SSDAVE
Confused about dryer sheets
Hi all,
Wife and I are looking to retire permanently and we are hoping to get others experience that made the jump! Below is a list following Gumby's outline. Just two of us, no kids.
EXPENSES FIRST: We have roughly $2,700 amount of mandatory expenses per month. $820 of that is our condo HOA which covers everything but electric, $600 for groceries, $223 for various insurance (auto/umbrella/condo), and the rest is for small monthly bills. Our medical insurance, including parts B & D will covered by our last government employer. We also have VA medical for me, CHAMPVA for her. This amounts to almost zero out of pocket each year. Far as long term care should it be needed I have the VA, and for my wife CHAMPVA & Medicare coordinate to a certain point - after that we would just pay cash.
Both sets of our parents are gone, and we have no kids. That said, we want to leave $'s to a niece, and the local animal shelter (we have been donating to the shelter for about 25 years now).
We have thought about buying a condo on the other side of the country, but are not sure if we will. We know of complex we like on the ocean in FL, and it is about $700k to buy into there. Low HOA fee. We have two cars that are in extremely good shape, with very few miles. Don't see any big trips, or events where we will spend a lump sum other than perhaps the condo.
Our income breaks down as follows: Wife: $58k pension, me $60k pension - each with 2% COLA. I have a untaxed, COLA adjusted federal pension of $48k in addition. We are currently getting $100k in dividends/interest each year from our investment accounts - about $50k is taxable.
We both just signed up for SS, and will get our first payment in January 2025. Our SS is low because we were in 'safety' jobs for many years that did not contribute to SS. Between us we will only get $20k/year from SS.
We have about $4.3M invested. About $1.3 in bonds, $500k in a high interest (4%) Schwab MM account, and the rest ($2.5M) in conservative ETF's.
Not sure how many years we have. I'm an orthopedic mess from the military, my wife is fairly healthy but age has caught up with her a bit. That said, we do exercise four day a week with weights. She walks 2.5 miles a day six days a week. I walk 2 miles a day seven days a week - that may be coming to an end as the pain is getting to be a bit too much.
Our gov't pensions go to each other upon death and will pay the exact same amount. The federal pension I have would be reduced by about half, but still be untaxed.
We are the type of people who don't buy flashy cars, or the nicest house on the block. We are more the 'millionaires next door' that lead a quite life. We are this way because we both feel that it is best to be over-prepared, and live only on a portion of our income.
Curious what people's opinion would be on yearly spending, longevity of what we have built, and reallocation of investments. If anybody has advice regarding chronic orthopedic pain put that in too!!
Thank you in advance
Wife and I are looking to retire permanently and we are hoping to get others experience that made the jump! Below is a list following Gumby's outline. Just two of us, no kids.
EXPENSES FIRST: We have roughly $2,700 amount of mandatory expenses per month. $820 of that is our condo HOA which covers everything but electric, $600 for groceries, $223 for various insurance (auto/umbrella/condo), and the rest is for small monthly bills. Our medical insurance, including parts B & D will covered by our last government employer. We also have VA medical for me, CHAMPVA for her. This amounts to almost zero out of pocket each year. Far as long term care should it be needed I have the VA, and for my wife CHAMPVA & Medicare coordinate to a certain point - after that we would just pay cash.
Both sets of our parents are gone, and we have no kids. That said, we want to leave $'s to a niece, and the local animal shelter (we have been donating to the shelter for about 25 years now).
We have thought about buying a condo on the other side of the country, but are not sure if we will. We know of complex we like on the ocean in FL, and it is about $700k to buy into there. Low HOA fee. We have two cars that are in extremely good shape, with very few miles. Don't see any big trips, or events where we will spend a lump sum other than perhaps the condo.
Our income breaks down as follows: Wife: $58k pension, me $60k pension - each with 2% COLA. I have a untaxed, COLA adjusted federal pension of $48k in addition. We are currently getting $100k in dividends/interest each year from our investment accounts - about $50k is taxable.
We both just signed up for SS, and will get our first payment in January 2025. Our SS is low because we were in 'safety' jobs for many years that did not contribute to SS. Between us we will only get $20k/year from SS.
We have about $4.3M invested. About $1.3 in bonds, $500k in a high interest (4%) Schwab MM account, and the rest ($2.5M) in conservative ETF's.
Not sure how many years we have. I'm an orthopedic mess from the military, my wife is fairly healthy but age has caught up with her a bit. That said, we do exercise four day a week with weights. She walks 2.5 miles a day six days a week. I walk 2 miles a day seven days a week - that may be coming to an end as the pain is getting to be a bit too much.
Our gov't pensions go to each other upon death and will pay the exact same amount. The federal pension I have would be reduced by about half, but still be untaxed.
We are the type of people who don't buy flashy cars, or the nicest house on the block. We are more the 'millionaires next door' that lead a quite life. We are this way because we both feel that it is best to be over-prepared, and live only on a portion of our income.
Curious what people's opinion would be on yearly spending, longevity of what we have built, and reallocation of investments. If anybody has advice regarding chronic orthopedic pain put that in too!!
Thank you in advance
