Test Driving Early Retirment
Hi, Mrs Y here.
Mrs Y is now officially unemployed since Friday. Bad news? 50% truth to it. Until I land my next job, our savings and cash balance growth will slow down a bit. However, there is definitively an upside to this. During my job search, it will give me some time to feel how early retirement will be like.
Honestly, when I walked out of the door of the building for the very last time, I felt relived. It wasn't a bad gig, but I was looking for more respect in some ways. Oh well, it is all in the past now. I am about to reach 30 in two months. Our goal of early retirement is targeted at 45, if not earlier. Our net worth is going the right direction, especially with stocks reaching all time highs this past Friday. That gives us another 10-15 years. However, the recent "bad news" allowed me rethink the goals we have. We might be able to push that target to a much earlier date.
For the next few months, I can be more focused on things I haven't had time for during the time I was working. :) Here are a few things on the top of the list.
401K Rollover
Since I will be no longer employed with the company, I am given the choice to move my 401k money. Luckily, I am at this point 100% vested. Yay!!! My current 401k charges a $30 maintenance fee as well giving a very, very limited choice of funds. By limited, I mean about a total of 10 funds (mostly target funds). Last time, when I moved to a new job, I rolled my 401k into Fidelity as most of our other investments were there. Now this time, it will be moved to Vanguard. The reason of choice for Vanguard definitively deserve its own blog post. So stay tuned for that.
Re-examining Personal Finances
Even though I am a trained finance person, I haven't been looking at our personal finances that closely. (EDIT by Mr. Y: Mrs. Y has never looked at our personal finances since we got married). It is time to re-examine our investments choices of Mr. Y and use what I actually learned in school and past experience to hopefully improve the investment performance and push us a little closer to our goals.
Cleaning Out Junk
Since we moved into our house two years ago, we have been buying and accumulating. Don't worry, I didn't buy anything at full price. (One gold star for Mrs. Y here). It is time for a big clean up. Clean out anything we had before we bought the house and no longer use. I am thinking donating most of the stuff. Probably 90% is going to be old clothes from my college days.
I have a much longer list and I am looking forward to my days of unemployment, even though I will be actively seeking new ventures.
I will keep updating my status on those few todo items. I always believe that everything happens for a reason. Being laid off sounds horrible, but it has a bright side to it. The sun will still be bright and sky will be blue. Here I come, unemployment.
401K Rollover
Since I will be no longer employed with the company, I am given the choice to move my 401k money. Luckily, I am at this point 100% vested. Yay!!! My current 401k charges a $30 maintenance fee as well giving a very, very limited choice of funds. By limited, I mean about a total of 10 funds (mostly target funds). Last time, when I moved to a new job, I rolled my 401k into Fidelity as most of our other investments were there. Now this time, it will be moved to Vanguard. The reason of choice for Vanguard definitively deserve its own blog post. So stay tuned for that.
Re-examining Personal Finances
Even though I am a trained finance person, I haven't been looking at our personal finances that closely. (EDIT by Mr. Y: Mrs. Y has never looked at our personal finances since we got married). It is time to re-examine our investments choices of Mr. Y and use what I actually learned in school and past experience to hopefully improve the investment performance and push us a little closer to our goals.
Cleaning Out Junk
Since we moved into our house two years ago, we have been buying and accumulating. Don't worry, I didn't buy anything at full price. (One gold star for Mrs. Y here). It is time for a big clean up. Clean out anything we had before we bought the house and no longer use. I am thinking donating most of the stuff. Probably 90% is going to be old clothes from my college days.
I have a much longer list and I am looking forward to my days of unemployment, even though I will be actively seeking new ventures.
I will keep updating my status on those few todo items. I always believe that everything happens for a reason. Being laid off sounds horrible, but it has a bright side to it. The sun will still be bright and sky will be blue. Here I come, unemployment.
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