papadad111
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,135
Sure. I estimate approximately 6k - 7k per month. I don't have a full picture yet on expenditures due to a move to a lower cost location and "incidental" college cost as #1 son goes to college in the fall.
Market down days like today always hurt but are part of the cycle so I keep a couple years in cash to ride out the down periods.
My single biggest expense post FIRE and a worry, ( have a paid for house), is health insurance - ACA plan for family of 4 isn't cheap. Nor is the deductible. That was the expense I was worried most about but so far it's going ok. That's between $1200-1400 per month excluding any deductible.
Other Insurance is a big expense too : I dropped the life insurance at this stage. Don't yet have long term care insurance... But am keeping disability insurance. Teen drivers make car insurance spendy and liability insurance is important to protect the nest egg.
College will be an expense for the kids but as noted we have put what I hope is enough away to cover that and plan to sell stock along the way through the year to cover the next year's tuition.
I'm still nervous as hell about all this drawdown and worry about safe withdrawal rates etc because i don't know anyone who retired early like me - going it alone aside this forum. The first several months were really challenging to disconnect and not think about money ALL the time but I am figuring it out and starting to relax a little and enjoying my time immensely especially when I see others deal with work and politics and commuting and all the bad stuff that comes with work.
For me, the extra cushion just wasn't going to make me more happy. I'm just as fine with a 5 year old car as a new one - I like my fun toys too but am moderating my spending to a retiree budget. I'm way happier with the time I have now to enjoy the toys and things -- they were sitting in the garage going unused before I FIREd.
What else can I share ? What are you interested to learn about ?
Market down days like today always hurt but are part of the cycle so I keep a couple years in cash to ride out the down periods.
My single biggest expense post FIRE and a worry, ( have a paid for house), is health insurance - ACA plan for family of 4 isn't cheap. Nor is the deductible. That was the expense I was worried most about but so far it's going ok. That's between $1200-1400 per month excluding any deductible.
Other Insurance is a big expense too : I dropped the life insurance at this stage. Don't yet have long term care insurance... But am keeping disability insurance. Teen drivers make car insurance spendy and liability insurance is important to protect the nest egg.
College will be an expense for the kids but as noted we have put what I hope is enough away to cover that and plan to sell stock along the way through the year to cover the next year's tuition.
I'm still nervous as hell about all this drawdown and worry about safe withdrawal rates etc because i don't know anyone who retired early like me - going it alone aside this forum. The first several months were really challenging to disconnect and not think about money ALL the time but I am figuring it out and starting to relax a little and enjoying my time immensely especially when I see others deal with work and politics and commuting and all the bad stuff that comes with work.
For me, the extra cushion just wasn't going to make me more happy. I'm just as fine with a 5 year old car as a new one - I like my fun toys too but am moderating my spending to a retiree budget. I'm way happier with the time I have now to enjoy the toys and things -- they were sitting in the garage going unused before I FIREd.
What else can I share ? What are you interested to learn about ?
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. So I feel like if I don't take the time now... I'll regret it.
