Xtreme ER ..

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Sometimes things change.

I remember reading Andrew Tobias' first book where he talked about how expenses would fall off after one had bought the furniture and the appliances the first time. I wasn't very old at the time, but I remember thinking, "This guy has never been married!" Turns out Andy is gay. (But, I was right!)

Nevertheless, once upon a time my expenses were very low, too. I had an old car and everything I owned was in a dufflebag in the trunk. Things are a lot different today. A wife and two kids and several houses later, the situation is different.

Just consider.

El Gitano

 

[audreyh1]

Cool Dood - just find a wealthy woman - then you can retire as long as she "keeps" you. 

Another hint - raising children is expensive. I suspect many couples could have retired a decade earlier if they hadn't raised children. Just a consideration.....

I retired at 39.  It's extremely rare to meet a retiree in their 40s.  40s is truly early by any standard. 

Audrey

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Heck with a wealthy woman...all you need is one with a j-o-b, so you can quit and become a gigolo like a lot of us...

 

[Coach]

... anyone doing it?

For this board that would be, taking a withdrawl rate greater that 4%.

Curious to here if anyone would be satisfied with a 80 to 90% success rate from FIRE. I think even Berntsien wrote, trying to do better than a 90% success rate may be folly. (I think it was in one of his quarterly reports).

I enjoy the disscusion here, and have learned alot. I have read all the books, .. But ... it's all abit too conservitive for me.

I'll have a good lump by the end of this year, and by golly I plan to spend some. I may even try 7% for the first few years and adjust from there. Until I find where I am comfortable with things. Call me wild and crazy if you want. I don't want to be "frozen" in the transition, ~2 years, by feeling I am failling if I go over 4%. I'm disciplined to a point, and not risk adverse.

Sometimes life is just to short to worry about if I have enough money for depends 30 years from now.

Chris, best of luck, and I do hope you update us over time as to how things are going. I would think that what you want to do, take out some extra at the beginning of retirement, would be pretty common -- to buy the RV, take that fabulous cruise, pay off the mortgage or whatever. It sounds like you're flexible enough to adjust to what happens as time goes by, which I believe is the most important thing.

Coach

 

[Lusitan]

To friends and relatives - I'm even more conservative tossing in the Norwegian widow for defense as well as Bogle/De Gaul.

Hi Mick - just a quick question - what is this "Norwegian Widow" thing? I seem to remember coming across it in a few posts (can't remember if they're all your posts or not) and never knew what the heck it meant. I would google it, but I'm at work and afraid that I'd pull up some porn sites or something ... actually, even at home I'd be afraid of what I might find on a site dedicated to Norwegian widows

Just thought I'd ask. The dryer sheets I get. Maybe the Norwegian Widow is the next level of enlightenment that one must reach on the forum ...

 

[unclemick]

Nowegian widow:

Taken narrowly - own dividend paying stocks.

Taken broadly - like me, keep track of the current yield of your ER portfolio - this is the bottom line 'hard times' or adverse market periods. The idea is not to be forced to sell what you may not want to part with in down markets.

Dividend strategies, dividend and income funds, balance index funds, etc roughly fall into this catagory.

Old school - in days of yore - many funds offered the option of taking div/interest and reinvesting cap gains.

MPT, slice and dice is popular now.

BTY - they are not mutually exclusive depending on the portfolio construction.

The Norwegian widow waited by the mailbox for her deceased husbands stock dividend checks. In 1948 - Mrs Wright(Andersen) in my neighborhood.

heh heh heh

 

[Lusitan]

The Norwegian widow waited by the mailbox for her deceased husbands stock dividend checks. In 1948 - Mrs Wright(Andersen) in my neighborhood.

heh heh heh

Thanks for the explanation, Mick ... maybe the Norwegian Widow will catch on and years from now people will be tossing around the term inspired by little Mrs. Wright all those years ago

 

[unclemick]

Years later - ?1960's there was an article in the Seattle or Portland paper(?which?) that used the term to describe a dividend strategy.

 

[kat]

The Norwegian widow waited by the mailbox for her deceased husbands stock dividend checks. In 1948 - Mrs Wright(Andersen) in my neighborhood.

heh heh heh

Uncle Mick, I know an 80 year old never married mostly Irish woman, Miss Sheehan, who does the same thing in 2006. She worked for the old monopoly Bell in the beginning, Verizon is the name on some of the things.... Still edgy the day before the checks come, to the bank pronto after.... None of my business but it's quite a sight to behold. I agree with you. It's VERY impressionable.

But the impression it's making is I'm thinking I don't ever want to be so caught up in waiting. Just going to do that electronic thing when the need is there, and go hike in the mountains. Life is good.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

I remember reading Andrew Tobias' first book where he talked about how expenses would fall off after one had bought the furniture and the appliances the first time.  I wasn't very old at the time, but I remember thinking, "This guy has never been married!"  Turns out Andy is gay.  (But, I was right!)

reason #347 why it's good to be gay: you can have kids & a minivan and pay their way thru college, or you can have that 2-seater, 300-hp convertible you've wanted since you were kid. zoom zoom.

 

[Lusitan]

Years later - ?1960's there was an article in the Seattle or Portland paper(?which?) that used the term to describe a dividend strategy.

Ah OK ... I thought it was your own invention. Guess I just missed that one.

 

[astromeria]

My variation of the Norwegian widow...the Italian widow?

- For basic expenses, $3000+/month in dividends and interest. Like clockwork (maybe that's the Swiss widower-).
- For those nice-to-haves, tap the cap gains spigot as needed, and as the market (or at least my port) turns in a given year.
- Open a nice chianti 

 

[rmark]

I once read somewhere that, as a rule of thumb, having children doubled your cost of living.

 

[old woman]

... anyone doing it?

For this board that would be, taking a withdrawl rate greater that 4%.

Curious to here if anyone would be satisfied with a 80 to 90% success rate from FIRE. I think even Berntsien wrote, trying to do better than a 90% success rate may be folly. (I think it was in one of his quarterly reports).

I might try it but I have back up plans. If I run out it will be when I am very old and I will get a reverse mortgage. If I see it coming I will cut back on spending or find other income. I won't need more than 4% so it will be optional to take more. Or I could sell my home and buy a cheaper one. Inflation is going make prices higher in your later years so you can't spend it all, you need to let it grow. My gas bill for one motnh is more than I earned in two week 40 years ago. What do you think it will cost for heat in 40 more years? If you retire young you may have more than 40 years. My grandmother retired at 57 and is now 98, she was still saving for her old age in her 70's and 80's. just before she was 97 she broke her leg and ended up in a hospital then nursing home now in assisted living for a year. She is spending money now to live in a nice assisted living home. They might not have accepted her if she didn't have money, but will keep her if she runs out and goes on medicaid. Except for the leg she is in good health but she lost weight living alone and didn't get strong enough to walk after a few weeks of broken leg. Now she is gaining weight so might get stronger but her mind is week and she doesn't want to be alone so will stay in assisted living.
I don't want to be broke at her age when you can't land a job to make end meet. She was offered a job at 89 as a waitress by her old boss but he was probably kidding.

 

[MJ]

Sometimes life is just to short to worry about if I have enough money for depends 30 years from now.

Sometimes life can be fairly long. I'm taking my Dad out tomorrow for his 95th birthday.

 

[bearkeley]

Go dad!

I hope he didn't try to get by on 10% withdrawl

 

[Nords]

Sometimes life can be fairly long. I'm taking my Dad out tomorrow for his 95th birthday.

Maybe I've been hearing too much about the Sopranos, but I hope you mean "taking Dad out" as in "going to a nice restaurant"!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

They're all a bunch of little girls this season. Even Pauley couldnt get upset until he found out his mommy wasnt really his mommy...

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I object to the Soprannos as Ron Reagan's father objected to "Birth of a Nation".

Gentlemen, I refuse to respect even the concept of organized crime.

Sometimes I think the country has gone mad. Then I remember, it is only Hollywood.

No, I was right the first time. The country HAS gone mad.

By the way, my research shows that Uruguay looks pretty good.

Today is my Fascist day. [Every other day I am a Fascist. Every even day, I am a Communist. [It is rough on the wife, but I live out a lot. ] However, tomorrow I will have the same opinion on this subject.

Ed The Gypsy
Wooden shoes and wooden head

 

[Chris24]

At least his thread hasn't been hijacked by Kitty litter and cat food .. or should that be the other way around?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

The sopranos can eat kitty litter. Bunch of babies.

 

[MJ]

Maybe I've been hearing too much about the Sopranos, but I hope you mean "taking Dad out" as in "going to a nice restaurant"!

If I was an only child and he had 1mil hidden in the feed storage bin, I would be tempted but alas, I am not and he does not so, I guess i'll be feeding him instead of him feeding me for the last time.

Go Dad.

 

[sgeeeee]

. . .But the impression it's making is I'm thinking I don't ever want to be so caught up in waiting.  Just going to do that electronic thing when the need is there, and go hike in the mountains.  Life is good.

Yes. I might see you there, kate.