Q2 Net Worth, Guide to Higher SWRs, Mortgage Calculator, Mint Accessing Your Accounts plus Community Wins | FI Weekly

Q2 Net Worth Statement

Every 3 months I take 5 minutes to update my net worth spreadsheet and I think this is the most important thing a person can do to track your finances.

The 2nd quarter of 2025 just ended and here’s your reminder to update your net worth spreadsheet.

If you haven’t done this before, it’s really simple:

• Log into each bank/brokerage account you own and write down the current balance.
• Add those balances together with the market value of any real estate or other significant assets you own. This makes up your Total Assets.
• Write down all debts you owe including mortgage, credit, student loans, etc. and add them together to get your Total Liabilities.
• Total Assets minus Total Liabilities = Net Worth

Track this quarterly and watch this amazing journey to FI unfold before your eyes!

Guide to Building a Portfolio for Potentially Higher Safe Withdrawal Rates

One of the best podcast episodes I’ve heard lately was Paula Pant’s ‘Afford Anything’ Episode 618 with the incredible Frank Vasquez, host of the ‘Risk Parity Radio’ podcast and the most frequent contributor in our ChooseFI Community platforms.

In the episode, they offered a free download of a ‘Risk Parity Portfolio’ which is billed as:

“The step-by-step guide to building a portfolio for higher safe withdrawal rates: Learn how to build a portfolio that's strong enough for 5% withdrawals in retirement.”

And the page goes on to say:

“Traditional retirement advice tells you to spend less. Frank Vasquez found a better way: optimize your portfolio for higher withdrawal rates. Frank's parents shocked him in 2009. Despite his father's successful medical career and years of diligent saving, they called asking for money. Frank spent the next decade researching how to build portfolios that actually work in retirement. His risk parity approach has historically supported withdrawal rates around 5% — significantly higher than the standard 4% rule. Download his complete framework and build a portfolio designed for 5% withdrawals.”

15 yr vs. 30 yr Mortgage Amortization Calculator

In ChooseFI Episode 551 I spoke in depth about some of the misconceptions around refinancing and how many erroneously assume it “resets the clock” on your amortization in a negative way.

This was hard to explain on a podcast, but thankfully Cody Garrett created a free “Mortgage Flexibility Calculator” excel sheet for you to download.

My main point was that I always want more flexibility and therefore I am willing to pay the small interest rate premium to get a 30-year mortgage over the 15-year mortgage.

I’d rather not be contractually locked into the 15-year mortgage and I am willing to pay that small extra premium.

Cody calls this the “cost of cash flow flexibility” in his spreadsheet and I think you’ll find this valuable to download and play with.

Does Mint Still Have Access to Your Data?

I got an email from Justin Hall from Living the FIgh Life (article on minimalism that I really enjoyed) about some access that the software Mint still has even though it theoretically no longer exists:

I was shocked when I signed up for a new credit card to get the email from Chase that Intuit Mint still had access to my accounts. I don’t recall getting the same notice when I signed up for a different Chase card in December. I checked my bank and sure enough Mint was still connected. I revoked access (under the security tab of my account) and will check all my other accounts. Anyway, it might be helpful to the community to remind them if they had Mint to check their financial institutions to make sure they are not still sharing financial information.

ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week

My 1% this week is meeting with our financial planner to ensure we're tracking all our goals AND helping someone else with their 1% better: my younger sister is just starting on her financial "adulting" adventure and this week I provided some (requested) budgeting advice.

Super simple stuff like meal prep instead of going out and what to do with credit cards. But she's excited to get started. It's fun to help others!

• Tonya

Wanted to send along a new 1% win, but not one for me. It's a win for my 13yo son. Conversations about finances, investing, and FI have always been part of our family. My son told me recently he wanted to learn more about investing and start getting into index funds. He has now read The Simple Path to Wealth and The Psychology of Money. He received some money gifts for his birthday and decided he wanted a chunk of it to go to investing. We set him up with a Vanguard UTMA, where he is now investing in VTI with a starter lump sum and a monthly auto-investment from his weekly allowance.

Finances, much less FI, were a limited part of my childhood. I had to figure out a lot on my own, and have made so many mistakes along the way. Helping my kids have a better understanding of money, FI, and most importantly their agency over their own lives, has been a big priority for me as a dad. My teen taking these early steps is such a big win for his future self.

• Anthony

My 1% better this week is that I increased my 401k contribution by 2% for a total of 16% and then also get a 5% match for my employer. I know most people are decreasing or completely stopping investing due to the market currently, but since I started listening to you 3 years ago, I am confident that the stocks are on sale and therefore I am buying more. I believe this will help me in 5 to 10 years to help increase my retirement savings. Thanks again for what you do and bringing all this knowledge to the general public.

• Lydia

My 1% better was diligently following up for 7 months about an insurance error and finally receiving a $1500 reimbursement to pay down medical costs.

• Vi

This is both a win and a big tip. If you or a parent lost a spouse and live in a US Community Property State (AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI, or opt-in AK), check your brokerage accounts for the correct step-up in basis. When my dad died in California, my mom's CPA noticed Vanguard only gave her a 50% step-up on their joint account and none on her individual account. In community property states, both should get a 100% step-up in basis, even if only one spouse's name is on the account. We had to call Vanguard and submit a letter to get it fixed. This reduced my mom's taxable gain on a sale from $24,300 to $10,300. Takeaway: Don't assume your brokerage will update the cost basis correctly after a spouse's death. In community property states, surviving spouses are entitled to a full step-up in basis on community property assets, unlike common law states where only the deceased spouse's share gets the step-up. Always review your accounts and request corrections if needed. This can save you or someone you care about a lot in taxes.

• Jen

We just used compost we made over the winter from kitchen scraps and leaves gathered in the yard to prep the soil for our spring garden. It saved us $40 compared to buying lower-quality compost from the nursery. The real payoff, though, will come at harvest time. Last year, our garden yielded about 300 pounds of produce, and high-quality compost was key to that success. Best of all, it turns what would have been waste into something incredibly valuable.

• Phillip