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Another newbie closing in on FIRE...
Hello folks!
I’m early/mid 50s, DW is early/mid 60s. Been targeting early (semi?) retirement for me for 20 some years due to the age difference, we want to do some travel while able. We’ve been practicing the LBYM lifestyle with high % savings for years. DW will be retiring come June, and I’ve been contemplating the best way for us to draw her two modest pensions given our situation. She will also be eligible for SS, though I expect we’ll delay to 70 unless things change. I’ve got SS and a modest pension as well. We both are subject to WEP/GPO. While any single one of them would look like pocket money, the total is enough to be a good base to work from, and we have assets in different accounts (taxable, IRA, and Roth) to draw on, which should allow for tax efficiency. I think of our retirement as a multi-legged stool, none of them very long, but losing one won’t have us tipping over. If a large reduction happens to one it will be modest compared to the total.
In the course of looking at the options for the pensions I did a big picture evaluation of where we stand. I’ve always been saving high %, and would equate it to pointing the ship in the right direction without knowing when we’d get there. Upon running the numbers, I find that we’re more or less FI, better than I expected. I would like to bump things up some to allow for more spending (travel and kids) and to be more comfortable on the health insurance front given the number of years I have to cover to Medicare as well as all the unknowns on the healthcare front. I’ve been transitioning my own work life the last few years with a hope of trading $$$ for time. If I can take 2-3 months off a year to do some trips, I’ll work longer. I’m not there yet, but trying to set it up. Even if I can’t get that, I anticipate working another 2-4 years to increase my own benefits as long as they’ll let me.
In the course of planning/evaluating, I happened on this site and have been lurking for awhile, along with the boglehead forum. I find both to have good information.
oldphd
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