Year 1 post-FIRE update

Some thoughts & ramblings after a year. Check out my previous comments for the path to FIRE.

FIRE-ing

• Lots of folks have a defined FIRE "finish line", often a year or a net worth number. I'd calculated my FI $ number, but enjoyed my work, so RE was "when I feel like it". When the time came, it was remarkably anti-climactic. Things turned south at my job summer 2024, and after that ended, I took some time for myself… the one month off turned into more, and now it's looking more permanent, by my choice. If you'd asked me a year ago whether I'd FIRE'd, I would have said I'm just taking a break.
• So what changed? My last gap between jobs, I was getting a bit restless & bored; this time, I filled the hours with hanging out with friends & family & neighbors, travel, and hobbies.
• And last time, I was more worried about the financial picture long term; I was FI by the skin of my teeth, and it was too close for comfort. I'm sleeping well now.
• I haven't fully shut the door on working again, but I'm much more choosy now.

Financial picture

• I targeted a 3% SWR, and the last few working years, I was building out my nest egg to be able to support a family. I'm still single though, so instead of my nest egg supporting a family's normal FI, it's supporting one person's chubby FI.
• My current withdrawal rate is ~1%, so I can ~triple my expenses without worry.
• I'm keeping an eye on inflation; the official inflation numbers assume a certain basket of goods, and the actual inflation a given household sees, will look a bit different.
• Health insurance costs in particular have consistently outpaced inflation for many years.
• My portfolio is a 3-fund portfolio with ~90% equities and an expense ratio of ~0.038%.
• My net worth increased ~19% since I FIRE'd (for comparison, total world equities are up ~24% in the same timeframe including dividends).

Taxes

• I was expecting a low tax bill, I'm surprised it'll come in under $500 in federal taxes for the year.
• While I was working, the foreign tax credit was reducing my tax bill a fair bit. Now that my federal tax bill is low, the foreign tax credit will also be pretty small.

Health insurance

• Curiously enough, the HSA plans seem to be financially best not only for "healthy" people (little/no medical expenses), but also people with tons of medical expenses that hit out-of-pocket max.
• Employer plan premiums have one price for everyone (assuming self-only coverage); open marketplace plan premiums are based on age & county.
• If I were 30ish years older, my premium would be double!
• Switching to an open marketplace plan made more financial sense for me compared to staying on COBRA, but if I were way older, exhausting COBRA would make more sense.
• All open marketplace plans are required to cover ER visits nationwide as in-network; this eases my worries about getting sick/injured while traveling (domestically).
• From 2021 through 2025, ACA marketplace plan premiums were capped to 8.5% of household income. With the cap expiring, rising premiums are a concern. For example, a household of 4 earning $130k that hits out-of-pocket max would rack up $44k in premiums + insured health care costs!