New to site and looking to retire in 2yrs.

[tdv2]

Hello....My first post here, although I been lurking for several months now.
Tons of good information and feedback here...great site.

Here is my situation.
I'm a couple months shy of 49 and my wife is 57.
We have $1.7M in taxable accounts AA 60%/25%/15% stocks/bonds/short
We also have $900K in 401k assets. same AA
Wife gets $32k/ yr pension when she retires. Me nothing.
Live in central Jersey...high property tax area...house worth $475K.
We have no debt at all. No kids.

Expenses are $75k per year conservative.
Wanting to be able to spend $110k to do some traveling.

Fire calc tell me I'm good so does Fidelity Income planner.
Biggest fear....health insurance costs. Not sure what to expect but from what I have read here I'm looking at $15k to $20K total for me and my wife. Does this sound reasonable? Neither of us have any health issues.

Tom

 

[MichaelB]

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum. At first glance your numbers look good. Does the $75k include tax? I assume you both also are eligible for social security.

The $15k-$20k for health care may be a bit light, yours will jump up quite a bit when you reach age 50. You might want to get a quote from an insurance broker, not only rates at your curren age but also adding 5 years.

 

[tdv2]

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum. At first glance your numbers look good. Does the $75k include tax? I assume you both also are eligible for social security.

The $15k-$20k for health care may be a bit light, yours will jump up quite a bit when you reach age 50. You might want to get a quote from an insurance broker, not only rates at your curren age but also adding 5 years.

Thanks Michael. I did account for tax. Both me and my wife will get SS. Wife will be close to max benefit. With me leaving the work force at 50 or 51 my benefits will be hair cut by about 20% I have been hitting the limit for the last 15 yrs or so. We will probably delay taking anything until 66.

 

[plex]

You guys are about ready now, especially if your wife can pull her pension right when she retires. I know many DB pensions start in the 55-62 range.

 

[tdv2]

You guys are about ready now, especially if your wife can pull her pension right when she retires. I know many DB pensions start in the 55-62 range.

If my wife goes out now she can start the pension immediately.

I'm thinking about leaving Jersey at some time too. That will help reduce expenses. $10k/ yr in property taxes bites.

 

[pb4uski]

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum. At first glance your numbers look good. Does the $75k include tax? I assume you both also are eligible for social security.

The $15k-$20k for health care may be a bit light, yours will jump up quite a bit when you reach age 50. You might want to get a quote from an insurance broker, not only rates at your curren age but also adding 5 years.

+1

Numbers look good and you can get a better idea on health care by doing some shopping for health insurance "in anticipation of retirement" with different carriers/agents. Also, what would COBRA coverage through your employers be?

HI was a pleasant surprise in my retirement budget and was about 1/3 less than what I expected, but I was probably too conservative in my budget.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks Michael. I did account for tax. Both me and my wife will get SS. Wife will be close to max benefit. With me leaving the work force at 50 or 51 my benefits will be hair cut by about 20% I have been hitting the limit for the last 15 yrs or so. We will probably delay taking anything until 66.

If that's the case it looks like you are financially prepared for retirement and now can focus on the more important things. Congratulations!

 

[tdv2]

+1

Numbers look good and you can get a better idea on health care by doing some shopping for health insurance "in anticipation of retirement" with different carriers/agents. Also, what would COBRA coverage through your employers be?

HI was a pleasant surprise in my retirement budget and was about 1/3 less than what I expected, but I was probably too conservative in my budget.

My wife and I can do cobra for the first 18 months. I'm thinking my budget is conservative enough that if I need to lighten up a bit during market corrections, I can definitely do it. I have always been frugal so I don't see that changing. I'm going to check with an insurance broker to see what kind of deals I may be able to get.

 

[obgyn65]

HelloTom - Based on this finding I would say you are good to go.

Fire calc tell me I'm good so does Fidelity Income planner.