folkefire financial independence year in Review – 2023
An honest assessment of my progress toward FIRE-related goals
I started folkefire on a personal mission to keep alive a fickle flame representing my own passion for singing, playing and performing music; combining that interest with my new-found enthusiasm for personal finance – in the trappings of a niche brand (folkefire) – scientifically designed to draw the fewest number of fans and followers possible!
My goal: perform music regularly and max out my ROTH IRA using funds acquired by musical performance, eventually building a balance of one-million dollars toward retirement (Starting point: 35k+$6k per year x 29 years, compounded at 8% per year).
To my bemusement, during the past year the government has made it even easier to reach that $1 million goal given that the contribution limit for a ROTH IRA (for those under 50 years of age) has been boosted again from $5,000 (when I started down this path) to $7,000 per year today. Honestly, I haven’t even done the math to see how the additional contributions allowed after age 50 may affect my timeline so the path is even better than I’m willing to admit.
So how am I doing?
Great!
I am still going, ain’t I?
But as it specifically relates to performing music regularly and maxing out my ROTH IRA and even writing blogs for this website – I’ve performed a little less than perfectly in 2023. The following is my year in review.
MUSIC
I started off the year strong. JT from the Dublin Pub invited me out in January and paid me handsomely for a waterlogged set drenched in classic Irish folk music and assorted ballads from PNW artists like David Bazan and Solvents (including a few originals).
In March I was invited back to the Dublin Pub for a 4-hr long set in which I recruited former bandmates from The Fenbi International Superstars to join me. I also got a wild hair and paid a graphic designer to produce a logo that I used to create garments! I used the finest quality fabric and became a clothing vendor for grossly overpriced sweatshirts – but sold far more than I expected to when I announced on Facebook and later at my St. Paddy’s Day performance. By the end of March I had earned more than $1200 through music-related endeavors and was well on my way to maxing out my ROTH by the end of the year!
That said, I wouldn’t earn another penny from music for the rest of the year… womp womp.
In April and May I shifted from music to focus more energy on my personal life – proposing to my then girlfriend atop Mt. Tabor in Portland (she said yes!). At the end of May we whisked ourselves away to Europe where we eloped near Ireland’s musical city, Galway. Our journey began as a sleep-deprived zombie walk around London sites like the Thames, St. Pauls, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, various vegan restaurants – and into the suburbs where our first European (British) musical adventure was a whisky fueled jam session with my cousin and his Cornish fiancé – a talented folk musician in her own right.
In Macclesfield, England we visited the old stomping grounds of Ian Curtis, songwriter and singer from Joy Division. In Manchester we paid homage to the fertile musical grounds of Oasis. We walked up and down the streets and alleys, sopping up the air and atmosphere of a metro area that produced bands like The Doves (Salford), The Verve (Wiggan) and Elbow (Bury). The local library had an awesome photography exhibit featuring photos from British rock bands of the 90’s, and I even found a Verve tee in a local shop!
In Glasgow, Scotland we made a special trek to the Kelvin Grove Museum because I heard it referenced in an Ewan McCall song (that Luke Kelly produced the definitive version of) titled “Hot Asphalt.” As we wondered around the city I thought about how Glasgow produced the band Travis, who I spent years following, having gifted its lead singer Fran Healy a bottle of prized wine from Montinore Estate. I once asked Fran, “how were you guys able to focus solely on music without having a day job?” I suppose it was presumptuous of me to think they didn’t have day jobs, but he told me they made it work via the John Major Music Scholarship – which references a conservative British prime minister that was in office while they were on the dole and producing some of the most memorable songs of the 90’s.
From Glasgow we flew to Dublin at 7am, jumped on a bus, caught a train, and ended up in Galway by evening where we became deliriously lost amongst a sea of glorious restaurants and pubs oozing trad music from every brick and stone. The following day we took a day off from traveling to elope in Connemara underneath the approving gaze of the Twelve Bens. From Galway to Dublin, Dublin to Prague, and back to London for our direct flight on British Airways to our home in Portland.
Truth be told, I came back from our amazing trip and didn’t really have music on the brain. By mid-June we were plugged in to a series of regional adventures and family obligations and beautiful weather – and I admittedly lost the plot a bit. Whoops!
FIRE
That said, in mid-June I did find the time to take ownership of the Portland FIRE Meetup Group. I remember the week distinctly because we’d just returned home from our trip to Europe and the following week I was unceremoniously handed a week-long unpaid furlough by my employer. Upon taking ownership of the group I booked a series of events through winter. We begun having monthly meetups at the neighborhood burger joint and our November meeting even featured the man himself, JL Collins – who was a huge hit with our audience and who had recently published a new book titled, Pathfinders.
CASH MONEY
This year was less than perfect from a traditional FIRE perspective (i.e. scrimping and saving every dime in pursuit of an early retirement) but was quite fulfilling in terms of living life and doing so debt-free. And thanks to a strong economy my portfolio grew while I contributed far less than desired.
I didn’t play a single (paying) gig after March 17th, so my yearly take home from musical related pursuits was $800 (minus expenses). While $800 is more than 10% of my ROTH IRA allotment, it’s far less than I could have garnered had I been more focused. My contingent plan is to take earnings from my employer to make up the difference, but this was the first year in four that I’ve failed to max out my ROTH IRA at all.
I had a few major victories in that we paid for our entire European vacation with saved cash. We had reduced Premium Economy seating due to points accrued through my British Airways card (with direct service to London from Portland!). Further, we were able to pay for our elopement photographer and wedding ceremony without taking on any debt either.
In August we held a glorious reception with friends and family in Port Townsend, WA. We hosted all of them to food and drinks in a rented venue overlooking the Puget Sound on a perfect summer day – again, taking on no debt.
Throughout the year we used our British Airways card as much as possible, paying it off each month, and accruing enough points to earn another companion fare by August of this year. We have another trip planned for June 2024.
I’m happy with the results but know I have so much more room to grow.
RETIREMENT
Right now I am on pace to retire comfortably at a normal retirement age of 67. So not exactly FIRE, but a better picture than it was before I discovered the movement – and I’ve knocked a couple years from my calculations last year!
I also heard a quote recently that stopped me dead in my tracks. It referenced the 4% rule – or the idea that if you can live off four percent of your retirement balance, you can essentially live off of that dollar amount in perpetuity.
I was listening to the audiobook version of Quit Like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung when they said something along of the lines of, “every $10,000 per year you earn via a side hustle is like living off of 4% of $250,000 in retirement.”
That isn’t the exact quote, but it was something like that.
The proverbial light bulb went off for me. Here I am working so hard to max out my ROTH by creating a musical brand – but what if I tweak the script a bit to where every $10,000 I earn performing music is actually $250,000 less I need to save for retirement! Meaning, if I can build up this business to earn $20,000 or even $30,000 per year through activities I’d be doing anyways – and create a manageable life with predictable expenses – that’s the equivalent of having saved $500-$750k from a normie job and living off the proceeds via the 4% rule.
I am still ruminating on the idea – but there may be some formula where I can build up this musical, creative side hustle and go CoastFIRE on the money I accrue through my work 401k – and actually FIRE earlier than 67. The challenge remains to discover how a somewhat adequate pub performer (me) may earn $6,000 per year performing folk music in Irish pubs – let alone $30,000 – but I’m getting one step closer, one year at a time, one grey beard hair at a time.
In short, by the end of 2023 my retirement savings is up by more than 40% from where I started the year – and I’ve nearly cracked $100,000 total savings. In fact, if you go back to January 2019 when I had a -$16,000 net worth, one could argue that I’ve gained $100k in five years despite living a rich and fulfilling life of travel, music, charity and matrimony. I have to give credit where credit is due – thought leaders like Ramit Sethi who promotes living a “rich life” with a looser FIRE-adjacent financial responsibility platform (focusing on quality living with mindful saving vs. living off bread crumbs and rice to meet a financial goal) has helped me to chill out on the scarcity mindset. Also credit to my wife for being open to my interests and antics and offering a moderating hand at times.
With that, I look optimistically toward 2024 and beyond!
Happy New Year from folkefire.
