My problem is basically every job opening I see gives less PTO than my current role (5 weeks, plus the company is shutdown the week between Xmas and NYD).

It’s open enrollment time here at the company and I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the HSA contribution limits.

Mainly, my spouse and I each are eligible for an individual HSA. However the combined maximum of 2 individual accounts is more than the family limit. My question: is our combined max the family limit or the combo of 2 individual limits? My benefits HR person said it’s the individual limits, but I’m skeptical.

Reposting from last week, since I posted late in the week…

What percentage salary increase would it take for you to accept a new job, assuming you are happy with your current job?

What percentage salary increase would you need to change jobs (assuming you like the one you’re currently at)?

Context: I was reached out to by a recruiter for a role in my niche industry. It seems exciting, but accounting for the current benefits I have compared with the benefits at the new role, it would only be like a 10% raise at best. That doesn’t seem like it would be worth it, but maybe I’m just looking for excuses to avoid change…

What are everyone’s thoughts about paying off your mortgage pre-retirement?

I got enormously lucky and refinanced at the very bottom of mortgage rates in 2020. Conventional wisdom would be to never pay this off as it’s effectively free money. However it is costing us roughly $20k a year in added expenses, which I could see as having a massive impact on ACA and FAFSA (assuming a future child) in retirement.

I’m getting to the point where if I want to pay this off before retirement, without having to sell investments, I’d need to start diverting funds from investments into a cash account (since HYSA is currently > mortgage rate) to have enough saved to lump sum in at retirement. Another option I’ve been considering is saving enough cash/equivalents to cover mortgage payments without paying it off. However I’m looking at roughly 20 years of remaining payments at retirement and I’m not sure if that is a good strategy or not. Thoughts?

Pleased to realize that between my taxable account and Roth IRA contributions, I now have 5 years expenses saved to support a future conversion ladder in retirement. I’m still a ways out, but it’s cool to realize that even if I don’t save anymore post-tax, I’ll be able to access my funds penalty free.

I’d consider a CD ladder with the amount needed for each tranche maturing at the time I’d need it (depending on rates I could get compared to HYSA rates).

Holy compounding growth! I can’t believe that I just crossed the $500k invested mark in January and I’m already just one more good day from hitting $600k. I very well could cross that line in time for the end of month spreadsheet day. (Don’t worry, now that I’ve put that thought out there, we’ll certainly see a market crash)

A particularly sucky way to save money: skip your spouse’s birthday celebration because you both got sick just in time for their birthday.

I feel especially bad because I dragged them to an event last week and they’ve been sick since we got home. Of course karma means they gave me their illness and I’ve been feeling bad since yesterday.

I’ve done similarly. I reached a breaking point where I’d hear about a show or movie and think I’d like to see it, only for it to be on one of the bazillion services I don’t have. Now if there’s something I want to watch, I’ll check if it’s on a service I have access to. If not, I’ll get it through other means.

Frugal “win” of the day:

I over stretched my hamstring last week and sitting all day hurts. I was able to scrounge a perfectly sized box to transform my normal desk into a standing desk. Now I’m just hoping I can reduce the pain enough to survive the major tournament I’m travelling for next week.

Good for you. Every little bit helps!

Canada! Specifically Ontario and Quebec

Next week I’m going on vacation. The senioritis at work is real! I have no desire to do anything productive this week (besides obsessively checking the weather forecast for my destination)

Today’s my wedding anniversary (sort of, thanks to COVID causing us to have multiple anniversary dates).

It’s amazing how much marrying the right person can accelerate your timelines. My spouse was in the “work til I die” camp when we first met. However, they were always very frugal. Now we both dream of FIRE and have a pretty significant net worth.

Most likely. I would guess 4-5 years if no major changes in lifestyle. Longer, and harder to guesstimate, if we decide to have kids.

My most recent meaningless milestone:

With a 4% withdrawal rate, my current investment balance supports a monthly equivalent to my takehome pay of one paycheck. So I’m basically getting 12 additional paychecks a year from my investment balance.

I decided to sign up for a giant national competition for my hobby sport today. Between entrance fees, flights, and hotel it was a very spendy day.

Build the life you want and then save for it…right?

Also, the last time I tried to do this event I came down with COVID the week before and lost out on a bunch of non-refundable deposits. I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen again this time.

I used to work in the news and fires were one of my favorite things to be sent to film. It’s so powerful and destructive, yet so incredibly beautiful.

Had my first foray into bread making this weekend. It turned out surprisingly well considering the fact that I’m a terrible cook/baker. It was way easier than I expected (granted I did use a stand mixer). Is it worth replacing my normal bread consumption with homemade? Not sure on the cost side of things (I maybe save $1 on the equivalent amount of bread), quality does seem improved though from the standard loaves of white bread I buy from costco.