FireCalc says that $236,382 will support 10,000 in annual spending 95% of the time given 50% of my projected SS at age 62 and my federal pension if I work 2 more years. Surprisingly, calculating 20 years of semi-retirement income into SS makes no difference on the FireCalc results. I think I could happily get by with 10,000 if I had a paid off house, given my immediate plans for semi-retirement. 10,000 is equivalent to 27 hours/week of minimum wage after SS/Medicare taxes. It’s not ERE I am pursuing so much as that I want a clear conscience to quit my job. I should be able to get to 236,382 by year end, barring a down market. It is almost exactly 80% of one year’s salary after taxes. Then I’ll also have to locate some kind of property to live in, and pay that off, outside the $239,939. I quite like the area I am in now, though, so that shouldn’t be too difficult. I am hoping to be able to accomplish both goals by December 2013. It will take some return on investment though so it is a bit of a stretch goal. I think about 10% returns both years would do it.
LiquidSapphire's Journal
-
LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
January Journal
===NUMBERS===
**Expenses**
Rent - 500
Natural Gas - 42
Internet - 25
Electricity - 19
Water/Sewer - 9
Trash/Storm Drainage/Parks - 10
Groceries: 176 (39 in non-food toiletries, best month yet!)
Medical: 98 (includes increase in premium, knee brace)
Recreation/Restaurants: 97
Stuff: 136 (37 for weather proofing/compost, 36 for shoes (couldn’t resist), 32 for Tax Prep Software
)
Charity: 20
Cat 30
Transportation: 0
Gifts 22
Cell Phone: 0 (used existing credit for $12)
Netflix: 10
Liquor: 5
Untracked Cash: 0
Total: 1199
**Income**
Day Job - Taxes/Fees: 5562.47
Interest: 9.13
Dividends: 0
Side Hustle: 15.84
Employer HSA Contribution: 62.50
Employer TSP Match: 348.80
Total: 5998.74 (oooo sooo close to 6K!)
Savings %: 80.0
Net Worth: 193551.90 (It was a good month! I am up 60K since March 2011)
Next month I’ll also start tracking averages across categories, hope to end with a valid 12 month average.
===STUFF I’M WORKING ON===
How I Became Free in an Unfree World
Interesting book, but somehow I had to force myself to read it after about 100 pages. It gave me some things to think about.
The Composting Experiment:
We bought a used 55 gallon food grade bin and dumped our compost pile into it. The bin + the hardware to make an open/close lid cost about $35. But now we can keep dogs out and roll it around the yard. No shoveling, woohoo!
Weatherproofing/Flipping Curtains:
I sort of ran out of steam here. I never got around to putting window film up. At this point in our winter, it doesn’t make much sense to so I am just going to save the stuff for next year. I did put on gasket covers on most external walls, I have a couple outlets to go. I bought some more acceptable curtains with site to store shipping, gotta pick those up. Still need to flip the other curtains. I need to re-weather strip our door to the garage as it all came off already. Still have to put on the water heater jacket. That’s a big job. At least all of this will cool the house down in the summer, too.
Lowered the Internet Bill:
Well I extrapolated the tips from here: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/ ... y-service/ but I was able to decrease our bill by $20/mo with no loss of speed or service, and no hassle of switching, no silly activation fees. I started with chat, ended up on the phone with “Loyalty”, but all in all, not bad for someone that generally hates to negotiate. Also I found out that BF has been leasing a modem for $8/mo this entire time... … … … ... so we bought our own on Ebay off their “approved list” and will turn that off in short order.
Planning Meals & Cooking with “Pucks”:
I have been eating the same thing at work every day (I have done this for years, works well) and then planning 5-7 dinners each week and purchasing ingredients mainly for those meals only. I posted a thread previously I found on another ER site about cooking with “pucks”. I made large quantities of quinoa, rice, and beans, and froze them into muffin tin size “pucks”, but I didn’t use the disposable muffin tins; just spray oil. It worked out, I did end up with 24 pucks of each! I also froze fresh cilantro and guacamole into ice cubes. I also bought some cilantro seeds so we can start growing our own. I like that I can do this, freeze them, and then just use them as I have a need, and I can heat them up any time, just before I need to eat them. It’s like batch cooking, but only one portion of a meal at a time. I like that. Then all I have to add is some veggies when it’s time to eat, and you can buy them frozen too. It’s low commitment and low effort, and I can squeeze cooking it in to week nights while I am at home just chilling out.
I plan to make many Chipotle Burrito Bowls on Demand with the following: 2 Quinoa pucks, 1 ice cube cilantro, splash of lime juice, 2 pucks of pinto beans, 1 ice cube of guacamole, Costco Mexican cheese, and Salsa, frozen veggies. Note that ALL of this either keeps forever or can be frozen. Zero spoilage. Work required: Assemble & Nuke the frozen stuff 1 min per item, mix up, add non-frozen ingredients, nuke another 2 min. (Our microwave is pretty old.)
I also like making big batch dinners like chili and eating it all week. YUM leftovers. Should do this more.
Side Hustle:
So up front I will admit that the idea of starting a small business is scary to me. But I think 2012 will be the year of the try. I think the idea that intrigues me most now is Ebay/CL arbitrage. I’ve sold my own stuff lots of times but that’s about it. I am slowly dipping my feet in there, amassing an inventory with a cost of $0 since it’s stuff around the house so far. (Purge all things not used within 6 mo and all that.) It’s slow going because I am a scaredy-cat and maaaybe a little lazy.
I plan to start immersion at garage sales, auctions, thrift stores, estate sales, and CL Free stuff at some point. It intrigues me. This article inspires me: http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2012/01/s ... sh-things/
Fighting a $15 Bank Fee:
I haven’t done this yet. I have no excuse. I suck.
Clearing up $6000 of gov’t debt:
I’ve been avoiding this too. I can only handle so much BS during the work day. I probably owe some or all of it. Do not want to take the hit on my NW calculation. My ostrich tendencies not good in this case.
Saving $ for a House:
In mid-2011 I put $36K I had for a housing down payment into the stock market, thinking I wasn’t going to buy property. Well now I think otherwise. I about broke even recently for the first time in months so I pulled it out. Trying to get to $75,000 liquid. About $30K to go.
Semi-Retirement:
When does one have enough money for semi-retirement? I think the answer is definitely higher than a 3% SWR ($500,000) (this is enough to full on retire), and less than the 7.5%ish I have now, but where in between... I suppose the answer is very individual and no one can answer but me. 4% SWR? 5% SWR?
I suspect that I am so focused on this that I am mentally discounting out of hand bucket list items that cost a lot of money, possibly leading to frugal fatigue down the road. It makes me nervous to think about living on $1250/month...forever. I am trying to track my thoughts more so I can record these ideas and consciously decide if they are worth saving or planning for, and if yes, saving for now or later. On the plus side, after my birthday, the only items on my Amazon wish list are a small pot for a plant, a $25 pair of shoes to replace a pair I have that suck, that I wear constantly in warmer weather, and a pressure cooker, and I literally cannot think of anything else to put there that I’d actually use.
===NUMBERS===
**Expenses**
Rent - 500
Natural Gas - 42
Internet - 25
Electricity - 19
Water/Sewer - 9
Trash/Storm Drainage/Parks - 10
Groceries: 176 (39 in non-food toiletries, best month yet!)
Medical: 98 (includes increase in premium, knee brace)
Recreation/Restaurants: 97
Stuff: 136 (37 for weather proofing/compost, 36 for shoes (couldn’t resist), 32 for Tax Prep Software
)Charity: 20
Cat 30
Transportation: 0
Gifts 22
Cell Phone: 0 (used existing credit for $12)
Netflix: 10
Liquor: 5
Untracked Cash: 0
Total: 1199
**Income**
Day Job - Taxes/Fees: 5562.47
Interest: 9.13
Dividends: 0
Side Hustle: 15.84
Employer HSA Contribution: 62.50
Employer TSP Match: 348.80
Total: 5998.74 (oooo sooo close to 6K!)
Savings %: 80.0
Net Worth: 193551.90 (It was a good month! I am up 60K since March 2011)
Next month I’ll also start tracking averages across categories, hope to end with a valid 12 month average.
===STUFF I’M WORKING ON===
How I Became Free in an Unfree World
Interesting book, but somehow I had to force myself to read it after about 100 pages. It gave me some things to think about.
The Composting Experiment:
We bought a used 55 gallon food grade bin and dumped our compost pile into it. The bin + the hardware to make an open/close lid cost about $35. But now we can keep dogs out and roll it around the yard. No shoveling, woohoo!
Weatherproofing/Flipping Curtains:
I sort of ran out of steam here. I never got around to putting window film up. At this point in our winter, it doesn’t make much sense to so I am just going to save the stuff for next year. I did put on gasket covers on most external walls, I have a couple outlets to go. I bought some more acceptable curtains with site to store shipping, gotta pick those up. Still need to flip the other curtains. I need to re-weather strip our door to the garage as it all came off already. Still have to put on the water heater jacket. That’s a big job. At least all of this will cool the house down in the summer, too.
Lowered the Internet Bill:
Well I extrapolated the tips from here: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/ ... y-service/ but I was able to decrease our bill by $20/mo with no loss of speed or service, and no hassle of switching, no silly activation fees. I started with chat, ended up on the phone with “Loyalty”, but all in all, not bad for someone that generally hates to negotiate. Also I found out that BF has been leasing a modem for $8/mo this entire time... … … … ... so we bought our own on Ebay off their “approved list” and will turn that off in short order.
Planning Meals & Cooking with “Pucks”:
I have been eating the same thing at work every day (I have done this for years, works well) and then planning 5-7 dinners each week and purchasing ingredients mainly for those meals only. I posted a thread previously I found on another ER site about cooking with “pucks”. I made large quantities of quinoa, rice, and beans, and froze them into muffin tin size “pucks”, but I didn’t use the disposable muffin tins; just spray oil. It worked out, I did end up with 24 pucks of each! I also froze fresh cilantro and guacamole into ice cubes. I also bought some cilantro seeds so we can start growing our own. I like that I can do this, freeze them, and then just use them as I have a need, and I can heat them up any time, just before I need to eat them. It’s like batch cooking, but only one portion of a meal at a time. I like that. Then all I have to add is some veggies when it’s time to eat, and you can buy them frozen too. It’s low commitment and low effort, and I can squeeze cooking it in to week nights while I am at home just chilling out.
I plan to make many Chipotle Burrito Bowls on Demand with the following: 2 Quinoa pucks, 1 ice cube cilantro, splash of lime juice, 2 pucks of pinto beans, 1 ice cube of guacamole, Costco Mexican cheese, and Salsa, frozen veggies. Note that ALL of this either keeps forever or can be frozen. Zero spoilage. Work required: Assemble & Nuke the frozen stuff 1 min per item, mix up, add non-frozen ingredients, nuke another 2 min. (Our microwave is pretty old.)
I also like making big batch dinners like chili and eating it all week. YUM leftovers. Should do this more.
Side Hustle:
So up front I will admit that the idea of starting a small business is scary to me. But I think 2012 will be the year of the try. I think the idea that intrigues me most now is Ebay/CL arbitrage. I’ve sold my own stuff lots of times but that’s about it. I am slowly dipping my feet in there, amassing an inventory with a cost of $0 since it’s stuff around the house so far. (Purge all things not used within 6 mo and all that.) It’s slow going because I am a scaredy-cat and maaaybe a little lazy.
I plan to start immersion at garage sales, auctions, thrift stores, estate sales, and CL Free stuff at some point. It intrigues me. This article inspires me: http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2012/01/s ... sh-things/Fighting a $15 Bank Fee:
I haven’t done this yet. I have no excuse. I suck.
Clearing up $6000 of gov’t debt:
I’ve been avoiding this too. I can only handle so much BS during the work day. I probably owe some or all of it. Do not want to take the hit on my NW calculation.
My ostrich tendencies not good in this case.Saving $ for a House:
In mid-2011 I put $36K I had for a housing down payment into the stock market, thinking I wasn’t going to buy property. Well now I think otherwise. I about broke even recently for the first time in months so I pulled it out. Trying to get to $75,000 liquid. About $30K to go.
Semi-Retirement:
When does one have enough money for semi-retirement? I think the answer is definitely higher than a 3% SWR ($500,000) (this is enough to full on retire), and less than the 7.5%ish I have now, but where in between... I suppose the answer is very individual and no one can answer but me. 4% SWR? 5% SWR?
I suspect that I am so focused on this that I am mentally discounting out of hand bucket list items that cost a lot of money, possibly leading to frugal fatigue down the road. It makes me nervous to think about living on $1250/month...forever. I am trying to track my thoughts more so I can record these ideas and consciously decide if they are worth saving or planning for, and if yes, saving for now or later. On the plus side, after my birthday, the only items on my Amazon wish list are a small pot for a plant, a $25 pair of shoes to replace a pair I have that suck, that I wear constantly in warmer weather, and a pressure cooker, and I literally cannot think of anything else to put there that I’d actually use.
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Posthumane
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 1:06 am
Hey, I don't have anything productive to add, just wanted to say that I'm enjoying reading your journal. I'm in a very similar position (same age, gov't employment) but with a somewhat lower NW due to several life choices when I was younger. It's inspiring to read the way you're tackling some expenses.
I know what you mean about being nervous in regards to frugal fatigue. I'm fairly frugal in most departments and the thought of going shopping as a reward for something doesn't fly with me (I generally dislike shopping) but I have some hobbies which can get expensive and I'd hate to end up feeling like I'm depriving myself of things I'd like to do. It's not easy to find that balance.
I know what you mean about being nervous in regards to frugal fatigue. I'm fairly frugal in most departments and the thought of going shopping as a reward for something doesn't fly with me (I generally dislike shopping) but I have some hobbies which can get expensive and I'd hate to end up feeling like I'm depriving myself of things I'd like to do. It's not easy to find that balance.
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
Thanks posthumane, I'm glad my posts are helpful! I don't really care for shopping either. I guess I've recognized that I want ERE so bad I mentally think "too expensive, no" and shut down any expensive idea that pops into my head before I've even realized what I've done. Then 2-5 years down the line I will think, damn, if I had only stayed an extra 6 months, I could have X...
I realized that I had a dream to, in about 10 years or so when all of our pets are dead, to buy a used RV, travel around the US for a year, and then resell the RV... but until last week or this week only made the realization that if I'm serious about that I need to probably save money for 1) 1 year of a storage unit and 2) funds to buy the RV and pay for campsites, gas, and campground fees, repairs and 3) a property management company to rent out our house for a year while we are gone. The rent might offset it all but... maybe not!
I realized that I had a dream to, in about 10 years or so when all of our pets are dead, to buy a used RV, travel around the US for a year, and then resell the RV... but until last week or this week only made the realization that if I'm serious about that I need to probably save money for 1) 1 year of a storage unit and 2) funds to buy the RV and pay for campsites, gas, and campground fees, repairs and 3) a property management company to rent out our house for a year while we are gone. The rent might offset it all but... maybe not!
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
@sshawn-Awesome! I considered the worms but the bin was just easier. I'm excited for some free dirt this spring!
@phayen - I sure hope I can hit $250K this year! It will be close but I think I can hit it. I am $56,448.10 away and in theory I should be socking away about $5116.45 each month on average...I think $244,000 is a foregone conclusion unless the market has a down year, but anything above that will need to come from investment returns or a side hustle, or other significant decrease in expenses. Hey, if I can keep it at $1250/month, and get roughly 10% returns the next two years, I have 2 years and 2 weeks to go before I hit a 4% SWR! I hope to be able to cut off another 6 months or so though if I am able to slightly shave off more expenses (goal: 1150/month) or make a property purchase like I would like to. We'll see...
I discovered interlibrary loan works for movies. Our library's collection of movies sucks, but apparently that doesn't matter. Netflix doesn't have Mission Impossible II, but our library via interlibrary loan did! I almost went and bought it used off Amazon. Yay for saving 4 bucks!
@phayen - I sure hope I can hit $250K this year! It will be close but I think I can hit it. I am $56,448.10 away and in theory I should be socking away about $5116.45 each month on average...I think $244,000 is a foregone conclusion unless the market has a down year, but anything above that will need to come from investment returns or a side hustle, or other significant decrease in expenses. Hey, if I can keep it at $1250/month, and get roughly 10% returns the next two years, I have 2 years and 2 weeks to go before I hit a 4% SWR! I hope to be able to cut off another 6 months or so though if I am able to slightly shave off more expenses (goal: 1150/month) or make a property purchase like I would like to. We'll see...
I discovered interlibrary loan works for movies. Our library's collection of movies sucks, but apparently that doesn't matter. Netflix doesn't have Mission Impossible II, but our library via interlibrary loan did! I almost went and bought it used off Amazon. Yay for saving 4 bucks!
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
I felt the urge to rebalance so I did, even though I haven't really decided on an Asset Allocation yet, I didn't like the one I had. I selected one for the time being though and did my best to force all of my accounts into it.
Asset Type Current % Ideal %
Hard Asset Stocks 13.9 20%
Intl Stocks 23.4 20%
US Stocks 27.6 25
Foreign Bonds 0 10%
US Bonds 26.6 15%
Short $ 10.5 10
I also have other funds set aside for a property purchase and to pay off my student loans; I didn't include them in this diversification because they are not ERE investments per se.
After I finish saving for my property purchase I will purchase VAW in a Brokerage account, I will never meet the minimum for VMIAX. I have a small Fidelity account right now so I will try to move that over to some kind of hard asset stock index shortly also. That will reduce the imbalance by roughly 2% on each side.
Vanguard intends to open an International Bond Index Fund this year and when they do I will sell some US Bonds and buy the Foreign ones.
It's not perfect but, eh. It's the best I could do given my various accounts and where they are. I think it's diversified OK... fully open to the possibility that my "ideal" plan is not ideal but it's OK for now.
Asset Type Current % Ideal %
Hard Asset Stocks 13.9 20%
Intl Stocks 23.4 20%
US Stocks 27.6 25
Foreign Bonds 0 10%
US Bonds 26.6 15%
Short $ 10.5 10
I also have other funds set aside for a property purchase and to pay off my student loans; I didn't include them in this diversification because they are not ERE investments per se.
After I finish saving for my property purchase I will purchase VAW in a Brokerage account, I will never meet the minimum for VMIAX. I have a small Fidelity account right now so I will try to move that over to some kind of hard asset stock index shortly also. That will reduce the imbalance by roughly 2% on each side.
Vanguard intends to open an International Bond Index Fund this year and when they do I will sell some US Bonds and buy the Foreign ones.
It's not perfect but, eh. It's the best I could do given my various accounts and where they are. I think it's diversified OK... fully open to the possibility that my "ideal" plan is not ideal but it's OK for now.
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
Well the idea was this:
20% Hard Asset Stocks aka Companies that mine/refine natural resources like gold, silver, lumber, etc. Includes REITs as the underlying asset is land. IGE seems to be OK, it's split amongst international and US companies, seems to be amongst a variety of natural resources. A little heavier on gas/energy than I would probably have chosen but it's an OK choice for now. I feel this matches my temperament more than owning the actual commodity. Most of my money is in a REIT Index Fund via Vanguard; I can't sell any of it without incurring a redemption fee, but it's not a bad buy so I am going to hold it, just not buy more.
International Stocks: I use an Index fund that tracks the MSCI EAFE Index, it's part of my retirement plan at work.
US Stocks: Split about in the middle between an S&P500 Index and a Dow Jones U.S. Completion Total Stock Market Index fund, both in my retirement plan.
Foreign Bonds: Once Vanguard opens up their Total international bond fund I will buy that. Studies seem to show that having about 1/3 of your bond allocation in other countries helps diversification.
US Bonds: In my retirement plan I own Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. I am also holding VBIRX in anticipation of the foreign bond fund opening up.
Short $: Basically Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index again but I also have access to a special fund that averages the return on all treasuries with periods greater than 5 years, so I have investments there also.
My retirement plan is index funds only so a bulk of my resources have to go that way, but I actually generally like indices so I don't mind.
20% Hard Asset Stocks aka Companies that mine/refine natural resources like gold, silver, lumber, etc. Includes REITs as the underlying asset is land. IGE seems to be OK, it's split amongst international and US companies, seems to be amongst a variety of natural resources. A little heavier on gas/energy than I would probably have chosen but it's an OK choice for now. I feel this matches my temperament more than owning the actual commodity. Most of my money is in a REIT Index Fund via Vanguard; I can't sell any of it without incurring a redemption fee, but it's not a bad buy so I am going to hold it, just not buy more.
International Stocks: I use an Index fund that tracks the MSCI EAFE Index, it's part of my retirement plan at work.
US Stocks: Split about in the middle between an S&P500 Index and a Dow Jones U.S. Completion Total Stock Market Index fund, both in my retirement plan.
Foreign Bonds: Once Vanguard opens up their Total international bond fund I will buy that. Studies seem to show that having about 1/3 of your bond allocation in other countries helps diversification.
US Bonds: In my retirement plan I own Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. I am also holding VBIRX in anticipation of the foreign bond fund opening up.
Short $: Basically Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index again but I also have access to a special fund that averages the return on all treasuries with periods greater than 5 years, so I have investments there also.
My retirement plan is index funds only so a bulk of my resources have to go that way, but I actually generally like indices so I don't mind.
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MacGyverIt
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:18 pm
LS, I'm curious about how as a federal employee you've managed to let go of the "must work for 20 or 30 (or however long it takes to qualify) years to get my pension" idea. Most companies don't offer pension nowadays, not to mention the reduced health care costs from a federal retirement. Just interested in how you overcame what must've been something of a psychological and practical barrier?
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
@MacGyverIt
It helps that I only have 6 years of service; so I am not completely and totally entrenched. I think if I had 5 years or less to go I would probably stick around just for the guaranteed health insurance. As it is I would likely need to wait until age 57 to be eligible for an immediate annuity; that is 29 years and given that I am pretty much fed up at 6 years... well let's say I'd give up a lot to get out of 29 more years of this
Also I am still eligible for a pension right now; 6 years of service = 6% of an average of my final three years of salary upon turning 62, at which age it will begin adjusting through diet COLAs. For every year worked it just adds an extra %, and after 30 years it adds 1.1%. So... at age 57 I'd get 38.5% of an averaged final salary. It's nice, but... not worth 29 years of my my life. I wonder about going back to work between the ages of 57 and 62; that way I'd get the health insurance, the inflation adjusted salary, and 5 more years/5% more, just for 5 years of work. We'll see...
It helps that I only have 6 years of service; so I am not completely and totally entrenched. I think if I had 5 years or less to go I would probably stick around just for the guaranteed health insurance. As it is I would likely need to wait until age 57 to be eligible for an immediate annuity; that is 29 years and given that I am pretty much fed up at 6 years... well let's say I'd give up a lot to get out of 29 more years of this
Also I am still eligible for a pension right now; 6 years of service = 6% of an average of my final three years of salary upon turning 62, at which age it will begin adjusting through diet COLAs. For every year worked it just adds an extra %, and after 30 years it adds 1.1%. So... at age 57 I'd get 38.5% of an averaged final salary. It's nice, but... not worth 29 years of my my life. I wonder about going back to work between the ages of 57 and 62; that way I'd get the health insurance, the inflation adjusted salary, and 5 more years/5% more, just for 5 years of work. We'll see...
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MacGyverIt
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:18 pm
What boggles my mind are the folks (I've known several) who work for The Man for 30 (or more) years of their life... then go back to work in the same office as a contractor, all the while complaining about the job, the inefficiencies, the office politics... I really don't understand, it's like some "The Office" form of sado-masochism.
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
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Spartan_Warrior
- Posts: 1659
- Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:24 am
I'm also choosing ERE over a full federal pension. In addition to LS's points, one of my considerations has always been that there's no guarantee the pension will even be there. Federal retirement plans have been revamped before and federal employee compensation is a very, very popular political scapegoat. So I've kind of "given up" the pension already in my mind. The same way I feel about social security.
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
I have thought pretty hard about semi-retirement and think I wouldn’t be comfortable doing it unless I could cover a relatively sparse but still basically comfortable lifestyle 100% with a 4% SWR. I can slice and dice it lots of ways (and have done so) but I don’t think I’d be comfortable going for it with less than $350K. So that is what I am shooting for as a first goal. Then we’ll see what’s up once I get there.
As of my net worth today (2/14/12, recently hit the big 200K) I guess I am 43% of the way there. However, it’s not really a linear function since money makes money. I’m still crossing my fingers for December 31, 2013 (22 months) but we’ll see. Mr. Market will need to cooperate some.
0% annual return = 28.3 months (July 2014)
4% annual return ~ 25 months
5% ~ 24 months (Feb 2014)
6% ~ 23 months
7% ~ 22 months (Dec 2013)
8% ~ 22 months
9% ~ 21 months
10% ~ 20 months (Oct 2013)
Isn’t it amazing how little the return matters?
As of my net worth today (2/14/12, recently hit the big 200K) I guess I am 43% of the way there. However, it’s not really a linear function since money makes money. I’m still crossing my fingers for December 31, 2013 (22 months) but we’ll see. Mr. Market will need to cooperate some.
0% annual return = 28.3 months (July 2014)
4% annual return ~ 25 months
5% ~ 24 months (Feb 2014)
6% ~ 23 months
7% ~ 22 months (Dec 2013)
8% ~ 22 months
9% ~ 21 months
10% ~ 20 months (Oct 2013)
Isn’t it amazing how little the return matters?
Isn’t it amazing how little the return matters?
Some might even call it comforting... achieving your goal rests primarily on your continued execution of your plan, not on the variability of your investment returns.
This is one of the things in the Book of Jacob that initially took me by surprise. I had anticipated a lot of "make your money work for you" talk, but with an extremely short time frame, it really is just about making a cash pile through saving. I personally think that managing the cash pile for returns is useful experience, but getting to your number doesn't require any get-rich-quick tricks or out-sized market returns to work.
Some might even call it comforting... achieving your goal rests primarily on your continued execution of your plan, not on the variability of your investment returns.
This is one of the things in the Book of Jacob that initially took me by surprise. I had anticipated a lot of "make your money work for you" talk, but with an extremely short time frame, it really is just about making a cash pile through saving. I personally think that managing the cash pile for returns is useful experience, but getting to your number doesn't require any get-rich-quick tricks or out-sized market returns to work.
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George the original one
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