Comments on: Our Early Retirement Plan: My Wife’s Plan (Part 3)

By: carol stanley

carol stanley — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:49:26 +0000

Better check with your wife before making new comments…However I like the limo idea…and Iwould love to be in her taxi driving around tasting fabulous wines…Great idea.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:56:16 +0000

which uniformed service are you talking about?

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:55:07 +0000

amendment to my previous post #10: the point about having to be in the service is if you only have 6 years after 9/11/2001, because you have to commit to 4 additional years of service. However, if you serve 10 years, you can transfer then. since you have 15 years to use upon service termination, you can transfer to spouse or dependent(s) only if you have the 10 years total service after 9/11/2001.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:53:22 +0000

Sweet. Unfortunately, for now, we are still excluded since my wife is in one of the military uniformed services that was not written into new bill. There’s something afoot to change that, but it looks like it need some kind of amendment for us to take advantage.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:33:54 +0000

if she serves 10 years after 9/11/2001, and you have a kid before she retires at 20, you can transfer the benefits to the kid and the kid has unlimited time to use the benefits.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:23:18 +0000

I did not mention CBS/REDUX, because it is a bad deal compared to the High-3; moreover, if she doesn’t finish at least 20 years, she owes pro-rated of the $30k CSB.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:14:47 +0000

In looking at it again, it seems that that "Transferability is limited to those currently serving in the military and will likely be used as a retention tool." (link) Since we don't have children yet, it would seem to require my wife to work another 20 years or so for this benefit (unless I'm reading it wrong). It doesn't seem that this would be helpful for us, she would have to give up her goal of retiring after 20 years of service.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:34:00 +0000

Thanks for the correction. I had read this but really didn’t want to go into that level of detail. There’s also a “REDUX” election system that looks like it could complicate things.

The “9/11″ GI bill is something we’ve never heard of. I’m definitely going to have to see what the education benefits are, because she would be eligible for that I believe.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:18:05 +0000

a little correction: retirement pay is based off of the average pay of the last three years of service. also, every year over 20 years, you get 2.5% increase in retirement up to max of 75% total.

you also have to make grade. the key is to make major otherwise high chance she will be booted out before 20, normally at 19. this is presuming she’s an officer in the military.

if she does wear a uniform, she is also eligible for the new “9/11″ GI bill. Serve at least 10 years after 9/11/2001, she can transfer those ed benefits to you or your kids. This is one of the best benefits that congress has passed lately, and i’m amazed at how many military people do not know about it still. takes a load off of your mind about how you are going to help contribute to a kid’s education, if that is something you believe in.

By: Mary@SimplyForties

Mary@SimplyForties — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:53:40 +0000

Let me just say, in all sincerity, if your wife starts a business chauffeuring tourists around the Napa Valley, let me know about it! The only reason I haven’t been yet is because I know I don’t want to drive myself. I promise my girlfriends and I won’t be obnoxiously drunk – just fun! On the other hand, drunk people usually tip better than sober ones. Just a thought!

By: jane doe

jane doe — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:13:26 +0000

Rental properties can be a royal pain. First, there are the rising property taxes. Then there are the repairs, etc. So the money you get in rent each month is partly– and maybe a a large part– spoken for.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:59:41 +0000

In some ways, her decision to stay in for the 20 years actually just kicked off the first 1% of my retirement plans. I suddenly realized that she could retire at 44-45 and I’d be retiring 20 years later if I went with the traditional plan. It’s what pushed me to start this website to learn how to create other income streams (with some degree of passivity). Ironically this is the biggest one for now, but I’m starting to grow others that are close.

I really am too lazy to do the ROI and ROE’s on the rental properties. They were intended to be our homes – not bought for income. However, with a big promotion to move across the country the decision was either try to sell at a loss or rent them out and break even. When those are your choices, calculating the ROI or ROE isn’t productive.

It’s close enough to break even that it is insignificant to our overall plans. I’m treating them like social security, a bonus on the plans that I already have. If they turn out to be something significant, then it just gives us that much more wiggle room.

By: Mr. ToughMoneyLove

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:36:37 +0000

It appears that 75% of your retirement planning was complete when wife decided to stay in the military for the full 20. Also, I don’t see any analysis of the rental properties – I’m guessing that your ROI and ROE on those properties is poor but you are either too lazy (no offense – its true to your name!) to figure that out or you don’t really care because everything else you are doing is in good shape. Me – I would not want to have money poorly invested in something now just because it will pay a supplemental income in 30 years. That is particularly true if the investment takes work and carries non-investment risks, like rental property does. So, what is your ROI and ROE on that property?

By: Stacey

Stacey — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:41:37 +0000

When I was working in a pharmacy during college, there were a lot of part-time pharmacists with our retail store. Many had strict requirements (i.e. they wanted to work 2-3 days per week, and no more than 4 hours per day), but the company wanted to keep them happy and met their needs.

As long as there is a pharmacist shortgage, your wife should be able to find a job on her own terms, earn a decent paycheck, and still have plenty of time to enjoy early retirement. Good luck!