56 from Iliinois

[Landolink]

Hi-I'm a 56 yr old male with a 52 yr old wife. Twins age 18 entering college and a 22 year old that recently graduated college.

My career background is I spent 30 years working at the CME. The past 5 years I have worked basically a blue collar job making $50k a year. Work and culture is brutal at my job but it gets me out of the house. My wife makes $35k a year and has excellent health insurance. She plans on working till 60 and will get a modest pension. Our financial situation is:

Net worth $4.8mln.
Home: $800k (paid off)
Portfolio $4 mln (50/50 allocation at Vangurd)
Expenses: 115k per year
Kids college is paid for and not included in these numbers.

I have worked since I was 12 and put myself thru college etc..My job is brutal but the idea and retiring at age 56 is something I can't imagine. When I left the CME, the only jobs I could find were FA jobs. I am a quiet guy who likes to work but is perhaps the worst job seeker.

Thx

[ivinsfan]

Did you have a question in there somewhere? if not, Welcome to the boards.. if you did have a question free to ask it. I'm not sure if you were asking if you are good to retire.

[NgineER]

Welcome to ER.org!

Based on your expenses and invested assets it doesn't seem like you have to work if you don't want to, your wife doesn't either, unless health care and taxes are not part of your expenses.

If you dislike your work, it seems as if you have enough buffer to find something you like to do and maybe be your own boss rather than work a blue collar job for someone else.

[Landolink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Did you have a question in there somewhere? if not, Welcome to the boards.. if you did have a question free to ask it. I'm not sure if you were asking if you are good to retire.

I don’t have a specific question. I know I probably have enough to retire but I guess I was looking for people that have had similar experience as me. I would like to find enjoyable work. 5 years ago I could not find it and then just took a job to get out of house and generate positive cash flow. I took today off work to think about things. Thx

[Landolink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NgineER Welcome to ER.org! Based on your expenses and invested assets it doesn't seem like you have to work if you don't want to, your wife doesn't either, unless health care and taxes are not part of your expenses. If you dislike your work, it seems as if you have enough buffer to find something you like to do and maybe be your own boss rather than work a blue collar job for someone else.

At least for me, finding something else to do is the hard part. Thx

[Bamaman]

Time to take up some hobbies.

We're into RV'ing and we have a boat. And we like to travel overseas too.

It's not enough to execute a long term retirement plan. You've got to get yourself ready with interests that make retirement enjoyable.

[upupandaway]

Welcome fellow Illinoisan! I have a good friend that gives out the wine samples at Binny's. He is a former Corporate Intellectual Property Attorney! I only mention this because with your financials you should find something you love doing. In my opinion your putting yourself through stress for no real reason. Do some soul searching and perhaps you can dial in on something you enjoy. This is a great group and they give good advice so ask away.

[Golden sunsets]

I'm sorry, what does CME stand for? My impression based on your impressive Investment portfolio, is you used to earn a lot more than your current salary. I think you're good to go now, based on a SWR of something like 3%. Coupled with a wife working until 60(is she OK with that?), to partially support your annual run rate including health care, and SS for both of you at some point, I'm not sure what the problem is. Have you run Firecalc.

[MichaelB]

Chicago Mercantile Exchange?

[Landolink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden sunsets I'm sorry, what does CME stand for? My impression based on your impressive Investment portfolio, is you used to earn a lot more than your current salary. I think you're good to go now, based on a SWR of something like 3%. Coupled with a wife working until 60(is she OK with that?), to partially support your annual run rate including health care, and SS for both of you at some point, I'm not sure what the problem is. Have you run Firecalc.

As someone stated Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Started working there in 1987. Had a nice run but really stopped making $$ in 2011. Being a 30 year Vanguard client certainly has helped my current financial situation.

Anyway, I guess the point of my post is I have run into a situation where the only job I could find is this $50k manual labor type job. It is what it is. I’m glad I did it but don’t think I can endure much more. Just tough to walk away when your 56 and have twins entering college. I’m blessed though that I have options. Thx

[QuinnB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landolink I’m glad I did it but don’t think I can endure much more. Just tough to walk away when your 56 and have twins entering college. I’m blessed though that I have options. Thx

You said college for your kids is already covered, so why worry about walking away now at age 56 with kids entering college?

May I suggest the real "problem" (if you can call it a problem), is that you have basically worked your entire life from a very young age. It is perhaps your "work ethic" that is bothering you. You could quit your current job which you say "you don't think you can endure much longer", and find some activity to satisfy your work ethic.

Financially, it seems more than fine for you to walk away from your current job.

[Al in Ohio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landolink Hi-I'm a 56 yr old male with a 52 yr old wife. Twins age 18 entering college and a 22 year old that recently graduated college. My career background is I spent 30 years working at the CME. The past 5 years I have worked basically a blue collar job making $50k a year. Work and culture is brutal at my job but it gets me out of the house. My wife makes $35k a year and has excellent health insurance. She plans on working till 60 and will get a modest pension. Our financial situation is: Net worth $4.8mln. Home: $800k (paid off) Portfolio $4 mln (50/50 allocation at Vangurd) Expenses: 115k per year Kids college is paid for and not included in these numbers. I have worked since I was 12 and put myself thru college etc..My job is brutal but the idea and retiring at age 56 is something I can't imagine. When I left the CME, the only jobs I could find were FA jobs. I am a quiet guy who likes to work but is perhaps the worst job seeker. Thx

[emoji122] [emoji122]

[RetiredHappy]

You should quit work and get a hobby. I was a workaholic and without a hobby for years. Work was my identity. In 2013, my husband told me that I needed to pick up golf as he had been golfing since he was a teen. We retired in 2016 and I never looked back at work. I now golf 4 to 5 days a week, lunch at the club and go home to relax a little before starting dinner. We also travel alot throughout the year, including golfing at the holiday destinations.

[ImThinkin2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landolink Hi-I'm a 56 yr old male with a 52 yr old wife. Twins age 18 entering college and a 22 year old that recently graduated college. My career background is I spent 30 years working at the CME. The past 5 years I have worked basically a blue collar job making $50k a year. Work and culture is brutal at my job but it gets me out of the house. My wife makes $35k a year and has excellent health insurance. She plans on working till 60 and will get a modest pension. Our financial situation is: Net worth $4.8mln. Home: $800k (paid off) Portfolio $4 mln (50/50 allocation at Vangurd) Expenses: 115k per year Kids college is paid for and not included in these numbers. I have worked since I was 12 and put myself thru college etc..My job is brutal but the idea and retiring at age 56 is something I can't imagine. When I left the CME, the only jobs I could find were FA jobs. I am a quiet guy who likes to work but is perhaps the worst job seeker. Thx

We lived in the suburbs north of Chicago for about 10 years. Nice place to live. Our house's prior owner was a bond trader - he traded the 30 year Treasury. Small world!

Welcome to the forum. It will be interesting to see what you end up doing. I like the suggestion about wine samples at Binny's! Creative solution!!

[Ronstar]

Welcome! At 56, definitely time to quit the brutal job. Lots of things to do out there that are not brutal.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Welcome! At 56, definitely time to quit the brutal job. Lots of things to do out there that are not brutal.

+1

[Cassius King]

Congrats! You won the game. Time to enjoy life.

I was just in Chicago last week. Perhaps you could quit your job and open another Pequod's location as I couldn't get in the Clyburn one during our trip, lol.

[pacergal]

Welcome and congratulations on your savings/investments.
There is a link in the forums:
Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community > Community Forums > Early Retirement FAQs
Some Important Questions to Answer Before Asking - Can I Retire?
which will help you answer some basic questions.

There is a book by Ernie Zelinski "How to Retire Wild, Happy and Free" which has a "get a life tree" exercise. It is a great for looking at what you might want to do or be interested in pursuing in retirement. It's a start

[Landolink]

Thx for all the replies. It’s nice to hear that I should make a change. Glad to join this community. The change won’t happen immediately, but it will happen soon. I will have my wife read this thread to get the discussion going. [emoji106]

[rodi]

Welcome Landolink - as others have said, it seems you're working because you want to, not because you need the paycheck.... Which is fine. I would start looking around for something different to do... A new job? go back to school and study something that interests you? Find a volunteer activity that interests you? Take up a hobby? The world is your oyster - no need to stay in a job that is 'brutal'.