I would urge you to visit the link in braumeister’s post (#4). Members here would consider the questions raised there as critical information items.
I’ll definitely do both of those. I’m new to this site and have lots of exploring to do.
Why are you hanging onto those student loans so long?
We have some friends from Vermont who do that with a place at Myrtle Beach. They use it during the winter but Myrtle Beach winters are great compared to Vermont winters so they are happy and then they rent it out spring, summer and fall. That would be much less costly.
This above is closest to what I would say, and your numbers are close to mine — actually, mine are lower and I don’t have a pension, and so far so good for me and DW. Key differences are my DW is closer in age, and we don’t have the student loan. Yet your higher numbers and pension may offset those.Are you sure that you don't want to change your screen name to Mr. Debbie Downer?I'm mostly kidding, but there are "solutions" to your frustrations with little effort.
First, as has been mentioned by others, many here who retire early rely on ACA subsidies to make health insurance more affordable until they are eligible for Medicare at age 65. They manage their income to get certain levels of subsidies toward health insurance.
SEPP aka 72t plans allow you to access retirement savings before 59-1/2 if needed but since you have $750k saved outside taxable accounts to get you to 59-1/2 in ~4 years you shouldn't need a SEPP/72t unless you're living really high on the hog.
You seem to fear capital gains but have you really studied it? For a married couple under 65 in 2025 they could have up to $30,000 in ordinary income and up to $96,700 in a combination of qualified dividends and LTCG and pay $0 in federal income taxes! That's $126,700 of total income and $0 income taxes... I love America!
The key input that you haven't disclosed is how much you need to live on in retirement. However, according to FIRECalc if one had $3 million and a 45 year time horizon (from 55 to 100) and a 60/40 AA (not sure what yours is) you could withdraw as much as $106k a year with 95% success ($101k for 99% success rate). And that doesn't even consider what you will be receiving from your federal pension and/or social security!
It's really unclear to me what you are complaining about. You have the world by the gonads and could probably retire now if you really wanted to. Stop complaining and start thinking!
Sound like you understand the frugality needed for FIRE. If you can get your health insurance under control, I think you've probably got it made.
I’ve told my wife that but it’s her only debt and she claims it helps her credit score.
I also live in Pennsylvania and we do have a home at the Jersey Shore, which is likely the beach area he is thinking about. They are expensive, but short term seasonal rentals can help cover the cost . Our SFH is 4 bedroom and 2 baths with off street parking that rents for $4,400/wk during high season. It helps offset the costs quite a bit. We average 4-5 weeks per summer that we open to tenants. We or other family use it the rest of the summer.
If your wife is willing to learn, you might ask her to read a couple of books on investing (the group here will have suggestions).
I see.
Right. Same here. Avoid forgetting a payment on your CCs and you should be able to maintain 800 points without other debt. I've had no other debt (no car payments for 40 years, no mortgage for 15 years) and always 815 to 825.
Same here. Only difference is I took out a $2,500 car loan to get an additional $2,500 break on the price back in 2021. Paid it off in a month. Doesn’t even show up on my credit report.
I sit corrected on the amount. Still a nice chunk of money to be missing out on a higher %. As for your last point, that's where the book I listed might help. It starts off with philosophy/do/don't, including don't panic.
