44 and planning for ER at 45

[Brdofpray]

Last box is to tell the kids, and I expect that to happen by the end of the weekend.

Just curious. Your kids have no idea what you have been planning for the last year?

 

[amfox1]

Just curious. Your kids have no idea what you have been planning for the last year?

Told the kids tonight.

Short answer - they suspected something was going on but not that I would be leave my job entirely. After quickly being assuaged that their lifestyle was not going to change, my 14 year old wanted to wager that I would be bored within 3 days. I told him not to make that bet.

We did not tell our kids before all the boxes were checked because it is not the sort of thing they would be able to keep secret for long and we felt it would be unfair to put them in that position.

BTW, I went back to the initial post, which was made approx. 13 months ago and updated the numbers in red. Pretty good projections, I think.

We expect to be in the following financial situation in 12 months:

Liquid assets - $3.25mm (assumes no 2011 investment return), of which $2.25mm will be in non-retirement accounts and $1mm will be in retirement accounts. Actual: $3.29mm

Other assets/debts - $500k, most of which is the equity value of our real estate. No debt, except for mortgage (which is netted off already). Actual: $564k

Kids (ages 14 and 12) assets set aside for college - $232k (assumes no 2011 investment return. Our budget (discussed below) includes additional monies contributed for college and expenses in sufficient amount to finance four years of college for each kid, based on roughly $55-60k per year. Actual: $235k

***

Spending - we track our spending carefully, and it has averaged approximately $200k per annum. In other words, we are assuming net spending of $115k for the next 10 years, $200k for the following 14 years and $155k thereafter. We are savers by nature and I have little doubt that we will spend less than what was conservatively budgeted. Actual: Through refinancing and other means, we've been able to budget additional expense savings, so we're at $110k, $180k and $130k.

 

[chris2008]

Congratulations!
Enjoy what is coming and take over enough of the tasks at home to make DW see every day that your ER is beneficial for her, too.

 

[Brdofpray]

my 14 year old wanted to wager that I would be bored within 3 days. I told him not to make that bet.

That must be a reoccurring theme. After we FIREd, whenever we talked with my son, he would ask if we were bored yet. (somewhat in jest.)

He stopped asking this after a few months. He could never reach us. We were always off in some cell dead zone chasing after waterfalls, or had the phone off while we were entertaining friends, or being entertained by friends.

Enjoy your hard earned time to come.

 

[amfox1]

I gave notice this morning, effective as of the end of February (class of 2012).

Lots of congratulations and well-wishes, sprinkled with questions about what I expect to do next and admiration for my gutsiness in leaving without somewhere to land.

 

[Brdofpray]

Feels good, doesn't it. A little scary, but feels real good. Been there!!

 

[Sirka]

gave notice this morning

I gave notice this morning, effective as of the end of February (class of 2012).

Congratulations, this is it!

 

[walkinwood]

Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[amfox1]

Two more days to go. Drafted my farewell email over the weekend and took my personal effects from my office. Office files are nearly complete and working on transitioning the last two work matters. It finally hit me over the weekend that FIRE is really happening. I am very excited.

 

[JBmadera]

Two more days to go. Drafted my farewell email over the weekend and took my personal effects from my office. Office files are nearly complete and working on transitioning the last two work matters. It finally hit me over the weekend that FIRE is really happening. I am very excited.

Very cool! Best of luck.

 

[Live And Learn]

I'm a new member and I've enjoyed this thread so much ! I'm very happy for you and I have no doubt that you will be able to fill your time with meaningful events.
Congratulations !!!! YOU MADE IT !!!!

 

[amfox1]

See below update.

My wife and I are 44 years old and I am planning for ER in 12 months. I ER'ed 9 months ago and just turned 46.

We expect to be in the following financial situation in 12 months: It's been 23 months since this post and here is an update on where we stand.

Liquid assets - $3.25mm (assumes no 2011 investment return), of which $2.25mm will be in non-retirement accounts and $1mm will be in retirement accounts. We are at $3.45mm, of which $2.29mm is in non-retirement accounts and $1.16mm is in retirement accounts. Our projection for the end of 2012 was $3.30mm.

Other assets/debts - $500k, most of which is the equity value of our real estate. No debt, except for mortgage (which is netted off already). Other assets are $460k, which is a result of monetizing some illiquid assets as part of the ER process.

Kids (ages 14 and 12) assets set aside for college - $232k (assumes no 2011 investment return. Our budget (discussed below) includes additional monies contributed for college and expenses in sufficient amount to finance four years of college for each kid, based on roughly $55-60k per year. College assets for kids (ages 15 and 13) are at $267k and are not included in the above numbers.

***

Portfolio - our portfolio has been professionally managed for the last five years, and it has provided market returns with below-market risk. We have assumed 4% returns for non-retirement funds and 5% returns (and 35% tax rate on withdrawals) for retirement funds. We have consolidated our portfolio at Vanguard and we are managing it. Our portfolio has returned 9.9% through 11/30.

***

What to do in ER - that is the $64k question and the one that keeps my wife up at night. She is afraid that I will not have interaction with others while she is working and will spend my time in front of a screen. I expect to spend a good portion of the next 12 months trying to answer the question, including spending time on this site. I'm still working on this, but I'm in no rush. Ski season begins next week.

 

[panhead]

Congrats amfox1!!! Nice to win the game eh? I'm 42 and am also planning ER at or around 45, so it's nice to see another one in my expected age range make the leap!
Keep us posted on how it's going!

-Pan-

 

[scrabbler1]

I can't say my personal details are a lot like yours. But, the title of this thread could have been written by me and about me back in 2007 when I was 44 and watching the pieces of my ER plan fallling rapidly into place that year and in 2008, leading up to my ER in November, 2008.

I hope you can share my "Retired at 45" claim before you turn 46.

From a fellow early retiree at age 45, I congratulate you at being able to make the claim I hoped you would be able to make back in July of 2011.

 

[BigE]

I also really enjoyed the original post and appreciate the followup. Really awesome to see a successful plan come to fruition. Congratulations.

 

[LeavingOhio]

Nice thread! Awesome that you have a spouse who is so willing to continue working for another 10 years. Truth told though, you have enough to make it work if she were to stop working today...you might have to downsize, but you could easily make it.

I'm 46 like you, and I've still got ~13 years and 5 months before I will be able to pull the trigger...unless something unexpected happens. Perhaps if my wife wants to continue working beyond age 60, I will convince her to allow me to retire before age 60. She might want to too as she's only recently gone back to working after being a Stay At Home Mom for years.

 

[someguy]

stupid question: mid six figures

Stupid question: "mid six figures" is a term I read here and hear in real life regularly. Does that mean $150K/year +/- or $500K/year +/-? I suspect much of the time it means the former, but perhaps on here more often the latter?

 

[LeavingOhio]

Stupid question: "mid six figures" is a term I read here and hear in real life regularly. Does that mean $150K/year +/- or $500K/year +/-? I suspect much of the time it means the former, but perhaps on here more often the latter?

Hmm. I assume "mid six figures" to mean ~$500,000 a year, and of course that seems to me like a HUGE salary. I'd go so far as to say if a person making $150,000 a year calls that "mid six figures" then they aren't using that term correctly.