Half FI is More Like 75% FI
My friend Katie from ‘Money with Katie’ published an article a few years ago that I really enjoyed called, “Why Hitting “Half FI” is More Like 75%.”
The article is loaded with info, but in essence, Katie crunches the numbers and says that once you’re halfway to your FI Number, you’re most likely at least 75% of the way there in terms of time to FI.
Here’s an excerpt from a key section from Katie’s article:
“Where did she technically hit “half FI”?
That said, we can define half FI as – ready for this? – the FI number halved. In her case, $500,000.
She didn’t hit $500,000 until sometime between year 8 and year 9!
Yet by Year 11, she was FI.
If she weren’t watching her progress, she’d probably clock in during year 8/9 “halfway there” and be like, Ugh, I’m only halfway there? 8 more years to go?
No, sis!
Those returns are compounding. The snowball has taken on a life of its own.
Just three years later, she’s FI.Reaching half your FI number means you’re about 75% of the way through your FI investing timeline.”
I genuinely love analysis like this by people who look at the problem a little bit differently and come out with clarity that helps us all on our FI journey!
Katie’s podcast ‘Money with Katie’ and her newsletter are absolute can’t-miss pieces of content for me and I highly recommend them both.
It’s amazing that Katie found personal finance through ChooseFI way back at the start of our show and is now one of the most important voices in all of personal finance.