A friend of mine has slowly been coming along. He and his wife are high earners and their kids are almost grown up. So I have been beating on him to shape up, and he has:
1) Vacation house he owns with his brother is getting sold after one last family even in May! Brother apparently is relieved, as he has been paying half and only used the place 2-3 times in 5 years. My friend realized he was spending only 1 weekend per month there on average, and really hates the long drive Friday and Sunday night.
2) He dug into his wife's pension, worth more than he thought.
3) While digging it turns out she can put ANOTHER $24k of 403/457 money aside while avoiding tons of taxes on it. He's getting that maxed out. Between his 401k, and her two plans they can sock away $72k tax free this year.
4) I put him onto the rule of 55, as he is turning 50 this year. He now projects they can pull off a double retirement in 5 years.
He has a lot of things on the spendy pants side still, but has come around to realizing he can retire much sooner and better than he thought, and that it is time to focus on that goal.
