Do I have enough?

[Space Mountain]

I just had my annual portfolio check-up with a Vanguard Flagship Financial Advisor.

Currently, I have roughly 1,032,000.00 million investable assets. (all with Vanguard) (70/30 stocks to bonds)

I have a house worth $250,000 that is fully paid off.

No debt whatsoever.

I am soon to be 43 years old.

Never married, no children. (Don't plan on either)

My annual expenses are LESS than this.............thankfully.

Per Vanguard's calculations, I can retire right now and withdrawal $37K per year (inflation adjusted) and will never run out of money. Vanguard ONLY calculated my investable assets. (not home value)

Firecalc says I'm good to go at 34K per year with 100% success rate.

I'm seriously considering this. Hope I covered everything?

Any opinions would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks all, so much.

Space Mountain

 

[haha]

I just had my annual portfolio check-up with a Vanguard Flagship Financial Advisor.

Currently, I have roughly 1,032,000.00 million investable assets. (all with Vanguard) (70/30 stocks to bonds)

I have a house worth $250,000 that is fully paid off.

No debt whatsoever.

I am soon to be 43 years old.

Never married, no children. (Don't plan on either)

My annual expenses are LESS than this.............thankfully.

Per Vanguard's calculations, I can retire right now and withdrawal $37K per year (inflation adjusted) and will never run out of money. Vanguard ONLY calculated my investable assets. (not home value)

Firecalc says I'm good to go at 34K per year with 100% success rate.

I'm seriously considering this. Hope I covered everything?

Any opinions would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks all, so much.

Space Mountain

According to common assumptions and realizing that the future could be very different, you have pretty well anwered your own question. But you are asking it again, and one wonders why?

The only thing I could add to the obvious unknowns of a 43 year old guy hanging it up, is that ~$35,000/ year pre-tax is not exactly living high on the hog.

Ha

 

[mystang52]

At age 43, how will you deal with health insurance until Medicare (I suspect Obamacare is not a done deal).

 

[Geoffrey]

One million ain't what it used to be . . . I wouldn't feel comfortable retiring at age 43 with only a $1M nestegg and no other substantial sources of income, especially in the current economic environment. Of course, I'm not much of a risk taker. If you have a strong stomach, and are prepared to go back to work if things don't work out as planned, give it a whirl.

 

[MasterBlaster]

It is do-able per Vanguard and FIRECALC. So the choice is yours

Do you want to retire and live the frugal life.... Or keep working to improve your situation. The choice is yours.

I assume you have the medical insurance issue covered. Medical insurance can become very expensive in your 50's and 60's before Medicare kicks in. So don't plan your future given what medical insurance costs you now.

I like you, have lived the frugal life. And could be happy with a modest income. But I kept working and will now have a much more comfortable lifestyle. Per my personal values, I am glad I kept working.

Everyone is different though. Do what works for you.

 

[67walkon]

Health insurance is the killer. Assuming you have no major health issues, what do you think health insurance is going to cost you and how much is it likely to go up? You should check that out to see if you are really safe.

Sounds like you're either there or pretty close. Congrats.

 

[bizlady]

Taxes too are a consideration you may need to take into account. You do not say if your funds are taxable or not. You also do not say if you have emergency funds for vehilce replacement, home repairs etc. As the others said, medical is an issue. Certainly you could try retirement out if you can live within the 34k-37k-- there is nothing that says you cannot go back to work at a later date.

 

[rescueme]

You need to continue to w*rk to ensure the continued current/future SS benefits to all others on this board ...

OK - somebody had to say it.

 

[aaronc879]

Have you tracked your exact expenses for at least a few years? Not just the bare minimum, but everything you spend money on? Don't forget to include health insurance which, even for a health 40-something, will cost at least $5000/yr. If all of you expenses equal less than $3000/mo pre-tax then you should be good to go. I know if I had $1M by age 43 i'd be able retire easily.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Even if you decide you don't have enough, that's a mighty nice nest egg you've accumulated. Congratulations!

Did you discuss with the Vanguard advisor whether you're good to go?

 

[Koolau]

Firecalc says I'm good to go at 34K per year with 100% success rate.

I'm seriously considering this. Hope I covered everything?

:

Not to get too "squishy" on you, but my question would be "what are you retiring from and what are you retiring to". i.e., Are you so miserable at w*rk that you are wiling to pull the plug now - knowing that you'll be living the frugal life from now on?

What do you have to do that is better than w*rking? (Sorry, I know that's a stupid question, but I would want to be able to put it into words before an ER with relatively limited income as you have described.)

I retired 15 years older than you, had a pension (non-cola'd unfortunately) that paid almost what your "stash" will pay you, PLUS a stash at least the size of yours, PLUS a paid-for house where I planned to retire, PLUS half decent health care coverage. I STILL had to convince myself that it was doable. Of course, I had a very specific lifestyle (relatively expensive) in mind. I would rather have w*rked more years than ever regret not having the funds I wanted for my life style.

One actual "money" question - think someone touched on this - How much of your stash is in 401(k)/Trad IRA, etc.? i.e., What will you have to pay full taxes on when you pull the cash out? Even at $35K/year, there will be SOME taxes on your "qualified" money withdrawals. In most states, you will have additional taxes. Right now, I'm paying 25%+ 8% on my last dollar of "qualified" withdrawals. You'll probably be much lower than that but probably not "zero" tax.

So, again, yes, you have "enough" money to retire. But, it's complicated and, hey, YMMV. Best luck to you!!

 

[sheehs1]

As others have said, it depends on what risks you are willing to take. Being so young..you have to conceivably provide for yourself for a longer period of time. Risks..such as inflation risks, health care risk, another 40% market decline. Would you feel as comfortable if we went thru another 2007/2008 financial crisis? If you retire would you keep the same 70/30 asset allocation.? That said, you've done well and have a very nice nest egg.
Now consider this. With your $1,032,000 nest egg...at a 7% average growth rate...you can "conceivably" double your money to $2,030,000 in 10 years and you will only be 53. (depending on tax structure and if you continue to contribute to it - could be more) In 5 years...you could be somewhere close to $1.5m..etc..etc. How does that sound to you? What makes you comfortable? Where you are now or waiting 5 years or 10 years?

Here is a calculator : Future Value Calculator

 

[Aiming_4_55]

Congrats on your nest egg.

What is your current expense per year? How much lower than 34k?

Will your stock/bond allocation change if you pull the plug? I assume you made adjustments in FIRECalc and with the advisor.

If you do decide to retire, while the house is paid off, as a single person do you need a 250k home or can you downsize to lower you expenses to increase the probability of success of your retirement.

Double and triple check your future health care cost.

Best of luck.

 

[LOL!]

One trick is to have "enough" at a bona fide low point in the stock market. Anybody can have "enough" at a high point in the stock market.

 

[JBmadera]

If it were me I would do a dry run. Bank your salary and pretend to live off of your investment returns, 34k before taxes, do it for 6 months+ and see how a) if you really can and b) that you enjoy it.

congrats on a nice portfolio regardless of which way you choose to go.

ps - I would also check out some the extreme early retirement sites/books

 

[brewer12345]

At least on paper, it looks like you could check out. The expenses need to be a real number, not an estimate, and you will have to consider healthcare costs.

That aside, you should also run through some contingency plans if things go pear-shaped (as they seem to do with depressing frequency). Can you go back to work if need be? Can you sell the house? Relocate to a cheaper area/country? Full-time RV? Something else? You could be retired a long time, so figure out plausible contingency plans.

 

[chinaco]

You are in better shape than most people and certainly on the path.

You need to work out a long-term plan and do more analysis. Take your time amd make sure you are prepared. Be Conservative!

I would rather continue to work a couple of years to ensure I never have to go back to work than to quit too early (not properly prepared) and take a risk. Make sure you have thought it through.

You definitely need to cover health care.

 

[Ronstar]

If it were me I would do a dry run. Bank your salary and pretend to live off of your investment returns, 34k before taxes, do it for 6 months+ and see how a) if you really can and b) that you enjoy it.

congrats on a nice portfolio regardless of which way you choose to go.

ps - I would also check out some the extreme early retirement sites/books

+1 on the dry run, but I'd go a full year just to make sure I got a full yrs worth of expenses tallied

 

[Sandhog]

I just had my annual portfolio check-up with a Vanguard Flagship Financial Advisor.

Currently, I have roughly 1,032,000.00 million investable assets. (all with Vanguard) (70/30 stocks to bonds)

I have a house worth $250,000 that is fully paid off.

No debt whatsoever.

I am soon to be 43 years old.

Never married, no children. (Don't plan on either)

Just one word... WOW! If I were you, I would retire right now and go fishing all around the world.

Only you can decide how much is enough. For me, I would retire if I had $750K in asset. I'm just tired of working and working. Who needs two ex-wives and ungrateful kids when you have over $1 million to retired.

 

[NW-Bound]

With house paid off, no debt, no dependents, surely one can live on $37K/year or $3K/month. Yes, it is not living high on hog, and one may need to stay in an area with a lower cost of living, but many people have lived with less. One can have a comfortable life with that money.

But as other posters have pointed out, health insurance would be something that concerns me the most. I would wait to see how Obamacare works out.

 

[RunningBum]

My annual expenses are LESS than this.............thankfully.

I can't tell what "this" is, but I guess it might be the $34K or $37K mentioned later.

You need a realistic budget going forward, including health insurance, car replacement, house maintenance, vacations, etc. I agree with others about tracking expenses. I came up with a budget, then found that many items were "best case", and I really needed to put some buffer in for bad things happening. At some point you're going to need a new/used car, roof, fridge, furnace, etc. You also want to think about whether having another 40+ hours on your hands is going to result in a money-sucking hobby.

In any case you are either there or can see where "there" is, congrats.

 

[pb4uski]

Agree with previous posts in that if you have health care covered somehow it would apear that you nestegg would support your lifestyle with little risk of living beyond your money. If not, then you need to consider what health care costs would be.

However, if the finances are to close for comfort for you, perhaps you could consider part-time w*&k doing something you really enjoy.

 

[obgyn65]

Something else to consider in your long term planning - Will you have a pension from your employment ? Any Social Security benefits ?

 

[melion]

I just had my annual portfolio check-up with a Vanguard Flagship Financial Advisor.

Currently, I have roughly 1,032,000.00 million investable assets. (all with Vanguard) (70/30 stocks to bonds)

I say go for it!.... only if you indeed have 1,000 million!

If not, I agree with most that are saying you should probably work for several more years provided your job is not too toxic.

You have time on your side which can be both a friend or enemy. I believe we are entering into a period of high inflation which could erode your $1 million quite quickly if you do not protect it well.

 

[Major Tom]

I agree with those who say that you need a realistic budget. As a house owner, factor in future maintenance expenditures such as painting, new roof, etc.

It's difficult, if not impossible, for anyone here to say whether you are ready when we don't know what kind of lifestyle you envisage. I know that I could definitely retire with a million in investments, but I am a renter with low rent, no car, and few needs.

If you can give us an idea of your lifestyle and budget, then our answers can be a little more informed.

How about dipping your toes in the water and drawing some income from your investments, and some from part-time work?