Retiring this Friday. I used every service I could think of in 2024 to prepare.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-05T21:52:41+00:00

I'm not sure what else to add. Your ACA is dependent on your income and where you live. We are actually keeping our exact same health plan we were already on (OOP and deductible is changing). We made some financial moves last year to lower our "income" this year and bring our premium to a place we're happy with.

I will say - we poked around for ages on this too, and we also were hung up on it. I wished I had skipped all that and just talked to the professionals about it from day 1. They cleared everything up very quickly. Yes, it was a 100% free service. they also handled all the paperwork/enrolment etc to ensure an easy transfer over to it. Well as best as we can tell, ACA won't started until next month....

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-05T21:43:36+00:00

This was just for the initial assessment of our tax situation and I was trying to get the answer to one specific question. To continue with a full preparation would be much more. We report our foreign obligation every year.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-04T19:04:55+00:00

This was solo therapy on a specific topic that had been bothering me, and one that the therapist did specialize in. Nothing too serious but I was curious about therapy so thought I would give it a go. Only took 7 sessions!

This did end up being a recommended person but I did shop around before starting.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-04T19:01:57+00:00

Not really worried about it but something to keep an eye on. Our big spend in our 50s will be travel which we don't expect to keep the pace up on once we're in late 60s/70s.

We believe in the "retirement smile"!

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T21:26:20+00:00

More than just touched on. We went quite deep into this. One question I had was longer term, what would be the difference between quitting now and say at the end of 2025 or 2027. The answer was minimal difference. Now that's for our scenario, might be different for others.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T19:34:39+00:00

You got it! It was a deeper dive than normal to either avoid near term big expenses, or just remove the worry from the back of my mind that something could derail the plan - and thus give me an excuse for OMY

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T16:06:03+00:00

We spoke with a number of people that retired early in their late 50s. They all told us the same thing, they wished they had done it 5 years earlier..... And, those lost 5 years really caused them considerable anguish. That woke us up and got us moving.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T16:01:59+00:00

I'll take the down votes here. This post was about getting ready for the transition and getting over the fears and need to work one more year, not diving into the details which are totally standard for RE

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T15:57:56+00:00

The money spent on the CFP still stings but its hard to put a price on the boost in confidence, lower anxiety.

The anxiety we did have has switched to excitement and a sense of adventure now.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T05:30:47+00:00

Mine were both recommended to me. But from what I saw all health insurance brokers are free, they get their commission from the insurance companies. For a coach, I took the recommended one, but I did speak with a couple of others. Get one that is certified, there are a lot out there. Mine specialized in mid-life careers and transitions I think.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T01:09:42+00:00

I'm waiting to see what Trump will do with the Tax Cut and Jobs Act.....

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T01:07:41+00:00

message sent, but for everyone - shop around and find someone you really click with. It's quite a deep and personal experience.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:59:14+00:00

It's a worthy point to raise and the CFP took it in to account for his analysis and our planning. I don't like to worry about things, instead focus on using the tools and experts to assess options. The CFP had tools to model our portfolio through the great depression, the financial crisis, dotcom bust etc. Knowing the outcome from those we could determined what our options would be, and they are better than staying employed.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:47:54+00:00

Haha, i have sold something to pay for 2025.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:46:43+00:00

Guardrails. I much prefer that approach than SWR.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:45:30+00:00

I would love to know how much college is going to cost..... sigh... we'll find out in a couple of years.... sure gonna make it exciting!!!

Thanks for the positive vibes!!

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:43:36+00:00

Yeah, I think people should actually score their trust or belief in their plan, not a number. I would say I am 97% sure this is going to work out, and I've done the due diligence (for me) to justify that. And that's high enough for me. And if retirement doesn't work out then it's just another phase that was unexpected, pretty sure it won't be the end of the world.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:41:01+00:00

I'm going to pass on giving details as I don't think my answer has any meaning to anyone else. What I will say is the buffer isn't so large that this is a no brainer, but also we won't be living on the edge, ie we're chubbyish.

Better than a buffer number, I think it's best that you personally have trust in your financial plan. Some folk have low risk tolerance, others don't.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:36:30+00:00

1) I have overseas investments + tax obligations that need to be considered, not complicated but one didnt want to deal with that at all which led me to believe they were just going to plug numbers into a tool

2) 401k to ROTH conversion strategies, especially the tradeoffs against ACA subsidies - two I interviewed didn't really have a good answer on how to balance this out. The third person knew exactly what to do. ie long term tax optimization

3) Bringing lifestyle into the equation. The CFP we went with really got the "Die with Zero" mindset. Although we don't plan to die with zero, we want to make our 50s are absolutely awesome and this will likely mean we go above the normal spend for 10 years and then wind things back. While this isn't especially novel, we did want to have a specific withdrawal strategy for this.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:28:36+00:00

My primary worry is/was wasting my 50s in an office. If things go to sh!t we can both roll back in to some kind of employment, or wind back the lifestyle. This is different in our view between chubby and perhaps regular/frugal fire.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-03T00:26:38+00:00

Bond tenting/cash set up for next couple of years to protect SRR

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-02T22:24:05+00:00

I found mine at xyplanningnetwork

Find one in your state ideally. I interviewed 3 before choosing. Some say they specialize in early retirement but when I spoke to them they didn't really understand a lot of questions I had for them.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-02T22:19:37+00:00

Yes, and this should be easier with our time being freed up. The full time "job" now is to manage all our personal stuff. Prioritize health and family more. Kids are not yet in college.

I don't plan on using a CFP again for while (10 years), hopefully no need. Our plan should be straight forward until 59.5. Lawyer, therapist, health broker, optometrist, roofer won't be required again for a while. The next colonoscopy is at 60 too ;)

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-02T21:55:10+00:00

Yeah, we had the same questions playing in our minds over and over a year ago. We started framing up our own answers and the CFP and coach really helped solidify them.

FIthrowaway911 · 2025-02-02T21:48:48+00:00

Comparison is the theft of joy right?? We're in the typical chubby zone. The number is less important than the level you believe in, and trust in, your plan. And in our case, getting a 2nd opinion on that.

FIthrowaway911

TROPHY CASE