CitizenK
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2012
- Messages
- 63
Hello,
I recently introduced myself here, and have been learning a lot from the FAQs and forum posts.
I'm very close to pulling the plug, and it would boost my confidence if some of you experts and experienced ERs could review my numbers.
Assets for Retirement
450,000 Taxable Accounts
60,000 Roth
940,000 Taxable IRAs + 401Ks
1.45 Million total
Age 57; House@350K, paid off; 2 newish cars, paid for; no debt; partnered; no kids.
=======================
2012 Retirement Budget
Insurance = $9,600 = COBRA health, LTC, home and auto. These are my known figures for 2012. My health insurance will increase by $3K after 18 months of Cobra, and I'm figuring 15% annually after that. I'm hoping 2014 will bring more options, and am also hoping I'm grandfathered into existing Medicare after 8 years when I'm 65.
Taxes = $3,000 = Federal + State taxes. From age 57-59 1/2, I'll be spending largely from after-tax accounts, so I think I'll have minimal income tax the first few years. Taxes in retirement are something I need to learn a lot more about, to estimate accurately going forward. I'm going to follow a suggestion I read here to run some TurboTax simulations for future years.
Living Expenses = $16,500 = Property taxes, HOA, utilities, food, dining, pets, entertainment, gas, etc. Our household totals are close to $27,000, but many are shared with my SO. $16,500 is my portion. I have 16 years of Quicken data to give me pretty good handle on real expense spending.
Reserves
$6,000 = Car replacement, home repairs, computer replacements, big ticket items. A lot of this may not be spent in the actual budget year, especially the first few years since car and computers are new.
Variable/Discretionary
$9,000 = Hobbies, travel, gifting, home improvements (not repairs)
TOTAL 2012 BUDGET = $44,100
This will inevitably increase in the years after 2012 with health insurance alone, but shouldn't exceed 50-55K.
I am fortunate to have a major safety net. My partner, who is 10 years younger, is planning to work at least five more years, so I know I won't starve, and has an additional 350K in retirement accounts + 100K after tax savings that I'm not factoring in. In five years I'll be eligible for social security which another safety net, should I need to take it at 62. I figure if I can make it until SS it will be easy sailing.
Firecalc is mostly showing 100% success with or without SS, and with almost any asset allocation. With SS included, it says I can spend 60K plus. So I think I'm OK, but some of the multimillion numbers here make me insecure. And of course what's really scary is a lot of it comes down to factors I can't control. A good year or two in the stock market at the beginning of retirement, plus predictable health insurance costs would make this a lot easier.
So what do all you think? (Hint: The answer I'd like is "Go for it!") but talk me down if I'm unrealistic.
Many thanks,
CK
I recently introduced myself here, and have been learning a lot from the FAQs and forum posts.
I'm very close to pulling the plug, and it would boost my confidence if some of you experts and experienced ERs could review my numbers.
Assets for Retirement
450,000 Taxable Accounts
60,000 Roth
940,000 Taxable IRAs + 401Ks
1.45 Million total
Age 57; House@350K, paid off; 2 newish cars, paid for; no debt; partnered; no kids.
=======================
2012 Retirement Budget
Insurance = $9,600 = COBRA health, LTC, home and auto. These are my known figures for 2012. My health insurance will increase by $3K after 18 months of Cobra, and I'm figuring 15% annually after that. I'm hoping 2014 will bring more options, and am also hoping I'm grandfathered into existing Medicare after 8 years when I'm 65.
Taxes = $3,000 = Federal + State taxes. From age 57-59 1/2, I'll be spending largely from after-tax accounts, so I think I'll have minimal income tax the first few years. Taxes in retirement are something I need to learn a lot more about, to estimate accurately going forward. I'm going to follow a suggestion I read here to run some TurboTax simulations for future years.
Living Expenses = $16,500 = Property taxes, HOA, utilities, food, dining, pets, entertainment, gas, etc. Our household totals are close to $27,000, but many are shared with my SO. $16,500 is my portion. I have 16 years of Quicken data to give me pretty good handle on real expense spending.
Reserves
$6,000 = Car replacement, home repairs, computer replacements, big ticket items. A lot of this may not be spent in the actual budget year, especially the first few years since car and computers are new.
Variable/Discretionary
$9,000 = Hobbies, travel, gifting, home improvements (not repairs)
TOTAL 2012 BUDGET = $44,100
This will inevitably increase in the years after 2012 with health insurance alone, but shouldn't exceed 50-55K.
I am fortunate to have a major safety net. My partner, who is 10 years younger, is planning to work at least five more years, so I know I won't starve, and has an additional 350K in retirement accounts + 100K after tax savings that I'm not factoring in. In five years I'll be eligible for social security which another safety net, should I need to take it at 62. I figure if I can make it until SS it will be easy sailing.
Firecalc is mostly showing 100% success with or without SS, and with almost any asset allocation. With SS included, it says I can spend 60K plus. So I think I'm OK, but some of the multimillion numbers here make me insecure. And of course what's really scary is a lot of it comes down to factors I can't control. A good year or two in the stock market at the beginning of retirement, plus predictable health insurance costs would make this a lot easier.
So what do all you think? (Hint: The answer I'd like is "Go for it!") but talk me down if I'm unrealistic.
Many thanks,
CK
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