Restless in Seattle.

[tzukulika]

Hello folks,
While I have joined the forum a while back ( 2007), and I lurked since 2001, I have not been active in posting.
I would like the common borg to critique the plan I currently have:

Date of freedom (as I think I planned it in 2007) was 2022; It is still the plan today (maybe now on the worse case path)>
Here is my situation : 46, employed at megacorp , currently going to j*b changes ; DW currently employed ( was not in 2007); she has a safe(r) j*b; She is not convinced on the plan viability yet.
Also I have 2 punks (7 and 8), I mean angels, for which I have to provide nourishment and (hopefully) higher education.
Plan is to stop working in 2022 @ age 55.
in 2022 I will be mortgage free on my current home, assuming no acceleration in mortg. payments.
From age 55 to 65 will have to live from taxable accounts (@ 40K/year + Emergency money).
In case it hits the fan, my current understanding is that I can withdraw money from 401K @ 58.5. We also will have a 3-4 year Roth IRA cushion.
I'm a boglehead and I parked the Taxable in low cost index funds and I assume 1% growth/year - just enough to offset historic inflation.

What about the angels and they supposedly higher learning plans ?
We own a rental in Seattle , which was rented out since 2007 and which will pay for itself in 2018 (5 years left).
My plan is to accelerate the current mortgage payments when rental is mortgage free and to set asid some money to renovate it prior to sale.
The current value of the rental is (valued on the low side, conservately) ~ 400K.
The big unknown is of course, college education costs ( along with health care cost. But on paper,
I have planned to use the sale of the rental (400K) and provide the 2 ungrateful , I mean loving, progenitures
with about 8 years of college money, assuming ~ 50k/year. If they go above that, it will be on their dime.
Is 50K /year a reasonable costs ? I see that today's costs do vary from 12k year at local state schools to 50K for the fancy pantsy ones.

At 65/67 maybe, we plan to draw SS , which (taken in half of what the current estimate is today) will likely cover our needs of 40k/year.
The 401k will likely supply another 40k/year @ 65, assuming 4% SWR, if we don't touch it prior to SS disti.

I'm on track or smoking legal herbs available in WA state?
The current change in j*b does make one reflect and doubt.
My bucket of FI is not filing as fast as the other bucket, unfortunately.
And I know the 40K/year is damn low. Health insurance and all. But I refuse to think about One More *Damn* Year !!!!
Tzukulika

 

[haha]

Hello folks,
While I have joined the forum a while back ( 2007), and I lurked since 2001, I have not been active in posting.
I would like the common borg to critique the plan I currently have:

Date of freedom (as I think I planned it in 2007) was 2022; It is still the plan today (maybe now on the worse case path)>
Here is my situation : 46, employed at megacorp , currently going to j*b changes ; DW currently employed ( was not in 2007); she has a safe(r) j*b; She is not convinced on the plan viability yet.
Also I have 2 punks (7 and 8), I mean angels, for which I have to provide nourishment and (hopefully) higher education.
Plan is to stop working in 2022 @ age 55.
in 2022 I will be mortgage free on my current home, assuming no acceleration in mortg. payments.
From age 55 to 65 will have to live from taxable accounts (@ 40K/year + Emergency money).
In case it hits the fan, my current understanding is that I can withdraw money from 401K @ 58.5. We also will have a 3-4 year Roth IRA cushion.
I'm a boglehead and I parked the Taxable in low cost index funds and I assume 1% growth/year - just enough to offset historic inflation.

What about the angels and they supposedly higher learning plans ?
We own a rental in Seattle , which was rented out since 2007 and which will pay for itself in 2018 (5 years left).
My plan is to accelerate the current mortgage payments when rental is mortgage free and to set asid some money to renovate it prior to sale.
The current value of the rental is (valued on the low side, conservately) ~ 400K.
The big unknown is of course, college education costs ( along with health care cost. But on paper,
I have planned to use the sale of the rental (400K) and provide the 2 ungrateful , I mean loving, progenitures
with about 8 years of college money, assuming ~ 50k/year. If they go above that, it will be on their dime.
Is 50K /year a reasonable costs ? I see that today's costs do vary from 12k year at local state schools to 50K for the fancy pantsy ones.

At 65/67 maybe, we plan to draw SS , which (taken in half of what the current estimate is today) will likely cover our needs of 40k/year.
The 401k will likely supply another 40k/year @ 65, assuming 4% SWR, if we don't touch it prior to SS disti.

I'm on track or smoking legal herbs available in WA state?
The current change in j*b does make one reflect and doubt.
My bucket of FI is not filing as fast as the other bucket, unfortunately.
And I know the 40K/year is damn low. Health insurance and all. But I refuse to think about One More *Damn* Year !!!!
Tzukulika

I really have no idea what you have said here.

But if money is an issue, stay in Seattle and get your children to study hard to be sure to get into UW. It is basically as good as most schools, and cheaper than most. They can live at home. A friend of mine's son went to UW, commuted daily by bus from East Bellevue, got a good comp sci degree, and is well employed coding at a good salary right out of school, in Seattle. My 2 sons did the same, and are very successful.

WSU is good too, as are the schools like WW, but then you lose being able to have them at home both to save money and to give some guidance.

Ha

 

[ShortInSeattle]

If you'd like feedback on your plan, you might need to write things out more simply.

Portfolio.
Annual contributions.
Planned retirement date.
Planned retirement expenses.

Also, check out Firecalc.

 

[tzukulika]

Thank you for feedback ;
Apologize for the rambling;
Here is my questions in a shorter form :
1) will be 50K/year in 10 years enough for tuition ? At the current rate of tuition increase (10-15% /year) , this is my principal concern.
2) Every person and situation is different and there is no right or wrong answer on this one : Does an ER minded person postpone the ER because of costs associated with college educations of their kids ? What have you done ?

 

[Brat]

Is the Washington GET program still open? Essentially you pre-pay tuition, todays rate for tomorrow's tuition. You can ask family to cut down on gifts $ and contribute (even small amounts) to GET accounts.

 

[tzukulika]

Yes, the GET program is still open. But I have gleaned that the viability of the program is in question over the long run. And the GET units have increased significantly in the last 2-3 years.
If I will have to fund education to GET , I will have to defer ER.

 

[tzukulika]

Ahh , I have found my answers ; There is a thread posted under (Other topics) which exactly addresses my question;