How much do you spend in a year?
Right now I'm spending about $36,000 a year for a family of 3 which equates to 60% of my take home pay, or a 40% savings rate.
With very little effort I think I can get that down to a 50% spending/savings rate almost immediately and then when a few smallish debts are cleared and I make smarter choices in the future I'm hoping to live on 34% and save 66% in about 3 years. But for now let's quote the 50/50 figure which means I spend $30,000 a year and save $30,000 a year after taxes.
Would this help?
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/
yes! thanks! that is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Cool, I was hoping for 15 years and according to his chart my current situation leaves me 17 years away from retirement even if I changed NOTHING! So, I'm better off than I thought I was. Just need to tweak a few things, and maybe I can do better than 15 years.
Where do I find advice about how to allocate my savings? I don't mean specific EFTs and index funds, I mean in what order do I split my savings between paying down the mortgage and funding my 403(b), Roth IRA and taxable brokerage account?
My savings rate is not big enough right now to max out my 403(b) AND my Roth IRA and have anything left over. But it seems foolish to put it all in accounts that I cannot touch till I'm 59.5 years old since this plan is based on me retiring at 50 years old.
I realize this thread probably exists but I haven't found it yet, if anyone would be kind enough to post the link I'm happy to do my own legwork after that!
:-)