LakeTravis
Recycles dryer sheets
Hi all. Discovered this forum about a week ago and it's become my single most favorite site. So much so that I now feel comfortable asking my question
I'm 52, my wife is 48. We've been saving for years and I'm ready for ER while she wants to continue working as a hobby and consider her earnings her "mad money" - approx. $85K a year.
I've got $850K in our portfolio. Our basic living expenses are no more than $30K a year. I'll start drawing SS in 10 years ($18K a year) and in 14 years she'll start drawing (another $18K a year).
Having calculated all sorts of various scenarios for the next 40 years, I keep coming back to this basic plan:
1. Draw $60K a year from portfolio until I'm 62 and start SS, then reduce draw from portfolio to $42K a year
2. Draw $42K a year from portfolio until she is 62 and drawing SS, then reduce draw from portfolio to $36K a year
We are considering SS COLA to be our inflation hedge because frankly we've spent the last 15 years getting used to living well below our means and spending $5K a month would be like winning the lottery for us, not to mention she would continue working for 4-8 years and have an additional $4K or so a month to satisfy her spending spree urges.
My portfolio would be very simple - I'm considering 45% in VWELX, 45% in VWINX, and 10% in cash.
I've run all of this thry FireCalc (love that program and will definitely donate!) and it gives me a pretty solid thumbs up and in most scenarios we'd have appreciating principle once we start SS.
So my question is - am I being overly simplistic or is the consensus that my plan is realistic?
I'm 52, my wife is 48. We've been saving for years and I'm ready for ER while she wants to continue working as a hobby and consider her earnings her "mad money" - approx. $85K a year.
I've got $850K in our portfolio. Our basic living expenses are no more than $30K a year. I'll start drawing SS in 10 years ($18K a year) and in 14 years she'll start drawing (another $18K a year).
Having calculated all sorts of various scenarios for the next 40 years, I keep coming back to this basic plan:
1. Draw $60K a year from portfolio until I'm 62 and start SS, then reduce draw from portfolio to $42K a year
2. Draw $42K a year from portfolio until she is 62 and drawing SS, then reduce draw from portfolio to $36K a year
We are considering SS COLA to be our inflation hedge because frankly we've spent the last 15 years getting used to living well below our means and spending $5K a month would be like winning the lottery for us, not to mention she would continue working for 4-8 years and have an additional $4K or so a month to satisfy her spending spree urges.
My portfolio would be very simple - I'm considering 45% in VWELX, 45% in VWINX, and 10% in cash.
I've run all of this thry FireCalc (love that program and will definitely donate!) and it gives me a pretty solid thumbs up and in most scenarios we'd have appreciating principle once we start SS.
So my question is - am I being overly simplistic or is the consensus that my plan is realistic?
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