Hi Y'all from Jawja - How do you know when it's time ?

[scol]

You guys are the best - I've been lurking around the forums for a couple of weeks, just absorbing information. I gotta say I've had a lot of questions answered, and a lot of things I never considered have been revealed.

I'm 53 years old and would love to retire at 55 - that seems to be a 'magic number'. I'm trying to decide if waiting for the health insurance 'reforms' in 2014 makes more sense.

My wife and myself have managed to accumulate around 800K, roughly 200K of which is non-ira. I've got a pretty decent paying job in IT (125K), but find it harder and harder to get motivated to go to the office. When I look out the window in the morning at the deer and wild turkey, I know that this is where I want to spend my day - not in the 'concrete jungle'.

We live in the country, in North Georgia on 5 acres, so spare time would not be an issue.
The remaining 60K owed on my house should be paid off in the next 3 years.

Reading other folks experiences makes me think that, barring a market collapse in the next couple of years, we should be ready.

Thanks to all for sharing your own situations, both good and bad.

Stu

 

[Coach]

Stu, welcome to the forum!

You sound like you have things under control and are well on your way to retirement -- managing that is quite an accomplishment.

I hope the timing with health care reform works out -- in your lurking I'm sure you've seen health insurance is a very important topic for the early retiree.

Your home sounds lovely, and you'll love it if you get it paid off by retirement. No having a house payment when you retire is a wonderful thing.

Again, welcome!

Coach

 

[Milton]

Sounds like you are psychologically ready. The real question is whether you are financially ready.

You should keep track of your annual spending, and calculate the net income that you earn from your savings/investments. When the two numbers match, you are FI. See further Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life, Chapter 8.

Generally speaking I would not suggest carrying a mortgage (or any other debt) into retirement.

 

[scol]

Thanks for the reply's all ..

Milton, I had not heard of the book you mentioned, but after taking a look on-line, I've gone ahead and ordered it - it gets very good reviews.

We are actively tracking both our spending and our investment account balances, and have now targeted the mortgage payments for a pay-off in 2014. I agree, I have no wish to carry that debt into retirement.

I am also closely looking at potential capital expenses, such as autos, A/C, or whatever else would likely need replacing, with an eye to doing so before retirement.

Stu

 

[Milton]

I hope that you will like the book. It is widely considered a classic of LBYM and FIRE. The investing advice is arguably outdated, but the rest of the book is gold; and the authors certainly walked the low-consumption walk.

While you're waiting for it to arrive, you might want to check out the Financial Integrity website. And here's a video to watch.

YouTube - Your Money or Your Life: an Office interview with Vicki Robin