Year End Wins 2025 (Part 3)

I reached $100k in my taxable brokerage account by 29 years old

— Eugene

Hello, my name is Leah and I emailed you about 2 years ago and you answered my question on your podcast ( I felt famous!). I asked if I should buy VTSAX in a Roth IRA if I already had S&P 500 in my 401k, and of course you said just get started!

Well, I did, and 2 years later I've saved almost $40k between the 2 accounts.

Thank you Brad, I don't know how much longer I would have had analysis paralysis. I'm glad I listened. By the way, since I first emailed you, I've opened a 529 plan for my daughter, and started a small investment account for her to teach her about investing and how important it is. Thank you! You and your show have taught me such valuable information.

— Leah

We passed $1.5m net worth with over that being in retirement accounts. Almost Coast FI, but will continue to chug along for a while.

— Nathan

It has been one heck of a year for us! After 7 years of infertility we finally brought home our IVF miracle baby!

Thanks to knowing the rules, we maximized our paid leave and I was able to take 6.5 months off to bond with and care for the newest member of our family! We hit Coast FI just a few months before the arrival of our new little one, which helped me feel comfortable with my partner quitting his job to care for our child when I returned to work!

I've always struggled with asset allocation in my 401k, because there are not any funds that reasonably mimic a good index fund. So this year I finally took the time to understand the efficient frontier. Now my 401K is alocated along the efficient frontier and I feel confident in my allocation!

Lastly, even though my partner has never invested a penny, I've never maxed my 401k contributions, and we've spent nearly $20,000 on IVF in the last 3 years, our invested assets are on track to hit a quarter of a million dollars by the end of the year! This proves you don't have to be perfectly optimized to make great progress!

Side note, knowing the rules of the health insurance game, doing a little research, and getting a 2nd temporary job at an Amazon fulfillment center allowed us to save about $60,000 in IVF cost. (Check out the "Progyny IVF Jobs" Facebook group to learn more)

— Karryn

I provided a year end win last year & thought it would be fun to send in an update one year later.

I got laid off in February 2023 & decided to leave on a mini retirement in June 2023. It’s now been 2.5 years of full time traveling around the globe & I have loved every minute of it!

Some wins:

• I have traveled to 53 countries on all 7 continents (favorites include El Salvador, Georgia, & Tunisia).
• I turned 30 in Japan & 31 in Nicaragua.
• I have spent $0 in accommodation for a 3 month stint in Europe because I stayed with all my new friends I’ve made while traveling.
• I spent a total of $80k for 2.5 years of travel, which is less than my average spend for 2.5 of living my “regular” life (which would be $100k).
• I have taken advantage of these low income years by converting my entire traditional IRA to my Roth IRA (in the 12% tax bracket), doing some tax gain harvesting, and have had health care for $7 per month through Covered CA.
• The biggest win continues to be that my Net Worth has grown all while enjoying life. I’m currently $115k richer than when I left on my trip.

I would consider this trip a huge success, BUT I’ve also decided that I’m ready to transition to the next chapter. I will be heading home for the holidays and that will mark the end of this epic adventure. I will be landing back in the Bay Area and already have some leads for a new job that I am excited about. Luckily I am already Coast FI so my income requirements for any new job are much more flexible.

In the coming year, I am excited about refilling my Traditional bucket, refocusing on my health (an important aspect of FIRE), and being able to add to my brokerage again.

Very grateful for the FIRE community & the tools it gives us to live rich lives (& I don’t just mean financially rich)!

— Meg

This year was a lesson in how a good work ethic and professionalism pays off long term. Around 2010, after getting laid off from a job, I took on some temp work and was placed at a small firm. The partner I worked for was impressed with my work and requested me for several projects.

Then, earlier this year when I had been at a different firm in a permanent position for over 5 years, the partner from the past contacted me and offered me a permanent position at a decent raise. I weighed my options and the potential future opportunities at both places.

I then sat down and crunched the numbers and thought about how much I really wanted to make and what sort of growth opportunity I was looking for. I counteroffered and it was accepted. I've now been with the new firm for several months, just had a glowing year-end review, received a healthy bonus, and see more opportunity and greater income in the future.

And, I will be using part of my bonus to pay off my final student loan, something I wouldn't have been able to do at this time had I stayed in my last job.

— Linda

When our son was born, my husband made the decision to stay home with him — right after we had purchased a new house. The transition from two incomes to one was challenging, and those early years required a lot of adjustment and intentional choices.

Fast forward three years, and our post-tax income has increased by 43.3%, our savings rate has grown from 6% to 35%, and our net worth has increased by 278.9%.

We booked my dream trip to Bali entirely with travel points, flying business class for just $200 out of pocket. We’ve paid off our cars and are now focused on eliminating our remaining student loans, which are on track to be paid off by June 2027.

Equally important, I’ve learned to enjoy our progress along the way. We now save 50% of my year-end bonus while intentionally enjoying the other 50%. That has allowed us to hire a housekeeper, add more flexibility to our travel budget (so weekend trips don’t come with guilt—especially with dog boarding costs), and even plan for LASIK—all while still moving our financial goals forward.

Finding the ChooseFI community helped us clarify what truly matters to us and gave us the tools and confidence to build a life we genuinely cherish.

— Amanda

I’m late but here is my win! Things are pretty bleak at my work right now - we are going through rolling layoffs meaning about 5-10 people get laid off a week for the last 4 months. Companies do this to avoid bad press/having to comply with certain state or country regulations. It’s been extremely anxiety producing but since my family is already at Coast FI I paused all retirement savings and started throwing money into savings.

I just hit the point where my kids school tuition is saved up through the end of the 2026-2027 school year and I could go a year without being employed and be just fine.

Now I’m actually looking forward to getting laid off if it happens as I’ll get a nice break out of it!

— Kelsey

Hi Brad, Jonathan and team, Here are my Year End Wins:

Professional/related: I passed the CFP exam (just need my hours now). I went from intern to associate financial planner at my RIA. This is a small fee-only firm that has a focus on financial life planning and some interesting international aspects. They are not advice-only but they offer the option of flat-fee or AUM which seems to work well. I hosted 3 webinars for those wanting to change careers through the Financial Planning Association. I started the Catching Up to FI newsletter with Jackie and Bill. I served 4 early career professionals on the start of their financial journey as a mentor in the non-profit "3rd Decade."

Travel: I went to EconoMe, a wedding in Hawaii, my sister's graduation in Phoenix, to another conference in Orlando, and to see friends and family in Seattle. In December I am planning to do some camping around a work trip to San Diego. -

Personal Finance: I don't check as much anymore but I'm beyond 5x current expenses. I will probably only max my HSA and Roth IRA for this year and get a little bit of 401k contributions (retained the engineering job for a few hours per week). I have opened a DAF and am waiting for 2026 to make my first contribution because I file standard.

— Patrick

Transformative year for me. I'm a husband, father, and military retiree who started the year as a federal employee in the DoD. We are just at FI. Early this year I walked away from my position via the DOGE Deferred Resignation Program due to changes in my work location (remote to a long commute in-office situation).

I would not have been able to do this if I wasn't FI - I was truly able to use my FU money to say "FU." After a great paid summer off, I've since been hired as a contractor supporting my old program for MORE money and back in my remote workspace.

We have a couple more years to do to get to our "chubby FI" goals. I've been pursuing FI long before I ever heard this pod, but I credit Brad and the community for giving me the confidence to pull the trigger on a move like this. Cheers

— Ryan

Recently had a baby boy and my 1% better was diligently planning throughout the pregnancy.

Here are just some things I set in motion ahead of time! I worked extra hours in the months preceding the birth to allow for me to take a full unpaid month off to spend with my wife and baby, and then another 2 months back with very reduced time at work to spend more time with my wife and new baby boy at home (it was so worth it!).

We enrolled my wife in Short Term Disability a year+ ahead of time since her employer does not pay for maternity leave. I had to muddle through lots of paperwork and keep on top of staff during the claims process, we eventually got paid out for 6 weeks for a total of $6500. This money coupled with my wife being a teacher and a summer birth helped us extend maternity leave a few more months unpaid!

We also signed up for a work sponsored hospital indemnity plan that does not exclude pregnancy which will paid out $3100 for the hospitalization. The hospital bills were still quite high at around $4200 - I used the ‘pay in full’ technique which insurers must have caught onto as they always said “we don’t have that offer available”. I was persistent in delaying paying but always letting the company know so they wouldn’t put us to a collection agency, after months of delaying and calling they finally sent a 25% off invoice final notice, which amounted to about a $700 savings for us.

Lastly our boy had some milk intolerance and had to go on a formula that was costing $500 a month, I was able to go through more paperwork and phone calls to get the formula approved under our medical insurance, so it’s now only a $70 copay for a months supply. If a little knowledge of the rules, some paperwork and a few phone calls are all it takes to get the maximum benefits available to me, I’ll always be ready for that challenge!

One of my biggest motivators for FI is that my parents were hard blue collar workers while I was growing up, and didn't get to spend too much time together as a family, I'm motivated to make that change for my son this generation, to spend the best years together with both my wife and son! Cheers to FI

— Tyler

After 30 years in my Corporate career, I have reached FI and left my job in October. I’m now following my passion to be a PCC certified leadership and career coach. I have a degree in Finance and I used to teach Financial Peace University through Dave Ramsey, so I’m looking forward to helping people make better leadership and career decisions with their personal financial situation in mind as well. More importantly, I’m more present in my life than I’ve been in a long time.

— Lisa

My year-end win is actually a lifetime win. My husband and I have been struggling to start a family for years. After several rounds of fertility treatments failed, our doctor concluded that IVF was our only hope for biological children. Unfortunately, our insurance didn't cover the procedure, and the price tag was over $30,000 for a single round.

Knowing that many couples require multiple rounds of IVF before they conceive and that many others aren't ultimately successful, I wasn't willing to risk all of our savings on something that might only lead to heartbreak. I thought our dream of having a family had come to an end.

But then a friend recommended that I look at fertility clinics outside the United States. After a lot of research, I found a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico that offered three rounds of IVF for $20,000 with an included insurance policy that refunded 75% of our costs if we were unsuccessful.

Knowing that we were getting three rounds of IVF plus the insurance policy gave my husband and me the confidence to say yes and make this big investment. We are also fortunate to live in San Diego, just a 45-minute drive from the border. The IVF process was difficult, and so was crossing the border dozens of times during the experience, but it was all worth it.

Earlier this month, I gave birth to twins. My husband and I are sleep-deprived but overjoyed to finally have the family we've been trying for over so many years.

ChooseFI teaches us to think differently and to find opportunities that others may overlook. Over 15 million people live close to the border with Mexico, where many medical costs are much lower than in the United States. I'm hoping my story can help others struggling with the astronomical costs of IVF know that there are always other options.

— Jessica