Hey Everyone! Are you enjoying 2026 so far? Life in the US is getting crazy, but I am doing okay. I hope you are safe as well. This year, I’m blogging less frequently, and it is nice. The pressure to write a new blog post every week is gone. I am enjoying the weekends more, and I’m taking another step toward full retirement.
2025 was a rocky year for the RB40 household. Mrs. RB40 retired from her career and refocused on helping her dad. He is transitioning from living alone at home to an assisted living facility. It’s a difficult move. She spent a lot of time in California to facilitate the process. It was tough for me to be a single parent while she was away, but we survived. The house got pretty messy, though. I’m not very good at cleaning.
RB40Jr started high school, and he enjoyed it immensely. He took advanced classes to get ahead and participated in several extracurricular activities. He is doing great in high school. We are very glad he is adjusting well.
On the personal finance side, we had a good year. The stock market performed very well and propelled our net worth to a new high. Our cash flow looked okay as well. We withdrew from savings to plug some holes, but that’s what retirement is about.
Alright, I’ll share my 2025 Report Card. Then, I’ll go over our net worth and cash flow. Let’s go!
2025 Goals Report Card
Here is my 2025 goal spreadsheet. It’s helpful. Try it out if you can’t keep up with your New Year’s goals. The key is to review the spreadsheet monthly to track your progress. That way, you can see which goals need extra attention and work on them.
Oh man, if I brought home this report card when I was in high school, I’d be grounded for 6 months! Fortunately, I’m retired, and I’m a lot easier on myself. Overall, I did pretty well. There were some failures, but I made the best of them. That’s failing forward, or something like that.
Financial Goals
Sell Rental Condo- Fail
This was my main goal for 2025. The previous tenant moved out of our rental condo in January. I fixed it up and listed it for sale. Unfortunately, the condo market was terrible in Portland. We only had one viewing in 4 months! I think buyers were afraid. That’s why I decided to rent it out for a while.
The next tenant broke the lease and moved out at the end of 2025. That’s fine with me because I’m really ready to sell. I painted the interior and it’s ready to go. The unit will go on the market in a week or so. The condo market is still slow, but I’m more optimistic. The interest rate is a bit lower this year. If it doesn’t sell by spring, I’ll lower the price a bit.
So the grade for this goal in 2025 is an F, but I’m hopeful for 2026. I don’t want to be a landlord anymore.
Prep duplex for sale– B
Along the same line, I plan to sell our duplex* after RB40Jr finishes high school in 2029. We want to move to Southern California to be closer to families. Mrs. RB40’s parents are getting older, and they need more help. My dad lives in Thailand and he will need more assistance too.
*We live in one unit and rent out the other.
In 2025, I planned to repaint the exterior. However, the plan changed to kitchen remodeling. Our kitchen was totally outdated. We got the cabinet resurfaced, new countertop, and new flooring. The kitchen is much better now and it should a good selling point.
I gave myself a B here. I didn’t get the exterior painted, but the kitchen remodel was completed. I’m pretty happy with it.
Max out my Roth IRA – B
The Roth IRA is the best investment account you can have. You don’t have to pay tax on the gains when you withdraw. This is huge. If you start young and max out your Roth IRA every year, it’ll be a great resource in retirement.
In 2025, I made $6,852. That’s below the $8,000 maximum Roth IRA contribution. I call this a solid B. I don’t think this will improve in 2026 because I’m working less and less. Who knows? In a few years, I might stop working completely.
Track net worth and hope for 10% – A+
I’ve been tracking our net worth since 2006. It’s great to see the progress. This year, I hoped for 10% gains. At this point, it’s all dependent on the stock market and there isn’t much I can do to influence this goal. I’ll track it and keep my fingers crossed. This is a stretch goal.
Our net worth has increased 11.5% in 2025! That’s way behind the index funds, but I’m okay with it. I was pretty conservative last year. A+ here.
Health Goals
Exercise more than last year – B
Last year, I set a goal to exercise 3 times per week. However, I developed elbow pains and I had to scale back a bit. The result – I exercised 120 times in 2024. That wasn’t bad, but I’d like to do more this year.
I exercised about 97 times in 2025. Honestly, exercise is my weak point. I used to be able to stick to the routine and exercise more often. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to integrate exercise into my routine. I gave myself a B- on this one.
Win claim denial– Fail, but…
Last year, RB40Jr got a Cochlear Implant in his left ear to improve his hearing. He had 30%-60% hearing in that ear. He tried a hearing aid for a few years, but it didn’t help much. He can hear some sound with his left ear, but he can’t understand speech on that side.
Recently, the FDA approved Cochlear Implant for children. At first, I thought we could wait until RB40Jr is an adult. Then he can decide for himself. However, our audiologist said the earlier you get the implant the better. If you wait too long, the brain might not be able to adapt.
Anyway, he got the implant in 2024. However, the insurance denied the claim. They said the Cochlear Implant is experimental and doesn’t improve overall health. This is ridiculous. The device has been used since the 80s to improve lives. We fought it, but the insurance company stuck with the denial. Meanwhile, we worked with our audiologist to appeal the bill with the hospital. This was successful, and the hospital wrote off most fo the surgery. We’re only on the hook for anesthesiology. We are very grateful to the hospital and the audiology team. They are amazing.
At that point, we dropped further appeal because there was no point pursuing it. In conclusion, I failed to overturn the denial, but we didn’t have to pay the full bill because the hospital helped us out. We were very fortunate. Our audiologist went to bat for us.
Fun goals
Sell my ceramic projects – A+
I took some ceramic classes at the community center and had a blast. I signed up to sell some of my work at the Arts Sales. Overall, I sold around 60 pieces and made around $900! It was amazing. The community center took a 35% commission. That’s perfectly fine with me. I’m glad to support them.
More dates with the Missus – A
Last year, I wanted to go out with Mrs. RB40 more often. If you’re a parent, you know how difficult this can be. Fortunately, our son is a teenager now. We can go out whenever we want. However, I need to overcome my reluctance to leave the house in the evening. We park in the street and finding a spot can be frustrating at night. Ugh! I’d rather hunker down at home than go out to a restaurant. As a result, we mostly went on lunch dates. We only went to dinner once and it was at 5 pm. We’re really turning into senior citizens. A here.
Happiness – A
2025 was a tough year for me. The Trump Regime constantly assaulted my mental well-being with new sheninegans. I had to minimize news consumption to avoid spiraling into depression. We had other stuff to deal with. Unfortunately, I don’t think 2026 will be any better. It seems the US is gearing up to fight with Europe over Greenland. Meanwhile, ICE is doing door-to-door searches and snatching random brown people off the street. It’s a crazy time to live in the US.
Net Worth +11.5%
I’ve been tracking our net worth since 2006. It is very motivating to see our progress. The power of compounding is incredible. These days, our investment gains far outpace our earned income.
2025 was a nice year for investors. The stock market did way better than I expected. The AI revolution drove the market higher with no sign of slowing down. It’s tough to be a worker these days, but at least investors are doing well.
***Important*** If you’re young (under 50), my best advice is to stay the course. Do not stop investing. You should keep investing whether the stock market is up or down. You might think stocks are too expensive, but it’ll look cheap in 10 years. Keep investing and you’ll achieve financial independence someday. Don’t try to time the market. If you’re retired, then you need to be more conservative and diversify.
This is a chart of our net worth from Empower. Sign up for a free account at Empower to help manage your net worth and investment accounts. They have great free tools for DIY investors.
2025 FIRE Cash Flow
This FIRE cash flow chart includes my online income, side gigs, and taxable passive income.
The most important number here is the annual spending, $66,265. That’s way below our 4% SWR. As long as we keep it that way, we’ll be financially secure in our retirement. I will try to loosen the purse strings a bit this year.
2025 FIRE Income: $38,083
- Real estate crowdfunding: $9,764. We had a pretty good year with RE crowdfunding. One project is failing, though. That will impact our overall profit.
- Dividend Income: $16,272.
- Rental Income: -$5,060. We had a rough year as a landlord. Our rental condo was vacant for 5 months. I also spent a lot on repair, maintenance, and remodeling.
- Online income: $2,824. My blogging income is dropping quickly. I’ll keep blogging for now, but I’ll lose motivation once we start losing money at this gig.
- Odd jobs: $4,028. My other side gig was catering delivery. I delivered a few orders per week. I’m cutting back in 2026 so this income will drop as well.
- Interest: $3,134.
- Misc: $2,061. Tax refund, reimbursement, and various other random stuff.
Spending: $66,265
- Housing: $27,740. Wow, housing was a big chunk of our expenses.
- Transportation: $3,789. Gas, parking, and insurance. This one was pretty good. Our car is paid off and we don’t need a new one yet.
- Groceries: $6,282. This one was pretty good too. I tried to take advantage of the sales and it worked.
- Entertainment: $2,817. This includes eating out and other fun activities.
- Health: $4,457. Our health related expenses are increasing as we get older. I guess that’s life.
- Kid: $8,691. Whoa, a teenager is expensive. We paid for the orthodontist, summer school, Jiu Jitsu, Racquetball club, Ultimate Frisbee, sports gears, debate club, health, shoes, clothes, and various fun stuff.
- Personal spending: $3,554. Hobby, clothes, haircuts, gadgets, ukulele, and more.
- Travel: $8,146. We visited my brother in North Carolina. We also traveled to California a few times last year.
Retirement Savings Withdrawal: –$33,242
2025 FIRE wrap-up
2025 was a rocky year for the RB40 household, but we got through it. Mrs. RB40 and I are getting older, and we are starting to have more health issues. That’s the main problem going forward. Financially, we are doing pretty well. I hope you did well, too.
That’s a wrap for 2025. Stay safe and have a great 2026!
Disclosure: We may receive a referral fee if you sign up for a service through the links on this page.
Please follow and like us:
Joe recommends Empower for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.
