smells of victimhood

it suxs still for farmers. 5.68 a bushel

1.5 Mil in Cash with 5% interest rates banks your get you $6K per month interest

1.5 million, I say it might be tight. Might start looking around. Texas property tax will continue to climb. Insurance will go up every year. Car insurance going up.
All these rising costs are my concerns.

Might look abroad. I have 3 friends now in Lake Chapala part time. About to be 4.

Lol, I didn't mean to take the wind out of your sails Old Timer

I’m retired. So is wife. A million bucks with Biden as Prez damn sure won’t last long. Im seeing the difference.

RC, that $1.5 million would be a good start at your age. Taxes and inflation will eat you alive.

Taxes wouldn't be much per year, Open like a S-Corp and take 30% as self employment and 70% let the S-Corp pay taxes on like 7%

Bingo. All my organizations are S Corps

I meant retire. But I’m a tinkerer, I can’t sit and do nothing. I’m frugal, I don’t even think it would be difficult. I have savings 401k would have some form of social security. Plus for me the wife doesn’t want to retire early so I’ll get cheap medical through her.

Everybody is different - I am not sure if I will end the next 7 years with a million. I will be 55, been completely debt free for 10+ years, and have all the toys, guns, land I need. Should have enough dough for hunting, fishing, golf and whatever wild hair my wife comes up with for a few decades before we settle down and enjoy the grandkid functions.

SS should cover a bunch of the $48K annual spend. That will make the $1.5 million go much further.

JR

You're a Romantic. I can tell.

I'm working 2 professional jobs from home to pay off everything we have. If a 3rd job presents itself then I will take it too. It's the only way I can see getting ahead. Once the house is paid off and have a good savings then I will probably drop back down to 1 job for insurance and revenue stream.

That a boy RC, following the S.A. Hunter retirement plan.

Don't forget full service memory care and but wiping is about $8000 a month with 3 meals a day

I refuse to listen to a man that can't figure out a way to kill an obnoxious 'coon on his back porch.

Yeah probably so… she probably says too romantic lol

I told her we should both retire at 55, she said she enjoys her job… I’m glad because she does not have a hobby.

Not necessarily. We moved my mom out of corporate "Memory Care", and got way better care, including Bible Study, at a Romanian home, not 800 yards from my house, for 1/3 of the price. God Bless that couple. We've referred several friends for their relatives over the years and they've all been impressed.

They won't get a dime from me, I will suck on pistol before I let that happen

You don't have kids. Speaks volumes.

If I retire at 60 do I have to draw from my 401k? Or can I let it sit?

I've run the numbers until I have worn them out.

$103,000 after taxes keeps us at current spending habits & lifestyle [That is excluding major purchases like cars.]

If we each work to 65: (4 years for me)
$75,200/year in SS + a small Pension

We need to pull out around $40k/year from retirement accounts.

We have $1.4 in combined savings today. We are good.

Now we're working the numbers to see if we can do it early.

One caveat that I would add to this is having your homestead paid off by retirement. If your home is paid for, then yes, you can live comfortably in retirement on less cash savings.

The '3 legged stool' of retirement is:

1) Paid-off home
2) Social Security
3) Savings (including 401k, IRA, pension, etc)

If you're lacking one of these three things, then about the only way to make it up is to continue working in retirement years. Yes, income taxes will hit you with higher levels of income, but that's a better problem to have than scrimping to make your SSA dollars last for the month.

Property taxes have been brought up a few times. When you hit 65 years of age, you NEED TO FILE for your tax ceiling with the CAD unit. You also have up to two years after qualifying for your over-65 exemption to lower your tax ceiling appraisal, so that's the time to get aggressive in disputing your appraisal. This will drastically reduce the annual increase in your property taxes, and depending on which county/city you live in, can even freeze your property taxes altogether.

I see so many articles about a “number” one needs to retire. There is no ONE number. Depends on each persons income needs and lifestyle. The very best tool I have found is www.firecalc.com. You can plug it YOUR numbers and get an idea if you will run out or not. Free and easy to use.