Does this look ok?

[55nout]

Hello fellow ERS!Plan on retiring end of July this year at age 55 after 36 years as a Power Plant Operator.Total expenses including Health ins,utilities,food,car ins,House taxes and ins,etc is 1200 a month.Monthly income will be 3,400$ a month with pension and a couple of land contracts im collecting on for the next 8 and 10 years.350K in a 401k with SWR of 4% is also in play.Will reevaluate my position at age 62 whether to collect SS then or wait.How am I doing fellow ERS! Can I safely retire! I have had enough of the crap! lol

 

[pb4uski]

IF your expenses are really only $1,200/month then you are fine but I'm skeptical that you have a good handle on your expenses.

What about when your car needs to be replaced? A roof? Appliances? etc.

 

[seraphim]

"Hello fellow ERS!Plan on retiring end of July this year at age 55 after 36 years as a Power Plant Operator.Total expenses including Health ins,utilities,food,car ins,House taxes and ins,etc is 1200 a month.Monthly income will be 3,400$ a month with pension and a couple of land contracts im collecting on for the next 8 and 10 years.350K in a 401k with SWR of 4% is also in play.Will reevaluate my position at age 62 whether to collect SS then or wait.How am I doing fellow ERS! Can I safely retire! I have had enough of the crap! lol"

Not enough info for me to offer a good opinion, but: (lol)

1. Is your pension COLA'd, or will it worth a lot less in 20 years?
2. Will SSI be enough to replace the loss of income from the land contracts in 8/10 years? (I'm assuming the $3400 is post tax and doesn't include SS)
3. You might outlive your 401k balance at 4%. - I'm also assuming that 4% is not included in the$3400
4. Have you a family history of health problems which may eat into or wipe out your 401k?

Offhand, I'd say 'yes' if my assumptions are correct, and you can live frugally. DW and I have a post tax income of about $3800 a month which we can survive on (that's also after health insurance). We have a few more bills at the moment, most will disappear this summer (two car payments). Also have a $650 truck payment (3 years left) because of our RV and penchant for travel. We could do quite well on just those (COLAd) pensions. We are not eligible for SS. Survival, for us, is not living. We also WD about $20k a year for fun stuff. That still permits our investments to grow, albeit at a reduced rate. I mention our situation because it is similar to yours. In a travel month, we tend to spend about $5200 a month. In a frugal (for us) month, we live close to our pension amount.

So I doubt your total expenses will only be $1200, when all's said and done, but you can assuredly live on $3400 (net income). Even hold off withdrawing from investments, depending on your lifestyle. But what about long term health care, cable, phone, internet, gasoline (which went up for us after retirement), entertainment, travel, etc? Are you prepared for cost of living increase? How about a three year recession? Are you going to do all those fun things you planned on, which cost $$$ lol.

Maybe consider a lower WD rate, making it flexible and only withdrawing when needed.

Just my thoughts. Try running your [conservative] numbers through firecalc.

 

[55nout]

Pension is not cola adjusted land contracts total 1000 a month and SS at age 62 is 1700 a month.I dont live extravagantly,2 divorces taught me how lol and am happy with the lifestyle im living. 401k is currently 175k cash and 175k target date trowe price retirement fund. Worked tail off last 5 years to get out of debt completely! kids done with college.my hobbies are fishing hunting and camping all relatively inexpensive.still could work a few more years just want out! part time work is always an option. home taxes and ins 200 a month.health care150,utilities inc,phone and water, cable 300,car ins 75,scripts 50,food gas and entertainment 500.

 

[seraphim]

With that information:

Were it me in that situation, I would attempt to live for the first ten years off pension and the land contracts. I would assume cost of living would increase about 30% by that time ( or round to 50 because I'm conservative) and assume my expenses by then would be about $1800 a month. If you are frugal, it sounds very doable to me. When the second land contract runs out begin supplementing monthly income with SS, but only when necessary. Leave the plan flexible.

With at least a ten year horizon, I might consider a more aggressive investment allocation (now) with that cash. Assume at some point you'll need at least that much for medical in your final years. I'm not familiar with the target date funds myself, but that money could supplement your income further down the road if necessary while the other $175k is building worth for future emergencies. Could be you'd never need it. But the again...

Let's not forget that if you're really not initially (first ten years) spending all that $3400 a month, you're saving it for small emergencies: house repairs, new car, etc. only you know if you're that disciplined (no offense intended). That could potentially add up to several hundred thousand (2000 x 12 x 10 years). Reinvest what you don't use on a monthly basis.

Of course, nothing ever goes to plan, and that's just me. Hopefully, anyone seeing flaws will jump in and point them out.

 

[55nout]

great info thanks!

 

[Fermion]

Get out now. You only get to live in your 50s once.

 

[SJ1_]

Hello fellow ERS!Plan on retiring end of July this year at age 55 after 36 years as a Power Plant Operator.Total expenses including Health ins,utilities,food,car ins,House taxes and ins,etc is 1200 a month.Monthly income will be 3,400$ a month with pension and a couple of land contracts im collecting on for the next 8 and 10 years.350K in a 401k with SWR of 4% is also in play.Will reevaluate my position at age 62 whether to collect SS then or wait.How am I doing fellow ERS! Can I safely retire! I have had enough of the crap! lol

I know a guy that retired(lost his job) 2 yrs ago that has the exact same expenses and income. He is doing great. He had nothing in the bank but his pension and ssn were $2200 over his expenses.
So with your future ssn, 401k and expense/income ratio you should be good to go

 

[55nout]

Sound advice Fermion.Seen to many comrades not make it to or just barely after retirement then get sick or worse.Dont want to be in that crowd.

 

[Dash man]

Pension is not cola adjusted land contracts total 1000 a month and SS at age 62 is 1700 a month.I dont live extravagantly,2 divorces taught me how lol and am happy with the lifestyle im living. 401k is currently 175k cash and 175k target date trowe price retirement fund. Worked tail off last 5 years to get out of debt completely! kids done with college.my hobbies are fishing hunting and camping all relatively inexpensive.still could work a few more years just want out! part time work is always an option. home taxes and ins 200 a month.health care150,utilities inc,phone and water, cable 300,car ins 75,scripts 50,food gas and entertainment 500.

I couldn't help but notice your cable bill was $300. My cable bill is $214 including taxes and I've got everything they offer. You can probably negotiate that down if there is any competition at all in the area. All it takes is a phone call and a willingness to say you'll stay with them for two years and they may cut your bill during that period, then when they raise it back two years later just call them back. I've been doing that for years. A $100 is worth a call.

 

[bolt]

FWIW,..Theres free HD OTA TV plus Wifi TV apps now available thought many devices, AppleTVbox, RokuBox, SmartTV's. Its the future way things seem to be moving with TV, and its costs are way under your reoccurring cable costs. Good Luck!

 

[Major Tom]

Yes, that's a pretty hefty cable bill. As others have said, I'd think there are cheaper ways to get your viewing needs satisfied - and that could make a significant difference to your monthly expenses, as they are so low. On the other hand, it looks like you can afford it, so your call.

FYI, I've been flitting between the free introductory periods of various streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, as well as using SO's account when she comes over for some joint viewing. My free intro periods will be coming to an end very soon, so I may well begin paying (shock horror!) for Netflix. At $7.99/month it's enough viewing to keep me happy. With a service like this, you have to be satisfied with what they've got, but they do have a pretty broad offering.

I'm spending a little more than you - withdrawing $1300/month from my portfolio for living expenses, plus I bring in an average of $150/month from various minor part-time gigs on the side for a total of ~$1450/month. The decision to spend an extra $7.99/month on a subscription is one I'm going to have to think hard about, but it may be worth it to this Scroogey fellow

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We have Ooma for the phone (I think it is $36 a year) and 46 cable channels (one connection) / 50 mpbs Internet for $45 a month. I bought a cable modem from Amazon to save $8 a month on the modem rental. We have a dedicated lap top hooked up to the TV with an HDMI cable using a wireless keyboard so we can watch anything on the web or free public library courses or video downloads on the big screen TV.

But other than that with expenses of $1200 a month 55nout you should really be giving the rest of us tips on how to live so frugally.

 

[55nout]

sorry for the confusion, direct tv im paying 61.00, internet is 20.00 electric about 70.00 avg.Nat gas highest this winter 98.00, summer about 25.00. cell phone 40.00. water bill is 50.00 ish a month.All together about 300.00 a month. I live in a paid for 1200 sq.ft. 3 bdr. 1 bath home,very well insulated.I also have a live in DGF who contributes to the household as well.God bless her! I appreciate all the info and responses from this great community!