Looking for some reassurance

[Ready2Go]

I joined the forum a couple years back, intending to retire at 60. Then, I decided 58 (2023). Now, I made a New Year's resolution to myself that I was going to retire and/or change jobs this calendar year. DW & I will both be 55. I'll spare the details but it's the usual...Megacorp has become a major slog...management changes, reorgs, etc. Also, had a couple of acquaintances pass away in the last year that were roughly my age.

So, here are the numbers...assuming I hang it up on 12/31/20. Firecalc gives me 100%, but I'm a Firecalc novice. These are combined...where appropriate...with DW.

Projected retirement nestegg - $1.9 mil (includes my $500k pension lump sum) Approx 10% is Roth...the rest is pre-tax.
Soc Sec - $44k (conservative annual estimate for both...beginning in 2027)
Pension (DW) - $43k per year beginning in 2021. ($18k of this is COLA beginning in 2027.
Debt - $0

Annual burn - $127,500 (gross) . This is the FAT number. Could trim 15-20% without much pain.

TIA!

 

[Chuckanut]

DW & I will both be 55. I'll spare the details but it's the usual...Megacorp has become a major slog...management changes, reorgs, etc. Also, had a couple of acquaintances pass away in the last year that were roughly my age.

+1

There is something about 55.... A former coworker told me about several friends of hers who all passed away or developed life changing illnesses at 55. I have had the same experience myself with friends and family. My sibling was diagnosed with cancer at 55 and passed away at 56. A neighbor had a massive coronary at 55 and had to abandon his early retirement plans for travel and good times. He must always be near a very good heart hospital.

I don't mean to scare you. I made it through the 50's fine, though the 60's have tossed a few unexpected zingers at me. They have or are being dealt with with no major changes in life plans.

Here is my favorite cartoon from this site. IMHO, Truer words were never spoken, or carved on stone:

 

[Ready2Go]

@Chuckanut...I watched someone waste away from cancer over a year's time as well. Member of a club that I'm belong to.

My Dad retired at 58 and although he died at 73, his life was effectively over at around 70. He sure was glad that he got out when he did!

I also love that cartoon.

One of my favorite sayings is..."No one on their deathbed ever says: 'I wish I spent more time at the office!'"

 

[eastnortheast]

@Ready2Go, I was in a similar situation - figuring I would retire at 62 -65. Things changed, work become more of a slog, a good friend my age passed away, and I realized that I did not need to replace my salary, only my expenses.

Retired 2 years ago at 53 and have not looked back.

The comic above is so true to life. Also, the saying, "you can't add time to the end of your retirement, only to the beginning".

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

@Ready2Go, I was in a similar situation - figuring I would retire at 62 -65. Things changed, work become more of a slog, a good friend my age passed away, and I realized that I did not need to replace my salary, only my expenses.

Retired 2 years ago at 53 and have not looked back.

The comic above is so true to life. Also, the saying, "you can't add time to the end of your retirement, only to the beginning".

I think your statement about not needing to replace your salary just your expenses is an important distinction. Often when we retire, work related expenses go away and we are not putting money into SS anymore from our paychecks,etc. We are not saving for retirement anymore because we have already done that, well hopefully we have, so that all makes an impact.


The bottom line is we may not need what we were spending before and what we need to live on can get adjusted downwards, not always, but it's very possible it could.

 

[perez99]

Not an expert, but seems that the challenge is how to fund the period between retirement and being able to access pre-tax money. Expenditures minus pension leaves significant gap to cover.

 

[Harrald]

When we realized that FICA and my commute added up to a 5 digit number, FIRE became even more manageable. I had always heard friends say they could make more when they retired. I realized I could make less because I didn't need to spend as much.

 

[pb4uski]

I joined the forum a couple years back, intending to retire at 60. Then, I decided 58 (2023). Now, I made a New Year's resolution to myself that I was going to retire and/or change jobs this calendar year. DW & I will both be 55. I'll spare the details but it's the usual...Megacorp has become a major slog...management changes, reorgs, etc. Also, had a couple of acquaintances pass away in the last year that were roughly my age.

So, here are the numbers...assuming I hang it up on 12/31/20. Firecalc gives me 100%, but I'm a Firecalc novice. These are combined...where appropriate...with DW.

Projected retirement nestegg - $1.9 mil (includes my $500k pension lump sum) Approx 10% is Roth...the rest is pre-tax.
Soc Sec - $44k (conservative annual estimate for both...beginning in 2027)
Pension (DW) - $43k per year beginning in 2021. ($18k of this is COLA beginning in 2027.
Debt - $0

Annual burn - $127,500 (gross) . This is the FAT number. Could trim 15-20% without much pain.

TIA!

You should not include your $500k pension lump sum in your assets and your $43k pension income... include either one or the other, but not both.

Also, can you access your retirment savings without penalty?

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

You should not include your $500k pension lump sum in your assets and your $43k pension income... include either one or the other, but not both.

Also, can you access your retirment savings without penalty?

Isn't the 500K HIS pension lump sum and the 43K HIS WIFE'S Pension income?

-BB

 

[mistermike40]

You should not include your $500k pension lump sum in your assets and your $43k pension income... include either one or the other, but not both...

I think the pension is his wife's.

 

[WyomingLife]

I joined the forum a couple years back, intending to retire at 60. Then, I decided 58 (2023). Now, I made a New Year's resolution to myself that I was going to retire and/or change jobs this calendar year. DW & I will both be 55. I'll spare the details but it's the usual...Megacorp has become a major slog...management changes, reorgs, etc. Also, had a couple of acquaintances pass away in the last year that were roughly my age.

So, here are the numbers...assuming I hang it up on 12/31/20. Firecalc gives me 100%, but I'm a Firecalc novice. These are combined...where appropriate...with DW.

Projected retirement nestegg - $1.9 mil (includes my $500k pension lump sum) Approx 10% is Roth...the rest is pre-tax.
Soc Sec - $44k (conservative annual estimate for both...beginning in 2027)
Pension (DW) - $43k per year beginning in 2021. ($18k of this is COLA beginning in 2027.
Debt - $0

Annual burn - $127,500 (gross) . This is the FAT number. Could trim 15-20% without much pain.

TIA!

Congratulations; very exciting.

You are debt free and have flexible spending, at least somewhat as to the latter. So to roughly paraphrase a JL Collins transcription of a modified movie scene, you "have your base covered."

It looks like you both intend to claim SS at 62. Have you assessed if that is the right approach in your situation?

Does your budget include ACA HC, or will HC be covered as part of a retirement package?

 

[Ready2Go]

You should not include your $500k pension lump sum in your assets and your $43k pension income... include either one or the other, but not both.

Also, can you access your retirment savings without penalty?

2 pensions. DW has the $43k. Mine is the $500k lump sum.

My 401k plan has the rule of 55...so I can access $800k.

 

[Ready2Go]

Congratulations; very exciting.

You are debt free and have flexible spending, at least somewhat as to the latter. So to roughly paraphrase a JL Collins transcription of a modified movie scene, you "have your base covered."

It looks like you both intend to claim SS at 62. Have you assessed if that is the right approach in your situation?

Does your budget include ACA HC, or will HC be covered as part of a retirement package?

Great questions!

I haven’t really weighed out SS sequence yet. For planning purposes, I have always assumed I would take it as soon as possible. I’ll have time to sort that out.

DW is state government, so healthcare at age 55 with her service is same as now and free until 65, then is free Medicare supplement.

 

[capjak]

I put your numbers in Firecalc at a 50/50 stock/bond allocation, 40 year retirement at 128,000 per year, 1.9 million plus SS, plus 25,000 pension non cola, plus 18,000 pension cola.

I got
"FIRECalc looked at the 109 possible 40 year periods in the available data, starting with a portfolio of $1,900,000 and spending your specified amounts each year thereafter.
Here is how your portfolio would have fared in each of the 109 cycles. The lowest and highest portfolio balance at the end of your retirement was $-248,707 to $13,374,721, with an average at the end of $3,491,820. (Note: this is looking at all the possible periods; values are in terms of the dollars as of the beginning of the retirement period for each cycle.)
For our purposes, failure means the portfolio was depleted before the end of the 40 years. FIRECalc found that 3 cycles failed, for a success rate of 97.2%."

So I would be comfortable retiring with that level of pensions/SS and nest egg and flexibility on budget, should not be an issue.