FIRECALC strategy

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Say I want to semi-retire at 60 and fully retire at 65. At 60, I plan to stop contributing to my retirement savings, and basically just eat what I kill. At 65 I'd start my full SWR withdrawals. My nest egg withdrawal needs between 60 and 65 will be my annual expenses minus my earnings.

I'd like to know how much I'd have to earn for those 5 years (supplemented by lower than SWR withdrawals) in order to have a 95% success rate long-term. I set up a straight retire-at-65 scenario, then played around with various "decrease" and "increase" amounts for that 60-65 era on the expense page, but the results don't seem plausible -- the success rate doesn't seem to change despite the temporary amounts (perhaps because the deferred retirement year logic ignores withdrawals before then?).

How would you model this on FC?

 

[Martha]

I would be interested in trying to figure out this number as well.

My plan when I went parttime was to do the same. But instead, for tax reasons, I have continued to maximize my contributions and my "employer" contributions to my 401k plan.

 

[sgeeeee]

Rich,

Tell FIRECALC you are going to retire at 60 with your projected nest egg and spending requirements at that time.  Then tell it you are going to receive additional income in years 1 through 5 and put the projected amount in.  If you expect your spending will change at age 65, you will also need to tell FIRECALC that.

You may want to crank the years in retirement up to 35 years if you are going to compare it to a 30 year retire at 65 simulation.  And you may not see much difference in the success rates or the SWR.  

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Tell FIRECALC you are going to retire at 60 with your projected nest egg and spending requirements at that time. Then tell it you are going to receive additional income in years 1 through 5 and put the projected amount in. If you expect your spending will change at age 65, you will also need to tell FIRECALC that.

Ta dahhh.

That worked, Sgeeeee. Thanks. At least the numbers seem reasonable.

Even better, I liked the numbers it tells me I need to earn during that 5-year slow down. The favorable effect of even a moderate income stream in those first 5 years of retirement is a powerful one.

ESRBob will be proud of me.

 

[sgeeeee]

Ta dahhh.

That worked, Sgeeeee. Thanks. . .

Your welcome. I'm glad I could help and even happier that the results made you happy.