Why Receiving 4.5M KRW a Month in Dividends Still Makes FIRE Scary | Tracking Spending is the First Step

It’s been a few years since I started steadily building up my dividend income. Early this year, my post-tax monthly cash flow finally crossed 4.5 million KRW. Considering I initially thought, “If I hit 5 million KRW a month, I can achieve FIRE,” I should feel like I’m almost there.

But something was strange. As the numbers got closer, the final decision actually became harder. I couldn’t find the conviction to say, “I can quit right now.”

After a long thought, I found the root of the problem. Tracking FIRE spending — knowing exactly how much I actually spend in a month — I had never done this properly. I had spent years running towards a goal without verifying if my initial estimate of “about 4 to 5 million KRW a month” was actually accurate.

1. Why Tracking Spending is the First Step of FIRE Preparation

Most people set their FIRE goal as “Accumulating X amount of assets.” Is 1 billion KRW enough, or does it have to be 2 billion? But an asset target is actually a reverse calculation. First, you need to know how much you need per month to reverse-engineer the required asset size or target yield.

The sequence should be:

Identify monthly spending → Calculate required monthly cash flow → Reverse-calculate target assets → Establish investment strategy

The very first and most important step in this sequence is tracking spending, but many people just gloss over it. I did too.

2. Initially, I Just Guessed with Excel

When I first seriously considered FIRE, I opened an Excel sheet. I listed out my fixed expenses: loan interest, phone bills, insurance, apartment maintenance fees… And for living expenses, I typed in “about 2 million KRW?” The total came out to around 4.3 million KRW. “Alright, 5 million KRW a month gives me some breathing room.” Just like that, the goal was set.

The problem only revealed itself a few years later.

When I got close to my goal, something weird happened. I hit the number, but couldn’t make the decision. The doubt of “Is this number really accurate?” wouldn’t go away. I realized then that a goal built on inaccurate data leaves you anxious even after you achieve it.

3. Spending Data is Scattered Everywhere

You might say, “Well, just tally it up properly then.” But when you actually try to do it, you hit a wall. The data is too fragmented.

Multiple banking apps, multiple credit card apps, and brokerage apps, all separate. MyData services emerged, but the structure of having to check each institution individually hasn’t changed much. Past data is usually only available for the last 1 year online. To get history before that, you have to call the credit card company and go through a separate request process.

Ultimately, your spending remains in a state of “I think I know, but I don’t know exactly.” In this state, you simply cannot make the FIRE decision.

4. Monthly Credit Card Bills Create Optical Illusions

Even if you gather all your spending data, treating “this month’s credit card bill” as your actual monthly spending is a trap.

This May was exactly that kind of month.

It is true I spent 8.97 million KRW in May. But this month included an additional comprehensive income tax payment and US stock capital gains tax. These taxes are fixed annual expenses, but they all concentrated in May. If I conclude “My monthly spending is 8.97M KRW” based on this, the number gets completely distorted.

To establish a practical baseline for monthly spending, you must distinguish between 3 types of expenses: Fixed (same every month), Variable (fluctuates), and Irregular (concentrated in specific months). Expenses like taxes, which are annual but concentrated in May, look like an anomaly if you only look at that month, but when divided by 12, they are just part of your fixed monthly expenses.

5. Post-FIRE Spending Will Be Different

There is one more reason you must track your spending. To predict post-FIRE spending, you must know the itemized structure of your current spending.

When you quit your job, commuting and lunch costs will drop. On the other hand, spending on leisure, travel, and health is highly likely to increase. To predict this change, you need to know exactly how much of your current transportation cost is “commuting” and how much of your dining out is “business lunches”.

Without data, you’re back to relying on gut feeling.

Series — Designing the Flow of Money