Wow, these past couple of years were a whirlwind! Recently, I hopped on here to reminisce, but to also see if I wanted to continue this blog. I noticed that my last blog post was from Aug, 2021; almost 2.5 years ago! 😮 Time for an update about my FI in 5 years goal.
First, my goal of financial independence in 5 years, since starting this blog back in 2020, is currently not on track at all. Most importantly, I’m ok with that. Covid and the work furlough back in 2020 slowed this goal down quite a bit. Then in 2022 and 2023, I decided to prioritize a couple of lifetime adventures over pouring my money into a Roth IRA. No regrets.
2022 – Antarctica on the Bark Europa
In Jan/Feb of 2022, I traveled down to Ushuaia, Argentina to board a 100+ year old tall ship, named the Bark Europa. I sailed in this ship down to Antarctica and had a blast hanging out with penguins for 6 weeks. Back in 2012, I first stumbled upon a story about this ship and its trips to Antarctica. However, it took nearly a decade to make that dream become a reality.
Throughout 2020 and 2021, I saved up money and pre-paid as much of the trip as I could before it started. Unfortunately, there were few unexpected trip expenses and I came back with ~$4,000 in debt on a 0% credit card. Upon my return from the trip, I focused on working overtime to pay off that debt. No regrets, but that $4k could have maxed out my Roth IRA for 2022 and gotten me closer to my FI in 5 years goal.
Second, I kind of got a life wake up call. That ended up redirecting me away from my FI in 5 years goal once I cleared my Antarctica trip debt. During my Antarctica trip, a close family member passed away. Not too long after, later in the year, another passed away. I couldn’t help noticing that they were around the traditional retirement age when they passed on. I also noticed that their overall state of health wasn’t that great in the years (or even decade) leading up to then. Next, I started seeing the health of one of my parents deteriorating quickly throughout the beginning of 2023. All those events/observations really brought everything into perspective for me.
2023 – Pacific Crest Trail
I didn’t want to wait another decade to have the money, time and/or courage to for a lifetime or bucket list dream to come true. So, I leaped and decided I would attempt a thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2023.
The slight setback, though…I had depleted my savings to make the Antarctica trip happen. Although, I continued the cycle of working a lot of overtime to save for both the hike and my living expenses/bills while I was away, it wasn’t enough time to recover financially from the Antarctica trip in 2022. The other downside to this plan – not focusing on my FI in 5 years goal. I still contributed my normal amounts of 6% to the 401 K, along with my normal amount I send from each paycheck into my Roth IRA, but I wasn’t funneling all that extra income into my FI goal. Again, no regrets, but it was yet again another delay towards moving that goal along.
Then took a leave of absence from work, and I hiked the PCT from mid-April to early September this year. Even though I worked a bunch of overtime and saved as much as I could before the hike, I unfortunately underestimated how expensive the west coast and the overall trip costs were. I came back with the most debt (again on 0% credit cards) than I’ve had since becoming debt free back in 2017, where I paid off my school loans. Overall, I don’t have any regrets, but ouch! Not looking at my bank accounts and swiping my card like I was mini-millionaire was so not the right move. 😂
And you guessed it, that little slip up set me back even further on my FI in 5 years goal. I’m currently working a bunch of overtime to try to pay it off quickly. The irony of the numbers isn’t lost on me. For the past few years, my first FI goal was to accrue $50,000 in investments (401k/Roth IRA). I have around $35,000 in investments right now. I also have around $15,000 in debt (both from the trip and my car loan). If I was debt free instead, I could be finishing that financial goal this upcoming year. Instead, I’m mostly funneling it all into paying off the debt. 😕
What’s the plan now?
So what’s the plan now? One, finish all my overtime shifts this month and use that money to pay off one of the 0% cards. Two, start taking classes to learn new skills for a higher paying job. Most of my jobs in my life have been around $45,000 or less per year (mostly around $30,000 or less). It’s time to shake things up there, too. At the moment, I’m looking into learning to become a data analyst, because tech or tech adjacent job salaries are 😮.
A significant pay raise like that would put me on a fast track towards accomplishing my FI goals. Three, spend more time looking into creating more semi-passive income streams (ie making a youtube channel, upkeeping this blog, etc). This one is a struggle currently because of all the overtime I’m working, but I’m setting up some systems to run full speed into this area in 2024.
I’m excited for the upcoming year and ready to get this goal back on track!