56 YO Engineer with Younger DH

[RobotMom]

Hello! I just joined after lurking for a week or so and running Firecalc. I'm a 56YO engineer and, if I pull through for another 2 years and 8 months, Firecalc, says I have a 100% probability of success. My DH has a business that he will continue to run after I retire. I'll help him on a part time, unpaid basis. But it will be a lot less like working because I will get in, do what I need to do and leave when I no longer have anything to do. Not like work and being tethered to the office.

I have worked at the same company since I was 21 and have a pension coming. I also maxed out 403B most years. I will have two in college when I FIRE. However, I've saved in 529s (MIL has also saved), so only incidental college costs in retirement.

Looking forward to spending my last few working months learning from all of you!

Editted: My biggest concern in medical insurance in retirement. The company I work for offers retiree medical with the retiree paying the entire cost. The cost for my family would be over $3k per month. However, I've learned on here about ACA and I can get a higher deductible plan for about $1k per month - much more affordable. However, I am concerned about ACA being dismantled. So I am waiting until after the next election to see which way the winds will blow and may have to postpone retirement if it looks like low price medical insurance may become unavailable.

 

[Big_Hitter]

welcome

 

[omni550]

Welcome aboard, RobotMom. Lots of good info and helpful posters here.

omni

 

[MichaelB]

Welcome aboard, RobotMom. You'll find plenty of company, as there are lot of engineers here. Don't worry, though, we won't hold that against you.

Also lots of discussions on health care insurance and early retirement. Not an easy topic, certainly no easy answers, but many here share your concern. We look forward to your perspective.

 

[ckelly78z]

Welcome to the forums from another prototype engineer. I think we are all waiting to see what happens with health care (and taxes to pay for it) before making important decisions.

 

[Jerry1]

Welcome.

Following your post, does FireCalc give you 100% if you are paying $3000 per month for health insurance? Also, are you sure of that number? It’s not crazy high but I’d guess something closer to $2K. Is that for a full coverage, low out of pocket plan? Also, do you have any options with your employer plan like choosing higher deductibles? The monthly payment is obviously only part of the consideration.

 

[RobotMom]

Not sure how to answer this. I set my spending into Firecalc at 70% of my current salary. At that level of spending, I could afford a high deductible plan on ACA. At least I think I could. I picked a spending amount that is 70% of my current pay but did not do a detailed post-retirement budget. My reasoning for picking 70% of current salary is that $24.5K of 401k, $7.2k of college savings and $8k of social security tax will be gone in retirement. Plus, less mouths to feed and clothe. I admit, I need to sharpen my pencil a little more but feel like I am in the ball park. I also didn't know how to include future earnings from rental property... so, yes, you are right to point this out. Fortunately, I have a little over 2 1/2 years to fine tune the details.

 

[Jerry1]

Fortunately, I have a little over 2 1/2 years to fine tune the details.

Correct. And, at least for me, it took a couple of years. Your swag method is fine and probably pretty close, but getting a bit more detailed on your spending will help you know when you're financially ready. I didn't feel that it was critical to be precise as much as it was to identify the basic expenditures.

In your example, you subtracted things you won't be paying for (or your savings), but you didn't add back those that you will - healthcare. As you said, you also have not figured out how to deal with future income streams. Identification of the various categories is a main first step and you're moving along just fine.

I found that the Fidelity retirement planner helped me a lot on the expense side.

 

[catii]

Wife & I are both retired engineers. We agree that retirement would be a lot more fun if we didn't have to worry about medical expenses.

 

[neihn]

Welcome.

I too, mega-corp offers retiree medical without subsidy (aka pay full cost). I pay $755 for a high deductible plan for just myself, however, I plan to stay with mega-corp health plan until I know for sure that ACA with be around longer (they wont allow me to go back to the plan if I leave and I need 7 years)

 

[Sunset]

Welcome.

OP - time to really track your spending, then you will be more confident and sure of your costs when entering retirement.

I use a phone app called "spending tracker" and literally track every penny spent, it takes a couple of seconds each time I spend, and has lots of categories.
Its free and easy to use.

I do later transfer the summary to a spreadsheet so I can reference it over the years and chart it, etc..