Dirty details:
Just turned 34, married, oldest kid is 3.75, youngest two are 15 months each. I work a 12 hour a day job, salary, and it's burning me up, so I'm looking for available options and opportunities to retire early.
I currently make right at $60k a year, live in a low COL state, and usually get a yearly bonus of 15% (have gotten between 9-15% every year). We currently have $70k in our Roth 401K, company matches 6%, we currently drop in 4%.
Still have $17k in student loans looming, however I locked those in at probably a historic low of 1.1375%. My total interest on that loan over 20 years is about $1800, so that's the LEAST of my worries.
Kids were expensive. The first one was emergency C-Section and was around $15k that we were half paid for when the twins came. The second pregnancy was even worse. My wife was air-lifted to another state for medical care and almost didn't make it; hospital was also OON, so our expenses were soon billed in the triple digits. I fought it all the way down to about $33k, (which considering she was in three different ICU units for almost 3 weeks, with two surgeries in between and who knows how many different tests and blood transfusions/dialysis and was transferred in both a fixed and rotary wing) wasn't a bad deal. So needless to say, we emptied our savings, emptied our hard earned HSA, and put about $8k of what was left on a low interest CC.
Those med bills are the primary reason we only put in 4% right now, we just need a bit more discretionary until we get over the debt payoff. We are taking all of this year's tax return and the work bonus (about $8k) to put down on just the medical bills and other bills accumulated around that time frame. We will probably do the same with next year's taxes as well. But the bonus from there on out will go straight into the company Roth 401K (with 6% match). I have NEVER touched the bonus (hence the 70k already in the 401k) until last year and this, but I think getting the debt paid off has higher precedence until we are back on track.
Current Roth layout is pretty much 90% stock in Vanguard Retirement funds 2040, 2045, 2050, and a Janus fund I can't remember the name of and a EuroPacific fund. I lean heavy towards risk; that's something I'll have to throttle back on in later years, but for now, I'm all about aggressive growth.
Currently own a house at ~225k owing 218 (that's current appraisal, not when it was worth 260 6 years ago ) sitting at 4.25%. We just re-fied and would have probably gotten a better rate were it not for our CC debt due to medical costs.
Kid-carrying swagger wagon at 17k and 3.5%. Three other vehicles owned outright.
Some questions I have:
1) Should I worry about paying off the student loans any faster considering the ultra-low interest? Of course this would come after CC, cars, or any other regular-term interest charging account are paid off. Would it be better to put it into the house?
2) I'm dabbling more with stocks with some discretionary income, which will become more serious after the CC debt is paid off. Any input in which direction to learn more? I have 4 trading accounts currently open.
3) I've considered P2P lending, I.E. LendingClub.com. They seem quite popular and a bit less risky than some other solutions. Seems like it would be fun to at least learn about it. Anybody have any experience with this type of investment?
As far as early retirement goes, I haven't really set a goal in mind yet. Mostly due to the hiccup we had in childbirth expenses. We might consider adopting as well (won't chance having more naturally) and so if that happens, my retirement date gets pushed out. But I would really like to retire at 50, 55, about the time my kids get the boot.
Things I know I need to do:
1). Get the debt paid off first.
2). Open IRA's for myself and the DW.
3). Get College savings started for the wee ones (we put $10/month per/kid in just online savings. It isn't much, but it's all we can do right now).
What else am I missing?
Oh, and I am a moderator over at WristTwisters.com, so if I liken everything to motorcycles, you'll know why .
Looking forward to a great learning opportunity from y'all!
Shout out to Janet H!