Recent content by Rdub

I retired at 47 and am now 53. I used to feel kinda guilty saying I am retired, now I don't really care. Just say it matter of fact. :)

If the company is public, see about ESPP, usually an easy 15% return. With the 401k, see if you can add after tax money above your tax deferred contributions. When I was working I could put in $18.5k for pre-tax and up to another ~$35k in post tax. You can then take the post tax money and do...

L Carlisle- I retired 3 years ago at 47. What works for some, may not work for others. I developed my personal plan over many years and came up with a personal Top 10 for a successful Plan: 1) Spend less than you make (LBYM). Document your actual spend for several years to help forecast spend...

I keep a little journal on market thoughts, retirement thoughts, healthcare, etc in my retirement spreadsheet. If I learned anything is that my target 60/40 portfolio (+/- 5pts) is pretty conservative related to my appetite for risk. It was at ~66/34 at the end of Feb, but I kept thinking...

I retired 3 years ago and am now 50. Taxes are my largest retirement expense item: Fed (qtrly), state (annual in 2 states), property tax (2x per year x 4 properties in 2 states), rental related taxes (monthly). It was odd estimating and paying qtrly Fed taxes the first year. I slightly...

I booked our annual summer trip to Maui back in March and scheduled it for June 28-July 16. The June flight was cancelled and we were able to re-book for July 1. Take a look at the Beat of Hawaii website, they are a pretty good source. We own a few condos over there and have been in close...

I have the same thing going on with my AC joint. I had one cortisone injection about 6 months ago. It was extremely painful as the doc was trying to make room inside the joint with the sharp end of the needle. I have passed and had surgery for kidney stones, but this one little shot nearly...

This was advice I got from Schwab years ago for a tax efficient withdrawal strategy, when retiring early. I think it is still a good guide for me and it is what I use to generate cash for my FIRE spend. Again, everyone's situation is different and the guide may not work well for everyone, but...

I gave notice of my retirement in Jan'17 and retired in Jun'17. My company appreciated the lead time and I was able to help interview candidates for my job. This also allowed me to enjoy another RSU vesting, 2 qtrly bonuses bonuses, maxed my 401k (pre/post) and took the month of May off using...

I am 50 and FIREd. I expect to receive some benefits (since I paid into the program) but I don't have any SS baked into my plans.

Great job on building your NW! I retired at 47 (now 50) with 2 kids (now 10/13). I tracked my expenses in ~40 categories for many years and still do. It helps me project out my expenses. I use a 3% inflation rate on most items and ~5% for the kids private schools (k-12 and college) and...

I held off on any Cap Gains/rebalancing in 2019 and then rolled a chunk of my 401k in December to fill up the 24% tax bracket. I am at the top of my asset allocation threshold right now, so I will hold off till later in the year to figure out how much I will need to rebalance and/or roll over...

I agree. I retired at 47 and am 50 now. My target aa is 60/40 with +/-5pts. My wr is ~1.8%. Conservative? Probably, but it works for me. Another thing to keep in mind is your actual spend. If most of your wr is tied up in a mortgage, car payments and healthcare it would be really hard to pare...

We use ours quite a bit, Filet and Chicken breast mostly, but I have also made Pots De Creme several time with rave reviews. I have an Anova and the Anova App works well too.

Ditto... :coolsmiley: