoy those too... though I am not full on Mustachian... And I recently discovered that is by and far and away due to Disney! LOL

 

[Sleepy425]

Yeah, I enjoy those too... though I am not full on Mustachian... And I recently discovered that is by and far and away due to Disney! LOL

I spent I believe 23 nights on Cruise ships and 13 in Disney this year...they aren't giving me any Mustachian medals either!

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Spreadsheet day was decent for us. Q4 had lower gains than we are used to recently but YoY was same as previous.

Did our 2026 budget and it's largely the same except some increased spending on vacations. I am also going to start talking to my management about moving to a 4 day per week work schedule with the plan of executing that after we pass the next major financial milestone end of next year (assuming we don't have a major meltdown in the market).

Have you considered one parent leaving work and homeschooling?

If you can potentially coast towards retirement now, homeschooling would save on daycare costs and remove any location restrictions. We homeschool and live a rather unhurried and unscheduled life. During the day, we have visited museums, parks, libraries, playgrounds, and grandparents. If you want structure, there are homeschool groups and co-ops. When we want to travel, we only have to plan around one adult work schedule.

Having no school schedules dictating our life, having no conflicting work schedules, and using our money to teach and raise our own children (versus paying someone else to do it), is very rewarding. We love the freedom of it all!

While that sounds amazing from a time standpoint I don't see this being a good match for us. We will see as things progress but I don't see myself having the patience to do home schooling.

Actually it was me reading over there that made me realize I hadn't seen this thread updated in a while. I like the boglehead forums and mrmoneymustache forums. And lately I have been listening to Ramit Sethi's podcasts while exercising. I find him entertaining.

I am a huge fan of Ramit for the financial independence community because so many are natural savers. Breaking habits and spending a bit more is hard and the way he talks about it has helped us a lot.

 

[RickNJane]

Ok Not FIRE, Was FI for a bit, but did not retire. I didn't retire, not because I couldn't financially, it's just I was having a great time at work. I never knew if I never worked a day in my life or worked every day of my life. Finally hung up the keyboard at 69. New we spend 2 weeks in WDW and 1 week at DLR a year. We also take trips around our area with the extended family for a week or so during the grandkids spring break. Do I wish I retired earlier? Nope. DO I miss working? Again. NOPE. We have worked hard and planed. We also are very fortunate. Now it is time to reap the rewards.

 

[WinterSolider]

Anyone else update their spreadsheet for the new year? We are finally in the 2 comma club. I'm 41, my husband is 47. In 5.5 years all the kids should be done with high school, and we plan on selling the house and moving south (still deciding where). My husband as of now wants to work until 55, I'm not going to try to transfer my license to work in any other state so I will just stop working when we move. If I get bored I may work in another field just for fun, but I don't want to deal with continuing education and all that after we move.
Lots of unknowns still (like college costs...three of the five kids get college paid for up to $30k a year due to being adopted, so that will help. And 4 of the 5 have 529s - last one was adopted his senior year so he doesn't have one), but we are on track as of now. We haven't used a financial planner yet - my plan is to get one once we think we are 5 years from completely retiring so they can help guide us if things should be re-allocated or anything else we can do to optimize the years before SS starts.
Anyone have any updates?

You should not be paying for a financial planner until you're $5M+ net worth. The fees aren't worth it below that level.

 

[WinterSolider]

I spent I believe 23 nights on Cruise ships and 13 in Disney this year...they aren't giving me any Mustachian medals either!

I took 7 vacations this year, the only thing keeping me on track for FIRE is that I have literally no other interests BESIDES vacationing and planning vacations.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

You should not be paying for a financial planner until you're $5M+ net worth. The fees aren't worth it below that level.

I don't use one but I also don't agree with this. I think it can be useful to check your assumptions and basically get a second opinion.

Where financial planners get a bad rap is the use of an assets under management compensation model. Use a financial planner that is fee only and it's not a constant suck on your nest egg.