What do you think?

[ARFF]

I'm 54 years old and want to retire in 2 years or less. I'm a former military veteran that is receiving a pension of about $2500.00 a month. I have been employed for the last 12 years in a govt job and will be able to collect another pension of approx $2000.00 a month in two years. I have another 5 years left on my mortgage at a payment of $2000.00 a month. I have approx $105,000 in a 457 plan and contribute the max I'm allowed for my age. I have another $80,000 or so in various investments and savings accounts. No other debts except mortgage at this time. Can I pull off the early retirement ? Flame away.

 

[aaronc879]

With $4500/mo in pension income I see no reason why you can't FIRE. However, you say nothing about your expenses. One person may be able to retire on less than $2000/mo while another may not be able to retire on $10,000/mo. You need to figure out what your expenses are going to be in retirement to determine if you can afford it.

 

[jebmke]

I'm 54 years old and want to retire in 2 years or less. I'm a former military veteran that is receiving a pension of about $2500.00 a month. I have been employed for the last 12 years in a govt job and will be able to collect another pension of approx $2000.00 a month in two years. I have another 5 years left on my mortgage at a payment of $2000.00 a month. I have approx $105,000 in a 457 plan and contribute the max I'm allowed for my age. I have another $80,000 or so in various investments and savings accounts. No other debts except mortgage at this time. Can I pull off the early retirement ? Flame away.

Without knowing what your likely expenses will be in retirement, nobody can answer this question.

 

[bbbamI]

Run your numbers through FIRECalc...it's a great tool for retirement.

 

[ARFF]

Normal month to month expenses such as, water, elec, cable etc. I'm thinking once my mortgage is paid off, I will invest most of that money into something to generate additional income. Any suggestions?

 

[Purron]

How about health care/insurance? That is the biggest stumbling block to many who want to retire early. If that's squared away, your chances of a successful retirement will be much better.

By the way, thanks for your service to our country

 

[BigNick]

Normal month to month expenses such as, water, elec, cable etc.

It would be really helpful to know your current monthly income and outgoings - the difference being, hopefully, what you sock away each month.

I'm thinking once my mortgage is paid off, I will invest most of that money into something to generate additional income.

You said that your mortgage is $2K/mo and has 5 years to run, and you want to retire in 2 years. At that time you will probably still owe close to $70K on the mortgage. You can either spend the first 3 years of your retirement on $2,500/mo instead of $4,500/mo while you pay it off, or you can pay off the mortgage which will leave "not much" of your $80K miscellaneous savings.

Come to think of it, it would also be useful to know the market value of your home as well, if only to have an idea of what it will cost in upkeep.

 

[LOL!]

Normal month to month expenses such as, water, elec, cable etc. I'm thinking once my mortgage is paid off, I will invest most of that money into something to generate additional income. Any suggestions?

Sell your house. A mortgage payment of $2000 a month is rather excessive given the assets and pensions you listed. Even if paid off, it suggests that the house will have carrying expenses above your income level.

 

[WilliamG]

Are the pensions COLA'd?

 

[traineeinvestor]

As others have pointed out, more information would be needed to provide a meaningful answer:

1. what are your expenses each month
2. will your expenses changes after retirement
3. do you have any dependants
4. are either or both of your pensions COLA
5. you don't mention SS or medical coverage

As has been suggested, running your numbers through FIRECalc is a good start.

Another slightly simplistic way of looking at it is to aske whether you can meet your non-mortgage expenses on $2,500 a month? If so you are probably in good shape because you will get a boost in disposable cash flow when the mortgage falls away three years after you retire.

If you haven't already done so, keeping accurate record of all your expenses each month for at least a year would test how realistic your retirement budget it.

 

[donheff]

I am guessing the gov job is Federal so it and the military pension are both COLAd. You have enough cash to pay off the mortgage. Of course you can retire. By why even ask, you know the answer - you just need to keep your expenses (including taxes, health insurance, and emergency stash) under $54,000/year.