I have arrived...

[Pathfinder]

Hello all,

Unfortunately, I haven't arrived at ER yet, but rather to this interesting forum, which looks to be an interesting stopping point.

After lurking for a couple of months and reading many threads (old and current), I decided to join in on the fun and planning.

I am 37, married with two wonderful children, and live in the midwest.  I have a comfortable job in the IT business as a contractor and my wife, after an 8yr hiatus, is starting back to work as a Speech Therapist, though not full-time yet.

My work is not bad, as it pays well, is not high stress, and does not require lots of overtime (at least I get paid for it).  However, it is becoming boring and my interest in computers is waning.  As I get older, I am finding myself more interested in home projects, fixing things and working with my hands more.

I want to ER not because I hate work, but I would like the flexibility to change careers and just have more freedom.

Right now we are living below our means with a conservative mortgage (1x salary) that will be paid off by 50 and have no consumer debt.  In addition we put away about 30% of our gross pay, including 401K, and additional savings. 

We have accumulated almost 200K in retirement savings/investments and have good equity in the house we have lived in for 10yrs.  I don't generally count it because you gotta live somewhere, but it's nice to think of that as a potential cushion if necessary.

I am trying to get to partial retirement by 51.  My wife thinks she would want to continue working (time will tell), but I would like to go to about 40-50% time.  We are both fortunate that it is possible for my wife to work part time at her same (or even better) pay rate and I could take short term contracts to achieve the same goal.

This is getting long winded...

To sum up, I am looking forward to chatting with Forum members about ER.  I know I have lots of questions and I might even have some decent answers. 

If you have read this far, thanks for slogging through my overly-verbose prose!

I guess I need to get a zippy signature/quote.  I'll work on it. 


Afterthought:  I find it interesting I am dishing out personal information to people I don't know that I would not tell a close friend!  Strange...

Best of Luck to everybody here!

Pathfinder

 

[wildcat]

Welcome to the jungle

Afterthought: I find it interesting I am dishing out personal information to people I don't know that I would not tell a close friend! Strange...

Don't worry about it. I think we have a few dogs that post from time to time.

To sum up, I am looking forward to chatting with Forum members about ER. I know I have lots of questions and I might even have some decent answers.

Post away

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I might be a dog.

 

[wildcat]

Yeah TH I hear you can train those German Sheps to learn just about anything or you are TH right?

Anyway I don't want to be ass and get this thread off topic. Back to you Pathfinder.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Woof! Woof Woof Woof...

Whoops...I mean...of course, lets not take this thread off its original uh...path...

 

[Spanky]

Pathfinder,

It's good to plan for ER when you are still young. It sounds like you are doing the right things, i.e., saving and not having a lot of debts. Computer can be boring after awhile. I guess it does not hurt to find something else that might be more interesting.

Anyway, have you determined how much money will you need for retirement? There are many calculators to identify if you are on the right track based on projected expenses, inflation, investment return, number of years of retirement, and so on.

 

[Pathfinder]

I'm not sure there really was a path, just an introduction! Woof

Spanky,

I've got several models I built in a spreadsheet charting 1) expected returns, 2) expected savings year by year, 3) expected average inflation, and expenses by category, all indexed in today's dollars. I play around with these numbers almost obsessively - its fun to play 'what if?'

I can't pin it down to a number because I don't yet know what I (nor my wife) want. I do try to figure a baseline of

3.5% average inflation
4% distributions (I think ya'll have a Abbr. for this but I don't remember it)
35K savings (401Ks, Roth, Cash) per year until my children's college then drastically reduced during that period
7% net returns over that period (37-51).

If I can do that, then I will not have enough to retire in the style I want, but will have the flexibility to push into part time and just let my money work for me while I contribute little at that point.

I want to work hard for my money now, so it works hard for me later.

I'd like to move out into the boonies and live very simply, but I'd also like to travel some and I could easily have tons of hobbies and then we'd be isolated from family which, in our case, is a bad thing.


I'm always looking for interesting suggestions especially different thinking about how to approach this. I've seen some good lateral thinkers on this board and their in put would be appreciated and valued, if not always taken.

 

[Sheryl]

I play around with these numbers almost obsessively - its fun to play 'what if?'

Yay. Another obsessive spreadsheet fiddler-arounder-with. Isn't that a requirement for posting on this board??

 

[kat]

What's a spreadsheet?

 

[REWahoo]

What's a spreadsheet?

Think of it as a large dryer sheet with numbers...

REW

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Spread sheets, fiddle around. Sounds familiar...

 

[Spanky]

Pathfinder,

Based on the limited info: saving of 200K, 35K annual saving, 7% return, age 37, the value of your portfolio at age 51 will be 1,492,888. A 4% withdrawl is 59,715.53 or $38,328.79 in today's dollar. Is that enough to support your life style? If not, you might need to work longer or take on more aggressive investment to achieve a higer potential return.

Spanky

 

[Nords]

Spread sheets, fiddle around.  Sounds familiar...

I'm afraid that version will NEVER raise your net worth.

 

[unclemick]

Doing absolutely nothing - just standing there per Bogle's intstructions worked wonders for my net worth.

Yea Yea - I know - being male - I still gotta putz with some individual stocks. And yes I actually did put them on a spreadsheet once or twice. I think it's around somewhere on the stepdaugher in spare room's old computer.

Pssst - Vanguard Target Retirement Series - shut off the computer - enjoy kids/family - take them fishing. Set up auto DCA - keep it simple.

Unclemick's Sunday Sermon - and no collection plate will be passed - this time.

Heh, heh, heh.

 

[Jarhead*]

Doing absolutely nothing - just standing there per Bogle's intstructions worked wonders for my net worth.

Yea Yea - I know - being male - I still gotta putz with some individual stocks. And yes I actually did put them on a spreadsheet once or twice. I think it's around somewhere on the stepdaugher in spare room's old computer.

Pssst - Vanguard Target Retirement Series - shut off the computer - enjoy kids/family - take them fishing. Set up auto DCA - keep it simple.

Unclemick's Sunday Sermon - and no collection plate will be passed - this time.

Heh, heh, heh.

UncleMick: Good sermon. Have about an hour before I go to church. (8:30 Tee-Off time).

We pass the collection plate after all the teams are in

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm afraid that version will NEVER raise your net worth.

You had to use the word 'raise', didnt you...

 

[Nords]

You had to use the word 'raise', didnt you...

I knew that would get a rise, so to speak!