Hi , My plan

[dm]

For what its worth, here is my plan.

I plan to RE next May, at 47. I started planning for this about 4 yrs ago. I started saving and paying off the mortgage.

I should have 200k in the 401k,IRA and 130k in after tax account.

The wife loves her job and is going to continue working till she can retire with her pension. She has 9 yrs to go if the rules don't change. She is 43 now.

We owe 100k on our 250k house. The loan is at 4 7/8 %.

We have two kids over 20 who better be out of school or close.

I have went through the last two years of check stubs and have found that we averaged about $6000 a month spent. We have never tried to budget, but we never borrow exept for the mortgage.

The wife clears $5000 a month now. Her pension should be 80% of her salary. The house should be paid off by then. The P&I is about $1000 month.

So I guess I'll retire at 47 and the wife will retire at 52. I did marry her when she was 19 and paid for her college. She is a school administrator.

Hopefully the kids will get out of school and start working and pay for their own expenses. That will definatly be a big savings. Also I have more vehicles that I need. I plan on keeping one SUV and one old Porsche.

I really hope I don't have to draw from our savings but feel that this give's us a good safety factor in case something comes up.

[JonnyM]

My first observation would be you married a jewel.

If you've been married all this time and you are truely of like minds of this, you have it make in the shade.

I write this because the numbers are such that you'll be living off her salary and pension for the rest of your life. The typical SWR bandied about on this board generates 8k per year from your IRA, a bit more if you tap that after tax account. Certainly a very good thing for a true lobster couple where one love's to work and one want's to hang it up right now.

I'm not sure what the defensive statements where all about, kind of like you are trying to justify that she owes you in the reader's eyes. That should not be necessary. I would hope a Teacher could get out two years before the date you've come up with, but I imagine it varies between states. The math infers to me that if 52 gets her 80 percent than 50 should get something more than enough for a satisfactory FIRE.

Enjoy. My wife is FIRE now (3 years earlier than planned due to injury on the job) so I get to endure 3 more years of the work-a-day world. I don't "Love" my job, but I'm very good at it, and I can tolerate it while I get my ducks lined up for a comfortable ER. I like to think that since she's 100 percent retired, then "WE" are 50 percent ER.

8) 8) 8)

[dm]

Yes I'm a lucky man. I didn't mean to sound defensive. Also we do have other assets, land, annuity, and collectables.

She does love her job and has very generous amounts of vacation time. Not the 3-4 months that she use to get but not bad. I on the other hand am just burned out. Im a construction manager for a road building company. I have jobs going both day and night. When Im not at work im trying to get some sleep. Its been this way for about 5 yrs. It's gotten to where I have no life.

We have decieded that we can be happy at our current lifestyle. The house that we currently live in will be the most that we can afford. No more new mercedes or sports cars. But I can keep the one I have and she can get a decent new car from time to time.

What I hope to have is more time to enjoy what I do have, and to be able to help with some of the things the wife takes care of, making her life alittle easier.

I will actually be suprized if she retires at 52. Several of her friends are well past that and continue to work. Also she has only been an administrator for about 3 yrs and her raises have been good. The formula here is her age and years of service equall 80. When we got married she was still a sophmore in college. I was working in different parts of the country for a few years so it was difficult for her to finish. She did get a job right out of college, she was 24 I think, and has been with the same district since.