CountingDown2014
Dryer sheet aficionado
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 31
I stumbled across this site a few days ago and thrilled to find a place where like-minded people can share their experiences and views and I can educate myself more on various aspects of personal finance. I've already bought some PenFed 3% 5-year CDs and am in the process of doing a back-door Roth IRA conversion as I have had a number of years of non-deductible IRA contributions, so I feel like I already have received some great information from the forums.
I am 53 years old and DH is 57. DH lost his job last year and I feel like I can lose mine at any time and am hoping we will be ready to be FI when that happens.
Our investment portfolio is comprised of $1,132k in 401ks and IRAs and $640k in taxable accounts with an AA of approximately 60% stocks, 30% bonds and 10% CDs and MM. We also have our current residence with a market value of around $1,200k and a second home in Phoenix. We have no mortgages or other debt. Our ER plan is to sell our current residence and move to Phoenix with a goal of having at least $2.5MM in investment assets to live on when the dust settles (after taking into home sale and account moving expenses, some renovations to the Phoenix place, the purchase of a car or two and hopefully a little cushion to provide some flexibility if our plans change). In the meantime, we are trying to save as much as we can (60% of income going to 401k until I max out, then max contributions to HSA) while I am still working. Neither of us will have any pensions although I expect to receive $85k (pre-tax) in severance.
I think my biggest concern as this point is what our actual living expenses (which I do track on Fidelity Full View) will be once we are in Phoenix. While FIRECalc gives a 100% success rate with $75k of annual spending with a $2.5MM portfolio over 40 years and it seems to me that two people should be able to live on that, since this is less than half of my current income, we won't have the margin for error that we do now for unexpected expenses. Expenses that I worry about include health care costs (although it looks like we will qualify for an ACA subsidy) and non-routine vet expenses (we have 6 rescue dogs and have had some high bills in the past). Also, we haven't traveled much in the past few years but that is something we hope to do more of in the future.
Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself. If anyone has any advice or words of wisdom, please feel free to chime in. Thanks very much.
I am 53 years old and DH is 57. DH lost his job last year and I feel like I can lose mine at any time and am hoping we will be ready to be FI when that happens.
Our investment portfolio is comprised of $1,132k in 401ks and IRAs and $640k in taxable accounts with an AA of approximately 60% stocks, 30% bonds and 10% CDs and MM. We also have our current residence with a market value of around $1,200k and a second home in Phoenix. We have no mortgages or other debt. Our ER plan is to sell our current residence and move to Phoenix with a goal of having at least $2.5MM in investment assets to live on when the dust settles (after taking into home sale and account moving expenses, some renovations to the Phoenix place, the purchase of a car or two and hopefully a little cushion to provide some flexibility if our plans change). In the meantime, we are trying to save as much as we can (60% of income going to 401k until I max out, then max contributions to HSA) while I am still working. Neither of us will have any pensions although I expect to receive $85k (pre-tax) in severance.
I think my biggest concern as this point is what our actual living expenses (which I do track on Fidelity Full View) will be once we are in Phoenix. While FIRECalc gives a 100% success rate with $75k of annual spending with a $2.5MM portfolio over 40 years and it seems to me that two people should be able to live on that, since this is less than half of my current income, we won't have the margin for error that we do now for unexpected expenses. Expenses that I worry about include health care costs (although it looks like we will qualify for an ACA subsidy) and non-routine vet expenses (we have 6 rescue dogs and have had some high bills in the past). Also, we haven't traveled much in the past few years but that is something we hope to do more of in the future.
Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself. If anyone has any advice or words of wisdom, please feel free to chime in. Thanks very much.