A New FIRE Plan

REWahoo said:
As I read this I was halfway expecting to hear you say you were moving back in with your parents. :cool:


If you didn't make draconian cuts in your budget you might be surprised how easy - and satisfying - the transition will be.
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My parents wouldn't take me back. They always made it clear that they have a "no return" policy...;)

We had to make some cuts. Looking at our budget overall, we will have to spend about $2K less per year than what we spent on average over the past 6 years. It doesn't seem too bad except that I am also planning to pay a lot more for health care than we did over the past 6 years ($10K instead of $2K/year on average). So that's $8K/year that needs to be cut from other areas of our budget. Out of the past 6 years, our leanest year spending-wise was in 2008. Our retirement budget is set about $3,000 below that. Since I do not remember suffering from deprivation in 2008, I think it is possible (in 2008, our income increased dramatically and so, while we reined in our spending due to the state of the economy, we didn't really feel the need to be overly cautious about our spending).
 
W2R said:
You might also want to keep a few thousand from your emergency fund, in your savings account even if you don't plan to spend it. You don't want to suck the bank accounts completely dry, down to $0.00 balance, on December 31st, right? ;)
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We still have plenty of cash at Vanguard for emergencies. But our budget includes emergency savings too, so I truly hope we don't have to get money from our Vanguard stash.

The account balance won't go down to $0. Our budget includes money set aside for car repairs, home repairs, car replacement and health care costs, all of which we are unlikely to spend down completely before the end of the year.

Our proposed annual budget includes:
1) $20K for fixed costs: auto (insurance, gas, tax), groceries, home (pest control, insurance, tax), pets (food, vet), and utilities.
2) $10K for health care
3) $9K for car replacement, home repairs and car repairs
4) $5K for his allowance
5) $5K for her allowance
6) $11K for large discretionary (travel, furniture, computers, gifts, etc...)
Total $60K

So I left $30K in our savings account to pay the bills until 12/31/10. Since we pay almost nothing for health care at the moment, 2) will remain mostly unspent and will simply be rolled over to next year, giving us a bit a cushion for later years. Since we have 2 new cars and we have updated the house over the past few years (new roof, new A/C, new appliances, etc..), 3) will also remain mostly unspent and will be rolled over to next year. So we should end the year with roughly $9.5K left in the account.
 
That sounds reasonable. Just didn't want you to start bouncing checks on December 31st if you were a few pennies over budget. :D
 
W2R said:
That sounds reasonable. Just didn't want you to start bouncing checks on December 31st if you were a few pennies over budget. :D
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:LOL: I hope I won't be bouncing checks! Bank fees are not included in my budget...:)

On a sad note, my employer just informed me that my contract won't be renewed at the end of the month. The company had been facing a cash flow crunch for months and, with the economy slowing down again, they can't afford to keep many of us. :(
 
FIREdreamer said:
:LOL: I hope I won't be bouncing checks! Bank fees are not included in my budget...:)

On a sad note, my employer just informed me that my contract won't be renewed at the end of the month. The company had been facing a cash flow crunch for months and, with the economy slowing down again, they can't afford to keep many of us. :(
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Oh no! As John Lennon remarked, "Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans". But the timing of this non-renewal sure is inconvenient. :(

So, will ER will begin for you at the end of the month, or are you planning to look for another contract job?
 
W2R said:
So, will ER will begin for you at the end of the month, or are you planning to look for another contract job?
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I don't know. Looking for another contract is going to be tough without relocating (and then there is the awful job market). And relocating is not an option as long as DW can keep her job.

I will have to do the math on this. DW is the one making good money, plus I already get my health insurance through her company because, as a contract worker, I had no benefits. DW's income alone puts us in the top tax bracket, so my income is always heavily taxed (next year it would have been taxed at 39.6% federal + 5% state + 7.65% FICA = 52.25%). So perhaps, my time would be better served generating imputed income for the household. I am going to have to mull over all this and its implications for our FIRE plan.
 
REWahoo said:
I'm beginning to think you might figure out some way to muddle through... :)
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Sure, it's disappointing but hardly the end of the world... But can I handle to be known as the unemployed husband of Mrs. Big Shot? With some getting used to, I'm sure I could manage to live with my shame...;)
 
FIREdreamer said:
Sure, it's disappointing but hardly the end of the world... But can I handle to be known as the unemployed husband of Mrs. Big Shot? With some getting used to, I'm sure I could manage to live with my shame...;)
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In these difficult economic times, you must pull yourself together and present a facade of stability for your wife. You must be the rock upon which she leans for moral support. It will be hard on you, but you have to muster the strength. :D
 
FIREdreamer said:
Sure, it's disappointing but hardly the end of the world... But can I handle to be known as the unemployed husband of Mrs. Big Shot? With some getting used to, I'm sure I could manage to live with my shame...;)
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I would have no such shame, and I know that after the first 18 years of our marriage where I put up with constant full-time Megacorp crap as DW reinvented herself, tried new things and took time off to pursue her interests, she wants to be able to return the favor for me. If I do wind up becoming a "preacher's wife" I'll probably milk my Megacorp gig for a few more years, save almost all of the income from it and then ride off into the sunset if I'm laid off or hit my early 50s, whichever comes first...
 
Sorry to hear about the job FD...:(

Just the fact that you love to bake bread would be more than enough for me to keep you in the dough....;)

Sorry...bad pun...but I had to keep it clean.

:angel:
 
ziggy29 said:
I would have no such shame, and I know that after the first 18 years of our marriage where I put up with constant full-time Megacorp crap as DW reinvented herself, tried new things and took time off to pursue her interests, she wants to be able to return the favor for me. If I do wind up becoming a "preacher's wife" I'll probably milk my Megacorp gig for a few more years, save almost all of the income from it and then ride off into the sunset if I'm laid off or hit my early 50s, whichever comes first...
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I don't quite know what I would call myself ("unemployed", "kept man", "stay at home husband", "bum", "loser"?), but apparently not "retired":

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/do-people-actually-retire-early-50943-4.html#post954209
 
Sorry about your job loss but I am sure you & your wife will work it out . I think the days of stigma about guys staying home and women being the bread winners are long gone . Nowadays it's whatever the two of you work out ! After all you are a team !
 
Moemg said:
I think the days of stigma about guys staying home and women being the bread winners are long gone .
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I don't think so. It's a bit better than it used to be, but it's still not all that acceptable for a man not be bringing home the bacon, especially when his wife still has to do so. If we reach a point where my wife is still working when I hang it up, this is a concern of mine -- that people will see me as a slacking, lazy ne'er-do-well (especially if we have to move out of town).
 
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Moemg said:
Sorry about your job loss but I am sure you & your wife will work it out . I think the days of stigma about guys staying home and women being the bread winners are long gone . Nowadays it's whatever the two of you work out ! After all you are a team !
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Yeah...after thinking about it, I believe Mr and Mrs FIREdreamer should both be called 'Lucky' because they have each other. :)
 
FIREdreamer said:
I don't quite know what I would call myself ("unemployed", "kept man", "stay at home husband", "bum", "loser"?), but apparently not "retired":

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/do-people-actually-retire-early-50943-4.html#post954209
Click to expand...

Whoops, my bad. I actually meant men who choose this path, not those who are dealt it by fate. But I see your point.

You are quite likely good enough in bed that she will ignore medium quality house work and other unimportant rubbish like that. And remember to bath and shave daily, use adequate deodorant, comb your hair and keep a generally attractive appearance. :)


YouTube - Billy Ward & The Dominos - Sixty Minute Man
Ha
 
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