UtahSkier
Recycles dryer sheets
Hello everyone.
I'm thinking about participating in the community after lurking around for more than a year.
DW and I live in Scottsdale and Salt Lake. Both 50 with no kids, just 2 dogs! We live in each city for about 3 months and then move to the other location. We enjoy skiing, so that puts us in SLC for the winters and summers.
Financially, we are on the bubble of being FIREd. But then again, we are not close ( no courage! ). Our spending is just too high for 3% SWR. I don't have confidence in current portfolio valuation to commit to a 4% SWR. Firecalc gives a 96% success if we stopped working altogether.
Instead, DW works 20 hours a week (megacorp, but no pension) and I work 30 hours a week doing independent software development. The key for us is stress and neither of us has any stress. So our reduced work schedules and high spending is working for us... for now.
Passions are skiing, hiking, mountain biking, beach vacations, and working out to stay fit.
I don't have any questions at the moment... just thinking about portfolio restructuring to accommodate the challenges of changing tax rates and Obamacare in 2014. (portfolio rebalancing may be prohibitive starting in 2014).
I rarely make the effort to express my opinion. But, I will try to participate when appropriate.
Oddball info ---
Retirement accounts : 900K, After tax accounts: 1500K, 2 homes: 600K, no debt.
Preferred asset allocation is an ETF version of the Aronson portfolio (lazy portfolio). It is not my current allocation, but I am working to get there (Buy and hold and hold and hold.) I only have a few legacy, individual stocks and bonds in my portfolio. Well invested, but overweight cash at the moment. On the one hand, I know I cannot time the market. On the other hand, I don't feel the excessive government stimulus is sustainable. The excess cash allows me to sleep well and dream of market crashes... No Stress!
We don't have any specific retirement goals. We have achieved financial independence and can do the things we want, generally when we want. But, it feels strange not to have a goal.
We are probably not living below our means at the moment as we are contributing 55% of labor income to IRAs. In a sense, we are living off of savings (somewhat) while putting money into the retirement accounts.
I'm thinking about participating in the community after lurking around for more than a year.
DW and I live in Scottsdale and Salt Lake. Both 50 with no kids, just 2 dogs! We live in each city for about 3 months and then move to the other location. We enjoy skiing, so that puts us in SLC for the winters and summers.
Financially, we are on the bubble of being FIREd. But then again, we are not close ( no courage! ). Our spending is just too high for 3% SWR. I don't have confidence in current portfolio valuation to commit to a 4% SWR. Firecalc gives a 96% success if we stopped working altogether.
Instead, DW works 20 hours a week (megacorp, but no pension) and I work 30 hours a week doing independent software development. The key for us is stress and neither of us has any stress. So our reduced work schedules and high spending is working for us... for now.
Passions are skiing, hiking, mountain biking, beach vacations, and working out to stay fit.
I don't have any questions at the moment... just thinking about portfolio restructuring to accommodate the challenges of changing tax rates and Obamacare in 2014. (portfolio rebalancing may be prohibitive starting in 2014).
I rarely make the effort to express my opinion. But, I will try to participate when appropriate.
Oddball info ---
Retirement accounts : 900K, After tax accounts: 1500K, 2 homes: 600K, no debt.
Preferred asset allocation is an ETF version of the Aronson portfolio (lazy portfolio). It is not my current allocation, but I am working to get there (Buy and hold and hold and hold.) I only have a few legacy, individual stocks and bonds in my portfolio. Well invested, but overweight cash at the moment. On the one hand, I know I cannot time the market. On the other hand, I don't feel the excessive government stimulus is sustainable. The excess cash allows me to sleep well and dream of market crashes... No Stress!
We don't have any specific retirement goals. We have achieved financial independence and can do the things we want, generally when we want. But, it feels strange not to have a goal.
We are probably not living below our means at the moment as we are contributing 55% of labor income to IRAs. In a sense, we are living off of savings (somewhat) while putting money into the retirement accounts.
Last edited:
