Hi...Learning and Trying to retire early in life of course

[sunshine98]

Hello,

Been lurking for awhile and have tried to get into investing and saving in order to try and retire early. What I have so far:


401k: $247K I max mine out (17K) with 6K annually from employer
Vanguard: 2040 fund IRA (maxed each year) $55K

Vangard taxable: VFINX $4K
VGTSX $3k

Emergency fund: $50K

Money set aside for a house: $140K (note not all is going to go to house, but down payment, closing, furniture, etc) and what is left I will use to either pay some more on it or separate to make sure I can make payments in case anything happens. Do plan to buy one in the area Im in and will probably have my mother stay with me (widow now). But after she passes, I plan to move. Hence is why I don't want to put everything down on the house at the moment.

Job: stable however not happy. So would like to change jobs, but not profession. Pay will almost be the same. Im in high tax bracket so not able to do a ROTH IRA.


40 years old at the moment, single. Not factoring in Marriage or kids in future right now. If that happens, then will restructure.

1. How do I look now?
2. With extra income how would you invest? so money can grow? etc

3. I would like to go part time by age 50. If that happens, then estimated income take home pay (after taxes) would be 40K annually. And just ride it out until retirement. Do you think this is feasible or would it make more sense to stay on the grind ful time?

Thanks! Plan to stick around an learn! and Hopefully Join the Club!

 

[Hermit]

Hello,

Been lurking for awhile and have tried to get into investing and saving in order to try and retire early. What I have so far:


401k: $247K I max mine out (17K) with 6K annually from employer
Vanguard: 2040 fund IRA (maxed each year) $55K

Vangard taxable: VFINX $4K
VGTSX $3k

Emergency fund: $50K

Money set aside for a house: $140K (note not all is going to go to house, but down payment, closing, furniture, etc) and what is left I will use to either pay some more on it or separate to make sure I can make payments in case anything happens. Do plan to buy one in the area Im in and will probably have my mother stay with me (widow now). But after she passes, I plan to move. Hence is why I don't want to put everything down on the house at the moment.

Job: stable however not happy. So would like to change jobs, but not profession. Pay will almost be the same. Im in high tax bracket so not able to do a ROTH IRA.


40 years old at the moment, single. Not factoring in Marriage or kids in future right now. If that happens, then will restructure.

1. How do I look now?
2. With extra income how would you invest? so money can grow? etc

3. I would like to go part time by age 50. If that happens, then estimated income take home pay (after taxes) would be 40K annually. And just ride it out until retirement. Do you think this is feasible or would it make more sense to stay on the grind ful time?

Thanks! Plan to stick around an learn! and Hopefully Join the Club!

Hi sunshine98. Welcome to the forum. Run your numbers through FireCalc to see if you might succeed. That's a starting place. Look in the last several "Hi I am..." posts for some more good general links and guidance for folks starting out. You'll probably get some more posts to this thread, but ask more questions as needed. Just as a guess, you may be a little low and you might need to push RE or savings and spending a little for your numbers to line up. Lots of ideas on how to proceed here. Good luck.

 

[racy]

... investing and saving in order to try and retire early. .... 40 years old at the moment ... how would you invest? so money can grow? ...

Hi sun,
The stock market is your best bet for growing your money. I see you have S&P 500 and Int'l stock, and your 2040 Fund is 90% stock. I don't know what your 401k consists of. And, I don't know what your tolerance for risk is (have you pulled out of the market in past downturns, or added more?)

Depending on your risk tolerance, consider having somewhere between 60% and 80% in stock for your total portfolio (keeping out the house fund) at your age.

 

[Meadbh]

Welcome to the forum, sunshine.

Two important questions:
1. What are your expenses? You state that you are in a high tax bracket, so you must have decent earnings. How much are you saving each month? Can expenses be cut to increase savings?
2. Does your job come with a pension, and if so, is it COLA'd cost of living adjusted)? A decent COLA'd pension is worth a lot. Without one, you will need a much higher net worth to finance you retirement.

 

[sunshine98]

Hi sunshine98. Welcome to the forum. Run your numbers through FireCalc to see if you might succeed.

where is this located and thanks!

Hi sun,
I don't know what your 401k consists of.

BLACKROCK RUSSELL 1000 INDX TR
​

8.85% ​

​

BLACKROCK RUSSELL 2000 INDX TR
​

0.43% ​

​

BOND FUND
​

16.46% ​

​

INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
​

7.13% ​

​

JPMORGAN SHORT TERM BOND TRUST
​

0.80% ​

​

LARGE CAP GROWTH EQUITY FUND
​

8.62% ​

​

LARGE CAP VALUE EQUITY FUND
​

8.53%

​

SMALL MID CAP GROWTH EQUITY FD
​

9.14% ​

​

SMALL MID CAP VALUE EQUITY FD
​

8.58% ​

MYRETIREMENT 2040 FUND
​

28.03% ​

And, I don't know what your tolerance for risk is (have you pulled out of the market in past downturns, or added more?)

didn't pull out, although in past turndowns I lost some, I didn't have a major hit, just stayed the course. If anything, trying to figure out what to do with some extra money to invest.

Welcome to the forum, sunshine.

Two important questions:
1. What are your expenses? You state that you are in a high tax bracket, so you must have decent earnings. How much are you saving each month?

expenses and saving each month I will say ive not got into depth with it. I do max out my 401k and every January put the max in my IRA. When I have extra saved along the way, that is how I have my emergency fund, house fund, etc. Now that I know that is secure, Im trying to figure out what to do with the extra money that does accumulate.

2 things I do anticipate to buy: umbrella insurance. and Disability insurance. need to look into more. I do pay for disability insurance at work, but I (at my own fault) don't know a lot about it.

2. Does your job come with a pension, and if so, is it COLA'd cost of living adjusted)? A decent COLA'd pension is worth a lot. Without one, you will need a much higher net worth to finance you retirement.

all I have with my present job is my 401K of which I max out each year.​

 

[Hermit]

Firecalc is in the list Quick Links on the right of the forum screen. Here it is again:
FIRECalc: A different kind of retirement calculator

 

[pb4uski]

No one can give you any insights as to whether you have/will have enough until you know what you need to live on. A good starting point would be your annual take home pay (say for 2013) less what you saved (presumably the rest was spent) adjusted for any special, one-time, unusual items (like if you bought a new car for cash last year or something like that).

If you have Quicken, check out the Lifetime Planner included in there as it is a good, intuitive retirement planner (albeit with some small warts).

Also check out http://www.early-retirement.org/for...-answer-before-asking-can-i-retire-69999.html