How do you know if you can retire?

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James.534
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How do you know if you can retire?

Post by James.534 »

I know I am being overly cautious, but it is one of the biggest decisions I have to make.

My question is who do you talk to about this? I have been a do it yourselfer my entire investing career. I have never gone to a "professional" for investing advice before. I am somewhat hesitant because I do think I need someone to manage my money. Do you use a excel spread sheet or some other software program? But I am not sure I want to rely on a program for my financial future.

I think the other issue it that if I quit my job at 55, it wont be so easy to get back into it again at least at the same financial level, so the decision seems somewhat permanent

Financially I feel solid with 7m split between taxable and tax advantaged accounts. We have no debt, house is paid and kids are done with school and on their own. Based on quicken we spend less than 120k per year.

I know Vanguard offers a service, or do I just go to local advisor, or search for other advice/consultation?
bloom2708
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by bloom2708 »

3.5% of $7 million is $245k.

That is a good quick glance approach. You have a 2X cushion if your spending includes lumpy stuff and health insurance and taxes.

Just be careful who you talk with. Financial advisors will want to put your assets under management and will slowly drip fees off.

Vanguard PAS might be OK, but you really don't need that. How about you "bone up" and managing your finances becomes your hobby?

Kind of why Bogleheads exists. Welcome.
loghound
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by loghound »

you will doubless get many responses but generally it's a function of expenses & assets.

$7M is a lot of money so you probably can (again, it depends on expenses) -- tools like http://ficalc.app and https://firecalc.com and https://cfiresim.com can give you a pretty good view of your situation (to start with) but make sure you think about healthcare (especially until you turn 65 and you'll probaly want to talk with someone, either a financial advisor (vanguard can probably help if you have an account there).

Beyond that just start reading boglehead forums for some of the things to consider... I woudln't rush into anything until you feel like you have a good grasp on the risks & issues.
I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time. | - Blaise Pascal
sailaway
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by sailaway »

If you put your funds in TIPS, you could fund 58 years of your current lifestyle. OK, you probably didn't account for income tax, so something less than that...

If you decide you need a job, it doesn't have to be at the current level, it just needs to be enough to slow the bleed.

Why do you think this is so vastly different from the accumulation phase? You should now have more time and fewer moving parts.
smitcat
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by smitcat »

sailaway wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:58 am If you put your funds in TIPS, you could fund 58 years of your current lifestyle. OK, you probably didn't account for income tax, so something less than that...

If you decide you need a job, it doesn't have to be at the current level, it just needs to be enough to slow the bleed.

Why do you think this is so vastly different from the accumulation phase? You should now have more time and fewer moving parts.
+1
Based on their savings - it's likely that more than half of their expenses will also be covered by SS.
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billthecat
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by billthecat »

loghound wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:55 am you will doubless get many responses but generally it's a function of expenses & assets.

$7M is a lot of money so you probably can (again, it depends on expenses) -- tools like http://ficalc.app and https://firecalc.com and https://cfiresim.com can give you a pretty good view of your situation (to start with) but make sure you think about healthcare (especially until you turn 65 and you'll probaly want to talk with someone, either a financial advisor (vanguard can probably help if you have an account there).

Beyond that just start reading boglehead forums for some of the things to consider... I woudln't rush into anything until you feel like you have a good grasp on the risks & issues.
He indicates he spends less than $120K per year, so less than 1.7% withdrawal rate. I dunno, he may be cutting it close; maybe he should work another year.

Seriously, though, OP, it sounds like you don't necessarily have anything planned to retire to other than just "not working." You wouldn't be hesitating if you had something exciting to entice you away from work, so I think your answer lies in what you would like to accomplish with the rest of your life. You're going to die, and it's later than you think.
Last edited by billthecat on Tue Jan 24, 2023 12:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Katietsu
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Katietsu »

You sound like you might best be served by an advisor who will give you a retirement plan without wanting to take over investment management. Do you listen to podcasts? I might listen to The Bogleheads on Investing, Episode 8 with Allan Roth. Or give the The Retirement and IRA Show with Chris Stein and Jim Saulnier. You can get a feel for what these type of advisors offer. Most now use technology so that, as long as you are comfortable with it, the advisor no longer needs to be local.
coffeeblack
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by coffeeblack »

James.534 wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:49 am I know I am being overly cautious, but it is one of the biggest decisions I have to make.

My question is who do you talk to about this? I have been a do it yourselfer my entire investing career. I have never gone to a "professional" for investing advice before. I am somewhat hesitant because I do think I need someone to manage my money. Do you use a excel spread sheet or some other software program? But I am not sure I want to rely on a program for my financial future.

I think the other issue it that if I quit my job at 55, it wont be so easy to get back into it again at least at the same financial level, so the decision seems somewhat permanent

Financially I feel solid with 7m split between taxable and tax advantaged accounts. We have no debt, house is paid and kids are done with school and on their own. Based on quicken we spend less than 120k per year.

I know Vanguard offers a service, or do I just go to local advisor, or search for other advice/consultation?
If you want some guidance that will show you the how and keep you on track, consider planvision.
Jack FFR1846
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

I am THE most conservative person on Bogleheads.

My analysis? You can retire now.

I'm in the same boat as you except I've figured out what my retirement budget is ($67k) and my spread sheet tells me every day how many times that I have in liquid assets (55.3) and DW has FINALLY agreed that I can retire. I end it May 30th or June 1'st. You can as well.
Bogle: Smart Beta is stupid
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MikeWillRetire
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by MikeWillRetire »

James.534 wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:49 am I know I am being overly cautious, but it is one of the biggest decisions I have to make.

My question is who do you talk to about this?
You start right here! You will get great advice from Bogleheads.
deltaneutral83
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by deltaneutral83 »

OP, you are likely to grow your nest egg than to deplete it, and certainly much more likely to grow it than deplete it to 0 with your ratios, meaning you're much more on the path of having to figure out where your wealth will go than to running out of money. Ratio of your SS (when the time comes) will also be a nice boost to pay for expenses, as in >30%.

Given that OP took the time to start this thread and obviously doesn't want to work longer, I would be much more on the side of retiring and intentionally curtailing spending in year 1 just to get the feel of retirement than to work even one more day while living more lavishly. Your time is more valuable than another year of income IMO (and don't look at the market). Your asset level is also at a specific point in time when equites are down 17-20% so you've also got the nice pullback realized, not just baked in on a spreadsheet of "maybe." You've won the game, just take a knee and don't turn the ball over.

*I see someone beat me to it but putting money into TIPS gives you 4+ decades and that is as risk free as it gets. Having an estate plan you and your heirs are all knowledgeable about is going to be the issue to spend time on, not running out of money.
Robdac
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Robdac »

You are 55, spend $120K per year, and have $7mm saved. You are asking the wrong question.

The correct question is, "How many more Monday's do you have?" 2000? How many of them do you want to spend at work? At this point you're not going to work for the money. That's only okay if you love it.
8301
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by 8301 »

I have a simple rule. If my investment asset is all in the S&P 500 (VFIAX) or in the total stock market (VTSAX) and its annual dividends is more than my expenses, then I may probably retire safely. I am not advocating to invest this way. Dividend has no significance, but I trust those managing the firms not to run the whole economy down to the ground.
steadyosmosis
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by steadyosmosis »

James.534 wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:49 am I know I am being overly cautious, but it is one of the biggest decisions I have to make.

My question is who do you talk to about this? I have been a do it yourselfer my entire investing career. I have never gone to a "professional" for investing advice before. I am somewhat hesitant because I do think I need someone to manage my money. Do you use a excel spread sheet or some other software program? But I am not sure I want to rely on a program for my financial future.

I think the other issue it that if I quit my job at 55, it wont be so easy to get back into it again at least at the same financial level, so the decision seems somewhat permanent

Financially I feel solid with 7m split between taxable and tax advantaged accounts. We have no debt, house is paid and kids are done with school and on their own. Based on quicken we spend less than 120k per year.

I know Vanguard offers a service, or do I just go to local advisor, or search for other advice/consultation?
I retired before the age 55 you mentioned.
My withdraw rate is similar to your 1.7% (120k/7000k).
I manage my own portfolio the easy way, with essentially a 3-fund portfolio and ~60/40 asset allocation.
My Roth IRA, and HSA, and taxable accounts are 100% equities.
100% of my fixed income is in tax-deferred accounts, plus some spillover equities.
When I need spending money, I sell a little in my most tax-efficient account (right now that is taxable acct).
If I have a question, I search on Bogleheads .org, the best financial advisors I know of.
Easy-peasy.
Age < 59.5. Early-retired. AA ~55/45. Taxable account and Roth IRA and HSA ... all 100% equities. 100% fixed income in tax-deferred. I spend from taxable and re-balance in tax-deferred.
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calmaniac
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by calmaniac »

Robdac wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 12:27 pm You are 55, spend $120K per year, and have $7mm saved. You are asking the wrong question.

The correct question is, "How many more Monday's do you have?" 2000? How many of them do you want to spend at work? At this point you're not going to work for the money. That's only okay if you love it.
+1 on Mondays

The most important issue is to shift from "accumulation phase thinking" where your focus is on your net worth, to "distribution phase thinking" where your focus is on cash flow & expenses.

With assets and expenses as noted above you can retire. The big issues are:
1. when
2. how best to optimize taxes
3. how best to optimize the quality of your retirement life experience

-Personally, hoping for another 1500 Mondays for DW & myself....
"Pretired", working 20 h/wk. AA 75/25: 30% TSM, 19% value (VFVA/AVUV), 18% Int'l LC, 8% emerging, 25% GFund/VBTLX. Military pension ≈60% of expenses. Pension+SS@age 70 ≈100% of expenses.
AQ
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by AQ »

I'm in a similar boat and struggle with retirement decision constantly. What goes through my mind is something like: today I have 7mm, but:

if market has a dip of 20% then I only have 5.6mm then
Inflation is high; if it goes up 10% in 2023, I'll end in the year with 5mm real now.
My expense estimation is solid but it doesn't include catastrophic events. What if I retire, then get and stay disabled and require hiring help for 20 years, ....

Now you got the idea :?
Dave55
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Dave55 »

OP you could have retired last week. :wink:

Dave
"Reality always wins, your only job is to get in touch with it." Wilfred Bion
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drgenefish
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by drgenefish »

retire AND spend more $ than you do now for enriching / fun things and experiences.

you earned it and you're still going to leave a lot of $ to the kids even if you spend $200k for a few years.

is there some kind of part time consulting gig you would really enjoy for a few years? (just to keep you in the game and ease your nervousness)
visualguy
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by visualguy »

AQ wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:03 pm I'm in a similar boat and struggle with retirement decision constantly. What goes through my mind is something like: today I have 7mm, but:

if market has a dip of 20% then I only have 5.6mm then
Inflation is high; if it goes up 10% in 2023, I'll end in the year with 5mm real now.
My expense estimation is solid but it doesn't include catastrophic events. What if I retire, then get and stay disabled and require hiring help for 20 years, ....

Now you got the idea :?
Right, that's the problem. Market behavior, inflation, and unpredictable expenses. For example, my mother in law had a stroke in her 60s, and needed care for almost 20 years. People underestimate the prevalence and burden of health-related issues.
RetiredCSProf
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by RetiredCSProf »

Based on the information you gave about your finances, I agree that you can retire now.

I had planned to retire at age 62 and met with a financial advisor to run the numbers for me. I paid him a one-time fee (I think it was $1200) and shared with him all my financial info. He had many clients at the company where I worked (he was frequently invited to give retirement planning seminars at my company), so I expected him to be familiar with my company's pension plan, which has a complicated formula for adjusting the pension payout over time.

After running the numbers, he provided me with a multi-page report and concluded that I could retire from my job but would need to take at least a part-time job to make up for the gap, which he projected would widen over time. I was devastated by the results, as I wanted to retire then, and the prospects of a well-paying part-time job somewhere else were dim. The financial advisor tried to sell me an annuity (I declined) and over time continued to push products on me -- although all I wanted was a one-time assessment.

I stayed two more years at my job, until I was forced to retire at age 64 during a mass layoff at my company.

In retrospect, the only financial issue for me at age 62 was healthcare insurance, which was expensive until I became Medicare-eligible. I recently reviewed the projections that the financial planner made for me when I was 62. I was wrong about assuming he understood my pension plan -- his numbers incorrectly set my pension as fixed income -- the "gap" reflected the difference between a fixed pension and expected inflation. Of course, fixed income will never keep up with inflation.
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Watty
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Watty »

How do you know if you can retire?

Simple, post your information using the suggested format as a guideline but you do not need to follow it exactly.


viewtopic.php?t=6212

Just going through the process of getting all that information together will be a very useful exercise. Don't be surprised if it takes a couple of hours to get all your information together.

A few tips for when you are doing this.

When you are figuring how much Social Security you will get and when you will start it using this web site.
https://opensocialsecurity.com/

List your expenses at different ages. For example your expenses when you are paying for your own health insurance will likely be higher than after you start Medicare.

Include income taxes as an expense. For example if you want to spend $120K a year after taxes, then you might need something like $150K a year before taxes.

The comments will get you good feedback about it looks OK for you to retire or not.

You can also play with your numbers with retirement calculators like Firecalc but keep in mind they they may give the results in term of the percent success or failure. The from is that "failure" sounds dire like you end up being broke and homeless but in relativity for most people all that would really mean is that you might need to do something like reduce your spending from $120K a year to $100K when you are 80 if your portfolio is doing worse than expected.
James.534 wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:49 am Financially I feel solid with 7m split between taxable and tax advantaged accounts. We have no debt, house is paid and kids are done with school and on their own. Based on quicken we spend less than 120k per year.
SPOILER ALERT: You will be fine.

I would not suggest actually doing it but you could put the $7M into CD at 4% and have $280K a year in interest to live on. Even with a more conventional portfolio it will generate about 2% in interest and dividends which is $140K a year.

You are asking the wrong question. If is not "If" you can retire, it is how best to manage your investments after you retire.
Golf maniac
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Golf maniac »

I retired at 56, 7 years ago and I haven’t looked back. None of us know how long we have or how long we can travel or do things we enjoy. I have a spreadsheet that shows me exactly how much I have and my budgeted expenses each year. I am spending more now to enjoy my time I am healthy and I know when I Start SS at 70 the amount I take out of in ve will be reduced dramatically. Some people need hand holding, others just learn and do it themselves. With your level of assets a fee based advisor may give you the comfort you need.
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Kenkat
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Kenkat »

You gotten a lot of great answers above, so I will give more of a perspective than guidance.

I retired in July at at 58. I did all of the analysis I could. I ran Firecalc scenarios. I used the Fidelity Retirement Planner, I created spreadsheets of my own. All indicated I was in good shape.

All that said, it is still a leap into the great unknown. In my experience, you will never feel 100% confident. There’s no bell that rings saying ”it’s time”. You look to be in great shape; your analytical side probably already knows this, but it’s a major decision as you say, so it takes time to work through it.

I am happy to say that so far at least, I have no regrets.
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James.534
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by James.534 »

Thanks for all the great replies and suggestions. I had an initial phone conversation with Vanguard yesterday, to realize this was not the type of service I would need. Their service is more about ongoing portfolio management, I would like to find a fee only advisor to do a comprehensive overview and will post numbers here when I get my info together.
kd2008
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by kd2008 »

We use planvisionmn com.

We really like Mark and his team. More importantly, my spouse (DH) feels comfortable - the whole point of the exercise.

Effective March 2022, the new first year price for guidance with PlanVision is $239. However, ongoing support after the first year is still $8 a month and you can cancel anytime.

There is a bit of legwork you have to be willing to do to get setup in eMoney online portal. After that it is easy.

Initial appointment may be few weeks away after you signup but ongoing access is easy via email and zoom.
KlangFool
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by KlangFool »

James.534 wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:49 am I know I am being overly cautious, but it is one of the biggest decisions I have to make.

My question is who do you talk to about this? I have been a do it yourselfer my entire investing career. I have never gone to a "professional" for investing advice before. I am somewhat hesitant because I do think I need someone to manage my money. Do you use a excel spread sheet or some other software program? But I am not sure I want to rely on a program for my financial future.

I think the other issue it that if I quit my job at 55, it wont be so easy to get back into it again at least at the same financial level, so the decision seems somewhat permanent

Financially I feel solid with 7m split between taxable and tax advantaged accounts. We have no debt, house is paid and kids are done with school and on their own. Based on quicken we spend less than 120k per year.

I know Vanguard offers a service, or do I just go to local advisor, or search for other advice/consultation?
James.534,

Do you have 7m now or you are projected to have 7m at 55 years old?

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30% VWENX | 16% VFWAX/VTIAX | 14.5% VTSAX | 19.5% VBTLX | 10% VSIAX/VTMSX/VSMAX | 10% VSIGX| 30% Wellington 50% 3-funds 20% Mini-Larry
Ependytis
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Ependytis »

Good Question. First, average your expenses over a 3 to 5-year period of time. Of course, eliminate expenses that you won't have going forward, like college tuition for your kid. To this annual spending number, add healthcare and taxes. Finally, multiply the result by 25 if you plan on retiring at 65 years of age (Trinity study). Use 33 times annual expense, If you want to retire at 55 (https://earlyretirementnow.com/safe-wit ... te-series/).

For example, if your average annual spending is $120,000 per year, add $16,000 for healthcare (for you and your wife) and $30,000 for taxes. The sum is $166,000. If you times $166,000 x 33 you get $5,478,000. Note this assumes you have a paid off house and property taxes, maintenance, and repairs are included in your annual spending.
Last edited by Ependytis on Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:23 pm, edited 3 times in total.
SpaghettiLegs
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by SpaghettiLegs »

I just had a (virtual) meeting with a Schwab planner. I have all of my taxable investments and a few smaller IRA's with Schwab. I paid this guy a $300 fee, gave him all my expense info, outside account totals and asset allocations as well as goals for retirement. We met again 3-4 weeks later to discuss. He used some software that includes Monte Carlo simulation and came up with probability of success over a couple of different asset allocations. It was well worth the fee even at 3 times that price, and pretty encouraging, although on deeper reflection I think I may have underestimated annual expenses some.

I am also in my mid 50's OP and have reached the point where my job (ER doc), I'm convinced, is shortening my life expectancy, so my goal with this meeting was to see how much I could cut back on work. I got the answers I needed and although there will always be some angst, I am looking forward to a better life beginning this summer, even though there will be more unknown.
mnnice
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by mnnice »

Dave55 wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:14 pm OP you could have retired last week. :wink:

Dave
Or last decade. Look at the rich, broke, dead calculator. The dead pie is growing.

I think this is a psychological question not a financial one. Maybe a therapist would be useful?
zie
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by zie »

You never really know, but you can guess with reasonable accuracy.

If you get to 25X expenses, that means you need to pull 4%/yr from your portfolio. In most cases, most of the time, for a 30yr retirement, this will work out. Most of the time, you will end up with more money than you started with.

If you get to 30X expenses, then you need to pull about 3.5%/yr. This will work out better in more extreme cases than 25X above.

If you get to 33X expenses, then you are only pulling about 3%/yr. For all of modern history, this will always work.

If you get to 50X expenses, then you are pulling around 2%/yr to live off of. For all of known investing history, this will always work.

You are around 58X expenses (7M / 120k = 58.3). If your 120k doesn't include taxes and health care, then you probably need to add on some more to that, let's say 150k, to be lazy: (7M / 150k = 46X expenses).

So you are absolutely good to retire, presuming your expenses in retirement are what you say they are. If you are going to spend $500k/yr in retirement(14X expenses), then you aren't there yet. If you are going to spend $280k/yr(25X expenses), you should make it, assuming you don't have a really bad sequence of returns in retirement.

So really the question then becomes, how are you going to withdraw from your portfolio? The wiki has a Withdrawal Methods entry, that should help you start to decide that. Feel free to ask questions on various withdrawal methods after you do some initial research.
Whether rich or poor, a young woman should know how a bank account works, understand the composition of mortgages and bonds, and know the value of interest and how it accumulates. -Hetty Green
Topic Author
James.534
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by James.534 »

@KlangFool

Yes, 55 and have 7m invested. I did not include house which is paid for , since I have to live somewhere.
AQ
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by AQ »

Hi, OP,

Your current investment is 7mm. If you're like most of us, then your asset might be around 8mm a year ago? If so, does it bother you to see such a significant drop when you're close to retirement? Just would like to hear how others handled such kind of stress..
tibbitts
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by tibbitts »

AQ wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:25 pm Hi, OP,

Your current investment is 7mm. If you're like most of us, then your asset might be around 8mm a year ago? If so, does it bother you to see such a significant drop when you're close to retirement? Just would like to hear how others handled such kind of stress..
To me seeing $8M drop to $7M wouldn't result in any stress. It would be more stressful to see $800k drop to $700k, because at that accumulation level a much higher percentage of my expenditures would be non-discretionary.
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rob
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by rob »

If $7M is not enough to retire... then your issue is not financial.
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
Muffin Master
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Muffin Master »

Do you need an advisor? Assuming you know what you are doing, no. BH is a very boring portfolio. Not much to it so you and your wife might want to develop some interests or something.

Have a broker execute directed trades for you. Its safer I think.

If you are not an active trader you might want to turn off online trading.

You might want to split your funds with different brokers.

My suggestions revolve around security mainly. Just make sure someone can not runoff with what you got.
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enad
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by enad »

if you live way beneath your means i.e. you spend far less than your income stream you should be okay.
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tennisplyr
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by tennisplyr »

rob wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:08 pm If $7M is not enough to retire... then your issue is not financial.
+1
For gosh sakes, go live your life!!!
“Those who move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out.” -Retired 13 years 😀
retired-early
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by retired-early »

If you have accumulated $7 million with no debt and low expenses I would say you don’t need a financial advisor. I bet you’ve done better with your money than most advisors out there. Figure out what you want to do with your time. Financially you are ready.
Last edited by retired-early on Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chadnudj
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by Chadnudj »

I'm sure there's nuance here in terms of where accounts are located/tax efficiency, etc. to consider, but....


$7M invested in VTSAX right now would yield ~ $114,100 a year just in dividends. That's pretty much all your current annual spend already without touching principal, and an amount that is (likely, though not surely) to increase as the total value of a VTSAX only portfolio increases/companies increase dividends, etc. Add in Social Security coming on line for you at some point in the next 7-15 years (depending on your optimal claiming strategy), and absent any lifestyle inflation (and heck, even WITH some reasonably but not excessive lifestyle inflation) you're pretty much bulletproof.

Enjoy retirement, once you plan out whatever it is you want to do with your time!
simpletone
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by simpletone »

Hi Op,

Like many on this forum, I worked with advisors for many years before discovering the BH way. In hindsight, I paid them a lot of money, that I did not need to. I worked with Rick Ferri, and others on this board, to self-manage, using a simplified, low ER, fund-based portfolio. If you are looking for a second set of eyes on your situation, Rick Ferri, and others like him provide hourly fee-based services. I recommend using them, if that helps you feel comfortable. I continue to meet with Rick, once a year, for just that reason.

Aside from that, I use a spreadsheet to manage everything. If you'd like to see what I do, send me a PM and I'm happy to share.

I'll also mention that retirement does not have to be final. You can always downshift to something different that gives you more of your life back, work less (part-time), and see how that goes.
michaeljc70
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by michaeljc70 »

Of course you can retire. I wouldn't trust anyone that tells you otherwise. If you feel you need help with how to withdraw the money (what accounts in what order), if Roth conversions would be useful, etc. you can get a fee based financial planner to help you.
tibbitts
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by tibbitts »

simpletone wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:45 am I'll also mention that retirement does not have to be final. You can always downshift to something different that gives you more of your life back, work less (part-time), and see how that goes.
Bogleheads always assume that part-time is an option, but it may not be a prove to be a practical one for the vast majority once they actually try to implement it.
Last edited by tibbitts on Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
michaeljc70
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Re: How do you know if you can retire?

Post by michaeljc70 »

tibbitts wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:45 am
simpletone wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:45 am I'll also mention that retirement does not have to be final. You can always downshift to something different that gives you more of your life back, work less (part-time), and see how that goes.
Bogleheads always assume that part-time is an option, but it may not be a prove to be practical one for the vast majority once they actually try to implement it.
I agree. Most people can probably get some job. Getting a job doing something you like with good pay is a different story. I've been retired 6 years. I worked in IT/software development. I've thought of going back in the winters to have something to do (I always did project based work on a contract basis). I'm guessing, since I haven't tried, but it would be very hard for me to get something in my field and I would probably make 50%-60% of what I was making. This is obviously going to vary by field/occupation. Someone that was in sales or something may more easily be able to jump back in. 6 years in tech is a lifetime.
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