Hey, there.
We're 53 and want to leave ER at 55. We had intended to save like the devil and retire around now, but medical problems and my husband's disability retirement slowed us down. On the other hand, it's even more of an impetus to enjoy life now. As someone else said, illness and early deaths in the family make you reevaluate putting everything off.
So our thought right now is to wait till 2010 at my 25-year mark in government work, but I'm not sure we'll have enough. He's the blithe spirit; I'm the plodder, checking and rechecking. I don't really understand how to use Firecalc yet. I could use your input.
We have savings of $1M, half in Sep/401k/457, and half in taxable accounts. In the next two years I'll be able to add another $100k. It's 75% stock, 25% bonds/cash.
In two years, at my 55, we would have government pensions totalling $70,000 before tax a year, with medical included.
But how do I evaluate this? The cola on our pensions tops out at 2%/year, so it wouldn't keep up with inflation. And when I check or uncheck the cola boxes, it seems to make ALL the difference as to whether the numbers work. (If inflation is under 2, it would only match whatever that is, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.) But the boxes only say cola/no cola, not partial cola.
Also, the form asks about savings. Is it assuming it's all in nontaxable accounts? Ours is split.
Last, what do you think of our asset allocation? My thoughts are starting to be that, since we won't need much from our savings till later, we should stay aggressive, and maybe even more so, since our pension could be seen as pretty safe.
We aren't set in stone, can wait a while, maybe work some while retired (though in a more rural spot it would be hard in my field). I'd appreciate suggestions.
I'm enjoying everyone else's posts, though they make me feel like I flunked out of math!
We're 53 and want to leave ER at 55. We had intended to save like the devil and retire around now, but medical problems and my husband's disability retirement slowed us down. On the other hand, it's even more of an impetus to enjoy life now. As someone else said, illness and early deaths in the family make you reevaluate putting everything off.
So our thought right now is to wait till 2010 at my 25-year mark in government work, but I'm not sure we'll have enough. He's the blithe spirit; I'm the plodder, checking and rechecking. I don't really understand how to use Firecalc yet. I could use your input.
We have savings of $1M, half in Sep/401k/457, and half in taxable accounts. In the next two years I'll be able to add another $100k. It's 75% stock, 25% bonds/cash.
In two years, at my 55, we would have government pensions totalling $70,000 before tax a year, with medical included.
But how do I evaluate this? The cola on our pensions tops out at 2%/year, so it wouldn't keep up with inflation. And when I check or uncheck the cola boxes, it seems to make ALL the difference as to whether the numbers work. (If inflation is under 2, it would only match whatever that is, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.) But the boxes only say cola/no cola, not partial cola.
Also, the form asks about savings. Is it assuming it's all in nontaxable accounts? Ours is split.
Last, what do you think of our asset allocation? My thoughts are starting to be that, since we won't need much from our savings till later, we should stay aggressive, and maybe even more so, since our pension could be seen as pretty safe.
We aren't set in stone, can wait a while, maybe work some while retired (though in a more rural spot it would be hard in my field). I'd appreciate suggestions.
I'm enjoying everyone else's posts, though they make me feel like I flunked out of math!