Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-11-2021, 04:07 PM   #21
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
travelover's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
Watch your portfolio closely and when it pops up above your number, retire quick, because if you wait a few days, you might not be able to afford to.
travelover is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 02-11-2021, 05:40 PM   #22
Recycles dryer sheets
Alex The Great's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: San Jose
Posts: 466
Quote:
Originally Posted by foxfirev5 View Post
30x anticipated annual expenses on top of SS and mini pension. The rest is 90+% equities in Roth accounts. Let it ride. Your results WILL vary.
I would agree with 30x which seems a reasonably safe number. But the problem is that NW is unstable fluctuating with the market. So I'd define the goal as annual passive income greater or equal than annual expense. If part of the income comes from retirement accounts then there need to be an equivalent amount of cash to substitute this part till the age of 59.5.
__________________
Retired Sep 2023 @56
Target AA: 50% stock / 20% bond / 30% cash
Target WR: ~3.6%
Alex The Great is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2021, 05:44 PM   #23
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
martyp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Thailand countryside, Sisaket province
Posts: 1,331
When I saw that my pension benefit was more or less equal to what I was already living on.
__________________
Happy, Wild, and Free
martyp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-11-2021, 06:02 PM   #24
Moderator
Jerry1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 9,102
Quote:
Originally Posted by YoungSaver View Post
A 50% fluctuation doesn't bother you? I'm having a hard time understanding that. Is it that your yearly expenses fluctuate wildly each year over the past 10 years?
Not sure I understand your question.

What I’m saying is that may “number” is way higher than my actual expected need. Said another way, if I had $1M and FireCalc said I was right at 100 percent, I’d still add a lot to the million before I would consider it my “number” to retire on. Therefore, if I was getting close to my number, or like your example, I was just under or just over my “number”, it would bother me too much because I would have already inflated that number enough that those daily/monthly fluctuations wouldn’t bother me.

If that’s not clear, let me know and I’ll try a different way to explain it.


Note your other comment about yearly fluctuations - yes, yearly expenses can and do fluctuate. Some years significantly. For example, you might plan on buying a car every ten years. So, you add $3000 a year to your budget. So your budget will be favorable for 9 years and then bam, you’ll spend $30K on a car in year 10. Planned, yes, but still a very large fluctuation. That really shouldn’t effect your planning or your “number”, but it will impact your cash flow planning.
__________________
Every day when I open my eyes now it feels like a Saturday - David Gray
Jerry1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 06:33 AM   #25
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
kcowan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
Send a message via Skype™ to kcowan
It was after,3 years retired. I had built the stash quickly through momentum trading. So I retired from 3BoDs and helped DW wind down her business.

In 2008, we had just bought a second home. So the downturn had me watching closely and we were OK when we confirmed that we had reduced our annual spending by 30% by living 6 months in Mexico. So our plan now extended forever with a substantial buffer.

Now 12 years later, the biggest challenge is how to,blow the dough.
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
kcowan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 09:01 AM   #26
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Living the Dream!
Posts: 844
Was very comfortable last Spring when I calc’d my monthly pension after taxes would exceed what I was taking home as an employee.

With zero long-term debt, medical covered, all three kids through university and now independent, and a few dollars in other investments, wife figured I was good to go into retirement.
1242Vintage is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 10:02 AM   #27
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 188
Quote:
Originally Posted by pjigar View Post
OMY, and I am serious.
For those of us over 30, what does OMY stand for?

"Oh My?"

"On My Year?"

"On My Yacht?"
CSdot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 10:18 AM   #28
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
Quote:
Originally Posted by CSdot View Post
For those of us over 30, what does OMY stand for?

"Oh My?"

"On My Year?"

"On My Yacht?"

* Acronyms and Slang Frequently Used on the Forum *
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 10:21 AM   #29
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Ready's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Southern California
Posts: 3,995
For what it’s worth (FWIW), I think we use too many TLAs (three letter acronyms) on this forum. Is it really that hard to type the words out?
Ready is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 10:23 AM   #30
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
TANSTAAFL, but YMMV
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 10:23 AM   #31
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,862
We did not have a number. When we decided it was time, we reviewed the numbers, the pensions, out plans, and then pulled the plug. It was that easy.

We had been keeping track of what we believed we needed to retire in terms of cash flow and investments. No big number at the bottom though.
brett is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2021, 12:37 PM   #32
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: Danville
Posts: 167
I felt I had reached my number when I had 25x my annual living expenses at the age of 53. I worked for 2 more years after that full-time. I was having health issues and tried to push myself as long as I could because I knew I could not continue for too much longer. I knew once I stopped, I had no intention of having to go back to work. At the age of 54, I cut my hours back to 32 from 40. At 55, I cut back to part-time, 20 hours. By that time, I think I had about 30x annual expenses. I fully retired after 2 years of part -time at age of 56 in 2020 because of my health. By that time, I had 42x annual expenses. I currently have 55x+ my annual expenses. Luckily, everything worked out for me just in time. Even if there is another huge bear market, my draw down is so low, that I'll "bearly", lol--barely be affected. The hardest adjustment to retiring for me was the mental aspect of letting go of a paycheck.
Blue531 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2021, 04:10 PM   #33
Full time employment: Posting here.
Retch The Grate's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 861
The math is straightforward, when you've hit your number, even if it is at an all time market high, that's what your safe withdrawal rate is supposed to handle. But I think most people end up feeling worried about exactly that. I'd certainly feel better if I hit my number in the middle of a market crash.
Retch The Grate is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2021, 06:12 PM   #34
Recycles dryer sheets
Brdofpray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 294
With pensions, SS, investments, and savings considered, our decision was driven by DW purchase (15 years ago) of her favorite planning books for her teaching job. Since they do not make these books anymore, she stated when the last one is used, we retire.

And so, we did. There was no magic number we were aiming for.
__________________
Don't sweat the small stuff! And realize, it is all small stuff!
Brdofpray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2021, 06:14 PM   #35
Recycles dryer sheets
Brdofpray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 294
With pensions, SS, investments, and savings considered, our decision was driven by DW purchase (15 years ago) of her favorite planning books for her teaching job. Since they do not make these books anymore, she stated when the last one is used, we retire.

And so, we did. There was no magic number we were aiming for.
__________________
Don't sweat the small stuff! And realize, it is all small stuff!
Brdofpray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2021, 06:14 PM   #36
Recycles dryer sheets
Brdofpray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 294
With pensions, SS, investments, and savings considered, our decision was driven by DW purchase (15 years ago) of her favorite planning books for her teaching job. Since they do not make these books anymore, she stated when the last one is used, we retire.

And so, we did. There was no magic number we were aiming for.
__________________
Don't sweat the small stuff! And realize, it is all small stuff!
Brdofpray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2021, 06:26 PM   #37
Recycles dryer sheets
Brdofpray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 294
Sorry for the double post, I'm elderly.
__________________
Don't sweat the small stuff! And realize, it is all small stuff!
Brdofpray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2021, 06:28 PM   #38
Recycles dryer sheets
Brdofpray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 294
And, there may have been some whiskey involved!
__________________
Don't sweat the small stuff! And realize, it is all small stuff!
Brdofpray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2021, 06:39 PM   #39
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 121
I hadnt planned far ahead to retire at 51. For 4 months I was fed up with my job(the poeple,not the work) so I did a bit of research and knew I could safely retire, so I went ahead and retired(I'm happier everyday). I just ran the numbers right now, I had 38x my yearly spending at that time, which was April 2017. I've actually spent less in retirement than before although I have always lived very frugally. That makes me the happiest(being frugal). I'm 99% in stocks. My yearly spending has been 2.3% of my net worth at retirement. My net worth is up 66% since I retired 46 months ago. So my yearly spending is 1.275% of my current net worth. If the stock market goes down 67% and stays there, my yearly spending would be 3.825% of that new amount(but still under 2.3% of my net worth at retirement).

I dont have a pension. I plan on taking SS at age 70.

I'm not nearly as rich as most people on here.
Digger1000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2021, 05:00 AM   #40
Administrator
Gumby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 22,974
Our number was what we had on the day we retired.

It was actually a confluence of several factors that determined our retirement date. First, I had to wait until I was eligible for retiree health care for the two of us. Then, the young wife waited to hit 30 years of teaching, which substantially mitigated the early retirement penalty for her.

Financially, I had a number in mind for both income and portfolio value. Specifically, I wanted to have our two pensions cover our ordinary living expenses, which together with SS starting at 62, would also cover our expected travel expenses. Additionally, I wanted to have sufficient portfolio to cover the same thing at a 4% withdrawal rate (i.e. -- portfolio 25X the sum of pension plus SS), just in case something went awry with those sources of income. We hit both numbers almost right on the money as of the date of our retirement, although we would have gone anyway, even if the portfolio was a little light.

So we were independently SIRE and FIRE at the same time, with no change in our standard of living required. We did supplement our travel budget from our portfolio for the first year of retirement (7/19 through 6/20), but we haven't traveled due to COVID since last January. And since I start SS next month we won't have to do that going forward. Unless we want super luxury travel, we won't have to draw on our portfolio at all.
__________________
Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
Gumby is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Comfortable FIRE $$Number in Every State Article cyber888 FIRE and Money 34 09-15-2020 09:50 PM
Post your comfortable shoe recommendations here spncity Other topics 90 03-30-2019 05:36 AM
What was your magic Number? Was : Survey finds $880,000 is magic number eta2020 FIRE and Money 107 05-04-2015 04:58 PM
I hit my number fh2000 FIRE and Money 22 05-08-2013 06:17 AM
Hit the "magic number" steelyman FIRE and Money 21 02-24-2011 06:04 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:16 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.