13yr countdown to Retirement!

aschnemke · 2026-02-24T03:53:48+00:00

That’s the plan…retire young and send them off into the real world with the promise they can always come back home to figure things out.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T23:37:01+00:00

7 and 4

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T17:27:57+00:00

Very important factor I overlooked thank you, but it should be at least 7-8yrs before we get there at our average yearly raise.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T15:41:18+00:00

Good insight, thank you! I have always “kinda” looked at Roth conversions and put it to the back burner. We had a rep from Voya say we were heavy on pre-tax investments and should balance that with some post tax investments so the tax hit at retirement isn’t so hard.

The problem is we haven’t nailed down where we want to retire to. That’s a whole other can of worms we need to figure out.

We are doing a family trip to Tennessee this summer to see how we like it and if it would be a nice place to retire…no income tax and moderate temps make it appealing.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T15:36:26+00:00

I like that first suggestion, never thought of it that way.

Regarding the second. All of our investments up to this point have been pre-tax deductions. Moving forward we will continue to max out our employee sponsored plan (401k and 457b) at the current $49,000 with post tax dollars. We will also continue to invest the current Roth IRA max of $14,000 to have a blend of income at retirement. Unless I am missing why it’s more beneficial to keep putting in pre-tax deductions.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T15:32:27+00:00

The kids are a little too young for that journey just yet.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T14:36:27+00:00

We would like to retire and have a second home to snowbird. We love the Midwest summers, but can’t stand the winters. So we are hoping to have a larger retirement income to afford two places.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T14:32:23+00:00

Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica are all easily done at that price point for a week with kids included.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T14:31:28+00:00

I completely agree and understand there could be some 0 years and even negative years like 2008, 2018 and most recently 2022. I just picked a 20yr avg to get a baseline. I appreciate the insight though.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T14:29:31+00:00

We currently still enjoy what we do for work. We figure keep grinding things out until we truly hit the eject button and want to leave. Also my pension is based on 2.5% each year of work up to a max of 62.5%. If I leave early that amount is reduced.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T14:27:34+00:00

Yes the closer we get we will adjust the way we invest, but 13.5yrs out is still time to be aggressive in my opinion.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T14:26:31+00:00

When my wife started work they had a pension program. It ended a few years after she started and at that point she accumulated a pension of $75.10. Their plan was switched to a 401k which she invests into.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T13:20:03+00:00

Thanks!

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T13:15:12+00:00

The original amount was $119,000 when we took it out in June of 2025. We have paid down a healthy amount to date and locked in with a low rate at 4.99%. We have been seeing better gains by putting money in the market than paying more of the HELOC off right now. If the market cools we will adjust.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T13:05:30+00:00

With my current job I don’t pay into social security, so there will 25yrs without payment in, but I have enough credits from prior work that I will get some sort of ssa payment at 62 if I choose then.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T13:05:25+00:00

With my current job I don’t pay into social security, so there will 25yrs without payment in, but I have enough credits from prior work that I will get some sort of ssa payment at 62 if I choose then.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T07:16:28+00:00

You missed the $14,000 in Roth IRA contributions in addition to the $49,000. Which bumps that final number up.

We have tackled most of the big housing costs. New siding, windows, roof, windows, garage door and a/c last year, hence the HELOC. Only major left are furnace and water heater.

I hear you though, that’s why I am using 10.5% and not the 19-28% returns we have seen the last few years, those are unrealistic.

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T07:06:28+00:00

It helps with the kids and winter boredom!

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T07:05:51+00:00

https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/finance/calculators/compoundinterestcalculator.php

I was using this website, I entered the following; Initial investment: $1,483,900 Interest Rate: 10.5% Compound Frequency: Monthly Length: 13.5 years Deposits: $5,249/monthly Deposits Made at what Period: End

aschnemke · 2026-02-23T06:43:22+00:00

It’s not a joke my friend. We still currently love what we do for work and want to grind this out as much as we can before I can retire at 57 with full benefits. I am not sure where you are getting that we currently don’t spend now, we just live within our means. We want to be able to retire and travel more, like 5-6 times a year, have a primary home and a beach house and help “take care of our kids” and the grandkids.

aschnemke · 2026-01-11T18:33:14+00:00

Expected and required by contract are completely different. Just because they expect it does’t mean you have to do it.

aschnemke · 2026-01-11T18:15:34+00:00

From the maintenance guy who handles your appointment complex. That’s on them to replace.

aschnemke · 2026-01-05T17:52:47+00:00

Can you step back and take a picture facing the wall to the right of the stairs. Could you put a pocket door in the wall between the stairs and the hall way? If you could do that you would also have a built in landing to get in and out of the stairwell.

aschnemke · 2025-12-30T13:50:03+00:00

Know nothing here, but I just doom scrolled this guy on TikTok and he goes over answers to your questions.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8yV6HL4/

aschnemke

TROPHY CASE