ChainsBeGone
Recycles dryer sheets
Hello all. I will retire on 1 June 2013 at the age of 48 after slightly over 26 years of military service in the Army. My wife has been a stay-at-home Mom for all but two months of our 20+ years of married life together. Our daughter is 23 and our son is 21.
I made my first IRA investment in June, 1987, after my first month’s paycheck. I still have the canceled check. I really thought I would make my fortune in the stock market and continued to invest regularly over the years. While market success has been ok, what I found out is that my most powerful tool to reach early retirement has been to do the best I could do with whatever job I was given. This has led to continued progression of increased responsibilities and promotions, to where I now find myself to be in a position where I could continue to work in what is now a very rewarding career financially. However, I’ve reached the point where we have enough, and if we continue to live a balanced lifestyle (all things in moderation), then we should always have enough. I now want the freedom of choice, to choose where I live and to live near family rather than to continue to call home wherever the Army sends us. I’m grateful for my time in service, but it is time to step away and start a new life.
We purchased our retirement home and will move into it when we retire. My MIL will live with us in retirement. She is drawing SS and is in her late 60’s. With the exception of our mortgage, we are debt free, and have been debt free for about 10 years. We did buy more house than most would think we need, but after a career of always living and settling in a home we were told to live in, or one we found quickly because it was good enough, we finally bought a home that met the dreams of my wife and myself. If we had wanted to pay cash for a house, then we would have had to work an extra 2-4 years or deplete our taxable savings beyond an acceptable level. Here is the breakdown of our projected retirement expenses by percentage, given our personal circumstances:
Survivor benefit: $4,908 (6.5%)
Fed Tax $6,200 (8.21%)
State tax $2,214 (2.93%)
Mortgage PITI $20,400 (27.02%)
Home upkeep $2,400 (3.18%)
Utilities – gas/water/electric/sewer/trash $2,988 (3.96%)
Phone/Internet/cable $124 (1.97%)
Auto ins/maint/deprec/fuel $6,600 (8.74%)
Medical/Dental $2,400 (3.18%)
Groceries $6,000 (7.95%)
Dining/entertainment $3,600 (4.77%)
Continuing education $2,400 (3.18%)
Activities/Hobbies $2,400 (3.18%)
Fun/Travel $7,000 (9.27%)
Misc/other $4,504 (9.27%)
Total $75,504 (100%)
The survivor benefit provides 55% of my retirement income to my wife if I die. My healthcare is Tricare for Life, the cost of which is very inexpensive. I will also have most of my family healthcare provided in a military treatment facility which decreases costs even more. I’m supplementing this with life insurance to pay off the mortgage in the event of my death. Once I reach 59 ½, I can pay off the house if we chose to do so. One of the ironies of financial planning is that the first decade of my career saw most of my savings go towards tax deferred accounts and it wasn’t until the last 10 years of my career did I wake up to the fact that if I wanted to retire early then I needed a sizeable sum in a taxable account. We've enough savings in taxable accounts to supplement income when needed to pay for big ticket items (car replacement, roof, HVAC, etc.,). Son's college is paid through post 9/11 GI Bill, daughter is on her own (mostly).
I’m currently going through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), which focuses on resume preparation for career transitions. I’m finding it very difficult to contemplate a follow-on career, but want to be prepared in case I find/discover that I need to seek another job. My preference is to follow the “Life of Riley,” to borrow the phrase from the Joy of Not Working book that many here have recommended.
The median income of our neighborhood is 73K.
I’ve followed this forum for several years, and posted only seldom, but I figured now that I’m committed to a FIRED lifestyle that I should post and dive in and start to contribute to a community that has already given much to me. You all don’t know it, but you have sustained me through many inner-conflicts of indecision, and have reinforced my desire to pursue an uncommon future. Thanks.
I made my first IRA investment in June, 1987, after my first month’s paycheck. I still have the canceled check. I really thought I would make my fortune in the stock market and continued to invest regularly over the years. While market success has been ok, what I found out is that my most powerful tool to reach early retirement has been to do the best I could do with whatever job I was given. This has led to continued progression of increased responsibilities and promotions, to where I now find myself to be in a position where I could continue to work in what is now a very rewarding career financially. However, I’ve reached the point where we have enough, and if we continue to live a balanced lifestyle (all things in moderation), then we should always have enough. I now want the freedom of choice, to choose where I live and to live near family rather than to continue to call home wherever the Army sends us. I’m grateful for my time in service, but it is time to step away and start a new life.
We purchased our retirement home and will move into it when we retire. My MIL will live with us in retirement. She is drawing SS and is in her late 60’s. With the exception of our mortgage, we are debt free, and have been debt free for about 10 years. We did buy more house than most would think we need, but after a career of always living and settling in a home we were told to live in, or one we found quickly because it was good enough, we finally bought a home that met the dreams of my wife and myself. If we had wanted to pay cash for a house, then we would have had to work an extra 2-4 years or deplete our taxable savings beyond an acceptable level. Here is the breakdown of our projected retirement expenses by percentage, given our personal circumstances:
Survivor benefit: $4,908 (6.5%)
Fed Tax $6,200 (8.21%)
State tax $2,214 (2.93%)
Mortgage PITI $20,400 (27.02%)
Home upkeep $2,400 (3.18%)
Utilities – gas/water/electric/sewer/trash $2,988 (3.96%)
Phone/Internet/cable $124 (1.97%)
Auto ins/maint/deprec/fuel $6,600 (8.74%)
Medical/Dental $2,400 (3.18%)
Groceries $6,000 (7.95%)
Dining/entertainment $3,600 (4.77%)
Continuing education $2,400 (3.18%)
Activities/Hobbies $2,400 (3.18%)
Fun/Travel $7,000 (9.27%)
Misc/other $4,504 (9.27%)
Total $75,504 (100%)
The survivor benefit provides 55% of my retirement income to my wife if I die. My healthcare is Tricare for Life, the cost of which is very inexpensive. I will also have most of my family healthcare provided in a military treatment facility which decreases costs even more. I’m supplementing this with life insurance to pay off the mortgage in the event of my death. Once I reach 59 ½, I can pay off the house if we chose to do so. One of the ironies of financial planning is that the first decade of my career saw most of my savings go towards tax deferred accounts and it wasn’t until the last 10 years of my career did I wake up to the fact that if I wanted to retire early then I needed a sizeable sum in a taxable account. We've enough savings in taxable accounts to supplement income when needed to pay for big ticket items (car replacement, roof, HVAC, etc.,). Son's college is paid through post 9/11 GI Bill, daughter is on her own (mostly).
I’m currently going through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), which focuses on resume preparation for career transitions. I’m finding it very difficult to contemplate a follow-on career, but want to be prepared in case I find/discover that I need to seek another job. My preference is to follow the “Life of Riley,” to borrow the phrase from the Joy of Not Working book that many here have recommended.
The median income of our neighborhood is 73K.
I’ve followed this forum for several years, and posted only seldom, but I figured now that I’m committed to a FIRED lifestyle that I should post and dive in and start to contribute to a community that has already given much to me. You all don’t know it, but you have sustained me through many inner-conflicts of indecision, and have reinforced my desire to pursue an uncommon future. Thanks.
(I guess I should have titled this thread "Will FIRE on 1 June 2013.." not "FIRED on 1 June..."). I've been through all the transition assistance programs to include the resume writing classes for Federal and civilian resumes. I sat through the classes but couldn't bring myself to actually develop a real resume. Now, by Federal mandate as of this month, all separating military personnel must have a completed resume before being allowed to separate. So, I guess I will create one afterall even though I have no motivation for it.
