Brand new member from Maryland, thinking of FIRE in 4 years

T

TheNewGuy

Confused about dryer sheets
Joined
Sep 15, 2025
Messages
4
Location
Maryland
Hello everyone from Maryland’s Eastern Shore

I have been reading the site off and on for a few years now, but recently starting to get serious about retiring. I am 51 years old, my DW is 49 years old and we have a 15 year old daughter. About 18 months ago I was diagnosed with a disease that will likely have me passing before 85 or 90 so I don’t think that I want to work into my 60’s anymore. I have always had a goal of $5.5m by 55 but for no other reason but to achieve a goal. I am in great shape, other than disease, so there is nothing that I can’t do physically. Here’s my stats:

Ameriprise Roll over IRA $510K (funds)

Ameriprise Roth IRA $71K (funds)

Schwab Roll Over $300K (funds)

Schwab individual account $700K (all individual stocks)

Fidelity 401K $150K

Fidelity MM $85K

Fidelity stock Grants $120K

Vanguard (s&P500 funds) $610K

Vanguard Cash Plus account $300K

Vanguard backdoor Roth $7500

Checking/Savings $250K

Synchrony Bank HYSA $210K

So, I have $3.5M liquid and our paid off house Is worth about $1.7M. I have ~$100K in 529 for college. DW works for the Federal Government, yes still, and has $750K in TSP and will receive about $3K per month in pension when she retires.

I currently contribute $30,500 per year to 401K, $8K per year to backdoor Roth and $60K per year to Vanguard S&P fund.

I haven’t really paid much attention to AA or taxes or withdraw strategy or anything. I’m thinking that I’m going to retire at 55 but will have a little over $4M. I could increase my saving from ~100K per year to ~150K per year. Where would I put the additional $50K?

I have been tracking spending for the last few years and we spend about $12K per month with about $7K of that being fixed which includes $1K per month in federal healthcare. We both have paid for vehicles (2023 and a 2025). That $12K will probably go down when daughter goes to college but it will probably resurface in a different expense. I think that I will budget $15K per month expenses in retirement. For round numbers I can use $200K per year and based on $4M at 4% I am a little short. I don’t want to factor in DW’s TSP or pension into this exercise but she will have income for a few years if she retires at 57.5 and then pension.



Any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions for me to consider? Also, any reading tips on taxes. We are currently in the highest tax bracket and have nothing to offset that. Any suggestions for the ~$700K in lower interest accounts (300K vanguard, 250K in savings/checking, $200K in HYSA)?

Thanks and I look forward to the feedback!
 
Social security for you and your DW? Your income taxes should drop a lot once you retire and have less earned income. You've seemed to exclude your DWs TSP. Why? Do you keep your finances separate? Will you have 4-1/2 years of expenses in accounts that you can withdraw from without penalties when you retire at 55? Between the two of you you probably have enough to retire now.
 
Wow, looks like you are in great shape financially. This forum is a good place to review things, get advice and stage things to get ready for the retirement transition.

The few years before retiring it’s a good idea to build up taxable funds if needed to fund your early retirement years as you won’t be able to tap into retirement accounts until age 59.5. You can do Roth conversions without penalty as long as you don’t withhold taxes.
 
I also encourage you to experiment with FIRECalc and get an idea of how much you can spend.

I also have a disease which likely will take me before 85 or 90. It is called "life." :cool:

Thanks for joining us. We look forward to hearing about your Retirement journey.
 
audreyh1 said:
When you retire and stop having earned income your Federal income taxes will drop considerably.
Click to expand...

Though your Maryland taxes may not drop if your draw/spending is ~$200K. They are pretty brutal for early retirees. The first full year after departing megacorp I sold off my last long-term stock for about $100K in LTCGs. I paid more in Maryland income tax than Federal that year.
 
USGrant1962 said:
Though your Maryland taxes may not drop if your draw/spending is ~$200K. They are pretty brutal for early retirees. The first full year after departing megacorp I sold off my last long-term stock for about $100K in LTCGs. I paid more in Maryland income tax than Federal that year.
Click to expand...
Agree on taxes. Our advantage is we are both retired military and are VA disabled so no property taxes. If circumstances were different, we might move to a lower tax state.
 
I am also living with a chronic disease that will likely see me passing before 85....not to mention unforeseen cardiac issues. That was also my incentive to ER at 60. From a non-financial perspective, I suggest that once you've hit whatever number you've targeted, do it! I never regretted my ER decision :)
 
Thank you everyone for the thoughts, suggestions and laughs! I ran some calculators that say starting with $3M in invested assets, contributing $120K per year for 4 more years (55), i should have $4.3M based on 6% return. Not sure if 6% is a good number or not. I then ran Firecalc to include my $31K in SS at 62, i have a 91% probability of success. Seems good enough for me! I also have another $500K in low return categories that could be rearranged OR be used for the first few years of retirement expenses.

Yes, my wife and i keep our finances completely separate. Always have. We have been together for 20 years and it just works for us. I pay for 100% of the home expenses and she pretty much pays for our daughters stuff. I have seen some of those hair bills and would not be good at paying those. I don't include her TSP/SS/Pension in my calculations because she may or may not retire at 57.5.

I don't want to retire just yet because, we have some expenses coming up that I want to make sure that we are prepared for AND i have some pretty significant contracts at w*** that have me not wanting to just give away. The J** isn't so bad, it sometimes gets stressful but not always.

I look forward to continuing to learn on this site.
 
I think you probably would be fine now looking at the number if you didn't want to deal with the crap. but sometimes it's not about work but sometimes it's transitioning to retirement.
 
Dump Ameriprise.

I'm assuming your current income is fairly high. Is it W2 or 1099 or something else? If it's not W2, you could reduce your taxable income now by doing a solo 401(k) and/or a NQDC, the latter of which you could potentially shelter all your income above what you need for ongoing expenses. If you're W2, you're probably SOL. :cool:

If your disease is likely to result in physical and/or mental disability beyond normal aging, you may want to think about long term care, Medicaid, and your wife after you die. Although, a quick unverified Google/Chat GPT search suggests a man your age would on average live only to 78, so not sure how early before 85-90 is!

EDIT: It's also a little confusing because you indicate finances are strictly separate, but then "we spend about $12K" and mention targeting $15K/mo. Is $15K just your portion of expenses, or in total?
 
Yes, I'm W2 only. The $15K target is for both of us. The plan for after I die is my wifes pension, TSP and whatever is left from my portfolio to include the house. She will be fine. As far as the house, that should be something to leave to our daughter one day. Seems more valuable than trying to leave money!

I did just open a position in VYM through my post tax Vanguard. I'd like to start building a portion of the portfolio that has income. My Schwab individual and all Vanguard funds are post tax accounts.
 
I'm gently questioning if your expenses are truly accurate based on other info. I'm obviously having to make some assumptions with these calculations. Assuming MFJ, to be in the top tax bracket (37%) and with $30K in 401K contributions, you'd need household income around $760K. In MD (holy state and local taxes BTW!), that works out to take home around $430-440K. Take out another $68K for Roth and post-tax VG and you're around $370K take home. That's a whole lot more than the estimated $120K/$150K?

TheNewGuy said:
Yes, I'm W2 only. The $15K target is for both of us. The plan for after I die is my wifes pension, TSP and whatever is left from my portfolio to include the house. She will be fine. As far as the house, that should be something to leave to our daughter one day. Seems more valuable than trying to leave money!
Click to expand...

If your disease could put you into a situation where "senior" medical care (eg, assisted living, skilled nursing, memory care, substantial in-home care, etc) is needed for extended time, I think you should work that into your budget planning. That type of care could cost $150K/year.
 
Welcome The New Guy!

The investments look like a bit of a mush mash. Have you considered consolidating at a single brokerage?

Also, regarding timing, you cannot retire early without leaving money on the table.

Just be careful not to leave your LIFE on the table.

;)

Enjoy the board!
 
Have you considered the money you might save by not working? By that I mean the clothes, gas, eating on the run, shoes, razors (well for me anyways, I went from shaving 2xday to 1x week). Silly stuff that adds up. Also, once our child finally left for college, we are seeing a dramatic shift in grocery bills, as we eat much simpler, eliminate a lot of costly lunch box and snack foods.
It's good to have some room on what you spend monthly, I was off about 20% when we moved back to the US and retired. But you should have a lot more flexibility once you have more time to look at things.
 
Something for you and your DW to consider is making some cut-backs in spending. WAY better than trying to increase income (no taxes on money not spent). But you have to be on the same page with DW or it doesn't w*rk. But realistically, there are a lot of retired people who can live well on much less.

Another possibility is to move to a lesser house and pocket the difference for retirement expenses. Or, if you really want to change things, consider a move to a LCOL area. Problems (likely) solved.

Lots to consider here. Hoping the best for you. Please post often as you make decisions. We'd like to know how you're doing.
 
TheNewGuy said:
Hello everyone from Maryland’s Eastern Shore

I have been reading the site off and on for a few years now, but recently starting to get serious about retiring. I am 51 years old, my DW is 49 years old and we have a 15 year old daughter. About 18 months ago I was diagnosed with a disease that will likely have me passing before 85 or 90 so I don’t think that I want to work into my 60’s anymore. I have always had a goal of $5.5m by 55 but for no other reason but to achieve a goal. I am in great shape, other than disease, so there is nothing that I can’t do physically. Here’s my stats:

Ameriprise Roll over IRA $510K (funds)

Ameriprise Roth IRA $71K (funds)

Schwab Roll Over $300K (funds)

Schwab individual account $700K (all individual stocks)

Fidelity 401K $150K

Fidelity MM $85K

Fidelity stock Grants $120K

Vanguard (s&P500 funds) $610K

Vanguard Cash Plus account $300K

Vanguard backdoor Roth $7500

Checking/Savings $250K

Synchrony Bank HYSA $210K

So, I have $3.5M liquid and our paid off house Is worth about $1.7M. I have ~$100K in 529 for college. DW works for the Federal Government, yes still, and has $750K in TSP and will receive about $3K per month in pension when she retires.

I currently contribute $30,500 per year to 401K, $8K per year to backdoor Roth and $60K per year to Vanguard S&P fund.

I haven’t really paid much attention to AA or taxes or withdraw strategy or anything. I’m thinking that I’m going to retire at 55 but will have a little over $4M. I could increase my saving from ~100K per year to ~150K per year. Where would I put the additional $50K?

I have been tracking spending for the last few years and we spend about $12K per month with about $7K of that being fixed which includes $1K per month in federal healthcare. We both have paid for vehicles (2023 and a 2025). That $12K will probably go down when daughter goes to college but it will probably resurface in a different expense. I think that I will budget $15K per month expenses in retirement. For round numbers I can use $200K per year and based on $4M at 4% I am a little short. I don’t want to factor in DW’s TSP or pension into this exercise but she will have income for a few years if she retires at 57.5 and then pension.



Any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions for me to consider? Also, any reading tips on taxes. We are currently in the highest tax bracket and have nothing to offset that. Any suggestions for the ~$700K in lower interest accounts (300K vanguard, 250K in savings/checking, $200K in HYSA)?

Thanks and I look forward to the feedback!
Click to expand...
Unpopular suggestions: 1. Do not let tax avoidance/reduction strategies drive your investment decisions. 2. Consider establishing an income-generating allocation to take care of anticipated cash flow requirements rather than (planning?) to eat your investment capital at an arbitrary 4% per annum.
Regards, Dick
 
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