Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE)

  1. My goal is to retire at age 30 (7 years from now as of 2024). That will be around Year 10 of Project Wayne. I plan to work full time on becoming a real-life polymath equal to Bruce Wayne then. Below are some essential financial accounts to set up in order to achieve this. The links included are referral codes, so they provide you with some added benefit by using them as well as help out the project. Everything linked is something I personally use and would recommend.
  2. Main Banking Platform
    • I personally use Chase but this is personal preference. I have 5 different accounts under one profile – Income, Investing (50%), Operating (30%), Entertainment (5%), and Taxes (15%). All income flows into the Income account, and then every Friday, I divide the fund up between the other accounts depending on their percentage. This helps with budgeting and ensures I’m sticking to the plan in order to retire at 30. I also take advantage of their credit cards in part of a larger overall strategy to use the benefits and savings as much as possible. Through the military I have all annual fees waived, allowing for a more complex strategy, but some have no fee and still have great benefits and potential for savings.
    Referral for Chase’s Freedom Line (Both the Flex and Unlimited have no annual fees and I open them as often as I can): https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18A/3MHD088NXS
  3. Emergency Fund in a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA)
    • I personally use Wealthfront, but this is up to personal preference as well. Their HYSA currently offers a 5% APY. I have two accounts here under one profile – one as an emergency fund that I’m building up to cover 6 months, and one for bond investing to diversify my portfolio. After building up the emergency fund, I’ll park additional funds here that I need liquid for short term purposes.
    Referral for Wealthfront: https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFD-MLYN-AW19-
  4. Brokerage Account with both an Individual and Roth IRA
    • I personally use Schwab, but this is up to personal preference as well. I invest as much as possible into my individual and then save up towards the end of the year to max out my Roth IRA. The individual brokerage allows me to take out parts of my portfolio with a lower taxable event in case I need the funds for whatever reason. The IRA funds are for funding late retirement.
    Referral for Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/client-referral?refrid=REFERTB8C3BTA
  5. 529 College Savings Plan
    • I don’t have kids, nor do I plan on having any anytime soon, but it’s better to start this as soon as possible and let compounding interest take over. I have yet to determine how often I plan to contributing or how much to this. I use the one for the state I live in, but it depends on a person to person basis on which one you should use.
  6. 401K
    • I’m writing this while working as a security guard. I don’t have one though security, but I do have one through the military. I contribute up to the employer match, and then use all other income from my job towards other investments. This strategy gives me the most amount of ‘free’ money, while also giving me the most control over my investments.
    Further discussion in the Project Wayne Discord: https://discord.gg/aApEssQt