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Trying to figure out when to finally call it quits
Old 06-05-2021, 06:19 PM   #1
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Trying to figure out when to finally call it quits

Hi all pretty new to the website. I have been investing since the 401K was established, I've had my share of jobs over the year just reached the ripe old age of 55 have just over $400000 in my account and have 1 after tax account worth about $50000 my house is still owed on but planning on selling that and should profit at least $50000 and everything else associated with a house and buying a motorhome and have my truck paid for to tow behind it so now I'm trying to figure out when I want out to quit being tied to work schedule, I'm really pushing for next February to say thats it and then get house ready to sell by April or May just had to many friends die lately never collecting 1 penny from SSI or getting to enjoy any retirement so just trying to make good financial decisions with my 401K plan as I fired my financial planner Jan 1 2021 as I was tired of paying him for doing nothing with my investments where I think he could of jumped in on some great companies over the years and I missed out so now its up to me. So I'm here to see how everyone is doing this FIRE without having over 1 million dollars So suggestions always welcomed
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Old 06-05-2021, 06:28 PM   #2
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No specific suggestions for you, just a warm welcome. Hope you can pick up some good info here, I know I have.
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Old 06-05-2021, 06:57 PM   #3
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Thanks for the welcome rt-texas
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Old 06-05-2021, 07:22 PM   #4
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Welcome. If you have any questions, it’s best to be as specific as possible. Otherwise feel free to read other threads and you will get a good feel for this forum and the members who regularly post here.
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Old 06-05-2021, 07:38 PM   #5
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First question is whether you will have access to a.pension you can.draw off of?
And what about health insurance the next 10 years? Insurance is a major expense for a retiree that is not yet eligible for Medicare.
You may be a little short of 401k, to be assured you won't outlive your $.

I too have a fifth wheel trailer I could live out of, but I lack the commitment to live the full-time RV lifestyle. I still have too much stuff I would have to liquidate. And as baby boomers come into retirement, they are taking many of the great campgrounds--$ $ $. It is a lifestyle that requires long term planning before getting into.
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Old 06-05-2021, 07:44 PM   #6
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You haven’t mention your expenses or any pensions. Are you married and what do you expect for social security. Things seem a bit thin as you described them.
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Old 06-05-2021, 08:01 PM   #7
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I plan on using the ACA by keeping my earned income under $25000 a year and living off of tax free money I have in a savings. As far as planning on living in a motorhome I've had 1 since 2010 and just sold it as I needed a bigger 1 than a 30 footer with more amenities like washer & dryer and residential fridge along with oven for baking as Id rather cook my own food and I do have a GF that will be with me who is collecting her SSI along with her own insurance and as far as living past 20 years from 55 not on my side as both my Mother and Fathers brothers not 1 made it past 72 and that was my Father so my odds ain't so great and want to enjoy life while I have all my abilities and as far as the calculator goes it says I should never fail of the 131 times it tried it at that never failed living off of 20000 a year
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Old 06-05-2021, 09:59 PM   #8
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Welcome, lots of good info comes in through this forum, and lots of good suggestions from contributors.

So, you are single and I assume no kids, so no college expenses to worry about. Your expected spend rate in retirement is apparently in low $20k's (or $20k). You will be debt free after selling house and buying motorhome. At that time you will have assets excluding MH of about $500,000. You have a plan for health insurance to bridge until Medicare age. And your GF has her own SS income source and health insurance. With a paid for Motorhome, you will have shelter.

Question: What are your plans on "where to park" the motorhome? What are the monthly expenses of landing the MH somewhere? You can't just be perpetually in motion. RV parks have fees.

Question: Have you budgeted, and practiced, living on $20,000 annually?

Question: What amount of SS do you expect, and what age do you expect to draw it?

Question: Is GF a significant other longterm? Can you count on her SS as part of your household income?


General Comment: Your $500,000 "might" give you a $20,000 annual withdrawal and with an annual adjustment for inflation for the rest of your life with a significant success rate. With no cares to leave an inheritance for anyone, and a debt free motorhome, I see the main undefined problem as expenses of mooring that beast daily somewhere.
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Old 06-06-2021, 06:41 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by RetireeRobert View Post
Welcome, lots of good info comes in through this forum, and lots of good suggestions from contributors.

So, you are single and I assume no kids, so no college expenses to worry about. Your expected spend rate in retirement is apparently in low $20k's (or $20k). You will be debt free after selling house and buying motorhome. At that time you will have assets excluding MH of about $500,000. You have a plan for health insurance to bridge until Medicare age. And your GF has her own SS income source and health insurance. With a paid for Motorhome, you will have shelter.

Question: What are your plans on "where to park" the motorhome? What are the monthly expenses of landing the MH somewhere? You can't just be perpetually in motion. RV parks have fees.

Question: Have you budgeted, and practiced, living on $20,000 annually?

Question: What amount of SS do you expect, and what age do you expect to draw it?

Question: Is GF a significant other long term? Can you count on her SS as part of your household income?


General Comment: Your $500,000 "might" give you a $20,000 annual withdrawal and with an annual adjustment for inflation for the rest of your life with a significant success rate. With no cares to leave an inheritance for anyone, and a debt free motorhome, I see the main undefined problem as expenses of mooring that beast daily somewhere.
My GF is long term and her SS will be part of the monthly payment plan. I'm taking SS the day I turn 62 as I'll never see 75 with my history in the family tree. I plan on parking somewhere in the South and traveling in the North during the Summer and I did practice once at the $20,000 as I had lost a job once before and I didn't find another job for almost a year but under different circumstances as then had a house payment of 1,200 a month plus all utilities and spent right around $18,000 but cut back on lots of things to make it work.
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Old 06-06-2021, 07:24 PM   #10
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I could see you being able to take $20,000 from your $500,000 nest egg and with annual inflation adjustments with a significant chance of success to a ripe old age. How much is your GF's current SS benefit annually? If you can count on that as household income, and since you will be debt free after selling your home, I could see you sustaining a spending level in the mid to high 20's, depending on how much GF SS is.

Another question, you mention managing your own 401K nest egg, how would you invest that? At what risk level? Would you use ETF's and/or mutual fund(s)? You might want to get some ideas from the forum on how to make that nest egg last you with $20,000 inflation adjusted withdrawals from it over a 30 year time period.

Your plan to retire less than a year from now, sell your house, get into a larger motorhome useful as a home, and being debt free "could" work. It will be a somewhat spartan existence, not too much margin for error, no extravagances, but you could be free of w*rk if you recognize how your spending level will be constantly under limits.

I would suggest you get a real good handle on what your expense of running/maintaining/parking the motorhome will be. Since that is going to be your shelter, unless you plan to rotate from one Wal-Mart parking lot to another, you need to know what you shelter costs (all of them) are going to be on a consistent basis. That includes RV space rentals. Seems to me that cost "might" be somewhat expensive, but I am not an RV person myself.
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Old 06-06-2021, 07:45 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by RetireeRobert View Post
I could see you being able to take $20,000 from your $500,000 nest egg and with annual inflation adjustments with a significant chance of success to a ripe old age. How much is your GF's current SS benefit annually? If you can count on that as household income, and since you will be debt free after selling your home, I could see you sustaining a spending level in the mid to high 20's, depending on how much GF SS is.

Another question, you mention managing your own 401K nest egg, how would you invest that? At what risk level? Would you use ETF's and/or mutual fund(s)? You might want to get some ideas from the forum on how to make that nest egg last you with $20,000 inflation adjusted withdrawals from it over a 30 year time period.

Your plan to retire less than a year from now, sell your house, get into a larger motorhome useful as a home, and being debt free "could" work. It will be a somewhat spartan existence, not too much margin for error, no extravagances, but you could be free of w*rk if you recognize how your spending level will be constantly under limits.

I would suggest you get a real good handle on what your expense of running/maintaining/parking the motorhome will be. Since that is going to be your shelter, unless you plan to rotate from one Wal-Mart parking lot to another, you need to know what you shelter costs (all of them) are going to be on a consistent basis. That includes RV space rentals. Seems to me that cost "might" be somewhat expensive, but I am not an RV person myself.
Hey Robert thanks for the info GF gets $18000 a year on SSI and our biggest concern is getting traveling insurance and what state I want as my domicle home as of right now I know its not my current location and its between 2 States Florida & South Dakota as no State taxes work for me but me to get traveling insurance thru the market place is tough as its mostly based off of the state you call home. I already have a pretty good idea on a monthly charge at parks in the south and i plan on keeping my portfolio 85% stocks 15% bonds
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Old 06-06-2021, 08:59 PM   #12
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Hey Robert thanks for the info GF gets $18000 a year on SSI and our biggest concern is getting traveling insurance and what state I want as my domicle home as of right now I know its not my current location and its between 2 States Florida & South Dakota as no State taxes work for me but me to get traveling insurance thru the market place is tough as its mostly based off of the state you call home. I already have a pretty good idea on a monthly charge at parks in the south and i plan on keeping my portfolio 85% stocks 15% bonds
Yes, good idea to establish one of the "no state income tax" states as home. Texas is another one, as are Nevada, Washington, and I believe Wyoming. Florida or South Dakota are both good as your "finalists". As to health insurance through a market place plan that works for travelling, you might look for other thread here at the forum or start another thread yourself to get more helpful info on that subject. Not sure what other "domicile state" criteria you might have for picking a state to call home. Maybe look into Texas?

If you can count on the $18,000 from GF, then if you could lower your annual withdrawal from your 401k to $15,000 annually and still inflation adjusted, that would increase your chances of success greatly over a longer term---and provide some margin of safety.

Another question occurs: That bad word "w*rk", which you are trying to banish from your vocabulary, any skills you might put to use on an occasional (and somewhat nomadic) basis to pick up some extra dough? Maybe in some slack periods of your travels, or during winters, or other off seasons for your normal anticipated activities? An extra $5,000 or $10,000 from year to year might allow some extravagances, or cover some unexpected expenses. Give another margin of safety.

Your investment plan for 85% stock and 15% bond seems quite aggressive to me for retirement years. You may want to peruse many of the threads at this forum on investing and asset allocation "during" retirement years to clarify your thinking. Maybe give you some new ideas, or make you decide if you want to further fine tune your investment plans for the "drawing retirement" phase of your life coming up.

But, it seems like you are asking the right questions, and getting a hold on the critical factors.
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Old 06-06-2021, 11:28 PM   #13
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Motorhomes are liability that depreciate so I would look into buying a used one in order to stretch the savings or keep working.

20k annual expense is tough for two people on the road both private and fed/state camp sites are dominated by greedy private companies which you may be in for an unpleasant surprise when you have to spend that money because some WalMart in the area decides not to let RVs park on their lot anymore.
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Old 06-07-2021, 03:46 AM   #14
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Have you considered doing camp ground hosting? Some places you can get by working 20 hours a week and camp for free. I also agree with a used motorhome.
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Old 06-07-2021, 06:14 AM   #15
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Welcome to the forum. You were right to fire your advisor, their fees are portfolio killers.

I would caution that the vast majority of individual stocks do poorly over time, no one can tell which ones were the right ones to buy except by looking back in time. Having individual stocks mostly likely just increases your risk without increasing your wealth. The path that is usually best is just to buy a broadly diversified stock fund like Vanguard's Total Market (symbol VTI) and a broad bond fund like their Total Bond ( symbol BND).

Have you priced out the motorhome you want in order to make sure it's in your budget? Many have gotten hugely expensive with the pandemic. Also, I would think they have higher repair bill/depreciation than a regular home, so you may have extra bills down the road and possibly you would need to replace it during your lifetime. That can add up.

You told us you were going to claim SS at 62, but I didn't see how much you will get. If you don't know, go to SSA.gov and find out. That may go a long way towards covering your expenses. As to your lifetime, don't count on knowing your own fate based on your family, the actual correlations in lifespan between family members without some obvious inherited condition isn't that strong.

You mentioned using ACA. I will let others more familiar with the topic correct me, but I thought those plans are generally for a specific area and have small group of local doctors/hospitals in them and have few out of network benefits. I'm no expert, but if you move around, you need to become an expert on the subject so you can figure out how to stay insured. Also, don't forget to keep your taxable income high enough to stay off Medicaid.
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