“To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” – Anatole France

This quote goes to the heart of what we as a family accomplished in 2016. It was the year that we started down the path to Financial Independence and early retirement. We made a plan, and we executed on that plan, but our journey so far has been so much more than the sum of the financial actions we have taken. Our journey is also about the big dreams we have dared to dream, and the choice we make every day to believe that we can build the life we want.

The dream sustains my soul, and makes the everyday choices, some of them hard, easier to bear. The belief that we can do this is the fuel that makes the dream a reality.

We start this new year with strong tailwinds from 2016 at our backs. 48 months to go until I can retire. 2017, I am ready. I am excited. Bring it on!

Adding cash to the financial independence stash

We added $14955.46 in new investments to our stash.

• We continue to make good use of the mega backdoor Roth option that Mr. BITA’s company provides. This month we ushered $4200 through that door.
• Mr. BITA had some RSUs vest.
• We squirreled away $8000 from our paychecks.
• Remember the ESPP stock that I was granted last month? Well this month I sold it and  invested $15000 of that into our taxable account, reserving the rest of the sale towards taxes owed.

The markets were exuberant this month, and it was also dividend month across the board. We reinvest all our dividends. This month, for the first time ever, the growth of our investments outpaced our new investments. We knew this day would come. It turns out that knowing it theoretically, and actually experiencing it are two very different things. Our investments grew by $15,184.39.

The financial independence plan vs. reality

According to the Plan, we needed to add $20,000 in new investments/savings to our Stash by the end of 2016 (starting in October 2016). We added $49,948.46. As I mentioned in my last post, we have adjusted the plan for 2017, and upped the ante.

In Dec 2017 our Net Worth went up by $30,140.

Financial independence status: Ahead of the plan.

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