Thanks for all of the responses. This is a great forum, and I definitely have a lot to learn from you guys, if I want to get to where I (and my wife need to be).
Here's the situation.
1. My wife (32 currently) is in a non-profit organization that doesn't have a retirement package, but we do contribute the max of $4000 for her IRA.
2. I am able to max out the $15.5K (on my 401K) and the $4000 for my IRA. I am also able to get about $7500 a year in the company match my firm doles out. So, I'm planning to work at my current position (~160K/salary now) til I'm about 50-52 (if all goes well).
So that gets us to a little over $200K in our retirements assets (currently) of which we're about 85% or so in stocks. It was more than that until the recent hiccup in the market.
3. We have invested in real estate (somewhat successfully I guess). We own 2 properties (one of which we rent out with no mortgage). The place we currently live in as a large mortgage left which I've discussed below. Property is quite expensive where I live.
I've played around with the calculator, and I definitely need to be more careful in terms of tracking my expenses as I've been a little careless there. I will probably need about 60-70K/year in retirement for some of the goals that I want to pursue.
What I am thinking about now is our "escape" fund(s), in order to reach retirement age really early, of which I have next to nothing. These would be the taxable accounts obviously, which could bridge the gap when I'm in my 50's until I reach 65. So what do I do? Do I pay off my expensive mortgage quickly (over 400K left), or do I go aggressively and start putting stuff into taxable mutual funds with the "extra" money in my paycheck?
I have about $10K in my company stock, but feel I need to get rolling in order to have a nice reserve (say 700K outside of retirement), that I can live on til I hit the normal retirement age.
Is this wise to think like this?