Hi-
I've already posted in the FIRE and Money forum so this introduction is a bit behind. My bad.
I've been planning on ER sometime around 55 (currently 54.5) and it looks like I might be "released" (with a paltry severance package) by Megacorp in June. Or I might be kept on until Dec. 31, 2012, or Dec 31, 2013.
In Texas, unmarried with no debt and no kids. Have worked since 1984 in higher education and for a couple of megacorps; no government service, and no pension.
I currently rent a small apartment, having moved here from NC in 2009 after selling my house there. Decided not to buy a house in TX in 2009 with only a 3-5 year horizon and brutal property taxes, and instead put the "house kitty" into an earmarked account at Vanguard, at 50% Wellington and 50% GNMA (yes, I now know that was probably not a smart move taxwise, but I didn't want to lose principle in my "house" money). The house kitty has grown from $220K to $270K. I'll let it continue to grow until I know where I want to buy my "pine box house", and then pay cash.
Each year I max out my 401(K) including catch-up, as well as put $6K in a Roth IRA. Then I stuff more into taxable savings; I'm living on about 30% of my monthly gross income, so well below my means.
Excluding the "house kitty", my assets are mostly at Vanguard, about 60% in tax-advantaged / tax-deferred accounts, and 40% in taxable accounts. Again, excluding the "house kitty", 4% WR of my combined accounts would cover current living expenses, but there's not enough extra for travel, etc. yet -- the stuff I want to do in ER!
I will do a major rebalancing in July, when I am able to move my 403(b) funds from TIAA-CREF to an IRA at Vanguard. When I finally FIRE, I can roll my 401(k) to Vanguard as well, and then settle on a Lazy portfolio of some sort.
I'm learning a lot from the forum posts. Right now, based on the answers to a post a few days ago, I have learned that I should put stocks in my taxable account for tax-efficiency purposes, so I'm looking at the Vanguard indexed stock funds and ETFs, and figuring out that step.
Apologies that this is rather long-winded.Thanks to all for answering my clueless questions!
I've already posted in the FIRE and Money forum so this introduction is a bit behind. My bad.
I've been planning on ER sometime around 55 (currently 54.5) and it looks like I might be "released" (with a paltry severance package) by Megacorp in June. Or I might be kept on until Dec. 31, 2012, or Dec 31, 2013.
In Texas, unmarried with no debt and no kids. Have worked since 1984 in higher education and for a couple of megacorps; no government service, and no pension.
I currently rent a small apartment, having moved here from NC in 2009 after selling my house there. Decided not to buy a house in TX in 2009 with only a 3-5 year horizon and brutal property taxes, and instead put the "house kitty" into an earmarked account at Vanguard, at 50% Wellington and 50% GNMA (yes, I now know that was probably not a smart move taxwise, but I didn't want to lose principle in my "house" money). The house kitty has grown from $220K to $270K. I'll let it continue to grow until I know where I want to buy my "pine box house", and then pay cash.
Each year I max out my 401(K) including catch-up, as well as put $6K in a Roth IRA. Then I stuff more into taxable savings; I'm living on about 30% of my monthly gross income, so well below my means.
Excluding the "house kitty", my assets are mostly at Vanguard, about 60% in tax-advantaged / tax-deferred accounts, and 40% in taxable accounts. Again, excluding the "house kitty", 4% WR of my combined accounts would cover current living expenses, but there's not enough extra for travel, etc. yet -- the stuff I want to do in ER!
I will do a major rebalancing in July, when I am able to move my 403(b) funds from TIAA-CREF to an IRA at Vanguard. When I finally FIRE, I can roll my 401(k) to Vanguard as well, and then settle on a Lazy portfolio of some sort.
I'm learning a lot from the forum posts. Right now, based on the answers to a post a few days ago, I have learned that I should put stocks in my taxable account for tax-efficiency purposes, so I'm looking at the Vanguard indexed stock funds and ETFs, and figuring out that step.
Apologies that this is rather long-winded.Thanks to all for answering my clueless questions!