Young Dreamer

[Daddy]

Hi All,
This board is great.  I used to always read, but never posted to (I'm shy)TMF but like many of you, I decided not to pay for access.

I'm in my late 20's and can't seem to get my mind off of retirement.  I dream every day of retiring in my 40's so I can truly enjoy traveling with my wife, spending time with my grandchildren (My daughter is only 16 mths old now and we plan on having more), playing golf and just being free to go anywhere or do anything without any worries.  Of course all of this costs money so hence the term Dreamer in the subject line.

Maybe I will or maybe I won't accomplish this goal by the time I'm in my late 40's but I'm sure as hell going to try.  I have never contributed less than 14% of my paycheck to my 401K and this year will be able to get the $12K max into it in addition to the $2K my wife contributes per year plus the company matches.  We'll also be starting Roth IRA's for each of us this year and have already started a 529 Plan for our daughter.

The only debt we have is a Mortgage and Home Equity Line although the amount of the mortgage is significant but not insurmountable.

So we're supposedly doing what all the "experts" say to do.  I'd be interested in hearing from those of you who were in my shoes years ago and what suggestions you have for acheiving this lofty goal.  What would you have done differently so that you could be more comfortable now?  

Thanks
YD

 

[dory36]

What would you have done differently so that you could be more comfortable now?

Approach every spending decision, especially big ticket items, with the question -- what will I think about this decision in 2-3 years?

I'd have retired 10 years earlier had I done that!

Dory36

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Re. "Approach every decision ...........I'd have retired
10 years earlier, etc." Me too! I was "livin' large"
almost until the day I retired. Even then I had to
fight backsliding continuously. (Still do a little). Why,
if I had had a vision in place and a partner that shared it............................................... Still, things worked out okay considering. Don't forget that God made the world round so that we
couldn't see too far ahead.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

And here's another little piece of advice. Don't trust
"the experts".

 

[1HappyFool]

Now that I'm actually living on my invested surplus, I occasionally get tempted to buy something that wasn't part of my plan. When that happens, I ask myself, "Is this worth getting a job for?"

So for you, you might want to ask yourself, "Is this worth adding a year or two to my career for?"

1HF

 

[goinfishin]

Welcome, as a late 20 something myself I feel your pain. I can't wait to exit the rat race but sometimes it seems a long way off! Welcome!

 

[nafddur]

As a relatively young retiree (part-time at 44 and full time at 49 - 3 1/2 years ago), I just want to let you `young' dreamers know that it IS possible.

Everyone's situation is different, however. In my case my spouse still works to support us - hopefully only till she maxes out her retirement benefits in about 7 more years (she'll also be 59 then). At that point, we can start living off her pension and my IRA (assuming it is again well into 7 digit territory) that resulted from a very generous, one-career ESOP plan from a fortune 500 corp.

When we both fully retire, my planning shows we will be able to live forever (ie 90+) at 100% of today's standard of living, inflated out 3% annually. If either or both of us kick prior to 100, our kids just get a larger inheritance. Oh, and being extremely wary of our government's fiscal planning (specially the crazy stuff currently being done by Bush) I have not figured one cent of SS into my plan. I figure if that is there, it will merely be the `frosting on the cake.' (an extra vacation or 2 a year!)

Plus, in spite of my obvious enjoyment of retirement, my spouse says (like SO many working peeps) that she loves her job and may want to continue working after 59 1/2.

As for how we accomplished this, living within our means has been the key. We have a very nice home, nice cars, all the personal amenities we desire and saved enough to pay cash for our kid's educations. 30+ years of prudent fiscal management has resulted in an 815 credit rating that we work diligently to maintain. And all of this was in comparatively high cost areas - 16 years in metropolitan NYC and the rest near Boston.

Finally, you're exactly right YD - there is NOTHING like being able to do or buy (almost) anything you want AND enjoy your kids and grandkids at a relatively young age.

Good luck in your planning. It CAN be done!

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Yes indeed, it can be done, and I took a completely different route, i.e. multiple jobs over my career so I
never accumulated a large pension or retirement plan.
Never worked for a large company. I supported a big
spender lifestyle (both myself and my spouse) for many years, almost to the day I retired. I still opted out at age 49 (although I did go back to full time work for 2 years and took it pretty easy up until I quit for good).
In my case, it was very high motivation, lots of creativity,
and cutting back drastically on my lifestyle. Still, I can make it to my demise and buy/do about anything I want.
A wise man told me when I was about 34 that it was amazing how little you could live on after retirement.
He was right. You could also ask Paul Terhorst, or better yet, read his book.