Greetings from rural north Iowa.
I have been visiting this site for quite some time, picking up valuable advice and living vicariously through the RE adventures of others.
Am hoping that folks can review my RE plan and let me know if it makes sense and if you feel there are any changes that I can make to better my chances of success.
About myself:
Currently 54, DW is 54. Plan on RE the end of 2020 at the age of 56. DW doesn’t work outside the home.
2 grown children, both through college and successfully launched and self supporting with no student loan debt.
I do enjoy my work, although after 30+ years I am finding that I have other things that I’d like to do with my remaining years, such as travel, volunteer coach, walking/hiking, and just doing what I want to do when I want to do it. DW is fully on board with my RE.
Current assets:
House is paid for
Cars are paid for
Will have a non COLA pension of $47,000/yr, spousal survivor benefit at 100%
$200,000 in high quality dividend paying stocks that reliably pay out $8,000/yr
Plan on taking SS at 65 @ 16,000/yr and spouse SS @ $8000/yr
$200,000 in 401K, fixed rate account
$100,000 CD that will mature a few months prior to RE
$100,000 in taxable target date (2030) mutual fund
$20,000 traditional IRA in index fund
$50,000 Roth IRA in index fund
$50,000 in assorted money market accounts, etc.
I have calculated our budget to be $55,000/yr which includes local/state/fed taxes and out of pocket medical expenses. This budget could easily be reduced by $10,000/yr if need be.
So far so good….income equals expenses.
I will qualify for a year of paid family health insurance through my employer once I retire. We plan to move to an ACA plan after that, so that will be 8 years on ACA. Subsidies at current levels should make that very low cost, if not free. However, I have calculated 8 years of full health care cost into a few Firecalc scenarios and those still come back at 100% success rate.
We are not counting on receiving our currently quoted SS payouts, but figure worst case scenario these would be $10,000/yr and $5,000/yr each. Still 100% success per Firecalc.
We do not have long term care insurance. However, the more I look into that, the more I’m convinced that isn’t a viable product for most people. Guess we are rolling the dice there.
I understand that by having a non-COLA pension, my buying power will erode over time, but we have cash in hand to cover any shortfalls or unexpected expenses until SS and Medicare kick in.
Am guessing that once we get into our later 70s, our spending will probably slow down anyway (if our health remains good)
Also, there is no promise that our traditional dividend paying darlings will continue to pay at their current rate.
I also understand that the ACA structure may change significantly with little warning. Hopefully I’ve sufficiently considered the consequences of that.
Our goal isn’t to leave our kids millions each, but rather to help them out here and there and enjoy our retirement and not have to worry about making ends meet or becoming a burden to our children.
So, there it is……what glaringly obvious things am I missing?
I have been visiting this site for quite some time, picking up valuable advice and living vicariously through the RE adventures of others.
Am hoping that folks can review my RE plan and let me know if it makes sense and if you feel there are any changes that I can make to better my chances of success.
About myself:
Currently 54, DW is 54. Plan on RE the end of 2020 at the age of 56. DW doesn’t work outside the home.
2 grown children, both through college and successfully launched and self supporting with no student loan debt.
I do enjoy my work, although after 30+ years I am finding that I have other things that I’d like to do with my remaining years, such as travel, volunteer coach, walking/hiking, and just doing what I want to do when I want to do it. DW is fully on board with my RE.
Current assets:
House is paid for
Cars are paid for
Will have a non COLA pension of $47,000/yr, spousal survivor benefit at 100%
$200,000 in high quality dividend paying stocks that reliably pay out $8,000/yr
Plan on taking SS at 65 @ 16,000/yr and spouse SS @ $8000/yr
$200,000 in 401K, fixed rate account
$100,000 CD that will mature a few months prior to RE
$100,000 in taxable target date (2030) mutual fund
$20,000 traditional IRA in index fund
$50,000 Roth IRA in index fund
$50,000 in assorted money market accounts, etc.
I have calculated our budget to be $55,000/yr which includes local/state/fed taxes and out of pocket medical expenses. This budget could easily be reduced by $10,000/yr if need be.
So far so good….income equals expenses.
I will qualify for a year of paid family health insurance through my employer once I retire. We plan to move to an ACA plan after that, so that will be 8 years on ACA. Subsidies at current levels should make that very low cost, if not free. However, I have calculated 8 years of full health care cost into a few Firecalc scenarios and those still come back at 100% success rate.
We are not counting on receiving our currently quoted SS payouts, but figure worst case scenario these would be $10,000/yr and $5,000/yr each. Still 100% success per Firecalc.
We do not have long term care insurance. However, the more I look into that, the more I’m convinced that isn’t a viable product for most people. Guess we are rolling the dice there.
I understand that by having a non-COLA pension, my buying power will erode over time, but we have cash in hand to cover any shortfalls or unexpected expenses until SS and Medicare kick in.
Am guessing that once we get into our later 70s, our spending will probably slow down anyway (if our health remains good)
Also, there is no promise that our traditional dividend paying darlings will continue to pay at their current rate.
I also understand that the ACA structure may change significantly with little warning. Hopefully I’ve sufficiently considered the consequences of that.
Our goal isn’t to leave our kids millions each, but rather to help them out here and there and enjoy our retirement and not have to worry about making ends meet or becoming a burden to our children.
So, there it is……what glaringly obvious things am I missing?
