brand new here...want to gauge my situation....

[howie29]

My wife and I are 46, kids 8 and 13.  I make about 200k in a job that is killing me stresswise (but is a great company) in a contracting industry.  My wife travels for work, ⅔ of the month to make 40k ish....can work more but will be away more.  House paid, cars old but paid, $600k in taxable accounts, IRA + ROTH about the same.  College tuition (only) prepaid and $60k combined in 529 plans for the kids.  Zero debt.  Mint says I need $70k ish to live the comfy but not flashy lifestyle that we currently lead.  Trying to get a lower stress (and lower paying) job.  Looks good on paper and all the sites say I'm ok --FIRe Calc, Flexible Retirement Calculator, Fidelity Retirement Calculator...what am I missing?  Don't feel like I could bail yet and transfer job stress to money stress but really looking at better work sitch to help tutor my daughter who is having some trouble in school, particularly when wife away...."Love it or List it?"......for those of you aware of the show.....

[1967mama]

Might want to try posting according to these guidelines:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/how-to-write-a-'case-study'-topic/

in the "Ask a Mustachian" section of the forum. That's where these types of questions typically reside to get to the best responses :-)

[howie29]

Gotcha, thank you!  Newbie.

[dandarc]

If I'm reading this right, you've got 1.2 million in retirement accounts.  If 70K is the lifestyle you want to lead, you need 1.75 million to have a 4% withdrawal rate.  If you cut your spending to a little less than 50K, you're pretty much already FI.  So you could suck it up and work a few more years at this job.  Or you could find a job that pays enough to cover current expenses and work a few more years and just wait for the growth to catch up to your number.

Or if your wife really likes her job, you only need to close a gap of 30K until she retires - you have plenty of assets already to do that.  Or if she hates that job, maybe she quits while you work a couple more years to top off the 'stache.  You might save enough dough by having a full-time parent at home that you don't even miss her salary that much.

You have lots of options - and thanks for the reminder that this stuff really does work!

[Roland of Gilead]

Close to the same age with wife, no kids.  Similar assets.   Going to ER now on about 50K a year budget (hope to only actually spend around $40K most years).

The kids thing would be the deal killer IMO.  The wife and I have agreed to live a pretty rugged lifestyle but I do not know if we could subject kids to that (we plan to spend weeks or months in the wilderness hiking/camping).

I do not know how you are invested, but with that income level plus the child tax deductions, you should be able to grow your $1.2M to $1.7M in about 3 more years.

[BBub]

Great job so far on the debt free lifestyle & sizeable stash.  I'd first do a deep dive audit on the $70k expenses, optimize where you can, then do a 1 yr trial run on your FIRE budget while continuing to work.  Only speculating, but you may find that simply cutting job expenses gets you pretty close: lunches out, dry cleaning, vehicle commutes, work travel, staff bonuses, etc.  Who knows, post a case study in "ask a mustachian" & you'll get some great feedback.  Welcome to the forums - look forward to following your journey!