26 and wanting to retire in 4 years???

[BrucePSD]

I am a Security contractor in iraq right now..and able to save 8,000 a month. I am paying off a piece of property which i owe 25,000 on. (i plan to build a house on it in the future) Does anyone have any reccomendations on what i should do with my money? My goal is to retire with an income of 1000 a month.

[MRGALT2U]

Originally Posted by BrucePSD

I am a Security contractor in iraq right now..and able to save 8,000 a month. I am paying off a piece of property which i owe 25,000 on. (i plan to build a house on it in the future) Does anyone have any reccomendations on what i should do with my money? My goal is to retire with an income of 1000 a month.

$1,000 a month? I would be very interested in learning more.

JG

[retire@40]

Originally Posted by BrucePSD

I am a Security contractor in iraq right now..and able to save 8,000 a month. I am paying off a piece of property which i owe 25,000 on. (i plan to build a house on it in the future) Does anyone have any reccomendations on what i should do with my money? My goal is to retire with an income of 1000 a month.

Just keep saving. I don't know how you plan on retiring at 30 and living on $1000 a month for the next 60 years.

You need to do a realistic budget and multiply that realistic budget by 25 or 30 to figure out what you really need to have saved before retiring.

$8000 savings a month for 9 years at 6% return will give you just over $1mil. That's probably the zone you want to be in. You'd be 35 by then. Not a bad retirement age.

You can certainly meet your goal of $1,000 per month in four years ($8,000 * 12 *4 -$25,000 = $359,000 (plus investment income). With a 4% SWR that's $1,197 per month.

The question is whether you (as a 30-year-old) can really live on $1,000 per month.

[maddythebeagle]

Have you thought about living abroad?

[riskadverse]

Originally Posted by maddythebeagle

Have you thought about living abroad?

You could probably live in IRAQ for $1K / month.

[maddythebeagle]

I have heard the poppies are quite beautiful in Afghanistan this time of year....

[wildcat]

You could probably live in IRAQ for $1K / month

Although your time may be limited

26 and wanting to retire in 4 years...and I thought I was being ambitious

I have heard the poppies are quite beautiful in Afghanistan this time of year...

Didn't read that in my travel guide

On a serious note have you thought about taking a few years off instead of going the fullt-time ER route? Would reco for people in their late 20's or early 30's that don't quite have enough or in your case might face risk of going back to work should something bad happen.

[dougdo]

If you have no housing payment and a very simple lifestyle, i think one can live on $1000/month. Although probably not in the USA with the overhead of medical insurance. Nor of course does this account for inflation which ain't high now but when you retire at 30 even 2% adds up over time....

I've retired at 37 with not much more.

Of course, the other hidden part of the equation for me is that I still work occasionally and earn a little income doing things i want to do. I just don't have to be stuck in some corporate job wishing I were somewhere else.

[maddythebeagle]

I would feel at 12k a little bit of a slave (more than being in the work world). I wouldnt want to worry about tomorrow. Your point in having a paid off house is a good one and I agree since it frees up cash flow (until you need a new furnace). I think the poster doesnt include a paid off house because he still plans to build one.

[brewer12345]

Uhoh. Its the attack of the Spamming Sh!theads! Just like a bad B-movie...


(incidentally, I actually own a t-shirt for a movie: "Invasion of the Sperm Eaters From Outer Space" Guess what I am wearing to my last day of work...)

[BrucePSD]

Thanks for all the advice i probally should have mentioned i plan on liveing in Thailand or NZ..or anywhere else for that matter that takes my fancy at the time..
what kind of investments should i start looking at. or what books should i be reading i am completly lost in all matters financial.
-Bruce

[brewer12345]

Originally Posted by brewer12345

Uhoh.* Its the attack of the Spamming Sh!theads!* Just like a bad B-movie...


(incidentally, I actually own a t-shirt for a movie: "Invasion of the Sperm Eaters From Outer Space"* Guess what I am wearing to my last day of work...)

Wow, I have no idea how this got here. Sorry if it offended anyone.

[brewer12345]

Originally Posted by BrucePSD

Thanks for all the advice i probally should have mentioned i plan on liveing in Thailand or NZ..or anywhere else for that matter that takes my fancy at the time..
what kind of investments should i start looking at. or what books should i be reading i am completly lost in all matters financial.
-Bruce

Bruce, I'd assume that your gig in Iraq isn't a long-term proposition, so it would make a lot of sense to salt away as much as you can while you are there doing what you do and making fat cash.

If you want to keep it simple on the financial side, put $25k or so in a bank account (INGDirect pays pretty good rates) and then sock away the rest in index funds. If you want something really simple that shouldn't expose you to lots of risk, you could do a lot worse than Vanguard's Wellington fund (VWELX). It is roughly 2/3 stock 1/3 bond (similar to most of the best managed pension funds out there), and it is managed at very low cost by a shop that has a long track record. I have met some of the people at Wellington, I think they are very sharp (and I can't say that about most of the mutual fund managers I have met). If you want to get fancier than that, it will require some reading. Bernstein'd "Four Pillars" book is recommended by many posters here. I am afraid I can't be of much help, as most of the books I would recommend are graduate level textbooks.

If you would be willing to indulge my curiosity:

- How did you end up working in Iraq?

- What do you do there?

- What is daily life like?

Good luck, and keep safe.

[BunsGettingFirm]

Originally Posted by TromboneAl

You can certainly meet your goal of $1,000 per month in four years ($8,000 * 12 *4 -$25,000 = $359,000 (plus investment income). With a 4% SWR that's $1,197 per month.

The question is whether you (as a 30-year-old) can really live on $1,000 per month.

That's a realistic figure, but don't forget that a lot of your savings will be tied up in 401(k) plans, Roth IRAs, and real estate. Your usable cash savings may actually be only about 60% of that. Is it doable? Yeah, if you plan on living somewhere really cheap and live a very boring life. I think at 30, you'll still be raising a family or chasing skirts. Both endeavors cost a lot more than $1000/month.