Want to FIRE myself

[TexanAllStar]

100% Va Disabled with a Income of non taxed 3700 monthly. Currently make 80k in my Civilian Job. Total net income per month is about 7500. I sink much into savings and 401k. Sons college is paid for with GI bill I transferred while in Service. Been with same company for 13 years

Expenses.

Mortage-600 @ 2.37 (Sunk 30k principle payment in Nov of 21) Owe 130k (this includes home insurance/property taxes)
Cars x2- Paid off (1 worth 40k and 1 worth probably 5k)
Cell phone 100
Internet 110
Water/Trash-60
Electricity-160+-
Car Insurance - 70
Credit Cards- I pay them off but had a AC repair and have 2k on it, 500 a month
Health insurance is through the VA although I do pay for myself and my son about 400 a month so he is covered, but that comes out of my check
Food-200 a month (I live on a diet of chicken and rice, very cheap)
Entertainment-Video games for son and going out 300 a month (includes toys)
Gas-200 but will go down since I wont be driving 2 hours a day
Clothing-100 (shop at good will and rarely buy new cloths but just putting it there incase I do)


Investments
60k 401k
12000 IRA
4500 Silver
2000 I bonds I bought last month
43k Savings account
3k Checking account

Income

Va disability- 3700 (raises yearly with inflation)
Job- 1850 bi weekly= 3700ish per month
National Guard- 400 a month but will be ETS'ing soon

Im tired, worn out and just want to dig down and enjoy life for a bit. Looking to start Fire in 2 years when I turn 40. Socking money away into savings until then. What do you all think.

 

[38Chevy454]

Welcome to the forum. You need to track your expenses and what budget needs. For example I don't see any house insurance, property taxes, car or house repair, clothing, groceries, other utilities, entertainment, vacation, etc. Your listed expenses are approx $2000/mo which is great vs your $3700 income. But I know you have additional expenses such as my examples. I think your savings is a bit low for unexpected expenses or 40 plus years of retirement.

It seems you're on a good path. If you save as much as you can between now and retiring it gives you better savings to cover unexpected large expenses. Even known large expenses that aren't part of your normal monthly budget. Your plan can work if you have a better idea of expenses.

Read a bunch on here, learn from others. Self education is the best investment you can make.

 

[TripleLindy]

If I was in your situation, targeting an early retirement in 2 years, I’d force myself to live off of the VA disability income of $3700/month. The only glaring omission from your expenses is home insurance, but it looks like you can manage everything with your income from the VA. Invest every dollar of any other income with a direct deposit until you retire. That will tell you whether or not you can do it. I’d also use $2k of the $43k that’s in your savings account to pay off the CC debt, then invest the rest. Given your mortgage interest rate, I’d leave it alone, even though relieving yourself of that debt would be a psychological lift.

For healthcare, you should qualify for the subsidy so that the full premium will be covered for plans on the ACA. The only question would be whether or not the VA health benefits would have an impact on the subsidy.

Thank you for your service and good luck!

 

[TexanAllStar]

Thank you for the reply, Property taxes/house insurance is bundled into that 600 a month, but property taxes are exempt due to my VA disability. Your right, I did not add any of the other expenses such as food and that, I will update that.

Ill browse through the forum and take in all the information I can.

 

[TexanAllStar]

If I was in your situation, targeting an early retirement in 2 years, I’d force myself to live off of the VA disability income of $3700/month. The only glaring omission from your expenses is home insurance, but it looks like you can manage everything with your income from the VA. Invest every dollar of any other income with a direct deposit until you retire. That will tell you whether or not you can do it. I’d also use $2k of the $43k that’s in your savings account to pay off the CC debt, then invest the rest. Given your mortgage interest rate, I’d leave it alone, even though relieving yourself of that debt would be a psychological lift.

For healthcare, you should qualify for the subsidy so that the full premium will be covered for plans on the ACA. The only question would be whether or not the VA health benefits would have an impact on the subsidy.

Thank you for your service and good luck!

Home insurance is 500 a year, and bundled into that the Mortage thru Escrow, so its included in the 600 a month. Va healthcare is covered 100% and that includes outpatient care due to my rating. I am trying to get my son covered under CHAMPVA which will save me 400 a month and will be saving that. Appreciate the good information! I soak typically 4-5k every month into savings and been turning it up since I decided to fire in 2.5 years.

 

[street]

Welcome!!
Looks very promising to me that you could ER sooner. When you update your expense then you will know what you can do.

 

[O2Bfree]

Find the link to the FIRECalc tool at the bottom of the page. It's a great tool for building your confidence about when you can retire. You can enter as little or as much information as you want to.

 

[pacergal]

Welcome to the forum!
Firecalc will give you great information, so I encourage you to try it.

In the Forums section, look under Early Retirement FAQs for this:
Some Important Questions to Answer Before Asking - Can I Retire?

Answer those questions to see where you are in terms of planing.

There are so many knowledgeable folks here, who are willing to answer any questions. So feel free to ask away. This forum has been very helpful to me.

Also, there is a member here, Nords who writes much about military retirement. Look him up. His info even helped me, and I am not military, but have a govt pension.

Best wishes. And Thank you for your service to our country.