I stumbled across this forum a year ago and have been reading it as a guest, but now it's time to exit the shadows.
First, the facts. I am 57, extremely married, with five miraculous offspring. The college years are behind us, although the legacy of educational debt is not. Since everybody else is coming clean with their stats, mine are roughly as follows:
Me and DW: 1.5M in 401Ks & IRAs - this is retirement dough in various piles that converge to something like 75/25/0 AA
170k in Schwab account - this is purely discretionary, used for speculations and charity. If it turns into a million or zero it won't make an atom of difference for retirement
20k in credit unions as cash on hand for running the house
65k in non-COLA pensions starting whenever we take them between now and 65
80k in HELOC (this represents the remaining collegiate carnage) on a 5 year path to pay off
35k in car loans which will be paid off in two years
I calculate we could retire in perfectly suitable comfort for about 115k (including taxes) once the debts are gone. Currently gross twice that. DW loves her j*b, will likely stay at least to 62 but not past 65.
I don't love my j*b. In fact they'd have to pay me to get to go back! My glide path is 65, but if megacorp gave me the golden boot at 62 I'd be happily rubbing my keister all the way home. It's not the worst j*b in the world, so I am willing to endure it for a few more years to work off the debts.
Second, the more personal stuff. I recommend you move on now if you don't want to suffer through my anecdotes. But if you are at all interested in my human story, read on.
I don't have any blogs or websites, not even FB. We are not hardcore LBYMs like some of the ER posters, but we're not extravagant either. We buy non-flashy cars and keep them for 15 years; take one cruise every 25 years whether we need to or not. We don't keep to a written budget, but only spend on sensible stuff. Glam and bling just aren't our style. We max our 401Ks, bank about another 30k per year, and whatever's left we blow on home improvements and repairs in anticipation of NOT having to do much of that once we FIRE in another 5-8 years.
Yeah, I know that 62-65 is not particularly E, but compared to my siblings who will w*rk at crummy j*bs till they croak, it's pretty good. My parents are in their mid-80s and still kicking, so I want to be prepared in case I live a long time. Better a few extra morning commutes than dining on Purina Senior Vittles in my golden years.
However, I admit to having thought about retirement since I started my career in 1980. My very first boss showed me an example of how not to do it. He had lived a frugal lifetime, was debt-free and had saved a generous stack, was fully pension and SS eligible, and was offered an early out when they eliminated his job. But he had that Depression-era mindset that the cushion can never be too thick, so he took a transfer that he hated so as to stay on and pad the stack. He w*rked about 4 years, then got liver cancer and died in 3 months without ever enjoying a minute's retirement.
Of course, thinking about retirement is not the same as doing something about it. I confess to having approached it like an amateur, leaving it up to the mechanisms (pensions, 401Ks, IRAs and SS) prescribed by our megacorp and government masters. Some of my peers over the past decades have been more adventurous, job-hopping for advancement or starting their own businesses and compiling impressive fortunes. OTOH, the risk-takers who did not compile fortunes have been curiously quiet, so draw your own conclusions.
Also, I view retirement from a little different angle than my ancestors. I consider the FI to be more intriguing than the RE. If I could earn a living doing one of my hobby interests, I'd be happy to w*rk forever.
Anyway, that's me. I welcome all your observations, even the ones that say I'm misguided or hypocritical. You could well be right. As long as you say it charitably, I'm happy to hear it.
First, the facts. I am 57, extremely married, with five miraculous offspring. The college years are behind us, although the legacy of educational debt is not. Since everybody else is coming clean with their stats, mine are roughly as follows:
Me and DW: 1.5M in 401Ks & IRAs - this is retirement dough in various piles that converge to something like 75/25/0 AA
170k in Schwab account - this is purely discretionary, used for speculations and charity. If it turns into a million or zero it won't make an atom of difference for retirement
20k in credit unions as cash on hand for running the house
65k in non-COLA pensions starting whenever we take them between now and 65
80k in HELOC (this represents the remaining collegiate carnage) on a 5 year path to pay off
35k in car loans which will be paid off in two years
I calculate we could retire in perfectly suitable comfort for about 115k (including taxes) once the debts are gone. Currently gross twice that. DW loves her j*b, will likely stay at least to 62 but not past 65.
I don't love my j*b. In fact they'd have to pay me to get to go back! My glide path is 65, but if megacorp gave me the golden boot at 62 I'd be happily rubbing my keister all the way home. It's not the worst j*b in the world, so I am willing to endure it for a few more years to work off the debts.
Second, the more personal stuff. I recommend you move on now if you don't want to suffer through my anecdotes. But if you are at all interested in my human story, read on.
I don't have any blogs or websites, not even FB. We are not hardcore LBYMs like some of the ER posters, but we're not extravagant either. We buy non-flashy cars and keep them for 15 years; take one cruise every 25 years whether we need to or not. We don't keep to a written budget, but only spend on sensible stuff. Glam and bling just aren't our style. We max our 401Ks, bank about another 30k per year, and whatever's left we blow on home improvements and repairs in anticipation of NOT having to do much of that once we FIRE in another 5-8 years.
Yeah, I know that 62-65 is not particularly E, but compared to my siblings who will w*rk at crummy j*bs till they croak, it's pretty good. My parents are in their mid-80s and still kicking, so I want to be prepared in case I live a long time. Better a few extra morning commutes than dining on Purina Senior Vittles in my golden years.
However, I admit to having thought about retirement since I started my career in 1980. My very first boss showed me an example of how not to do it. He had lived a frugal lifetime, was debt-free and had saved a generous stack, was fully pension and SS eligible, and was offered an early out when they eliminated his job. But he had that Depression-era mindset that the cushion can never be too thick, so he took a transfer that he hated so as to stay on and pad the stack. He w*rked about 4 years, then got liver cancer and died in 3 months without ever enjoying a minute's retirement.
Of course, thinking about retirement is not the same as doing something about it. I confess to having approached it like an amateur, leaving it up to the mechanisms (pensions, 401Ks, IRAs and SS) prescribed by our megacorp and government masters. Some of my peers over the past decades have been more adventurous, job-hopping for advancement or starting their own businesses and compiling impressive fortunes. OTOH, the risk-takers who did not compile fortunes have been curiously quiet, so draw your own conclusions.
Also, I view retirement from a little different angle than my ancestors. I consider the FI to be more intriguing than the RE. If I could earn a living doing one of my hobby interests, I'd be happy to w*rk forever.
Anyway, that's me. I welcome all your observations, even the ones that say I'm misguided or hypocritical. You could well be right. As long as you say it charitably, I'm happy to hear it.
