|
10-07-2012, 05:41 PM
|
#1
|
Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 9
|
Geetings from Atlanta
Hi,
My name is David and I am a long timer lurker, first time poster. DW and I are probably within about 3 years of FIRE. Well, I guess I might be better to describe it as 3 years away from downshifting. I will retire, but she will continue to work for 4-6 more years (but at 3 days a week). She really gets a lot of gratification from her job, so in her case, retiring for the sake of retiring does not seem to make sense.
Currently we have a little over 30x our current yearly pre-tax expenses saved. I would like to see it be a little higher because we are both relatively young at 45 and 47. With DW wanting to continue to work, we could probably downshift today, but we are both fairly cautious individuals and don't want to turn the money spigots off until we know the bucket is as full as we will ever need it. Plus I am hoping to pick up some sort of package from work over the next couple of years. But if one does not come along, we will downshift before DW's 50th birthday.
Currently, we are starting our search for a retirement location. We are currently in the Atlanta suburbs. Not really a bad place to live, but we would like to experience something different during the next phase of our lives. We have stared at the map for years trying to pick places we might like, so actually starting the investigation "on foot" is lot of fun!
Anyhow, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello.
Cheers,
David.
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
10-07-2012, 06:09 PM
|
#2
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
|
Welcome. Sounds like you are in a great position and have given this a lot of thought.
|
|
|
10-07-2012, 07:06 PM
|
#3
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 11,701
|
Welcome. Your story sounds very familiar as the DW and I are going down a very similar path.
The only thing we are not considering (right now) is a move in retirement. Not saying we'll never do it, but just not considering it right now as we are in a medium sized city (Raleigh-Durham) area and are pretty happy. Having lived in Chicago and then its suburbs, and experienced Atlanta, I can understand the desire to try something different.
|
|
|
10-07-2012, 07:10 PM
|
#4
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,264
|
Welcome. Have you checked out "Find Your Spot"?
|
|
|
10-07-2012, 09:02 PM
|
#5
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 146
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by sadsak
Hi,
My name is David and I am a long timer lurker, first time poster. DW and I are probably within about 3 years of FIRE. Well, I guess I might be better to describe it as 3 years away from downshifting. I will retire, but she will continue to work for 4-6 more years (but at 3 days a week). She really gets a lot of gratification from her job, so in her case, retiring for the sake of retiring does not seem to make sense.
Currently we have a little over 30x our current yearly pre-tax expenses saved. I would like to see it be a little higher because we are both relatively young at 45 and 47. With DW wanting to continue to work, we could probably downshift today, but we are both fairly cautious individuals and don't want to turn the money spigots off until we know the bucket is as full as we will ever need it. Plus I am hoping to pick up some sort of package from work over the next couple of years. But if one does not come along, we will downshift before DW's 50th birthday.
Currently, we are starting our search for a retirement location. We are currently in the Atlanta suburbs. Not really a bad place to live, but we would like to experience something different during the next phase of our lives. We have stared at the map for years trying to pick places we might like, so actually starting the investigation "on foot" is lot of fun!
Anyhow, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello.
Cheers,
David.
|
David,
My name is Xavier and I also live in Atlanta. First I would like to say congratulations on your outstanding achievements! It seems that you and your wife have LBYM and now you are experiencing the results of your discipline and dedication. I'm 38 and my wife is 30 and we have 2 children under 2 years old. I would like to meet with people like you in Atlanta and exchange our stories, retirement plans and future ideas. Let me know if you might be interested and we can exchange contact information via PM.
Take care,
Xavier
|
|
|
10-07-2012, 11:16 PM
|
#6
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: midwestern city
Posts: 4,061
|
Welcome, sadsak.
__________________
Very conservative with investments. Not ER'd yet, 48 years old. Please do not take anything I write or imply as legal, financial or medical advice directed to you. Contact your own financial advisor, healthcare provider, or attorney for financial, medical and legal advice.
|
|
|
10-08-2012, 04:24 AM
|
#7
|
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,585
|
Hi Sadsak, welcome to the forum. You've done very well and should find you have many options as you consider how and when to move to the next phase. Good luck.
|
|
|
10-08-2012, 05:20 AM
|
#8
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Indialantic FL
Posts: 1,330
|
Welcome to the forum. We were just in Atlanta visiting our old stomping grounds around Decatur. We had to make stops at the Dekalb Farmers Market, The Flying Biscuit(original chandler park location), and Trader Joes. We really liked Decatur, but the call of the Beach was just too strong.
__________________
JimnJana
"The four most dangerous words in investing are 'This time it's different.'" - Sir John Templeton
|
|
|
10-08-2012, 09:02 AM
|
#9
|
Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 9
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski
Welcome. Have you checked out "Find Your Spot"?
|
I have tried to "Find Your Spot" and a few other tools. In many ways it was easier to save for our retirement than it is to figure out where to spend our retirement!
What DW and I have done to try to help us with the decision is to independently create a "Get-a-Life" tree (as described in "The Joy of Not Working"). Merging our trees has really helped us to identify what sort of place is going to be required to allow us to fulfill our wants/needs. The next several years are going to include a lot of exploratory trips!
Jimnjana, so funny that you mentioned Trader Joes. One our original filters was that we needed to be within a 2 hour drive of a TJs!
|
|
|
10-25-2012, 07:18 AM
|
#10
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 507
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by sadsak
I have tried to "Find Your Spot" and a few other tools. In many ways it was easier to save for our retirement than it is to figure out where to spend our retirement!
What DW and I have done to try to help us with the decision is to independently create a "Get-a-Life" tree (as described in "The Joy of Not Working"). Merging our trees has really helped us to identify what sort of place is going to be required to allow us to fulfill our wants/needs. The next several years are going to include a lot of exploratory trips!
Jimnjana, so funny that you mentioned Trader Joes. One our original filters was that we needed to be within a 2 hour drive of a TJs!
|
Welcome - we currently live in Atlanta too. I retired 2/2012 and it looks like my wife is handing in her notice at the end of the yr. Over the years we have had a lot of exploratory trips and was a lot of fun visiting different places.
We usually check to see if there is a Trader Joes too!
|
|
|
10-25-2012, 08:03 AM
|
#11
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: West Tx
Posts: 1,392
|
Trader Joe's is the best! My daughter and I make occasional 6 hour trips with ice chests to either Albuquerque or Dallas to stock up.
|
|
|
10-25-2012, 12:24 PM
|
#12
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Thousand Oaks
Posts: 1,111
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ally
Trader Joe's is the best! My daughter and I make occasional 6 hour trips with ice chests to either Albuquerque or Dallas to stock up.
|
That is dedication. I am lucky enough to be able to take 10 min bike ride to my local TJ.
|
|
|
10-25-2012, 01:03 PM
|
#13
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 599
|
Hello From Metro Atlanta
Hello sadsak,
30X your savings is wonderful! You're definitely on the right track.
DW and I are also in metro Atlanta. We've been here over 20 years and have found it to be a great place to live. There are obviously plenty of other great places and we hope to see many of them in our RV.
I don't know if RVing is your thing or not but don't dismiss it if you haven't taken time to give it some thought. It's great way to see the sights as well as stay in certain areas of the county for longer periods of time. DW and I have found RVing is reasonably affordable (although not cheap) and permits us to volunteer around the country as well as see places and meet people we normally would not encounter if we were simply flying in and out of airports.
Good Luck!
__________________
Dreamin' of Streamin'
FIRE'd at 52 on 7/8/11
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|