An early retiree at 45

[Life_is_Good]

Hey Everybody!

I've just started my ER - working on ER year #2. My wife and I sold our SF Bay area home at significant profit, invested the proceeds, and moved to Oregon to enjoy a lower cost of living. Our family followed us up so we are able to enjoy watching our grand daughter grow up. I was lucky enough to work for a company which rewarded nicely to a 401K (along with my own contributions), so our financial future looks pretty secure.

I must admit.... I've been lurking around this board for a while before I decided to register. I continually find that I have a lot in common with many of you. I'm looking forward to being part of the discussions.

 

[Coach]

Life_is_good, nice post! Glad to see you here. You done what many of us hope to do -- and earlier than many. I'm looking forward to your contributions.

And a great name, too.

Coach

 

[Dawg52]

Welcome and congrats on retiring at 45. Awesome. 8)

 

[d0ug]

Congratulations on ER
It sounds like you have been doing some good planing

 

[Life_is_Good]

Planning... oh yeah!

We did try to plan out as much as possible before making the big leap to ER. We researched where we wanted to live, looked at all the costs, weather conditions, local amenities, etc. We tried to estimate (to the best of our ability) what our expenses would look like after the relocation and made sure reasonable investment returns would cover and provide for some growth also.

I plugged our numbers into many of the Financial analysis tools out there (Vanguard, T. Rowe price, Fidelity, and now Firecalc to see if we had a shot. Well... here we are.

We made few changes in the way we live. We downsized to a smaller (but fully paid for) house.... and we've never been happier.

Luckily, my wife and I are easily adaptable to new circumstances and situations. What a blessing!!! Life is Good!

 

[shiny]

Welcome Life is Good - I like your shirts!

So, Oregon is treating you well? It is a very pretty state.

 

[DangerMouse]

Congratulations on your successful transition to retirement at a relatively young age.

FYI as I am the same age (well almost) and plan on retiring within the next 16 months, I am curious as to how you allocate your investments to achieve a big enough cash flow.

 

[Life_is_Good]

Hey Shiny.... we LOVE Oregon. The winters are a bit wet in my part.... but that's not so bad vs. all that cold, slick, white stuff elsewhere

Hi DangerMouse. I look at asset allocation a little differently than most because I am a young ER. My overall target asset allocation is currently 65/25/10. But that said... I'm really managing my investments for 2 time horizons.... 1) now through 59 1/2 2) 59 1/2 and onward for tax deferred accounts.

So anyway, most of my current taxable investments are with Vanguard in a more conservative 55/35/10 slice and dice. I'm relying on these investments now. Since the tax deferred accounts are going to remain untouched for 15 or so more years, my allocation there is loaded heavier with equities in order to get the growth.

Like many of the smart folks on this board, I adhere to about a 4% withdrawl rate. By keeping my living expenses reasonable (translate - I did not go out and buy that new Corvette even though I really wanted to).... the financial side of the house has been working out well. Hopefully, there will be a little piece of Social Security out there for us someday... though I'm really not counting on it.

Good luck, DangerMouse.... I hope you hit your target of 16 months!

 

[wstu32]

curious to size of portfolio... if i may inquire

 

[Life_is_Good]

curious to size of portfolio... if i may inquire

Without being overly specific.... net worth between $2mil - $3mil

 

[Ramnuts]

Welcome. I live in Portland and really love it here, after 5 years. Moved down here from Seattle so the weather here is a LOT better than in that part of WA state. No Cascade Mtns to hold the clouds in...the wet weather just blows right through!

I left the Bay Area in 1976 and don't like to even visit; too many people down there for me to enjoy it anymore.

Lots of good advice in these forums. I am a newbie myself and have really enjoyed what I have seen. Good luck on your new life,

RAMNUTS

 

[Tracker]

That's fantastice and give me hope. Congratulations!

 

[ejman]

Congratulations on a great move!. I ER'd to SW Oregon in 1999 (at 49) from the Bay Area and it has been great! I don't know what took us so long - a lot of concerns I guess that turned out to be no more real than any other fears that we tend to build up in our heads. Bought a nice little 7 acre place free and clear from the sale of our house in CA (prices a lot lower then!). Now that said, the border is now closed and everybody else please stay home

 

[Mwsinron]

Congratulations on a great move!. I ER'd to SW Oregon in 1999 (at 49) from the Bay Area and it has been great! I don't know what took us so long - a lot of concerns I guess that turned out to be no more real than any other fears that we tend to build up in our heads. Bought a nice little 7 acre place free and clear from the sale of our house in CA (prices a lot lower then!). Now that said, the border is now closed and everybody else please stay home

Too late headed up this summer to scope out some land

 

[Helen]

I moved to the Portland area from Boston around 1990. I love it here, it's beautiful and affordable. The people are nice too.

 

[bbuzzard]

Life_is_good,

What do you do about the dreaded health insurance?

 

[Life_is_Good]

The wife and I each have individual policies with BlueCross/BlueShield... found through ehealthinsurance.com.

Funny thing is that our 2 individual policies are slightly cheaper than if we had signed up for a joint policy. We found the same to be true with most insurance carriers' quotes - not sure why.