is it enough

[spark0506]

Hi, I'm new to this but here goes. I'm a small business owner for over 20 years and I'm closing in on 50 yrs old. My wife and I work together and we live well within our means. We are tired and are thinking of getting out and living a much more enjoyable life. We own our home and have no debt. Business value of 1.1 to 1.4mm, cash 300-350k, stocks and 401k at 200k. I'm thinking we can cash out of the bus., see what life is all about, and maybe get to smell the coffee just a little bit. Anyone else been down this path that is willing to share some experiences?

[REWahoo]

Hello spark and welcome to the forum.

To answer your question, it depends...

- You say you live well below your means, but what annual income do you need to live the way you want to live in retirement? Once you have that number, run it through FIRECalc http://www.fireseeker.com/ and see what it tells you.

- The other big "depend" is health care. What are your plans to secure health insurance until you and your spouse qualify for Medicare?

Looking at your total assets, no mortgage and a reasonable living expenses, I'd say you are very likely well within coffee sniffing territory.

[2B]

Welcome to the Forum.

You are probably well past FIRE from a cash standpoint. You could start to sell that business and get ready to party. I do have one suggestion and that is to read a number of books on early retirement. Check the bottom of the page and you should see a link to Amazon for a recent book by one of the Forum participants. It's a good overview of the whole process.

Understand what you are doing/trying to accomplish and how it's going to flow. Understand what constitutes a "diversified portfolio" and how to tend and ignore it.

Good luck.

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Spark,

If your numbers for the business value hold true I'd guess you are there, financially.

Read some of the more relevant old threads here, maybe Stein and Demuth's book for a healthy dose of paranoia (scarey cause it's convincing). They can save you some mistakes.

My friends who have sold small business have ranged from ecstatic that they got twice what the business was worth, to those who had to liquidate due a lack of reasonable buyers. Only you know your business and it's market, but I wonder whether you should let that baby hatch before putting the final nail in the work coffin.

[spark0506]

Rich,

Thanks for the comments. Could you explain a bit what you mean by "let that baby hatch"?

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spark0506 Thanks for the comments. Could you explain a bit what you mean by "let that baby hatch"?

Sorry. What I meant was that while you assume that your business will fetch 1.1 to 1.4 mm, suppose to your surprise it only fetches .8 million and that the fees and expenses come to 6-8%, and there are gains taxes or something that only leave you with .65 million. Would you still be comfortable retiring?

I guess I was just wondering how tied in your decision was to getting a certain sale price which may or may not happen. Might be nice to have that done before you decide to stop working.

We had a piece of property on a lake in Wisconsin which had appreciated by about 20% we figured. We put it on the market expecting a nice price. The next day was September 11. THE September 11.

We felt lucky to sell it at a 5% gain a month later. Stuff happens.