I wanted to ask for some advice from the experienced people on this board. Let me tell you about my situation.
$875K stock and bond investments (taxable and retirement); own $840K house with no mortgage; no other debts. 37 years old, married, two kids (4 and 5). My wife doesn't work but has extensive high-tech experience. She focuses on the kids because "they're only young once". I have a great job that pays very well (~$175K/year plus many stock options) and requires working 45 hours/week. We are easily able to save $40K/year.
I've thought about retiring in the next 5 years. Not planning to stop work completely but wouldn't be focused on a full-time position. My wife has also talked about going back to work part-time when both kids are in school all day.
We love where we live (Bay Area) but are intrigued with the thought of selling our home and buying in a lower cost area (expect house in another area to be $250K).
Questions
1. How to handle the issue of health care? It seems that this is a huge issue and one of the major drawbacks to not working at a large company.
2. How do you calculate how much is enough before changing your lifestyle? I could leave work now but it would make me nervous. It seems that I "always need more". There are so many variables, especially at our age.
3. How to put a value on early retirement? We could leave the Bay Area and have considerably more liquid assets. However, we absolutely love where we live and worry about making this decision based solely on finances.
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Mike K
$875K stock and bond investments (taxable and retirement); own $840K house with no mortgage; no other debts. 37 years old, married, two kids (4 and 5). My wife doesn't work but has extensive high-tech experience. She focuses on the kids because "they're only young once". I have a great job that pays very well (~$175K/year plus many stock options) and requires working 45 hours/week. We are easily able to save $40K/year.
I've thought about retiring in the next 5 years. Not planning to stop work completely but wouldn't be focused on a full-time position. My wife has also talked about going back to work part-time when both kids are in school all day.
We love where we live (Bay Area) but are intrigued with the thought of selling our home and buying in a lower cost area (expect house in another area to be $250K).
Questions
1. How to handle the issue of health care? It seems that this is a huge issue and one of the major drawbacks to not working at a large company.
2. How do you calculate how much is enough before changing your lifestyle? I could leave work now but it would make me nervous. It seems that I "always need more". There are so many variables, especially at our age.
3. How to put a value on early retirement? We could leave the Bay Area and have considerably more liquid assets. However, we absolutely love where we live and worry about making this decision based solely on finances.
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Mike K