In line with a lot of others in the community, I share my progress on the road to FIRE. The date is planned in 2029 and with this post, you see some progress to this goal.
The end of August was an interesting period. The markets dropped about 10pct, there were rebounds, some more drops, resulting in a lot of volatility. Drafting the numbers one day sooner or later can have a big impact. The numbers are what they are, a snapshot of now, one stop on the journey to FI. These numbers are taken on Sept 5.
Savings rate
The august Savings Rate is less than we are used to. Our savings rate is supposed to be the same each month, as we pay ourselves first. It can go higher if there is windfall. But in August, it went lower. There was no windfall, and my wife got some equipment for her sewing hobby. Due to a misunderstanding in our account labelling (yes, that sounds nerdy), I decided to count is a desaving. The accounting bug has been fixed now.
Despite the mixup, we are YTD still on track to reach our savings goals.
Full SR YTD: 59pct (this includes mortgage payments and some other specific flows)
Revise SR YTD: 31,4pct (This are the pure flows towards investment accounts)
Amber index: progress towards 2029
We are down a few pct points this months, despite the investments in our index portfolio and other pensions savings plans. This is due to the market drop of August 24. There was a lot of volatility in the markets, so picking another moment would have given another result. But we are investing for the long run. After a few years, the actual date of this snapshot should not matter at all.
What is your progress?
amber tree leaves 
Hi Ambertreeleaves,
It seems like you had a solid month there. A few percent drop doesn’t mean anything in the long run.
Stay on track and keep pushing that snowball.
Cheers,
G
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Thx for the support. It would be nice to not remember a few years from now the August 24 events…!
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Ciao ATL,
Can you explain the ATL FUND progress? What is that percentage exactly?
ciao ciao
Stal
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Hey Stal, the full details are here: https://ambertreeleaves.wordpress.com/2015/05/03/the-amber-index-keeps-it-personal/
In short, it tracks how close I am to my number. To reach FI, I need 100pct.
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I see!! I missed that one, sorry! So now the question would be “how much” is the FI limit for you, but that would defy the point of keeping things personal, so I’d understand if you do not want to disclose details. I have had the same issue with my results (I have changed the way I report them as a matter of fact), but I have never thought of setting an “overall goal”, I really wouldn’t know where to start to think of it…
ciao ciao
Stal
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How much is the FI limit for me? I base myself on the rule of thumb that you need 300 months of expenses saved up to be FI. I do some adjustments to that formula to take into account my own view.
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Looks like you are doing very well with savings. Can’t complain with a 59% savings rate. I like how you separate the amount that goes strait to investment accounts.
Keep it up!
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Once the mortgage is paid off, all will go straight to the investments account. At that time, the Financial independence will really be there soon.
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