Hello from Virginia (for now?)

[davemartin88]

Hi, I'll be leaving my job at the end of September, I'm 53, my wife is 49. I had been planning to retire at 55 but I've been given a 1 year severance package to leave so figure it's really only a year early. Recently found this forum and looks to have a lot of interesting people and a lot of interesting opinions.

We live in northern Virginia but are not tied to the area and the cost of living is high (example, property tax is nearly $7,000 per year and don't think it's going to be decreasing)- our thought is to move to southern Missouri or Oklahoma, somewhere we can buy at least 20 acres and have a bit of room to keep busy. We also have a rental house in the Dallas area and figure we'll clear about $300K selling the two houses which will go a long way in covering our housing costs in the new location. We have family spread out so those locations are a nice compromise of proximity and cost of living.

The good news is that because of the severance package and some other one time payments we'll receive from my company over the next 3 years, we won't be forced to move until we're ready and we'll have enough to live comfortably without touching our retirement assets for about 4-5 years. My wife is working so we have health coverage through her job as long as we stay in the area and she continues to work (work that she actually enjoys so that's good news).

We have just over $2M in other assets including about $600K in a 401K that will need to roll to an IRA and another $1.4M in various stocks, funds, and accounts. We want to focus on growing these retirement assets over the next few years to be in a best position to use them when the short term funds dry up. We figure on needing about $5K-6K per month for living expenses and think we're in pretty good shape but have the obvious concerns about the economy, cost of health care, etc. I figure a reduced SS benefit at 62 is even an inflation hedge- according to the SS calculator, my estimated benefit at 62 would be $1500/month if I stop working today. This Firecalc thing also looks pretty interesting so should have time to dig in there soon and see where it leads me, really want to investigate our asset allocation- we've used the same broker for years with good results but other opinions are helpful!

As for actually retiring and not having to work, I can't wait for the next month to go by. I have plenty of hobbies, woodworking, astronomy, radio control flying, etc. so not worried about keeping busy. Will probably volunteer a couple of mornings per week to help me know what day it is. I'll spend a lot of time getting the house ready to sell as well, always a few projects but 90% I'll be able to do myself now that I have the time.

Just wanted to introduce myself before getting involved in the other discussions, thanks for reading if you made it this far and thanks to all who post and participate.

[tightasadrum]

Welcome Dave,

Sounds like you've maneuvered yourself into a pretty solid position for retirement. Congratulations. When I retired in March/April, I thought I'd have lots of time and opportunity to sit and wonder about my new phase of life. Instead I've been busy every day for months now. Sounds like you've also got the projects lining up on your to-do list. You're starting your beginning your retirement a little sooner than me at 61, but I found myself in a similar position with mega corp, but at 55. I decided to work awhile longer at other things paying mostly less. Not sure if there is a right decision, just A decision.

Good luck.

[Lotus]

Welcome, Dave! It looks like you have a well thought out plan.

I plan to retire to Northern Virginia in a couple of years (at 50), probably to Alexandria. I have lived in the DC area in the past, and being single, like the idea of being near a big city to counter the risk of isolation in retirement.

I concur that this is a great forum, with sensible and varied viewpoints.
Best wishes!
Lotus

[Westernskies]

Welcome to the forum, Dave. It sounds like you are in a great position. You might want to check with want2retire; she has done a lot of research on retiring to Southern Missouri
All the Best.

[W2R]

Hi Dave, and welcome!

As BWW mentioned, we are planning to retire in southern Missouri as well. However, instead of acreage (such as you are dreaming about), we are planning to actually live in the town of Springfield. We really like the area.

In fact, we may end up there this weekend. I doubt Gustav will impact New Orleans too severely, but we may still evacuate just for peace of mind. My car is packed, I have gas, and Frank is boarding over his temporary plexiglass-and-duct-tape fix to a window that Katrina broke. Hard to believe that today is the third anniversary of Katrina, already. Once he is ready and has packed his Murano, we will see how Gustav is doing and maybe leave in the morning.

[Alan]

Welcome Dave, looks as if you are all set for RE.

W2R, Good luck on your trip. It may need to be a repeated one the following week if Hanna decides she likes the Gulf better than the Atlantic.

[Westernskies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire Hi Dave, and welcome! As BWW mentioned, we are planning to retire in southern Missouri as well. However, instead of acreage (such as you are dreaming about), we are planning to actually live in the town of Springfield. We really like the area.

if you stop for the Cashew Chicken at the Bamboo Inn on the NE Corner of Grand & Glenstone you will absolutely love the area. Probably won't want to go back to 'Narlins

[jIMOh]

Welcome.

One thing to consider right now- have you calculated what your RMDs will be from the IRA/401k? You need 72k in yearly income, the RMDs if all $2 M is tax deferred might be well above that.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwonderfulwyoming if you stop for the Cashew Chicken at the Bamboo Inn on the NE Corner of Grand & Glenstone you will absolutely love the area. Probably won't want to go back to 'Narlins

Thanks!! I'll keep that in mind (and I'll write it down in my 3-ring binder of Springfield tidbits).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan W2R, Good luck on your trip. It may need to be a repeated one the following week if Hanna decides she likes the Gulf better than the Atlantic.

I hope not!! Hanna had better stay in the Atlantic, and not cross Florida to enter the Gulf like Katrina did.

I evacuated several times in 2005, although I stayed for Hurricane Cindy. But I evacuated for Dennis (the "premature evacuation", as Nagin termed it), and again for Katrina, and a third time for Rita. I felt like I had no home.

[Alan]

Quote:

I hope not!! Hanna had better stay in the Atlantic, and not cross Florida to enter the Gulf like Katrina did.

Just looked at the projected path and it has her doing a U turn and heading for Cuba

Quote:

But I evacuated for Dennis (the "premature evacuation")

[davemartin88]

Want2retire- thanks for your note, we're not settled on Springfield quite yet but probably at least that general area- have family there now so will visit a few times and take a look a few times before we decide. As you said, we're looking to be outside the city but did like it when we've visited in the past.

We're also having lots of discussion about how soon we would move- we have a nice place here, 4 wooded acres with a pool and my wife loves her job and it provides medical benefits for both of us. Good news is we don't have to make a quick decision and may ride it out here a bit to give the housing market a chance to come back up a bit.

I'm counting the days until I stop working, 24 more working days as of Friday!

[davemartin88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jIMOh Welcome. One thing to consider right now- have you calculated what your RMDs will be from the IRA/401k? You need 72k in yearly income, the RMDs if all $2 M is tax deferred might be well above that.

Thanks, another reason I joined this forum- I understand what you said but will have to research the impact- at this point, only about $600K is in an 401K/IRA but will be considering if I want to move more that way and the minimum distribution will have to be a consideration!

Thanks again to all for the welcome.

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davemartin88 We're also having lots of discussion about how soon we would move- we have a nice place here, 4 wooded acres with a pool and my wife loves her job and it provides medical benefits for both of us. Good news is we don't have to make a quick decision and may ride it out here a bit to give the housing market a chance to come back up a bit.

Sounds like an ideal situation. If I were you I'd be cooking meals and doing housework, to make sure your wife continues to love working