re: Retirement Account Goals?

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Must be a lot of variance state to state on pricing etc. My wife and I are in NM and we go through the state ACA called BeWell.

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yup. especially on private plans. i think they are all state specific.

as far as the ACA,

Every state has an Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, but they are run differently. Twenty states and Washington, D.C., run their own fully independent state-based marketplaces. Other states use a hybrid model or rely on the federal platform at HealthCare.gov.

how did you get premiums that low? zero reported earned income? only capital gains and qualified dividends? what if you trade? you just don't trade using a taxable brokerage? only use retirement accounts?

I'm curious how to use these loopholes. had i bought through ACA my cost would have probably been double what i pay.

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Compounding interest is a helluva drug

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Yep. That’s why a lot of people work and save to a big number at 60-65.

Then they think “I worked my whole life for this, I still kind of enjoy my work, and you’re telling me if I work another 6 to 8 years I can double my total net worth?”

Then they hit 70 and have that same conversation again.

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Then they are dead in less than 10 years by current averages. I understand the people that "love" their job, but there is so much more to life than working. When financially able, quit working and start living.

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I agree. For a lot of people, a lot of lawyers and doctors and such, they killed off that logical part of their brain decades before.

They don’t know any way to function other than to keep working. Very sad.

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Yep. That’s why a lot of people work and save to a big number at 60-65. Then they think “I worked my whole life for this, I still kind of enjoy my work, and you’re telling me if I work another 6 to 8 years I can double my total net worth?”

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If start sooner (eg, 25yo) with auto/consistent investing through working career years, that “60-65” can be 50-55 or sooner.

Master of the obvious point…but if young people really took advantage of compounding interest (time!), their future selves would have significantly more options and potential time in retirement.

Can get that double or triple mindset earlier with more runway length behind it.

That extra row of seats in that oversized SUV in their 20’s costs them more than they realize. Jaded me.

I had set out to have 3m by 55 with the intention of retiring then. I’m 50 and sitting at 2.4 but have really changed my outlook on retirement. I love what I do and have plenty of time to enjoy life outside of work and have started spending more money on things with the family (nice vacations hunting trips and and plan to help them financially)
Both my kids are doing good and will be better off financially than I am so I’m planning to enjoy some of the money with them now instead of waiting to leave it to them or being to old to enjoy it.
One of the biggest changes was I saw several friends work till retirement and and die right after or before, I decided on a more balanced approach and really started focusing on my health and have made a 100% improvement the last 3yrs. I joke that I was on pace to have enough money to live to 99 but my health had me checking out at 65!!
Don’t be afraid to pivot, life changes!!

Financial independence as quickly as possible is the North Star. I hope it allows me to enter a completely different phase of life with my children while they are still at home.

There are several good retirement planners out there that you can do yourself, and I’d recommend doing it yourself. I’ve found Fidelity to be the best I’ve encountered. I retired in 2017 at 55 and still piddle with some minor income consulting stuff but mostly living on corporate and municipal bond yield and now SS for dinner, wine and bourbon budget))

I’m heavy into real estate with 2 homes and 400 acres in SW MS and a bayou place on Bayou Terrebonne. At some point hopefully in the distant future, I may liquidate some RE when it gets too much to frick with.