POE - Planning our Exit

[littleb]

Hi everyone


It looks like we will be going into ER in 6 months. We have been planning this for three years and it is finally going to happen. I set us up as a company in QuickBooks years ago to track our monthly and annual expenses. This enabled us to know our expenses during retirement.

I have run the numbers through Fidelity Retirement Planner and FIRECalc and everything looks good for a successful retirement.

However, once we retire we will need to move to another part of the country, build a house on land we own, and sell our existing house. Next year will be an extremely busy year for us.

We are nervous, excited, and sooooo ready to leave corporate America and the BS behind.

Happy to have found this site with people who have already crossed over!

 

[wmc1000]

Congrats on your impending ER!

 

[frayne]

BTDT, it only gets better.

 

[Dash man]

Happy to have found this site with people who have already crossed over!

Crossed over? We're not dead yet!

Congratulations!


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Diver]

Congrats! We are in the process of house selling. You will be busy, but it is also so exciting to be moving closer to your shared goal. Enjoy!

 

[FreeBear]

However, once we retire we will need to move to another part of the country, build a house on land we own, and sell our existing house. Next year will be an extremely busy year for us.

We are nervous, excited, and sooooo ready to leave corporate America and the BS behind.

Welcome aboard the freedom train littleb! DW and I ER'd this year. No regrets at all. I never loved life this much, even as a child. I didn't think it was possible to love life so much!

You guys will be fine. You're focussed and smart enough to make it to FIRE, so I'll bet you manage the big move as well. DW and I sold 2 houses and moved into a new one. We're soooo glad that's done and we're living the dream!!

FB

 

[Trawler]

Congrats!!!!!!

 

[darmstrong]

Good Luck to you ! We want to be where you are. We are both 53 , planning on going at 62 although we are planning now because husband could go at 55 , but probably won't because of Healthcare costs. His plan covers full health three years after retirement . Sold house downsized and traveling now while health is good .. We both have 5 weeks vacation in our current jobs so it's helping with burnout!! Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[darmstrong]

So here's my next question . We sold my home and downsized to a condo that we love a lot. Never thought I would go that route but here we are . Expenses half of what we were spending . Paid off all other debt Fees low here. At our condo . Covers basic. So here's my question we did a 30 yr mtg for 165,000 My husband wants to be paid off in ten yrs. Live on one salary and pay down our mortgage so our mortgage will be paid off by the time we roll. I already ran the amortization and providing jobs stay in tact we could do it . My concern is that we are newly married this year filing jointly for the first time . I prefer to wait and see how taxes pan out with dual incomes and write offs on our rental . I think we should put money aside to build up larger emergency cash reserve in case one of us loses our job or becomes ill. He's worried we can't retire comfortably on his pension and my 401 if we have the mortgage . My job does not have defined benefit plan . My 401 k is okay now , but recent market downturns scare me. I know many people who lost a sizable portion of their portfolio in 2008, as they were getting ready to retire. I don't want to be in that category . I read mixed reviews here on paying off mtg early that's why I'm asking


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[REWahoo]

I'm not going to weigh in on the pay off the mortgage early question as that is a "less filling/tastes great" decision. But I will comment on this:

...recent market downturns scare me. I know many people who lost a sizable portion of their portfolio in 2008, as they were getting ready to retire. I don't want to be in that category...

The people who "lost a sizable portion of their portfolio in 2008" likely did so because they weren't sufficiently diversified in their investments and/or sold after the downturn rather than rebalanced and held their investments.

History teaches this:

- Market downturns are inevitable and out of our control.
- Locking in portfolio losses during a downturn is self-inflicted and can be avoided by patience and self-discipline.

If you are scared of the market then you need to look at your allocation and make sure it meets your risk tolerance.

PS - I like the idea of building a nice emergency fund. Consider using a Roth IRA for this as you can withdraw your contributions early without penalty.

 

[OrcasIslandBound]

Paying off the mortgage is a very good question. We had ours paid off (SoCal) in 2011, but then bought a house in Washington state where we intend to retire to. So... we now have a $215k mortgage. If we sold our SoCal home, (my preference) we'd be debt free again. But we're (DW and I) aren't totally sure that we'll like the weather in WA, hence we'll hang on to both houses for a while. The only way to pay off the mortgage now would be to make a large withdrawal from pretax accounts, triggering onerous tax consequences. We're choosing not to do this.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[littleb]

If you have the extra money paying off a mortgage before retiring seems to be the better move to make. We paid off our mortgage 7 years ago and are 3 payments away from paying off our 2nd home. In the process we have contributed a large amount of our salaries to IRA's, ROTH's, Simple and HSA accounts. Our emergency fund holds well over a year of expenses. We want to go into retirement debt free with only essential expenses.


There are many who will argue that you should invest your money and not pay off your mortgage.

 

[WestLake]

I felt like I never had that much disposable income until I paid off the final two mortgages on my rentals at age 55 and 55 1/2. Will be 58 in March. It's a great feeling, I highly recommend.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Nemo2]

Crossed over? We're not dead yet!

From the thread title I thought it was about assisted suicide.

 

[Ronstar]

Congrats, littleb!

And safe travels in crossing over!

 

[Quest4Fire]

From the thread title I thought it was about assisted suicide.

Lol

I agree with other posters; dumping the mortgage is such a great feeling. It's at the heart of LBYM.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Terryjm51]

+1 on paying off mortgage
I am spending 2016 on a quest to get it paid off I turn 55 in dec and mortgage should be done. I too can see I will have lots of income to save and invest in 2017 and that will put me in semi- retirement mode.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum