Author Topic: Am I ready transition into baristaFIRE?  (Read 1852 times)

readytocoast

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Am I ready transition into baristaFIRE?
« on: February 07, 2023, 10:11:37 AM »
My case: Married couple (50M/47F turning 51/48 this year) with 1 teen child (Junior in High school) living in VHCOL. We will need stay in VHCOL for some time (maybe another 5-10 years) due to families in the area and uncertainty on where the child will end up.

Finance: We have combined 1.6m (husband has about 600k and I have about 1m) in retirement accounts which we can start withdrawing 80k-100k/yr in 1/2032 when husband is 60. (80k-100k/yr is for both of us to live comfortably). Paying off mortgage in next 2 months (only 10k left). Home is valued at 1.5m-1.6m. We are likely to move (downsize) to a smaller and cheaper place in 5-10 years.

Issue: husband wants to continue working fulltime until 65. Husband has hobby costs, so he wants/needs to continue to work to support his hobby. His hobby cost is not counted in 80k-100k/yr in retirement estimate.  Longevity is not favored in husband's family. That's why targeting age to stop working for him is at 60 and taking social security at 62. 80k-100k/yr is what I estimate can be generated by the retirement accounts which does not include social security. We may get addition 20k-40k/yr in social security. We file joined but split our expenses. This is not hardcore rule. I used to manage our household finance only split because I want a break and don’t want to manage his hobby cost. My side household expense looking at 4k/month minimum if travel/luxury 6k/month. I have a taxable investment account + cash at $290k. Getting my last year bonus at end of March so looking at taxable investment account up to $300k. I'm trying to get laid off so I can get severance package and unemployment this year which is very sizable since I worked for the company 17 years. I feel I'm ready to test out baristaFIRE. Basically, I want to take 6 month - 1 year off, maybe travel and figure out what's my next chapter. I'm willing to take on low pay jobs to generate another 2k-3k/month in addition to my taxable investment account. With my taxable investment account + low pay job, I feel I can last until we can start taking money from retirement accounts. baristaFIRE is for me only. Husband is not ready to reduce his income due to his hobby cost.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2023, 03:39:49 PM by readytocoast »

Laura33

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Re: Am I ready transition into baristaFIRE?
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2023, 10:57:38 AM »
It's hard to provide an accurate answer without more details.  You split expenses?  And you have $1.6M in retirement is that joint, or in just one of your names?  You have $290K in your name in a taxable account?  Does your husband have his own taxable accounts as well?  Is the $80K-100K you want per year for the both of you, or just for your part of the expenses?

If you're asking whether you are in a position to take 3-6 months off to figure out what comes next, then yes, absolutely -- you have $300K in taxable investments and cash, which can clearly cover your worst-case expenses of $6K/mo. for 6 months.  The problem is figuring out what your options are after that time -- you've got another c. 10 years until your DH hits 60, so how are you going to cover your $4-6K/mo. share until then?  Your $300K will cover several years of that, but not the whole time, and how long that will last will depend in part on what your share of the expenses settles out at after you quit.