Hi everyone! So glad to have found you and I've read the forums now for the last couple of months. I'm ready to FIRE and believe I have the means, but I'm just up in the air on how to structure things. The more I read and learn, the more confused I become. My salary puts me in the highest tax bracket but I could continue it for years; I just don't have the heart. I mean, why did I save all this money if not to enjoy it? I'm ready to retire now, but am stuck on figuring out if my AA is ok or can be "fixed".
Some background, I'm 52, female, no dependents, a CPA working in industry (not for a CPA firm) and I've had a good 30 year solid career with the same company. Since I was 22 and eligible I've maxed out my 401k, and have in addition continued every year to put after-tax funds in my 401k when my pre-tax funding maxed out. I understand complex financial matters, spreadsheets, and formulas, given my profession, but that doesn't necessarily translate into understanding retirement funding. Outside of my 401k I've also saved a lot. I pay attention to fund fees and choose low cost funds. The details:
House worth $275k, Morgage of $208k
2 cars, paid cash
Figure on needing $75k/yr to see the world
SSI at 62 is $24k yr
No retiree health care if I leave before 55, but not willing to wait it out
Total = $3.1 million; 60% stock, 20% bonds, 12% cash, 8% CDs
401k = $1.4 million; $900k pretax contributions, $500k after tax contributions.
35% lg cap stock index funds (3)
35% med/small cap index funds (2)
15% targeted retirement 2020 fund
15% International Index
Cash Balance Pension = $470k that I can take/roll over when I leave the company; company computes earnings annually, usually around 3-4%. I consider this as a "bond fund" in my spreadsheets
Fidelity/Vanguard after tax accts: $625k
30% 4 different Van/Fid stock index funds: Spartan, Leveraged, 4in1, LgCap
25% five individual stocks or single-industry funds (WHAT?) highly appreciated
28% tax exempt bond funds
17% Vanguard 500
$6.5k in a Roth IRA that I contributed to this year via backdoor
Cash/CDs = $650k in 4 banks
50% in CDs earning 1.5-2%
50% in bank accounts (I know, this is embarrassing)
I'm all over the place. I've Firecalc'd, FIDO'd, three or four other calculators, and created a very large detailed withdrawal plan spreadsheet, and everything says I'm good to go, which I believe. But I feel so out of control on exactly WHERE my money should be and whether I'm in the right places. I feel like overall, my % is good, but in detail I need to simplify. But I feel a bit handcuffed to my after-tax investments (other than cash/cds) because to re-balance has current tax consequences and I'm in a very high tax bracket.
My early living expenses I plan via rolling the after tax 401k and the cash pension into separate IRAs and doing 72Ts, plus pulling out of after-tax earnings. SSI at 62 seems to give the most advantageous result but not necessarily required. Taxes in early retirement are fairly high.
Help?
Some background, I'm 52, female, no dependents, a CPA working in industry (not for a CPA firm) and I've had a good 30 year solid career with the same company. Since I was 22 and eligible I've maxed out my 401k, and have in addition continued every year to put after-tax funds in my 401k when my pre-tax funding maxed out. I understand complex financial matters, spreadsheets, and formulas, given my profession, but that doesn't necessarily translate into understanding retirement funding. Outside of my 401k I've also saved a lot. I pay attention to fund fees and choose low cost funds. The details:
House worth $275k, Morgage of $208k
2 cars, paid cash
Figure on needing $75k/yr to see the world
SSI at 62 is $24k yr
No retiree health care if I leave before 55, but not willing to wait it out
Total = $3.1 million; 60% stock, 20% bonds, 12% cash, 8% CDs
401k = $1.4 million; $900k pretax contributions, $500k after tax contributions.
35% lg cap stock index funds (3)
35% med/small cap index funds (2)
15% targeted retirement 2020 fund
15% International Index
Cash Balance Pension = $470k that I can take/roll over when I leave the company; company computes earnings annually, usually around 3-4%. I consider this as a "bond fund" in my spreadsheets
Fidelity/Vanguard after tax accts: $625k
30% 4 different Van/Fid stock index funds: Spartan, Leveraged, 4in1, LgCap
25% five individual stocks or single-industry funds (WHAT?) highly appreciated
28% tax exempt bond funds
17% Vanguard 500
$6.5k in a Roth IRA that I contributed to this year via backdoor
Cash/CDs = $650k in 4 banks
50% in CDs earning 1.5-2%
50% in bank accounts (I know, this is embarrassing)
I'm all over the place. I've Firecalc'd, FIDO'd, three or four other calculators, and created a very large detailed withdrawal plan spreadsheet, and everything says I'm good to go, which I believe. But I feel so out of control on exactly WHERE my money should be and whether I'm in the right places. I feel like overall, my % is good, but in detail I need to simplify. But I feel a bit handcuffed to my after-tax investments (other than cash/cds) because to re-balance has current tax consequences and I'm in a very high tax bracket.
My early living expenses I plan via rolling the after tax 401k and the cash pension into separate IRAs and doing 72Ts, plus pulling out of after-tax earnings. SSI at 62 seems to give the most advantageous result but not necessarily required. Taxes in early retirement are fairly high.
Help?