I feel so uncertain about this - I would appreciate some perspectives from outside.
Me: 50
DH: 53
3 kids aged 13-17
We have $3.6m in assets, excluding college funds. The last two years we have been spending about $150k per year after taxes.
When I plug in our particulars into the VPW worksheet, it says if we retired right now, we can withdraw $15k per month = $180k per year. The "after loss" worst-case scenario annual number is $134k.
We're both still working, so we wouldn't withdraw $15k per month, but I'm wondering if we can loosen up and spend $20-30k more per year. Basically adding in a really nice vacation and having the ability to splurge when we want. I've applied the different withdrawal methods, firecalc, etc. and I keep coming up with we can retire right now, if we had to, but it's not with 100% certainty that we could do so at our current spend level. So I'm thinking we keep working, but if we could loosen up the budget that would probably feel better and put less pressure on wanting to retire.
It boils down to this: we don't naturally know how to think about money, and need to follow very clear rules or we will spend it all. One rule we followed was that the less you spend while accumulating, the less you need in retirement, and therefore the earlier you can retire. So I'm very hesitant to break that, but if our numbers support it, the extra budget would be amazing to have. Your opinions appreciated - can we spend more?
Me: 50
DH: 53
3 kids aged 13-17
We have $3.6m in assets, excluding college funds. The last two years we have been spending about $150k per year after taxes.
When I plug in our particulars into the VPW worksheet, it says if we retired right now, we can withdraw $15k per month = $180k per year. The "after loss" worst-case scenario annual number is $134k.
We're both still working, so we wouldn't withdraw $15k per month, but I'm wondering if we can loosen up and spend $20-30k more per year. Basically adding in a really nice vacation and having the ability to splurge when we want. I've applied the different withdrawal methods, firecalc, etc. and I keep coming up with we can retire right now, if we had to, but it's not with 100% certainty that we could do so at our current spend level. So I'm thinking we keep working, but if we could loosen up the budget that would probably feel better and put less pressure on wanting to retire.
It boils down to this: we don't naturally know how to think about money, and need to follow very clear rules or we will spend it all. One rule we followed was that the less you spend while accumulating, the less you need in retirement, and therefore the earlier you can retire. So I'm very hesitant to break that, but if our numbers support it, the extra budget would be amazing to have. Your opinions appreciated - can we spend more?
Statistics: Posted by orangesherbet — Fri Aug 02, 2024 1:49 pm — Replies 0 — Views 22