Should I stop daydreaming about retiring at 55?

[Anonymous]

I am 40. DH (also 40) and I have an HHI of $290,000 and one 5 yo. We have about $950k saved in our tax advantaged retirement accounts ($500k of which is in my accounts, $400k in his). We bought our home in 2021 and pay about $2,500 per month PITI, plan to stay in it for as long as possible. We have one child and won't have any more. I will qualify for retiree health insurance through my employer when I am 55. Fidelity calculator says based on my savings I will be able to retire as long as the market doesn't do extremely badly (I'm okay if the market is below average but not "significantly below average"). We contribute about $90k in our retirement accounts annually including Roth IRAs and $6k per year in a 529.

Should I daydream about retiring early or do I need a reality check? My job is interesting but sometimes soul sucky.

[Anonymous]

I mean it’s too far away to make a plan (esp since your kid will be in college?) but feel free to daydream. Once you get there you can reassess

[Anonymous]

I think you can do it, OP! Keep on saving and don't let the lifestyle creep get you. As soon as you can, start saving in a brokerage account as well. I hope to be able to retire at 55 as well. My plan B is 60.

[Anonymous]

Back of the envelop calculation, you'll have around $3m in retirement/brokerage accounts in 15 years (assuming $90k in annual contributions + 4% real returns). That would give you a safe withdrawal rate of around $140,000 annually, assuming 4% per year. The only thing I'd consider doing differently is more in the 529 plan, depending on where you want to send your 5yo to school.

[Anonymous]

Do you get a pension too? I'd take savings from daycare and throw that into a brokerage account. $90K per year for retirement savings is awesome.

On the bright side once you hit 55 if you need one or two more years it won't seem so bad since the goal is in reach.

[Anonymous]

Question- you retiring, or both of you?

[Anonymous]

Do you imagine that you will be done with kid related expenses when your kid is 20?

You can plan for it, but we are there and probably have the money to do it, but the idea of retiring now with kids this age (17-22) is laughable to us.

[Anonymous]

I think this is reasonable.

We have similar plans though all our numbers are different (we have a pension in the mix but also have a higher mortgage payment we intend to get rid of completely by 55) and I think the key is one kid. We may work a bit longer because our kid will graduate high school when we hit 55 so depending on the college situation we may stay in jobs at least a couple years so that we have a buffer for any extra costs associated with that (the 529 is in great shape but I think about stuff like travel costs or needing to support her during a summer internship) but otherwise we're on target to retire between 55 and 58. Actually DH may retire earlier to start collecting his pension but will likely stay on consulting for a bit just to keep our total income the same until I retire so we can continue to max out retirement accounts.

Actually working part-time or in a consulting capacity even into our 60s is appealing to both of us because I think ti can ease the transition to retirement (you are still doing things and feeling useful) plus having ordinary income has some benefits so you don't jump straight to drawing down retirement accounts for all your living expenses. It might be something to keep in your back pocket as an option OP.

[Anonymous]

How much do you spend annually?

[Anonymous]

I'm going to retire at 56, and buy private health insurance. We will have about $3.7 million, give or take depending on the market, with an instate fully funded 529.

Our outgoing expenses are probably going to be about $10k/mo, and that includes the private health insurance. Travel is separate.

This is two years from now. I'm counting down the days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you can do it, OP! Keep on saving and don't let the lifestyle creep get you. As soon as you can, start saving in a brokerage account as well. I hope to be able to retire at 55 as well. My plan B is 60.

+1. If you and your DH are on the same page WRT spending and saving, I think this is doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you imagine that you will be done with kid related expenses when your kid is 20?

You can plan for it, but we are there and probably have the money to do it, but the idea of retiring now with kids this age (17-22) is laughable to us.

NP. My kids will get a lot more than I got from my parents. Most importantly, my kids will (hopefully) get healthy and happy parents who don’t just help by throwing money at a given problem.

[Anonymous]

Of course you can retire early. Virtually anyone with a $300K HHI can retire far earlier than the traditional age. People here don't do it because DCUM believes that the meaning of life is found in business-class travel, luxury hotels and Michelin-rated restaurants ("Do you think I can retire now with $10M?"). Stay far away from these people, and you can easily retire early.

[Anonymous]

How long do you plan to live? Do you plan to get any inheritance? Do you care about leaving money when you die?

[Anonymous]

Daydream away! Costs nothing and isn't wildly delusional in your case. Daydreaming will give you insight into how much you value it and thus when you get closer you can reassess more easily if it requires any sacrifices/compromises on your part how important it is to you.

FWIW, I daydreamed about early retirement when my kids were younger and I felt pulled in so many directions. But now I'm 53 and they are in college/high school I'm not sure early retirement is what I want anymore. Some days, yes; others, no.