Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:39 am
Spending for February was about $3,190. That's still high but back into the realm of reasonable after several months on the dismaying side. I'm still looking at shoveling money into my house in preparation for selling it, so I expect a number of months this year where spending runs above my estimate for future monthly spending. I thought about using some bookkeeping tricks to segregate those expenses to make my day-to-day numbers look "better", but I'm not very good at fooling myself when it comes to numbers and data. I'm perhaps the Mr Creosote of FatFIRE guys hereabouts (still on the cusp of the destitute over at bogleheads.org), but I've pretty much won the game defined by the rules I made for it, so I just need to own it. It can be a challenge not readily fitting in anywhere.
For the month invested assets were up a little over $29,000. I've fallen behind updating my spreadsheet tab where I estimate withdrawal rate metrics, but back-of-the-envelope I'd be a little under 2.5% if I walked in Monday and quit, about 1.6% if I wait until the end of the year, and a little under 1% if I wait until the end of 2020. Those numbers are predicated on deliberately conservative estimates of SS and retirement annuity and spending more than $1,000/mo above my average for the last 7 years. If I plug in best estimate numbers and grind it out until the end of 2020 I'm looking at 0% withdrawal rate excluding taxes on future RMDs at least out to age 85 or so.
Another bit of good news is that I learned that I will be eligible for my employer's retiree medical insurance plans even if I retire prior to age 60. I don't know how I convinced myself otherwise, but the only thing that happens at 60 is that the company would pay a fraction of the premium versus my having to pay 100%. So as long as I'm older than 55 when I leave the company I have that as an option. For the bare bones plans, comparable to ACA Bronze, the premiums run $500-$550 for single coverage this year. One of them is the same plan I'm in now (not sure if that one will be available in the states I may wind up living in), and the others I don't have the details on, but assuming the lower priced plans have similar OOP limits to the current one I'm in it should cap my exposure at about $18K/year including premiums until I get to medicare age. Company also has retiree group medicare supplement plans but I haven't looked into them much.
I turn 55 in about 70 days which is significant because at that point I am eligible to "retire" by the company's definition and extra bene's kick in (a decent bump in the annuity plus the medical plan eligibility). At that point I'm pretty much on day-by-day status. Aside from accruing a little more annuity credit and the standard deferred annuity math (more $/month the longer you wait to take it), the only other milestone is hitting age 60 at which point the company would pay ~$250/mo towards my healthcare premiums if I choose one of their plans. For the 5 years that would be in effect, it's about $15,000 total and I don't judge it being worth 4-5 more years of employment. By 2020 I'd be at or near a 0% withdrawal rate, so unless what I do at work suddenly becomes my defining life passion, no reason to go beyond the end of 2020. Another bit of work-related trivia is that I'll hit my 32nd service date anniversary tomorrow. I'm a walking anachronism.
From a more personal perspective I'm starting to feel a bit of restlessness. We're looking at another unseasonable blast of cold weather next week (a couple of hard freezes) but here on the edge of the Southeast US, signs of spring are beginning to creep forward. The road to my favorite hiking spots is closed (as are the trails) while they blast away to widen the road. If the project does not complete on schedule I may not get to visit those trails again except as a tourist. I'm still getting a lot of mileage out of the renewal of my music hobby, and a good bit of my recent surge in spending has been caused by my deciding to update my instruments/gear. I'll probably spend another $10K-$15K in that realm over the next 5 years or so. I'm at the age where anything that exercises the brain is arguably beneficial so I don't have a problem with the expense. Still flying solo when it comes to official relationships, and okay with that. But observing my dad as a 79 year-old single guy has me thinking through that aspect of things a little more carefully. So far he's doing fine because his health/physical capacity is above normal for his age. But it's likely over time that he'll increasingly depend on others (which is my reason for moving back home). It's unlikely my kids will be in a position or have a desire to change the course of their lives to look after me if that day comes.
It rained yesterday, just started raining this morning, and Sunday is supposed to be a washout. For the first time in 11 years I'd managed to get myself motivated to get an early jump on all my outdoor spring chores (many of which can be comfortably done through the winter), but I think this makes 13 of the last 15 weekends (or maybe 14 of 16) where it's rained at least one of the days, and there's not much one can do in a quagmire.
ETA: Also worth noting that my journal has hit 500 posts (though not all mine), which is perhaps the most reliable indicator that the end is near.
For the month invested assets were up a little over $29,000. I've fallen behind updating my spreadsheet tab where I estimate withdrawal rate metrics, but back-of-the-envelope I'd be a little under 2.5% if I walked in Monday and quit, about 1.6% if I wait until the end of the year, and a little under 1% if I wait until the end of 2020. Those numbers are predicated on deliberately conservative estimates of SS and retirement annuity and spending more than $1,000/mo above my average for the last 7 years. If I plug in best estimate numbers and grind it out until the end of 2020 I'm looking at 0% withdrawal rate excluding taxes on future RMDs at least out to age 85 or so.
Another bit of good news is that I learned that I will be eligible for my employer's retiree medical insurance plans even if I retire prior to age 60. I don't know how I convinced myself otherwise, but the only thing that happens at 60 is that the company would pay a fraction of the premium versus my having to pay 100%. So as long as I'm older than 55 when I leave the company I have that as an option. For the bare bones plans, comparable to ACA Bronze, the premiums run $500-$550 for single coverage this year. One of them is the same plan I'm in now (not sure if that one will be available in the states I may wind up living in), and the others I don't have the details on, but assuming the lower priced plans have similar OOP limits to the current one I'm in it should cap my exposure at about $18K/year including premiums until I get to medicare age. Company also has retiree group medicare supplement plans but I haven't looked into them much.
I turn 55 in about 70 days which is significant because at that point I am eligible to "retire" by the company's definition and extra bene's kick in (a decent bump in the annuity plus the medical plan eligibility). At that point I'm pretty much on day-by-day status. Aside from accruing a little more annuity credit and the standard deferred annuity math (more $/month the longer you wait to take it), the only other milestone is hitting age 60 at which point the company would pay ~$250/mo towards my healthcare premiums if I choose one of their plans. For the 5 years that would be in effect, it's about $15,000 total and I don't judge it being worth 4-5 more years of employment. By 2020 I'd be at or near a 0% withdrawal rate, so unless what I do at work suddenly becomes my defining life passion, no reason to go beyond the end of 2020. Another bit of work-related trivia is that I'll hit my 32nd service date anniversary tomorrow. I'm a walking anachronism.
From a more personal perspective I'm starting to feel a bit of restlessness. We're looking at another unseasonable blast of cold weather next week (a couple of hard freezes) but here on the edge of the Southeast US, signs of spring are beginning to creep forward. The road to my favorite hiking spots is closed (as are the trails) while they blast away to widen the road. If the project does not complete on schedule I may not get to visit those trails again except as a tourist. I'm still getting a lot of mileage out of the renewal of my music hobby, and a good bit of my recent surge in spending has been caused by my deciding to update my instruments/gear. I'll probably spend another $10K-$15K in that realm over the next 5 years or so. I'm at the age where anything that exercises the brain is arguably beneficial so I don't have a problem with the expense. Still flying solo when it comes to official relationships, and okay with that. But observing my dad as a 79 year-old single guy has me thinking through that aspect of things a little more carefully. So far he's doing fine because his health/physical capacity is above normal for his age. But it's likely over time that he'll increasingly depend on others (which is my reason for moving back home). It's unlikely my kids will be in a position or have a desire to change the course of their lives to look after me if that day comes.
It rained yesterday, just started raining this morning, and Sunday is supposed to be a washout. For the first time in 11 years I'd managed to get myself motivated to get an early jump on all my outdoor spring chores (many of which can be comfortably done through the winter), but I think this makes 13 of the last 15 weekends (or maybe 14 of 16) where it's rained at least one of the days, and there's not much one can do in a quagmire.
ETA: Also worth noting that my journal has hit 500 posts (though not all mine), which is perhaps the most reliable indicator that the end is near.