Class of 2028

[tulak]

Five years to go!

That will be shortly after my 20 year anniversary on ER.org.

It's a tentative year at this point, but everything looks good right now. The important part is I turn 55 in 2028 and will have access to my 401k.

Assuming that all goes to plan. Five years is still far away and there's always a chance I'll get a case of OMY, especially if work stays enjoyable/flexible.

 

[RxMan]

I could be joining you in 2028. I really want to try and make it work out to retire in 2027 though. And if I wait until 2029 I can also take advantage of the Rule of 55 and have immediate access to my 401k account funds.

It’s difficult to predict which scenario will work out for me at this point. I think the picture will become a lot clearer after the next 24 months. At that time I will reevaluate my plan and see what seems reasonable. Good luck to you. Who knows, I might be joining you in the Class of 2028!

 

[Lazyfabs]

I am looking at or around this timeframe as well. Of all the different modeling programs/apps/etc, which one are you all using, like better, and think shows the 'best/worst' scenarios to pull the trigger?

 

[Kork13]

2028 is notionally my line in the sand, but as OP said, it's all tentative right now... The actual date might be somewhere between 2028-2032 ... DW wants me to stay in longer, but I want to be a SAHD for our kids, who would be 13, 11, and 7 by 2028. I see alot of value in being at home during that period on.

In 2028, I'll become eligible for military retirement. We'd be 42 & 43 y/o at that point. 2x COLA'd military pensions (roughly $60k/yr between DW & I) will easily cover all of our baseline living expenses. Rental real estate should cover most of the day-to-day 'wants.' My wife will probably continue working (at least PT) as a physical therapist, a passion profession she's only now in school for ... and her income would more than cover whatever other 'fun' we want to do. Once she does decide to hang it up, the 'fun' can be supported by our investments (likely $2M-$2.5M by then). Realistically, we'll have the flexibility to do whatever we want.

Given the stability & surety of where we should be, I'm not really going super detailed into analysis or calculators... at least not right now. The only thing I'll have to worry about is the possibility of needing to use a 72t to access our retirement accounts, where over half of our assets are sitting.

 

[Nords]

The only thing I'll have to worry about is the possibility of needing to use a 72t to access our retirement accounts, where over half of our assets are sitting.

Writing as a dual-military retiree, @Kork13, with your pensions, rental-property income, and any VA disability compensation... you might not need to touch your retirement accounts, let alone go through the 72t gantlet.

We were ready to withdraw our Roth IRA contributions, and we did plenty of incremental Roth IRA conversions on our traditional IRAs and traditional TSPs, but... my pension and our rental covered the vast majority of our expenses. Our investments in our taxable account grew faster than inflation, and the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate offered plenty of discretionary spending on travel.

 

[Kork13]

Writing as a dual-military retiree, @Kork13, with your pensions, rental-property income, and any VA disability compensation... you might not need to touch your retirement accounts, let alone go through the 72t gantlet.

We were ready to withdraw our Roth IRA contributions, and we did plenty of incremental Roth IRA conversions on our traditional IRAs and traditional TSPs, but... my pension and our rental covered the vast majority of our expenses. Our investments in our taxable account grew faster than inflation, and the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate offered plenty of discretionary spending on travel.

That's sort of what I'm expecting -- my biggest unknown is how much income DW or I will have. If we make enough to cover both our fun & still continue adding to our investments, our somewhat undersized taxable investments won't be a problem & we can leave our retirement accounts alone. Only foreseeable circumstance that may lead to tapping those accounts, even just withdrawing Roth contributions, is that neither of us work after I retire ... which is probably unlikely.