Hi,
I've been reading these forums for the past couple of months as I've been putting together my FIRE plans. I really appreciate the advice that I've gleaned so far.
I thought I'd post my plans here for critique, just to be sure that I'm on the right track.
My wife and I are both in our early thirties. We have a seven-year-old son, and we plan to adopt at least one more child sometime during the next ten years. I earned my PhD in science/engineering about a year and a half ago, and subsequently started working at my first "real" job. My wife is a full-time stay-at-home mom who volunteers at our son's school as well as with our church. Consequently, we're really just starting out on our road to FIRE.
Here are our details:
Income: $100K/yr
Savings: $50K + $38K/yr
The reason that we're saving so much in our Roth IRA's and taxable accounts is that we're planning on buying a house (in the Baltimore-Washington area: $ouch!) sometime in the next couple of years. (Although we're convinced that the housing market here is overpriced and potentially primed for a fall, we would like to get into a single-family home soon for our son's sake.) Although buying a house will significantly deplete our accumulated savings, it shouldn't affect our annual savings rate too much over the long term as long as we don't overspend on the house. Once we've purchased, we plan on reducing our taxable savings in order to max-out my 403(b).
Here is our planned allocation for retirement savings:
AccountAsset ClassFund%
403(b)U.S. large-capVan. 500 Index Fund Inv (VFINX)10%
403(b)U.S. large-cap valueVan. Value Index Fund Inv (VIVAX)10%
403(b)U.S. small-capVan. Small-Cap Index Fund Inv (NAESX)10%
403(b)U.S. small-cap valueVan. Small-Cap Value Index (VISVX)10%
403(b)Int. large-capVan. European Stock Index Inv (VEURX)5%
403(b)Int. large-capVan. Pacific Stock Index Inv (VPACX)5%
403(b)Int. large-capVan. Emerging Mkts Stock Index (VEIEX)5%
403(b)Int. large-cap valueVan. International Value Fund (VTRIX)7.5%
403(b)Int. mid-capVan. Internatl Explorer Fund (VINEX)7.5%
403(b)REIT'sVan. REIT Index Fund Inv (VGSIX)20%
Roth IRACommoditiesPIMCO Commodity Real Return Strat (PCRIX)10%
Our house savings and emergency fund are invested in a combination of the following, chosen based partially on our tax situation:
As we approach FIRE, we will build up at least five years of expenses in a short-term bond fund, but I don't see a need for that while I'm still working.
Based on these assumptions, I expect that we could FIRE in 15-20 years. Am I missing anything?
I've been reading these forums for the past couple of months as I've been putting together my FIRE plans. I really appreciate the advice that I've gleaned so far.
I thought I'd post my plans here for critique, just to be sure that I'm on the right track.
My wife and I are both in our early thirties. We have a seven-year-old son, and we plan to adopt at least one more child sometime during the next ten years. I earned my PhD in science/engineering about a year and a half ago, and subsequently started working at my first "real" job. My wife is a full-time stay-at-home mom who volunteers at our son's school as well as with our church. Consequently, we're really just starting out on our road to FIRE.
Here are our details:
Income: $100K/yr
Savings: $50K + $38K/yr
- 403(b): $10K + $4K/yr (my contribution) + $10K/yr (company match)
- Roth IRA's: $10K + $8K/yr
- Taxable accounts: $30K + $16K/yr
The reason that we're saving so much in our Roth IRA's and taxable accounts is that we're planning on buying a house (in the Baltimore-Washington area: $ouch!) sometime in the next couple of years. (Although we're convinced that the housing market here is overpriced and potentially primed for a fall, we would like to get into a single-family home soon for our son's sake.) Although buying a house will significantly deplete our accumulated savings, it shouldn't affect our annual savings rate too much over the long term as long as we don't overspend on the house. Once we've purchased, we plan on reducing our taxable savings in order to max-out my 403(b).
Here is our planned allocation for retirement savings:
AccountAsset ClassFund%
403(b)U.S. large-capVan. 500 Index Fund Inv (VFINX)10%
403(b)U.S. large-cap valueVan. Value Index Fund Inv (VIVAX)10%
403(b)U.S. small-capVan. Small-Cap Index Fund Inv (NAESX)10%
403(b)U.S. small-cap valueVan. Small-Cap Value Index (VISVX)10%
403(b)Int. large-capVan. European Stock Index Inv (VEURX)5%
403(b)Int. large-capVan. Pacific Stock Index Inv (VPACX)5%
403(b)Int. large-capVan. Emerging Mkts Stock Index (VEIEX)5%
403(b)Int. large-cap valueVan. International Value Fund (VTRIX)7.5%
403(b)Int. mid-capVan. Internatl Explorer Fund (VINEX)7.5%
403(b)REIT'sVan. REIT Index Fund Inv (VGSIX)20%
Roth IRACommoditiesPIMCO Commodity Real Return Strat (PCRIX)10%
Our house savings and emergency fund are invested in a combination of the following, chosen based partially on our tax situation:
- Van. Treasury Money Mkt Fund (VMPXX)
- Van. Short-Term Treasury Inv (VFISX)
- Van. Short-Term Invest-Gr Inv (VFSTX)
As we approach FIRE, we will build up at least five years of expenses in a short-term bond fund, but I don't see a need for that while I'm still working.
Based on these assumptions, I expect that we could FIRE in 15-20 years. Am I missing anything?