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I wonder if Art Vandelay has a financial advisor.

Good for you. No. Make that, great for you. A person's health is of utmost importance. Losing weight after retirement seems to be a common theme. I'm 56 and still working. I'll retire sometime between tomorrow and 3 years from now when I reach my DB pension's full retirement age. A year ago...

This is not correct. The higher taxes are compensated by the discretionary aspect of the additional income over base needs. Financially, it is far better to work 60 hours a week and have extra income than to work 40 hours a week and struggle to get by. Most of my extra income has been...

I don't believe they are false promises. In general, employees who dedicate themselves to their jobs/careers receive (significantly) higher compensation than those who don't. The typical 9/5 employee at my company has received an average annual raise of about 4% over the past 25 years (3%...

Working 9-5 as opposed to 60-70 hours a week is neither good nor bad. However, it is a choice, and choices have consequences. In general, people who are more dedicated to their jobs/careers are better compensated than people who are not. Money may not be everything, but it still provides a lot...

The only thing worse than a Financial Adviser is a Millennial. Seriously, though, I don't understand the obsession with cell phones / smart phones. It's clearly an addiction, although I agree that it impacts both the young and the old. What are all these people doing? Is it Facebook? Is it...

I'm 56. Depending on the starting date, I may be in OMY x 5. So I think about this all the time. One recent way of thinking goes like this ... How much of my net worth would I pay for a miracle pill that extended my life by 1 quality year? Would I pay 1%? Heck yeah. That's in the noise...

I appreciate your comments (and you too, kcowen), but it's not altruism. It's selfishness. I do it because it makes me feel good. Me. Me. Me. But you are very correct. Helping others can bring a lot of personal happiness. This could be an activity when I leave my job. Interestingly enough, I...

To be honest, I don't believe you mean it because you did not accurately summarize what I wrote. In fact, you seem to purposely misstate the facts of what I wrote. I believe you're being disingenuous. In addition to my own pets, I paid the vet bills for my pet sitter. My pet sitter provided...

I disagree. For every additional year of work, my financial situation improves by over $500K ($220K salary plus ~$300K pension increase, before taxes). This has significantly more potential value than volunteering full-time at a local animal shelter (incidentally, I foster stray/feral...

Interesting. I feel much the same, although I often equate the amount of money and the job as being one and the same. My job has been built with one achievement after another, pretty much since high school. If I didn't do well in high school, I wouldn't have gone to this college. If I didn't...

I'm 56 and still working - perpetual OMY syndrome. I think about this question every day as I compare the agony of working against the loss of financial opportunity. I'll give up about $500K/yr. That's the sum of my salary plus the incremental growth in my DB pension (i.e., the capitalized value...

I agree. For me, "the courage to pull the trigger" has been a lot more complicated than simply having the ability and desire to retire. At 56, I've been in OMY syndrome for the last 3-4 years. In fact, I could have retired more than 10 years ago with the same standard of living that I have...

My expenses were consistent with expectations. Single, living alone, San Francisco Bay Area, 56, not yet retired ... $11,380 Mortgage $08,500 College Costs (for friend's niece in Philippines) $07,329 Veterinary Bills (for another friend's cat) $04,659 Charity $03,305 Property Taxes $02,220...

Catch-up contributions do not count against the IRS 415c limit, which is $53K for 2015. So depending on the 401k plan, an employee can make up to $35K in after-tax contributions, in addition to $18K in pre-tax and $6K in catch-up contributions (for those 50 or older). Note that employer...

Even if the tax deferral rate going in is the same as the tax payment rate coming out, it's still better to defer. The difference is that the person who defers doesn't have to pay capital gains taxes (or taxes on annual dividends) on the earnings. The person who defers eventually pays income...

What you propose could very well work in your situation. As you point out, the federal hand doesn't care what the state hand is doing in your case. What I came across three years ago - or think I came across - was an effort by the federal IRS to prevent people from coming out ahead by over...

I was thinking of doing something similar in the year before retirement ... 1) withhold much more than needed for state taxes 2) get a large federal deduction due to the withheld state taxes for the tax year corresponding to my final year of employment when my income would be high 3) get a...

Below are my annual expenses since 1999. It's difficult to compute a personal inflation rate since my financial situation and needs fluctuate each year. However, nothing too extreme in terms of expenses has happened during this time (except for the high veterinary bills that are separated out)...

I have you beat by a couple years. The absolute latest time I plan to ER coincides with my 53rd birthday. Oh, wait. That was 2 years ago. I'm now in 3xOMY.

Although not specifically Silicon Valley or San Francisco, my SF Bay Area organization has about 600 employees with job classifications related to software development. Based on the salary distribution from a few years ago and projecting forward using average raises, 2015 salaries at given...

Your equity allocation is similar to mine, so my completely unbiased and objective opinion is that it's fine. I consider myself to be a "total market with tilt" or "core and explore" boglehead investor, with small-to-modest tilts toward small-value, REIT's, and emerging markets. I also have a...

Yes, assuming your math is correct. It appears that you're considering the key variables (e.g., inflation, potential investment returns, taxes, pension stability). It's a common retirement question. I go through the same sort of calculations myself. I ask, "if I retire today at age 55, should I...

1982-1985: 1977 Chevy Chevette (piece of junk) 1985-2010: 1980 Toyota Corolla Wagon (great car) 2010-2015: 2010 Honda Fit (great car) My current Honda Fit (5 speed, base model) is perfect for my needs. It has a lot of cargo room (I can fit my bicycle in the back without removing any bike...

If having income is so desirable, why would anyone choose to ER? Most people lose a sizable fraction of their income stream when they retire. They choose to have less income and less tax responsibility. Apparently, having income isn't as desirable as it sounds. More may be better than less when...