sniper's Account Talk

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Back from my trip to Sri Lanka. It's a beautiful country and possibly one of the best trips I've ever been on, up until ISIS punks started bombing churches. My gf got a little freaked out and we ended up coming home a little earlier than supposed to. Better safe than sorry, and a lot of the locals are upset there. Since the bombings there has been a shooting and a fight break out between a Muslim and Sinhalese group near the capital. Doesn't sound like a great place to be now. Disappointed that the great vacation ended sooner than I wanted it to, but glad to be back home safely. Despite the craziness, that country felt safer than anywhere else I've traveled to, and the people are some of the nicest people I've ever met. I'd like to go back someday.

Just found out I was #5 on the tracker, 2nd time that's happened, and 2nd time it happened during a time I wasn't paying any attention to the market at that time (might have been on vacation then too lol). Hoping to collect those coffee mugs like trophies before retirement

Also I guess I'm officially 'middle age', I hit 40 at the end of last month. A comedian said it best, if you can double your age and die at that age without it being a disaster, you're officially middle aged. Yup, sounds about right.
 
Anyone over the age of 18 can be an AARP member. You just don’t qualify for any of their medical related benefits until you are older. :cool:
 
Crazy 2020 year! I had a lot going on in my life, so I decided (after reading a few books especially) to go the BirchTree route and buy and hold (yeah I know, everything against what this site says haha). I stayed in the C fund throughout the crash and kept my allocations there to collect some wallflowers at golden prices, and through that bumpy ride my account has done well! I figured since I'm still 16 years away from retirement eligibility, I have way too much time left to play anything conservative.

Hypothetical question though, if you're say, 50 years old with a net worth of 2 million+, would you retire or keep working until retirement age? I always have wrestled with the idea of the scenario if you made that FU-money, to quit the actual job and possibly work in something that you always wanted to do, even if it's lower pay, or maybe doesn't even pay if you're able to live off your nest egg + passive income.

Just curious on what you guys would do. Well I'm not in that position now, but it's good to dream :)
 
sniper said:
Crazy 2020 year! I had a lot going on in my life, so I decided (after reading a few books especially) to go the BirchTree route and buy and hold (yeah I know, everything against what this site says haha). I stayed in the C fund throughout the crash and kept my allocations there to collect some wallflowers at golden prices, and through that bumpy ride my account has done well! I figured since I'm still 16 years away from retirement eligibility, I have way too much time left to play anything conservative.

Hypothetical question though, if you're say, 50 years old with a net worth of 2 million+, would you retire or keep working until retirement age? I always have wrestled with the idea of the scenario if you made that FU-money, to quit the actual job and possibly work in something that you always wanted to do, even if it's lower pay, or maybe doesn't even pay if you're able to live off your nest egg + passive income.

Just curious on what you guys would do. Well I'm not in that position now, but it's good to dream :)
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I'd retire now and I'm over a decade under that.
Assuming house and any other debt (I don't have any but if I did) was paid off, I would be comfortable with it.
Taking 2% would give me $40,000/year and, without a mortgage or other bill, could comfortably live on that. And that's a conservative withdrawal. I mean, the thing you want to do is make sure you're beating inflation, every percent is another $20,000. I'd probably be comfortable getting up to 4% by the time I was in my 50s so think of all the growth within those 15+ years.

10-12% average per year gets me another million in that time even as I'm pulling money out.

And that's assuming I don't start a business to keep me occupied bringing in some extra money. What do you call FU money when you're your own boss???
 
I look at it like this: if I have enough money to not work when I am in my 50s, I am in much better health to enjoy the fact that I am not working. I look at my mom and my dad (before he passed) and it is clear that while they are retired, their health limits much of what they can do to enjoy retirement. Had my dad retired younger, when his health was better, I think they would have enjoyed retirement more. So if I can bank enough to retire early, I will. It is clear that an aggressive strategy is about the only way for me to get there, so I am all in while the market is bullish. Even if it crashes, that just means I don't retire early and I am back to plan A, work until 63+ and retire at the "normal" time. Time is your friend in the market but not in your health. So if you can comfortably do what you want at an earlier age, grab the brass ring and get off the merry-go-round and explore the park. Just my thoughts.
 
flalaw97 said:
I look at it like this: if I have enough money to not work when I am in my 50s, I am in much better health to enjoy the fact that I am not working. I look at my mom and my dad (before he passed) and it is clear that while they are retired, their health limits much of what they can do to enjoy retirement. Had my dad retired younger, when his health was better, I think they would have enjoyed retirement more. So if I can bank enough to retire early, I will. It is clear that an aggressive strategy is about the only way for me to get there, so I am all in while the market is bullish. Even if it crashes, that just means I don't retire early and I am back to plan A, work until 63+ and retire at the "normal" time. Time is your friend in the market but not in your health. So if you can comfortably do what you want at an earlier age, grab the brass ring and get off the merry-go-round and explore the park. Just my thoughts.
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Amen.
The only resource we can't get more of is time. Use it wisely.
 
The time is short, O who can tell
How short his time below may be?
Today on earth his soul may dwell,
Tomorrow in eternity.

from "O Could I Find From Day to Day" by Benjamin Cleveland, 1733–1811
 
Everything is so good presently. Thanks for asking, but I was just piling on this thread that had a "time" theme.
 
Hey guys, sorry for the late response and thanks for the input! Yeah my dream is to retire at 50, and have the FU money to exit the workforce comfortably if I'm able. I personally don't buy the saying that people go downhill after retirement, I know for sure I'll have ways to keep busy. Especially more so when I'm in better health (Imagine I'd be healthier in my 50's than at 67+). The reason for the 2M tag is because of the cost of living in Hawaii. Median home prices here are 1M, there's a price tag for paradise lol. I already own an apartment but my fiance wants to eventually live in a house, and especially once we have kids. Although I just recently came back from a surfing trip in Panama and it's awesome, has me considering being an expat somewhere else where the surf breaks are much less crowded :nuts:

Haven't made many changes with the TSP account, been riding C until about a month ago switching to F (still there). This has to be the first time I've seen C and F go down at the same time, but because of the whole Fed getting ready to raise rates it makes sense. Probably should have went G instead, but my system was saying F. Have to follow it or else what's the sense of having one ;)
 
sniper said:
Although I just recently came back from a surfing trip in Panama and it's awesome, has me considering being an expat somewhere else where the surf breaks are much less crowded :nuts:
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I've also heard and seen some amazing value down there in central america and the Caribbean. You risk getting hit by hurricanes every year in the Caribbean, so maybe central america would be better. But yea, you can get a nice house on the water for seemingly nothing compared to the states. Amazing value if you are healthy with no kids. Not sure if it is the best situation if you have young children and/or need consistent health care / doctor visits. Certainly something to consider, depending on the location. But yea, I definitely look those places up and day dream about them from time to time!
 
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