freebird5825
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I downloaded a budget/expense Excel template from Microsoft's template library and slowly but surely customized it for myself. I entered data and maintained it for 2.5 years prior to giving my 6 week notice.
I despise spreadsheets, but I knew I had to bear down and get a handle on what my current (preFIRE) and projected (postFIRE) basic expenses would be.
I knew I had 7 years to go until I could draw my own deferred FERS pension. Since 2007 when I FIREd, I have been living on a modest CSRS survivor pension and my TSP account converted into an immediate fixed annuity earning 5.25%.
I assumed several things would go wrong (replace a car, furnace died, market went south, inflation went berserk, etc) and ran some what-if scenarios. I did have to replace a car last fall, and it did not dent my budget a bit.
I can apply for my deferred pension, eligible to collect in Sept 2014 under FERS MRA+10 rules.
Then the real party begins....wooooooo
Every 2 years, I go back and update the spreadsheet data. I'd rather eat liver but it has to be done.
I despise spreadsheets, but I knew I had to bear down and get a handle on what my current (preFIRE) and projected (postFIRE) basic expenses would be.
I knew I had 7 years to go until I could draw my own deferred FERS pension. Since 2007 when I FIREd, I have been living on a modest CSRS survivor pension and my TSP account converted into an immediate fixed annuity earning 5.25%.
I assumed several things would go wrong (replace a car, furnace died, market went south, inflation went berserk, etc) and ran some what-if scenarios. I did have to replace a car last fall, and it did not dent my budget a bit.
I can apply for my deferred pension, eligible to collect in Sept 2014 under FERS MRA+10 rules.
Then the real party begins....wooooooo
Every 2 years, I go back and update the spreadsheet data. I'd rather eat liver but it has to be done.
Last edited: