Hi, I'm Mike and I can't stand going to work ...

[green night]

Here's my story.

38, wife, 3 kids.

$80K of equity on a 425K house.

Retirement accounts = $350K

I have $180K in deferred compensation. Basically when i leave my company, I receive this over 10 years. It grows in a risk free manner .... roughly 2-3% based on short term govt bonds.

I have another $250K in general stock holdings. A little bit of everythings ... apple, large dividend payers .... roughly a beta of 1 or a little less.

Tied to a rural area of michigan. Some family concerns that ties the family to the area.

My plan was to retire at 45. Between now and 45 .... save roughly $85k/ year. Continue to contribute to the deferred compensation. Use the $700K to pull $85K / year from 45 - 55.

At 55, begin drawing down my general holdings.... should be at $490K.

At 59 1/2, begin tapping the 401K.... should be at $1.4MM based on 6% growth.

Have $50K for college for the kids.... put in $10K per year.

Salary roughly $150K, plus options and bonus (not a given). Wife could teach but is staying home, helping the kids get to sports and all that.....

That was my plan ... but I realize as of late, I hate working. I think I'm burnt out ... basically went from my full time mba to working at the company i'm at now. Been there 13 yrs and never had more than 1 week off at a time. Was a manager of a large facility ... stressful! Now managing a project. I have a great boss but just can't stand going in.

I think I have a great resume. Mostly in the operations area. I would like to do something part time. Corporate training maybe? Something that I can do 1/2 time. Summers off would be great. Would love to teach at a community college or junior college. However, I can't find any openings at all.

Any advice? Thoughts?

TIA ... love the site. Thanks for your help!

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Just an aside re: your 457 deferred comp. If your employer is in the private sector, that deferred comp could disappear if the company implodes, unlike protected funds in a government/hospital type 457.

I decided to accelerate my 457 distributions as much as sound tax planning permits in part for that reason (to get it diversified and out of harm's way).

 

[aaronc879]

Considering your substantial mortgage and 3 kids, I think you may need to stay where you are for a few years. How old are the kids?

 

[Amethyst]

Whenever I can't stand going in to work, I ask myself: If I were unemployed, how envious would I be of someone else who managed to land my job and is now getting my pay and benefits, while I get far, far less or even nothing?

This has gotten me through some extremely stressful periods because my answer is always, "Envious!" I know how unlikely it is that I could get something better, and we do need the money. If somebody had left us millions, my answer would be different.

Amethyst

Here's my story.

38, wife, 3 kids.

$80K of equity on a 425K house.

Retirement accounts = $350K

I have $180K in deferred compensation. Basically when i leave my company, I receive this over 10 years. It grows in a risk free manner .... roughly 2-3% based on short term govt bonds.

I have another $250K in general stock holdings. A little bit of everythings ... apple, large dividend payers .... roughly a beta of 1 or a little less.

Tied to a rural area of michigan. Some family concerns that ties the family to the area.

My plan was to retire at 45. Between now and 45 .... save roughly $85k/ year. Continue to contribute to the deferred compensation. Use the $700K to pull $85K / year from 45 - 55.

At 55, begin drawing down my general holdings.... should be at $490K.

At 59 1/2, begin tapping the 401K.... should be at $1.4MM based on 6% growth.

Have $50K for college for the kids.... put in $10K per year.

Salary roughly $150K, plus options and bonus (not a given). Wife could teach but is staying home, helping the kids get to sports and all that.....

That was my plan ... but I realize as of late, I hate working. I think I'm burnt out ... basically went from my full time mba to working at the company i'm at now. Been there 13 yrs and never had more than 1 week off at a time. Was a manager of a large facility ... stressful! Now managing a project. I have a great boss but just can't stand going in.

I think I have a great resume. Mostly in the operations area. I would like to do something part time. Corporate training maybe? Something that I can do 1/2 time. Summers off would be great. Would love to teach at a community college or junior college. However, I can't find any openings at all.

Any advice? Thoughts?

TIA ... love the site. Thanks for your help!

 

[green night]

Just an aside re: your 457 deferred comp. If your employer is in the private sector, that deferred comp could disappear if the company implodes, unlike protected funds in a government/hospital type 457.

I decided to accelerate my 457 distributions as much as sound tax planning permits in part for that reason (to get it diversified and out of harm's way).

Yes ... a little risky. I work for a private, large CPG company. I think it's very safe but it is a risk. Thanks!!

 

[green night]

Considering your substantial mortgage and 3 kids, I think you may need to stay where you are for a few years. How old are the kids?

Oldest 12 and youngest is 5.

 

[green night]

Whenever I can't stand going in to work, I ask myself: If I were unemployed, how envious would I be of someone else who managed to land my job and is now getting my pay and benefits, while I get far, far less or even nothing?

This has gotten me through some extremely stressful periods because my answer is always, "Envious!" I know how unlikely it is that I could get something better, and we do need the money. If somebody had left us millions, my answer would be different.

Amethyst

That's a good way to look at it. Very true ... great advice!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Your original plan to RE at 45 to me looks wonderful--but a lot of things would have to fall in place for you to leave now and work part time. And even if they did, would you be happier? I think the part time community college jobs pay poorly, even if they were available. In other words, you could find yourself out of the frying pan....

If you really hate your job now, can you look into other opportunities within your company? Alan, one of our members, took a less stressful job in the same company for the last few years of his career and it worked out well for him.

Is your wife keeping her teaching credentials up to date? There might be part-time opportunities for her that might help move the RE date up a couple of years, and that would let her still be there for the little ones.

 

[Nords]

Welcome to the board, Mike.

Hey, mods, maybe we need to update this post:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/read-this-before-you-introduce-yourself-27621.html
It seems like 9 out of 10 new posters focus on their assets and their asset allocations without ever appearing to look at their spending or FIRECalc.

I propose something like this:

"How do I get started on ER?"
1. Track your spending.
2. Use your spending to develop a current budget and to forecast an ER budget.
3. Save as aggressively as you can. The vast majority of ERs are superior savers, not brilliant investors.
4. Develop an investment policy statement and decide what asset allocation you're comfortable with. (This may also include alternative investments like rental property, commodities, and REITs.) Choose conservative rates of return (see the last half of #3). Refer to the wiki at Bogleheads.org for more details on these subjects.
5. Run FIRECalc scenarios to determine an acceptable combination of ER spending, assets, asset allocation, and remaining years of work.

 

[Lisa99]

Excellent recommendation Nords.

Until I found this site we were humming along quite merrily with Ameriprise. After finding this site and the Blogleheads forum I did exactly what you've just outlined.

Lo and behold in less than 8 weeks we've now left Ameriprise, have a written investment policy, have a defined asset allocation, have run Firecalc scenarios and know that we can retire on September 1, 2016 (I'll be 55, hubby will be 51). Nine weeks ago I had no clue that we could retire early much less what Firecalc is. (BTW, we were able to cut the process short because we've been using Quicken for years and know to the penny what we spend).

So, it is recommended that new posters do a bit of homework before asking questions. If they do it will make our responses much more meaningful.

 

[TooFrugal]

If your employer is in the private sector, that deferred comp could disappear if the company implodes, unlike protected funds in a government/hospital type 457.

That jumped out at me when I read the OPs into, too. If the company tanks, deferred compensation people aren't exactly at the front of the line legally when it comes time to try to get your money back.

Anyway, welcome Mike. It sounds like overall you are doing very well at living below your means.

However, I can't find any openings at all.

Can you do consulting or have you thought of starting a small business on the side?

Another though is that there are many online classes these days. Maybe if you can't find a job teaching locally you could be an online teacher.

Have you and your wife considered her going back to work so you could do something less intense, even if it meant lower pay?

 

[green night]

That jumped out at me when I read the OPs into, too. If the company tanks, deferred compensation people aren't exactly at the front of the line legally when it comes time to try to get your money back.

Anyway, welcome Mike. It sounds like overall you are doing very well at living below your means.



Can you do consulting or have you thought of starting a small business on the side?

Another though is that there are many online classes these days. Maybe if you can't find a job teaching locally you could be an online teacher.

Have you and your wife considered her going back to work so you could do something less intense, even if it meant lower pay?

I thought about consulting but I'm not sure how to find available work. I would have to go through a 3rd party.

Yes, my wife is open to going back to work at some point. I'm especially focused on her working from an insurance perspective from 45 - 55.

Thanks!