My Journey to Fat FIRE 2021 - FIRE Number & Budget

Join me as I officially embark on my Financially Independent, Retire Early (FIRE) journey as I navigate my way towards Fat FIRE. I'll be sharing my actual financial numbers along the way and the various methods I'll be using to achieve Fat FIRE.
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[@NHJDT]

When i got married, my husband and i made a decision to be able to live off 1 income. We didnt call it fire 20 yrs ago, but we wanted to be able to retire by the time we were in our early 50s. There were times we couldnt save half, but we stuck to the plan and now were are between a fat and lean fire. He likes working and continued to stay in his industry but since covid, i have decided to help my 3 kids with virtual school and we sold our home, put our stuff in storage and have been travelling the country since march.

[@briankfung]

That's fantastic! I hope I'll be able to make it to where you guys are down the line. I imagine FIRE with kids is extremely difficult so your journey is very admirable. So awesome to hear that you guys are traveling around the country too! Are you guys doing a camper van/RV setup? Or are you guys finding lodging during your travels?

[@NHJDT]

@@briankfung i bought a used motorhome 4 yrs ago cash and started vacationing in it during school breaks. Now we travel in it full time. 6 months ago we were in key west, 2 months ago we were near seattle, and now we are on the beach in corpus christy in texas. Covid gave us lemons and we decided to take the opportunity and turn it into lemonade

[@gameplayer1980]

Big respect to one of the pioneers of this movement.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Really great to see someone sharing the start of the journey and with that so much transparency. Thank you. Looking forward how it’ll go for you.

[@briankfung]

Appreciate the words of support! Hoping the transparency will help others :)

[@gaweindegraaf]

​@briankfung but... you only save 17.5k a year... it gonna take 80 years of saving, or if u invest smart... 35..? That's just normal retirement?not early

[@LK_EBM]

Thank you for sharing this! I look forward to following your journey on your new channel!

[@briankfung]

Thanks for the support!! I'll be sharing some of the major updates on this channel as well, but the majority of the updates will be on the other one :)

[@louiswatson9578]

Thank you for being so transparent with your journey to FI

[@briankfung]

I appreciate it Louis! When it comes to personal finance, I think it's important to be transparent. Though, I'll have to admit it'll be a bit hard as I make more videos on this topic as I plan to share my net worth and how much I have in each account. Thanks for watching and the support!

[@samozoani]

Thanks, Brian, I appreciate the honesty and details you poured into this! I'm also pursuing FIRE, but I'm looking at it in a totally different way. I have Subscribed to your channel.

[@briankfung]

Hey Sam! I appreciate it and I'm also curious - what's your perspective on it? I think it's good to learn from others, especially those that have different views on a specific topic, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[@jasonhawkins2717]

Great video, I really appreciate your honesty, it makes a big difference to see the real numbers.

[@briankfung]

Thanks Jason! Feels a bit vulnerable to share these numbers, but I wholeheartedly agree that real numbers make a big difference. Hope it helps others too!

[@larryhawes8295]

I subscribed BECAUSE you shared your actual numbers. There are so many channels that find it too personal or some other reason but the help it provides, to see actual numbers, is immeasurable and very, very, helpful. Curious do you plan to own a home and achieve FIRE with the house as a part of your net worth? Or do you plan/hope to have the 1.4 mil and a paid for home? THANKS

[@Hayashirice911]

He would have to have 1.4 million invested to reach his FI number. He is using what is called the 4% rule to calculate how much he would need. The formula is (your expected annual expenses in retirement) x 25.

[@briankfung]

Larry, I really appreciate your comment and it gives me more conviction to continue to use my actual numbers as I share more about my FIRE journey. As to your question, a house wasn't originally part of my plan as I dislike the idea of managing properties and don't usually consider my own personal house (even though i don't own currently) an asset, but rather a liability until it is paid off. However, I am highly considering on getting 2 properties as part of my FIRE journey likely in 2022 to help me reach this goal faster. I've been crunching the numbers a bit lately to make sure it makes sense to go down this route, and so far, everything says yes hah. Targeting mid to late 2022 to pick-up the property. Of note, I'm very minimalistic and don't plan on living in any extravagant/large homes. The house also won't be a a huge part of my FIRE plan, but only a small percentage of it.

[@briankfung]

thanks for adding this clarifying point!

[@sfmediaapps]

Subscribed. Thanks for sharing and for making this a real life example. It's nice to see normal people who aren't eating cat food, wearing torn clothes and saving 97% of their salary to get to fat fire.

[@briankfung]

Yes 100%! As attracted to the FIRE movement as I am, I am not at all attracted to living on rice and beans for 10 years just to "retire" and continue living frugally. Hoping to share a very different experience!

[@PrincessD1336]

Love the FIRE concept, I plan on starting this Journey in the new year

[@briankfung]

Yes!! It's such a liberating feeling to work on financial independence and be better in control of it. I wish you the best of luck as you start your journey!!

[@kenleonard8733]

I’m so happy to see this!

[@briankfung]

The FIRE journey has begun 🤟

[@falconxlc]

Good job on your goal! You are on your way...!!

[@briankfung]

Thanks so much Lin!! Excited to get started and share my progress :)

[@kets42]

Just found this channel. Will be following you on your fire journey as I am also a pharmacist around the same age!

[@briankfung]

Welcome aboard! Always nice to see a fellow pharmacist on the FIRE journey. Thanks for following along. Hoping to drop a new video very soon about my net worth and which investment accounts I use :).

[@Billybobthor]

Very down to earth. Liked the video and subscribed to your channel.

[@briankfung]

Appreciate that Jonah! Thanks for the sub!

[@multicollinearityfi]

I'm happy to see so many KZbin channels about FIRE. While it doesn't matter to me when people retire, I like that the growing popularity of the FIRE movement encourages: (a) employers to make work environments more enjoyable (b) consumers to find ways to increase their savings rate

[@briankfung]

I’ve honestly never looked at it from that perspective and I find it quite refreshing! Especially with personal finance - I wish I had more of it when I was younger and seeing these types of videos have certainly helped me think more about the financial choices I make :)

[@multicollinearityfi]

@@briankfung I'm glad you're posting great ideas. Keep up the good work!

[@jonathanschmidt7325]

What no student loans?!?! That's awesome! I've been a pharmacist 5 years now and am happy to say I will finally have my loans payed off this year after very aggressively paying them down. Now I am also able to begin my Fat FIRE journey. After much research, my plan is to max out 401k/employee match, max out a Backdoor Roth IRA and HSA, then dump any remaining assets after expenses into index funds. From my research, it seems utilizing all available tax advantaged accounts is advantageous even with a goal of early retirement. The tax savings make a huge difference. Plus you can use a Roth IRA conversion ladder to get that 401k money early if necessary. Wow that's a lot of financial buzz words! Anyway, being in a similar place as you, I am excited for your channel! Wish you the best

[@briankfung]

Officially paid off all student loans ($137k from pharmacy & $60k from MPH) as of January 2020! I've been aggressively paying my loans off as a priority over inflating my lifestyle like others (e.g. new car, new house, new clothes, etc) for last 8 years. It sounds like you have as well - HUGE congratulations to you on paying off your loans this year!! It's one of the most freeing feelings I've ever had. Your approach is essentially what I do as well: max out all available tax-advantaged accounts and pool the rest into non-tax advantaged accounts. I also include a bit of real-estate, crypto, and side hustles as other ways of investing too and have started multiple companies to reduce my taxable income. Wishing you the best of luck on your journey towards Fat Fire my man!

[@ventamed7564]

@@briankfung Hello Brian, How would companies help you out on the tax savings side? Unless you are specifically talking youtube operating costs, the tax benefit would not be there.

[@romawhyte6073]

Pharmacist here too, but I’m a lot older, with a family of 5. Hoping to do a combination of Fat FIRE and Barista FIRE in the next 10 years. Thank you for sharing your numbers, it must have taken a lot of courage but it is so helpful to us viewers!

[@briankfung]

Hi Roma! Always great to meet other pharmacy colleagues :). That's awesome to hear that you'll working towards FIRE with a family of 5! I think that's a common concern that comes up within my circles: how do you do FIRE with a family. Be curious to hear more about your progress as you work towards your goals.

[@Daichar70]

New subscriber, thanks for a great video!!💕

[@briankfung]

Thanks for following in my journey!!

[@yannikin]

Bruh you got courage sharing this stuff man. I hope you spend a lot of money on your dates 😆 Good stuff man very inspirational.

[@briankfung]

Thanks man. Just trying to be open and honest as I think we need more financial transparency out there. Those dates though.........lol

[@joellecohen679]

thank you for your honesty and transparency. total beginner here.. need as much help as i can get. new sub gained

[@briankfung]

Thanks Joelle! Trying my best. Everyone has to start somewhere - and to be fair - I'm relatively new to FIRE myself. Just trying to document my journey and what I'm learning along the way. Thanks for joining! Planning to share my net worth along with all my investment accounts next!

[@rineilperez1633]

Subscribed! Love the content, especially since I like talking about FIRE all the time. Glad we are on a simile journey man.

[@briankfung]

Appreciate it my man! How long have you been on the FIRE journey?

[@rineilperez1633]

@@briankfung been on this journey since 2017 but as of 3 months ago, started my KZbin journey… now things are getting interesting 🤔

[@briankfung]

@@rineilperez1633 ​heyyyy congrats! I just subscribed to you. I just noticed you're a pharmacist as well. Small world. Hope to follow along your financial journey as well through KZbin my man! Good luck!

[@rineilperez1633]

@@briankfung thanks man, really appreciate that! always fun to see what other pharmacists are doing, especially side hustles outside pharmacy!

[@MotoMatsalleh]

Great vid, please take a look at what mr. Money mustache says about emergency funds. Drop that cash into a brokerage account or you will pay an inflation and opportunity cost penalty of anywhere from 9-12 percent a year just holding that cash (inflation + missed 7% return on stocks). Thats like putting your cash into an account that charges you 5 grand a year

[@SedA2027]

great video! I watch a lot of these types of videos and you did one of the best explanations with numbers I have seen! Thank you and great job! Consider me subscribed!

[@briankfung]

Thanks for the feedback Joe! Just trying to be as transparent as possible with my progress. I'm working on a video to share my net worth so far so I have something to benchmark against. Stay tuned!

[@nicholascherry5962]

Nice!! I’m investing $3,000/monthly through 401k, roth, and taxable accounts. I’m doing this for at least 15 years and I hope to have around $18 million by the time I’m 50

[@briankfung]

Wow, that is one healthy amount! That's awesome man! I'm currently working on calculating how much I'm saving monthly via all my tax-advantaged and taxable accounts and plan to share the complete breakdown for all of them. Thanks for sharing and cheers to you on your journey to $18 million by 50!

[@CyndyTangerineyyyy]

Thank you for sharing your story! This was really informative. (:

[@briankfung]

Thanks for the comment Cyndy!!

[@CyndyTangerineyyyy]

@@briankfung You're welcome, Brian!!

[@briankfung]

☺️

[@nomadicvibesofelle]

I started my journey in July. I will hit my fire number at 46, currently 35.

[@briankfung]

Very, very nice!! Congrats on starting your journey and I wish you the best of luck! 11 years of hustle that will certainly pay off!

[@Nola1176]

you use ACTUAL NUMBERS! SUBSCRIBED!!

[@briankfung]

you're the real MVP :). Thank you!

[@TheRetirementality]

Great video. I've been putting out some videos lately on how I think people in 30's are underestimating their expenses by using this 25X's rule. because you are not going to want to live the same lifestyle in your 60's you are living now. (this isn't meant to be a criticism, just an observation. I'm 49, so I'm an old dude and see what my spending looks like now compared to 20 years ago). New Sub! I look forward to following along on your journey.

[@aalegalfocus]

Great that you are already planning for retirement early on in your career! Keep saving and investing & it's easily achievable!

[@briankfung]

Thanks for the encouragement and support Judy! I have to admit, it can be difficult to avoid lifestyle creep at times lol.

[@drdavinsky]

I retired last year at age 29. One day when the S&P 500 crashes I will buy in! That’s the plan. Anyway, I would love for you to review my latest video on my secrets to buying land and artificially jacking up the price 💜 kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4fKlZ-Ggsd3g8k

[@NilaOdiVaa]

I don’t understand how you only have 5k subscribers! You’re amazing!

[@briankfung]

I really appreciate your comments :). Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you for sharing! I personally don’t have a written down detailed budget like you, because I’m a natural saver. Even when we feel like we’re splurging, we’ve never spent more than 50% of our combined monthly incomes. It’s usually 30% or less, and we invest all the rest. Sometimes I have to tell my wife to please spend more on her hobbies and order takeout more often, hahaha

[@briankfung]

Although I'm a huge fan of budgeting (even if it's for 1-2 months) to see where you are spending you're money, the main takeaway when it comes to building wealth is simply spending less than your earn :). Personally, it's quite rare to find individuals that do that in my circles so it's awesome that you guys naturally do that! P.S. If you or your wife ever need help spending, feel free to throw some money my way haha! Cheers to you two - I imagine you both will do very well financially.

@@briankfung Yeah, we’re pretty good financially. Even though our combined incomes would barely cover your expenses, our expenses are so low that we save about 2.5x what you save. I love buying stuff, but I’m very anxious so I end up doing a lot of research for every single thing I buy. For example I just bought a new bed, and it took me 4 months to decide which one. 😂

[@qadromohamed4137]

Thank you

[@briankfung]

Thanks for watching!

[@4656superman]

Charity needs to come up....please guys don't hate on my comment...

[@briankfung]

no hate - only constructive criticism. It probably should increase and I appreciate your honesty. My hope is that the time I give in making informational videos is more valuable than the money itself. I'm reinvesting the money I make into creating more videos in the interim. Thanks for the feedback!

[@Billybobthor]

@@briankfung pay yourself first. You can always adjust up on charity when you find something worthwhile. Or maybe you share your time volunteering which is also really valuable.

[@zachnunya8749]

@@Billybobthor lol if you make 120 grand a year and don’t prioritize giving to charity, you likely never will. Although as you mentioned donating time can be just as or more meaningful/helpful as donating money. It’s just a shame to miss out on how good it feels to put dollars towards a good cause

[@binitamin4727]

Great video....do you see areas in your expenses where you can cut back, especially on things that you may not need, and still enjoy the things that are important to you. My family and I reached FI (it could be FAT FI, depends on what numbers one uses) a few years ago, and we have cut back on areas that are not important to us, and still spend lavishly in other areas such as premium holidays. Travelling and enjoying the experience is important to my family and I, and it is one area where we are generally not frugal.

[@briankfung]

Wow, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing your story. There are certainly many areas I could cut back and I'm slowly weighing my options as to what parts. I've actually lived on a very frugal budget in the last 10 years, so I'm splurging a bit more on my last few years of saving towards FAT FIRE. Out of curiosity, how have you managed health insurance costs? It's something I'd like to explore more in depth on this path.

[@binitamin4727]

@@briankfung Well, I don't live in the US, so healthcare insurance costs is not that much of a consideration. It's "free" at the point of service, and paid via taxes, though I do have access to private insurance if I wanted to "skip" the line for elective procedures.

[@briankfung]

ahh gotcha! That's very helpful. Probably why so many FIRE folks elect to move out of the country to a place with more socialized healthcare. It's insane expensive in the States. Sounds like you're in a good spot!!

[@Mav0585]

How long would it take to get to FAT fire if you save/deploy $200k annually? We will be getting to a point in a year where we should be able to save that, after we pay off all of our debt. Random note, One cool thing about joining the military, is you can achieve the FIRE part much easier. Once I hit 20 years of service, I’ll have about $2million in pension waiting for me at age 60. Not bad for being 38 when I retire and didn’t have to save any of it.

[@briankfung]

That's the million dollar question! Though, hard to answer since everyone has their own number for FAT fire, what their savings rate is, and current savings. There are a few FIRE calculators out there that can crunch all the numbers for you to estimate how many more years you have left. I was formerly close to 200k (before expenses) with around 80k in annual savings and had calculated around a 7 year time frame with those numbers. I think you'll hit it much faster if you can commit to that. Be sure to consider healthcare and inflation too! P.S. my little brother is in the military and I have to admit, that's an awesome deal ya'll have! Cheers to you!

[@yinayeoh328]

Hi there Subscriber from Australia. Interested to follow along on your journey. Once you throw in a kid or three - reaching financial independence seems so much harder lol

[@briankfung]

Lol I bet! I have a few friends that have kids and contemplating FIRE. It really strains your budget and limits your discretionary spending. I’m trying hard to get there before kids 😅. Thanks for following!

[@whoguy4231]

I'm from Australia and have reach lean fire at 45. We have three kids and have only worked on and off. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

[@yinayeoh328]

@@whoguy4231 thanks for the motivation! I’m 38 so 7 years to achieve it doesn’t seem too long!

[@luisasterioquerubin6829]

Here in the Philippines, I could live with Php 10,000 a month inclusive of food, transportation, electric billl, water bill, sharing, and tithe.

[@briankfung]

Wow, that's fantastic! The cost of living was much more affordable when I was living in Minnesota, but it has been a bit more difficult in a bigger city like DC. Sounds like there's much more flexibility with where to spend your money in the Philippines!

[@RajeevJ859]

Bro, was it your journey to fat fire or lean fire? I wanted to hear on fat fire from the title of the video. Anyway good luck

[@briankfung]

Sorry it wasn’t super clear. I’m working towards far fire! I need to create some update videos :)

[@julietteahraribas5731]

This is an amazing video, thank you so much for this! Would you mind sharing the file where you write down your expensive etc with your information deleted? (the excel file). Would really appreciate it!

[@briankfung]

Of course! I added the excel to my dropbox and here is a link to download: www.dropbox.com/s/jl085ml51dsus98/2021%20FIRE%20Budget%20Excel.xlsx?dl=0 If you end up adding or deleting rows, you'll have to pay attention to the mathematical formulas and reference cells so it doesn't break your calculations.

[@julietteahraribas5731]

@@briankfung Thank you so much, you are the best!! Hope you will do more video's about FIRE, just subscribed to your channel. Will also inform my friends about this video :)

[@briankfung]

You’re more than welcome! And thanks for the supportive words and sharing 🤟

[@johnlittle8267]

Great video and good planning. One thing I don't get, you say Fat Fire is $2.5 million now, so it would be around $3.5 million in 10 years or $ million in 20 years. It seems like you would need to plan for that, right?

[@johnlittle8267]

$5 million in 20 years sorry

[@briankfung]

John - this is a great question and one that I don't have the answer to. I think inflation is, without a doubt, something that needs to be considered and there are plenty of debates about this online. This one article suggests that the originator of the 4% rule said inflation is already baked in, more or less. www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/is-4-four-percent-rule-still-valid/ In my opinion, no one can predict the future. However, it's very helpful to have some guideline to help visualize what a savings rate, total nest egg, and withdrawal rate may look like. I think that's where the 4% rule comes in handy. It provides something to start with, but certainly will change. Inflation will certainly impact that and your numbers will likely change every year and may need to be adjusted, more or less. Not the most helpful answer, but something I plan on exploring more.

[@waynegoh3270]

John is correct. If you say you want 2.5 mil in today's dollars, your number will be around 5 mil in 20 years if inflation remains stable. Your withdrawal rate is a separate matter. 4% is too high if you are retiring early.

[@chenvictor8]

Like this vid

[@briankfung]

thanks Victor!

[@RubbingPotatoes]

Did you budget income taxes as part of your expenses ? That's a sizeable component depending on your investment income

[@briankfung]

that is a good point. I based everything off the 4% rule, but admittedly, I'm not deep into the research enough to factor in how much, on top of the 25x expenses, do I need to adequately fund my retirement. Also found that the 4% rule did not include income taxes or capital gains tax in their predictions via this article (money.usnews.com/money/blogs/on-retirement/2012/12/19/7-reasons-not-to-use-the-4-percent-rule) so this is an excellent point. Thanks for sharing your feedback!

[@Darwinq84]

I would encourage you to buy a house instead of renting, and if possible, maybe rent out a room so that you can increase your savings rate. By the time you're ready to retire, you'll have the option to sell your house and net anywhere from $200k to $500k in profits in the next 10 - 15 years.

[@briankfung]

A very timely comment! I actually just closed on a house a few days ago. Pivoting from renting to building up some equity via the house is definitely a great idea. I been trying to do it for awhile, but timing has never been the best. Unfortunately, it's only 1 bedroom, but I highly, highly considered doing more than 1 to do exactly as you said here. Very smart way to go about it.

[@mrd05d]

You pay $20 a month on car insurance????

[@briankfung]

lol yeah. I live in DC and don't ever drive as I usually take public transportation (e.g. metro, bike, scooter, bus, lyft) so I'm rarely ever using my car. My car insurance dropped significantly because of that.

[@dirtydan6098]

I am being fat I hope that helps

[@briankfung]

i can appreciate this comment lol

[@dmcs2701]

I am assuming that you receive a health insurance,dental and eye coverage from your employer for free. Awesome !

[@briankfung]

I actually didn't even think to add those! My employer subsidizes a large part of it and for health insurance, i have a high-deductible plan since I rarely use any services aside from the typical annual checkups. Gotta make sure I get my HSA :)

[@importantlookingpirate]

Good luck! 👍....but your rent....🙂

[@briankfung]

yeah.....I decided to yolo during pandemic. Extreme compared to previous rents of $600/month in Minnesota

[@goodyKoeln]

There are strange definitions of „fat“ fire. 😅

[@briankfung]

They definitely are strange. Though, I guess it keeps it interesting right?

[@goldveng1]

Biggest bunch of B.S. I ever heard. This guy can talk about nothing for ever…

[@briankfung]

You're 100% correct lol. I definitely can talk about nothing forever

[@gborowme]

Thank you

[@briankfung]

You're welcome!