Hey gang. I'm about to turn 49 and my wife 44. We live in South TX. At the moment we have about $1M in retirement savings, 90% of which is tax deferred and the rest in Roths. My father retired at 55 and that has long been my goal as well, though I am very well aware that the timing is likely not up to me. Like many people, my employer is making a major effort to outsource, contract, automate, and AI as many jobs away as possible. I could get downsized next week, next year, or never. I've been there 20+ years, so severance would be sizable, but I have no interest in leaving and wouldn't do so willingly.
Every year I max out my 401k to the IRS limit and my HSA also. IRA contributions are more sporadic, depending on expenses in a given year. Other than savings, one of our major monthly expenditures ($800) the last couple of years has been monthly payments to my father to buy a 12ac lot that our retirement house will sit on. The plan is to build a small house (tiny house ideas for space efficiency, but less than 1000sq ft total) on our acreage with a portion of the equity we have in our current house, eliminating our mortgage and reducing property taxes at the same time. The lot will be paid off next year, and I plan on contributing those $ to IRAs, leveraging catch up contributions since I'll turn 50 that year.
We've had major medical bills the last 3 years (wife had cancer), but otherwise spending is largely discretionary and I fully admit that I spend to much on my hobby. This is a key motivation as to why I'm here. My wife is very frugal and doesn't care about spending money on things, of the two I'm definitely the big spender. It's a problem that I really need to resolve. I don't waste money on little things...we hardly ever eat out, I don't drink (coffee or alky or soda), we don't spend hardly anything on entertainment stuff. My hobby on the other hand...i can spend, a lot. I don't need to, but I choose to, and like I said, it's a problem. Anyway, I'm here to develop a better plan and better strategies to maximize the likelihood we'll have a long and well funded retirement. Looking forward to interacting with all of you. ?
Every year I max out my 401k to the IRS limit and my HSA also. IRA contributions are more sporadic, depending on expenses in a given year. Other than savings, one of our major monthly expenditures ($800) the last couple of years has been monthly payments to my father to buy a 12ac lot that our retirement house will sit on. The plan is to build a small house (tiny house ideas for space efficiency, but less than 1000sq ft total) on our acreage with a portion of the equity we have in our current house, eliminating our mortgage and reducing property taxes at the same time. The lot will be paid off next year, and I plan on contributing those $ to IRAs, leveraging catch up contributions since I'll turn 50 that year.
We've had major medical bills the last 3 years (wife had cancer), but otherwise spending is largely discretionary and I fully admit that I spend to much on my hobby. This is a key motivation as to why I'm here. My wife is very frugal and doesn't care about spending money on things, of the two I'm definitely the big spender. It's a problem that I really need to resolve. I don't waste money on little things...we hardly ever eat out, I don't drink (coffee or alky or soda), we don't spend hardly anything on entertainment stuff. My hobby on the other hand...i can spend, a lot. I don't need to, but I choose to, and like I said, it's a problem. Anyway, I'm here to develop a better plan and better strategies to maximize the likelihood we'll have a long and well funded retirement. Looking forward to interacting with all of you. ?