Mid-Year Check-In

The last 6 months flew by; it's hard to imagine that we are already halfway through the year. A lot has changed since January 2021, which affect my plans for the next half of the year.

Looking Back

• Net Worth: My overall net worth increased 33% YTD, from $389K to $513K.

• Investments: My investments (including retirement) increased 44% YTD, from $235K to $337K.

• FI Contributions: I funneled $96K YTD towards various savings and investments goals.

• Consolidation: I simplified my life by closing two retirement accounts and initiating direct rollovers to appropriate existing retirement accounts. This has given me a lot of mental relief. Since a good chunk of these retirement accounts were already in a Roth 401k, it also simultaneously boosted my emergency fund, as I now have about $100K (or more) available to withdraw whenever I want from my Roth IRA. I would only reserve this for emergencies, but it is nice to know it is available!

• Mortgage Refinance: Instead of constantly debating whether to pay off my mortgage or invest, I refinanced my mortgage to a 2.25% 15 year fixed rate mortgage. I am happy with the rate and feel absolutely no incentive to pay anything beyond the required minimum monthly payment on this mortgage.

Looking Forward

Personal Updates

My boyfriend and I decided, together, to invest in his future. He will be quitting his full-time job in August to return to college full-time and graduate with a degree that is more in line with his passions. For someone who spent the last 20 years of his life without a college degree and somewhat ruling out the possibility of having one, I can only imagine the emotional impact this life shift has had in the way he views, what I like to call it, his "Second Act."

Intertwined with this decision to go back to school are additional life changes: while we knew early on we wanted to get marry, returning to college accelerated that timeline to next year (2022). I will also become the primary or sole breadwinner over the next 3 years as he finishes up school.

As part of our calculation for the costs of college, we took into account the federal income tax change on my income when we start filing with the status "Married Filing Jointly" next year. This will help offset costs considerably, and it will also give us other benefits such as easier access to health insurance and other perks reserved for spouses.

Income Changes

I have decided to change my permanent work location to a lower cost of living city, which will reduce my salary by 10%. This income shock will start in Q4 of this year.

Budget

We are completely dropping down to single income in September. These first few months, we will work together to figure out what our budget and spending patterns are before optimizing for the upcoming year. I am not sure if I will be able to fully meet my 2021 goals, but we'll see!