Just turned 43 and want to work 4-6 more years.

[Jmo1969]

My story is this: happily married with 3 young ones. I have 1.8mm saved in cash and investments (401k + investment accounts) plus I own my home (it's a condo) and I own another apartment that is rented that costs me about 200 dollars a month. The equity in the rental is about 300,000 and my home is worth 1.8mm. College is not funded. I think I spend about 200k a year minimum. But I'm not sure and would love any suggestions on budgeting apps. I make between 400 and 700+ a year and try to save every penny I can after funding private school and family vacations (about 150-200+ a year). My plan is to sell the rental apartment when the kids go to school and eventually by another place and rent my current apartment as it should clear 5-6k a month after taxes and association fees. The only problem I see is that I am spending a ton of money every month and I really don't see that changing to much until my kids are out of college. Fire calc says I can do it now. But if this is a new normal as Bill Gross says (2-3%) stock market returns for the next 10 years I think I will be short. If I spend 200 a year how much is enough?

 

[haha]

My story is this: happily married with 3 young ones. I have 1.8mm saved in cash and investments (401k + investment accounts) plus I own my home (it's a condo) and I own another apartment that is rented that costs me about 200 dollars a month. The equity in the rental is about 300,000 and my home is worth 1.8mm. College is not funded. I think I spend about 200k a year minimum. But I'm not sure and would love any suggestions on budgeting apps. I make between 400 and 700+ a year and try to save every penny I can after funding private school and family vacations (about 150-200+ a year). My plan is to sell the rental apartment when the kids go to school and eventually by another place and rent my current apartment as it should clear 5-6k a month after taxes and association fees. The only problem I see is that I am spending a ton of money every month and I really don't see that changing to much until my kids are out of college. Fire calc says I can do it now. But if this is a new normal as Bill Gross says (2-3%) stock market returns for the next 10 years I think I will be short. If I spend 200 a year how much is enough?

Unless you liquidate the RE and live a very different life you will fall short.

I guess you live in NYC?

Ha

 

[BigE]

Welcome Jmo 1969. I'm six years your senior with quite a few similarities except we have managed to keep spending to a dull roar. My wife and I are worried that our kids will develop a sense of entitlement if we artificially create an environment of affluence for them...because in the end, they have to make their own way in this world. So for us, it's public schools and public universities for all three kids. And taking advice from others on this site, my wife and I have scaled back on spending and are beginnig to track expenses more diligently. You have done very well for your age but there are 3 things that stand out in your post that seem like obstacles to the plan to ER in 4-6 years: the lack of college funding, healthcare costs and the 200k lifestyle. Lot of good ideas and recommendations on this site. Good luck.

 

[jon-nyc]

Hi jmo - I'm a year older than you and in the same tax bracket. In 2007 I started tracking my expenses - not budgeting, just tracking. Call it the budgetary version of the Hawthorne effect or whatever, I found that merely tracking them caused me to reduce them pretty dramatically. Like I was embarrassed to enter such large numbers in the spreadsheet.

My spending dropped from 220k to about 120k in just a couple of years (though paying off the mortgage helped with that!) I'll be FIREing this year before my 45th birthday.



Anyway welcome to the board.

 

[heeyy_joe]

A lot can happen in 4-6 years. When I was your age I had a similar goal to retired at 50. Then DW got sick and couldn't work. Plans change based on circumstance. Make more than one set of plans, review annually. Things will come clearer, what is revealed along your path will help you with your decisions. On a side note - did you see the recent article that suggests children get better grades in college when they pay for their own education?

 

[Jmo1969]

I plan to use the equity in my rental to pay for the children's school. Is that stupid? I kind of like real estate as an investment better than the stock market. I also plan to sell or rent my current condo. It is beachfront in a nice town an should clear 6k in today's dollars after expenses. I hope to get spending under control initially to about 120k then hopefully 75k in about 15 years from today...

 

[Gatordoc50]

I plan to use the equity in my rental to pay for the children's school. Is that stupid? I kind of like real estate as an investment better than the stock market. I also plan to sell or rent my current condo. It is beachfront in a nice town an should clear 6k in today's dollars after expenses. I hope to get spending under control initially to about 120k then hopefully 75k in about 15 years from today...

You may want to consider having the kids take out loans even if you plan on paying it eventually. Especially if they are going to private schools and or grad schools. Let's say they rack up 250k in debt. There are programs sponsored by the government that allow for basically paying back 50 cents on the dollar.

 

[Gatordoc50]

You may want to consider having the kids take out loans even if you plan on paying it eventually. Especially if they are going to private schools and or grad schools. Let's say they rack up 250k in debt. There are programs sponsored by the government that allow for basically paying back 50 cents on the dollar.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/feds-new-student-loan-rep_n_2258230.html

Here is some info. You can guestimate their indebtedness and earning potential to see if it works for you.