Class of 2016

[almost there]

Anyone else?

 

[DoraM]

what does that mean...2016 will be your retirement year?

some projections show us reaching critical mass and retiring that year, but a lot will depend on market returns for our current portfolio. If so then we will join you!

 

[arebelspy]

I'm debating being class of 2015 and 2017, will depend on how some things go over the next few years, so 2016 would be my average ER class.

 

[BTravlin]

2017 here unless my wife gets an early buyout offer.

 

[eyeonFI]

2016 is my goal. I think I have a reasonable chance of making it, but I'll have to see how things go with the portfolio and health insurance.

What are people doing now to prepare to ER ~5 years out? I've been thinking about this lately, and a few items on my to-do list are:

1. Track my expenses and get a better handle on them. I think I have a pretty good idea of how much I spend and where my $$ is going, but will want to be *sure* before making an ER decision.
2. Educate myself on withdrawal strategies/issues. Something I have not thought much about during accumulation.
3. Revisit my asset allocation and think about if/how I should adjust it as I near ER.
4. Figure out health insurance options (but I figure this is not worth doing til I'm closer since things could change a lot the next few years).

What should I add to my to-do list?

Cheers
-eyeonfi

 

[DblDoc]

2016 is my goal. I think I have a reasonable chance of making it, but I'll have to see how things go with the portfolio and health insurance.

What are people doing now to prepare to ER ~5 years out? I've been thinking about this lately, and a few items on my to-do list are:

1. Track my expenses and get a better handle on them. I think I have a pretty good idea of how much I spend and where my $$ is going, but will want to be *sure* before making an ER decision.
2. Educate myself on withdrawal strategies/issues. Something I have not thought much about during accumulation.
3. Revisit my asset allocation and think about if/how I should adjust it as I near ER.
4. Figure out health insurance options (but I figure this is not worth doing til I'm closer since things could change a lot the next few years).

What should I add to my to-do list?

Cheers
-eyeonfi

5. Figure out what you will do all day.

Just kidding. List looks good. Any big ticket items you could anticipate needing to deal with before/soon after retirement?

DD

 

[LightningDawg]

2015 or 2016

I'm hoping for 2015, but it may end up being 2016!
Let's hope that the market has some good years until then....

 

[Lisa99]

Sept 1 2016 is the plan for us. I'll be 55 DH 51. Holding out for Corp subsidized healthcare. It could disappear at any time but if it still exists we'll be outa here. Days in retirement will be filled to overflowing.

 

[eyeonFI]

@DD: thanks - no problem on #5 for me: my kids will be 6 and 8 in 2016 . i often unwind after a day of w*rk by mentally walking through the gloriously boring details of my post-ER day: up at 6, walk them to school at 7:15...

only planned big purchase between now and then is a new(er) car. but that is already in the spreadsheet. just did a lot of house stuff (new roof, siding, etc) so hopefully no huge surprises await.

 

[HillCountry]

2016 sounds a nice goal. Wish I can make it in 5 years!

 

[FUEGO]

2016 is my goal. I think I have a reasonable chance of making it, but I'll have to see how things go with the portfolio and health insurance.

What are people doing now to prepare to ER ~5 years out? I've been thinking about this lately, and a few items on my to-do list are:

1. Track my expenses and get a better handle on them. I think I have a pretty good idea of how much I spend and where my $$ is going, but will want to be *sure* before making an ER decision.
2. Educate myself on withdrawal strategies/issues. Something I have not thought much about during accumulation.
3. Revisit my asset allocation and think about if/how I should adjust it as I near ER.
4. Figure out health insurance options (but I figure this is not worth doing til I'm closer since things could change a lot the next few years).

What should I add to my to-do list?

That is a good list and basically what I am focusing on too as a tentative member of the Class of 2016.

1. I started tracking expenses a year ago and found that I was spending a little less than I thought.

2. I have thought about withdrawal strategies and tax efficiency and withdrawal rates, but don't have any concrete plans yet. This is an area I need to put some thought into in the next few years.

3. Asset Allocation - I'm still almost completely in stocks with hardly any bonds, and that is something that will have to change in the next few years. But I don't have a plan yet.

4. Health insurance - we will qualify for cheap/free health insurance on Jan 1 2014 if Obamacare remains in force. Otherwise this is a big unknown.

Some other things: I will have to forecast future spending needs that are different than now - the kids will be older in 5 years (age 9 and 11) and there could be another child or two in the picture in 5 years. Also have to forecast some amortization of capital costs (for car and house).

And the big question - "what will we do all day?". I think I have that answered for the most part, but DW will struggle. Kids will keep her busy (in a good way) the first decade or two I'm sure.

 

[IBWino]

We're planning to FIRE in 2016 at age 55, but could go as soon as 2014, depending on how/if Obamacare is implemented. Health care is really the only thing that is preventing us from pulling the plug now. My wife becomes eligible for a modest pension of approximately $14K/year in 2016, which we hope will be adequate to fund our health care expenses.

 

[Estes80]

Brand new to this forum and trying to make 2016 work for me. I have a reasonable chance as long as the overall market does not go crazy and I can find a solution to healthcare at that time.

 

[ikubak]

I am going to add myself to the class of 2016. Am FI now but need to work until Sept 2015 for vesting in a defined benefit plan, so I'll put up with 3 1/2 more years. And since I get a lot of holiday time in November and December, my planned exit date is January 2016. The hard part is to keep working when I know I don't have to.

 

[Dog]

DH and I are planning to exit in May 2016 (we will both be 58). Some days it seems like it will be here before we know it and other days it seems like an eternity. I won't miss the Sunday night angst!

 

[ikubak]

On days like today, I'm not sure I'll make it to 2016....

 

[Gerbil Wheel]

Pencil me in.

 

[ziggy29]

I've been thinking a lot of things through, assessing our finances, my job situation (and my ability to tolerate it), and the progression of DW's new career... and for now, pencil me in on this class. I may "skip a grade" to 2015, but for now, this is where I think I'll be. It's probably not going to permanent full-time retirement. But by that time I think I'll be able to recharge, consider what I want to do for the rest of my w*rking life, figure out how to do it on my terms (even if not highly lucrative) and take it from there. We should be on adequate financial footing by then, DW's new career being the most critical variable.

This would make me about 50 at the time I pulled the plug on TPS reports and the Megacorp madness. As I said I don't think it will be full retirement for good but it will be a glorious down payment.

 

[Dog]

Just checking in with the class of 2016. DH and I are still on track unless there is a market crash or some other economic disaster. We still need to figure out a withdrawl strategy. We won't have any debts unless we hold onto our prime residence (our secondary residence will be our retirement home). Anyway, we don't want to wish our life away, but are getting more and more psyched for May 2016 (we will be 58)!

 

[Gerbil Wheel]

Keep me penciled in. My portfolio has risen nicely in the secular bull, however another major drop prior to 2016 might cause problems.

Like ziggy, not full time retirement for me but a nice down payment.

 

[Huston55]

@DD: thanks - no problem on #5 for me: my kids will be 6 and 8 in 2016 . i often unwind after a day of w*rk by mentally walking through the gloriously boring details of my post-ER day: up at 6, walk them to school at 7:15...

only planned big purchase between now and then is a new(er) car. but that is already in the spreadsheet. just did a lot of house stuff (new roof, siding, etc) so hopefully no huge surprises await.

I do this mental exercise too; it's wonderful to do and if done honestly, should help me have an enjoyable transition into retirement.

I'd suggest Bob Clyatt's book "Work Less, Live More" to help with this. There are also threads on this forum dedicated to the non-financial aspects of retirement.

 

[FUEGO]

Checking in to the class of 2016 -

We are getting closer but don't have a fixed ER date. Just figured 2016 would be the best guess as to when we might.

Our portfolio is to the point where a 3% withdrawal rate would pay for our current spending. And the dividend yield on our investments is getting close to 3%, so I feel 3% is the lowest withdrawal rate we would use, maybe even increase it some.

At this point we are building up additional investments to:
1. Fund the fun stuff, such as travel and entertainment
2. Provide a cushion for extra safety - we are still in our early 30's and will likely have a long ER with kids the first couple decades
3. Pay off the mortgage - $60k remaining and it is amortized to be paid off in 2016 if we don't kill it sooner

The recent Obamacare ruling was a very positive event for our ER plans. Definitely opens up more concrete possibilities in 17.5 more months such as reducing working hours, contracting, one spouse ERing before the other etc.

Every time I take a few days off work and have free time to reflect on life, catch up on leisure activities and relax, I am reminded of why I spend the time and effort to plan for ER.

Life is good!

 

[Andre1969]

Right now, my goal is 2017, but depending on how my portfolio does, I won't thumb my nose at 2016.

 

[panhead]

I was planning on 2015 (I'll be 45), but depending on obamacare, it could come in 2014. Then again, I may stay on till 2016 just to add that extra padding. I'm now in a similar circumstance to Fuego, that I have identified an ER budget that would be about a 3% withdrawal of my overall portfolio and would cover everything I need (including deprecation expenses) but really not enough for extended travel, which I want. Also, I would need to sell about 100k of "stuff" that I have aquired and don't really need, but that could be done in ER.

So, I guesss the answer is, "Maybe!"

-Pan

 

[FUEGO]

I wanted to bump the thread. The outcome of the elections makes me feel much more certain about the fate of Obamacare and the availability of guaranteed issue health insurance at some reasonably subsidized price. If we do end up ER'ing in 2016, we will be able to look back on a couple years of how the system works so we know what to expect if we jump on it.

Or DW could call it quits between 2014 and 2016 and then all of the family get on heavily subsidized health insurance (absent obamacare, family coverage would cost us $8000 per year for crappy coverage through my government employer).

The one thing that I'm kind of puzzling over right now is how to change the portfolio to something more conservative. I'm at 100% stocks right now and ok with the volatility, but would like to move into bonds at least 10-20% before I ER. I just can't bear to pull the plug on equities in my portfolio yielding about 3% on average and trade them for a bond fund that yields less than that.

In the mean time I am enjoying the current market correction. If the market stays flat to down for a few more years that will be great, as I can deploy another few hundred thousand at lower prices. Last month I switched to paying down the mortgage some instead of investing excess cash into the stock market. This month I'll be back to dumping all I can into the market.