2027 FIRE Cohort

[MikeO]

Need advice cohorts!

I mentioned above how my FIRE date was changing with all the increased saving and increased income. If that market doesn't go wonky, the very earliest I could FIRE is May 2023. This is a huge jump up from my original November 2027 plan.

Now here's my "problem." We were able to cut the date because we bought an inexpensive house in a great neighborhood 4 years ago (spent 215K, instantly appraised for 235K). We made tons of upgrades including new roof (covered by insurance), new windows/doors (10K), new kitchen (10K) and new exterior paint. With the hot market here in AZ, we have 100K - 140K of untapped equity in our home. Even with all these upgrades, I still do not like our home. I dislike the layout and all the little issues associated. We are REALLY interested in getting a new home but are suffering from lifestyle inflation. We really want a nice home that we can spend the next 10 years in.

What should we do?
Option A. Buy a house in 400K price range that will make us happier and use equity as down payment. (Would raise mortgage about $500, pushes FIRE date back to ~2027)
Option B. Buy house in 315K price range that will be not as nice but better layout (Slow rehab. Mortgage does not increase)
Option C. Stay put, stay on track to FIRE early
Option D. ????

Why do you want a new house?  Really.  will spending more money on a different home make you happier?  Once you retire early what will you do with your time? will you sit in the house all the time?  lots of questions here and you don't need to answer each individually, at least not on here, but you should be asking yourself these questions and more. 

I am in a similar situation.  we purchased our home, it's nothing fancy, it's half paid for now.  The layout is ok - not a dream home or anything, the neighborhood is just ok.  louder than I like, some inconsiderate DB live here.  Traffic is nightmare in this area due to rapid growth and no infrastructure.   So I've often said we'd stay here until we hit FI then sell it and use the money to buy something we really want.  Of course even with the money it's going to cost us more OR we keep this house and travel with the money we'd have other wise spent on a new home.  Because what value will I get out of the newer home vs this one?  Will that value really make any difference in my happiness?  For the me answers are not much and  probably not.  I will gain more value out of having this humble home paid for and free to travel and visit any place and anyone I like when I want is more important to than where I live. 

I used to own the home that I dream of now but had to sell and move due to a job loss and change.  I wasn't happier in that home, it was better than this one but in the big picture probably not worth it.

so the point of my rambling is you need to ask yourself these questions and decide what has more value, what your plans are.  If you are going to stay in the house, you have lots of family close by who you will entertain at that new place, then maybe it is worth it.  For us, we have no family to speak of that ever comes here, nor ever will so if I were to buy the 5 acre lot with a 2000SF home and  pool out back it would jsut be a waste of money for me and my wife to rattle around in when we aren't visiting out of town friends and traveling. 

I'm not super frugal, not much of a mustachian in that respect but we save over 60% of our total income but we budget 15k per year on vacation/entertainment while trying to minimize other things.  I would never suggest you don't buy something that has large value to you, your life style and your plans I would just suggest you really evaluate the value.  Not always an easy task.

[fuzzy math]

Are we all still alive 2027ers??

I am hoping there is world travel still as a possibility after I FIRE. Still stacking those dollars. Nothing much to report other than that I am not currently set up to adequately home school my children, so world schooling is probably out too :p

[Glenstache]

Still alive, still in the slow accumulation phase. This prompted me to rerun my numbers and see what the trajectory looks like given all of the recent ups and downs. Unless things go much worse, the timeline looks similar for me. I'm also starting to turn the corner towards the annual baseline change starting to outrun my annual contributions, which is a neat feeling. I like seeing those soldiers at work.

Honestly, given all that has been going on in the world, I also feel very fortunate (and privileged) to be in the position that I am. I have upped my charitable contributions this year with a shift towards more local and social justice type organizations (local food banks, NAACP, etc.) than prior years that have been more conservation focused.

I think the shift in workplace from office to home has also made me realize how much FIRE has to offer. I'm looking forward to it. I will likely continue some low level form of work, but certainly not as much as my career requires at present and focused towards more rewarding work than gotta-do work. 

[talltexan]

Emotionally I'm a mess (it's the kids), but the last three months have shaved our biggest line item (Childcare) down to zero. Haven't had the courage to accurately measure this and put it all in the #stonkmarket. Turns out I would have made some money.

[rockstache]

Honestly, given all that has been going on in the world, I also feel very fortunate (and privileged) to be in the position that I am. I have upped my charitable contributions this year with a shift towards more local and social justice type organizations (local food banks, NAACP, etc.) than prior years that have been more conservation focused.

I think the shift in workplace from office to home has also made me realize how much FIRE has to offer. I'm looking forward to it.

+1 to all of this. My company is a very old school style place and working from home has never been an option until now. They have plans to begin returning people back to the office shortly, and will never allow working from home as a regular thing. I don't personally have to go back until September, but even though that is a few months away I am dreading it. Being home with my husband and kid has been a dream. Saving all the money on childcare hasn't hurt either, and all the savings that hasn't gone to charity has been dumped in the market.

Retirement still feels really far off though, so it's good to come here and get a little encouragement. Watching my coast age drop is pretty uplifting too.

[talltexan]

I can't help but feel like a lot of southeastern states are going through a dramatic wake-up call this week. Our employer keeps pushing back the timeline for when we will begin working on-site again.

My wife's employment looked doubtful for a while, but she's now a lot more secure again. Hopefully everyone here is making progress toward that 2027 date!

[raincoast]

I'm still employed, and still on track for FIRE in 2027 (or earlier)! All raises and bonuses this year have been cancelled, but I consider myself fortunate to still be employed full-time. My firm is starting to get busy again, so my employment is looking more secure. I'm also fortunate to live in a place that has been very successful at containing the virus.

My expenses have gone down slightly in the past few months, but not by that much. I didn't eat out much before COVID, I don't have kids, and I don't own a car or pay for a bus pass. I've donated some of the extra.

[Loretta]

I'm still on track to retire in 2027.  Work has been something else and my friends and I joke about being passengers on the Titanic.  I have been thankful for the steady paychecks, good health insurance, and overall a very stable job, which I know so many people lack right now.  As for where to move to in 2027 upon my retirement, I think Florida is now out of the equation due to its wacky leadership. 

[talltexan]

It's hard to think of a state that's really covering itself in glory.

[MikeO]

we are still here, still moving forward.  as for jobs, both my wife and I are minimally affected (THANK GOODNESS!)  so we are still just punching away at investing.  alot can happen in 7 years so who knows but I'm hopefull that 2027 will be our year of FI

[talltexan]

Someone private-messaged me that Rhode Island is doing well. Good job, Little Rhodey!

[TomTX]

Hey, folks - just checking in with an update since I started the thread. May 2027 is still my "no later than" date as it's the date I can retire directly from service to pension + medical.

Some of you may have seen that I managed a pretty big promotion to another division a bit over a year ago. Due to how pension value is calculated based on the average of your highest 3 years of salary, that move also started a fairly rapid ramp in potential pension value through August of 2022.

If I walked out the door September 1, 2022, I would be eligible for a pretty decent pension with medical in August 2032 - thus only needing to bridge 10 years with investments. ($3,400/month fixed payout pension, no COLA)

It's pretty tempting. I'll see where things are by then. I'm really enjoying 100% work from home (and it will be even better when school is safe again) - I'll have to see how much WFH they're going to allow post-pandemic.

I'm really, really not looking forward to the early-2022 planned move to a new office which broke ground a few months ago. Much further from my house timewise, if not milewise. Current location is central Austin, new location is on the outskirts on the far side of Austin.

[talltexan]

Congrats, @TomTX

[TomTX]

Thanks!

[TomTX]

Well, I did a basic net worth spreadsheet update and plugged in assumptions to https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/ - looking like solidly FI in another 2 years (2022) presuming the market is at least flat. I'm sticking officially in the 2023 group for now for a variety of reasons.

What a difference 4 years makes - I started this thread not much over 4 years ago and have trimmed 4 years off my planned retire date. The big promotion (20%) a year ago is the biggest thing - not just stashing more, the value of the pension goes up (average high 3 years)

Anyone else have updates? Time to make some new projections?

[Faramir]

Congratulations @TomTX, 2 or 3 years doesn't seem too long.

I'm still on track for 2027 although it should be a bit fatter FIRE than planned.  We were going to go down to part-time in a couple of years but will delay that as my job has gotten better; due to covid-19 my work realised I'm just as productive working from home so they have allowed me to go full-time work from home permanently despite covid-19 now being almost wiped out here.  They also allow me to take 4 weeks unpaid leave on top of the 4 weeks paid vacation everyone gets, so I'm keen to hold onto the job fulltime longer than planned.  Probably 5 years more fulltime plus 2 years part-time for me.  My wife is already at 0.6 FTE (24 hours per week).

[talltexan]

The nice thing about COVID has been more bike-riding. I can bike to my in-laws, a coffee shop, a grocery store, and a post office. I biked to my kids' school when the time came to pick up instructional materials for them.

Our single biggest budget line item under business as usual was childcare. That's been zeroed out, but not without stress. Our new biggest line item--mortgage payments--will be reduced by about 10% when we refinance, hopefully next month.

[Glenstache]

Jan 1, 2021. Time to check in!

I made some big restructuring to my assets this year and have moved forward towards 3027 and may actually be FI a few years earlier.... But counting chickens and all that. The bug change was selling a piece of underutilized property in the mountains. All in costs ended up being about the same as leaving in a money market account, which is a win compared to some money black hole scenarios.

[SKL-HOU]

Jan 1, 2021. Time to check in!

I made some big restructuring to my assets this year and have moved forward towards 3027 and may actually be FI a few years earlier.... But counting chickens and all that. The bug change was selling a piece of underutilized property in the mountains. All in costs ended up being about the same as leaving in a money market account, which is a win compared to some money black hole scenarios.

That’s a long time to wait :)

[fuzzy math]

This is still my "home" cohort, but I have no idea what I'm doing as far as FIRE plans. First, it was work hard to get to 2027. Then it was coast FIRE abroad or a sabbatical with my kids before they grow up and leave. Now the ability to live abroad is threatened and my hatred for working in healthcare has me considering a lot of other things... gig FIRE, having DH continue to work etc. I am trying to get to my full vesting in Jan 2022 then will evaluate. My monthly countdown on Facebook until Jan 2022 started at 21 months, I just hit 13 months a week or so ago and now a few people know what it means, which makes it more enjoyable to post.

As far as progress, I saved somewhere in the $150k range and had total appreciation of $200k so I'm now 60% of the way there. I am not optimistic that 2021 will bring appreciation in the market, and if it doesn't it will at least provide some options to buy funds on sale. Happy to see inflated numbers when the market is up, happy to buy cheap when the market is down. I'd like to say I could have another $200k increase year, but we shall see.

 

[Glenstache]

Jan 1, 2021. Time to check in!

I made some big restructuring to my assets this year and have moved forward towards 3027 and may actually be FI a few years earlier.... But counting chickens and all that. The bug change was selling a piece of underutilized property in the mountains. All in costs ended up being about the same as leaving in a money market account, which is a win compared to some money black hole scenarios.

That’s a long time to wait :)

It is a very long term strategy. Leaving the typo because it is funny. :)

Fuzzy: yes, this last year has brought a lot into relief as far as FIRE date, and adjustable plans. Working from home (mostly) has brought a sharper focus to the elements I really like about my career (getting to work with/for smart good people), and those that I don’t like. The last year has also been such an outlier that I am very hesitant to make decisions based on it. I think a reduced hours, soft FIRE or glide path is seeming much more appealing. I am also beginning to appreciate how many options open up with FIRE, and how much of a transition it will be. Planning for that transition and how to make it, no matter how good it is, seems almost as important as the financial elements (See also like half of the journals of people who have crossed the FIRE threshold).

[rockstache]

Honestly, given all that has been going on in the world, I also feel very fortunate (and privileged) to be in the position that I am. I have upped my charitable contributions this year with a shift towards more local and social justice type organizations (local food banks, NAACP, etc.) than prior years that have been more conservation focused.

I think the shift in workplace from office to home has also made me realize how much FIRE has to offer. I'm looking forward to it.

+1 to all of this. My company is a very old school style place and working from home has never been an option until now. They have plans to begin returning people back to the office shortly, and will never allow working from home as a regular thing. I don't personally have to go back until September, but even though that is a few months away I am dreading it. Being home with my husband and kid has been a dream. Saving all the money on childcare hasn't hurt either, and all the savings that hasn't gone to charity has been dumped in the market.

Retirement still feels really far off though, so it's good to come here and get a little encouragement. Watching my coast age drop is pretty uplifting too.

Well, going back to the office in September never happened, and we had some very unexpected financial wins in 2020 (none of which had to do with anyone dying, thank goodness). In light of these, DH and I have decided to take our remote jobs and move across the country, closer to family. We're getting ready for a second baby, and he may decide to stay home after the kid is born. That will affect my retirement date, but not by as much as we would have thought, so I am sticking around this cohort. It's really weird and awesome when your investments do all the heavy lifting and your savings hardly makes a dent.

Either I will continue to work full time until 2027, or else I will drop to part time before that and we'll coast. Glenstache's comment about gliding to FIRE, and easing the transition process really resonates with me, and part time work is looking more appealing to me as well.

I'm happy to read the updates from everyone. We're all getting that much closer!

[talltexan]

The year we've left behind was strange. It almost felt bizarro-mustachian to me. I drove a lot less and biked a lot more. Cancelling childcare and several trips meant our cash flow really improved, and the investments we had at the start of the year improved so much more than we would have expected.

But my wife and I also had a series of health annoyances (no single one rises to the level of challenge the way cancer or even COVID would). Work became more stressful, demanding more attention, and she has to put a lot of energy into managing her mother who is the main person responsible for schooling our children. It's not obvious that we're eating more healthy food to me, so I'm worried that we're moving backwards there, apart from the obvious financial progress. And relationships have become very difficult to manage...we are extremely isolated, which I imagine many of you are, as well.

[NumberJohnny5]

Could write a novel, but so as to not bore you I'll keep it short.

Picked mid-year 2027. We'll both be in our (very) late 40s. Have three kids, the middle child will graduate high school in 2027. We moved here to be near family and planned on staying until the oldest two finished high school. Figure that'll be a perfect time to pick up and start the next adventure, whatever it may be.

House worth around $200k, no mortgage. Have two newish vehicles in good shape, both paid for. Over $100k in investments (most in IRAs and 403b, but have did open a taxable brokerage account because we needed somewhere else to put investments). As for income, wife makes a bit over $80k/yr now and we're on track to save about $50k. Last few years have been hard to really pin down spending (bought a house, had extra expenses for that, bought a second vehicle, etc.), but $50k feels like it's a bit of a stretch. $40k is completely doable, but if we push for $50k and miss by $2k that's better than aiming for $40k and surpassing it by $2k.

I've crunched numbers and we could retire today in Mexico with the whole family. It wouldn't be very exciting, just normal boring stuff (wouldn't have lots of vacations, going out for various activities, etc.). That could slowly change as kids left the nest. Not something I'm planning on doing, but it's a form of lean FIRE I suppose. In six years the three of us (wife, myself, and youngest kid) can easily live on what I project to be a 2% withdrawal rate if we moved somewhere like Mexico (doesn't have to be there specifically). The semi-optimistic projections show that's possible without selling the house, so any "but we have to throw lots of money at the kids because reasons" can be countered with "sell the house and slowly dole out the money from that."

Wife hasn't fully bought into the idea of fully retiring, but she has expressed interest when it's framed as something that doesn't HAVE to be permanent. I.e. we can try it out for a year or two since it's the perfect time to (youngest won't be starting high school yet, middle child may want a gap year and travel with us, etc.).

[chasing_FI]

I am posting here to commit myself.  I will turn 45 in the summer of 2027, that seems like a good time to RE.  I think I am FI now, but too afraid to pull the plug on work.  I have a 7 and 10 year old who depend on me.  Mostly I am just too stressed to figure out if I really could RE sooner.  Actually, I passed my FIRE number but then I get nervous.  I am posting here to commit myself to a date. 

[talltexan]

We will support you in that commitment.

My wife is chasing a promotion right now, meaning that I have to be on-call at home (our kids are nine and six years) more than was my custom.

[Loretta]

2453ish days last I checked.  Lordy. 

[fuzzy math]

Welcome NumberJohnny and chasing_FI ! NumberJohnny it sounds like you have an aggressive savings goal, that's great! Chasing_FI you'd better not still be here in 2027.

Loretta I prefer to look at actual working days. 270 a year for 5 days a week minus any holidays, vacation etc. Takes the number down about a thousand.

[Loretta]

Welcome NumberJohnny and chasing_FI ! NumberJohnny it sounds like you have an aggressive savings goal, that's great! Chasing_FI you'd better not still be here in 2027.

Loretta I prefer to look at actual working days. 270 a year for 5 days a week minus any holidays, vacation etc. Takes the number down about a thousand.

THANK YOU!  That is brilliant math!  Plus  I accrue 8 hours of leave per pay period and 4 hours of sick leave, so that's even less actual working days.

[desertadapted]

My hat’s in the ring for 9/30/27.  My youngest child will be in college and enough of the year will have elapsed to permit fully funding various retirement accounts. 

I love my job, and expect I still will in 2027, but the lure of the road and the wild is just too strong, and life too uncertain and short.    So once all the kids are out, it will be time to go off the grid for a while. 

The blog and this forum have helped a lot to keep me focused and inspired over the years, and I appreciate that.  I had been reticent to join the 2027 group out of a sense of privacy, but concluded the energy of shared purpose was worth it.  I’m in!

[estuaryflow]

Throwing my hat in this ring (cohort).  I previously added our net worth and stuff to this post, but as a complete newcomer, I'll hold off on doing that for now.

9/1/2027 is our date.  6 years and 6 months - seems far when I look ahead, but when I look at things that happened 6 years in the past, it seems like they just happened yesterday.

Good luck fellow '27ers!

[fuzzy math]

Welcome, desertadapted and estuaryflow!

Its nice to see people joining in, its a sign that the time is approaching sooner and allowing for people's plans to materialize.

[estuaryflow]

Thanks fuzzy math!

We've got a form of golden handcuffs in a pension that makes it likely (even if painful) to hold the line on our date.  I struggle with whether that's the right decision on an almost daily basis, but in the end it means we can draw a couple years earlier and at a rate $15k higher / year than if we left early.  It's just incredibly difficult to walk away from that kind of bond-like surety.


 

[TomTX]

Thanks fuzzy math!

We've got a form of golden handcuffs in a pension that makes it likely (even if painful) to hold the line on our date.  I struggle with whether that's the right decision on an almost daily basis, but in the end it means we can draw a couple years earlier and at a rate $15k higher / year than if we left early.  It's just incredibly difficult to walk away from that kind of bond-like surety.

Sounds a lot like me when I started this thread nearly 5 years ago. There are some nice pension perks to hitting that retirement date and retiring directly from service. For example, unused sick leave will count toward my retirement - meaning a bigger check forever.  Leave earlier and the sick leave just vanishes. For me, that magic date is 2027. If I keep working, I can retire from service in mid 2027.

The thing is, I ran the numbers and I really don't need the bigger check. I'm already vested. I'll get a pension with health insurance 8 years after my current planned retirement in 2023. 4 more years beyond 2027 before I will be able to draw.

But so what? We can bridge the gap with our investments. Above 4% WR, but again - it's only 8 years, not 30. Works out fine in my favorite FIRE calculator.

https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/

Now, admittedly I ran the numbers seriously after I got out of my comfortable rut* and got a promotion to another Division 18 months ago netting me a 20+% raise. Once I hit 36 months with the new position (okay 36.5 since I transferred mid month) - the retirement check will fully reflect the 20% boost.

*There's a lot more to that decision and the motivation behind it, but likely outside the scope here. I've written about it before.

[imperfect]

Two years since my last post. All of my projections have been conservative so far. So I'm still on track for 2027 for age 55, with a bigger buffer than anticipated.

I just updated a bunch of spread sheets that I haven't really looked at in these last two years, which was a pleasant surprise how good the projections were, and that I've been lucky enough to outperform them so far.

This is getting to the point where it is starting to seem real.  Six years doesn't seem like some possibly dystopian future where things may look completely different than they do now. Fingers crossed!

Milestone: even though the primary enabler for retirement is my pension income, I did cross the $1M barrier between 401k and a brokerage account. Also crossed the $1M barrier in real estate holding equity.

It has been a hard, bizarre year, so I feel fortunate to be in the position I currently am. But this working from home thing has given me a taste of the future, and I like it.  A lot.

[countdown]

Throwing my hat in for Jan 2027, date tbd. I started off in the 2022 cohort, but life. Been getting back on track over the past 2y and based on calcs today, can make 2027 work while meeting all kid goals including buffer for kid with ASD who may need more support whether financial or in my presence local to them rather off in a third world country where I would rather be. I love the yearly check in concept and will try to update every 6 months. Good luck everyone!

[greg_atlanta]

Joining the 2027 club! 

My last possible retirement date is Jan 1, 2027 since I will be 54 years and 3 months and I can take unlimited withdrawals from retirement accounts the year I turn 55 (from what I understand).   I am 48 years 10 months at the moment.

I will likely retire earlier than that, and could afford to retire now based on my current number.   But...  I want to have choices in retirement, maybe live a better lifestyle than I do today.  I also think the stock market is temporarily inflated at the moment, so I take 20% off my number to be safe.

Current priorities are home repairs, more liquidity (non-retirement savings), and paying down mortgage principal -- thought I am comfortable retiring if I still have a mortgage payment.

I manage my own IRA and 401K, but may be looking for ideas on taking more risks on a portion of the balance.  Are investment clubs still a thing?  Social/informational only, no actual investing.

Greg

[Glenstache]

So... I'm leaving the 2027 cohort for the 2022 cohort.

It's not you, it's me.

Due to an unexpected work windfall and strong market, I reached my leanFI amount this week. To be honest, it is a bit of a shock and I'm struggling to process it. I'm likely going to do a coast for a couple of years before pulling the plug to get to my full FI target, so nominally the end of 2022.

[TomTX]

Congrats! I already moved to 2023... but I keep tabs on 2022 as well.

[talltexan]

wow, nice job @Glenstache and @TomTX !

My retired aunt is visiting us this week, it's easy to see why the lifestyle is so appealing!

[TomTX]

wow, nice job @Glenstache and @TomTX !

My retired aunt is visiting us this week, it's easy to see why the lifestyle is so appealing!

From your other posts, it sounds like you don't really have to wait til 2027 either!

[talltexan]

@TomTX , you're kind.

I've done better at accumulating the acorns than I've done at selling the "early retirement" idea to the other squirrels in my nest.

[jexy103]

I'm gonna add my name to the list of 2027 grads. Here's a bit of backstory on me, and hopefully some inspiration as well.

In September 2011, I was 27 and $30K in debt (all student loans) when I discovered Dave Ramsey. It took me about 15 months to pay it off.
In 2012 or 2013, I found MMM and followed his blogs and forums avidly for several years while I and my new DH started accumulating.
In 2016, I got pregnant and "fell off the wagon" in that I stopped reading about personal finance and stopped tracking my expenses and savings rates and all that good stuff. We still kept our expenses well below our income, still maxed out his TSP (~401k) and both IRAs, and still had decent money habits. But I didn't have as much time for my spreadsheets or budgets when I was a SAHM with one, then two kids at home.
In June 2021 (last month), we sold our house that had been a rental for the past three years. I figured it was time to dust off the ole spreadsheets and see how we were doing. Well, knock me over with a feather! We had $1,070,000 in liquid assets!!! We still can't believe it.

Now, why am I joining the 2027 cohort? My husband is active duty Army, and that 20-year pension is just too good a deal to pass up when we're this close (<6 more years for lifelong pension plus healthcare). I don't have a solid FIRE number, since our expenses are drastically different every place we live and we haven't yet decided where to settle down. But I'm confident that the pension ($3-4K per month) plus SWR on $1mil+ will be more than enough. So, I don't know how active I'll be on this thread, but I'm here. :-)

[TomTX]

Hi, Jexy! Welcome!

[talltexan]

I joined this thread in 2017, figuring that retiring in ten years ought to fit in with a Mustache crowd. Now here we are, 40% of the way into that journey. I hope that all of you are seeing good progress toward your financial goals!

[LightStache]

Throwing my hat in for Jan 2027, date tbd. I started off in the 2022 cohort, but life. Been getting back on track over the past 2y and based on calcs today, can make 2027 work while meeting all kid goals including buffer for kid with ASD who may need more support whether financial or in my presence local to them rather off in a third world country where I would rather be. I love the yearly check in concept and will try to update every 6 months. Good luck everyone!

Thank you for sharing! It seems like gauntlet peeps are all moving to the left and I'm considering jumping from 2025 to 2027, so it's good to see I'm not the only person moving downstream.

I sold a rental property and the tax hit took me back a year. I also made some adjustments to my withdrawal assumptions that added another year. There are still some things I could do to salvage 2025, but I haven't decided if I'm willing to do them yet!

[dandypandys]

I've not joined a cohort yet, and well this might be my year - perhaps! I really am bad with math and calculators

Here are hubs and I's stats:
Currently networth 815k (150k is a paid-off condo Zillow says it is worth 180k)
We earn about 96k a year pretax. Save a lot of it- I think we are at least 50% saved, not sure.
46f and 49m young
Would like to  1.5- 2million  to retire- have not a clue really because, health insurance.
When retired I will continue being an artist but full-time, I 'should' have more sales since I will be making more art.
Husband will continue working, at least part-time- he also wants to write novels.
I made 30k in art sales in 2019, 8k for 2020, these sales are inconsistent but should ramp up when I don't have a full-time job teaching art. I didn't include these sales in the pretax earning above, because we think of it as 'extra' and they go straight into Vanguard stocks.
We want to move, sell the condo probably, and move to somewhere more arty- would like a house, garden and room for a lovely art studio.
That will cost a bunch in the city we are thinking of (Asheville NC)- but are fine with renting there for a bit to suss it out.

What do you guys think? :)

[talltexan]

@dandypandys , the people in Asheville are very happy (I live in Charlotte, but have visited). If you invest wisely and continue to save, getting your stash into the goal range by 2027 should be manageable.

[dandypandys]

that is nice to hear :) feels pie in the sky at this point, but exciting!
I spent some time after posting updating my savings rate file- 2020 was a 65% savings rate. So far for 2021 we have stashed 45k into the stock market ... so should be similar. Hubs will get a proper job soon- he has 1.5 years of his Masters left (free school !) to complete which means he only does part-time student jobs at the moment.

our IPS (I need to remind myself to rebalance to this again!)

20-25 international
20-25 bonds stable asset fund/gold/
60-80% all stocks. VSTAX- 50-60%ish.

[Turtle]

April 2027 is the end of my target range, so I thought I should poke my head into this thread.

Retirement planning in my household has always been very 401k heavy.  April 2027 is the month that all becomes accessible without penalty, as well as being perfect timing for harvesting one last bonus check.

Rule of 55 could conceivably come into play to go earlier than that, but at the moment full time work from home is going smoothly so I haven't looking into that closely yet.