chris66
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2014
- Messages
- 78
I'll be 48 next month. My husband turned 64 last month, and will retire in about 6 weeks (due to layoff -- no pension, buyout, or golden parachute from this job, just a little severance). Our age difference will help me to retire early, as DH will start to collect SS when I'm 54. Most online retirement calculators aren't designed to handle our age difference, so since I've been planning ER as long as we've been together (even before), I created my own Excel spreadsheet that allows me to see the flow of money every year with my own conservative inputs. It does a better job of dealing with our age difference, letting me quickly see how SS and DH's death at different ages impacts WR's and when the money could run out. My estimate says we're OK if I retire early. FIREcalc runs market simulations, which is helpful to look at, too. It also puts us at 100% success rate, although it doesn't factor in drop off of income in the event of death of a spouse. I know that sounds awful, and I believe given DH's family longevity, that we could have a similar remaining life expectancy from this point -- but still, gotta run the numbers every which way before I take the plunge.
We began looking for the right house to retire to years ago, and found it 3 years ago when the market was down. We had planned to retire in a couple years from now, and begin remodeling the home about a year before retiring (so we wouldn't have to live in the mess this time around). However, we were both part of a mass layoff last year at MegaCorp, and this changed our plans a bit. We had been saving for the total home remodel, but reallocated that money to 2 years living expenses. We sold our primary home. We went ahead and paid off the low interest mortgage on what is now our only residence, just for my peace of mind. Although we were both given term dates, DH has had his extended several times, as they continue to need him (he's telecommuting now, we're both software developers). We expect him to finally be let go in March. I found another j*b, although after 25 years, I'm burnt out -- like many folks my age. I'm also feeling pretty stressed out about the new job, although I don't want to spend a lot of time griping about specifics. Just want to keep my eye on the prize (money for home remodeling), and realize that if I really have to, I'll leave.
I'm pretty sure I've set my date to RE a year from now, in February, around when I turn 49. For now, I'm w*rking to pay for the home improvements as we do them, without using any savings for these expenses. Down deep, I think hubby doesn't like hearing all this talk of me retiring before 50, when he's worked to 64 (but he'll get over it once he's finally retired himself). We'll begin collecting DH's SS when he turns 70, in 6 years. That should cover about half of our living expenses. He also has a very small pension, $384 per month no COLA, that begins the end of this year. I've never had a company pension, and current job is at a small company that has no retirement plan to vest in at all, so I'm on my own and free to quit when I'm ready. By April, we'll have 3 years living expenses in cash, to live on after I quit. DH is old enough to make withdrawals from his retirement savings, and so we'll have to decide if we'll take any from those, or from investments outside of retirement accounts, during the time after the cash runs out before we take SS. We'll have to study up on strategies to minimize taxes. Our retirement savings is pretty evenly distributed between the 2 of us, although he has a Roth in addition to his 401k, and I have a non-IRA brokerage account with dividend paying ETF's in addition to my 401K. With about 20% of his retirement savings in a Roth, and with a wife more than 10 years younger, I think his RMD should be less than our planned withdrawal each year once he's 70, so that works out nice.
Just wanted to introduce myself before I start posting in other threads. Looking forward to talking with you all, and learning from your insights.
We began looking for the right house to retire to years ago, and found it 3 years ago when the market was down. We had planned to retire in a couple years from now, and begin remodeling the home about a year before retiring (so we wouldn't have to live in the mess this time around). However, we were both part of a mass layoff last year at MegaCorp, and this changed our plans a bit. We had been saving for the total home remodel, but reallocated that money to 2 years living expenses. We sold our primary home. We went ahead and paid off the low interest mortgage on what is now our only residence, just for my peace of mind. Although we were both given term dates, DH has had his extended several times, as they continue to need him (he's telecommuting now, we're both software developers). We expect him to finally be let go in March. I found another j*b, although after 25 years, I'm burnt out -- like many folks my age. I'm also feeling pretty stressed out about the new job, although I don't want to spend a lot of time griping about specifics. Just want to keep my eye on the prize (money for home remodeling), and realize that if I really have to, I'll leave.
I'm pretty sure I've set my date to RE a year from now, in February, around when I turn 49. For now, I'm w*rking to pay for the home improvements as we do them, without using any savings for these expenses. Down deep, I think hubby doesn't like hearing all this talk of me retiring before 50, when he's worked to 64 (but he'll get over it once he's finally retired himself). We'll begin collecting DH's SS when he turns 70, in 6 years. That should cover about half of our living expenses. He also has a very small pension, $384 per month no COLA, that begins the end of this year. I've never had a company pension, and current job is at a small company that has no retirement plan to vest in at all, so I'm on my own and free to quit when I'm ready. By April, we'll have 3 years living expenses in cash, to live on after I quit. DH is old enough to make withdrawals from his retirement savings, and so we'll have to decide if we'll take any from those, or from investments outside of retirement accounts, during the time after the cash runs out before we take SS. We'll have to study up on strategies to minimize taxes. Our retirement savings is pretty evenly distributed between the 2 of us, although he has a Roth in addition to his 401k, and I have a non-IRA brokerage account with dividend paying ETF's in addition to my 401K. With about 20% of his retirement savings in a Roth, and with a wife more than 10 years younger, I think his RMD should be less than our planned withdrawal each year once he's 70, so that works out nice.
Just wanted to introduce myself before I start posting in other threads. Looking forward to talking with you all, and learning from your insights.