1-31-18
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2017
- Messages
- 173
So I've been lurking here for a while, absorbing wisdom, occasionally wondering "Why didn't I think of that?" Then I remember that, regardless of the context, "we" always know more than "I" do.
I've worked hard for 35 years, not counting 21 years of education, uninterrupted by anything longer than two one-week vacations a year (and an occasional honeymoon, ha!). I could have retired 10 years ago at age 50 but for two divorces that together cost about $5 million, not counting 29 years of support for those two women while married to me.
Because of hard work and despite my divorces, my hard-working, age-appropriate third wife and I have:
$7 million-plus in financial assets, all of it earned, mostly cash that will be DCA'd into public common equity, preferred stock, a CD ladder; this will probably grow to $7.5 million in present value by retirement date, but could shrink due to a stock market correction;
No pensions but the family maximum of SS benefits in due course;
A condo worth about $600K, fully paid;
Group health care, which I will need for 5 years, DW for 7; and
More "stuff" than I ever wanted or even imagined possible, currently held in 3 storage facilities in 2 states at a cost of about $5K a year. I am keen to get rid of it all, and that is Job #1 upon my retirement (except that I can't drink the wine in storage fast enough). Plainly these goods (excluding wine and art) are liabilities, not assets.
Can we retire? I figure: Yes, we can, because the condo costs less than $30K a year to maintain (including taxes), we are down to one car, we need no goods and indeed will be better off with much less, our favorite recreations are free or nearly free, our parents are dead (we are orphans), and the only "children" in our lives are now in their 30s and are conventionally successful. It is inconceivable to me that we could not get by on $200K a year, even in the big city where we live. But we are frugal and modest and could easily move to a small town to save money if we came to feel financial pressure.
How would you allocate the $7 million-plus in financial assets to generate the optimal return? I'm tempted to put up to $5 million in preferred, high-yield debt and high-dividend stocks -- that should generate $200K right there -- and the remainder in growth stocks.
My thought about SS is to use the benefits to pay for uninsured health care (beyond Medicare) in old age.
We have charitable legacies in prospect but would be willing to forego those and spend it all if need be.
We want to spend virtually the entire first year of retirement on road trips in the NE, SE, Great Lakes Region and West of the US. Year two would be slow travel throughout Europe, mostly. Airbnb and the like would suit us just fine.
Any thoughts about this?
I've worked hard for 35 years, not counting 21 years of education, uninterrupted by anything longer than two one-week vacations a year (and an occasional honeymoon, ha!). I could have retired 10 years ago at age 50 but for two divorces that together cost about $5 million, not counting 29 years of support for those two women while married to me.
Because of hard work and despite my divorces, my hard-working, age-appropriate third wife and I have:
$7 million-plus in financial assets, all of it earned, mostly cash that will be DCA'd into public common equity, preferred stock, a CD ladder; this will probably grow to $7.5 million in present value by retirement date, but could shrink due to a stock market correction;
No pensions but the family maximum of SS benefits in due course;
A condo worth about $600K, fully paid;
Group health care, which I will need for 5 years, DW for 7; and
More "stuff" than I ever wanted or even imagined possible, currently held in 3 storage facilities in 2 states at a cost of about $5K a year. I am keen to get rid of it all, and that is Job #1 upon my retirement (except that I can't drink the wine in storage fast enough). Plainly these goods (excluding wine and art) are liabilities, not assets.
Can we retire? I figure: Yes, we can, because the condo costs less than $30K a year to maintain (including taxes), we are down to one car, we need no goods and indeed will be better off with much less, our favorite recreations are free or nearly free, our parents are dead (we are orphans), and the only "children" in our lives are now in their 30s and are conventionally successful. It is inconceivable to me that we could not get by on $200K a year, even in the big city where we live. But we are frugal and modest and could easily move to a small town to save money if we came to feel financial pressure.
How would you allocate the $7 million-plus in financial assets to generate the optimal return? I'm tempted to put up to $5 million in preferred, high-yield debt and high-dividend stocks -- that should generate $200K right there -- and the remainder in growth stocks.
My thought about SS is to use the benefits to pay for uninsured health care (beyond Medicare) in old age.
We have charitable legacies in prospect but would be willing to forego those and spend it all if need be.
We want to spend virtually the entire first year of retirement on road trips in the NE, SE, Great Lakes Region and West of the US. Year two would be slow travel throughout Europe, mostly. Airbnb and the like would suit us just fine.
Any thoughts about this?