2Birds1Stone wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:11 am
I read your original posts here from a few years back and immediately see red flags. This thread reminds me of the cautious tales of professional athletes going broke shortly after they pass their primes, ditto with lottery winners squandering it in short order.
And that's exactly why I'm here, I don't want to screw this up.
2Birds1Stone wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:11 am
You're mid 50's, with an established career, a wife who runs a side business, and you describe your net worth as "not much". You were interested enough in early retirement and changing your course in 2017, to register and post here, but what have you done to move in the right direction?
Other than slowly paying down some of our debt, not much. We try to control our spending and save, but it seems like something always comes up to knock us back again. I do have an IRA through work that I contribute 7% per pay period to and we have a little in a savings account at our bank, but that's all. We only own one car (outright, no payments), so that's a good thing.
2Birds1Stone wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:11 am
I would completely forget about buying anything with the money for at least 6-12 months. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and with $700k essentially tax free, you can buy your family security and peace of mind for the rest of your lives. You're only 12-15 years away from SS, figure out what that benefit will be at FRA for you and your wife combined. Keep the funds in several high interest accounts to get at least 1.5% for now while maintaining FDIC insurance limits ($250k per account). Then figure out how to conservatively invest this, such that you can take 3-4% out with minimal impact to the principal. That's $21-28k/yr in tax free spending.....you can do almost any PT job and live your current spendy lifestyle. Or figure out how to cut expenses a bit, focus a little bit more on the side business, and never work a FT job again. Speaking of the side business, it's been quite a few years now. Is it an expensive hobby? Or is there a real income there? My sister in law has an Etsy store and after expenses and the time she puts in, we've figured out she earns between $1-2/hr over the past 4-5 years.......
Okay, this gets to the meat of what I'm looking for, but there's a lot I just don't understand about this stuff. I'm an intelligent guy, but not very smart when it comes to money matters (that's probably fairly obvious).
When you say keep the funds in several high interest accounts, what kind of accounts are you talking about? Standard bank savings accounts, or...?
Conservatively invest how? Where? Take 3-4% out how? Is this living off of dividends?
What is "
FRA?"
Concerning the side business, this is where I feel like quitting my job to focus on that would be beneficial. My wife doesn't track financials well, so I just don't know whether it's an expensive hobby or whether there's real income there. I do know it's growing, we actually have several retail accounts, but I just don't know the numbers. I keep encouraging her to get some small business education and get the financials straight, but these things just don't come naturally to her. She is the "creative" type and can't seem to be bothered by these details.
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif)
I know I could do it, if I didn't work already; I simply don't have the time/energy after working a full-time job.
2Birds1Stone wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:11 am
Just playing devils advocate. Read waaaay too many stories of people in your exact situation broke as fuck after a few years over on Bogleheads.
I appreciate your honesty. I don't want to be one of those people. That's why I'm back here. I want to do the right things and make this money work for us. I would also rather not continue to work for others, at least not full-time, and especially not doing what I'm doing now. I'm not opposed to some part-time work doing something I actually enjoy, or focusing on the home business.