Share your FIRE Milestones - 2013- 2020

[schellem]

Today, at 58, was my first day in retirement.Still not sunk in but it's a strange feeling to think no more working for a living and I now get up when when I want.

It's a bit scary to start retirement with our country and world in such mayhem but the DW is younger and going to work at least another year so that helps.

[whatnot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by schellem Today, at 58, was my first day in retirement.Still not sunk in but it's a strange feeling to think no more working for a living and I now get up when when I want. It's a bit scary to start retirement with our country and world in such mayhem but the DW is younger and going to work at least another year so that helps.

Congratulations!

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by schellem Today, at 58, was my first day in retirement.Still not sunk in but it's a strange feeling to think no more working for a living and I now get up when when I want. It's a bit scary to start retirement with our country and world in such mayhem but the DW is younger and going to work at least another year so that helps.

Congratulations! I agree it's a little scary to retire when the world is in such upheaval. But I'm sure you will be fine. Cherish each moment. For me, retirement has been the very best part of life.

[Calgary_Girl]

Crazy times we’re living in right now! DH is starting to get serious about retiring in 5 years since work has been very stressful lately and he doesn’t know how much more he can take.

We hit our personal NW goal of $3 million back in Dec. when DH turned 50, with $2 million in investable assets. I think if we can reach $3 million in investable assets, we’d be good to go.

[ugeauxgirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgary_Girl Crazy times we’re living in right now! DH is starting to get serious about retiring in 5 years since work has been very stressful lately and he doesn’t know how much more he can take. We hit our personal NW goal of $3 million back in Dec. when DH turned 50, with $2 million in investable assets. I think if we can reach $3 million in investable assets, we’d be good to go.

Congrats! Sounds like y'all are close. It's a great feeling.

[schellem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgary_Girl Crazy times we’re living in right now! DH is starting to get serious about retiring in 5 years since work has been very stressful lately and he doesn’t know how much more he can take. We hit our personal NW goal of $3 million back in Dec. when DH turned 50, with $2 million in investable assets. I think if we can reach $3 million in investable assets, we’d be good to go.

Good luck

[Calico]

As the title says, today marks my 25th anniversary of working for my employer. This is the second big milestone I have reached on the way to retirement. The first milestone was paying off the mortgage in the summer of 2018.

Today is significant because after 25 years of service I am entitled to a full pension, rather than a pro-rated one for all service years less than 25.

I celebrated the milestone with an hour long Skype call this afternoon with a good friend/coworker. We haven't seen each other since we all started working from home in mid-March, so it was great to catch up. We have worked together for the entire 25 years. She is one of only 3 people at work who know my retirement plans, and it was nice to be able to celebrate the significance of today with her.

[PhrugalPhan]

Wednesday I passed the point where I can get a reduced pension if I leave my employer now (60% of the pension benefit I have earned to this point). Another 2.5 years to get the unreduced pension. Nice to know from here on out I will have money coming in no matter what happens.

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

First of all, I'm honestly not posting this to brag. I'm just looking for some ideas on where to go from here.

Here's my not-so-abridged financial life story:
My parents divorced when I was 8 and I was raised by a single mom. We spent quite a few years on welfare (A.F.D.C.) and food stamps when my mom struggled making ends meet with her $3.35/hour jobs. I started a savings account when I was 12 and got my first job as a paperboy. I saved when I could through various part-time high-school and college (work study) jobs but felt lucky if I had $1000 in the bank during my early 20s.
I never finished college but got my first decent paying full-time job when I was 26. I started putting 10% in the company's 401(k) but really had no idea about investments and don't even remember how that 401(k) was invested. When I was 30 I had my 401(k) rolled over into Vanguard when our company got bought out. The Internet wasn't widely available in my area back then but I read The Millionaire Next Door and The Armchair Millionaire and really got inspired to start paying attention to investing. While I was still 30 I remember filling up pages of notebook paper (Owning a computer and learning about Excel was still way off in my future) and calculating that if I was able to max-out my 401(k) contributions every year for the next 20 years and was able to achieve a 10% average annual return then I would have $1,000,000 saved up by the time I was 50.
So I stuck with my plan for the last 20 years. I'm still only 49 but my account totals have hovered around the seven-figure level lately: (Newest milestone)
$1,014,301.16
Value as of 06/24/2020, 04:00 pm, ET
As of January of this year we are officially debt-free. The house is paid off, the vehicles are paid off and we have no credit card debt other than what we charge & pay off each month. I will turn 55 in 2025 so I would love to retire on or shortly after January 1st of that year. According to the IRS:
"No Additional 10% Tax
Distributions that aren't taxable, such as distributions that you roll over to another qualified retirement plan, aren't subject to this additional 10% tax. For more information on rollovers, refer to Topic No. 413 and visit Do I Need to Report the Transfer or Rollover of an IRA or Retirement Plan on My Tax Return?
There are certain exceptions to this additional 10% tax. The following exceptions apply to distributions from any qualified retirement plan:
Distributions made to you after you separated from service with your employer if the separation occurred in or after the year you reached age 55, or distributions made from a qualified governmental benefit plan, as defined in section 414(d) if you were a qualified public safety employee (federal state or local government) who separated from service in or after the year you reached age 50.
Distributions made to an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order, and Distributions of dividends from employee stock ownership plans."

I like my current job and love going in to start my shift at 5:00 a.m. but lately I've been starting to think about and look forward to 4-1/2 years from now. So now that I've reached that 7-figure milestone should I just keep plugging away at my job and maxing-out my retirement accounts? My company does have a great 401(k) safe harbor policy where they contribute a minimum (safe harbor) of 3% of my weekly pay every week regardless of whether I contribute a dime. The profit sharing goes up to a maximum of an additional 9% of my annual pay for a total annual contribution of 12%. One year out of the 10 years I've been there I got a 6% profit sharing contribution (9% total) but the other 9 years I was given 12% of my annual salary into my 401(k) (the profit-sharing is a once-a-year lump-sum contribution) Due to our low expenses and cost of living at home I am able to max-out my 401(k) at $26,000, (I'll turn 50 this year so I am eligible for catch-up contributions) My Roth IRA at $7,000 and my HSA at $3,550. We also max-out my wife's IRA at $6,000.
I guess I just feel I could use some advice from others who are about 5 years away from retirement or those who remember what it was like when they were looking at retirement in around 5 years.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Markola]

AM2023, My wife uses the Rule of 55 and I will, too, starting in a couple of weeks. I just gave my notice this morning![emoji898]🥂

[YakGrl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola AM2023, My wife uses the Rule of 55 and I will, too, starting in a couple of weeks. I just gave my notice this morning![emoji898]🥂

Congratulations Markola! Time to celebrate!

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola AM2023, My wife uses the Rule of 55 and I will, too, starting in a couple of weeks. I just gave my notice this morning![emoji898]🥂

Congrats! Are you worried about healthcare? Insurance?

[Markola]

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Originally Posted by YakGrl Congratulations Markola! Time to celebrate!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmchairMillionaire23 Congrats! Are you worried about healthcare? Insurance?

Thank you! I spent the day calling staff and peers with my announcement.

Yes, I’m worried about healthcare and insurance, since I am a citizen of the Unites States, where it’s nothing but a worry. I do have a plan, however, which is to buy COBRA for 18 months with our same HSA-eligible HealthPartners plan, then transition to a different HSA-eligible HealthPartners plan, probably a silver one, on our state’s exchanges. We use an assigned Vanguard Personal Advisor, who had us complete their health expense projection tool,and the resulting projected costs are built into our financial plan. There is no more important expense than insurance, so with DW 57 and me 54, we will just have to fund that first until Medicare and make the rest work. I’ve been an avid budgeter for years and our plan has a high success rate, so I hope it will work. Of course, there’s no real security in having a job, certain politicians seem determined to destroy the remaining tatters of the safety net, and nothing is guaranteed for anyone, but we don’t want to work forever.

[Octogirl]

I gave a 1 month notice this morning for my very part time (8 hours/week) NP position. When its time to go, its time to go.

Feeling very happy about the decision.

[Markola]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octogirl I gave a 1 month notice this morning for my very part time (8 hours/week) NP position. When its time to go, its time to go. Feeling very happy about the decision.

Woot, Woot! It’s so true, you know when you know. Congrats!

[FIRED2018]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola Yes, I’m worried about healthcare and insurance, since I am a citizen of the Unites States, where it’s nothing but a worry.

Funny, one man’s partisan rhetoric is another’s simple fact.

Early today, in a thread on Choice Architecture, I think it was you who wrote “We don’t need or like that kind of partisan rhetoric around here.”

Do you think your remarks about USA healthcare can be seen as partisan rhetoric?

Congratulations on retiring early! It’s a wonderful opportunity ahead - enjoy!

[schellem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmchairMillionaire23 I guess I just feel I could use some advice from others who are about 5 years away from retirement or those who remember what it was like when they were looking at retirement in around 5 years. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

First congratulations! The big new change coming up during retirement that I never thought about until a few years out was that you have to switch from savings mode to spending mode. That is a big mental change and a whole new concept. You've learned to save for years, now you have to learn how to spend it.

I suggest you start thinking about tracking your expenses, knowing how much you need to live on a year is a requirement to determine when you can retire. Health insurance, which will probably be your biggest expense, plays a big factor in retiring.

Pre and early retirement gives you a bit of time to also do some tax planning. A great time to do ROTH conversions to void the tax torpedo is post retirement but pre SS.

Finally you also need to start thinking about what you will do to fill the days in retirement. Again another big change from having a 40 hour structured week to suddenly having no structure.

[Rowej]

Today I passed one of the biggest milestones, I paid off the house. Been very diligent making double house payments for the last 7 years! Wasn’t easy, but feels great today! Now every other week, direct deposit into the after tax retirement. Already max out the 401k and contribute 12% of my salary into Deferred Comp plan. I feel very relieved to do before my 58th birthday in 5 months.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rowej Today I passed one of the biggest milestones, I paid off the house. Been very diligent making double house payments for the last 7 years! Wasn’t easy, but feels great today! Now every other week, direct deposit into the after tax retirement. Already max out the 401k and contribute 12% of my salary into Deferred Comp plan. I feel very relieved to do before my 58th birthday in 5 months.

Congrats. Good job. Relief.

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rowej Today I passed one of the biggest milestones, I paid off the house. Been very diligent making double house payments for the last 7 years! Wasn’t easy, but feels great today! Now every other week, direct deposit into the after tax retirement. Already max out the 401k and contribute 12% of my salary into Deferred Comp plan. I feel very relieved to do before my 58th birthday in 5 months.

Congratulations! I still remember the feeling I had the day I paid off my house. I did the same thing - I diligently made double payments for years, and cut a 30-yr mortgage down to 15 years. Enjoy the feeling!