Good evening! Long time lurker first time poster.
I'm still paying down debts but I do have my eye on the prize for retirement in ten years time. I'm making my plans and financial goals without planning on being promoted ever again (currently an E6 at 9 years). Not that I don't think I will or could get promoted again but just that I don't like to plan for things that are not absolutely guaranteed, like social security existing when its my time to collect. My date isn't exactly hard set on 2029 either, I could end up doing longer in the Navy, along as it stays fun and continues to be a career I enjoy past 20 years I'll stay in.
My why for doing all this is looking around me and seeing all these people having to work after putting 20+ years of their lives into the military. At my current command I have met way too many E-7s all the way up to 0-4s. That had to work after doing 20 years not because they wanted to but because they absolutely had to because they didn't plan properly and put money away during their career. I don't want to be that guy who at his retirement ceremony is having to sweat how he is going to pay his bills for the rest of his life after leaving the military. I want to be able to work a low stress job for fun and fulfillment instead of for a paycheck maybe even become a career volunteer post retirement.
My current plan is to max out traditional TSP contributions using mainly the C and S funds while also maxing out a Roth IRA each year. My goal is for both of these investments to total around $500k by the time I hit retirement in December 2029. Using the 4% rule, this along with my pension will give me and income of $50k a year. The reasoning between me being so aggressive with my TSP is because I see the pension income after 20 years as my "conservative" investment with guaranteed returns in my portfolio, almost like a bond. So I have no need to be conservative with my investments.
I do know that putting away $25k a year into savings while on an E-6 Salary ($60k) Doesn't seem possible to some folks, but you'd be surprised how frugal I can be. After all I have paid down $40k in debts over the past 18 months while CONUS as an E-5 ($50k a year) and on shore duty. I'll also be entering a very challenging sea duty tour OCONUS at the end of the year which should allow me to put away even more especially while underway, which will be the majority of my tour.
I'm still paying down debts but I do have my eye on the prize for retirement in ten years time. I'm making my plans and financial goals without planning on being promoted ever again (currently an E6 at 9 years). Not that I don't think I will or could get promoted again but just that I don't like to plan for things that are not absolutely guaranteed, like social security existing when its my time to collect. My date isn't exactly hard set on 2029 either, I could end up doing longer in the Navy, along as it stays fun and continues to be a career I enjoy past 20 years I'll stay in.
My why for doing all this is looking around me and seeing all these people having to work after putting 20+ years of their lives into the military. At my current command I have met way too many E-7s all the way up to 0-4s. That had to work after doing 20 years not because they wanted to but because they absolutely had to because they didn't plan properly and put money away during their career. I don't want to be that guy who at his retirement ceremony is having to sweat how he is going to pay his bills for the rest of his life after leaving the military. I want to be able to work a low stress job for fun and fulfillment instead of for a paycheck maybe even become a career volunteer post retirement.
My current plan is to max out traditional TSP contributions using mainly the C and S funds while also maxing out a Roth IRA each year. My goal is for both of these investments to total around $500k by the time I hit retirement in December 2029. Using the 4% rule, this along with my pension will give me and income of $50k a year. The reasoning between me being so aggressive with my TSP is because I see the pension income after 20 years as my "conservative" investment with guaranteed returns in my portfolio, almost like a bond. So I have no need to be conservative with my investments.
I do know that putting away $25k a year into savings while on an E-6 Salary ($60k) Doesn't seem possible to some folks, but you'd be surprised how frugal I can be. After all I have paid down $40k in debts over the past 18 months while CONUS as an E-5 ($50k a year) and on shore duty. I'll also be entering a very challenging sea duty tour OCONUS at the end of the year which should allow me to put away even more especially while underway, which will be the majority of my tour.