Hi everyone! I just discovered this site and am new to the community.
I have recently begun considering early retirement because I am quite frankly frustrated with my job and no longer enjoy working where I am. I have been working at a MegaCorp as an engineer for the last 21 years.
I know early retirement is not really in my near future because I've got kids/college to pay for. But it would be nice to have a realistic early retirement plan to start looking forward to.
Personal info:
Wife and three kids (20, 17, 13). My goal with my kids is to 100% fund their education expenses. My 20 year old is a Jr at a school with an annual tuition/board expense of roughly $35K. Private high school for my 17 and in 2014 for my 13 year old that is $14K per year.
Salary:Me(49) $170K, Wife (46) $98K.
Savings:
My 401K: $638K
Wife 401K: $439K
Roth IRAs total: $32K
Stock:$364K
Municipal Bond Fund: $208K
Money Market: $68K
Debt:
Mortgage: $66K @ 4.5% paying down with additional $600 per month towards principle
Net Worth: $2.1M
Potential Retirement Benefits: My employer froze the companies pension. I'm not entirely sure how to best find out what the benefit payout would be at different retirement ages. I believe if I retired at 65 the fixed benefit is something like $30K per year. Not sure about my wife whose company did the exact same thing and froze their pension plan.
Annual Expenses: approx $110K per year. When the kids are out of the house, I know that my wife and I could reduce this.
Caveat: My wife is a cancer survivor currently in remission. She's very frugal with one exception - she absolutely loves to travel.
My one personal financial goal is to ensure that my kids start their career with zero debt. My oldest is likely to go on to graduate school, middle son is less likely to attend a 4 year school but we'll see. The youngest wants to be an engineer.
When I started my career I always assumed I'd work till 65. My Dad worked till he was 70, retired, and he and my mom now live comfortably, frugally and very contentedly. They modeled a frugal, saving oriented financial lifestyle that I have tried to emulate.
So.. early retirement. With college expenses ahead for 9 more years (till i'm 58), it seems that the earliest I should think of retirement is then. Seems a very long way off.
Any feedback?
Thanks
I have recently begun considering early retirement because I am quite frankly frustrated with my job and no longer enjoy working where I am. I have been working at a MegaCorp as an engineer for the last 21 years.
I know early retirement is not really in my near future because I've got kids/college to pay for. But it would be nice to have a realistic early retirement plan to start looking forward to.
Personal info:
Wife and three kids (20, 17, 13). My goal with my kids is to 100% fund their education expenses. My 20 year old is a Jr at a school with an annual tuition/board expense of roughly $35K. Private high school for my 17 and in 2014 for my 13 year old that is $14K per year.
Salary:Me(49) $170K, Wife (46) $98K.
Savings:
My 401K: $638K
Wife 401K: $439K
Roth IRAs total: $32K
Stock:$364K
Municipal Bond Fund: $208K
Money Market: $68K
Debt:
Mortgage: $66K @ 4.5% paying down with additional $600 per month towards principle
Net Worth: $2.1M
Potential Retirement Benefits: My employer froze the companies pension. I'm not entirely sure how to best find out what the benefit payout would be at different retirement ages. I believe if I retired at 65 the fixed benefit is something like $30K per year. Not sure about my wife whose company did the exact same thing and froze their pension plan.
Annual Expenses: approx $110K per year. When the kids are out of the house, I know that my wife and I could reduce this.
Caveat: My wife is a cancer survivor currently in remission. She's very frugal with one exception - she absolutely loves to travel.
My one personal financial goal is to ensure that my kids start their career with zero debt. My oldest is likely to go on to graduate school, middle son is less likely to attend a 4 year school but we'll see. The youngest wants to be an engineer.
When I started my career I always assumed I'd work till 65. My Dad worked till he was 70, retired, and he and my mom now live comfortably, frugally and very contentedly. They modeled a frugal, saving oriented financial lifestyle that I have tried to emulate.
So.. early retirement. With college expenses ahead for 9 more years (till i'm 58), it seems that the earliest I should think of retirement is then. Seems a very long way off.
Any feedback?
Thanks
Last edited: