I'm Kathryn, last of a soon-to-be-extinct breed: the local government employee eligible for full retirement with 30 years service.
I'm 54, as I hung in there 2 extra years. Starting July 2011, nobody can retire unless they're 55, regardless of # of years. DH is 59, could retire but loves his job most days, and it's a few minutes from the house. I'm giving up a grueling 2 hour commute to a workplace that is getting crazier by the day.
My numbers probably won't mean much...we don't have a huge FIRE account; we have 401Ks that are under $100K each, but no need to withdraw from them. An investment account with a couple of American funds, about $116K. $32K in regular savings. After Federal taxes come out, I'm getting $3050 a month, with SSA leveling. My health insurance is $590 a month-cheaper than going on DH's ins. DH grosses $92K a year. His retirement income would be about $5000 a month.
We owe $106k on our house, $10K on an equity loan, $10K on a car loan. We owe another $60K on a house we're planning to sell to a family member. No kids to support.
People have asked on another forum where the heck our money goes (I was grossing $55k until...um...last week). I spent 3.5 years getting a MA in social work so I could do temp and consulting work after ER. That was paid as I went.
Our oldest son died 2 years ago from lung transplant rejection-a lot of our disposable income went towards traveling to be with him, helping support him, wedding and funeral. He had cystic fibrosis and wasn't able to work the last few years of his life. We still saved and paid into our pension, but we put a lot of $$ into all of us enjoying his life. There's more minutia, but our income and expenses have been screwy over the years because life has been kind of screwy. I picked my retirement time to be now because the pension wasn't going to change much with another year or two work, plus the stress was increasingly crazy-making.
So...I'm trying to figure out what happens next, getting my house up to snuff, getting healthy (proper food, gym, walking), and going from a people-intense day to "me and the dog" days here in the rural foothills of NC, not a neighbor in sight. My main money concern is paying for the needed maintenance we've put off (like the $3000 tree removal estimate we got today).
That's my story in a big nutshell. I've enjoyed what I've sampled here so far and look forward to reading more.
K
I'm 54, as I hung in there 2 extra years. Starting July 2011, nobody can retire unless they're 55, regardless of # of years. DH is 59, could retire but loves his job most days, and it's a few minutes from the house. I'm giving up a grueling 2 hour commute to a workplace that is getting crazier by the day.
My numbers probably won't mean much...we don't have a huge FIRE account; we have 401Ks that are under $100K each, but no need to withdraw from them. An investment account with a couple of American funds, about $116K. $32K in regular savings. After Federal taxes come out, I'm getting $3050 a month, with SSA leveling. My health insurance is $590 a month-cheaper than going on DH's ins. DH grosses $92K a year. His retirement income would be about $5000 a month.
We owe $106k on our house, $10K on an equity loan, $10K on a car loan. We owe another $60K on a house we're planning to sell to a family member. No kids to support.
People have asked on another forum where the heck our money goes (I was grossing $55k until...um...last week). I spent 3.5 years getting a MA in social work so I could do temp and consulting work after ER. That was paid as I went.
Our oldest son died 2 years ago from lung transplant rejection-a lot of our disposable income went towards traveling to be with him, helping support him, wedding and funeral. He had cystic fibrosis and wasn't able to work the last few years of his life. We still saved and paid into our pension, but we put a lot of $$ into all of us enjoying his life. There's more minutia, but our income and expenses have been screwy over the years because life has been kind of screwy. I picked my retirement time to be now because the pension wasn't going to change much with another year or two work, plus the stress was increasingly crazy-making.
So...I'm trying to figure out what happens next, getting my house up to snuff, getting healthy (proper food, gym, walking), and going from a people-intense day to "me and the dog" days here in the rural foothills of NC, not a neighbor in sight. My main money concern is paying for the needed maintenance we've put off (like the $3000 tree removal estimate we got today).
That's my story in a big nutshell. I've enjoyed what I've sampled here so far and look forward to reading more.
K
