New to the forum, but coming here feels like home.

[AginMS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigdawg Do you have the post 911 GI Bill? That was huge for us funding DS and DD for their undergrad. DD has 19 months left on my GI Bill to fund her MBA.

Yes, fortunately we do have the Post 9-11 GI Bill. We have it evenly allocated to both of my daughters. We haven't had to use any of it yet. Right now, it looks like if my oldest daughter continues to keep up the grades she needs for her tuition scholarship, we'll just plan on covering future room/board expenses out of pocket with some set aside UGMA money (not included in the $900K). Then, we can cover younger daughter's entire college with the the GI Bill (her grades aren't quite as high as her sisters so I'd be surprised if she got a big scholarship).

I'd like to get them started in the real-world debt-free with undergrad degrees and some form of transportation. Hopefully they will both take that opportunity and run with it.

If you don't mind my asking, how were you able to fund your DS and DD for their undergrad and still have 19 months remaining on the benefit?

If only there were a GI Bill for weddings! Both hopefully I won't have to worry about that for a while!

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AginMS Well, it has been a year since I started this post so I thought I would look back and update where we are. Still enjoying the forum, topics, and posters immensely. Thanks to an incredible 2017 market, and continued contributions to our TSP and 401, we have around $900K saved (6.5% Cash, 44.5% Roth, 18% TSP, 5% 401K, 26% Taxable). We are heavy in stocks, we have almost no bonds. I justify this with my military pension and I think of it almost as a very safe bond fund. My oldest DD started college but choose to live at home this year. Fortunately she has a full scholarship for tuition so we were actually saving money this year over last when we were paying for her private HS. Next year she is looking to move to the main campus and live in the dorms so we'll need to budget for her room and board. My youngest is still in HS. DW took a job with another company with higher pay. This has allowed us to max out her 401K. The company match is better too, so between the two of us and employer matches we are saving around $46K in TSP and 401K. Unfortunately she doesn't enjoy the job as much as her last one, so we'll see what happens there. If we can get our cash savings up a bit more, I'd like to do a couple of backdoor ROTH's later this year. I've never done it before, but, we don't have any tIRAs, so it should be pretty straightforward to set up a non-dedutible IRA and avoid the IRA pro rata aggregation rules. Really looking forward to hitting the 2 comma milestone - hopefully by next year! Planning ER in 2028! Ten years to go...

Looks like everything's going to work out fine, AginMS. Let me know if you have any questions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AginMS If you don't mind my asking, how were you able to fund your DS and DD for their undergrad and still have 19 months remaining on the benefit?

Most vets are saving the GI Bill benefits for the expensive college credits. That's especially the case when their young adults are living at home while attending college, or starting with a couple years of community college, or pulling down a bunch of scholarships or work/study.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd FWIW we generally do not quote our dollar amounts when discussing personal financial matters. Keeping your cards close to the vest and using percentages is a better way to get your point across but not reveal your true numbers. For example you mat say "my pension is 80% of our fixed monthly costs" rather than $60K.

That's become a perpetual debate among personal-finance bloggers, with no clear consensus.

I'm guessing that MickeyD won't be joining this list:
https://directory.rockstarfinance.co...-worth-tracker

and I've taken an intermediate step of describing our net worth & spending in terms of the 4% SWR.
https://the-military-guide.com/hey-n...ows-net-worth/
Researchers in behavioral economics have demonstrated that humans suck at estimating exponential growth, especially in the early stages where the compounding is barely detectable. I'm concerned that people who are just starting their journey could be discouraged by the numbers of those who've already crossed the finish line. "Comparison is the thief of joy", but hopefully percentages will keep everyone motivated no matter their savings rates or lifestyles.

Some blog their net worth progress for accountability, while others do it for credibility. (I'm in that camp, for those skeptical servicemembers who insist that you can't live on a military pension.) Many of us are trying to make the point that the 4% SWR almost always leaves retirees with more money than they may actually need.

[cnocmmz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by euro Welcome, AginMS and congrats on your accomplishments (yes, you probably ARE behind some of the folks here, but you also are AHEAD of others. Especially with your well-earned pension (thanks for your service!). At the end of the day, it's less about the stash, and more about the burn rate. If you have a good grip on that, retirement planning becomes much easier.

Congrats CDR...you have done well sir...with the 60k pension and projected income life should be good. I would just make sure you have a strong grip of your outflow.
Like you, except I am 10 years your senior lol, my mil pension is about the same and with my wife’s pension and SS income stream is close to 85-90k net. Although, we only have about 850K invested and in cash... we are very fortunate [emoji4]. We plan on retiring either this Dec or next and spending 3 months overseas during the old months annually. Again, congrats and press on....You’ve earned it!
A Ret CMC

[AginMS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Researchers in behavioral economics have demonstrated that humans suck at estimating exponential growth, especially in the early stages where the compounding is barely detectable. I'm concerned that people who are just starting their journey could be discouraged by the numbers of those who've already crossed the finish line.

I would agree with the first part of this - for me it was very hard to see any actual compounding results early on. Part of that was simply not having a lot to invest early on, and then the tech bust and subsequent years just seemed to keep my net worth line very flat.

Looking back over my investment history and timeline, here's what I observed:
1992 started investing
2005 reached $100K (13 yrs)
2012 reached $200K (7 yrs)
2015 reached $400K (3 yrs) (Sept 2015)
2018 reached $800K (~2.3 yrs) (early Jan 2018)

So yes, although it took a while I am definitely seeing the magic of compounding now. Of course we are also saving much more now than we ever could have when we were younger.

As to the second part of of your statement I can't say I was personnaly discouraged by those who had crossed the finish line. I never followed any Early Retirement blogs of forums until recently (didn't know they existed). But, when I saw people retired I just thought, "Well, good for them, hopefully that will be me one day!"

[AginMS]

Master Chief,

Thanks for your kind words. Looks like you and your wife will have a great steady income stream of COLA'd pensions and SS, plus savings withdrawals. Curious if you plan to delay SS or take it at 62 (or some combination)?

Outflows and expenses are definitely THE question I need to answer between now and FIRE. But until the kids are independent, I'm not going to look at it too closely (although I have given it a rough estimate).

Best to you and your wife in retirement.
-AginMS

[cnocmmz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AginMS Master Chief, Thanks for your kind words. Looks like you and your wife will have a great steady income stream of COLA'd pensions and SS, plus savings withdrawals. Curious if you plan to delay SS or take it at 62 (or some combination)? Outflows and expenses are definitely THE question I need to answer between now and FIRE. But until the kids are independent, I'm not going to look at it too closely (although I have given it a rough estimate). Best to you and your wife in retirement. -AginMS

Well- thanks. WRT ss, tax issues dictate to me that I should wait; because with the new tax brackets we will be just under 77k (12%) my disability is not taxed which brings us to 88k however, once I hit 62 in 4 years I get my small 6k GS annual pension which will bring us over the 12% threashold to 22%. So, that is the challenge of taking SS? I do have small 50k Roth we could tap prior... Bottom line, looks like at 62, we will be at the 22% tax bracket....Not necessarily a bad thing lol...Take care👍😝

[AginMS]

Another year has gone by so I thought I would add to my story if for no other reason than to keep a mini personal diary of my journey to FIRE.

My wife received a 5.25% raise in February and I applied for and was accepted for a new position at work. While it is a promotion and small pay increase (which is primarily why I did it) it comes with a lot more work and some stress. On the other hand I'm making a bigger difference and there is increased job satisfaction. However, I still am left wondering if it was really worth it. I'm hoping the job becomes less busy/stressful as I gain more experience/knowledge in it.

My wife received a small inheritance this year due to her mother's passing. Both were unexpected.

Thanks to a strong start to the market this year, the inheritance, and continuing to max our 401K/TSPs w/employer matches, we passed the 2 comma club(!) and are at $1.15M with about 15% of that in cash. This is two years ahead of my original projections and gives us some room to stay at or ahead of projections when the market inevitably pulls back.

I think we now have too much in cash so this year I plan to start annual back-door Roth contributions for each of us. I need to read up on that process again.

I want to thank the moderators and daily contributors who help make this forum so special and useful. Although I rarely post, I enjoy lurking and reading the different perspectives of you fine folks.

-AginMS

[cnocmmz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AginMS Another year has gone by so I thought I would add to my story if for no other reason than to keep a mini personal diary of my journey to FIRE. My wife received a 5.25% raise in February and I applied for and was accepted for a new position at work. While it is a promotion and small pay increase (which is primarily why I did it) it comes with a lot more work and some stress. On the other hand I'm making a bigger difference and there is increased job satisfaction. However, I still am left wondering if it was really worth it. I'm hoping the job becomes less busy/stressful as I gain more experience/knowledge in it. My wife received a small inheritance this year due to her mother's passing. Both were unexpected. Thanks to a strong start to the market this year, the inheritance, and continuing to max our 401K/TSPs w/employer matches, we passed the 2 comma club(!) and are at $1.15M with about 15% of that in cash. This is two years ahead of my original projections and gives us some room to stay at or ahead of projections when the market inevitably pulls back. I think we now have too much in cash so this year I plan to start annual back-door Roth contributions for each of us. I need to read up on that process again. I want to thank the moderators and daily contributors who help make this forum so special and useful. Although I rarely post, I enjoy lurking and reading the different perspectives of you fine folks. -AginMS

Great to see your posting. About this time last year we posted about full retirement and taking SS. We decided that since my DW is six years older turning 66 next year (full SS) I should take mine at 62. I also decided to walk away July 1st 2020. With my disability dispute finally resolved after 15 years with the VA, after taxes that will give us about 110k until I take my SS at 62, then the fun begins. Investments and cash give us about 1.13M. With the pensions and SS not sure sure I will need to pull from investments until DW hits 70 in 4 years. Yep, life should be good....
CMC(ret) out!

[AginMS]

Wow, what a crazy 2020 (so far!)

Still, I wanted to continue to document (more for myself than anything else) my journey to early retirement. Mid-March had me more than a little concerned, but the recovery my portfolio has had since has been outstanding. I wonder if it will hold up the rest of the year.

Fortunately, DW's and my jobs were unaffected by the COVID-19 crisis and we continued to invest. In the latter part of 2019 we each did a backdoor ROTH by moving some of the excess cash we were holding into a taxable IRA then later shifting that into the ROTH accounts. We did this again during the dip in March timing it just right to take advantage of the low (got lucky for once). This year we also each turn 50, so we've increased our TSP/401K contributions to take advantage of catch-up contributions. We have manged to increase our investments to $75K/year including employer's matching contributions.

Currently we are at $1.4M with about 9% of that in cash. The rest is all in mutual funds invested in equities (9% Cash, 44% ROTH, 16% TSP, 9% 401K, 22% Taxable).

We plan to continue to use the cash each year to backdoor money into our ROTH accounts. BUT, lately we've been thinking about buying a new car in the next year or two, and maybe putting in a nice pool... so the cash may not live long enough to be fully invested. I've noticed whenever I think about how those purchases will drop our net worth, I talk myself out of it. I hope this doesn't happen when I retire - we want to be able to Blow that Dough!

Still planning at retiring at age 58 (class of 2028!). Would be ecstatic to have $2.7M at that time, but $2.3M is the 'number' I've settled on as enough. We are about two years ahead of our projections. I've been thinking it may be possible to move that date up a year to 2027. We'll see; I'm not telling DW or she will hold me to it regardless of the market!

Thanks again to all the moderators and contributors that keep this forum so special. I continue to enjoy reading and learning from other's experiences.

[AginMS]

Didn’t realize it’s been almost three years since my last update. Still on my personal journey to early retirement and making progress.
DW and I have been trying to live our best lives while still working, and as I look back over the past few years I think we have done just that. While COVID put a damper on 2020 and 2021 travel (like everyone else), I think we made up for it in 2022. We were able to go on several beach vacations, trips back to my alma mater to catch some football games, a vacation to the Dominican Republic, and a few other fun trips.

This year DW and I participated in a Run Disney event where we both ran a 10K on Saturday, and then a half-marathon on Sunday (although I think we logged more miles just walking around the parks after the runs!). We also drove up to Atlanta to test drive a prototype Ineos Grenadier 4x4. Very cool experience and an amazing vehicle if you like the old school, boxy, off-road type off-road SUVs (we do!). I imagine we’ll be purchasing one later this year once orders open up for US reservation holders.

Financially, DW and I are doing well. She accepted a new job which pays about 10% more than her old salary and it allows her to continue to remote work from home. Since COVID, I am back to work but only in the office 4 days a week. One Friday I remote work and the other Friday I’m off. I can utilize telework on other days when it makes sense, so overall my working life has become much more flexible.

We have continued to max out backdoor IRAs for each of us and have upped our investments to $100K/year including employer’s matching contributions.
Currently we are sitting around $1.9M (8% Cash, 35% Roth, 32% TSP & 401K, 25% Taxable). In early 2022 we hit the $2M milestone but that evaporated pretty quickly when the market crashed. First quarter 2023 was great, and I am optimistic we’ll see $2M again before the end of this year.
Early retirement is looking very doable early 2027 or possibly even early 2026. FIRECALC is giving me 100% with my projected numbers, I just need to continue to look at what our true expenses will be in retirement and I probably need to reduce my projected SS to see how that factors in. I started playing with Fidelity’s tax estimator to project taxes in retirement. I really like their calculator because it charts the different types of income and lets me visually see when I reach to top of the 12% marginal tax rate bracket so I can decide to pull additional money from my Roth or taxable accounts.

Once again, thanks to all the moderators and regular posters who always provide exceptional advice and things to consider. This forum has been an inspiration to me these past 6 years.

[Bigdawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AginMS If you don't mind my asking, how were you able to fund your DS and DD for their undergrad and still have 19 months remaining on the benefit?

Sorry for the late response. What's 4-5 years between online friends?

Our son signed a juniors hockey contract after he graduated HS. That year he went to community college (cheap) so we paid out of pocket. We used GI bill for his sophmore year and first half of his junior year. He then dropped out and enlisted in the Corps. He finished his degree with his own GI bill and tuition assistance. This left DW's GI bill and much of mine for our DD to use for undergrad and grad school. Her grad program at Trinity in Dublin Ireland was a one year accelerated so used less GI bill for that. I believe after everything was said and done I had 7 months of GI bill left over.

[AginMS]

Another year's gone by so thought I'd update my journey to retirement to keep myself accountable.

Last year, including employer's matches, we were able to invest around $114K. Investments included max'ing out DW's 401K and my TSP, fully funding our personal ROTH IRAs using the backdoor method (including catch up contributions for all of these), and the remainder went into our regular taxable mutual fund accounts.

Our investments and cash on hand total around $2.6M, with the following breakdown:
6% Cash
36% Roth
33% TSP and 401K
25% regular brokerage account

Big purchases this year will include buying a new vehicle and funding my DD1's wedding this summer.

DD2 graduates from college next month and then begins a one year Master's program. Fortunately my Post-911 GI bill will cover the majority of it, I have a savings account set aside that will cover the rest.

Our plan is still retirement in early 2027. I'll be 57 and DW will be 56. That should give us about a year and a half to really look hard at our true expenses without factoring in the kids.

I'm hoping to have $3M by the time we retire. Neither of us want to stay in our current location which inevitably means we'll move to a higher COLA area and into a more expensive home. Our current house is paid for, but depending on interest rates I may decide to carry a mortgage into retirement. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

All-in-all 2023 was a very good year for us.

[old medic]

Love reading a success story even if the last chapters arn't written yet.

[AZsniper]

Thanks for updating this. I love reading how people make goals and through some hard work, determination and careful planning, they achieve them.

Have you kept track of expenses in order to gauge what your spending would look like in retirement?

[pacergal]

Congratulations. It is always nice to have folks come back and give updates.

Looking/planning expenses "without the kids" works well....until the grand babies come along. Ask me how I know that one, lol. We just adjust our budget a bit differently!