Show HN: MoneyOnFIRE

Thanks so much for the feedback!

1. Rental properties are coming in the next version. We want to get them right — especially the tax treatment and edge cases. Many people have rentals with slight negative cash flow each month, which they cover with income in hopes of long-term appreciation or principal paydown. Unlike primary residences, rental properties do count as income-producing assets toward financial independence, and we’re building that logic in.

2. We considered whole life insurance, but so far we’ve had very few requests for it. (We’ve actually had more interest in defined benefit pensions — though those are increasingly rare.)

3. We're also working on making investment recommendations clearer — this will be part of the next release. We actually do a lot in the back end we need to show.

And for your amusement — as hinted at in the post — our origin story also started with spreadsheets. When we (the two co-founders) met, we compared our personal finance spreadsheets, debated them over beers, and eventually merged the best of both. We thought our first product would be the ultimate “uber-sheet.” But once we added everything, the spreadsheet ballooned to hundreds of columns and took over 40 seconds to run... and testing it became a nightmare. That’s when we knew it was time to turn it into code. And that's how MoneyOnFIRE (MOF) was born.

Thank you for the feedback. We will make this more clear.

One of the features we have built to make planning more accurate is code up taxes (state, federa, account contribution limits, tax deductibility limits, taxes on withdrawals etc, etc, etc). We think this differentiates us from other simpler calculators that do a simple calculation of assets + savings * years. However, this does mean it is tailored to the US.

We have had few requests for UK and Canada. While there are differences the broad principles are the same. What country would you be interested in?

You're right — if someone wants a super precise FIRE date, it gets tricky with volatility and short time horizons. We considered adding a range around the retirement date using different return scenarios, but some users found that too complex and preferred the current simplicity.

That said, we still believe it’s useful to focus on what is in your control: contributing to the right accounts in the right order, investing wisely, and minimizing fees. Those fundamentals work in any market, and over time, the ups and downs tend to average out.

I don't see the problem. FIRE is long term game, if you are young, by the time where you would become FI this will look like just another blip.

Thanks for the feedback - we can pick a more representative plan for the front page / videos.

To add some more color: - Yes - unsurprisingly - we have found our initial users have strong representation from San Fran/FANG engineers and NY with high incomes. However, they are under half. We have users from almost every state and more 'normal' incomes. We were thinking of creating a blog with some aggregate data if it is of interest?

- What we also find is that the majority of the steps (what we call the 'waterfall') are consistent for most people. There are some differences (when 401k and IRA absorb most of peoples savings income).

- On housing specifically, this is a very common question. For people pursuing financial independence their primary residence does not count towards income generating assets (slightly different story if they plan to downsize). For people with very low mortgage rates then the most optimal planning is not to pay the mortgage off but to accumulate enough to offset it.

I refinanced my mortgage during the heyday of COVID at 2%.

Why the heck would I pay it off?