Hi-Almost there...

[Medit8]

Hi. Been reading this board for about 3 years. Love it.

A bit about my situation: Married, 2 young kids. I'm 44, work in the finance industry, based in Asia. Will retire in 2 years (April 2009 to be exact). Don't hate my job, don't hate my boss. Just want to spend more time with my wife and kids, a luxury my parents never had and probably would have wanted.

Will have the equivalent of USD 2m at the time of retirement (barring a major global financial market collapse). 60% equities, with a mix of large cap, medium cap and emerging markets and 40% high yielding currencies and bonds. I reallocate based on personal observations and forecasts.

Plan on drawing 3% annually, which Firecalc says is safe for a long time. House, cars fully paid, insurance covered. Major expense is kids' education, as private school is probably a requirement. Will live in a fairly low cost location in Asia, so wife and I will not suffer (hopefully) for the next 15-20 years or so as we help the kids get educated.

I have plenty of interests beyond what I do, and titles and corporate positions have never and will never define me. I can't see myself getting bored.

That's about it. Just wanted to introduce myself. Love to hear from any of you if you believe I've missed or overlooked something.

[Easter99]

Hi there Medit8,

I am of similar situation as yours, 40, 2 kids, from Hong Kong also, planned to RE by 2008; but I think I will contiue investing/ trading before I am 60 (with lesser money of course when being that old) simply because I just love the game;

Hope to talk to you more.

[Medit8]

Hi Easter99. Thanks for responding. The "game" that you talk about, holds little if any appeal for me anymore. I have wanted to get to a financial level that would allow me to bow out gracefully for a very long time. Long before I had kids. I have been very fortunate in my life and I am very grateful to even contemplate being in this position at my age. My father has worked like a dog his entire life and retired a few years back in his mid-60's. He would have liked nothing better than doing what I plan in 2 years' time. Life is short. Enjoy it doing the things that matter.

[Easter99]

Medit, I guess I share some of your feelings, or perhaps you’re too tired; fighting for a position in the society when you are young, amassing wealth as hard as you can, taking care of the family (your father too), etc. All that just wear people out.

My wife and I used to be grass root, we started from scratch. We enjoy being with the family, free, independence; hate hierarchy, office politics, facing ugly side of human nature; you know what I mean.

I have a very rich friend (my same age) who is now managing his father’s family assets. We have talks and he knows my ER plan; He sort of envy me because he can’t get away with the responsibility of prospering the “Name of the Family”; We both have a dream of building/ developing good real estate (yes, we both are architects). But somehow he has to wait until 50 when he can acquire enough “personal wealth” to do it on his own (because his ideal will not be accepted by the broad of directors).

Sigh, everyone has his/her own difficulties no matter rich or not, right?

Can you tell me what will you do for leisure when you ERd?

[Medit8]

I golf (12 handicap), I play tennis, I hike, I love reading, I like managing my own investments, I love eating out with my wife, I love teaching my kids things, I love my garden and things we grow in it, I love travelling around the country we live in, I love travelling around countries we don't live in, I play the piano poorly, I want to learn how to play it well, I live near the beach, I intend to starting visiting it more, I don't nearly see my relatives enough as they live half-way around the world, I wan to remedy that. That's just for starters....

[Letj]

Medit, you're on the right track, way to go!! Many of us have exactly those dreams but are not as fortunate at such a young age as you are even despite the same deligence at savings and living below our means. It's very heart warming to see people who can pull the plug so early and focus on the most important things in life (IMHO).

[Sam]

Congratulations, Medit.

Where is your "fairly low cost location" in Asia? 60K annual expenses (3% of 2MM) isn't exactly low unless you're in Japan, Seoul, or Singapore.

[Medit8]

Well Sam, with private schools going for about USD 15,000 per annum per kid, all is relative. That's a fairly consistent rate across the continent.

[Easter99]

Besides regular school fee, kids may also have some extracurricula activities to attend. My friend told me yesterday: He paid for nearly US$800 pm just for the training courses to his daughter like tennis, swimming, painting, etc. Kids these day are so lucky.

[lightspeed]

Medit8, I hope you stay active in this forum. I'm in a similar situation, financially and with 2 young kids too, except I'm 3 years behind you (I'm 41) with a goal for ER in about 5 years, so I'll be very interested in your experience in transitioning to ER. Good luck. Sounds like you've got a good plan.

[Medit8]

Hey Lightspeed,

I plan on sticking around. Great support group here. Best of luck with your plans. I was fortunate enough to take an exended leave recently, so I know what works and doesn't work for me. Boredom was definitely not one of the issues I faced. It was more an initial feeling of guilt at having so much time on my hands to do what I wanted. It waned quickly though, and when I did get back to the grind, it took me 3 months to feel "normal" again. I can't wait to get back to feeling "guilty".