Recent content by countrymouse

Sadly that happened to us. My MIL passed away suddenly in December, FIL had to learn a lot. He has managed to surprise us all, but the financial stuff is the hardest. MIL kept wonderful records though and we are now (thanks to advise from this board) setting up a meeting with a CFP. After...

Thanks all. Very good point about POA and wills. The one thing we could do to honor MIL is keep the farm in the family, so some planning regarding how that passes to the next generation is important. Plus, it is where DH and hope to retire. A financial planner vs advisor is who we need. And...

I'll try to keep this short, but bear with me. My MIL passed away unexpectedly this past Dec. Five days before their official retirement from a lifetime of working on the family farm. There are no words. On top of everything else, it was my MIL who did all the finances and retirement...

Thanks all- this has been helpful- We've got a lot of thinking to do. We're working our way through Booglehead's Guide and a Swedroe book so while we "know" this is risky it hasn't sunk in just yet. We've got a lot to learn, and I do appreciate all the comments. It will be interesting to look...

Does anyone have a portion of the portfolio that is truly speculative and how does it figure into your retirement forecasting? The reason I ask is about 1/3 of our total investments is currently in VGENX. It is the fund that ate our account- and I'm having a hard time talking to DH about this...

Thanks all. We've really been struggling with the competing goals of me staying home now and retiring early. And believe me, I do know if I stayed home I'd be trading in a cushy 9-4 job with pay for a hard 24 hr "job" with no pay or vacation and my retirement would still be in 2025. I also...

37 planning on retiring in 15 years or so once kiddos (2) are in college. We have 500K for retirement: half in "retirement" accounts (401(k) and 2 Roths) and the rest in a joint account. We are traditional 60/40 vanilla Vanguard Target 2025 retirement fund, some TIPs, international and Energy...