43 and living life in NY & FL - Am I close to FIRE or far far away?

[beeboy]

beeboy, welcome and congratulations . Are you planning to keep both homes in retirement? If not, your expenses could go down. There are two ways to reach your goal. You can either grow savings and or/reduce spending.



FN

Thanks flint - right now I only own the home in FLA. I live in the one in NY rent free, but I do pay the taxes and utilities, etc. (which are significant). When/ if I buy the one in NY, I may keep it and possibly rent it out when I retire. I am definitely interested in having a regular rental income stream down the road to supplement my income.

 

[beeboy]

43 and living life in NY & FL - Am I close to FIRE or far far away?

I lived in west Broward for 17 years and know about 'Canes fans . Went to a game at the Orange Bowl in 1999 or so. Was great to be in that old place, the crowd could really rock it. Wife went to the last game played there. Watching them live wasn't the same for me after they moved to Dolphin stadium.



You have a very good thing-liquidity, which means you have options. Most important is to avoid doing anything stupid chasing returns. BTDT, didn't get a shirt, lost one.



Given the possibility of buying the house, could carve out that amount until that opportunity is presented and VCA in the rest.

FlaGator - I'm seriously considering taking a good chunk of the cash (the part that I do not need for a down payment on the house purchase) and VCA into a couple of dividend ETFs like VYM. Appreciate all of the solid advice from everyone here it's really helpful. Keep it coming.

 

[BeachOrCity]

My 2 cents:

Maybe not 49, but definitely not 65. A lot can happen between now and then, so hold on to your seat.

Also, don't feel guilty about splurging for reasonable niceties (vacations, dining out, etc). You need to enjoy life, not just put up with it until retirement.

And while annuities and cash are not popular here for someone your age, that does not make it wrong. Just a different way to get there, with a comfort zone. But it could take longer (or not).

Good luck.

+1
You don't know what the future holds income wise or markets wise. Enjoy life now and just plan reasonably and see how things unfold.

 

[beeboy]

43 and living life in NY & FL - Am I close to FIRE or far far away?

+1

You don't know what the future holds income wise or markets wise. Enjoy life now and just plan reasonably and see how things unfold.

Thanks BeachorCity - I certainly enjoy life (maybe too much), I am saving, although when I think of ER, not enough. But luckily, I don't hate my job TOO bad most of the time. I want the option of FI, which I may have (or am very close too), which does make w*rk more tolerable. There is certainly something to being able to tell the owners to "take this job and shove it" should one choose (even if you never do).

 

[Music Lover]

- I live in NY about 70-75 percent of the time and S. Fla about 25-30 percent of the time. I love S. Fla and my company allows me to work there part of the time.

- I also own a condo in S. Fla that is worth about 450,000, and I owe about 117,000 on it still. In addition to the monthly mortgage, I've been paying an extra 10,000 per year to have it paid off early.

- I know I have way to much in cash, but I may be purchasing a house within the next 6 months (my grandmother passed away and I may buy her house). Also, I'm very hesitant to put more money in the stock market right now since we are due for a correction and I'd like to have money to buy in then (as I did in 2008).

- My expenses are about 80,000 - 90,000 a year. I live below my means, but not even close to as much as I should. I do like to enjoy life, so I go out to dinner too often, go out too often, travel to S. Fla often (I work from there, but it is my choice and my company allows it so I pay for my travel).

You live in NY most of the time, own a condo in Florida, and want to buy your grandmother's house.

If you retire, will you need 3 different homes? I imagine that your $90k in annual expenses would be greatly reduced if you downsize to just one home, possibly reduced enough to make retirement feasible.

 

[beeboy]

You live in NY most of the time, own a condo in Florida, and want to buy your grandmother's house.

If you retire, will you need 3 different homes? I imagine that your $90k in annual expenses would be greatly reduced if you downsize to just one home, possibly reduced enough to make retirement feasible.

Music Lover - I don't currently own the home I live in in NY. So it would only be 2 homes I would own if I bought my grandmothers, not 3. I could always rent it out when I retire and get a steady income stream down the road.

 

[beeboy]

If you look at the "My Portfolio" tab in FIRECalc you can put in criteria for your portfolio. I would suggest that you put in your target AA rather than your current AA since you are currently so cash heavy.

If the annuity is a fixed annuity then I would include that in your investments as a bond-equivalent.... if the annuity is a variable annuity then include it based on the underlying subaccount/fund investments.

There is nothing wrong with having more in your brokerage than in your 401k... in fact having taxable funds will be helpful to retiring at 49 since you would not have penalty-free access to your 401k until you are 59 1/2 (other than a 72(t) SEPP withdrawal plan).

On investing your cash, I suggest that you value average into equities. Value averaging is a bit of a twist on dollar-cost averaging and results in your investing more when the market is relatively low and less when the market is relatively high. Here's how it works: Let's say that you want to put $240k to work in the market over ~16 months. Under DCA, you would invest $15k a month for 24 months. Under VCA, you invest $15k the first month. When you get to the next month, you invest however much you need to to bring your balance to $30k... so if equities have declined you will invest more than $15k but if they have advanced then you'll invest less than $15k. A month later, invest whatever you need to to bring your balance to $45k. Repeat until the $240k has been invested.

I'll be meeting with a financial advisor from Citi (it's free) on August 30 to discuss some investment options and other vehicles for some of my savings. I got the feeling from our initial discussion that he doesn't view my retirement in 5 years as viable. But, any questions I should be asking him and/or suggestions on investments I should bring up are welcome from any of the fine folks here. Thanks in advance!

 

[45th Birthday]

I'll be meeting with a financial advisor from Citi (it's free) on August 30 to discuss some investment options and other vehicles for some of my savings. I got the feeling from our initial discussion that he doesn't view my retirement in 5 years as viable. But, any questions I should be asking him and/or suggestions on investments I should bring up are welcome from any of the fine folks here. Thanks in advance!

The meeting might be free, but you can bet the investment costs and account fees won't be. The first question you should ask is "How and how much do you get paid by me and others if I have money with you?" Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit if he doesn't give you a direct answer in plain English with numbers. Bolt later after researching and they seem too high for the services rendered.

 

[beeboy]

The meeting might be free, but you can bet the investment costs and account fees won't be. The first question you should ask is "How and how much do you get paid by me and others if I have money with you?" Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit if he doesn't give you a direct answer in plain English with numbers. Bolt later after researching and they seem too high for the services rendered.

45th - I hear ya. And I know the feelings of many/ most of the posters on this forum about FAs in general. But, I believe I have free access to an FA because I have my cash at Citi.

Most of my investments are with Morgan Stanley, where I have a broker (again, I know anathema to many). But, I'd like to keep some of my capital (but no longer mostly in cash) at Citi to continue being a gold client to keep the benefits of that membership (especially credits/ refunds from all ATM fees anywhere).

Regardless, I figure it can't hurt to get some added advice if I go in there knowing they are trying to sell me their funds and not signing anything. Citi brokerage actually only charges 4.95 on trades, unlike MS which is like 150 a trade. So, even if I get their recommendations on stocks, funds, ETFs, CDs, etc. I can always just purchase these via their online trading portal (except the funds and CDs I would assume).

 

[beeboy]

- I currently have about 1.25 million saved for retirement, this includes:
*535,000 in a morgan stanley brokerage account (large majority stocks, but also 120,000 in an annuity - I know, but I like the idea of having some type of regular income down the road. It matures in 8 years.)
*428,000 in 401k
*26,000 in checking
*255,000 in savings

-bee

Hello all. First off, I wanted to thank everyone here for all of the great insight. I've been an avid reader of this site and really believe it has provided me with some solid advice, as well as the courage/ability to see that FIRE is an achievable goal.

I especially enjoy reading the updates, so I thought I'd provide a little update on myself since my first post in August. I had a bday, so I'm now 44.

Currently, I have about 1,390,000 saved for retirement (thank you stock market), including:

*632,000 in MS brokerage account (majority in stocks, 130,000 in a variable indexed annuity and 25,000 in a B-REIT).

*490,000 in 401K

*15,000 in checking

*253,000 in savings account

So, my plan is to still retire in 4 years at 48. I just ran Firecalc and it gives me a 100% chance of success of retiring at that age. This assumes that I will be saving 75,000 each of the next 4 years, receive 200,000 from sale of my company (I have a small partnership), and start drawing SS of 1,888 starting in 2035. All this would allow for annual expenses of 95,000 a year (a bit above my planned expenses).

Not sure if I am missing something, but I didn't realize that I was this close (at least according to Firecalc). Maybe I'm completely overlooking something obvious or should I just relax and be happy?

 

[StuckinCT]

Hello all. First off, I wanted to thank everyone here for all of the great insight. I've been an avid reader of this site and really believe it has provided me with some solid advice, as well as the courage/ability to see that FIRE is an achievable goal.

I especially enjoy reading the updates, so I thought I'd provide a little update on myself since my first post in August. I had a bday, so I'm now 44.

Currently, I have about 1,390,000 saved for retirement (thank you stock market), including:

*632,000 in MS brokerage account (majority in stocks, 130,000 in a variable indexed annuity and 25,000 in a B-REIT).

*490,000 in 401K

*15,000 in checking

*253,000 in savings account

So, my plan is to still retire in 4 years at 48. I just ran Firecalc and it gives me a 100% chance of success of retiring at that age. This assumes that I will be saving 75,000 each of the next 4 years, receive 200,000 from sale of my company (I have a small partnership), and start drawing SS of 1,888 starting in 2035. All this would allow for annual expenses of 95,000 a year (a bit above my planned expenses).

Not sure if I am missing something, but I didn't realize that I was this close (at least according to Firecalc). Maybe I'm completely overlooking something obvious or should I just relax and be happy?

Hi and congratulations on the a 100% firecalc result. I guess the only thing I can think of re firecalc is does that $95k spend include taxes? But taxes should not be too big an issue for you.

Also, in terms of your budget, health insurance and health costs as well as budgeting for things like home improvements, condo assessments etc. can also change things somewhat, so as along as you are comfortable with that then I'd say you are good to go.

You mentioned in your original post a 4% withdrawal rate. I am 46 and have run it for a 41 year period with social security and at 3.5%, I am 99%, and at 3.35% WR I go to 100%. But it is also important to be invested in low cost funds, my expense ratio is about .15%, and have an equity allocation of 80% or so. So, over the next four years, your numbers will likely become more real as you dot the i's cross the ts.

I think you also mentioned you had a girlfriend, if you get married and have kids, that could change everything if you want to pay for college- I'm sure you know this but before you say fire, I'd make sure you have this in focus!

 

[beeboy]

Hi and congratulations on the a 100% firecalc result. I guess the only thing I can think of re firecalc is does that $95k spend include taxes? But taxes should not be too big an issue for you.

Also, in terms of your budget, health insurance and health costs as well as budgeting for things like home improvements, condo assessments etc. can also change things somewhat, so as along as you are comfortable with that then I'd say you are good to go.

You mentioned in your original post a 4% withdrawal rate. I am 46 and have run it for a 41 year period with social security and at 3.5%, I am 99%, and at 3.35% WR I go to 100%. But it is also important to be invested in low cost funds, my expense ratio is about .15%, and have an equity allocation of 80% or so. So, over the next four years, your numbers will likely become more real as you dot the i's cross the ts.

I think you also mentioned you had a girlfriend, if you get married and have kids, that could change everything if you want to pay for college- I'm sure you know this but before you say fire, I'd make sure you have this in focus!

Hi StuckinCT,
The 95,000 does include property taxes. Actually, I estimate my annual, bare-bones expenses are only about 32,000, which includes utilities, cable, housing/HOA, car insurance, home insurance, health care and residential taxes. I purposefully put my annual expenses at 95,000 to allow for about 5,250 a month (after subtracting the bare bones annual expenses) to live/play with (which is about 175 a day), and account for the unforeseen. It doesn't include my mortgage payment, but I plan on paying that off (currently at 115,000) before I pull the plug.

I'm invested in low cost index funds through my 401k, as well as a few in my MS brokerage; however, I do have most of my brokerage assets in individual stocks spread across a number of sectors as well - a broad mix of tech, media/ entertainment, financials, utilities, defense, pharma, industrials, energy, telecomm, airlines, auto, etc. (I've built it over the last 15 years or so and I tried to make it a highly diversified portfolio).

I know I still have way too much in cash, but am putting some to work in the market, while holding onto some to make a move should we see the inevitable correction at some point.

As for the GF and children, yes, I know that if this situation changes it could blow up all of my best laid plans

I'll keep planning and saving while shooting to call it quits in 4 years, with the understanding things may change drastically. Although, I'm more focused on the FI part, rather than the RE part, at this point and we'll see how things turn out.

 

[knucklehead 61]

a couple observations:
1) why pay off the mortgage? you'll lose the tax deduction & the surplus cash invested into a no load mutual fund / index fund / broad market fund would generate probably double what the mortgage interest rate is...if the future follows the last 100 + years average returns.

2) why not dump ms & open a vanguard account? not only will you enjoy much lower fees, but you also get a quantity of free trades each year.

3) if you were to poll the members here you would likely find the vast majority would advise you to get out of the annuity asap! if you can't get out at least stop adding new $ (& stop paying the huge hidden commissions!)

4) i would be putting the maximum allowable $ into the ira/401k. go above & beyond just the minimum to get the employer match. fully fund it...every year, for the maximum tax benefits.

5) when the company sells, are the proceeds taxable? most likely at a much higher rate than your salary.

 

[hilltide]

Nice work Beeboy! You are killing it! We are roughly the same age. I am a few years behind you but hope to be sipping drinks retired not shortly after.

 

[beeboy]

a couple observations:
1) why pay off the mortgage? you'll lose the tax deduction & the surplus cash invested into a no load mutual fund / index fund / broad market fund would generate probably double what the mortgage interest rate is...if the future follows the last 100 + years average returns.

2) why not dump ms & open a vanguard account? not only will you enjoy much lower fees, but you also get a quantity of free trades each year.

3) if you were to poll the members here you would likely find the vast majority would advise you to get out of the annuity asap! if you can't get out at least stop adding new $ (& stop paying the huge hidden commissions!)

4) i would be putting the maximum allowable $ into the ira/401k. go above & beyond just the minimum to get the employer match. fully fund it...every year, for the maximum tax benefits.

5) when the company sells, are the proceeds taxable? most likely at a much higher rate than your salary.

Hi Knucklehead,

I really appreciate your observations and I'll try to answer each one. I know that my approach (so far) is different from the majority on this board, but I do have reasons, although I'm also willing to be flexible and make changes:

1) why pay off the mortgage? you'll lose the tax deduction & the surplus cash invested into a no load mutual fund / index fund / broad market fund would generate probably double what the mortgage interest rate is...if the future follows the last 100 + years average returns.

Most everything I've read or heard has said that you should pay off your mortgage before retirement. While I understand the other side given low mortgage rates, I think I'd be more comfortable knowing my mortgage was paid off before I called it quits. In addition, I have a pretty sizable monthly HOA fee (equal to my mortgage payment) so I'd like to get rid of one of those monthly payments if I can.

2) why not dump ms & open a vanguard account? not only will you enjoy much lower fees, but you also get a quantity of free trades each year.

I have definitely thought long and hard about doing just this. However, I honestly don't do much trading (maybe one or two new/big trades a year). I'm pretty much a buy and hold investor. For the most part, I have all of my investments on dividend re-invest so I'm not paying any fees for that. I do like my FA/broker, appreciate his advice and bouncing ideas off him from time to time. He knows my investment style and does not harass or try to push investments on me. So, the limited cost is worth it for me.

That being said, I am also considering opening a separate Fidelity account with some of the money I have in cash and buying some dividend ETFs, contributing to it monthly and letting them grow. I'm not sure how much sense it makes to have a brokerage account at 2 different institutions, but I'm certainly a fan of diversifying (even when it comes to financial institutions.

3) if you were to poll the members here you would likely find the vast majority would advise you to get out of the annuity asap! if you can't get out at least stop adding new $ (& stop paying the huge hidden commissions!)

Oh, yes, I definitely know how the majority of the members feel about annuities. I actually did a lot of reading before I bought my annuity because I had seen many horror stories about people getting into something they didn't understand. Based on my research, I came to the conclusion that it made sense for me given what I was looking for. Much of what I read said that while you should rarely (if ever) put all of your money into an annuity, they can serve a purpose in a balanced portfolio. My annuity comprises less than 10% of my overall retirement savings and I wanted an investment product that would act as a pension, since I do not have one, and would gurantee me a steady income stream each month no matter what (basically, I wanted something that would act like a pension check). I looked for one with a low commission/low fees, and chose a variable income annuity for life that I felt would meet my objective. Again, this is just a small portion of my retirement pie and I'm hoping it will generate 2K per month once it matures.

4) i would be putting the maximum allowable $ into the ira/401k. go above & beyond just the minimum to get the employer match. fully fund it...every year, for the maximum tax benefits.

I'm not only putting the minimum in since I do receive commission checks every quarter and I am also putting in a portion of those as well. Given this, I am pretty close, if not at, the maximum of 18K allowed each year.

5) when the company sells, are the proceeds taxable? most likely at a much higher rate than your salary.

Yes, the proceeds are taxable and I'm sure that uncle sam will take quite a bite. The figures I used in my calculations are after tax and I simply cut the figure in half. The actually figures may be more or less depending on what percentage I ultimately receive and taxes, but I figured my estimate was a fair guesstimate.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded answers and I know some of them may not be totally prudent. Feel free to poke holes in any of my responses and/or offer alternatives.

Thank you,
bee

 

[beeboy]

Nice work Beeboy! You are killing it! We are roughly the same age. I am a few years behind you but hope to be sipping drinks retired not shortly after.

Thanks hilltide. Not sure what it is, but I think around our age you start to hit the wall. I used to think w*rk would get easier/ more tolerable as you got older since you'd have been used to it after doing it for so many years. But, I've found that the opposite is true and it becomes more intolerable and that I have less patience to deal w/ all the BS the longer you're doing it.

Anyway, yes, can not wait to be sipping drinks without a care in the world soon.

 

[hilltide]

I hear ya. I have hit the wall but will grind through. My wife said I am obsessed with Early Re. I am running my family business so will be difficult to walk away. I have already advised my father I will not be working past 55. He worked until 75. He told me.. guys like us don't retire early. lol. I told him speak for yourself. I take that as a challenge!


We have a lot of the same thoughts. I just paid off my mortgage and have considered an annuity. I have no pension and nice to know there are some guaranteed funds. Going to hold a while until after the after tax investments & 401k get to a comfortable retirement level. Good luck and keep us posted. Like others have said, these are not topics you can generally discuss around friends. Nice to have a place to get input and track progress with like minded people.

 

[beeboy]

I hear ya. I have hit the wall but will grind through. My wife said I am obsessed with Early Re. I am running my family business so will be difficult to walk away. I have already advised my father I will not be working past 55. He worked until 75. He told me.. guys like us don't retire early. lol. I told him speak for yourself. I take that as a challenge!


We have a lot of the same thoughts. I just paid off my mortgage and have considered an annuity. I have no pension and nice to know there are some guaranteed funds. Going to hold a while until after the after tax investments & 401k get to a comfortable retirement level. Good luck and keep us posted. Like others have said, these are not topics you can generally discuss around friends. Nice to have a place to get input and track progress with like minded people.

Totally agree. I bring up FIRE once in while with family and friends and they look at me with amusement like it’s an impossible dream. They nod and smile and I know they’re thinking “this guy is going to be working until 65/70 like the rest of us.”

It’s Nice to know there’s a place to be able to discuss it, get great advice and encourage each other to make it a reality. What’s your situation, if you don’t mind me asking? How close are you to your number?

 

[hilltide]

Owned a mortgage company previously so spent a lot of time cleaning up that mess over the years. No regrets. Gave me the skill set to run my dad and his partners business.

Right now at 400k paid off house & 500k in investments. Make 300k right now but fluctuates. Should be able to put away 125k-200k based on income and some deals I've made. Plan is to retire in 12 years or 2.5 Million whichever comes first. Everything is paid off. If the market tanks, I will go work at 7 Eleven and fish all day Not close to my number yet but feel i am in good position to get there!

 

[beeboy]

Owned a mortgage company previously so spent a lot of time cleaning up that mess over the years. No regrets. Gave me the skill set to run my dad and his partners business.

Right now at 400k paid off house & 500k in investments. Make 300k right now but fluctuates. Should be able to put away 125k-200k based on income and some deals I've made. Plan is to retire in 12 years or 2.5 Million whichever comes first. Everything is paid off. If the market tanks, I will go work at 7 Eleven and fish all day Not close to my number yet but feel i am in good position to get there!

You’re definitely on your way! And, given your attitude and willingness, I’m sure you’ll be able to make it (probably before schedule). That first 100 - 500k was definitely the hardest (for me and for many/ most others who say the same). After that, compunding and market returns really add fuel the your growth. Best of luck and I look forward to hearing more about your progress.

 

[beeboy]

Hello all. First off, I wanted to thank everyone here for all of the great insight. I've been an avid reader of this site and really believe it has provided me with some solid advice, as well as the courage/ability to see that FIRE is an achievable goal.

I especially enjoy reading the updates, so I thought I'd provide a little update on myself since my first post in August. I had a bday, so I'm now 44.

Currently, I have about 1,390,000 saved for retirement (thank you stock market), including:

*632,000 in MS brokerage account (majority in stocks, 130,000 in a variable indexed annuity and 25,000 in a B-REIT).

*490,000 in 401K

*15,000 in checking

*253,000 in savings account

So, my plan is to still retire in 4 years at 48. I just ran Firecalc and it gives me a 100% chance of success of retiring at that age. This assumes that I will be saving 75,000 each of the next 4 years, receive 200,000 from sale of my company (I have a small partnership), and start drawing SS of 1,888 starting in 2035. All this would allow for annual expenses of 95,000 a year (a bit above my planned expenses).

Not sure if I am missing something, but I didn't realize that I was this close (at least according to Firecalc). Maybe I'm completely overlooking something obvious or should I just relax and be happy?

Hi everyone. It's been about a year and 5 months so I thought I'd check back in and provide an update (people seem to like those, I know I like reading them).

So, I'm now currently at around 1.7 mil total in invested assets (a little over 2.0 mil NW, but I know not to count that). Most of the extra 300K since Jan. 2018 has come via market returns, and additional savings (including 100K from the partial sale of part of the business I have a stake in). My current assets breakdown is approx.:

-Morgan Stanley Brokerage Acct. - 850K (including about 160K in an annuity)
-Fidelity Acct. (cash and ETFs) - 30K
-401k - 535K
-CDs - 200K
-Savings - 65K
-Checking - 20K

In addition, I've decided to move my FIRE date up to March/April 2020 (or sooner, can't take the rat race anymore), lowered my FIRE age to 46 (I think it was originally 48 or 49 and I'm currently 45) and I've lowered my desired FIRE stash to 1.8 mil. (or whatever I have in 10 or 11 months from now). My plan was always 1.75 mil on the lower FIRE end to over 2 mil on the higher end.

Anyway, that's where I stand. Happy to answer any questions or take any constructive criticism. I hope everyone is well on their way to their goal and making good progress towards freedom! (if you're not already there).

 

[HI Bill]

So, I'm now currently at around 1.7 mil total in invested assets...

-Morgan Stanley Brokerage Acct. - 850K (including about 160K in an annuity)
-Fidelity Acct. (cash and ETFs) - 30K
-401k - 535K
-CDs - 200K
-Savings - 65K
-Checking - 20K

In addition, I've decided to move my FIRE date up to March/April 2020 (or sooner, can't take the rat race anymore), lowered my FIRE age to 46 (I think it was originally 48 or 49 and I'm currently 45) and I've lowered my desired FIRE stash to 1.8 mil. (or whatever I have in 10 or 11 months from now). My plan was always 1.75 mil on the lower FIRE end to over 2 mil on the higher end.

Awesome progress! I scanned the thread, but didn't see anything about your projected spend rate in retirement, what it covers, and what contingencies you have built in.

FWIW, I started with a FIRE goal of age 50, and $1M. In my OMY syndrome, I'm at 53.25, and $2.6M. As I've aged, I added a wife to the family at age 47, and now she wants a house, rather than a condo, and a dive boat. I want to do more travel. I also want more security. So, I've kept up the race...

Anyway, to me, $1.8M at age 46 seems a bit on the tight side, but that depends on your desired level of spending, and how risk-averse you are. You could see 54 years in retirement. How's your AA, and do you have a spending plan that considers taxes and health care?

 

[beeboy]

Awesome progress! I scanned the thread, but didn't see anything about your projected spend rate in retirement, what it covers, and what contingencies you have built in.

FWIW, I started with a FIRE goal of age 50, and $1M. In my OMY syndrome, I'm at 53.25, and $2.6M. As I've aged, I added a wife to the family at age 47, and now she wants a house, rather than a condo, and a dive boat. I want to do more travel. I also want more security. So, I've kept up the race...

Anyway, to me, $1.8M at age 46 seems a bit on the tight side, but that depends on your desired level of spending, and how risk-averse you are. You could see 54 years in retirement. How's your AA, and do you have a spending plan that considers taxes and health care?

Hi NHL Bill. Thanks for the encouragement. Seems like you're doing quite well. Congrats. First off, I'm not really planning for a 54 year retirement, as it's extremely doubtful that I'll live to 100 (nor do I want to).

As for my expenses/spend rate, I have budgeted:

-35,000 a year for "necessary" expenses including: utilities, cable, marina (for my jet ski), condo maintenance fees, ACA healthcare, car insurance, jet ski insurance , home insurance and property taxes.

-43,000 a year (or approx. 3,500 a month) for "fun" expenses to live, eat, drink, travel and play, as well as for any unexpected expenses.

I'm planning for a 40 year retirement, taking me to age 86. According to Firecalc, I have a 100% chance of success if I spend 78K a year (which is the above scenario), which includes adding another 100K within the next year and receiving my estimated SS payment starting in 2035.

Another scenario allows me to spend 100K a year (35K a year on "necessary" expenses and 65K on "fun" expenses) with a 97.4% rate of success if/when I receive my share of an inheritance (probably about 500K) when my parents pass away at a ripe old age many moons from now (hopefully).

As for my AA, I'm mostly invested in stocks in (65% in a diversified mix of individual stocks, ETFs, some mutual funds, domestic and international 401K funds, etc.); 10% in a variable indexed equity annuity, 3% in PE lending fund, 2% in a REIT fund; 12% in CDs; and 8% in cash.

As for life events, I know these are impossible to properly plan for. My love life is fairly complicated. I have a GF, who knows what I plan to do and wants to get married. She would find a job w/ health insurance so that is a potentially a cost I can remove (although I have a friend who is currently going through a hellish divorce, so that is scaring me pretty good). And, the GF just loves when I hang out and commiserate with him

Also, in all likelihood, I'm sure I will do some kind of work again, but it will be something I want to do and it will not be full-time. More like two days a week for a few hours (Tuesdays and Thursdays 11am - 2pm with an hour for lunch sounds about right) . But, the bottom line is I may work, but do not want to have to work.

Anyway, that's the basic plan, but life can and surely will throw some curve balls. Does this seem doable or completely unrealistic?

 

[Dtail]

In general, I would not count on any inheritance as part of a financial plan. Things can happen like Long Term Care expenses if not covered by a plan, etc.
I am in full control of parents' finances and they have just a small equity exposure and fairly good LTC coverage. Still I don't take that into consideration when using Firecalc, etc.

 

[beeboy]

In general, I would not count on any inheritance as part of a financial plan. Things can happen like Long Term Care expenses if not covered by a plan, etc.
I am in full control of parents' finances and they have just a small equity exposure and fairly good LTC coverage. Still I don't take that into consideration when using Firecalc, etc.

Understood. Which is why I didn't count the inheritance in my leaner expense plan. However, my father has a federal pension with healthcare for life and my sister-in-law is a nurse so I do not see a likely scenario where we will have to pay that much extra for LTC (my mother retired from her nursing job to care for her mother). But, I appreciate and understand your point so my FIRE is not dependent on that windfall.