Hello.
I’ve been lurking and learning for some time and thought I’d introduce myself. When it dawned on me a few years ago I might actually be able to retire early after crunching some numbers I worried I was nuts or missing something big. Finding this forum and reading it daily since has taught me so much and given me confidence this thing is doable. I really appreciate this community … Thank you particularly to the excellent moderators who keep the forum very readable and enlightening.
Some random things about me …
* Target ER date: February 16, 2018 at 3:02 PM according to my spreadsheet (which calculates to 6 significant figures so it must be accurate!) I’ll be 55 and DW will be 58.
* Target SWR: 3.1% with a frugal but comfortable annual withdrawal
* About my handle: Regrettably picked on impulse after a bad day at work
* Biggest concern: Health care costs going forward … like everyone else
* No pension, no debt
* AA: 70/30 with 50% international (basically mimic VT with equity portion)
Investment approach: Pretty boring and DIY … inexpensive ETFs, Very diversified, pay close attention to AA with rebalancing.
* Highest priority: Maximizing post-tax savings to get us through until we reach 59.5 and can access IRAs without penalty … We’ve longed maxed out pre tax savings where most of our assets are now
* Most important lesson: When I started investing many years ago I knew nothing … and knew I knew nothing so I went with S&P index fund because I wasn’t smart enough to know which active fund to pick. As I learned more I thought I was smart so I started buying individual stocks … and quickly started losing $ (I was lucky to fail early when the damage was minimal). Went back to where I started … cheap index funds but this time knowing that I didn’t know how to time markets, or pick stocks. Other people seem to have the knack … I sure don’t.
* What I’m looking forward to most after FIRE: Finally having time to cycle as much as I want to ... eyeballing a move to Tucson which is a great bicycling town
I’ve been lurking and learning for some time and thought I’d introduce myself. When it dawned on me a few years ago I might actually be able to retire early after crunching some numbers I worried I was nuts or missing something big. Finding this forum and reading it daily since has taught me so much and given me confidence this thing is doable. I really appreciate this community … Thank you particularly to the excellent moderators who keep the forum very readable and enlightening.
Some random things about me …
* Target ER date: February 16, 2018 at 3:02 PM according to my spreadsheet (which calculates to 6 significant figures so it must be accurate!) I’ll be 55 and DW will be 58.
* Target SWR: 3.1% with a frugal but comfortable annual withdrawal
* About my handle: Regrettably picked on impulse after a bad day at work
* Biggest concern: Health care costs going forward … like everyone else
* No pension, no debt
* AA: 70/30 with 50% international (basically mimic VT with equity portion)
Investment approach: Pretty boring and DIY … inexpensive ETFs, Very diversified, pay close attention to AA with rebalancing.
* Highest priority: Maximizing post-tax savings to get us through until we reach 59.5 and can access IRAs without penalty … We’ve longed maxed out pre tax savings where most of our assets are now
* Most important lesson: When I started investing many years ago I knew nothing … and knew I knew nothing so I went with S&P index fund because I wasn’t smart enough to know which active fund to pick. As I learned more I thought I was smart so I started buying individual stocks … and quickly started losing $ (I was lucky to fail early when the damage was minimal). Went back to where I started … cheap index funds but this time knowing that I didn’t know how to time markets, or pick stocks. Other people seem to have the knack … I sure don’t.
* What I’m looking forward to most after FIRE: Finally having time to cycle as much as I want to ... eyeballing a move to Tucson which is a great bicycling town