How much to retire at age 55? We are 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did you get to 5M? Apple stock in the 90s?

No student debt. Maxed contribution retirement saving since we were 22. We don’t have fancy cars or hobbies.

I mean we are 46 and maxed retirement contributions since 25 and have no where near that.

Did you pay for portfolio management? How aggressive are you in terms of asset allocation? We are all in low cost funds. Plus we are double income. Also since we are a little older than you we invested pre-2000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did you get to 5M? Apple stock in the 90s?

No student debt. Maxed contribution retirement saving since we were 22. We don’t have fancy cars or hobbies.

I mean we are 46 and maxed retirement contributions since 25 and have no where near that.

Did you pay for portfolio management? How aggressive are you in terms of asset allocation? We are all in low cost funds. Plus we are double income. Also since we are a little older than you we invested pre-2000.

OP again- you can sock away a lot more for retirement as double income 300k (150/150) than 300k one salary.

[Anonymous]

Is this a joke? Are you seriously wondering if you can retire on $5 million+ ? Sometimes I really hate this board.

[Anonymous]

You don’t have five million if majority is in 401k. You can’t touch it really till 59.5.

Plus I am 59 now and trust me older kids are expensive. Plus there is “failure to launch” risk and possible grad school.

Also early retirement really sucks. I was laid off at 57 for six months and it was just me roaming around house getting in wife’s way. I had a severance package but still nothing to do.

Inflation is coming. Wait till a BIG Mac is $40 dollars, a Pizza $75 and a gallon of gas $25 dollars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have five million if majority is in 401k. You can’t touch it really till 59.5.

Plus I am 59 now and trust me older kids are expensive. Plus there is “failure to launch” risk and possible grad school.

Also early retirement really sucks. I was laid off at 57 for six months and it was just me roaming around house getting in wife’s way. I had a severance package but still nothing to do.

Inflation is coming. Wait till a BIG Mac is $40 dollars, a Pizza $75 and a gallon of gas $25 dollars.

Can you say more about older kids being expensive? If by this you mean young adults, this is something I have not thought about at all. Curious to hear what kind of expenses you have in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have five million if majority is in 401k. You can’t touch it really till 59.5.

Plus I am 59 now and trust me older kids are expensive. Plus there is “failure to launch” risk and possible grad school.

Also early retirement really sucks. I was laid off at 57 for six months and it was just me roaming around house getting in wife’s way. I had a severance package but still nothing to do.

Inflation is coming. Wait till a BIG Mac is $40 dollars, a Pizza $75 and a gallon of gas $25 dollars.

Okay Eeyore.

#1. There are plenty of ways to touch your 401k/IRA before 59.5 - SEPP, Roth conversion ladder, Roth contributions, hell even an annuity although I wouldn't recommend it.

#2. Forced retirement through a lay off vs early retirement by choice is extremely different. I saw my dad go through the same thing. Age discrimination is brutal in your late 50s when you get laid off but don't want to be.

[Anonymous]

OP here- you can also touch your 401k savings at 55 as long as you are 55 when you left your company and they had to be in that company plan. My husband is actually a few years older than I am so I’d I retire at 53- he’ll be 55 so we can use his money until I hit 55.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have five million if majority is in 401k. You can’t touch it really till 59.5.

Plus I am 59 now and trust me older kids are expensive. Plus there is “failure to launch” risk and possible grad school.

Also early retirement really sucks. I was laid off at 57 for six months and it was just me roaming around house getting in wife’s way. I had a severance package but still nothing to do.

Inflation is coming. Wait till a BIG Mac is $40 dollars, a Pizza $75 and a gallon of gas $25 dollars.

Can you say more about older kids being expensive? If by this you mean young adults, this is something I have not thought about at all. Curious to hear what kind of expenses you have in this area.

Enabling pathetic children that can’t make it on their own

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only $10k a month, huh?

I just wonder if the calculators work well for “high” net worth individuals. I think my plan will be to pull a min of 10k per month out (and the rest will depend on the market). If the market is doing well, I’ll pull the 4 percent out-240k a year. I much prefer thre 4 percent rule . I think the 10k per month seems ridiculously low. I think that’s a thing they call it flexible retirement or something like that.

What exactly do you plan to spend 10k per month on with a paid off house?

[Anonymous]

Still no answer to the health care question, OP. That's the biggest problem with any plan to retire early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have five million if majority is in 401k. You can’t touch it really till 59.5.

Plus I am 59 now and trust me older kids are expensive. Plus there is “failure to launch” risk and possible grad school.

Also early retirement really sucks. I was laid off at 57 for six months and it was just me roaming around house getting in wife’s way. I had a severance package but still nothing to do.

Inflation is coming. Wait till a BIG Mac is $40 dollars, a Pizza $75 and a gallon of gas $25 dollars.

This is flat out false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still no answer to the health care question, OP. That's the biggest problem with any plan to retire early.

OP or DH likely have retiree healthcare through their employer. The problem with healthcare, at least for folks around here (i.e. with means) is not the cost but the uncertainty. If I'm paying $400/ month for insurance for a family of 4 and retire at 50, I want to know that I will have healthcare from 50-65 even if costs $1500-$2000 a month. If that's not certain because Insurance companies drop out of Obamacare or some Republican president comes around and kills Obamacare, etc. we have a problem.

[Anonymous]

We are you but at 40. My plan is to stop working at 55 if we hit $5M between 401k and separate investments. Our hhi is split 170-120.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still no answer to the health care question, OP. That's the biggest problem with any plan to retire early.

OP or DH likely have retiree healthcare through their employer. The problem with healthcare, at least for folks around here (i.e. with means) is not the cost but the uncertainty. If I'm paying $400/ month for insurance for a family of 4 and retire at 50, I want to know that I will have healthcare from 50-65 even if costs $1500-$2000 a month. If that's not certain because Insurance companies drop out of Obamacare or some Republican president comes around and kills Obamacare, etc. we have a problem.

Yes, but the trend the last decade it to make it much easier for individuals, including individuals with means, to get healthcare outside the employer-based healthcare system. We are early retirees (with some consulting income) and it isn't nearly the problem we anticipated. I can't see Republicans making it hard for people to get health care at this point -- too many of us rely on the ACA.

The biggest thing for us is helping our kids work towards early financial independence from us. We've paid for private school/college but with us not working they really need to be independent at age 23 or so and getting that first professional job is not easy, even for highly educated kids. Our first DC just did it, but we know lots of young college grads who are struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still no answer to the health care question, OP. That's the biggest problem with any plan to retire early.

20k per year I’m estimating for Healthcare expenses.