Where will you be in five years?

[REWahoo]

I don't read or post very often amymore. Nothing negative about the
board. (Don't use internet for visiting any boards).

If i'm on the right side of the grass, in 5 years time, I plan on giving away
one third of my assets to the 5 posters on this board that have been the kindest to me, and given me the most attention.

Best wishes, Jarhead

I love ya, man!!!

 

[GoodSense]

By the end of 2012, I will be 34. Five years is the timeframe I'm giving myself for my current j*b. By then I will have been with the same agency for 12 years, and it will be time to explore something new, maybe a new career, maybe just a different city. (Pension reform at the local government level now makes it less attractive to stay there for a long time, unlike it was before the early 1990s) We will probably move to a warmer location. I may take a year off w*rk to travel, probably to Central and South America. Hopefully I will speak enough Spanish by then to feel comfortable.

So fun to think about this! I just have to say I'm so glad to have found this board. Before I discovered the concept of ER, I saw no end to this tunnel called work and just felt depressed every time I thought about future plans. Now, if we save diligently, a 15- to 20-year timeframe (as opposed to 40 years!!) is very manageable!

 

[TargaDave]

Here

 

[hellodeli1]

In 5 years ...

To me, five years is a pretty short amount of time to do anything with -- which means, I suspect I'll still be in the workforce doing something much like what I am doing now, but still consistently socking it away and sticking to a plan of an early retirement.

I was reading musings on personal finance and my plan is very similar to his, just stick hard and fast to my saving and investment and retire young at age 40.

 

[Peaceful_Warrior]

5 years - out of corporate America doing my own thing(s). Probably making less than I do now... possibly making a lot lot more. Guess it depends how much effort I actually put into my business endeavors.

 

[HFWR]

I have nothing but the utmost respect for the United States Marine Corps. And golf is the best [-]sport[/-] game in the world...

 

[martyb]

I really wish I'd gone into the Marines instead of the Air Force 31 years ago! OooRah!!!

 

[myself]

In 5 years:

1. I'll be 49, wife 42.
2. Be done paying 5 years of our 15 year mortgage.
3. Our 4 kids (7, 7, 3, & 4) will be in school full-time.
4. Have no debt outside of our primary mortgage.
5. More productive in investment properties by that time.
6. Will be saving 15% (or more hopefully) of our single income.
7. Finished doing some desired house repairs at in-laws.
8. 5 years closer to being FIREd (planning for 55-60).

 

[Jarhead*]

Rewhool, HFWR, MartyB:

Declaring the polls closed at this point. (3-way split.

HFWR, and MartyB: Don't quit your day jobs just yet.

ReWahoo: We're both in somewhat the same category here. ( "I yam whatI yam".

You guys keep an eye on me, and not allow me to do something really stupid in the next few years.

 

[StJohnsWood]

I will be 48 and either retired for 2 years or 2 years away. Its either 46 or 50.

 

[HFWR]

Rewhool, HFWR, MartyB:

Declaring the polls closed at this point. (3-way split.

HFWR, and MartyB: Don't quit your day jobs just yet.

ReWahoo: We're both in somewhat the same category here. ( "I yam whatI yam".

You guys keep an eye on me, and not allow me to do something really stupid in the next few years.

Too late; my day job quit me...

 

[aworkingrachel]

In five years, I'll be 32.

- I'll probably be working a similar job, but with a different company and probably at a higher salary.
- I'll probably be married to my current boyfriend.
- I'll possibly be contemplating having a child soon.
- We'll be in a different place and will have been there for a couple of years. Possibly, we'll have a mortgage on a condo.
- I'll still be planning on ER in my thirties, but I'm sure my route to getting there will have changed completely!

 

[Midpack]

Hopefully I will have quit MegaCorp and gone on to something more enjoyable (and lower paying), and living somewhere we'd like to live. Too bad I don't know what I want to do or where I want to live - but we're giving both a lot of thought these days. Even though we're in good condition, like so many, healthcare is what keeps us from hanging up MegaCorp (and a high salary).

 

[simple girl]

Hopefully we will be at least semi-retired. Our plan is for DH to take on short-term contract assignments (6 months or less) while I find short-term work as well. We'd like to make enough $ to cover our living expenses (and health insurance) for the entire year, letting our investments grow untouched until we feel ready to completely retire. For the other 6 months when not working we want to travel, spend extended time with family, etc. Wish we were in a position to semi-fire now since my father is elderly and not in the best of health. Life is what it is, though.

 

[FIREd]

Well I don't know where I will be in five years, but that's where I hope to be:

In 5 years, I will be 38, I hope our networth exceeds $1M (about 2/3 of the way to ideal FIRE target), I hope our household income exceeds $200K per year, I hope we still live in the same house.

 

[Walt34]

In five years I'll be 62, DW will be 57. I'm starting another job soon, both to fill in the days a little bit and for some "toy money" like either a travel trailer - if I can talk DW into going places - or perhaps an airplane if I can't. The contract for the job runs four years, during which time I can either work full time or part time. The idea is to work full time for two to three years and then see where we sit, perhaps then go to part time to support the toys once they are bought.

Since they are TOYS, I am not taking out any loans for them or raiding the piggy bank.

 

[Niko]

Well, it's been 5 years since this thread went up . . . how did everyone do? Did those who planned retirement within 5 years actually pull the plug? How about those who predicted career changes?

For me, I'm happy to report that my prediction was quite close. I told myself that, rather than seeking ER by the age of 40, I would delay that until 45-50 and seek more fulfilling work. In early 2010 I changed careers, and I'm currently ahead of schedule to retire at 50 (still a few years away, though). More importantly, I'm in a line of work now that doesn't cause me to daydream all day long about ER.

 

[aaronc879]

In 5 years i'll be 33. Expect that i'll still be single with no kids. Still be at same job and still under 50K/year. Should be close to $250K savings. Still a renter so no debt unless I buy my parents house when they retire around that time.

I'm 33 just as I expected Still single, no kids. Lost my job in August 2011 and have been unnder/unemployed since. Only have around half the $250K I expected to have. Bought a condo and paid it off.

I'm in worse shape(physically and financially) now at 33 than when I was 28 and going downhill.

 

[bbbamI]

Well, it's been 5 years since this thread went up . . . how did everyone do? Did those who planned retirement within 5 years actually pull the plug? How about those who predicted career changes?

My thoughts five years ago have worked out....

I'm not a young dreamer, but I guess I can reply. In five years I hope to be thankful for each day. By then, we will be living off a pension and DH's retirement fund. I like to think that he and I will be doing more things as a couple and growing old together gracefully.

Health issues have made things a bit bumpy, but we're still kickin'.

 

[Meadbh]

I hope to RE on December 31, 2012, so in five years I will have three days to go!

I retired a month early. It's actually remarkable how close my prediction was.



Thanks for bringing up this thread, Niko. In the interim, I had forgotten my original intention and had developed "one more year" syndrome. Fortunately, a toxic w*rk environment helped me to see the light!

 

[Alan]

I must have missed this thread 5 years ago, but I would have said that I planned to retire at age 55 when I was eligible for a DB pension and retiree health benefits, and to move from Louisiana to Texas to be close to our kids.

The plan came good exactly 3 years ago and it has been great ever since.

 

[FIREd]

In 5 years, I will be 38, I hope our networth exceeds $1M (about 2/3 of the way to ideal FIRE target), I hope our household income exceeds $200K per year, I hope we still live in the same house.

My hopes regarding net worth and income came true. But I don't live in the same house anymore (though I still own it).

 

[Bestwifeever]

I must have missed this thread 5 years ago....

I did too, but I know I thought DH would have been retired for 2 years, we would have sold our house and moved to a small town, and we would each have taken SS when we reached 62.

So DH has been retired 4 years, we decided to stay in our house (remodeling it), and neither of us has taken SS (DH is 64, I am just past 62) and not sure when we will--probably FRA or Medicare age.

 

[W2R]

Oops! I guess that I was dreaming about the "move-that-never-happened", when I wrote the post below. I have been retired for three years, and I have completely decompressed and unwound after my working years. But, I am still happily living in New Orleans, in the same house as always. I still know very little about living with snow. No vegetable garden, either.

In five years...

I will have been retired for three years;
I will be living in Springfield, Missouri;
I will have owned my house there for two years;
I will just be finishing the process of furnishing, painting, and decorating it;
I will know all about snow and will be giving advice to southerners on the forum planning to move north;
I will have FINALLY decompressed and completely unwound after my working years;
and...
I will be planning my vegetable garden to plant in the spring! (hint: cherry tomatos! lettuce! green beans!)

 

[NW-Bound]

I missed this thread back then too. What was my plan then? Can't remember, but I never have any concrete plan anyway.

But looking back at my notes, I knew that we were just coming back from a fabulous France/Czech trip. Portfolio set an all-time high a couple of months earlier. I felt like on top of the world. Daughter doing OK in college. Son just entered college. So, I must have been thinking about the end game. Got my 2nd home in the boonies all set up as a final resting place. I remembered thinking about living up there full-time (freezing my buns off in the winter).

Who wouldda thunk the market tanked badly the next year? And now, I am thinking about spending more time with the RV than in the boonies home. And of course 5 years ago, I never really set a date to stop work. When the time was right, it would happen. And it did. Children are all done with school, and living their own life. That part works out.

Nope, no plan looking forward either. I am still planning my next RV trip, and even the departure date has not been set. Maybe even take an Alaskan cruise before another RV trip.

Five years ahead? Are you kidding?