Your FI Community
Connect with thousands pursuing financial independence. Learn together, grow together, and design the life you want.
Upcoming Events & Groups
See what's happening in the ChooseFI community
Latest Discussions
Join the conversation on financial independence topics
FI Calculators & Planning Tools
Run the numbers on your path to financial independence
Everything You Need on Your FI Journey
Six pillars of support for every stage of financial independence.
Forums
Discussion categories, Q&A, and peer support from fellow FI enthusiasts.
ExploreLocal Groups
In-person meetups, study groups, and accountability partners across the country.
ExplorePodcast
750+ episodes of actionable FI content — interviews, case studies, and deep dives.
ExploreCalculators & Tools
FI number, retirement, savings rate — plan every step of your financial journey.
ExploreTravel Rewards
Credit card strategies, points optimization, and travel-hacking guides.
ExploreEvents
Virtual and in-person community gatherings, workshops, and campfires.
ExploreLatest Discussions
See what the community is talking about right now.
VTSAX and chill, or Risk Parity?
What’s better? Wife and I are at odds. We’ll be at FI in 5 years or less.
Books worth Reading
What book has influenced you the most in either FI money management, life style design or mental philosophy? Bonus points: share one idea that stuck with you.
Does anyone else thinks we should adopt the 30x rules instead of 25x?
Given newer research on retirement sustainability—especially work incorporating sequence-of-returns risk (SORR), longerFI horizons, and updated return assumptions such as those discussed in recent analyses of Karsten (ERN) and others —the traditional 25× rule (4% rule) should be rounded up to the \*\*30× rule\*\*. It effectively lowers the withdrawal rate to about 3.333%, which meaningfully improves resilience against early negative market sequences and extends portfolio durability for early ret...
HSA Receipt Tracking
Not exactly sure which forum is the best for this but: For anyone utilizing an HSA: I am in the fortunate position of being rather healthy and able to cover all low level medical costs up front. I have been maxing out my HSA the last three years and one day way down the road would like to recover the costs of those medical expenses. My problem is that I have yet to figure out a consistent system to retain and track HSA eligble receipts. Have anyone of you built a system that feels relatively aut...
Guidance for transitioning to CFP (from Army CPT)?
I’m an Army CPT planning to transition out in ~4 years (after transferring GI Bill benefits). I’ve grown pretty dissatisfied with my career path, and I’m exploring financial planning as a long-term career. Note, I'm in the brainstorming stage and am just looking at options. I enjoy personal finance, building plans, and teaching others, from the experience I've had. The end goal would be education-focused (workshops, classes, and/or hourly advice), and not AUM-driven. We’re currently at Coast FI...
Put minimum down on primary residence if you have a 20% down payment?
I recently ran across this idea, and wanted to get some input if people have tried this. We have 20% cash for a down payment, don't currently own a house and are looking to purchase. This idea is to make the minimum down payment of 3.5% or 5% (which theoretically gets you a better interest rate), close, then after some time period pay the rest of the 15% cash towards the loan, and then recast the loan and keep the lower interest rate. This strategy seems to assume a few things (interest rate is...
Financial Tracking Tool
I've used Personal Capitol (now Empower) for the last 10 years and am wondering what everyone else is using to track their net worth. I'm not so interested in budgeting as I've got a handle on that already, really just tracking overall net worth and investing. PC has helped me analyze my portfolio across all accounts (personal and work retirement) and make sure my allocation overall is where I want it. I'm currently testing a new tool call Origin since the first year is only $1. Recently PC has...
Bucket Lists / Time Buckets Discussion
I am a big fan of lists. And since learning about FI I've started to really prioritize thinking about what I want my life to look like, building a bucket list but also making sure to not wait until retirement until I do some of the things on that list. Now I know it's also referred to as Time Buckets, and doing certain things when you're a certain age. These are some items from my list that I completed in the last few years: Going to Disney World Taking a stained glass workshop Learning to whist...
To Roth or not to Roth
I recently wondered whether I should convert my traditional IRA and 401K accounts (including my current 401K contributions) to Roth. I spoke with a friend who advocated strongly for switching everything to Roth. While I recognize that Roth has great advantages (I have a Roth IRA presently) like no taxes on distributions and no required minimum distributions, I wonder if it'd be right for me. Below is a little bit about my situation. - I'm more interested in retiring with zero than passing anythi...
Emergency Fund in Taxable Brokerage Account Withdrawals
For those of you who keep some or all of your emergency fund in a taxable brokerage - when you do need to take money out and have to sell assets - are you thinking about/worried selling at a loss or gain? Or considering which lots to sell? We have kept our emergency fund ($10-15k) in a HYSA for the last few years, but I just opened a TBA with Vanguard to see how it works, if I like it, etc. I'm debating moving the whole emergency fund over to the TBA but I can see the friction that might be ther...
Self Publishing Input?
I’m working on self-publishing a short nonfiction book and would appreciate input from anyone here who has gone through the process. The premise: I graduated U.S. Army Ranger School a few years ago and kept detailed notes every single day during the course. I tracked food, sleep, weight loss, and wrote a daily journal about what was happening and how I was processing it. Over 62 days I averaged about 2.5 meals and 3.9 hours of sleep per day and lost over 30 pounds. Most Ranger School books are w...
Home equity for second property
We have about $425K equity on a $625K home that we plan to stay in for decades (with a sub 3% interest rate). Is there a downside to taking out a bunch of that equity to buy a second property for 300-350K? We could also contribute cash. If we rented the second home out, rent may be equal to the mortgage/taxes/insurance. But right now this equity is sitting in our primary residence doing nothing. Eventually one of our kids could move into it as we'll likely be providing financial or housing assis...
Plan Your Path to Financial Independence
Free calculators to model every aspect of your financial journey.
FI Number Calculator
Find out how much you need to reach financial independence.
Try it →Savings Rate Calculator
Calculate your savings rate and see how it affects your FI timeline.
Try it →Find Your Local FI Tribe
In-person meetups, study groups, and accountability partners in your area.
See Groups & Events Near You
Share your location to discover local FI groups, meetups, and events in your area. Your location is never stored or shared with third parties.
Location access is blocked. To enable it, click the icon in your browser's address bar and allow location access, then reload the page.
San Diego
Welcome to ChooseFI San Diego! We are a great community of folks who love to learn and support each other on our FI journeys. We look forward to connecting with you at a local meetup and interacting online. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions about our group.
Minnesota
The easiest way to find local groups across Minnesota. This group aggregates 6 local communities and their events statewide — from the Twin Cities and Rochester to Duluth, Mankato, and beyond. Most meetups and discussions happen at the local level, so check out the city groups below to find your closest community.
New York City
For FI-minded folks across all five boroughs and the surrounding metro area. Come connect with the NYC community at our regular meetups.
Kansas
The easiest way to find local groups across Kansas. This group aggregates 3+ local communities and their events statewide — from Kansas City and Wichita to North Central Kansas. Most meetups and discussions happen at the local level, so check out the city groups below to find your closest community.
Georgia
The easiest way to find local groups across Georgia. This group aggregates 5+ local communities and their events statewide — from Atlanta and Savannah to Augusta, Columbus, and beyond. Most meetups and discussions happen at the local level, so check out the city groups below to find your closest community.
Massachusetts
The easiest way to find local groups across Massachusetts. This group aggregates 8 local communities and their events statewide — from the Boston metro and Worcester to Western Mass, Cape Cod, and beyond. Most meetups and discussions happen at the local level, so check out the city groups below to find your closest community.
Community Events
Virtual meetups, workshops, and campfires to keep you inspired and connected.
Weekly Campfires
Casual virtual hangouts to share wins, ask questions, and connect with fellow community members.
Coming SoonLocal Meetups
In-person gatherings in your area — dinner meetups, coffee chats, and group activities.
Coming SoonWorkshops & Webinars
Expert-led learning sessions on tax optimization, investing, real estate, and more.
Coming SoonReady to Start Your FI Journey?
Join thousands who are building wealth, reducing expenses, and designing their ideal life.
Free forever — no credit card required