The Intersection of FIRE and Disney

[Sjm9911]

My pension does not have a cola eaither, nor can i get a lump sum. To make up for it I saved. Hopefully my money will offset any need for colas in the future. As for the 4 percent rule, and if you can take more money out later would depend on your investment returns and how much money you have left. If you have a large sum of money saved, and its making 4 percent, you could take it out forever and not touch the original sum. Then if you need money later, you can take out more. Problem is where is the money, and how will taxes effect it.

 

[crisi]

The major risk to running out of money are the returns in the few years following retirement. If you have flexibility to reduce spending in the event of a black swan market drop during that period of time, you will have no issues (and likely end up with far more money than expected).

The other thing is that if you retire and the market drops the first few years in retirement, pick up a part time job. An income stream that isn't your portfolio early in retirement (a low effort small business, a part time job where you can pick up a few hours, keeping your hand in consulting in your field, even baby and or pet sitting), can lower that early withdrawal rate. Retirement doesn't have to mean "and I'll never work a day in my life again."

Frankly, when you retire early, it is not necessarily a bad idea to pick up that part time job just to keep you busy and seeing people. It becomes really easy to self isolate - or only see your spouse - especially if you are feeling the need to stretch your retirement dollars and therefore avoid too much going to lunch with friends and that sort of thing.

 

[Sjm9911]

Ok , so out since Aug. I find that I watch my money now too closely. Checking it daily for no reason. Maybe not a bad thing, but I am told that will ease up a bit. So its only a few months in, and Its hard knowing that your salary is now stagnate. Plus its hard to get out of the save mindset. I can spend more, but my mind is still in saving mode. This too will change over time as you get comfortable with where you are. Still unsure about a lot and having a hard time with time managment. Mow the grass, It can wait, or can it? So its I have to get this done now like I used to or push stuff off. I haven't quite found the middle ground. Eaither way I feel like I dont acomplish stuff, even If I do. Lol. Summer was good with the kido home but now starting middle school it left me board. I am staying busy, and know my mindset needs to reset. So, thats it. I am Done, no need to work, but changing a scedual that was ingrained in you over the past 27 years takes time, and isnt easy. Especially so if the spouse is still working and you have younger kids. I am blessed to be where I am , and grateful for being able to save and work hard to acomplish what I have now. But it will take some ajusting to.

 

[dclpluto]

Where has everyone been? When stock market is doing great this thread gets a lot of activity. When it does bad this place is quiet. I guess the same for myself. Of course things are bad with stock market, inflation.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Where has everyone been? When stock market is doing great this thread gets a lot of activity. When it does bad this place is quiet. I guess the same for myself. Of course things are bad with stock market, inflation.

Yes, the US GDP just posted a smoking hot number for Q3, but we're in that "good news is bad news" phase. The "soft landing vs. recession is imminent" phase. So we're at that time in investing where it's a good idea to not do anything rash....and to avoid looking at your quarterly statements for a bit .

 

[Mome Rath]

We are just staying the course and not moving anything around... kind of a Boglehead approach. One thing that has come up for us recently after having a death in the immediate family is lighting the fire under all of us to get trusts/wills set up, find a good match in a lawyer, etc... fun times.

What is FIRE philosophy about inheritance, do you aim for no money left when you die, or aim for inheritance for the next gen? As an intersection of FIRE and Disney thread, I want the next gen to have both a love of going to Disney (and the memories), and to get some money. lol

 

[QueenIsabella]

I'll answer the inheritance question, for us, right now, at least: my MIL, God bless her, gave my kids a really nice start. She paid for them to travel (to WDW, school trips to Paris, etc.). She paid for college. She gave them UTMAs. And, she left them a life insurance trust with certain stipulations (such as, they get 25% upon graduating from college). So, my kids did/will graduate from college debt-free* and with a nice nest eggs (~$100k each).

*We made our oldest take out the basic student loans, because she chose the pricey private college. She's gotten them forgiven through PSLF, I think?

Based on that, I'm not worried about their inheritance from us. We do help to fund Roth IRAs, as we go along. All are employed (a couple part-time, they're students). We use the money we inherited to pay for their college, and we do travel with our kids. And we fund education-related travel--DS17 went to France last summer, and will go to Japan next year. DS26 went to England last year, and DD20 will go next year. Those are school-sponsored, and we pay for them.

We have money mentally earmarked for a "million dollar disease". If we die easier, the kids are welcome to it. We'd divide everything 4 ways.

There are no grandkids. There may never be, for a host of reasons. If grandchildren do materialize, we'd like to do for them the way MIL did for our kids.

 

[DIS_MERI]

Definitely only looking to have no money when I die if I have already given the kids most of what they would have inherited. But, also not wanting to leave them a crazy amount. My FIRE philosophy changed considerably when I moved positions at work about 18 months ago. Now that I love my job, I'm not looking for the fastest way out. So, while I still max out my TSP (401K equivalent), HSA and IRA, I'm not putting more into travel now, while I'm still working and relatively healthy, because I plan to work longer. I also expect to never need to spend what I'm putting in the TSP, HSA and IRA myself (but that will now split 16+ ways, so it needs to be pretty substantial).

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

We are just staying the course and not moving anything around... kind of a Boglehead approach. One thing that has come up for us recently after having a death in the immediate family is lighting the fire under all of us to get trusts/wills set up, find a good match in a lawyer, etc... fun times.

If you're still working, check if your employer offers legal coverage during annual enrollment. I've heard of people paying very little to get that coverage and spending the next year setting up all their documents.

What is FIRE philosophy about inheritance, do you aim for no money left when you die, or aim for inheritance for the next gen? As an intersection of FIRE and Disney thread, I want the next gen to have both a love of going to Disney (and the memories), and to get some money. lol

I hope to give them the vast majority of it while I'm still alive. IMO the most beneficial time to inherit money is in your 20s/30s and most inherit money much later than that.

 

[dvcgirl67]

On the inheritance thing....no kids here, but we have one niece and two nephews on my side, one nephew on my husband's side. They are our "heirs"......but it'll just be what, if anything is left. As a childless couple, we have to be sure we have enough to care for ourselves through the end....and that ain't cheap. Depending on how the market does over the next 30 years or so....they may be in for a boatload of money.....or very little. But we're not putting anything aside specifically for them. The three on my side of the family will be fine....one just started college, the other two will also go to college.

My sisters and their spouses all do quite well....so they're on the right path and their kids will be too. Our nephew on the other side is 38, lives with his wife, 2 kids (another one on the way)....with his in-laws. He's following the exact same path as his father, my husband's brother...who is deceased. It's interesting...both sets of parents did better than their parents. My husband and I....and my two sisters and their spouses also doing much, much better than our parents. None of the parents went to college, but all six of us did (me, my sisters and our spouses). My husband's brother, who passed in 2014...did not go to college, struggled in his life and has financial difficulties. His son (our nephew) is not necessarily struggling as badly as his father, but he just hasn't figured out how to get ahead on his own. We'd helped him with tuition for various trade schools, and other things....but it just doesn't seem to help.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Definitely only looking to have no money when I die if I have already given the kids most of what they would have inherited. But, also not wanting to leave them a crazy amount. My FIRE philosophy changed considerably when I moved positions at work about 18 months ago. Now that I love my job, I'm not looking for the fastest way out. So, while I still max out my TSP (401K equivalent), HSA and IRA, I'm not putting more into travel now, while I'm still working and relatively healthy, because I plan to work longer. I also expect to never need to spend what I'm putting in the TSP, HSA and IRA myself (but that will now split 16+ ways, so it needs to be pretty substantial).

I really like your attitude . You've found something you love to do, which is amazing.

It's an interesting thing...when DH and I were younger (early 30s....so 25 years ago), we thought we wanted to retire at 40, with around 2 million....an idea we came up with our early 30s (when you think you know everything . Then we hit that goal (closer to our mid-40s), but realized that we enjoyed what we were doing and so why let that income go....and we also realized that we enjoyed traveling. And as we've aged....now 56 and almost 55, we're in our peak earning years and are happy we didn't quit all those years ago. We've taken many great trips in those years while working...and have met many people and have had amazing experiences along the way, both at work and in our travels.

Now...we're both feeling that pull to go over the finish line. We both still enjoy what we do enough....but it's getting repetitive and boredom creeps in a bit. We're ready for our "next phase" of life. But I'm so glad we kept going and moved that goal post further out from age 40. The 2 million that we "thought" we'd be fine with in our 30s....is not enough for the mid-50s versions of ourselves, and thankfully, we have what we need to satisfy the current versions of ourselves. And now that we're here, healthy and still loving life, we figured...why not push it a bit more and go to 60 if we feel like it. We've just adjusted our schedules to take more time off and enjoy longer/nicer trips as an incentive until we quit.

But...we're at that point where we have what they call "F"...."U"...money, which is a nice feeling. We've weathered a lot of "financial storms" in our working years, and it looks like there's a possible recession on the horizon. My husband is almost 55 with a high salary with a fortune 100 company....and if it's a nasty recession, who knows...he could get laid off...or whatever the term is for that these days. And we have both said...if that happens....he's done, we're good. A lifetime of hard work, from college to landing the first job, to both getting better jobs and an entrepreneurial path for me....has paid off. It's a nice feeling.

 

[Sjm9911]

We are just staying the course and not moving anything around... kind of a Boglehead approach. One thing that has come up for us recently after having a death in the immediate family is lighting the fire under all of us to get trusts/wills set up, find a good match in a lawyer, etc... fun times.

What is FIRE philosophy about inheritance, do you aim for no money left when you die, or aim for inheritance for the next gen? As an intersection of FIRE and Disney thread, I want the next gen to have both a love of going to Disney (and the memories), and to get some money. lol

I am in this same boat with a 12 yo and no one else trustworthy enough to oversee what I have. So a bit of a mess. I need a trust, but understand so little about it. I guess like anything else in life, learn by being thrown into the fire. Lol.

 

[Mome Rath]

I am in this same boat with a 12 yo and no one else trustworthy enough to oversee what I have. So a bit of a mess. I need a trust, but understand so little about it. I guess like anything else in life, learn by being thrown into the fire. Lol.

So far what I've learned through various means is that trusts are so flexible, you can set one up for almost any purpose, the key seems to be finding a good lawyer that is really well versed in Estate planning/law. We've not found one yet, we've just found ones we know we don't want. lol

 

[DisneyTexan]

I am in this same boat with a 12 yo and no one else trustworthy enough to oversee what I have. So a bit of a mess. I need a trust, but understand so little about it. I guess like anything else in life, learn by being thrown into the fire. Lol.

I wish I had a link to a good article for you, but I'm sure there are some articles online.

It might help to think of a trust as setting up a corporation for your household (which includes you, your child, house, cash, other assets). You will be president of the corporation, which is called the trustee in the trust situation. The president/trustee can take care of everything as long as that person is able-bodied and of sound mind. There will be a mechanism in place for someone else (an additional trustee) to manage the household in the event the first trustee can no longer take care of everything.

You can make arrangements in advance to have a professional trustee take over if you can no longer manage the household. There are professionals who go through extensive training to be able to do this, and they have a legal obligation to act in the best interest of you, your child, and using the assets in the best way possible.

Its not any easy thing to walk through with an attorney, but it is better than having the state decide for you how everything will be handled if you become unable to do it.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Strong end to the year meant our spreadsheet day went very well. Rough estimate with our 2024 budget puts us a little under 2 years to FI... so things are getting kind of serious.

 

[disfanforlife]

I am ready for FIRE now. Should have done it last year when my hubby did. Now we have our first grandchild and want to help care for him. Planning to be done working in the next month or two. For me it’s an emotional decision too as I have worked for so long it’s part of my identity in my mind. But I have the best reason to be done working now and that has spurred my decision.

 

[mgarbowski]

I'm wavering. My plan was to retire at year end 2024, and I have the nest egg to do so. But if I extend 13 months until January 2026 I can then go COBRA for health insurance until I'm 65 and then easily switch to Medicare.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I'm wavering. My plan was to retire at year end 2024, and I have the nest egg to do so. But if I extend 13 months until January 2026 I can then go COBRA for health insurance until I'm 65 and then easily switch to Medicare.

Have you looked at the ACA marketplace? There may be options comparable to what you have on COBRA that are available sooner.

 

[leeniewdw]

I'm wavering. My plan was to retire at year end 2024, and I have the nest egg to do so. But if I extend 13 months until January 2026 I can then go COBRA for health insurance until I'm 65 and then easily switch to Medicare.

Have you looked at the ACA marketplace? There may be options comparable to what you have on COBRA that are available sooner.

We retired from our professional careers in Nov '22. I had an 8 month severance, during which, I paid the employee rate for COBRA, so we went with that. My DH had a total knee replacement in January '23 and met our max out of pocket on that date, so we decided to stay with the COBRA plan for the remainder of 2023 and switch to an ACA plan as of...well today! So our coverage (med, vision, dental) was around $350 for my 8 month severance (6 months of 2023), then we paid the full $1500 for the last 6 months of 2023.

We are now on an ACA plan (happens to be BCBS, our prior plan was UMR). We estimated our income for 2024 and our premium (Med, Dental) is around $350 (I KNOW the Dental plan is probably stupid but I decided to try it for this year). I have no idea how we'll find our coverage, the structure is different than our old plan, but we don't have a crazy high deductible or max OOP. We do have to find new primary care Drs, but mine left the practice I was going to and we were planning to find a new GP for my DH anyway (he'd been seeing a PA).

We ended up making some Roth Conversions and a withdrawal from one of our IRAs in December, because while we originally planned to do that in 2024, we wanted the taxable events to take place in 2023 rather than 2024 so we have a better shot at the projected "income" for ACA subsidy purposes. We have 5 years until we are on Medicare, so we're hoping this works well for us, but who knows!

We work part time for a staffing company (mostly college sports events but the choices are many -- we pick our shifts) and then a beer/wine kiosk for local small amphitheater in the summer (a different company/contractor) where we get tips too. I highly recommend the staffing company gig as a retirement PT job. There are many in our area, but so far we're happy with the one we use. We've worked at our art museum, convention center, sporting events of every variety, etc. We sample new things every so often to see if we want to expand our choices.

 

[disfanforlife]

I'm wavering. My plan was to retire at year end 2024, and I have the nest egg to do so. But if I extend 13 months until January 2026 I can then go COBRA for health insurance until I'm 65 and then easily switch to Medicare.

I understand how you feel. That’s another reason I continue working since I have the family plan through my job. We have longer to go to 65 so we will have to buy from the marketplace when the COBRA runs out. I plan to buy that as long as I can.