Countdown initiated; blast-off on March 15

[madsquopper]

Just let my manager know that I'm retiring on March 15 (Ides of March; might wear a toga that day). Not really early, as I just turned 65, but I was enjoying work (at 3 days/week for the last few years so it was kind of like a well paid hobby), but enough's enough. Time to move on to better things.

I've never defined myself by my job and have always had lots of hobbies and interests. Now I'll have time to add a few more, including taking up golf again after a 40 year hiatus.

Financially we're in good shape. No kids, debts, or mortgage, and health care via spouse's retiree benefits. Back in our 50's spouse really wanted us to sign up for LTC so we did; premiums have gone up a bit but not excessively.

Have tracked expenses for the past five years so have a good handle on that. Spouse's half is covered (with a bit of an extra cushion) by her COLA'd pension/SS combo plus she has outside savings of about 8 years of expenses. My half is via retirement/taxable savings plus eventual SS; initial WR is 2.75% but that will drop to between 1.4 and 1.7% depending on when I take SS. I've tortured the various calculators with worst case "what if" scenarios and they all give us essentially a 100% success rate. My main worry is the usual "no more paycheck coming in" but everyone seems to go through that phase for 6 months or so.

Looking forward to no longer being on someone else's schedule.

Larry

[TDub]

The countdown begins...

Congrats!

[Octogirl]

Congratulations !

I agree......the "idea" of giving up a pay check when you've worked for decades is daunting but doable. Sounds like you are set.

[Beer-man]

Congrats you won the game! Any interest in being strategic about higher withdrawals now to avoid large WMD taxes later?

[Cassius King]

Congratulations! Enjoy golfing again.

[madsquopper]

Yes to the transferring of 401 assets to Roth, although it's a bit of a challenge due to spouse's very generous pension which puts into us into the 22% marginal rate all by itself (plus there's the medicare surcharge issue). Still working through the numbers but I'll probably do some transferring over the next 5 years.

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by madsquopper Financially we're in good shape. No kids, debts, or mortgage, and health care via spouse's retiree benefits. Back in our 50's spouse really wanted us to sign up for LTC so we did; premiums have gone up a bit but not excessively. Have tracked expenses for the past five years so have a good handle on that. Spouse's half is covered (with a bit of an extra cushion) by her COLA'd pension/SS combo plus she has outside savings of about 8 years of expenses. My half is via retirement/taxable savings plus eventual SS; initial WR is 2.75% but that will drop to between 1.4 and 1.7% depending on when I take SS. I've tortured the various calculators with worst case "what if" scenarios and they all give us essentially a 100% success rate.

Congratulations!
- LTCi covered
- expenses covered
- WR <2.75%

Looks like more than 100% success rate to me!

Well done. Enjoy!

[Beer-man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by madsquopper Yes to the transferring of 401 assets to Roth, although it's a bit of a challenge due to spouse's very generous pension which puts into us into the 22% marginal rate all by itself (plus there's the medicare surcharge issue). Still working through the numbers but I'll probably do some transferring over the next 5 years.

That’s a nice pension.

[Scuba]

Congratulations and enjoy!

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Congrats.

Quote:

Originally Posted by madsquopper My main worry is the usual "no more paycheck coming in" but everyone seems to go through that phase for 6 months or so.

I'm about 3 and a half years out and already counting down the number of paychecks (85 ). And yes, the fear of no employment income coming in every 2 weeks to replenish the bank account freaks me out (even though the missus will continue to work for another few years). For me, I'd probably try to build up the cash cushion more before pulling the plug.

[Dtail]

Congrats. Make sure you get out on the range a bit before playing. As you know the twisting in golf uses muscles different than other sports.
Time to enjoy. Don't worry about the paycheck. The SS paycheck will be coming within 5 years.

[gretah]

Congratulations !!!

[Montecfo]

Congrats! So glad to hear.

[Bamaman]

Sounds great. Just don't take on too many projects in your hobbies at once. Us ADD types often have 3-4 projects going on and don't finish one before starting another.

[madsquopper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beer-man That’s a nice pension.

You aren't kidding. She worked the full 30 years teaching public school in Fairfax County, VA.

You couldn't pay me enough to teach. Between the kids, the parents, and the administration, I'd take the gas pipe within a week.

[jollystomper]

Congratulations! I agree with the comment below - since retiring I have spent time on my hobbies, and added a couple, and doing more pleasure reading... instead of scheduling work-related tasks, I may have to start scheduling my hobby and reading projects!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman Sounds great. Just don't take on too many projects in your hobbies at once. Us ADD types often have 3-4 projects going on and don't finish one before starting another.

[Jimmie]

Wonderful news. Congrats to you and DW on starting next phase of life.