good coastFI calculator

[Lordosis]

Forum members here track quite conservatively as a whole. I would safely say most of us will pass on millions instead of die broke because of the fear of SORR and want to be on the 99% certainty of all those MC calculations--- which translates to millions left over on a $200,000 annual budget based on the averages.

We realize this and now that I broke 50, finally started the glidepath with going 0.89 cFTE -- first time not full time in career. the horrors!

I think I could cut back hours and maintain a similar level of income. Unless you are always jam packed I bet you can too. I imagine it really will not start making a financial impact until I get down to a .7 or so. But it will make the work time harder squeezing in more in less time.

I am starting to think it would be better to start this cutback earlier say at 40 rather than at 50 or so as I previously thought. But do it more gradually. We will see. Something to mull over.

[billy]

A few thoughts based on the responses both here and in private

1- Thank you all for your responses. I wish I realized last year that I actually hit my coastFI #, I wouldve taken a leave from my job to spend more time with my wife while she was healthier, but I was always "saving" time for when she really needed it until it was too late. Inevitably, we will all struggle with time vs work/money, its human nature I think. Not the original point of this post, but over the last few years I've switched priorities from FIRE/make as much as I can to CoastFI, and having enough.

2- It's taken a while but I've become more comfortable with having "enough". I've already been asked if I wanted to go to a full call position at my job, and politely declined. My chief knows my financial status and views on life, so there's no pressure there, but others in my group are so confused that I am turning down a lot of money by refusing to take call. (for the record, I was initially hired as a daytime position, so never was a calltaker here despite multiple requests). I've also turned down requests from a friend to work saturdays for one of the surgicenters that he covers. Time's our most precious commodity, not money. And if you have enough, why work more just to have more? I'd like to be more like Joe Heller referenced above. During covid I read a book on stoicism that referenced "enough" also. I dont want to die the richest person in a graveyard. I also dont want to be reliant on SS/die broke.

3- regarding the calculator etc- Most here probably lean conservative in their numbers. I do. I purposely ignored SS, and already told you guys I ignored my nyc pension and nyc retirement assets. Those are two built in hedges, along with the ability to pick up more shifts whenever I want once I pull the trigger to cut back even more. Plus the ability to cut back on spending when needed. As long as we all are flexible, we (everyone on this site) will be fine. I cant say the same for some of my co workers unfortunately.

4- why coastFI and not FIRE? FIRE was leading me to the road to burnout. Then my wife's diagnosis led to me wanting to cut back anyway. Then I learned about coastFI and it just fits me. Also, now that I'm with no wife, and no kids, work provides a social outlet and a sense of purpose. Not enough to make me want to work every day for the rest of my life, but enough that once or twice a week sounds nice when I'm ready to cut back even more. If my wife had been miraculously cured, this would've been the next step (while moving somewhere near a beach). I'm not like POF or WCI with a second job (the websites) to fulfil that purpose. But I have enough travel goals and hobbies that I'll be fine with a few days to myself/week. When the urge comes (its not here yet), I'll pull the trigger and cut back even more. And now I know I can, and I suspect a lot of us younger members here can also, we're just too afraid of unknowns. I will say its easier as an ER anesthesia rads dr bc we are shift specialties to hedge against those unknowns by knowing we can just pick up more shifts.

[Tim]

Forum members here track quite conservatively as a whole. I would safely say most of us will pass on millions instead of die broke because of the fear of SORR and want to be on the 99% certainty of all those MC calculations--- which translates to millions left over on a $200,000 annual budget based on the averages.

We realize this and now that I broke 50, finally started the glidepath with going 0.89 cFTE -- first time not full time in career. the horrors!

Old habits are hard to break. $200k is not exactly eating dog food. Wife just ran me out to check on some pots for the pool area and replacing some cushions on pool furniture. This was her third time shopping and two returns. Her “internal dilemma” was like $10 bucks per pot and per cushion!
Yet, it’s my job to say, “It’s okay, which do you like best?” Six cushions and a couple of pots later, she can complain about some plant prices. My return is a nice dinner, some wine and a dip in the spa. Life is as complicated as you make it. Life is good. No reason to sweat the small stuff.

[JBME]

Most here will oversave. Personally I’m glad to read older posters and how they wish they cut back sooner. No one on their death bed ever said they wish they had spent more time working or making more money.

40 and my wife cut back to .90. Might go .80 next year. We’re coast FI and still saving over 20%

[Tim]

Most here will oversave. Personally I’m glad to read older posters and how they wish they cut back sooner. No one on their death bed ever said they wish they had spent more time working or making more money.

40 and my wife cut back to .90. Might go .80 next year. We’re coast FI and still saving over 20%

The only ones that wished they had cut back sooner are those that pass quickly.
https://www.rbcwealthmanagement.com/...-in-retirement
What is missing is the assumption that a combination of Medicare and insurance will cover it. The vast majority of healthcare expenses are an unknown. Percentage wise, if you plan for it, someone will inherit it. No way to forecast the expenses. Steve Jobs couldn’t, but he could afford it. An unsolvable equation.

[FIREshrink]

Most here will oversave. Personally I’m glad to read older posters and how they wish they cut back sooner. No one on their death bed ever said they wish they had spent more time working or making more money.

40 and my wife cut back to .90. Might go .80 next year. We’re coast FI and still saving over 20%

CoastFI - why not quit entirely? My wife is quitting this year. Marginal tax bracket 35%, plus FICA equals 42%. She has other interests.

[JBME]

CoastFI - why not quit entirely? My wife is quitting this year. Marginal tax bracket 35%, plus FICA equals 42%. She has other interests.

Cant quit entirely because of current expenses. They are a lot with three kids and a mortgage. To me coastFI means we could spend all we make now and just rely on compound interest to get our current retirement savings to be where we need it to be when we retire.

I think once you are coastFI you can do the glide path to retirement. For us that will be a 15-20 year journey. No one wants to totally quit their jobs. My wife just cut back and she may cut back a bit more in 2-3 years. In 2-3 years I will switch to a more personally fulfilling career that will take me to retirement. If wife doesn’t want to be a doctor in 7-10 years from now she can totally change her career. But at least for now, the plan is to work. And despite not needing to save anymore for retirement we will continue to do so just because of employer matches, which are generous. So we’ll be FI sooner than we think, most likely

[StarTrekDoc]

We have different shades of FI. Lean "Beach Bum" FI, Regular FI, Fat FI, Burger FI. IMHO, Coast FI is status that you've crossed the FI line, but haven't quite gotten to the point of wanting/needing to hang it all up.

As folk have reviewed, it's hard to know where the dividing line of 'making hay' balances out between that and burnout on the income side while the uncertainties of expenses abound in the 30s-40s with debt/house/family/travels.

Can't say enough about what's preached here: create an ISP early and develop a roadmap with reasonable goals and mile markers.

We were fortunate to be ahead of that plan to allow wife to hang up her stethoscope when the kids were in middle school and now that they are nearly 20s and mostly known pathways, able to start that glidepath along our Coast FI status.

Strong proponent of modifying household income to match the plan's needs to strike the right balance. Flaming out is the highest risk to reaching ones goals and seen it too many times -- or working so hard that there's nothing to 'retire into'.

[Dont_know_mind]

A few thoughts based on the responses both here and in private

1- Thank you all for your responses. I wish I realized last year that I actually hit my coastFI #, I wouldve taken a leave from my job to spend more time with my wife while she was healthier, but I was always "saving" time for when she really needed it until it was too late. Inevitably, we will all struggle with time vs work/money, its human nature I think. Not the original point of this post, but over the last few years I've switched priorities from FIRE/make as much as I can to CoastFI, and having enough.

2- It's taken a while but I've become more comfortable with having "enough". I've already been asked if I wanted to go to a full call position at my job, and politely declined. My chief knows my financial status and views on life, so there's no pressure there, but others in my group are so confused that I am turning down a lot of money by refusing to take call. (for the record, I was initially hired as a daytime position, so never was a calltaker here despite multiple requests). I've also turned down requests from a friend to work saturdays for one of the surgicenters that he covers. Time's our most precious commodity, not money. And if you have enough, why work more just to have more? I'd like to be more like Joe Heller referenced above. During covid I read a book on stoicism that referenced "enough" also. I dont want to die the richest person in a graveyard. I also dont want to be reliant on SS/die broke.

3- regarding the calculator etc- Most here probably lean conservative in their numbers. I do. I purposely ignored SS, and already told you guys I ignored my nyc pension and nyc retirement assets. Those are two built in hedges, along with the ability to pick up more shifts whenever I want once I pull the trigger to cut back even more. Plus the ability to cut back on spending when needed. As long as we all are flexible, we (everyone on this site) will be fine. I cant say the same for some of my co workers unfortunately.

4- why coastFI and not FIRE? FIRE was leading me to the road to burnout. Then my wife's diagnosis led to me wanting to cut back anyway. Then I learned about coastFI and it just fits me. Also, now that I'm with no wife, and no kids, work provides a social outlet and a sense of purpose. Not enough to make me want to work every day for the rest of my life, but enough that once or twice a week sounds nice when I'm ready to cut back even more. If my wife had been miraculously cured, this would've been the next step (while moving somewhere near a beach). I'm not like POF or WCI with a second job (the websites) to fulfil that purpose. But I have enough travel goals and hobbies that I'll be fine with a few days to myself/week. When the urge comes (its not here yet), I'll pull the trigger and cut back even more. And now I know I can, and I suspect a lot of us younger members here can also, we're just too afraid of unknowns. I will say its easier as an ER anesthesia rads dr bc we are shift specialties to hedge against those unknowns by knowing we can just pick up more shifts.

Sorry to hear about your loss Billy.
I think you are right that time is worth more than money.
I struggle with balance and "enough". I've decided that I'm going to reduce my work days from the end of this year.
I've struggled with the fear that if I step off the treadmill I won't be able to get back on.
What you've written is inspiring.
There's that idea to work more now, so we have the option to work less when those who need us will really need us.
It's a bit like accumulating money for tomorrow.
Yesterday's tomorrow already is today though, so we can't let life pass us by.

[Tim]

“Strong proponent of modifying household income to match the plan's needs to strike the right balance. Flaming out is the highest risk to reaching ones goals and seen it too many times -- or working so hard that there's nothing to 'retire into'.”

Life is a game of “give and take”.
Work/life balance?
Life is not fair.
$3B+ was bet on the NCAA basketball tournament this year. Wonderful?

“ Decide what you want to accomplish and set goals
 Prepare for Obstacles and Setbacks
 Take the first step
 Review, reevaluate and revise
 Garner support and encouragement
 Maintain focus
 Enjoy! The greatest feelings of accomplishment derive from knowing you've overcome obstacles and conquered adversities to achieve your goals.”

Life is a crapshoot. But, it’s the only one you get, enjoy the journey. If only I would have known my “hunch” would have won the NCAA basketball pool or the lottery! Geez.

No easy answers, if there were the rewards wouldn’t be worth much,

[FIREshrink]

Forum members here track quite conservatively as a whole. I would safely say most of us will pass on millions instead of die broke because of the fear of SORR and want to be on the 99% certainty of all those MC calculations--- which translates to millions left over on a $200,000 annual budget based on the averages.

We realize this and now that I broke 50, finally started the glidepath with going 0.89 cFTE -- first time not full time in career. the horrors!

Congratulations!!

I imagine it's going to be the sweetest reward if the most meaningful, enduring legacy of WCI is to convince a bunch of docs to cut back their workload earlier and actually spend some time with their children, spouses, congregations, hobbies, and community service.

HI, I'm FIREshrink, and I am addicted to accumulation.