Thank you for covering this stage of early retirement! My wife and I are in our early 50's, and she has been retired for 4 years. The plan is for me to leave at 53...and our financial planner has told us many times that we are perfectly fine to "retire" now. I know the numbers state that everything is well over our target, but I'm still nervous to "pull the trigger!"
You’re welcome! It’s challenging to feel comfortable enough to make the decision to retire that early even if you know you have the portfolio to support it.
James, wonderful video! Concerning Roth conversions, I've started to wonder if it isn't better to convert a smaller amount while in a higher tax bracket than what may become a HUGE amount later in a lower tax bracket. I would love to see you do a Roth conversion analysis that addresses that, and get your take on how to determine the best way to proceed with various portfolio balances, ages, and time horizons.
Regardless of the amount, ideally you’re doing it at a lower relative tax bracket. There are many factors to consider which can make that difficult, but you bring up some good points.
Thanks for the anslysis, especially how to segment the time periods. We plan to have periods of higher and lower income needs, even as we also plan to transition from depending mostly on portfolio to more on pension and social security.
Mental accounting. Maybe better chance of letting that later bucket ride through down markets if you mentally account for it's not needed until later in life.
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