Hi -
My story isn't short; you've been warned!
Brief summary of our current finances
--2 homes (one is a "cabin" in northern MN). Both have mortgages, but the cabin will be sold next summer and has ~$100k in equity, after real estate fees. We intend to keep our main home for a while longer. Main home has about $170k in equity.
--we have $470k in savings right now - the vast majority is mutual funds & ETFs.
--we have $998,500 in 401k's and $18k in Roth IRAs - with again, the vast majority being in mutual funds & ETFs. We don't have a lot in Bonds.
Expenses
--when you remove cabin-related expenses, it's about $56k/year (including mortgage, property taxes, etc). We do not have an expensive day to day lifestyle (ie - one of our cars is 9.5 years old and the other is 6), though we do travel a lot for people with FT jobs. We do not have kids, but we do have a dog-child that eats whatever fits in his mouth (3/4 bar of Lever 2000, beeswax pellets, chocolate, etc).
Work Exit Strategy
--I intend to engineer a lay-off for myself; our company has them frequently, and we usually have one during 4th quarter. That's the one I'm eyeing up.
If I'm successful, I'd get a severance worth $85k (pre-taxes). If I'm extra lucky, I'll also get a portion of my annual bonus (it's something they've done the past few years)...could equal another $20-25k (pre-taxes). This additional money isn't included in the previous savings number.
--My husband will continue to work until about this time next summer, and his income is able to meet our expense needs on two homes until we sell the cabin (we're not positive how long it will take to sell - it could be a while).
Retirement Lifestyle
--For the next 3 - 5 years (until we get sick of it or the dog dies), we plan to split time between an RV and our primary residence, traveling the US and Canada. We will purchase the RV and truck to pull it using the equity from the cabin. I've done a lot of research and believe our expenses will increase during the split RV/home time to $66k average for both. EDIT TO ADD: After RV-time, our expenses are budgeted to drop slightly to low $60's, plus what we get back from selling the RV would be added back into the taxable portfolio...right now, assuming we'll spend $100k and get $60-70k back after 3 - 4 years.
--We originally planned to rent out our main home and go full time in the RV for a few years, but my dad was very recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer. Plans were adjusted.
--We are not opposed to side hustles during retirement, or coming back to work in a number of years, but they won't be the all-encompassing jobs we have now (he's an engineering project manager, I'm a program lead focused on strategy, communications, and business operations). After traveling for a while, I'd love to work with small businesses or non-profits in some capacity. I've toyed with the idea of giving seminars through community programs as well. We have lots of ideas, but all I know is they won't be for The Man anymore!
And that's it! We haven't told anyone of our plans, and probably won't until October. We can't tell my family because of my dad's cancer; it's really thrown my parents for a loop. They spend a lot of time at the cabin (it's 2,500 sq ft with 210 ft of lakeshore - fully equipped), and they even have one room that they furnished (plus they have a boat they keep up there, they help keep things maintained - so they have a small sense of ownership even if they don't actually own it). We want to wait until we see how dad responds to chemo and surgery in the fall so we don't add extra stress and uncertainty during this time. We also don't want them to think we're selling it because he has cancer - we had decided to go down this path and were going to tell them within days of his emergency surgery and cancer diagnosis. Terrible disease, and with bad timing here too.
It also means we can't tell my husband's family because we can't risk my parents finding out our plans from anyone besides us.
So I'm telling all of you - I think we're financially ready (and flexible and skilled enough that if we need/want to work again in the future, we can). I've been with my company 20 years as of next month, but this corporate stuff feels so very meaningless right now. We were already ready, and now I'm extra ready.
If all goes well, in about 6 months, it will be my last day!
My story isn't short; you've been warned!
Brief summary of our current finances
--2 homes (one is a "cabin" in northern MN). Both have mortgages, but the cabin will be sold next summer and has ~$100k in equity, after real estate fees. We intend to keep our main home for a while longer. Main home has about $170k in equity.
--we have $470k in savings right now - the vast majority is mutual funds & ETFs.
--we have $998,500 in 401k's and $18k in Roth IRAs - with again, the vast majority being in mutual funds & ETFs. We don't have a lot in Bonds.
Expenses
--when you remove cabin-related expenses, it's about $56k/year (including mortgage, property taxes, etc). We do not have an expensive day to day lifestyle (ie - one of our cars is 9.5 years old and the other is 6), though we do travel a lot for people with FT jobs. We do not have kids, but we do have a dog-child that eats whatever fits in his mouth (3/4 bar of Lever 2000, beeswax pellets, chocolate, etc).
Work Exit Strategy
--I intend to engineer a lay-off for myself; our company has them frequently, and we usually have one during 4th quarter. That's the one I'm eyeing up.
If I'm successful, I'd get a severance worth $85k (pre-taxes). If I'm extra lucky, I'll also get a portion of my annual bonus (it's something they've done the past few years)...could equal another $20-25k (pre-taxes). This additional money isn't included in the previous savings number.--My husband will continue to work until about this time next summer, and his income is able to meet our expense needs on two homes until we sell the cabin (we're not positive how long it will take to sell - it could be a while).
Retirement Lifestyle
--For the next 3 - 5 years (until we get sick of it or the dog dies), we plan to split time between an RV and our primary residence, traveling the US and Canada. We will purchase the RV and truck to pull it using the equity from the cabin. I've done a lot of research and believe our expenses will increase during the split RV/home time to $66k average for both. EDIT TO ADD: After RV-time, our expenses are budgeted to drop slightly to low $60's, plus what we get back from selling the RV would be added back into the taxable portfolio...right now, assuming we'll spend $100k and get $60-70k back after 3 - 4 years.
--We originally planned to rent out our main home and go full time in the RV for a few years, but my dad was very recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer. Plans were adjusted.
--We are not opposed to side hustles during retirement, or coming back to work in a number of years, but they won't be the all-encompassing jobs we have now (he's an engineering project manager, I'm a program lead focused on strategy, communications, and business operations). After traveling for a while, I'd love to work with small businesses or non-profits in some capacity. I've toyed with the idea of giving seminars through community programs as well. We have lots of ideas, but all I know is they won't be for The Man anymore!
And that's it! We haven't told anyone of our plans, and probably won't until October. We can't tell my family because of my dad's cancer; it's really thrown my parents for a loop. They spend a lot of time at the cabin (it's 2,500 sq ft with 210 ft of lakeshore - fully equipped), and they even have one room that they furnished (plus they have a boat they keep up there, they help keep things maintained - so they have a small sense of ownership even if they don't actually own it). We want to wait until we see how dad responds to chemo and surgery in the fall so we don't add extra stress and uncertainty during this time. We also don't want them to think we're selling it because he has cancer - we had decided to go down this path and were going to tell them within days of his emergency surgery and cancer diagnosis. Terrible disease, and with bad timing here too.
It also means we can't tell my husband's family because we can't risk my parents finding out our plans from anyone besides us.
So I'm telling all of you - I think we're financially ready (and flexible and skilled enough that if we need/want to work again in the future, we can). I've been with my company 20 years as of next month, but this corporate stuff feels so very meaningless right now. We were already ready, and now I'm extra ready.
If all goes well, in about 6 months, it will be my last day!
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