2028 FIRE Cohort

[Bartlebooth]

I'm going to guess at 2028 for retiring--decently far in the future that it doesn't feel like a huge commitment but also close enough that it feels exciting.  I will throw out some big plans that should be funny to look back on in a few years.

• I will be 41 and wife will be 34.
• First baby is due in November this year and by 2028 we should have 3-4 total and be done.
• I hope to have maxed of use out of FMLA for those children, probably broadly spaced out over the year like every Friday off or something.  So I will have only worked 4 days a week for most of the time between now and then.
• I will have enjoyed 5 years to no property tax and little state income tax due to Renaissance Zone process on my current residence.
• After retiring, I will build a substantial part of my own house on the property that I am currently close to closing on.  Future me may think it is very hilarious to plan on building a house with 3-4 young kids.
• That will be 5-6 additional years of maxing out 401(k) plus growth so around $600k in retirement accounts.
• Continued movement of $100-150k per year average from high risk investments (crypto and private shares) into mostly index funds results in $700k taxable brokerage.
• $1.3m seems a little light on "normal" invested funds...going to have to think hard about that.

[Bartlebooth]

Told my wife that I have a lofty goal of retiring in 2028...she's skeptical.

We are still pouring money into home improvements.  The previously mentioned lot purchase is hilariously self-destructing.

So I've got a lot of cash sitting around not likely to be needed (still small chance).  I made the first of what are for now planned to be monthly contributions of $10,000 to my taxable investment account.  VTI.

Eligible for 401(k) in about 1 month so excited to start maxing that out.

[hudsoncat]

I have changed jobs... I now have a lengthy commute (we will hopefully move). It's an okay bump in pay, but will likely be balanced out with slightly higher cost of living when we relocate (i.e.- any house we buy will be much higher in cost than our current home and we will no longer have a our super sweet mortgage interest rate). It honestly doesn't make a ton of financial sense. It's likely a wash, it might even set us back slightly in the short term. But... my morning pep talk to get out the door each morning was verging on 15 minutes. I felt dread to the point of feeling almost ill every Sunday night... So here I am. New job. Long commute. Significantly happier. Significantly better opportunities to advance.

Otherwise we are on track to max all the things. Though I am watching closely on a few with the job change. The HSA at the new job has incentives, which of course I am trying to get by year end, but also want to make sure I max without going over.

Savings has gotten a nice bump with my vacation payout. Currently holding that and some other additional cash for a minute while we contemplate a move. But I admit... I sometimes wonder if buying a house is the right move given that we will not stay in this are after we retire. Housing is high now and we have a (hopefully) short timeline. So we'll see where/how we end up housing wise.

[FIRE@50]

Congrats on the new job and good luck with sorting the other things out.

[JupiterGreen]

I'm going to guess at 2028 for retiring--decently far in the future that it doesn't feel like a huge commitment but also close enough that it feels exciting.  I will throw out some big plans that should be funny to look back on in a few years.

• I will be 41 and wife will be 34.
• First baby is due in November this year and by 2028 we should have 3-4 total and be done.
• I hope to have maxed of use out of FMLA for those children, probably broadly spaced out over the year like every Friday off or something.  So I will have only worked 4 days a week for most of the time between now and then.
• I will have enjoyed 5 years to no property tax and little state income tax due to Renaissance Zone process on my current residence.
• After retiring, I will build a substantial part of my own house on the property that I am currently close to closing on.  Future me may think it is very hilarious to plan on building a house with 3-4 young kids.
• That will be 5-6 additional years of maxing out 401(k) plus growth so around $600k in retirement accounts.
• Continued movement of $100-150k per year average from high risk investments (crypto and private shares) into mostly index funds results in $700k taxable brokerage.
• $1.3m seems a little light on "normal" invested funds...going to have to think hard about that.

Hopefully your wife knows about the 3-4 kid plan! Seriously though, why so many? Congratulations on the first. Don't be surprised if you end up reconsidering this large number of children and go for like 1 or 2, that would change your financial assumptions. Children are expensive (not to mention bad for the environment). I do think 1.3 million is low for 5 people when there is so much unknown. I subscribe to the philosophy that if you bring them into the world you should assume responsibility for life (consider the possibilities of lifetime support of your children due to disabilities both at birth and after). If you or your partner are working at home as the childcare provider then that cuts down on childcare costs, but one of you will be losing your earning potential. Like it or not, SAHP are discriminated against (in the US anyway). FMLA is an Obama era policy and as politics can fluctuate, it may or may not be with us in the future.

It's cool that you have invested in a Renaissance zone, I don't know if there is any financial risk to buying properties in those types of areas but I appreciate that some states are investing in this way.

For the record, I'm officially signed up for the 2027 cohort, but I check all these other ones often enough.

[Bartlebooth]

Hopefully your wife knows about the 3-4 kid plan!

She knows and is on board with 3-4.  Though she frequently changes her mind on many things, so I will take what I can get.

Seriously though, why so many?

• I currently believe that the proliferation of life is the closest thing I have found to the meaning of life.
• I believe that 3-4 is the quantity that I will find most rewarding.  Admittedly heavily biased by having grown up in a successful 4 children household.
• I believe that we will be able to raise above-average quality children.

Children are expensive (not to mention bad for the environment).  I do think 1.3 million is low for 5 people when there is so much unknown. I subscribe to the philosophy that if you bring them into the world you should assume responsibility for life (consider the possibilities of lifetime support of your children due to disabilities both at birth and after). If you or your partner are working at home as the childcare provider then that cuts down on childcare costs, but one of you will be losing your earning potential. Like it or not, SAHP are discriminated against (in the US anyway). FMLA is an Obama era policy and as politics can fluctuate, it may or may not be with us in the future.

"One can always make more money" (probably).  Haha but seriously, I hope that my family is my life's crowning achievement and I will work hard to make it happen.  Separately (I think?), environmental impact is overall not a concern to me in planning quantity of children.

My wife is already stay-at-home lol.  She had a seasonal job and then returned to finish college...then dropped out because she got pregnant (basically...and it is funny to say that's what happened to someone in their mid-twenties).  She has been nannying for my sister so she is at least doing something.  TBH she doesn't have very strong near-term earning potential so here's hoping she is successful at the SAHM thing!

[sailinlight]

• I currently believe that the proliferation of life is the closest thing I have found to the meaning of life.
• I believe that 3-4 is the quantity that I will find most rewarding.  Admittedly heavily biased by having grown up in a successful 4 children household.
• I believe that we will be able to raise above-average quality children.

"One can always make more money" (probably).  Haha but seriously, I hope that my family is my life's crowning achievement and I will work hard to make it happen.  Separately (I think?), environmental impact is overall not a concern to me in planning quantity of children.

Good for you! We need more people willing to have kids

[LateStarter27]

Hello Class of 28,

Technically my retirement date is December 31, 2027, but I feel more comfortable joining this cohort since January 1, 2028 is easier to track. I'm looking forward to the 5 year countdown and really trying to maximize my savings these last 5 working years.

[Turtle]

5 year countdown has started!

I'm aiming for Sept/Oct 2027 for my last possible day of actual work.  However, it has occurred to me that if I make it that long I'll still have one last earned income check coming in 2028.  I'll have the right combination of factors to qualify for a pro-rated bonus for 2027, and that will pay out in March 2028. 

Not sure where the Internet Retirement Police would put that for actual retirement date, but I am going to have to account for that in deciding what I'm doing about health insurance for the first year.

[Otter+Badger]

Welcome!

It was exciting to realize on New Year's that we are at the five year countdown mark. One of our goals in 2023, is to begin test driving our expected post-retirement budget to see how restrictive it actually feels. We have two years of our budget in the house/neighborhood we are currently in. While we were aggressively saving, we also didn't really restrict ourselves for any spending--particularly for house improvements or family travel/gifts. Naturally, when we finished tallying our expenses for the year, we were about $10K higher than what we're 'budgeting' for our FIRE lifestyle. It made me realize we should really be more diligent about observing how well we are able to consistently meet our desired monthly budgets while we still have a good long ramp to figure out if we need to be making serious adjustments. 

I'm just curious how many folks are already living at the expected FIRE Budget? Any other big things people are thinking about 5 years out that seem more pressing than they did at six?

[never give up]

Hi Otter+Badger and others (waves). Happy 2023 to the 2028ers. 5 years to go is quite the milestone. I have a feeling I will hit FI and continue working part time for a period of time as I don't believe I'm the personality type to ever believe fully in the numbers. So, I don't know if I should belong to a cohort year for when I will become FI or when I finally finish working for pay.

Anyway, putting that aside, I definitely think it is worth living at your target number for a sustained period, as defining enough and our relationship with money is key to all of this. I'm actually the other way around as I'm only living on 50-60% of my target number as I'm trying to make up for lost time, and earn myself some options. I'm also keeping a very close eye on inflation and how that impacts my spending. My core expenses rose by just over 5% last year which is good compared to the headline rates.

I do need to start spending a little more though to check my intended budget is enough.

[hudsoncat]

Loving the new job from September. Commute is... fine. We continue to hesitate on buying a new home closer to my job. Housing prices have calmed down... but interest rates are still double than our current rate. And we still do not plan to stay in this area once we FIRE... Also our current home will be paid off in three years (I know... but the spouse likes the security of it. It would already be paid off if spouse had their way... paying out the 15 year mortgage we took out pre-FIRE planning was the compromise). Sigh. So many considerations. TBD on that front.

Should be fine to max all the retirement things even with the increase in limits. So there we just keep on, keeping on...

Our year over year spending is pretty in-line with what are target yearly spend in retirement will be. But even 5 years out it still feels like so much can change! So who knows if I am realistic? Some times I feel like I have less of a handle on all this than I did when we set the plan. But at least in the short term, the saving/spending is dialed in. And that's important.

[Josiecat]

We are beginning to live on our proposed budget.  It has been eye opening and we really want to ensure that we have enough money so we may have to make changes to our budget or work a wee bit longer.

[Extramedium]

We are beginning to live on our proposed budget.  It has been eye opening and we really want to ensure that we have enough money so we may have to make changes to our budget or work a wee bit longer.

I feel like this is my biggest weakness in this field; figuring out, tracking, and planning our spend just seems so difficult and elusive.  It's frustrating, as I know this is ultimately how you figure out your "number" for retirement.  Hoping it gets easier to spend the time on this after I start downshifting.

[WesternAugust]

Hello all! I've been crunching numbers in various retirement calculators and am fairly confident we will be firmly FIRE'd by 2028 so I thought I would add myself to the cohort.

My wife and I have a daughter with special needs and are looking forward to when we can step back from work to focus on her care and building a stronger family foundation. My wife and I are both in the rat race and are feeling burnt out and we're both ready to start a new chapter of our lives.

I've been using YNAB for a few years so have an idea of what our expenses look like. Although, it's really varied by year and we are definitely feeling some inflationary pressures of late. We've also had a string of unexpected major home expenditures recently, so are trying err on the side of caution when estimating retirement expenses.

My wife doesn't want to entirely hang it up, so thankfully she should be able to easily find some part-time work-at-home consulting gigs in her field. I think I'm going to be just fine without a job for while. Also my industry doesn't have a lot of part-time or consulting work available so I'd have to look outside my normal wheelhouse. We should be comfortable enough by 2028 to have to flexibility to work, or not work as we see fit.

We both have golden handcuffs in the form of significant defined benefit pensions coming. I can begin taking an early withdrawal around 2035 and my wife in 2036. So we're in a fortunate situation, but it's been difficult to figure out exactly how much to save on top of the pensions since we plan to exit 5-10 years before we are eligible to start drawing. Again, we are erring on the side of caution and should probably be able to manage with just our investments, but once the pensions hit, we'll be pretty comfortable. That will also allow us to establish a nice nest egg in a trust for our daughter after we pass (which is our biggest priority).

I would quit today if I could, but the years are going by quick. 5 years ago seems like yesterday so we're just trying to keep our heads down, make long-term plans and keep socking away the investments every week while not telling our bosses FU!

[LateStarter27]

Hello Class of 2028

i have decided that i would like to wake up on my 63rd birthday knowing that I am retired, so that would move me up to the 2025 cohort.  I do have mixed feelings about retirement being only two years away.  I feel like I sacrificed a lot for my career, so it is hard to give it up.  Like it or not, a lot of my identity is tied up in being a lawyer. I will also be leaving a fair amount of pension money on the table. But my husband and I just spent six great days visiting my adult sons in Alberta, and I want the freedom to be able to visit them or other far flung family members any time I want.

I have made so many financial mistakes over the years, and spent far more on my kids' activities than was really necessary, but looking back now I don't have any regrets.  I have loved every moment spent on family vacations.  We put four kids through university or college and made sure that they graduated without any debt (keep in mind this is in Canada, so not quite as expensive, although one was a professional degree and four times as much per year as the others).  I did insist that each one contribute as much as they could towards the costs.  I worry a bit that maybe we gave too much to them, but I realize that the desire to spend or save seems to be innate - each of my kids has very different attitudes towards money.  And honestly - none of them really want my advice, at least when it is unsolicited. 

Good luck to the Class of 2028 - but be sure to enjoy the next few years and treat yourselves now and then.  I can't believe I am 60 years old - and one day you too will wake up on your 60th birthday and wonder how the fuck the time went by so quickly.

[Cheshirefirestarter]

Hi Class of 2028....Would like to throw my possibly over optimistic hat into the ring to be FI at age 50 and by August 2028.

I am selling a portfolio of properties with a modest profit as i am quite highly leveraged and suffering due to the relatively high interest rates in the U.K.

I am also downsizing to realise a sum of cash to kick start my 'stache and am then looking to try and save about £2k / month for 5 years into a low rate ETF (either FTSE 100 or S & P 500 or a mix of both).
I have worked in my current job in automotive manufacturing for the last 22 years and have become very stale and unmotivated. Recent friends and family cancer scares and deaths have really kick started my desire to have a much better life with my family, partner and 3 boys and 2 step children.

The extra complication is that my partner of of 15 years decided last year that she wanted to quit as a teacher and go back to Uni to do a psychology degree that obviously scuppers our finances hugely but I need to support her in her dreams.

Good luck to all and lets see how it pans out!

[wpgdude]

Hello 2028 crew.  I should have added my name here a few years ago, but I am planning to retire in June 2028 from teaching at the age of 52.  My wife, also a teacher will be 55 and she will be eligible to start drawing her pension that year.  June 2028 is also the year that our kid will be graduating from high school, so it seems like the perfect time to say goodbye to the Monday to Friday workforce. 

Over the past few years I've taken two half year leaves of absence for travel and life enjoyment purposes and while they have been amazing, they have also shown to me that I'm not ready to retire yet.  Having some structure to my day is still important to me, so once again I'm back in the classroom, only this time both my wife and I have dropped down to working 50%.  I think this is the ultimate balance,  I still get to do something I love (teaching) but have way more time for everything else in life.

[hudsoncat]

Looks like a lot of the cohort threads have some end of the year posting happening, so I thought I'd revive this thread.

I love how in my January update I was all, "Savings/spending dialed in!" and proceeded be a spendy, spendy pants. We traveled A LOT this year. Both planned and unplanned. We splurged on some experiences. Treated nieces and nephews a bit more than normal. So yeah... Some of the extra of that was certainly due to rising costs, but really most of it has been spent on fun. And that's fine! Most of it will dial itself back down in 2024 naturally (less travel planned, a couple of the 2023 splurged experiences are actually happening in 2024, we just paid for the tickets already). To be clear, we did all the extra spending with eyes wide open and most of it was saved for... but it still feels shocking that we've spent THIS much. Retirement savings was dialed in fine for the year, maxed all the things (401k, 457b, HSAs, IRAs). See no reason 2024 won't be the same.  The market has been kind this year and that is always fun to watch.

Still commuting. We still think occasionally about relocating closer, but the right opportunity has not come up yet and the drive isn't bad. My local library has a robust audio book library through Libby I have been enjoying. I've negotiated 1-2 WFH days per week. We're basically in the boring middle. Assuming our spending calms down (we are going to track a little tighter in 2024) and the market does it's thing, we are still on track for 2028.

[never give up]

It sounds as though you have had a good year hudsoncat. Congrats.

The recent market bump has me at an all-time high and I can see that even my general level of incompetence isn't enough to overcome the power of living below my means and having the confidence to invest the rest. I may just succeed at this FIRE lark!

In 2028 I will commiserate celebrate my 50th birthday. I'd love to be made redundant hand my notice in while still in my 40's.

2023 has seen me move from a 5 day to a 4 day working week, with 3 of those being allowed from home. It's been a large step towards the benefits of full FIRE far sooner. Got to keep going!

[Metalcat]

Woohoo!

My DH has finally agreed to retire early from his federal government position and is aiming for 2028 retirement at the age of 55. We're just in the process of figuring out the best strategy of using leave available to him to maximize his pension, which will be a deferred annuity that starts paying when he's 60.

I medically retired in 2020, but after a few years off and then a few years retraining, I'm going back to work this year, but very part time, and work that I want to do indefinitely.

We have savings and real estate investments, that could bridge the 5 year gap, but my part time income will also more than cover our expenses. DH will also likely pick up pretty lucrative consulting work.

However, him retiring from government will open up an enormous amount of flexibility and freedom for us. We always planned to do fun, part time, remote work in "retirement" anyway, so this will really mark the date where we both feel "retired," because we'll be able to move on with a whole new stage of life.

The biggest differences will be DH no longer having a set 8-4 work schedule, and no longer tethered to any given region for his work. He currently works from home, but has limits as to what his location can be.

We're considering doing winters in Mexico because I have a lot of family there.

I am SUPER JAZZED about this because he has been insistent that he wants to work until 60 because he really loves what he works on, but the prospect of more flexible, autonomous consulting work has finally piqued his interest.

He hasn't been worn down by the day-job grind, but I have. After several years of living a more flexible lifestyle, I'm finding his rigid schedule really tedious. Like the fact that even if he's done, he has to stand in front of his computer and log off at exactly 4pm just seems so stupid.

So I'm beyond thrilled to add him to this cohort.

[E.T.]

That's great @Metalcat !

I see there's been a few new people joining in since I last checked in here. Welcome everybody to our quiet little cohort. :)

[jrhampt]

I think I am officially aiming for mid-March 2028 (after bonus) to be out at 50 and fat fired.  We'll see if I make it.  If not, could be as early as 2026. 

[Captain Pierogi]

I got jealous of seeing other cohorts get activity recently, so I thought I'd provide an update after two years.  It feels like just yesterday I joined this group.

We're at roughly 80% of our FIRE goal.  If life were set-it-and-forget-it, I'd be very confident in reaching our 2028 goal.  But it's not.  I'm contemplating some job retraining soon, which would only take a year, but that's still a hit financially.  So for now, we're still 2028, but if it doesn't work out, it was done with intentionality and purpose.  Which I guess is the whole point.  In the meantime, continue the boring accumulation phase!

[Otter+Badger]

Hello Class of 2028,

Are we still here? lol. It was suggested I start a new topic since no one had posted in 120 days.

I was originally planning for our FIRE date to be July 1, 2028. My partner got his new dream job last year and the his pension won't be fully vested until mid-August of that year, so I'm now planning for October 1st to be safe.

But, the calendar turning to October got me thinking about what I want to do professionally over the next four years to really feel like I made the most of my career. I was all excited to do that--create my "legacy list" of things I wanted to accomplish, but I've been a little bummed by recent a turn in local events that will likely make my job much harder. So, rather than thinking about how I wanted to leave my current job as my 'last' career job, I'm thinking about maybe making a change. Is that weird with only four years to go?

I will have 18 years in my current organization in January of 2025. I guess I'm just thinking through new ideas. It is both interesting and terrifying contemplating a totally different path at this point. I'm both ready to be done-done, but also feeling like four years is a long time to coast in a job where you aren't making progress on the work. I love the people, the organization, the challenge, but I'm honestly done with the outside politics that are beyond my control.

Interestingly, given our retirement bucket strategy, my retirement accounts were going to get used last in our plan. My partner will be 56 on 10/1/28, so we were going to use a combo of his retirement contributions, pension lump sum payout and small taxable accounts to get me to 59.5 when we could access my accounts. By that time, partner could also start early S.S. and we'd have our Roths.  So, for our plans to work on schedule, he has to stay at this state job for five years.

If I took a break from my career to find a new one, and allow some time within that process to decompress a bit, I wonder how it would effect our retirement date--or even if it would. Tough to know without numbers to model, but also hard to get excited to look when it feels so unknown. 

I just thought I would put my thoughts out into the 2028 universe and see if anyone was going through anything similar.  I hope everyone is otherwise doing well and moving forward with their plans and dreams.

Don't be a stranger---They might shut us down :)

[never give up]

Still here Otter+Badger (waves)! I don't think a change of career is a bad thing at all. Maximising life enjoyment should be what it is about at this stage and four years is a long time to be doing something less than enjoyable.

Having provided those words of wisdom I'm still hanging on myself in a long term career, too scared to make a change!

Age 45 - go part-time - I've achieved this. I moved to a 4 day week last year.
Age 47 - achieve FI - not sure I'm on track.
Age 50 - this is where 2028 comes in - be FI but keep earning something as long as it is fun. I think this is where I should look for a different career.
Age 55 - quit work completely unless it's zero stress and really fun?

Things are going OK. I'm trying to not let my general incompetence get in the way of my goals and trying to live mainly in the present.

[Bartlebooth]

Still here!  It is impossible to predict whether I will actually retire in 2028 but I'm keeping it penciled in.

I can't relate to your 18 years on the job as I am just hitting 3 years at mine.  But like you I enjoy the people and organization (can't say that it is "challenging" for me but that is fine).  I'm not sure why I would leave!  I work from home Monday and Friday with low expectations on those days, am not that busy most of the year, and very rarely have on call incidents.  (Network Administrator, $100k + great benefits in VLCOL).  My one desire would be to have about one order of magnitude higher network size--my current area of operations involves about 20 firewalls, 100 switches, two racks of servers+storage, and 1500 client PCs.  With larger size I could actually justify some automation/programming fun.  But VLCOL areas don't have a lot of businesses of that size.

Actually, my employer has a second networking team that does more datacenter and cloud stuff.  And they are mostly people that "stepped-up" from my team.  I get the feeling they have more on-call events and have to do a lot of after-hours maintenance, and in general I get a more stressed vibe from them.  Also they are all in on proprietary cloud systems while I kind of love my RFC/IEEE standard infrastructure and skills.  This would all be tolerable for a big pay increase but I have heard that pay bands can't change when transferring internally to limit poaching.  I guess I heard that from my boss who would be motivated to not lose me so who knows!  They are a pretty good boss, BTW (worth mentioning).

That is a long way to say I am happy and probably nothing will be changing at work.

Our family is growing as planned with two kids now.  We are enjoying the struggle most days!  But seriously our two both seem so easy compared to the struggles we see some family and friends going through with theirs.  We still envision four kids total.  I have chickened out on FMLA for various reasons and just done three weeks paid leave for both births.

Tax-advantaged accounts are just under 500k now.  Taxable just over 100k.  Crypto divestment of $10k/month is looking good.  We sunk about 30k into home improvements this year including boiler replacement, foundation work, and bathroom remodel.  Yeah the investment totals don't really add up for a 2028 retirement but I think "something" will happen (or I will declare full blown SWAMI (does it work like that?)).

Still planning to build a house in 2028 (2029?).  Current thoughts are that it would be questionable to leave my cushy 100k/year job just to GC my own house construction to save maybe 100-200k.  And honestly I would probably work 60 hours weeks on it, which would be a huge shock to DW versus my effectively 30 hour weeks now.  So I now foresee a traditional GC build happening.  DW has recently been recruiting all of her relatives to take time off in 2028 to come help us build--no filter and big dreams!  We are talking and learning and dreaming.

[Otter+Badger]

Thanks for the perspective @never give up ! What an interesting, and very intentional path you've taken. I think maybe thinking about ramping down may be more plausible strategy than finding something completely new. I still love the work and the people. In talking to others, it seems the politics of every job is going to be an issue.

Appreciate your experience too, @Bartlebooth ! I hope things stay stable for you at work. That is the dream.

I also ran numbers more seriously this past weekend--this is the MMM forum after all. We're still very much on track, but will need to see what happens in the US Elections next week to know about the future of healthcare and other things. So, we'll just keep our heads down for now and control what we can control.

Speaking of which, we are starting to have to make decisions about our financial investment goals for next year. DH will be getting another $3/hour at the end of the year once he is off his probationary time. I'm planning to put all that towards his 401b. So between that and his pension contribution and the employer's contribution, he should be at $30k a year. This will be the money we draw from first so I want to continually bump this up as we go. Right now, my projections are that it will cover our first 2.5 years of retirement.

I will likely get our usual 3% cost-of-living adjustment. I currently have 15% of my pay and a 3.5% match going to my 401(k). Since I have a little over $500K now, and four more years of contributions, this will be good to go for backdoor Roths when we retire.

Our roth contributions should cover two years as well at our retirement date. By that time, we'll be able to use DH's rollover (1.5 years) and then I'll be 59.5 so can get into my accounts.

I'm mostly concerned that right now, we have minimal non-retirement investments. We currently only have our 4 month emergency fund in a high interest savings account and $20K in a taxable brokerage account. My goal was to have us saving $20k a year and any extra money we receive.  That would give us $90ishK when we we retire.

On paper, this all works (assuming 5% returns and no big dip right before we call it quits), but I'm wondering if I should be trying to be more sophisticated with tax planning--since for the first time, we're actually more into the 22% bracket. Taxes really make my head spin though.  How comfortable are other people figuring out these higher end things? For so long, it was just about stashing money away and not really being too worried about the various pots because we only had the one through our employer.

I guess I'd rather take some time to educate myself and have options than not do it have less...

[never give up]

I hope the future of healthcare is a positive one for your plans Otter+Badger.

Being in the UK I of course don't know the intricacies of US tax, but it sounds as though you are being very conscientious here. I agree that it is worth exploring and understanding the system as much as possible to ensure you're not disadvantaging yourself in any way.

[hudsoncat]

Looks like a lot of the cohort threads have some end of the year posting happening, so I thought I'd revive this thread.

I love how in my January update I was all, "Savings/spending dialed in!" and proceeded be a spendy, spendy pants. We traveled A LOT this year. Both planned and unplanned. We splurged on some experiences. Treated nieces and nephews a bit more than normal. So yeah... Some of the extra of that was certainly due to rising costs, but really most of it has been spent on fun. And that's fine! Most of it will dial itself back down in 2024 naturally (less travel planned, a couple of the 2023 splurged experiences are actually happening in 2024, we just paid for the tickets already). To be clear, we did all the extra spending with eyes wide open and most of it was saved for... but it still feels shocking that we've spent THIS much. Retirement savings was dialed in fine for the year, maxed all the things (401k, 457b, HSAs, IRAs). See no reason 2024 won't be the same.  The market has been kind this year and that is always fun to watch.

Still commuting. We still think occasionally about relocating closer, but the right opportunity has not come up yet and the drive isn't bad. My local library has a robust audio book library through Libby I have been enjoying. I've negotiated 1-2 WFH days per week. We're basically in the boring middle. Assuming our spending calms down (we are going to track a little tighter in 2024) and the market does it's thing, we are still on track for 2028.

How cute was I last December? 2024 has been our spendiest year yet!

-Car was totaled in an accident in March (I'm fine, other person's insurance paid out, but we added a bit from savings to get a slightly newer/lower mile car)
-Dog had a medical emergency in July that wiped out our pet emergency fund and her medical needs are on-going (but she the BEST and perfect, and we'd do it all again)
-Aging parents with some health scares have necessitated unplanned travel to support/assist.
-Several smaller lumpy expenses that were fairly easy to navigate budget wise, but start to add up.

Happily we both received raises this year and managed to trim some spending that had bloated a bit to keep our retirement savings on track (maxed/maxing a 401K, 457B, two IRAs, and 2 HSAs), rebuild the pet emergency fund, cover the other lumpy expenses. Markets continue to be favorable and if it stays favorable we are on track to hit our investment account goals a bit before 2028. If it doesn't, we will likely push back a couple of years, but honestly, I am super pleased with where we are and how we navigated this trying year. I had planned to up our cash buffer this year (and each year moving forward) and we did not hit that. We are basically sitting in the same place cash wise as the end of 2023. So that's a minor concern, but I hope to be able to make up for that.

Biggest change this year is that spouse has grown very, very unhappy with his job. Due to a project commitment (really his commitment to his staff), he plans to stick it out until next August before beginning to search. So we will see what that brings. We have talked about him taking a bit of a step back to a part time role like @never give up has done or take a job in a much lower stress field that he would hold past 2028.

Slightly political: We too have a few concerns with US healthcare going forward... I do have a low/no subsidies for healthcare retirement budget that is reasonable by 2028, but it would certainly mean cutting the rest of the budget a little tighter and/or saving more. Some of the things being said by the incoming administration also makes me wonder how/if my job will be affected. So that's a thing.

We're mostly on track, but things on the horizon might cause us to re-evaluate. So basically still in the boring middle, but a bit more focused on some external forces as we get closer. Looks like everyone else is in a pretty similar boat!

[Geppetto]

I think I'll join this thread, and circle the date: December 31, 2028.

TNW $2.9MM today. Lots of mouths to feed and kids to launch. TNW $5MM should be achievable in 4 years, and that'll secure our needs, wants, and opportunities.

I won't be done earning, just ready to power down the main engine. I'll be in my late forties. If my health cooperates I'll have 30-35 years of elective special projects ahead of me.

Much appreciation to the folks on this thread for sharing their paths.

[Bartlebooth]

I think I'll join this thread, and circle the date: December 31, 2028.

TNW $2.9MM today. Lots of mouths to feed and kids to launch. TNW $5MM should be achievable in 4 years, and that'll secure our needs, wants, and opportunities.

I won't be done earning, just ready to power down the main engine. I'll be in my late forties. If my health cooperates I'll have 30-35 years of elective special projects ahead of me.

Much appreciation to the folks on this thread for sharing their paths.

Welcome!  Would you care to outline how you envision adding $500k per year?  Inquiring minds want to know, plus it could be fun to see how accurate it was in four years.  I suppose $200-300k returns and then saving about the same?

[Geppetto]

Would you care to outline how you envision adding $500k per year?  Inquiring minds want to know, plus it could be fun to see how accurate it was in four years.  I suppose $200-300k returns and then saving about the same?

It's funny, I realized I didn't really know the answer to that question before you asked it, and I've been trying to figure it out. Basically it would amount to this:
 - 4 more years of saving half of gross earnings from work (as we've done most years) - that's one year's worth.
 - Existing financial assets averaging 8% annual gains - not a given at all in a short 4 year window - but that's half a year's worth.
 - Existing RE syndications exiting at an average 12% IRR - I've had a couple go to zero but with the remaining ones this estimate is conservative - that's one year's worth.
 - Existing local real estate investments performing as now over the next 4 years - that's one year's worth.
 - Proceeds of exited investments being reinvested productively and performing reasonably - that's probably less than half a year's worth.

So if that's how it goes, I'll be short a couple hundred thousand of the goal.
Marginally increased income from work (which happens), and maybe finding one better-quality-than-expected investment opportunity in the next twelve months, would put me well ahead of the goal.
Having lots and lots of things going on is key, and I've got that. Not making stupid decisions will also be necessary and we'll see about that.

[Bartlebooth]

Would you care to outline how you envision adding $500k per year?  Inquiring minds want to know, plus it could be fun to see how accurate it was in four years.  I suppose $200-300k returns and then saving about the same?

It's funny, I realized I didn't really know the answer to that question before you asked it, and I've been trying to figure it out. Basically it would amount to this:
 - 4 more years of saving half of gross earnings from work (as we've done most years) - that's one year's worth.
 - Existing financial assets averaging 8% annual gains - not a given at all in a short 4 year window - but that's half a year's worth.
 - Existing RE syndications exiting at an average 12% IRR - I've had a couple go to zero but with the remaining ones this estimate is conservative - that's one year's worth.
 - Existing local real estate investments performing as now over the next 4 years - that's one year's worth.
 - Proceeds of exited investments being reinvested productively and performing reasonably - that's probably less than half a year's worth.

So if that's how it goes, I'll be short a couple hundred thousand of the goal.
Marginally increased income from work (which happens), and maybe finding one better-quality-than-expected investment opportunity in the next twelve months, would put me well ahead of the goal.
Having lots and lots of things going on is key, and I've got that. Not making stupid decisions will also be necessary and we'll see about that.

Thank you for indulging me!  The framing of things as a "year's worth" is interesting.

[never give up]

Well if both my calendar checking and maths skills are correct 2028ers, it is 2025 and we’re now at the 3 to 3 and a bit years to go mark! That suddenly feels mighty close all of a sudden. I’m shaking a little and perspiring under the weight of expectation!

I’m on track if I go the full RE route although if I found something at two days a week then I could see myself doing that for a few years. Flipping the working week around so that the weekend was five days would be pretty cool.

I’m hoping the “Great AI Crash” of 2028 doesn’t thwart us! How’s everyone feeling?

[Bartlebooth]

Three years will go pretty fast!  Not a whole lot of change since my update three months ago.  It remains difficult to see myself pulling the trigger for various reasons.

My manager asked if I was interested in being on his "possible successor list" which is something HR keeps track of.  I immediately said no but then changed my mind the next day after mentioning this to my wife and her saying she could see me doing great at it.  So I have taken the smallest possible step towards becoming a team lead.  The next boss up is retiring this summer so there may be some shakeup in the next 6-8 months.

A rambling financial situation update:

Roth IRA: $220k + $20k wife
Trad IRA: $215k
401(k): $100k
HSA: $45k
Taxable: $80k
=====$680k in regular investments=======

$250k rental house and $250k primary residence
$100k salary + $15k rental income + $120k/year LTCG = $235k "income"

For this year I did 23500 + 7000 + 7000 + 7000 (HSA) = $45k added to tax advantaged accounts.

Spending:
Home improvement: $40k (bathroom remodel, new boiler, laundry room rebuild, new kitchen counters, foundation repair, some new carpet, hardwood refinishing)
Shopping: $30k (9k Costco, 6k Wal-mart, 3.5k electronics, 3.5k Target, 3k Amazon
Restaurants: $2k
Fast food: $1.5k
Groceries: $2k (most groceries are in Costco/Wal-mart totals)
Cars: $9k includes gas, repairs, insurance
Car depreciation: $2k
Utilities: $5k includes gas, electric, Internet, phone, water
Health: $10k (8k OOP max plus misc.)
House cleaner: $3k
Travel: $3k
Taxes: $13k

That adds up to $120k.  I left out some smaller stuff so let's call it still $120k spending excluding taxes.

Throw taxes back on so $135k + $45k contributions = $180k, leaving $55k remaining from income which should have been dumped into taxable investments.  Without looking, I think that is about what happened.  Hopefully more of that and less home improvement next year!  There is only so much polishing of this 140-year-old turd that can be worthwhile.

I like to think $80k spending is a possibility.  Regular investments are at 8.5x of that (ignoring withdrawal difficulties).  Networth including wildcard investments is at 4.2m--backing out the residence I am at about 3.9m, but maybe 3.4m after LTCG.  This is 42x of that 80k spending fantasy and 28x of actual 120k spending.

In summary, we remain largely at the whim of the wildcards, and the spending is on lazy mode for sure.