Christmas Update
December 25, 2010The last few weeks have been very busy at work — to the point its almost outside my comfort zone. I’ve assumed a lot of responsibility for my cases and it feels imposing. This makes me want to hit my magic number even faster. But, this professional growth is necessary if I want to make partner and really rake it in and significantly lower amount of time to FIRE.
Expenses: 2010 expenses look like they will be between $33-34K. I did not move to my lower cost rental until June. A lot of automotive expenses in December. Also the usual Christmas spending, although I only gave three gifts this year.
Net worth increase in 2010 was over $100K. About $65K in cash savings, $20K in retirement savings, and the rest from the market.
Investments: In 2010, I waded into the stock market (~10%) in May and it’s paid off handsomely (>20% in seven months). I also waded into a municipal bond fund (~5%) recently when municipals took a rapid dive. I still believe the worst is to come given the Fed’s policies and high unemployment. I still hold significant amounts of cash.
Miscellaneous: I signed up for a high-deductible health plan. Will open an HSA next year. Due to some uncertainty, I will wait to fund it in December 2011.
Personal: Not engaged/married yet. May happen in 2011.
Here are some projections for 2011. Assuming my expenses stay at the current level ($27K), I should be able to save >$130K next year, with >$105K in cash. This works itself out to almost 4 3/4 years of expenses. I will consider investing periodically, while keeping quite a bit of powder dry if the economy blows up. This way, I will not be making a 100% bet on a downturn.
