After years of planning, Eric and Laura have finally reached their FI number at 50! They discovered the FIRE movement 5 years ago and set their sights on achieving financial independence by 2024. Now, with both of their boys off to college, a paid-off home, and a 80/15/5 split between equities, fixed income and cash, they’ve officially hit their financial independence (FI) goal and plan to retire early.
In this video, they discuss the challenges of moving goalposts, their decision to keep running Eric’s business, 30X40 Design Workshop (on their own terms), and their plans for the future. Laura will be leaving her job as a research scientist in January 2025 to operate 30X40 remotely, with a goal of maintaining a flexible, time-limited schedule. They also cover practical topics like their pretax/taxable split, health insurance considerations, and their withdrawal strategy. Learn what reaching FI looks like for them, the steps they’re taking next, and what their plans are moving forward!
Show Notes
Essential Background:
We touched on a number of topics that we explored in much greater depth in earlier episodes. For the full details, you won’t want to miss these shows which paint a fuller picture of Eric and Laura’s FI path:
- Eric’s path to 90% passive income is truly impressive. To learn what his approach was like and to benefit from the many lessons he learned, check out Passive Income = A Path to Financial Independence (Part 1) and Lessons Learned in 7 Years Earning Passive Income – A Path to FI (Part 2). You won’t want to miss the show notes for these given all the valuable content Eric has linked here.
- In our conversation, Eric mentioned our prior episodes regarding Laura giving notice at her job. If you missed them, check out One Step Closer to FI/RE – Giving Notice (Part 1) and Unexpected Reactions to My Early Retirement.
- Want even more candid conversation between spouses? Check out their earlier conversation, “FI-nancial Decisions – Transitioning to FI with Laura + Eric”, for a behind the scenes look at how they decided to revise their revised asset allocation.
- But those aren’t our only episode including our spouses. Many seem to agree that our two-part series where we discuss our FIRE paths with Lorri and Laura, is essential Two Sides of FI content. Check it out here: Part 1 and Part 2!
- This episode only touched upon Eric’s career journey. For more details on that as well as Jason’s path, you won’t want to miss Two Careers, Two Paths to Financial Independence.
- Eric talked about what he and Laura plan to do for health insurance in this episode, and healthcare is a topic we return to often. Our most recent episode, My Healthcare Costs in Early Retirement (Year 3) provides a detailed account of Jason’s family’s experience on an ACA plan. Don’t miss the links to our earlier episodes in the show notes provided at the same link.
Have you checked out the Two Sides of FI Discord server? If you’re not familiar, this is an instant messaging social network. Ours is meant to be a community for viewers of our show, as well as a space to discuss all things relation to FIRE. It’s totally open, free of charge, and is anonymous as you’d like. This makes it a safe space to talk about financial topics you might otherwise be sensitive about sharing. Come check it out and see if it fits your interests! There are both desktop and mobile apps available.
Did you know Jason resumed blogging? To be notified of his future posts, please consider subscribing here. He’s also archived his old blog, which documents the first two years after he retired from his career, and started even before Two Sides of FI began. Get more information on those archived posts here.
You can find information on the tools we mention in each episode along with additional information in the Resources section of this site.
- Eric’s business: 30X40 Design Workshop
- Jason’s blog: the next phase is now
- Eric’s YouTube Channel
- Our podcast