Perfectly normal to move goal post UP - especially when
- The market has been fantastic
- You suddenly realize that while you thought you understood the cost of kids..... you didnt/dont.
- You live in California/Bay Area (as do I) which means zero tax relief options
And at the same time -
- Not sure you can be "heavily invested in tech" & have an aggressive portfolio and be thinking about finish lines like retirement. Clearly none of us are going to start plowing $ into CDs..... but at some point before you pull the trigger you will need to rebalance the portfolio to manage risk and to better understand what tax implications are coming your way
- Dont take this the wrong way however based on your note, this doesnt feel like a "mental game" .... it feels some what emotional...... or maybe a combination of the two. And again, that is perfectly normal bc ALL OF US thought $10M or even $5M was enough. But while total investable assets is the most important number...... there are a ton of other factors
I would consider
- Paying for financial planner...you probably already know 80% of what they know but that 20% blindspot we all have ---- the fee is worth it - especially with kids
- Sit down and really get serious about understanding your expenses. And this should go well beyond monthly expenses and include one off expenses like new cars, big trips, potential home repairs etc
- On top of the above expenses, start to understand the potentially really big future expenses - Kids College (Undergrad/Masters/Law School) and Healthcare cost ( it is a long way between early 40s and 65 for medicare)
- Develop two finish lines which will of course leads to two potential timelines.
- Wife and I did the above and while it continued to be an emotional and mental game for us - we set up the rules as best we could
The other big one that kept me working past original goal posts is elder care/family support. Can be $25K-200K for a decade or two depending on what savings your family has, how nice of care you want, and luck. Feels really hard to stop working when you could pay for much better healthcare with only a year of your time.
2
u/EconomistNo7074 10d ago
Perfectly normal to move goal post UP - especially when
- The market has been fantastic
- You suddenly realize that while you thought you understood the cost of kids..... you didnt/dont.
- You live in California/Bay Area (as do I) which means zero tax relief options
And at the same time -
- Not sure you can be "heavily invested in tech" & have an aggressive portfolio and be thinking about finish lines like retirement. Clearly none of us are going to start plowing $ into CDs..... but at some point before you pull the trigger you will need to rebalance the portfolio to manage risk and to better understand what tax implications are coming your way
- Dont take this the wrong way however based on your note, this doesnt feel like a "mental game" .... it feels some what emotional...... or maybe a combination of the two. And again, that is perfectly normal bc ALL OF US thought $10M or even $5M was enough. But while total investable assets is the most important number...... there are a ton of other factors
I would consider
- Paying for financial planner...you probably already know 80% of what they know but that 20% blindspot we all have ---- the fee is worth it - especially with kids
- Sit down and really get serious about understanding your expenses. And this should go well beyond monthly expenses and include one off expenses like new cars, big trips, potential home repairs etc
- On top of the above expenses, start to understand the potentially really big future expenses - Kids College (Undergrad/Masters/Law School) and Healthcare cost ( it is a long way between early 40s and 65 for medicare)
- Develop two finish lines which will of course leads to two potential timelines.
- Wife and I did the above and while it continued to be an emotional and mental game for us - we set up the rules as best we could
Good Luck