Do I have enough?

[Sea Kayaker]

I should be around the same number (1 mil) as the OP by 43... the difference being my DW wants to continue working until around 50. So we will have the proceeds from our nest egg + her salary for several more years.

I am so blessed I am not alone in the ER quest... I wouldn't even be thinking about FIRE if I were a single entity.

 

[Space Mountain]

WOW! Thanks everyone for such quick and insightful replies!

OK, a little more about me:

1. Yes, healthcare costs will be an issue.

2. Eventually, I will sell home and move into a condominium which should reduce expenses/taxes, etc... Yeah, I know association fees will be there, but overall I think I will save a few bucks and have less headaches to deal with.

3. No pension of ANY kind will be there. Not counting on SS, either.

4. I currently have roughly $650,000 in taxable accounts and roughly $350,000 in tax deferred accounts. ($200K is in ROTH & $150K in in Traditional.)

5. My lifestyle is quite simple. I exercise early every morning at my local gym and work after-wards. I enjoy watching sports on tv, not in person, unless it's high school football or basketball. Always loved the high school kids during playoff time!!! VERY EXCITING! Matter of fact, just last night, saw the #1 & #2 hoop teams in the country battle it out for the #1 ranking in America. Game was played at Rutger's University. (The RAC)

6. Here's a potential money issue, I LOVE my 2 nephews and 3 nieces. Naturally, if there ever were a money problem, I would POSSIBLY help out. (depending on the circumstances) I'm not a sucker...........I think. Don't worry, college costs are on them. Heck, they were on me!

7. As far as work goes, I REALLY would like to try something new, if possible. I am tired of the white collar scene. Have been in sales my entire career and am sick of kissing butt to folks who sometimes I can't stand!!!

8. Not a big vacationer as I traveled much during my working years on someone else's dime.........

9. I live in Southern NJ............TAXES! I KNOW!

10. Finally, My TOTAL expenses for last year were 28K.

Just wanna say, I still find it heartwarming that folks are willing to offer their sincere opinions/advice to total strangers such as me on a forum like this. It means more than you know.

THANKS AGAIN!!!

Space Mountain

 

[OrcasIslandBound]

Hello Space Mountain,
I'm curious about what assumptions you made about social security. Social security sends little statements once a year that give you an estimate of how much money you can get from them if you retire when you are 62, 66, 70, etc. However, these estimates assume that you will continue to work until those ages. If you want a realistic estimate of social security for quitting now, you can go to the The United States Social Security Administration website and find their estimator there. Change your salary to $1 and then see what the numbers are at those ages. They will be a lot lower than what you may be assuming.

 

[Danmar]

Spacemountain: I would second Koolau post. Do you dislike your job? If so give retirement a try. It doesn't sound like you have a well developed plan as to how you will occupy the next 40-50 years of your life. Does your current job pay well? Are you sure you couldn't put to good use a few more bucks? Congrats on what you have accomplished so far. Way ahead of where I was.

 

[Space Mountain]

Spacemountain: I would second Koolau post. Do you dislike your job? If so give retirement a try. It doesn't sound like you have a well developed plan as to how you will occupy the next 40-50 years of your life. Does your current job pay well? Are you sure you couldn't put to good use a few more bucks? Congrats on what you have accomplished so far. Way ahead of where I was.

Danmar- I recently started donating some extra time to my church in terms of assisting senior citizens with rides to doctors, etc... Also, looking into more church endeavors. Thanks.

 

[Danmar]

Danmar- I recently started donating some extra time to my church in terms of assisting senior citizens with rides to doctors, etc... Also, looking into more church endeavors. Thanks.

Good luck on whatever you do.

 

[BLS53]

Hello Space Mountain,
I'm curious about what assumptions you made about social security. Social security sends little statements once a year that give you an estimate of how much money you can get from them if you retire when you are 62, 66, 70, etc. However, these estimates assume that you will continue to work until those ages. If you want a realistic estimate of social security for quitting now, you can go to the The United States Social Security Administration website and find their estimator there. Change your salary to $1 and then see what the numbers are at those ages. They will be a lot lower than what you may be assuming.

Why put in $1 on the SS estimator? Just put in zeros.

 

[SVHoper]

Hi,

Just a thought that I don't think has been mentioned and would make a huge difference to your drawdowns... Have a great, long vacation and come back to a part-time job that is satisfying: build stuff, help people, coach kids sports team, tutor, wotever floats your boat. There are plenty of jobs that don't require kissing butt.... especially if you don't NEED the job

I have always enjoyed my work and semi-retirement has given me huge amounts of time flexibility as a bonus!

 

[Major Tom]

Hi,

Just a thought that I don't think has been mentioned and would make a huge difference to your drawdowns... Have a great, long vacation and come back to a part-time job that is satisfying: build stuff, help people, coach kids sports team, tutor, wotever floats your boat. There are plenty of jobs that don't require kissing butt.... especially if you don't NEED the job

I have always enjoyed my work and semi-retirement has given me huge amounts of time flexibility as a bonus!

I think the whole idea of not having to work full-time and maximize your income is great - actually being able to look for something you like, with little or no regard to how much it pays (and not having to do it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week).

Major Tom - who is looking at beginning ESR in the next couple of months.

 

[wcv56]

$ 1.5 Mil under 50 plus get rid of house and get out of N.J.
I guess that would mean work a few more years and get 1.3 mil invested and sale house.
Remember you will have to pay taxes on gains/dividends which will require drawing out of taxable account. You really don't want to start any draw down until at least 55 if not 60...... Think about it. You most likely will not have gains every year for next 12 years. 3 or 4 steps forward and one back.

 

[RetirewithPhil]

My advice regarding healthcare, don't depend on the Government providing this. Obamacare is not something that this country can afford in its current form, so plan on less and NOT more help especially at your young age. I recommend to my pre-retirees that they actually do a 1-2 year trial period with their projected living expenses BEFORE they actually quit their jobs and retire. Better safe than sorry. I'd say half of these folks find that they've underestimated the cost of their retirement lifestyle.

Best of Luck!

 

[fisherman]

My advice regarding healthcare, don't depend on the Government providing this. Obamacare is not something that this country can afford in its current form, so plan on less and NOT more help especially at your young age. I recommend to my pre-retirees that they actually do a 1-2 year trial period with their projected living expenses BEFORE they actually quit their jobs and retire. Better safe than sorry. I'd say half of these folks find that they've underestimated the cost of their retirement lifestyle.

Best of Luck!

Troll Alert!

 

[Readysoon]

Hi there.

I'm in the exact shape as you actually, i felt like i was reading my own situation in reading thru where you are. I've done this by Living below my means and working hard (multiple jobs etc..).. I do live in PA, not NJ myself (so taxes aren't so bad). I've about $1M and the same amounts as you in 401k/iras and taxable investments (400/600). I'm also about 43. I do have a pension as well of $20k/yr at 65, but not adjusted for cost of living.. I've nephews/neices as well, i've already paid for their Bachelors degrees thru buying tuition in advance, as my siblings were unable to save for them and i want the best for them.. no kids of my own, but if i ever got married/had children and was retired i'd revisit the thoughts of returning to work.

I've been having the same thoughts as you about retireing, but have decided to hold off until i've 1.5M or so, and each year i work the pension will be more (if my company is still paying it.)...I figure i can get to there in the next 2-4 years. I'm a bit worried about my portfolio distribution though. As i think i'm to much in stocks and not enough into bonds, i need to research this some.. You might also look at SS and see if you have worked the minimum of time to qualify (there is a minimum amount of time you need to work to qualify).

The reason i'm working longer is due to the medical cost worries in retirement, a $500k buffer above $1M will take care of that it i hope. My grandparents lived until they were in their late 80's so i need to plan for living long... Also, i've decided that $37k/yr isn't what i'd like to retire on and i'd want $60k/yr or so, because i'd like to travel and see the world some before i settle down in a place somewhere in the world that i have yet to discover.

 

[RetirewithPhil]

Hi there.

I'm in the exact shape as you actually, i felt like i was reading my own situation in reading thru where you are. I've done this by Living below my means and working hard (multiple jobs etc..).. I do live in PA, not NJ myself (so taxes aren't so bad). I've about $1M and the same amounts as you in 401k/iras and taxable investments (400/600). I'm also about 43. I do have a pension as well of $20k/yr at 65, but not adjusted for cost of living.. I've nephews/neices as well, i've already paid for their Bachelors degrees thru buying tuition in advance, as my siblings were unable to save for them and i want the best for them.. no kids of my own, but if i ever got married/had children and was retired i'd revisit the thoughts of returning to work.

I've been having the same thoughts as you about retireing, but have decided to hold off until i've 1.5M or so, and each year i work the pension will be more (if my company is still paying it.)...I figure i can get to there in the next 2-4 years. I'm a bit worried about my portfolio distribution though. As i think i'm to much in stocks and not enough into bonds, i need to research this some.. You might also look at SS and see if you have worked the minimum of time to qualify (there is a minimum amount of time you need to work to qualify).


The reason i'm working longer is due to the medical cost worries in retirement, a $500k buffer above $1M will take care of that it i hope. My grandparents lived until they were in their late 80's so i need to plan for living long... Also, i've decided that $37k/yr isn't what i'd like to retire on and i'd want $60k/yr or so, because i'd like to travel and see the world some before i settle down in a place somewhere in the world that i have yet to discover.

>>> Generating income during your retirement years is likely to get more challenging in the years ahead. I suggest you AVOID purchasing bond funds in favor of buying high quality bonds outright and plan on holding these until maturity. You can more predictibly plan on achieving your goals by relying on Yield to Maturity (YTM) calculations for each of your bond investments. If interest rates trend higher in the future, bond funds and individual bonds will decline in value, but if you hold the individual bonds to maturity, you can reasonably assume/plan you will receive the face value of the bond at the date of maturity. Bond funds do not have this advantage. Lastly, when purchasing individual bonds you should scale into positions and build a bond ladder (bonds with different maturity dates), so that as bonds mature you can reinvest in bonds with higher and higher coupon (and resulting YTM), assuming interest rates trend higher in future years.

>>> Your assumption of only tapping into 4% of your investible assets is spot-on! Keep on saving and investing, you're on the road toward achieving your goal!

 

[niknah]

If it was me I would move some of it out of vanguard, putting all my moneys into one place would scare me no matter how big and safe they may seem.

I went into semi-retirement younger and with less money, but I probably have a more frugal lifestyle than most people. So my answer is yes, you have enough.

It doesn't have to be a permanent decision, you can always go back to work if you're bored or need money.

 

[robbridg]

8. Not a big vacationer as I traveled much during my working years on someone else's dime.........

Traveling for work is not vacationing. You might want to try it during your remaining 30 or 40 or 50 years left on this planet. Just sayin.

Good luck! It looks like you're at least financially set enough to throw away that white collar and try something new and exciting. Have fun!

 

[rescueme]

Eventually, I will sell home and move into a condominium which should reduce expenses/taxes, etc...

Are you moving because you want to - or because you need to?

I've been retired four years and I have no desires to move, nor lessen my lifestyle (home, travel, etc.) from what I spent for many years while still wor*ing.

I'm not saying you are wrong in your assumptions, but as one who has been/is there, I know I would not want to give up anything to retire.

Just my opinion...

 

[mexico]

Your post was extremely interesting to me because our situations are almost exact except that I am 46 and about 50% of investable assets are in a 401k outside of Vanguard. I am running the same type of numbers and it really depends on where you live and what expenses are going to be. I moved to Mexico 2 yrs ago but I still working, selling software into Latin America. Sounds like fun but it's hard work and I am planning on retiring next yr. I can tell you that 35k would go a long way in another country. Property taxes are about $ $75 -100 per 100k in value/ yr.,medical much, much less and so on. Being from Boston, that 35k over there wouldn't get you so far. Pay close attention to what your future spending will look like. For me, the biggest expense will be travel costs but for you it could be property taxes. Run those numbers as honestly as you can, over and over. You are probably getting nervous and thinking, just one more yr, but you could do that forever.

 

[rnostrus]

agree

I agree with every one about 1 million not going very far. Have you looked into annuities or things of that nature.

 

[travelover]

I agree with every one about 1 million not going very far. Have you looked into annuities or things of that nature.

Do you have idea where a person could buy an annuity?

 

[theloneranger]

You don't know where to buy an annuity?

 

[Bestwifeever]

You don't know where to buy an annuity?

Sometimes new members who suggest an annuity in their very first post to the boards are eager to also tell us where we can buy them (I'm not saying rnostrus is that type of new member--welcome to the boards, RN! When you're ready, feel free to introduce yourself on our "Hi I Am..." boards).

 

[haha]

> >>> Your assumption of only tapping into 4% of your investible assets is spot-on! Keep on saving and investing, you're on the road toward achieving your goal!

So Phil, you are clearly a genial guy with some knowledge and a desire to help your fellow man and woman, how about letting know something of your current employment?

Ordinarily we prefer an introduction, especially when a new guy starts ladling out the advice in post #1.

Ha

 

[rnostrus]

ok i introduced myself. I was just answering a question. Sorry if I offended anybody. I thought a reply was suppose to be helpful. But anyway any financial consultant could help you with that annuity and I would research your options before deciding.

 

[Westernskies]

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Use only as directed....