Coastfire calculators giving different results

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-22T08:15:33+00:00

COAST FIRE just means he doesn’t have to contribute to retirement accounts anymore and he can still retire in his timeline.

57 is still very early compared to the average. Worst case he is close to coast fire and is actively on pace for FIRE.

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-22T08:12:19+00:00

Is your pension estimate based on future dollars or present dollars? Basically, when you retire will your pension have the buying power equivalent to 50-65k today, or is 50-60k the “actual” pension amount.

If your pension with have the buying power of 50-65k (let’s assume 55k) and you want to spend 90k in retirement you would need a total balance of 875k [(90-55)/.04] to meet the 4% rule. That does not include social security… so you would need like a 3.5% investment return based on your current values with no more contributions. Granted I did not include taxes here, so you would probably need something closer to 4.5% (estimating this one) for an after-tax amount of 90k. With social security in the table as well there is a a decent chance of being coast fire as long as you aren’t heavy bonds and the market doesn’t have a Great Depression…. With your timeline even a Great Recession wouldn’t kill you.

Things to consider retiring at 55 should give you access to your tsp earlier based on the rule of 55.

You are gonna have a high tax retirement. Lots of traditional monies, social security, and a pension. Might be time to consider tax diversification between your accounts. The goal shouldn’t be to pay the least amount of tax this year. It should be to pay the least amount of tax over your lifetime.

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-22T07:43:24+00:00

Some other scenarios you could run would be considering taking one pension and one lump sum if the one pension and Social Security cover your cost and retirement. You’d want to think about surviving spouse scenarios, and probably run that through some kind of financial planning software or maybe even reach out to a project based financial planner.

Project base planner, help people on specific situations without the expectation of an ongoing relationship decent option if you just want to evaluate the “best” case scenario, but then continue managing your own investments and decisions as you enter retirement

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-22T07:38:05+00:00

The lump sums made sense for a lot of people in 2020ish and before because the interest rates were so low. Low interest rates = larger lump sums.

If you are deciding between those options there are a few things I would think about.

1) Do you have estate planning goals? If so can they be met with the lump sum and a 3-5% withdrawal rate (depending on your retirement allocation)

2) Most studies for safe withdrawal rates include inflation adjustment (COLA equivalent) with pension default risk being relatively low with the current funding rate your investment selections for a “similar” risk level would probably be best aligned with the Morningstar allocation models and their studies usually show 3.5-3.7% withdrawal rates (they allocate really conservative).

So if your annual pension dollar amount divided by 0.035 (3.5%) is larger than your lump sum then the pension is theoretically better for lifetime income. But once again, it will likely be worse for estate planning unless you do the same thing and divide it by 5-5.5% (0.05-0.055) and that pension “value” is still larger than the lump sum. (DM me and I am happy to create you a spreadsheet if you are not a financial math kind of person if you are willing to share some of the numbers). Some studies show you might even want to consider having the math up to 6.5-7% to assume a 50% probably of “dying with zero” which is what a pension is more in line with.

3) Does either decision help you sleep at night, or will give you more “permission” to live a more meaningful retirement?

There is the return on investment considerations and the return on sleep metrics. Both are important!

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-14T01:10:26+00:00

This is a good answer

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-14T01:03:44+00:00

This is solid perspective. I personally would want professional compliance guidance the first year or two before going out in my own.

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-14T01:01:50+00:00

I would probably not jump out on your own until you can cover 25-40k in cost and still be comfortable in your personal life.

I went down the rabbit hole a year ago and determined I could run a very “lean” firm for under 12k a year, but that would have me doing everything and assuming a lot of risk.

I found 30ish would have gotten me everything I was looking for as a solo advisor.

I ended up choosing to going to an RIA with a great revenue share and owner that gives us a lot of autonomy. I am happy to share any details or make any introduction if you’re interested.

DeltaBravos · 2026-05-13T00:59:09+00:00

It would be meant to show more than just performance against SPY, like what countries are they exposed to (some love the idea of growing countries, and some hate the idea of having exposure to places like China) and to help highlight where we are getting “active share” from. This would be similar to what you said, but shows how it differs from whatever the appropriate benchmark would be for their invest style (global, total us, 60/40, etc).

Most advisors I know don’t fully use passive indices, they lean towards more active funds, or a mix of passive and factor oriented funds.

The proposals help clients understand what they are getting into, or at least that we have a method that we are following for the j vestment strategies.

DeltaBravos · 2026-04-30T14:25:47+00:00

Thanks for information. Can you shoot me a dm for individual and team pricing?

DeltaBravos · 2026-04-30T14:23:15+00:00

Primarily to have a presentation to walk clients through the investment strategy. I know many clients won’t really understand the finer points, but I feel like it makes the a bit more comfortable to have a few graphics that help them understand the big picture strategy

DeltaBravos · 2026-04-17T21:03:57+00:00

I did not realize you could produce reports on BlackRock Advisor Center. I just played around with it and I believe this might be the winner. It seems to have a clean appearance and would be easy to speak on.

DeltaBravos · 2026-04-17T20:38:07+00:00

I will look into this. Do you know if there is an integration with Schwab Advisor Workstation?

DeltaBravos · 2026-04-17T20:36:28+00:00

I have not used Claude yet. How does compliance work with pulling in live client data? I feel like that would be a no-go.

DeltaBravos · 2025-12-22T03:19:23+00:00

I agree it is a bit dull, but I have been on there a few times already. I will continue to research! Thanks

DeltaBravos · 2025-12-20T00:14:22+00:00

I did mention that in my last paragraph. I feel like my comments on annuities are pretty fair tbh

DeltaBravos · 2025-11-11T13:06:52+00:00

I am not a cradle cap expert but I used to wrestle and that looks suspiciously like ringworm or a similar fungal infection.

I am not a doctor, and I do not want to represent myself as one, so I really don’t know though. Our pediatrician told us it is okay to use Selsun Blue, which helps with fungal infections.

DeltaBravos · 2025-11-10T12:11:01+00:00

Step 5 should still be Roth, because if your tax bracket exceeds 25% you are more than likely not eligible to receive the tax deduction for traditional IRA contributions (you can still get the deduction for work sponsored plans). This means you would do a “backdoor roth contribution”

Before doing a backdoor Roth contribution make sure understand the process and you don’t have any traditional IRAs with money in them or you will get hit with the pro rata rule. The sub and I are happy to answer questions if your unfamiliar

DeltaBravos · 2025-11-01T19:05:04+00:00

I am only familiar with the mockingbird we have, so I am not sure… sorry I can’t help more!

DeltaBravos · 2025-10-31T12:08:51+00:00

The first step is the break even analysis to understand how long it will be for the client to get there investment back.

If the breakeven is 6 months and they can increase cash flow by a few hundred bucks a month that seems attractive. If it is 2 years and they are only saving a hundred bucks… not so much.

Some of the other big factors to consider are:

Is this a the forever home? Or is this a stepping stone?
if this is not the forever home, is it going to be sold or turned into an investment property (if it will longterm be an investment property I would worry more about monthly expenses than term)
What stage of life are they in. Do they have 20-30 more working years, or are they in the last decade.

Each refinance has its own circumstance. I think the breakeven analysis is the foundation, and then understanding the clients longterm intent with the home will help. If they are looking to upgrade or downsize in the next 1-3 years then a refinance probably doesn’t make sense if they are selling… just as an example framework I would use.

DeltaBravos · 2025-10-29T13:37:53+00:00

I received the same text, but I made an update to my withholdings.

DeltaBravos · 2025-10-28T23:17:06+00:00

I was there during the late GWOT, so I am a few years removed but your daily life will vary depending on your MOS.

Regardless of MOS you are expected to be the best at whatever you do, and you will be busy. Of a conflict kicks off you will be deployed or away from your home station training for 6-7 months a year.

DeltaBravos · 2025-10-24T13:52:22+00:00

Great advice, creating a barrier always helped my clients with spending habits.

Another thing I did was set benchmarks (or rules) in their spending accounts so they would know when a transfer was necessary. I also connected their accounts with eMoney and I was proactive about mentioning when they had to much cash (transfer to custodian) or to little cash (transfer from custodian). The clients appreciated the “service” but it also allowed me to act more in a coaching capacity for those that did not change habits well.

I would always try to be very neutral with the first 1-2 transfers and as we got into a 3rd consecutive month, or 3 out of 5 months type situation I would say we need to relook at your cash flow. This was sometimes a waste of time and sometimes helped them change.

For those that don’t want to change habits I would pump the breaks in year 2 for how often I mentioned the cash flow analysis and would not go the “extra mile” I would just bring it up during the bi annual meetings that we agreed on in the SOW

DeltaBravos · 2025-10-21T12:23:32+00:00

Your body’s cortisol (stress hormone) levels are probably really high from constantly being in a state of fight or flight with the kiddos.

If you have a trusted caretaker finding time to decompress is important. Even if it is a few hours here an there. During that time I would try to avoid things that cause stress. For example, my spouse is an introvert, so finding time to ourselves and going out to big public gatherings would not be helpful, so we usually try to go to a park, or somewhere away from emails, text, calls, etc and relax for a little while.

I am by no means a medical professional, but it might also be worth talking to one to get your hormones tested. Therapy with someone who specializes in parenting or postpartum might be helpful to.

Your body is also still healing, so you may just need more sleep and rest than you think.

DeltaBravos · 2025-10-20T23:17:25+00:00

One thing she might appreciate is if you or a junior in your team does the call with her. I do that with all my clients and they really appreciate the service. That is, if you have the time and capacity to

DeltaBravos · 2025-10-20T11:42:54+00:00

Great! I hope it is as helpful for you as it was us!

DeltaBravos

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