courtjustshan
Dryer sheet aficionado
Hi folks, just stumbled onto this site recently, thought I would introduce myself. I am 49, wife is 47 and we have 3 kids, 1 out of college, 2 to go.
I left my tech director position at MegaCorp in April as my former C level boss retired and my new one turned out to be a complete snake. I was forced out essentially. I took a position for half the money with a non profit and am having loads of fun as I am working with friends and doing something meaningful. There were several people that I used to work with that died from stress that were younger than I am. I decided that doing something rewarding was more important than the money.
My salary now basically keeps the bills paid, without much extra in terms of discretionary income. I took this position in my mind as a gradual slow down into retirement. I wanted to enjoy work again instead of hating every day I had to drive into my former prison camp.
Here is a rundown of my assets and my plan. I have read through many posts on the forum and realized that I am not in the strongest financial health, but here goes:
1. I have 675K in my IRA.
2. I have 175K in my brokerage taxable account
3. I have 250K in equity between my house in PA and my vacation/retirement home in Florida.
4. My wife works, but she does not make much money and has essentially no retirement savings on her own. She has great medical benefits and loves what she does.
5. Because I have 2 running households, I have 75K in stuff that I will get rid of when we consolidate down to one house.
6. College: I still have 2 kids to put through school yet, so I am expecting to deplete 75K out of the taxable account while I continue to work for the next 6 years. That will essentially negate most if not all of the growth in the rest.
7. I would like to retire when I am 55. I am continuing to contribute, but not at the pace, so I expect to be somewhere around 1.2-1.3M conservatively when I turn 55. I may extend my working days another 3-4 years and try to get my net worth closer to the 1.7M number. Our house in Florida is low cost, low tax and paid for. I am estimating my expenses in retirement to be 50K annually, not adjusted for inflation.
Would like to hear thoughts about my plan. I think I am cutting it close, but I grew up frightfully poor and don't think I will be in that kind of shape again.
It has been an interesting 4 month journey leaving my big job and working for a tiny non profit. I felt at times (and still do occasionally) that I failed my family, but I was not a very good father or husband those last few years. If I had hung on for another 5 years, but I am not going to think about that. I like who I am now, I love what I do, and my family enjoys having me around the house again.
Modern day corporations are like meat grinders to me. People start as a steak and wind up like hamburger. I will never work for a Mega company again.
I ran through the FIRE calculator and it looks pretty good for me in 7-8 years, but my biggest concern is health care. My wife will work for at least a few more years after I hang it up, but I don't think its enough. Would like some suggestions there.
To close, I think this is a wonderful forum and that people really give of themselves in offering guidance. I appreciate in advance all of the input. It is very cathartic just to talk about it I suppose.
I left my tech director position at MegaCorp in April as my former C level boss retired and my new one turned out to be a complete snake. I was forced out essentially. I took a position for half the money with a non profit and am having loads of fun as I am working with friends and doing something meaningful. There were several people that I used to work with that died from stress that were younger than I am. I decided that doing something rewarding was more important than the money.
My salary now basically keeps the bills paid, without much extra in terms of discretionary income. I took this position in my mind as a gradual slow down into retirement. I wanted to enjoy work again instead of hating every day I had to drive into my former prison camp.
Here is a rundown of my assets and my plan. I have read through many posts on the forum and realized that I am not in the strongest financial health, but here goes:
1. I have 675K in my IRA.
2. I have 175K in my brokerage taxable account
3. I have 250K in equity between my house in PA and my vacation/retirement home in Florida.
4. My wife works, but she does not make much money and has essentially no retirement savings on her own. She has great medical benefits and loves what she does.
5. Because I have 2 running households, I have 75K in stuff that I will get rid of when we consolidate down to one house.
6. College: I still have 2 kids to put through school yet, so I am expecting to deplete 75K out of the taxable account while I continue to work for the next 6 years. That will essentially negate most if not all of the growth in the rest.
7. I would like to retire when I am 55. I am continuing to contribute, but not at the pace, so I expect to be somewhere around 1.2-1.3M conservatively when I turn 55. I may extend my working days another 3-4 years and try to get my net worth closer to the 1.7M number. Our house in Florida is low cost, low tax and paid for. I am estimating my expenses in retirement to be 50K annually, not adjusted for inflation.
Would like to hear thoughts about my plan. I think I am cutting it close, but I grew up frightfully poor and don't think I will be in that kind of shape again.
It has been an interesting 4 month journey leaving my big job and working for a tiny non profit. I felt at times (and still do occasionally) that I failed my family, but I was not a very good father or husband those last few years. If I had hung on for another 5 years, but I am not going to think about that. I like who I am now, I love what I do, and my family enjoys having me around the house again.
Modern day corporations are like meat grinders to me. People start as a steak and wind up like hamburger. I will never work for a Mega company again.
I ran through the FIRE calculator and it looks pretty good for me in 7-8 years, but my biggest concern is health care. My wife will work for at least a few more years after I hang it up, but I don't think its enough. Would like some suggestions there.
To close, I think this is a wonderful forum and that people really give of themselves in offering guidance. I appreciate in advance all of the input. It is very cathartic just to talk about it I suppose.