Hello from Western NC

[old medic]

We are a nearly retired couple of 36 years, doing what we can to prepare our self's to our best advantage...
I have just passed my 30 years and can cross over, but no insurance... can get it through the Wife's work the cheapest around $550 a month. 8 years till medicare.... Wife has about 7 more years to go, but will have insurance benefit to cover her starting at 61. Both in good health.
We own 4 acres and 2 shacks of a house free and clear, living in a 5th wheel (paid for) while building a homestead and rebuilding the one house.
Total debt we have we have the savings to pay off.
Both have some 401K savings as well, and padding it heavily the last few years.
We want to get to the point to pack the camper, lock the door and travel at our own pace and enjoy this great country...
Gonna dig around here and try and learn more....

 

[pacergal]

Welcome to the forum! This is a great place to be to learn and share.
The forum listed below has some good starting questions.


https://www.early-retirement.org/fo...-answer-before-asking-can-i-retire-69999.html

 

[sengsational]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for introducing yourself.


Health Insurance (HI) bridge to Medicare for early retirees is discussed a bunch here, so lots of talk about how to live well while keeping income low enough to qualify for the premium tax credit of the affordable health act.


I like the 5th wheel idea. Too bad my darling wife (DW) won't do "camping".

 

[SumDay]

Welcome! Be sure to check out FireCalc to 'run your numbers' to see if you're on track. Warning: it's addictive, but luckily it's free. Here's the link: https://www.firecalc.com/

Looking forward to seeing your posts!

 

[harllee]

Welcome old medic from Western NC, I am also a North Carolinian, live in Chapel Hill in the winter and the beautiful cool NC mountains in the summer--near Banner Elk. Where are you located? Welcome to the Forum, a bunch of smart folks here.

Where do you plan to travel in your camper? We use to have a motorhome and went all over the U.S. and Canada--we went to Alaska for 4 months several years ago, a great trip.

 

[Dtail]

Welcome to our wonderful forum. Look forward to your posts. Ask away anything you wish to know.

 

[old medic]

Thanks for the Welcomes... I'll be checking out the links...
We are between Asheville and Spartanburg...
Camping......We have been from Fl to Maine, about every state east of the Mississippi.
try to do a long trek each year, 3 1/2 last year going to Maine, But we do many long weekend campouts... lots are free boondocking.
We also jump on the Road King and waste gas money...
I was off with the wife's numbers.. its more like 10...But researching buying time with 401K

 

[Bamaman]

Welcome from us too. We often hang out a little west of you in Helen, GA in our fifth wheel trailer. Sure beats a tiny home.

Many people wish they had the courage to scale back their lifestyle and hit the road for a RV odyssey. Congratulations to your executing a plan.

 

[finnski1]

Welcome. Great place to learn. Even from us yankees up north.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Welcome! I hang out in the mountains of NC, too. Closer to Harllee than to you.

 

[old medic]

OH CRAP!!!!!! Maybe I should have not looked around in here...
FIRECAL says ....portfolio balance at the end of your retirement was $-1,326,462 to $1,547,330, with an average at the end of $95,635
For our purposes, failure means the portfolio was depleted before the end of the 30 years. FIRECalc found that 57 cycles failed, for a success rate of 52.5%.

Reading others stories.... We gonna be poor no doubt about it....

well maybe not... needed to fill in other info...
Here is how your portfolio would have fared in each of the 120 cycles. The lowest and highest portfolio balance at the end of your retirement was $200,000 to $5,719,874, with an average at the end of $3,236,014. (Note: this is looking at all the possible periods; values are in terms of the dollars as of the beginning of the retirement period for each cycle.)

For our purposes, failure means the portfolio was depleted before the end of the 30 years. FIRECalc found that 0 cycles failed, for a success rate of 100.0%

 

[MichaelB]

OH CRAP!!!!!! Maybe I should have not looked around in here...
FIRECAL says ....portfolio balance at the end of your retirement was $-1,326,462 to $1,547,330, with an average at the end of $95,635

Reading others stories.... We gonna be poor no doubt about it....

You’re looking at the range of outcomes, which is wide for all of us. The key number from FIRECalc is the % probability of portfolio survival. What was yours?

 

[Midpack]

Welcome, another NCer here, recent transplant. We LOVE to visit Asheville!

Maybe you missed some of the tabs on FIRECALC (other income, spending models, etc.), do a little exploring.

 

[old medic]

Yes i missed alot.... started by putting in the cash value of our retirement accounts in the portfolio spot...... and nothing in where pension and SS went...
That made a huge difference... and yes I can see the FIRE CALC being very addictive....

MichaelB Went from 52.5% to 100%