early retirement?

John&Joey wrote:

MNGeeks61 wrote:

John&Joey wrote:
How are you setup for health care coverage? That will be the cornerstone on your early retirement plans.

I have coverage through my employer, but the Affordable Care Act might be able to assist in that regard if I were to retire. I admit that I had started a budget spreadsheet but I don't think budgeting $600 per month for health insurance is going to be enough.

IMO, no it won't be unless you have a very high deductible. Also the current assumption is the new care act will not come under fire if there is a change in government. It may look entirely different in 10 years then it does now.

I'm not trying to be mean here, I'm just not one that will lead you down the "Rainbows and Sunshine" path then off the cliff. So here I go.

When a person retires early (let's say 50) they have 30 years ahead of them. The current plan is to have two RV's in the 10 year old vintage, so in 30 years they will be 40. That's pretty darn old for an RV. So better allocate money for replacements.

Somewhere in those 30 years there will be a high probability that one will become sick and require long term care (1-2 years, i.e cancer, stroke, etc...) Where will that occur? Will either of those two places be where you want to be when one of you are in that situation. Can both of you handle that type of lifestyle while providing care for the other?

Last but not least is inflation. Your today budget could be doubled that in 10-20 years. How will your source of income provide for that. Do you have a source that will rise with inflation.

Snowbirds never talk about exit plans, but if you're going to retire early then I think it's appropriate. If the exit plan is to go back to work that's OK, just make sure you accept the high probability of not being in your field. IT is a fast moving field and your skill set in five years will be outdated. At that point you will be put into a position of interviewing for entry level jobs against college grads. Trust me, I saw that many times when we were hiring. As the person who is hiring you have to ask yourself if placing an experience person will cause more problems then it solves in the shop.

I know winter is getting long up there and it's nice to daydream at work, but my advice is to go to Mille Lac's Grand hotel for a couple of nights. Eat good, jump in the hot tub, check on your seasonal and remember spring time is not that far away and the walleye's will be hungry.

All good points worth pondering, However I have seen and worked with way too many people who worked until they died or were too ill to do much of anything or came down with a terminal illness. Didn't want to be one of them so took a bit of risk & glad we did.