a common deathbed regret is some form of “I shouldn’t have worked so hard” or “I should have retired earlier”
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Agreed.
Its why I am a fan of the work hard but push for the maximum time off possible brigade.
Probably easier to do this in Europe vs US, so I do understand the impetus to retire earlier in the US.
Yup, you never know when things start breaking down. At the moment, I don’t feel like work is preventing a lot of that from happening - I have enough time off that I can spend it doing those things where money is perhaps the bigger constraint. I am also looking at 50 +/- a year or two in either direction, which unless a tragic illness happens, would expect many good years until things really start breaking.
+/- a few years in my 60s - yeah, that time is a lot more valuable with the clock ticking.
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I wonder how the answers to that look when you compare those who oversaved for retirement vs those who had limiting fixed incomes.
Definitely a balancing act and there are many stories of people forced to retire early because they couldn’t get another job in their industry and struggling through retirement with inadequate savings. Additionally, if one retired on the cusp of a major downturn/recession retirement savings can take an unforeseen hit.
We can’t read the future so we (or at least, those of us who have some concept of risk) plan for worst-case scenarios. If that scenario doesn’t pan out and we have all this extra money left at the end we might regret that we didn’t retire earlier. In contrast, one who didn’t think of the worst-case scenario and then lived through it might regret not retiring later.
Possible value in a CoastFIRE spinoff thread?
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about how long to hold onto my current high-stress, high-pay job vs. find a landing place to coast. And related topics - deciding when to pull the trigger, etc. Don’t want to thread-drift this too hard, though.
I’ve got Boldin, but admittedly I did the inputs quickly, so maybe I did something wrong. I’m showing 96% chance of success on a budget of about $125k but I’m topping out around $10-$11M.
This is a really hard balance for me. I know if I quit for very long, it’s very unlikely I’ll make anywhere near what I make today. So, if I quit a year earlier and something happens, I could work quite a few years to close the gap. On the flip side, I’m less than 20 years from FRA for Social Security, so my risk is declining every year there.
And also this. I really doubt my income will go all the way to zero right away. I’ve got an MS in math, I might try to teach some college classes, I was a TA in grad school and really enjoyed teaching. It doesn’t have to be much, if my wife and I scrape together $30k/year combined we’d be at a 3% withdrawal rate. But then I think about healthcare premiums maybe skyrocketing, and I’m back on the defensive.
I’m still trying to tell myself that $3M and no mortgage is the line. At that point we shouldn’t keep showing up to high-stress jobs.
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I’m working extra hours to make extra cash today, but the WLB is wearing short. And same - once I quit for a few years, I might be able to come back and make something, but it will be less than I was making and I’m sure I’ll want to be done with it again.
A quick projection shows our current investments if not depleted:
- with no additional savings, coast at +7% growth to full FI% in ~14 years;
- with no additional savings, coast at +4% growth to full FI in ~25 years
- with current income and savings rate, without the planned child, and with the bull market persisting, reach full FI in about 5 years
- realistically, around 7-10 years seems likely. Maybe closer to 12 if one of us becomes a SAH parent.
%Then again, our FI number has increased over time. Very possible it goes up, and the years stretch out a little more.
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Around here you wouldn’t make more than about $4K for every community college or university class you teach. Unless it were one night per week I’m not sure the commitment and time would be worth it (although it was a decade ago). I have a UK/Ireland trip in September scheduled and bridge tournaments mostly in the summer. I suppose I could make something work in the spring if I wanted to. In the fall I did make $7K moderating an online university graduate level class in risk management. They were going to have me do it again until just recently some full-time faculty resources became available; I really haven’t gone down that path seriously in retirement. My regular bridge partner is a professor so when he has found out about their needs occasionally some offers have been sent my way.
You are much better off being prepared to make nothing, or enjoy what you’re doing so the fact that it is so nearly closer to minimum wage that you won’t mind. As soon as a couple years went by and my nest egg expanded 20%, my desire to earn money decreased 50%. That being said if I really needed to make $10K and I could teach a class nearby for $5K I would not be disappointed. You will have a lot of time on your hands and there is certainly something to be said for being productive 1/4 of the time and being retired 3/4 of the time.
I bumped into an ex-coworker at a burrito shop today. I said hi and told her I was enjoying life two years into retirement, and she said “I am jealous”.
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That’s good insight. I’m still a little bit all over the place with my thoughts on this. I’m certainly aiming to never need to work again, that’s the goal. And I’ve read plenty to know the risk is very minimal if you’re in the 4%-ish withdrawal rate, particularly if you add just a little flexibility. So I’m really hoping here that a) I’ll find things I want to do, and b) any money earned will just be icing on the cake.
Sounds like all of these projectors ignore mortality. 96% of getting to 95 without running out of money? Maybe if you’ve got some $ at age 94.
How much do you factor in (at 94):
- Inheritance
- SS (which is basically longevity insurance)
What inheritance?
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I realize that might have been an /s comment…
But from the comments in this thread a slice of people do have boomer parents with resources that they are unlikely to completely spend in retirement.
My net worth will approximately double at some point due to inheritance. I am not sure what to do with this information now. My parents are both healthy which gives them a good chance of getting into their mid 90s.
For now I ignore all that but I could probably bank on only needing to fund 20 years of retirement and be perfectly fine.
I received about $80k when my father passed. My in laws have said we get what’s left of their retirement accounts, currently almost $300k and invested very conservatively so not much real growth. The other kids will get loads of land. But my MIL changes her mind often, they could easily spend some of it, and I’d say they’ll live another 20 years or whatever, pretty healthy.
I don’t include it in my number.
I don’t know my parents’ financial situation, but they’ve never been good with money. My mother’s parents are in their late 80’s now and her grandmother and great grandmother both lived past 100, so she’ll likely be alive until I am in my 70’s or 80’s. I doubt there will be anything left to leave her children regardless of when she passes.
I also have six siblings, so even if there was anything to inherit, once you split it 7 ways, might as well be zero.
I’m the executor of their will, so I expect it will be a headache to go through their estate when that day comes.
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On the plus side, if there is nothing to distribute the will probably does not need to be filed. Of course, if there is titled property, that does require probate.
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My mom has never said much of anything by my dad shares a lot with me. I guess I may be the only one he has that can relate.