29 year old hoping for ER

[Good_Life]

Thank you for the compliments and notes of encouragement pacergal and O2Bfree. Life before retirement has been great so far, and I have a lot to be thankful for. People keep on telling me that teenagers are expensive, I don't know how that is yet, but will be interested find out!

 

[BaseballDad1618]

Thought I would post a little update on this. I am 38 now and can't believe it has been almost ten years when I first discovered this forum.



I feel pretty good that when I first posted my investments were $250k and are now up to about $1.4M not including the money we have stashed for kids' college education or our house. I don't think I would have imagined that happening especially with our income not changing too drastically during that time and raising three children ages 10, 8, and 6.



We make around $140k/year now and have definitely focused less on furthering our careers, and more on maximizing family life and spending time with our children. Really just been because we have stayed almost 100% equities in our portfolio and keep on maximizing our retirement contributions. We both still have our same jobs, live in the same community, and really enjoy the house we bought six years ago. When I first posted on this forum 9 years ago I didn't have a specific goal of when I would ER, because of all the externalities that I can't predict and I still don't, but it sure feels like it is getting closer. Our average spend is around $3500/month not including our mortgage which should be paid off in the next five years or so. I would much rather retire with a house that is fully paid for from a pure psychological stand point, even if it doesn't make sense financially with such low rates.



Anyway just thought I would post a little update. Really love this forum.

Thanks for the update, it’s inspiring for a 30 something to watch your updates these past 9 years (crazy!) One area I’m putting more focus on is the taxable vs nontaxable portfolio allocation over the next 10-15 years. Would you mind sharing how your 1.4 million is broken up between those? It looks like you had about 40-50% in non taxable back in 2012. Thanks again for the updates!

 

[Good_Life]

Hi BaseballDad

It is broken up roughly:

$275k Roth
$785k 401k/IRA
$340k Taxable

So definitely less towards taxable now as a percentage. It is a good point and definitely I should put more thought into. I guess I always thought between taking out Roth contributions tax free, potentially using 72t, and my taxable account I would be ok until 59 1/2 depending on when I retire. A decent part of my 401(k) is also a Roth 401(k) so I would be able to take those contributions out too. What you are focusing on with taxable is a great point though, and I should take the time to calculate that all out and make sure it makes sense to keep on contributing so much to tax advantaged accounts.