Spontaneous Saver
Confused about dryer sheets
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2019
- Messages
- 8
Hi all, looking for advice here: I'm 35 years old and I got semi-serious about retirement and long-term planning 10 years ago but I don't feel like I'm making a lot of progress on my goals of retiring before I'm 45. I'd appreciate some honest feedback from the community on how I'm doing and what I can improve on for the next 10ish years.
For starters I'm a fed gov't employee- I make just under 6 figures and I've been here for 10 years- no plans on going anywhere. If anything, I hope to earn a promotion in the coming months and then cross the threshold into six-figure income. If I stay until I'm 50 I may be eligible for an early retirement buyout of up to 40k but that's so far away I can't fathom what things will look like.
I'm married, husband is 47 and about to retire from the military with a pension around $58k/year before taxes. He's going to take a break for a few months and then go back to work after Christmas. He has two young kids from a previous marriage and has to pay child support amongst other expenses for them. He also likes to work but hasn't been able to lead a life of leisure yet so I'm hoping he will enjoy his temporary break between careers and decide that FI is better than another 20 years in the rat race.
Our portfolio is not very diverse but I find that simpler is better for me.
TSP: $123k (I put in 10% of my income and the feds match 5%)
Roth IRA: $52k (maxing it out for the last 2 years- will keep that up)
Husband's Roth: $34k (he forgot he had it and we're now putting a trivial amount in there, $250/mo.)
Emergency fund: $2300 (will build this up to 25-30k by this fall when loan is paid off)
We are in the process of paying off our debt, one loan will be gone this summer leaving only our mortgage to go ($260k owed). After getting a cushion for emergencies paying off the mortgage is our next priority. I don't think I will be comfortable not working unless the house is paid for. Currently we are allocating about $6k/mo for debt payments. Depending on my husband's next career move we can have the house paid for in 2023.
We live below our means but I can't quantify that like many of you here have shown in your posts. I know that we write a budget every month and we stick mostly to it. It's a road map and so far it's working well for us.
What do you guys think? Are we on the right track?
For starters I'm a fed gov't employee- I make just under 6 figures and I've been here for 10 years- no plans on going anywhere. If anything, I hope to earn a promotion in the coming months and then cross the threshold into six-figure income. If I stay until I'm 50 I may be eligible for an early retirement buyout of up to 40k but that's so far away I can't fathom what things will look like.
I'm married, husband is 47 and about to retire from the military with a pension around $58k/year before taxes. He's going to take a break for a few months and then go back to work after Christmas. He has two young kids from a previous marriage and has to pay child support amongst other expenses for them. He also likes to work but hasn't been able to lead a life of leisure yet so I'm hoping he will enjoy his temporary break between careers and decide that FI is better than another 20 years in the rat race.
Our portfolio is not very diverse but I find that simpler is better for me.
TSP: $123k (I put in 10% of my income and the feds match 5%)
Roth IRA: $52k (maxing it out for the last 2 years- will keep that up)
Husband's Roth: $34k (he forgot he had it and we're now putting a trivial amount in there, $250/mo.)
Emergency fund: $2300 (will build this up to 25-30k by this fall when loan is paid off)
We are in the process of paying off our debt, one loan will be gone this summer leaving only our mortgage to go ($260k owed). After getting a cushion for emergencies paying off the mortgage is our next priority. I don't think I will be comfortable not working unless the house is paid for. Currently we are allocating about $6k/mo for debt payments. Depending on my husband's next career move we can have the house paid for in 2023.
We live below our means but I can't quantify that like many of you here have shown in your posts. I know that we write a budget every month and we stick mostly to it. It's a road map and so far it's working well for us.
What do you guys think? Are we on the right track?