Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward64
FWIW, I think if you can retire before 65, you should do it.
Life is too short unless you are one of the fortunate few that really, really love your job. I'm good at my job, but I don't love it.
So comes down to when you can reasonably retire. 2 big factors (1) how much you have saved and probably more important (2) how much you will spend.
Rough formula
1) Total Savings
2) x 4% (using rule of 4% as "safe withdrawal rate")
3) - healthcare expenses
4) - est. Fed taxes (maybe 10%)
5) - est. State taxes (maybe 4%)
6) = what you have to live on
#3 healthcare expenses is the bigee. I think on Obamacare, it could range from $800 to $1,400 a month.
In theory, we can retire now. In reality, we want to work 1-2-3 more years to add to buffer and wait till kids are out of school and on their own.
Check out financial independence / early retirement. Lots of good info there. |
Thanks, I'll check it out.
If the current group of people who work at my company (well, the parent company - I'm technically part of a start-up) are any indication, this is a place people work at forever (we have several people who have been here for 50-60+ years at a company of about 50 employees). They take great care of their employees, and the workload is moderate at worst, so it's easy to keep showing up and collecting a paycheck (or hard to not keep showing up, I guess). The general counsel of this company is in his mid-80s, for instance, but his workload is light, so why not?
So, if things go well over the next decade, I could easily decide to retire but it might be hard to walk away from relatively easy money.
These are all things we need to be thinking about. I don't know why, but as I hit 50 it became a bit more real that the end is at least somewhat in sight and I better start thinking about how/when it's going to end.