Transition from Young Dreamer

[meekie]

Been posting here for about 5 years, and things have been going well for us. We've hit the big 1 million in assets (not counting housing), we bought a new house and are renting out our old one, and making a small profit on it.

We still need over $2 mil to be FI here in San Diego, but if all goes well in our investments and savings, that looks like it could be sometime in the next 5-10 years. We are still very young, I'm 37, DH is 41 so it feels very strange to be looking at a somewhat "near" FIRE.

Our plans going forward include a few more years of our corporate jobs, then doing some downsizing. I'm looking into tax prep as a side business, and I have a couple of hobbies that I could turn into some money. DH makes iphone apps, and will hopefully keep doing that for a number of years on the side to keep a little bit of money coming in, and let our investments grow for a bit longer before hitting them too hard.

But now that we're at the 5-10 year stage, it seems like I should probably rebalance my portfolio a bit to be less aggressive? Any other tips on what to do to start preparing 5 years out?

 

[Accidental Retiree]

But now that we're at the 5-10 year stage, it seems like I should probably rebalance my portfolio a bit to be less aggressive? Any other tips on what to do to start preparing 5 years out?

That is really cool, that you have accomplished so much in such a short time.And also cool that you have the foresight to do a 5-year plan.

As a long-time lurker here, you already know someone will ask, "A bit less aggressive than WHAT?" So I thought I'd get the ball rolling!

I look forward to reading their responses.

 

[WM]

Hello! I've been posting on and off for several years too and somehow missed your posts. My husband and I are also young (38 and 39) and planning to ER in San Diego in about 2.5 years.

Our situation is a bit different, since our ER will rely on his military pension as a base. Given that, we're not planning on changing our current asset allocation (75/25 stocks/bonds) any time soon. But we have now gotten to the stage where we're building our 'cash bucket' in addition to continuing with our other investments.

I agree, it's weird to actually be getting close!

 

[ShortInSeattle]

Been posting here for about 5 years, and things have been going well for us. We've hit the big 1 million in assets (not counting housing), we bought a new house and are renting out our old one, and making a small profit on it.

We still need over $2 mil to be FI here in San Diego, but if all goes well in our investments and savings, that looks like it could be sometime in the next 5-10 years. We are still very young, I'm 37, DH is 41 so it feels very strange to be looking at a somewhat "near" FIRE.

Our plans going forward include a few more years of our corporate jobs, then doing some downsizing. I'm looking into tax prep as a side business, and I have a couple of hobbies that I could turn into some money. DH makes iphone apps, and will hopefully keep doing that for a number of years on the side to keep a little bit of money coming in, and let our investments grow for a bit longer before hitting them too hard.

But now that we're at the 5-10 year stage, it seems like I should probably rebalance my portfolio a bit to be less aggressive? Any other tips on what to do to start preparing 5 years out?

Perhaps do some reading on asset allocation strategy. There are some good recommendations in the FAQ section. For example, many people gradually increase the percentage they hold in bonds as they get older.

SIS

 

[rodi]

I just wanted to say congratulations to being so close to your goal.
I'm also in San Diego, and hoping to hang up the corporate job soon. I'm a few years older (well more than a decade, older). My target number is under $2M, but the house will be paid for this year - so the biggest COL factor for San Diego will be eliminated. (And prop 13, no mello roos, no HOA helps also.)

As I've been getting closer to ER - I've been moving from what was an 80/20 to more of a 60/40 allocation. Might eventually get to a 50/50 allocation.

Like you - I'm also looking at seasonal tax prep as a possible part time gig.