Should FI Be Gamified with Checkpoints?

032R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss Episode 32 with Joel from FI 180 on the 'Milestones of FI', plus a life hack voicemail from Noah and Frugal Wins of the Week from our Facebook community.

In Today’s Podcast we cover: The Friday Roundup after the Milestones of FI episode with Joel from FI 180 We’re having a FI get together in Richmond and hope to expand beyond Richmond

The gamification aspect of personal finance and the milestones When your ‘financial freedom clock’ starts and discussion of where certain types of debt plays into the calculation Financial freedom clock equals positive net worth and all junk debt is paid off Milestone two is when you have a $100,000 net worth (when Personal Capital starts calling you for a personal consultation)

The next milestone is ‘FU Money’ and there is discussion on where this fits into the continuum as the concept is nebulous

Should there be a milestone before $100k net worth and FU money? Adding in ‘checkpoints’ along the way on the journey to FI in addition to milestones Milestone four is ‘Half FI’ which means you have 12.5x your annual expenses saved up

Milestone five is ‘Lean FI’ which means you have enough to cover all your core expenses for life (not including your discretionary expenses) The discussion surrounding the math and psychology of paying off your mortgage or not paying it off The next milestone is the “crossover point” where your investments earned more than you did from working in a given month

The many catchphrases of Brad and Jonathan Milestone 7 is Flex FI, followed by Financial Independence as Milestone 8 and Milestone 9 is Fat FI The power of the concept of Flex FI and how you have an 82% chance of succeeding even at this milestone

The conversation surrounding where Brad is on the path to Financial Independence and where the side hustle factors into the calculation Our ask that the community helps us refine the milestones and checkpoints

How Joel’s FI journey and drawdown strategies can be a case study going forward Voicemail from Noah from Money Metagame on hacks to save on utilities

Take action and make the calls to compare prices on auto insurance, utilities, etc. Frugal win of the week from Michelle about unclaimed property Frugal win of the week from Vicki about Magical Iced Coffee Input from Don and Scott about buying cards and gift giving

Focus on our discussion about gift giving from a prior episode and the Five Love Languages