Logical and Personal Quandary

[Paulz]

This seems very odd to me. Having two parents at home sharing the burden of raising small children is 1000% different from just one parent at home. And my personal experience includes many different combinations of parents, kids, working, going to school, and being retired.

Totally agree. The point being is the OP mentioned how much he dislikes his job and the desire to RE. For his wife, he mentions her desire to RE, but doesn't say why. Many wives get on board on things to support the husband, etc. Is she on board or is this a true desire. If a true desire...why?

 

[Life_by_Fire]

The desire to RE has always been a dream. Who wouldn't want to be free to do whatever you desire and have the money to support it? The more recent push to make that dream a reality has come from several life events. The main 2 being, we both experienced very unexpected losses of love ones and both want to be more involved in our children's' education and lives. My wife was also in an accident that has kept her out of work for the last 5 months while she recovers. (Good news, its working and she will return to work soon). But all this is to say, there are deeper psychological reasons than just disliking work.

I graduated college at the age of 21, worked for a few years, then went to law school from which I graduated at 26. I strongly dislike the field I practice in and have been actively trying to change fields/go in-house. If/when this happens, perhaps my feelings about RE will change, but I still can't believe I'd rather spend my finite time on this planet at w*rk.

I do plan on spending some more time on a side gig that I enjoy and could bring in decent income. But that won't be time consuming and life restraining.

I am also a huge planner and the uncertainty of the future is certainly a concern. That's why I look to the wise people here for advice!

 

[someguy]

Using 6 years post law school at $70K savings year, around $500K of your $1.5M is money you've saved, with the remaining $1M inherited? Are your current expenses around $70K/year (assuming $200K - 30% taxes - $70K savings)? Do you expect those to go up as your very young kids get older?

Quick stats:

Age: Dw and She 32. 2 kids, 2.5 and 1.5

Current income: approx. 200k

So I've been thinking about realistically what do we need. Currently have about $1.5 million in accessible money. Majority is in a pre secure act inherited IRA (I have grown this substantially from what it was). The bulk of investments are in Pimco Stocks Plus (PSLDX). For us, this averages 100k in divedends/distributions with about 130k shares. This year dividends at $135k through 2 quarters.

Ok so we currently invest/save around $70k per year. I project expenses, including health insurance, in retirement to be around $115k if we live "large."

 

[Life_by_Fire]

Using 6 years post law school at $70K savings year, around $500K of your $1.5M is money you've saved, with the remaining $1M inherited? Are your current expenses around $70K/year (assuming $200K - 30% taxes - $70K savings)? Do you expect those to go up as your very young kids get older?

A few years off on the savings. I've been a saver since I was a kid. I opened a Roth IRA and brokerage account when I turned 18. I've actively saved and invested in those for years. I also had a 401k in my jobs out of college and continued to work and save during law school. My wife has been saving and investing since her first job out of college as well. The inheritance was less than $1M.

The numbers i gave were approximates. $70k is higher than our current expenses, especially now that our 6 figures of student loans are paid off. We were very aggressive in paying those down. Also income this year is down as my wife hasn't been able to work the past 5 months.

I do anticipate expenses will go up as the kids age but that will be offset for awhile with the expensive daycare not being needed when in school.

 

[chassis]

How many people posting on this thread have listened to 10 or more of Barry Ritholtz's podcasts over the past 12 months? I have.

I think it would change many of your opinions about hucksters, luck and other forms of disinformation. The precondition is that you are in the capital growth mode of your investing career, which I think does not apply to many of the posters on this thread, sadly.

 

[ERD50]

How many people posting on this thread have listened to 10 or more of Barry Ritholtz's podcasts over the past 12 months? I have.

I think it would change many of your opinions about hucksters, luck and other forms of disinformation. ...

Well, I have not. So why don't you give us a little synopsis of what he has said?

... The precondition is that you are in the capital growth mode of your investing career, which I think does not apply to many of the posters on this thread, sadly.

Why is that sad? The whole point of being in the capital growth mode of your investing career for many of us is so that you can enjoy retirement with all the money you earned/saved/invested. Do I look sad?

I feel sad for those still in the growth phase. Like that old saying "If I knew being a Grandparent was so much fun, I would have done that first!"

Regardless, many/most of us know people in the accumulation phase, so we still think in those terms in order to help them out if we can. My SIL has asked on several occasions "OK, so how do I retire early?". he already knows the answers are boring!

-ERD50