I have been lurking on this forum for years, and have learned a lot. And I've slowly been correcting some of my early investing mistakes (eg, thinking I needed to apply my AA separately to tax-advantaged and taxable accounts rather overall ) as I invest and rebalance each year. So thanks for that.
I am 60, solo, no debt and no dependents.
I started planning for ER in my late 30s (LBYM) intending to pull the trigger at 55. Well, I did that, sold my house, and jumped right into .... four (unanticipated) years of eldercare and subsequent estate execution. That all wrapped up in October 2016, and I have been a nomad-by-choice since then, by campervan in North America and by backpack elsewhere.
I've been letting the dust settle in the year since all wrapped up, and thinking rather than doing anything rash.
I suspect I will travel for all of 2018, and then lease a place to live in my tentative "forever" town for 2019 to test it, possibly buying in 2020 if it works out.
Current status:
Applying the 4% rule to my net worth, I am more than comfortable. In fact, that pre-tax number is 60% higher than what I earned in my final years at MegaCorp. [Alas, health insurance will probably take care of that windfall :-( ]
Approx 80% of my assets are invested at Vanguard with AA of 65:35 + some cash, mostly in ETFs but with some Wellington and Wesley in the IRAs and inherited IRAs.
The remaining 20% -- several $100K --- is sitting at Fidelity in cash (see #2 below).
I *think* I will be comfortable with about 2 years of cash on hand.
Now I have two issues to work through:
1. How to generate my annual cash -- and I will post my ideas and questions about that on another thread (which subforum?)
2. What to do with the significant amount of cash I got in October 2016 when I sold two inherited houses. I put it in cash (Dow at 18000), thinking I should not do any investing til I had a plan, and sat and sat and sat .... and now I am reluctant to invest it with the Dow at 23000, so I am in analysis paralysis. Anyway, I will post a thread about that elsewhere (which subforum?)
Again, thanks to everyone here for the information over the past few years, and hello!
(And to any Young Dreamers who are reading this -- dream and plan for 20 years and you can do it!)
BarbWire
I am 60, solo, no debt and no dependents.
I started planning for ER in my late 30s (LBYM) intending to pull the trigger at 55. Well, I did that, sold my house, and jumped right into .... four (unanticipated) years of eldercare and subsequent estate execution. That all wrapped up in October 2016, and I have been a nomad-by-choice since then, by campervan in North America and by backpack elsewhere.
I've been letting the dust settle in the year since all wrapped up, and thinking rather than doing anything rash.
I suspect I will travel for all of 2018, and then lease a place to live in my tentative "forever" town for 2019 to test it, possibly buying in 2020 if it works out.
Current status:
Applying the 4% rule to my net worth, I am more than comfortable. In fact, that pre-tax number is 60% higher than what I earned in my final years at MegaCorp. [Alas, health insurance will probably take care of that windfall :-( ]
Approx 80% of my assets are invested at Vanguard with AA of 65:35 + some cash, mostly in ETFs but with some Wellington and Wesley in the IRAs and inherited IRAs.
The remaining 20% -- several $100K --- is sitting at Fidelity in cash (see #2 below).
I *think* I will be comfortable with about 2 years of cash on hand.
Now I have two issues to work through:
1. How to generate my annual cash -- and I will post my ideas and questions about that on another thread (which subforum?)
2. What to do with the significant amount of cash I got in October 2016 when I sold two inherited houses. I put it in cash (Dow at 18000), thinking I should not do any investing til I had a plan, and sat and sat and sat .... and now I am reluctant to invest it with the Dow at 23000, so I am in analysis paralysis. Anyway, I will post a thread about that elsewhere (which subforum?)
Again, thanks to everyone here for the information over the past few years, and hello!
(And to any Young Dreamers who are reading this -- dream and plan for 20 years and you can do it!)
BarbWire
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