Markola
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
My 50th birthday is this month so I decided to finally introduce myself to this valuable forum, even though I’ve enjoyed actively learning from you experienced folks for a couple of years now. Here goes:
Me: 50 y.o. male
DW: 52.5 (lovely lady and a two-time cancer survivor)
No children
We live in a medium-sized upper Midwestern city
Investible Net Worth: $1.2M
1.125M tax-advantaged @ 85/15 allocation, all index funds
$75,000 taxable in 100% Total Stock Mkt Index (for tax-efficiency)
Also: $100,000 home equity on a $400,000 house with 30 year mortgage at 4.1%. No consumer debt.
Current Gross Income of two salaries is $250,000.
Current savings $66,000/year. We are maxing 401Ks + saving $1,500 mo taxable. We are about to start adding two full 401K catch-up provisions for an additional $12,000/year to total $78,000 savings/year starting 2016.
Our Plan for our 50s: reach $2.5M - $3M investible
We obviously need to have health insurance locked down tight, even if it means working longer. DW remains ambitious for her career and makes $100,000 in the federal government. I don't see her stopping until she is at least 59.5, assuming her health holds. We can buy permanently into Fed health insurance starting in 6 years. I am not sure yet whether my driving goal is early retirement, part time work, or just better management so I'll keep working and saving until I decide. Plus we have older parents and, of course, a dark health cloud that hangs over and sends lightning bolts at us periodically. If we both keep working and are fortunate that present health, income and market trends continue (I project 7% long-term growth), we should hit our goals in 7-9 years, when I am 57-59. We’ll adjust spending or retirement dates according to whatever reality flings at us before then.
Plan for our 60s: Retirement
I plan to shift to 60/40 allocation of index funds when we stop working. For 3 years I have tracked all our spending avidly in YNAB and plan for $110,000/year to pay for taxes and spending if we keep our mortgage and make no lifestyle reductions. 4% of $3M is $120,000, so that’s the very high end spend rate and includes a lot of “wants”. There should be lots of ways to cut expenses or earn a little income in our 60s, if needed, or maybe events will transpire that let us step away a couple years earlier.
Thanks for your interest in our plan and for any advice!
Me: 50 y.o. male
DW: 52.5 (lovely lady and a two-time cancer survivor)
No children
We live in a medium-sized upper Midwestern city
Investible Net Worth: $1.2M
1.125M tax-advantaged @ 85/15 allocation, all index funds
$75,000 taxable in 100% Total Stock Mkt Index (for tax-efficiency)
Also: $100,000 home equity on a $400,000 house with 30 year mortgage at 4.1%. No consumer debt.
Current Gross Income of two salaries is $250,000.
Current savings $66,000/year. We are maxing 401Ks + saving $1,500 mo taxable. We are about to start adding two full 401K catch-up provisions for an additional $12,000/year to total $78,000 savings/year starting 2016.
Our Plan for our 50s: reach $2.5M - $3M investible
We obviously need to have health insurance locked down tight, even if it means working longer. DW remains ambitious for her career and makes $100,000 in the federal government. I don't see her stopping until she is at least 59.5, assuming her health holds. We can buy permanently into Fed health insurance starting in 6 years. I am not sure yet whether my driving goal is early retirement, part time work, or just better management so I'll keep working and saving until I decide. Plus we have older parents and, of course, a dark health cloud that hangs over and sends lightning bolts at us periodically. If we both keep working and are fortunate that present health, income and market trends continue (I project 7% long-term growth), we should hit our goals in 7-9 years, when I am 57-59. We’ll adjust spending or retirement dates according to whatever reality flings at us before then.
Plan for our 60s: Retirement
I plan to shift to 60/40 allocation of index funds when we stop working. For 3 years I have tracked all our spending avidly in YNAB and plan for $110,000/year to pay for taxes and spending if we keep our mortgage and make no lifestyle reductions. 4% of $3M is $120,000, so that’s the very high end spend rate and includes a lot of “wants”. There should be lots of ways to cut expenses or earn a little income in our 60s, if needed, or maybe events will transpire that let us step away a couple years earlier.
Thanks for your interest in our plan and for any advice!