UghFIRE

Ughhrrumph is an onomatopoeia for the frustration I felt working in the job that I hated, with a boss that didn't understand my job, yet liked to micromanage (I was a low-level data analyst at the time). It was the exact feeling that got me dreaming about escaping the rat-race, and the feeling that helped me realise the importance of reaching financial independence, and retiring early ( FIRE ). I left that job years ago, but I haven't forgotten how it felt. I owe a lot to that feeling of frustration, and I don't want to forget it. Frustration isn't usually looked upon with fondness, but if I'm honest, I do a lot of my best work when I'm frustrated. For example, I made my own FIRE calculator because I was frustrated with the complexity of picking the best strategy to reach FIRE. It helped me so much to come to peace with my plan, I started this blog as a vehicle for sharing the calculator hoping it might also help others. I assume there will be more f

Franking credit refunds are a hot topic this election. It got me wondering about what exactly these changes would (financially) mean to the early retirement crowd. Obviously, everyone's situation will be different, and I doubt many people are aiming for a retirement income based on 100% fully franked dividends only. But to keep things simple, the below calculator assumes a single income earner wants to know their net income with and without franking credit refunds - assuming no other income. The calculator also assumes all dividends represent 4% of the portfolio size. Perhaps most importantly, the below refers to individuals who are pre-retirement age. As I understand it, most of the perception of 'unfairness' around the use of franking credits as a mechanism to avoid double taxation are when full refunds are paid on large retiree portfolios who do not pay income tax. That's a different problem though. Sure, abolishing franking credits completely will 'fix

  NOTE: This page is best viewed on a large screen (e.g., laptop/desktop/tablet zoomed out) I've been lurking around the FIRE community for a while now, not earning enough to make any meaningful progress towards FIRE (I went back to school). After a few years of just enough income to not go backwards, I started thinking about how I would use the income I hoped to make with my higher qualifications. Should I pay down the PPOR to reduce expenses? Pay off my investment property? Buy LICs and/or ETFs? Sell the investment property and buy shares? There are so many variables, I was really struggling to think through a clear plan. There are a stack of FIRE calculators out there, but none helped me model different scenatios I was weighing up. This calculator is the how I finally came to understand my preferred investment strategy: Ughhrrumph FIRE Calculator   In short, for my circumstances, I found if I focused on funneling as much savings as I can afford into LICs/ETFs fo