Q1 2020 Financial Scorecard: A Whole New World

It seems frivolous to be writing our latest financial scorecard in the midst of everything that’s going on in the world today. The first quarter of 2020 will go down in history as one of the most eventful for the American economy, global financial markets, and society at large, as the COVID-19 coronavirus reached pandemic levels, impacting life around the world.

The coronavirus is closing in on two million confirmed cases, and has already killed over 100,000 people in what will likely become the most significant global pandemic since the outbreak of the Spanish Flu a century ago. In addition to the grim human toll, the coronavirus contributed to the worst first quarter performance in the history of the S&P 500 Index, which plunged 20% as fear of what the future holds ended the longest bull market in American history, triggering record jobless claims and a likely recession.

The result on our personal finances was, predictably, quite negative. While the ROMT family may have reached financial independence in late 2019, that’s no longer the case. But right now our family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues are all safe and healthy, which more than makes up for some smaller numbers in our financial spreadsheets!

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Our 2019 FIRE Prowess Score

Three years ago, The Green Swan blog introduced a metric called the FIRE Prowess Score.

“FIRE Prowess” went viral among those seeking financial independence and early retirement in 2017. Many financial bloggers, including yours truly, wrote about our FIRE Prowess Scores back then.

Since I’m close to finishing up our taxes, I’ve pulled together the information needed to determine our score for 2019. I’ve been keeping thorough financial records for years, and enjoy tracking how our “FIRE Prowess” has changed over time. Thanks largely to last year’s great stock market returns, our FIRE Prowess improved significantly over the past twelve months!

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If You’re FI, Why Haven’t You RE?

question-mark-4785077_1920I recently wrote about how the strong U.S. stock market enabled the ROMT family to achieve our long-term net worth goal earlier than expected.

That achievement naturally could lead readers to wonder:

“So ROMT, if you think you’re financially independent, why haven’t you retired early?”

It’s a great question, and one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately!

There are several reasons why I haven’t pursued early retirement, even though our net worth says it might be possible:

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Q4 2019 Financial Scorecard: Kinda Sorta Financially Independent!

stock-market-2616931_1920The U.S. stock market finished the decade on a strong note, with returns of 8.5% for the S&P 500 during the fourth quarter of 2019. For the full year, the S&P 500 climbed 29%, its best performance since 2013!

Those great returns helped our financial situation improve more than expected over the last three months of the year. As a result, the ROMT family achieved one of the three financial goals we set on our path towards financial independence and early retirement!

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Smart Financial Decisions: We Finally Cut the Cord!

scissor-1794088_1920A couple years ago, I wrote about how much money we saved by making a few simple phone calls.

One of those calls was to our cable company, which offered me a discounted rate for two years when I threatened to cut the cord.

Unfortunately, two years have now come and gone, and our monthly cable bill recently climbed when our discounted rate expired. Continue Reading

Q3 2019 Financial Scorecard: Slow But Steady Progress Towards Our Goals

amphibian-1850190_1920After a great first half of the year financially, the third quarter of 2019 was less eventful for the ROMT family.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% during Q3, which helped offset our spending being a bit higher than normal, as we took a few trips over the summer. Although our progress slowed from the pace we set earlier in the year, we continued to move closer to each of the three goals we are tracking on our path towards early retirement and financial independence – net worth, 529 account funding, and passive income.

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Should I Coast to Early Retirement or Run Hard To The Finish Line?

sport-1201014_1920As I noted in our latest Quarterly Financial Scorecard, we’re getting close to making financial independence a reality.

We’re now two years away from my target early retirement date. And barring a major downturn in the stock market, we should hit our net worth goal early next year.

But even in a best case scenario, that means we still have another 24 months of long commutes, late nights, countless meetings, office politics, and stressful deadlines ahead.

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Q2 2019 Financial Scorecard: Halfway To Financial Independence?

IMG_4082After a setback late last year, 2019 has been good for the ROMT family’s finances.

During the second quarter, we continued to make progress on each of the three metrics we are tracking on our path towards early retirement and financial independence – net worth, 529 account funding, and passive income.

The resilient U.S. stock market was the primary driver of our good results. The S&P 500 rose by 3.8% in the second quarter, as strong performance in April and June offset a decline in May. During the first six months of 2019, the S&P 500 climbed 17% – its best first half performance in 22 years! As the second half of the year begins, the U.S. stock market is once again near all-time high levels.

It has been two years since we introduced our quarterly financial scorecard, and with our target early retirement date now just two years away, our recent progress has me believing we may really be halfway to financial independence!

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Was Solar Worth It? The Numbers After Two Years

nature-3125912_1920

It’s hard to believe, but we’ve had our rooftop solar panels for over two years now.

Which means we now have two years of data to analyze as we consider whether or not home solar energy was really a wise financial decision for our family.

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Solar Energy Update: May 2019

The weather in our part of the county was unseasonably rainy and cool last month. At times, it felt more like winter than spring!

Because of the cloudy weather, energy production from our rooftop solar panels dropped by 25% from last May.

Positively, our electricity usage also declined. While it’s rare for us to use our air conditioning until the summer, there has definitely been no need for it this year.

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