Late career bloomer

[trinnyfam]

I am a SAHM mother of 6, and also teach music out of the home 20-30 hrs. a week. Hubby works at a nursing home and will soon take over as the administrator, slightly raising his income. Together we average 5500$ a month with 4100$ in spending per month. leaving us with roughly 1400 leftover. I guess i'm wondering how this mustache stuff applies to large families and late career bloomers? hubby is 41, and we own 2 homes. (1 is a rental) Also just started putting away 20% of his income into a 401K.
Is early retirement even an option for us? it seems like our number of kids, and his late career bloom, we are doomed. What do you think?

[Chrissy]

Depends.  What does the the $5,500 include?  The rental income?  The 20% your husband puts in his 401k?  His employer match?

[trinnyfam]

the 5500 includes both of our incomes, with the 20% already being deducted to go to the 401K. There is no employer match. Also,  rental income is included in our incomes. Thank you.

[Chrissy]

So, what I'm hearing is that you have $16,800/yr in cash savings PLUS your husband is putting or will be putting between $10,000-$13,000 of his admin salary into his 401k for a grand savings total of ~$27,000/yr.

Here's a compound interest calculator for you:  http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm

Early retirement is not an impossibility.  I'm guessing 10 years, maybe 15 for your husband.  Here's why:  in 10-15 years, you'll have fewer kids in the house, and those that are left will be old enough for you to work full time.  Meanwhile, your husband will have received raises, maybe he will even switch jobs to a more lucrative employer.  Your expenses will be going down while you and your husband's incomes are growing. 

Although, you both might be able to retire sooner if you're not starting from zero.  How much do you have in assets currently?  Is your house paid off?

Try to get your expenses lower now by looking around on this site for ideas.  Maybe you want to do a case study where Mustachians weigh in on where you can optimize.

[minority_finance_mo]

Yes, early retirement is a possibility. Follow the Case Study guide and post your income/numbers if you want help optimizing...