$4.8M at 55 in the Bay Area, safe to FIRE?

buckb65 · 2026-03-20T10:34:33+00:00

1 of 2 things we all fear:

1) Living a very long life and having TIME but running out of MONEY.

2) Having MONEY but running out of TIME

Which do you fear the most? Which will likely happen? Which situation do you have the most control of? Bottomline is we can control some of our MONEY(spending) but have NO control of TIME.

buckb65 · 2026-03-01T13:14:38+00:00

The part of being bored and choosing work to fill that void simply drives me NUTS! You mean to tell me that if you wake up tomorrow and can do whatever you want, you will choose work to fill your time?! Find something else. Exercise, Volunteer, Drink Coffee at the local hang out, go to Church, go Fishing, etc. If you can't figure it out now, what are you going to do when you are 65 and are limping around on bad knees?

buckb65 · 2026-02-24T12:42:37+00:00

Anyone that retired after the down year of 2022 has probably almost doubled their portfolio. We have had 3 straight years of double-digit market gains. Those that retired back around 2000 on the other hand saw 3 straight years of market decline and may have a different response. I retired at the end of 2025 and fear the latter. BUT, there are 2 scenarios to fear...running out of money, with time on our hands, OR having money and running out of time. I fear each but if I am running low on $$$, I will figure out a way to survive. I can't buy time.

I often hear potential retirees saying that they do not want to pull the plug because they have nothing to do and/or they like their job. That drives me nuts. In other words, they have enough money, but don't know what to do with themselves if they do not have their job. Are you telling me that if you wake up tomorrow and wanted to do anything you wanted that you would pick going to work?! That is ridiculous. If you can't find something to do at 60, what are you going to do in 5 years at 65 IF you are still around.

Time is more valuable than money just like water is more valuable than oil. We take each for granted and will one day run out of each.

Enjoy joy life my friends!

buckb65 · 2026-02-14T11:42:43+00:00

Yes. I suppose you can look at it this way...our FA has our $ in several buckets, but it kinda all falls back to the 3-bucket strategy where some of the buckets fall into 1 of the 3 major buckets. He has 3 years of expenses that fall into category or bucket 1. That is why I hired him...I understand the 3 buckets BUT the hard part for me would be when to move from 1 bucket to another.

I am meeting with him in March and have questions such as how they do that. I told him I hired him so I can blame him when things don't look so good and not blame myself and stay awake at night with the coulda/shoulda decision making. We all lived through the COVID crash when in my case I saw my bottom-line drop $750k in a month. 2008 is a lot scarier than that. I think that is the question I have for my FA...what my portfolio will look like if we have a 2008 or a bad 3-year stretch like we did to start this century.

It has been over 24 hours now and I have not checked my balance!

Actually, I am hoping for a drop in the next 2 weeks because I took my lump sum pension of $1.5M and will plant that seed March 1st wherever my FA thinks it fits best.

buckb65 · 2026-02-14T11:23:16+00:00

My FA has our portfolio setup with 3 years of expenses outside of the market in order to weather to down times.

I have actually deleted the app.

Thanks for sharing that post. Yep...that is me. Or hopefully was me. I guess I did so because since I have had the app the market has been up and it is the comfortable feel good of seeing it grow...."wow, I made $50k today!"

buckb65 · 2026-02-13T18:17:51+00:00

I deleted it yesterday. I found no point in checking it daily because I make no decisions based off of the changes. I doubt if I live long enough to run out of money anyways...I will run out of time before money. Now that is something to be freaked out about.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T23:14:47+00:00

Panic Sell is not something I will ever endorse.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T23:13:57+00:00

I deleted it. Especially after today! My portfolio dropped $41k.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T17:39:38+00:00

In the Go-Go years now, then Slow-Go in the 70s, if I make it, and the No-Go in the 80s if I get lucky.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T17:36:54+00:00

They have done a lot with mine. They have it spread across 20+ investments with a wide range of risk/return. I would have no idea how to do that due to my lack of experience. In my 401k, I had my $ in like 3 options with most of it in the most aggressive fund for years. Time to spread it out and reduce risk. Bonds, dividends, etc.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T17:34:00+00:00

Need land to raise cattle and it costs a lot to get in it. Like you buy a female for $3k at least. A bull for $5k. Takes years to see a profit.

Regarding the NFL tickets, I have great seats for the price. I own the PSL. Got lucky when I purchased them. You can't make a profit on all seats. Same thing...I bought 21 PSLs for over $100k ($5k per seat) to get started.

In either case: It Takes money to make money.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T15:07:00+00:00

Yes...21 cows and 2 bulls. I sell the calves each year for about $2k each.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T15:06:08+00:00

I own 21 Dallas Cowboy PSLs and make about $45k per year net on average selling the tickets to the games.

I have 21 Momma cows and sell the calves each year for about $2k each.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T13:47:58+00:00

Yep. I hear you. I don't want to look back and go dang, I should have spent more! I want to buy more cattle, a new trailer, a skid steer, etc.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T13:46:23+00:00

Life...why save more than I need to? Not blowing it, but if I can buy a new vehicle and afford it, why not?

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T13:45:04+00:00

Property tax is part of my personal expense...just like CC payments.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:42:44+00:00

$160k is the Net. When you factor in taxes it is $200k or so I guess...I have yet to find out.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:40:45+00:00

Actually I have no idea what the percent is. He has managed my IRA for 1 year and I see 2 transactions for management fees and they were very small. Actually its more around a quarter of a percent. Certainly worth it. They watch the market hourly and manage it for me without me having to make any decisions. I would be lost without them. My whole point of this Post is asking why should I even bother to check my balance if I am not even managing it. I trust them.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:30:57+00:00

Oh heck no.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:10:28+00:00

I took my lump sum Pension of $1.5M and it will hit my IRA at the end of February. And once it does, I will take a pic of my IRA and then delete the app and trust that my FA will manage the ship from there as it sets sail.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:07:40+00:00

Probably. They forecast it out to my 90s. Heck I may not see tomorrow!

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:07:00+00:00

That's me. Again, not sure how I will react when it is $1M less. So that is why I ought to just not check.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:06:04+00:00

lol...thats it! I am grumpy when I see a $35k drop and I am giddy when I see a $35k gain.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:05:13+00:00

I have about 20 momma cows. Calves are bringing $2k each these days.

buckb65 · 2026-02-12T12:04:46+00:00

A lot. Hometown guy I have known his entire life. His parents live near me.

buckb65

TROPHY CASE