The Class of 2014

[SecondCor521]

OK, I admit it, I wanted to start the thread for what I hope will be my "graduating class"

Currently my FI date stands at 1/5/2016, but I'm hoping, through a variety of things, to pull that up to the late fall of 2014. Probably won't RE at that point, but will take a more serious look at the numbers then.

Anyone else graduating in 2014?

2Cor521

 

[DesiGirl]

We are shooting for 2015 (6-9 months dry run included) but really hope for my husband to be able to make it in 2014. We should be FI by that time unless he gets 0 raises, market tanks or inflation goes crazy (still double digit in India). Actually we have a countdown in our bedroom showing 58 months to go.

 

[brewer12345]

I think we will be ESRing that year. If we are very fortunate in our investments it could be a year sooner, but 2014 seems most likely. It would take us a full year to complete our planned relocation and related changes if we started today.

 

[Lagniappe]

I hope to be in this class as well - aiming for April 2014. Fingers crossed that we don't have another global recession and that the housing market recovers somewhat between now and then. I reached FI (assuming a 4% WR) in 2010, but would like some cushion and to sell a house before declaring victory. Could be earlier if my BS meter goes to the red zone too often between now and then.

 

[christian_n]

Count me in! Planning to reach FI by the end of 2013 and then I guess I'm gonna need half a year to either go for part time or full retirement. It's probably a good idea to shift down to part time to try it out before retiring? I'm very glad I found this forum at last, such forum is not to be found here in Sweden...

 

[hakuna matata]

We are shooting for 2015. Oct for me and Dec for my wife. Frankly it is more tied to her then me. In December 2015 she will be 55 AND have 20 years at her job so she can get her pension. It is not a huge pension but we would be foolish to walk away from it for just a few more years of work. I would say we are FI now but we will just keep adding to the pot until then. That helps take care of any ups and downs in the market (we hope!).

2014 sounds better though to me--but I don't see my wife agreeing to let me retire a year before her!

 

[fh2000]

We are shooting for 2015. Oct for me and Dec for my wife. Frankly it is more tied to her then me. In December 2015 she will be 55 AND have 20 years at her job so she can get her pension. It is not a huge pension but we would be foolish to walk away from it for just a few more years of work. I would say we are FI now but we will just keep adding to the pot until then. That helps take care of any ups and downs in the market (we hope!).

2014 sounds better though to me--but I don't see my wife agreeing to let me retire a year before her!

'hakuna matata' means 'No worries', if I remember from watching Lion King so many times when my kids were little. Sounds like you are mentally ready at least.

For me, DW and I plan to walk away in 2014 because that is the year when the big bulk of health care bill items take effect, if they don't get repealed before that.

 

[Ronstar]

I started ESR'ing around 2002. I want to establish 2014 as a "not to exceed" year for full RE.

 

[hakuna matata]

'hakuna matata' means 'No worries', if I remember from watching Lion King so many times when my kids were little. Sounds like you are mentally ready at least.
.

I was on another message board when my daughter was young and I had to come up with a moniker, and she was watching that movie and thus my online moniker was born! But it does parallel my overall approach to things in life. No worries--for the rest of my life. That has a nice ring to it!

Thanks for noticing!

 

[SecondCor521]

888 net work days, 1/11/2015, or 55,273,921,971,253 platelets.

2Cor521

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I have already told my government employer that I will be leaving no later than July 5, 2014.

 

[Amethyst]

Why would you tell them so soon? Will it take them 3 years to replace you?

Amethyst

I have already told my government employer that I will be leaving no later than July 5, 2014.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Why would you tell them so soon? Will it take them 3 years to replace you?

Amethyst

I haven't put anything in writing...just let my immediate supervisors and some co-workers know what I am thinking. It certainly won't take more than 6 months to replace me. Probably someone else will bid into my position as it is relatively cushy. I don't work in a back-stabbing environment...probably why I am sticking it out past the time when I could collect my pension. People where I work don't tend to be secretive. I knew last year about a woman retiring this June and another this December.

 

[akck]

I can retire at the end of 2013, which means my first day of retirement can be 01/01/2014. I'll probably stay an additional 2-4 months as I won't be able to do much over winter (wife will still be working). It becomes a trade-off as to whether the little addition to my pension is worth the time.

 

[Retire2013]

As you can tell by my Name, I TRULY want to retire in 2014. I really really really want to. So let's hope and, yes, plan, as well, for us all to be able to retire in 2014. Here's to our Class!!! Let's stay in touch and post from time to time to see if all of us are still on track. And encourage one another toward our goal.

 

[Amethyst]

Oh! Did you count the work days up by hand, or do you have an algorithm/calculator that can be modified for just work days??

(I don't need to know how you arrived at the platelet count ).

Amethyst

888 net work days, 1/11/2015, or 55,273,921,971,253 platelets.

2Cor521

 

[photoguy]

I'm thinking 2014 might be a banner year for ERs as most of the PPACA healthcare legislation comes online then.

 

[SecondCor521]

Oh! Did you count the work days up by hand, or do you have an algorithm/calculator that can be modified for just work days??

(I don't need to know how you arrived at the platelet count ).

Amethyst

I use Excel...my retirement spreadsheet is sort of a hobby.

The answer really isn't that accurate; it's really plus or minus about 30 days, and it can swing by months at a time depending on how the market does, how my spending goes, etc. But it keeps me entertained. Basically I figure out months to retirement, convert to days, then subtract for weekends, holidays, and vacations.

The platelets are based on the fact that I give 20 times per year and give 7.2 x 10^11 platelets per donation (aka a "double"). They're not very accurate either, again, it just is for my entertainment.

2Cor521

 

[almost there]

Summer 2016, would leave too much on the table before 55.
So 2016 it is.

Am finally happy where my $$$ is invested now.
401k, small pension, (2) Roth's, Cash earning 1% (don't want to lock it up, as rates have to rise, right?)
Pretty conservative.

But am not exactly sure how I want to split it up when retired.
Will probably not be able to stomach too much risk.......

That's what's been on my mind anyway........

 

[Redbugdave]

Hey...don't forget me! 1/1/2014! There's going to be a boatload of people retiring in my shop in the next 5 years. Baby Boomers. Around 11 out of 25 people.

We all keep poking each other about who will go before who. It's a status symbol, with the shortest ones at the top. I feel sorry for the ones left behind. It will be a different place with a pack of new paranoid youngsters filling the slots, full of the ambition and haste, climbing to the top and over each other to get the carrot. No more laughter filling the hallway with good humor, (and not so good humor, too), caused by the years of working with long time cohorts. Like a comfortable pair of faded jeans. Life really does get better with age. It's time to get on with life...and do it right this time!

 

[Hawk50s]

The perfect thread for me as well. April 2014 is the plan, hope it works out.

 

[OrcasIslandBound]

I'm aiming to FIRE in late January 2014. Need about $1.6M, have a bit under $1.4M, $230K to go. Hopefully not too many bumps in stock market or bond market. 40% stocks, the rest bonds.

 

[Amethyst]

Curious, what will you do if/when you hit $1.4M? Rebalance out of stocks, into bonds and cash?

Amethyst

I'm aiming to FIRE in late January 2014. Need about $1.6M, have a bit under $1.4M, $230K to go. Hopefully not too many bumps in stock market or bond market. 40% stocks, the rest bonds.

 

[OrcasIslandBound]

Curious, what will you do if/when you hit $1.4M? Rebalance out of stocks, into bonds and cash?

Amethyst

We'll likely continue with 40% stocks and the rest bonds well into retirement. Switching to all bonds would not likely be good enough for us to take on inflation, etc. I have been occasionally moving money from stocks into bonds about 2-3 times in the past year because of the rapid growth in the stocks.

It's a really good question, though, and the thought occurs to me that, if possible, we should try to "overshoot" the target before FIRE. I'm hoping that will occur kind of naturally as jan 2014 is more than 2.5 years from now. The portfolio has a predicted rate of return of 7.5%. At that rate, we should hit about $1.65M by the fire date. Not a huge buffer to handle downturns, but I really want to get out of the megacorp, so can't do much better then that.

 

[SecondCor521]

888 net work days, 1/11/2015, or 55,273,921,971,253 platelets.

Woot! I'm officially in the class of 2014 for the moment!

791 net work days, 11/7/2014, or 49,241,889,117,043 platelets.

2Cor521