Reality vs Fear

[copyright1997reloaded]

Plenty of $.

A couple questions: What is your plan in terms of health care coverage? You will need to cover yourself, spouse as well as your children (at least until they are on their own).

What is your plan in terms of college funding? Not working is an advantage in terms of financial aid, but offsetting this is your large (compared to most) wealth.

[gwraigty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24601NoMore Nice! Imagine you've had them for a while? Where did you wind up finding those? They all look pretty decent. I just checked VG and I see a ton of PR, Illinois, California, NJ and other not so desirable issues but not much at a decent yield from a reasonably stable municipality.

The munis I listed are in my Schwab account. I also have some at Fidelity. Main Str I bought in 2009 when I was still with TDAmeritrade. Amern Muni and Advanced Technology - 2014. It was a sweet time for awhile, being able to regularly pick up munis with coupons like that. I don't buy many today. I still look once in awhile though. Taxable just offers much more right now.

[Go-NoGo]

In a similar situation to OP, financially ok - the numbers say I am good to go, but after having worked for so long (and some time between jobs to realize the downside of not getting paid on a regular schedule) I have come to depend on a paycheck every 2 weeks.

Not getting a bi-weekly paycheck held me back from even thinking about making the leap - so I created some "buckets" at Vanguard and other fund companies to have my dividends/cap gains deposited into a cash MM account.

The plan is take 2 withdrawals per month from this account to simulate a paycheck - This gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling on the 1st and 15th and more importantly helps me stay within budget and not overspend accidentally.

Once I am comfortable with my expenses I can adjust the amount up or down for each "paycheck" - If my expenses are lower I plan to re-invest the excess back into the market - which is what I do now.

The above plan has lowered my anxiety considerably and I plan on making the leap next year (fingers crossed)

Goodluck to you!

[philly17]

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyright1997reloaded Plenty of $. A couple questions: What is your plan in terms of health care coverage? You will need to cover yourself, spouse as well as your children (at least until they are on their own). What is your plan in terms of college funding? Not working is an advantage in terms of financial aid, but offsetting this is your large (compared to most) wealth.

For HC would either pay out of pocket or my wife might get some low stress job that offers HC.
I didn't highlight that I have college fully funded in separate account that I don't factor into my net worth for retirement.

[philly17]

Quote:

Originally Posted by USGrant1962 Based on your numbers you are in great shape to FIRE at 55 or so. Like 24601NoMore, I suggest you take a look at the bond tent concept. I pulled the plug at 55 and am doing a muted version of that (also a little bit of market timing after a 10-year bull market). A note on spousal SS - your wife gets half of your FRA amount, not half of your age 70 amount. Also, if she has 40 quarters of contributions she could claim on her own account at, say, 62 before switching to yours when you claim. This website is great for optimizing SS https://opensocialsecurity.com/

Thank you for that clarification on SS benefits for my wife. I had just read it was 50% didn't realize for the FRA benefit. Much appreciated.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Go-NoGo In a similar situation to OP, financially ok - the numbers say I am good to go, but after having worked for so long (and some time between jobs to realize the downside of not getting paid on a regular schedule) I have come to depend on a paycheck every 2 weeks. Not getting a bi-weekly paycheck held me back from even thinking about making the leap - so I created some "buckets" at Vanguard and other fund companies to have my dividends/cap gains deposited into a cash MM account. The plan is take 2 withdrawals per month from this account to simulate a paycheck - This gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling on the 1st and 15th and more importantly helps me stay within budget and not overspend accidentally. Once I am comfortable with my expenses I can adjust the amount up or down for each "paycheck" - If my expenses are lower I plan to re-invest the excess back into the market - which is what I do now. The above plan has lowered my anxiety considerably and I plan on making the leap next year (fingers crossed) Goodluck to you!

Going without a paycheck was frightening to me and I’m sure to many early retirees retiring without pension or SS.

I certainly set up a monthly stream sent to our bank checking account and it “felt” like a paycheck and helped lessen the anxiety. Especially after a couple of years it was no big deal and felt normal.