I am in pretty much the first steps of my financial journey. When I first started working I never even thought about the possibility of early retirement but I did put 10% of my salary into 403b at that job, unfortunately the salary started at less than $20,000. I did that for 5 years from 2002 - 2007 then I went back to school and so no contributions. My next job didn't offer 403b until you worked for 1 year but at that point I knew I was leaving so no contributions. Then I started my current job but didn't start contributions until last year because that is when I decided to take control my financial situation.
This is my financial picture as it stands. T = total Y = 2015 yearly contribution
Pension - $? t, $3,421y - nothing I can do about this... wonder if it will exist when I retire
457b - $35,000t, $3,510y
DH401k - $1,000t, $2,000y - to maximize savers credit
debt - $5,600t, $4,920y (this is just my planned payments but I also throw any extra money here, this is also the money that will be redirected into the Efund) so far this year we have already paid $3,000, so the debt should be retired soon
In my checking account I always have 1 full month of expenses, thanks to YNAB. I also have some money sitting there for a rainy day designated as follows:
House maintenance $1,000
Car maintenance $217 just did some maintenance on the car
Health $527
Emergency fund $1,000
Anyway, I usually keep all of these topped off at around $1000 but we have recently spent money in these categories so they are low. As they build back up I am looking at hitting the limit on earning interest on my checking account (2.4%) so I don't want to keep more than that in cash. This amount of money would cover most minor and even medium sized emergencies so my goal for the larger Efund is really BIG emergencies and also a place to stash medium term savings. As I put more money into my 457b job loss will become less and less of a worry since I can access that money right away if needed.
My long term goal at this point is not early retirement, I love my job, but FI. I want to know that I don't need to work so that our future is planned for and that if one day I hate my job I can just leave.
DH has actually already applied for disability after his doctor told him that he should. But every time he gets a letter in the mail the conversation goes back to "do we need this?", "is this okay?", "am I giving up?" there are a lot of emotional factors involved and tbh it is just weird.
This is really helping me think through this. I have at least a few months before I pay off the debt and can put money away.