Should I call myself retired...? Should I be?

[mikes425]

Hey, I'm Mike. I can't believe I'm 60 y/o but allegedly I am. I've worked since I was about 17, getting a full-time radio job as an announcer while still in HS, going on to media management roles as a commercial copywriter, producer and for over 4 decades, a self-employed voiceover actor. I've grown tired of the grind of this business. What once was a fairly exclusive niche has become an insanely overpopulated field...mainly because for some inexplicable and dumbfounding reason a lot of my 'peers' thought it was a great idea to encourage as many people as possible to discover, and 'break into' this business. What did/do they not get about how that increases their competition? If anyone here is in this business, I'd be glad to chat about this -but I digress. Just sharing some perspective on why lately I have had less drive/desire to pursue marketing and promotion like I used to. The 'work of getting the work' has just become drudgery to me.

Anyway, I started investing in the 80s and I guess by being patient I have managed to accumulate about a 1.94M (give or take 200k depending on the market) - mostly fund-based, 60/40 (bond/equity) portfolio. I've worked with an hourly-rate advisor a few times a year for about 10 yrs, have no debt, own a house that'd probably fetch about 140k, and have a frugal lifestyle. (I drive a 2003 car and am anxious about shelling out 20k for a 'new used' Caddy that I like). I have a partner of about 35 yrs who has a small pension from a union and might add abt. 200k to the pie. If I do absolutely nothing from this point forward I suppose I'd be ok... My S.S. estimate would be about 1900/mo. at 62.

Am I ready to retire? Kind of, yeah. Can I? Well, I'm open to your thoughts, and appreciate your feedback!

Thanks!

Mike

 

[njhowie]

You're more than ready. Time to enjoy your success.

Congrats!

 

[Dtail]

What are your expenses?

 

[Vacation4us]

How much do you usually spend a year? If you only need 70 to 80k a year your golden. What about healthcare costs until your 65?

 

[mikes425]

How much do you usually spend a year? If you only need 70 to 80k a year your golden. What about healthcare costs until your 65?

Hi, I was guessing per the earlier question on that, conservatively as low as 40k a year in spending. I am in good health, no issues and keep up a running/exercise routine.

I've been hanging on to a performer's union healthcare plan that is pretty decent PPO coverage with a rather high deductible and it runs about 550/month. Figure another 150-200 on top of that for misc. out of pocket stuff.

Once I run out of angles to keep that plan, I'll be in "the Marketplace" so I'd expect the premium cost to rise by at least what, 200-300/month? Ideally my goal for the next few years anyway would be to land some similarly low-cost PPO type of plan if I exit the union insurance. Union keeps raising the income eligibility level to favor only the highest earners and squeeze out the lower-income dues-payers... There are ways to keep my eligibility going for this plan for at least another year or two - plus the COBRA option. Have to re-evaluate whether it is still actually worth playing games to keep it vs what else I might be able to find but for self-employers the field is pretty limited last I checked.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[mikes425]

What are your expenses?

Hi and thanks, guess my first reply didn't get posted so here's take two...
Expenses pretty conservative by a lot of estimates. In good health, insurance/medical, maybe 8k/year. No mortgage or property payments,
Biggest recent expense was a new roof for 13k and long overdue for some home
improvement spending but unknown on that for now. As far as day to day and
monthly expenses...I have a typical tab of anywhere from 3 to 5k/month - just guesstimating... haven't done a hard analysis of that recently. So I'm figuring as low as 45k/year in overall expenses in recent years. I know i should probably get more 'definitive' about this and calculate this out but I'm guesstimating less than 50k/year in expenses. COLA is fairly low in this area, and as I say, I'm rather frugal and not very extravagant in my spending.

 

[robnplunder]

Am I ready to retire? Kind of, yeah. Can I? Well, I'm open to your thoughts, and appreciate your feedback!

Step 1) Go to firecalc.com and plug in your numbers.
Step 2) See step 1.

 

[mikes425]

Step 1) Go to firecalc.com and plug in your numbers.
Step 2) See step 1.

Thanks, been a while since I had done that.

It does remind me that by a lot of folks' standards, I went far too conservative with my portfolio allocation having shifted into an overly defensive mode earlier than I should have, in hindsight. (2009, increased bond/FI allocation to 55-60%)
Fixed Income remains at about 60% mostly in short/med. duration bond funds.

I still can't break the desire to take my equity allocation closer to at least 50% - as, again, many seem to think for my age I should still be signficantly higher than 40% stocks to FI.

That said though, based on the best approximation of the fixed income portion in the calculator, (if it is accurate enough) the projections appear pretty good for a 30 year timeframe, figuring spending of 55k/year, and based on a portfolio amt of 1.7M, which i deliberately set lower for a hypothetical starting point.

 

[robnplunder]

I still can't break the desire to take my equity allocation closer to at least 50% - as, again, many seem to think for my age I should still be signficantly higher than 40% stocks to FI.

30 years a long time to go too low on stocks.

 

[Dtail]

Hi and thanks, guess my first reply didn't get posted so here's take two...
Expenses pretty conservative by a lot of estimates. In good health, insurance/medical, maybe 8k/year. No mortgage or property payments,
Biggest recent expense was a new roof for 13k and long overdue for some home
improvement spending but unknown on that for now. As far as day to day and
monthly expenses...I have a typical tab of anywhere from 3 to 5k/month - just guesstimating... haven't done a hard analysis of that recently. So I'm figuring as low as 45k/year in overall expenses in recent years. I know i should probably get more 'definitive' about this and calculate this out but I'm guesstimating less than 50k/year in expenses. COLA is fairly low in this area, and as I say, I'm rather frugal and not very extravagant in my spending.

Your WR% is lower than 3%, so you should be good with Firecalc and all calculators even with a 40% stock allocation.
Have you specifically reviewed the Healthcare Exchange for true medical expense premium and OOP expenses?
Are you able to manage your MAGI for ACA tax subsidies?

 

[HadEnuff]

Financially ready? yes.

As far as walking away from the work, you say you are tired of the grind of finding the work, but you don't say you are tired of the actual work. Have you given any thought to the idea of just slowing way down on the promotion work, and doing the work that comes your way without the marketing, or with minimal marketing?

 

[Midpack]

Financially ready? yes.

As far as walking away from the work, you say you are tired of the grind of finding the work, but you don't say you are tired of the actual work. Have you given any thought to the idea of just slowing way down on the promotion work, and doing the work that comes your way without the marketing, or with minimal marketing?

Only you (OP) can answer the second question.

Just because you reach FI (can afford to retire according to calculations), doesn’t mean you should retire. You’ll probably be retired for 20-40 years, so you can never know what your returns will be, or what your expenses will be. Every one of us has to decide:

• What we really expect to spend, try it out for at least a year before you retire
• Income sources and withdrawal rate/probability of success that allow YOU to sleep at night. A 3-4% WR suits many here but some people are fine with a 5% WR, others need 2% or less to be comfortable- there’s no universal right answer.
• When you have something better to do than work, and even a paycheck doesn’t give you pause - you want to have something to retire to, not just a past routine you’re giving up.

 

[mikes425]

Your WR% is lower than 3%, so you should be good with Firecalc and all calculators even with a 40% stock allocation.
Have you specifically reviewed the Healthcare Exchange for true medical expense premium and OOP expenses?
Are you able to manage your MAGI for ACA tax subsidies?

I have to take another look at Exchange options and maybe on forums like this, find other resources for lower premium plan ideas out there...
I would certainly look at creative ways to show a MAGI that qualifies for ACA subsidies. Thanks

 

[mikes425]

Only you (OP) can answer the second question.

Just because you reach FI ( according to calculations), doesn’t mean you should retire....you can never know what your returns will be, or what your expenses will be. Every one of us has to decide:

• What we really expect to spend,
  
• Income sources and withdrawal rate/probability of success that allow YOU to sleep at night. ..
• When you have something better to do than work, and even a paycheck doesn’t give you pause - you want to have something to retire to, not just a past routine you’re giving up.

Hi, thanks for the questions. If I changed my attitude to overcome my recent lack-of-work ethic (maybe with a good therapist or motivational coach I would have no problem with getting 'back into it.' It confounds me tho, why some who by all accounts and indications have achieved "enough" - still can't stop working - often just as hard or harder - as if they are defined by their job.

I have issues with staying motivated. Disorganization, information-overload, A.D.D, and sheer laziness are all real factors. Some at my young age might think I need to overcome this and get 'back in the game.'

Once I started reflecting on the idea that I probably don't "have to" keep working so hard to survive, I started slacking off. In my business it's all on "you" to be your own boss, your own producer and director, manager etc.

Do I like what I do and am I really good at it? Could I be a lot more successful if I worked harder at it, Yes, and I've been a prolific marketer with proven results in the past. IOW I 'know' what needs to be done. It's the whole 'doing it' thing that I'm stalling out on; ) Some form of passive aggressiveness? Not sure.

My ambition still gets in my head when I see others around my age or older pounding away at it harder than ever, and social media-humble-bragging about how "it's not really work because I just love it so much." While some peers will respond with an "Amen to That!" - my reaction tends to be, A) no, actually, love it or not, it IS still Work. And B) why are you compelled to still keep driving so hard at it. At a certain point, what IS the point?

 

[MBAustin]

Welcome, Mike! If you haven't found them already, we have a helpful list of things to think about before you make the leap:

Some Important Questions to Answer

Many of us got the encouragement to RE from the members here so we hope you'll find it useful.

 

[Dtail]

I have to take another look at Exchange options and maybe on forums like this, find other resources for lower premium plan ideas out there...
I would certainly look at creative ways to show a MAGI that qualifies for ACA subsidies. Thanks

When you are ready, fire away in this forum for ACA information and creative ways to manage MAGI.
Many folks on this forum including me are managing MAGI for ACA purposes.

 

[mikes425]

OP, Reviving this thread, first to say thanks for your replies. My Business initiative
and spirits have not picked up too much and I am still more focused on ER than anything. What has strangely been bugging me a lot is the hindsight of being only 40% equities for as long as I have and recognizing how that throttled my growth and returns. To that end I am still inclined to increase the percentage closer to 50%.

Cash flow from work income has been substantially lower YTD and the prospect of drawing upon dividends vs reinvesting them is looming larger. That said I am still inclined to add to equity for Growth in the portfolio.

I would post an itemized list of holdings and percentages as they currently stand in my Tax-deferred and Taxable accts here for some thoughts on how and where I might consider some reallocation, but not sure if this is the venue for that.

Currently hovering around 1.92m in combined portfolio assets. External cash
at only about 18k, so unless I begin rededicating to some form of work, I can
see where I may have no choice to begin transferring out monthly dividend
income for cash flow.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[target2019]

I would post an itemized list of holdings and percentages as they currently stand in my Tax-deferred and Taxable accts here for some thoughts on how and where I might consider some reallocation, but not sure if this is the venue for that.

Currently hovering around 1.92m in combined portfolio assets. External cash
at only about 18k, so unless I begin rededicating to some form of work, I can
see where I may have no choice to begin transferring out monthly dividend
income for cash flow.

If you post the link to your shared portfolio at M*, that would probably be sufficient.

I mentioned in your other thread that consolidation will help. You have about 35-40 positions in mutuals, etc.

M* says your E/R is .75, so I'd like to point out the possibility of consolidating high expense funds into low expense ETFs or funds. You may be able to re-capture .50 of expenses. That will be quite a bit of money over the next 10-20 years.

Good fortune to you.

 

[mikes425]

If you post the link to your shared portfolio at M*, that would probably be sufficient.
I mentioned in your other thread that consolidation will help. You have about 35-40 positions in mutuals, etc.

M* says your E/R is .75, so I'd like to point out the possibility of consolidating high expense funds into low expense ETFs or funds. You may be able to re-capture .50 of expenses. That will be quite a bit of money over the next 10-20 years. Good fortune to you.

Thanks! I figured out how to share the M* Portfolio!

http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/PortfolioSharing/SharedPortfolioSnapshot.aspx?q=A132E5B793CE92E647A7DE7310D506E0

 

[mikes425]

Linking M* Portfolio

Here is the portfolio link...







Mike All Assets

 

[mikes425]

Replying to include Portfolio link for comments

If you post the link to your shared portfolio at M*, that would probably be sufficient.

I mentioned in your other thread that consolidation will help. You have about 35-40 positions in mutuals, etc.

M* says your E/R is .75, so I'd like to point out the possibility of consolidating high expense funds into low expense ETFs or funds. You may be able to re-capture .50 of expenses. That will be quite a bit of money over the next 10-20 years.

Good fortune to you.

Hi, i wasn't sure if i should start a new thread but in any event per your suggestion linked my updated portfolio holdings from M* - It is a view that consolidates tax-deferred (2 accounts) and Taxable in one view, so part of the reason there are as many positions as shown is the fact that there are three different brokerage accounts reflected/represented. Probably should have explained that originally. Anyway, would welcome any thoughts on the current allocation! Much appreciated, Mike

 

[target2019]

Hi, i wasn't sure if i should start a new thread but in any event per your suggestion linked my updated portfolio holdings from M* - It is a view that consolidates tax-deferred (2 accounts) and Taxable in one view, so part of the reason there are as many positions as shown is the fact that there are three different brokerage accounts reflected/represented. Probably should have explained that originally. Anyway, would welcome any thoughts on the current allocation! Much appreciated, Mike

Are all three accounts managed by FA? What is annual fee percentage paid to FA?
Since this forum has a majority of DIY investors, you'll get similar advice as from Bogleheads or M*. You have three investing spaces (what I call them) and more than 35 investments. 2-3 investments per space will get the job done. Since you're paying for advice with FA, what advice are you looking for here?
As I mentioned, simplifying while getting free of high expense funds will put more of the returns in your pocket.

 

[mikes425]

Are all three accounts managed by FA? What is annual fee percentage paid to FA?
Since this forum has a majority of DIY investors, you'll get similar advice as from Bogleheads or M*. You have three investing spaces (what I call them) and more than 35 investments. 2-3 investments per space will get the job done. Since you're paying for advice with FA, what advice are you looking for here?
As I mentioned, simplifying while getting free of high expense funds will put more of the returns in your pocket.

The three accounts are managed in collaboration with the FA whom I just review things with a few times a year, entirely hourly-basis...no commission/fee attached. I just wanted to clarify that when you point out '35 investments' that they are not all in the same account, but that is the cumulative total that exists across three different accounts. There are holdings that are in tax-deferred but not taxable account for a strategic reason. I get the simplification to modify ER but I guess I don't see .75 % overall as necessarily extreme -again in part given that i have no AUM expense in working with an hourly advisor for a fraction of what that cost would be.

 

[target2019]

Your first sentence says to me that you meet a few times a year with your FA and do not pay a commission or fee. But it also may be that you pay hourly. Whatever you call the payment, it is part of your expense ratio.
Most discussions like this one, at E-r.org, eventually contain one reference to expected real return of 4% for typical investor. If that is true, continuing with your expenses of . 75 means you give up about 19% of real return each year.

 

[aja8888]

What caught my attention about your portfolio is this:

1-Yr Return 0.67%