| Currency |
|---|
| United States Dollar - USD |
| Date Joined |
|---|
| 7/13/2015 |
| Salary Range |
|---|
| 100,000 - 149,999 |
| Occupation |
|---|
| Education, Training & Library Sciences |
| Age Range |
|---|
| 60-64 |
| Cost Of Living |
|---|
| Low Cost Of Living (LCOL) |
| About Me |
|---|
| Retired Georgia teaching couple who save and invest so that we can retire early and travel the world. We have a 17 year old son.. Nonetheless, we plow as much money as we can into our retirement accounts. |
| Why I Joined |
|---|
| To help people see that it is possible to build wealth on a teacher's salary. |
| Best Financial Decision |
|---|
Marrying my wife because she:
1.) is more frugal than I am
2.) makes as much money as I do
3.) agrees with me that saving and investing are VERY important
4.) is my greatest asset.
It is amazing that I did not have to pay to marry her; what a bargain! |
| Worst Financial Decision |
|---|
| My wife and I took out $45,000 to pay for three graduate degrees. However, paying them off early got us to start thinking about wealth building. |
| Current Investing Strategy |
|---|
| First, we max out all of our pre-tax accounts in the following order: 457, 403b, IRA, HSA and Coverdale ESA (no longer available). Second, we focus on keeping our investment costs down by using index funds, Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 fund and the LifeStrategy Growth fund. (The majority of our money is now in VTSAX.) Third, we live below our means. We over save, over invest, and under consume. Fourth, in 2013 we started SEPP (72t) traditional IRA distributions to provide us with income for living expenses. Last, we also strategically tapped our 457 accounts from previous employers when we needed additional income. We took out last 457 distribution in 2023. In order to keep our federal income taxes in check, we always tried to limit our income to the upper limit of the 10% income bracket. In a nutshell, that's what we did. |
| How do you manage your finances? |
|---|
| Pretty simple, we have our money (bills and investments) automatically deducted from our checking account at the beginning of the month. We live on whatever is left over. |
| What tools do you use? |
|---|
| We use the USAA Federal Savings Bank for our checking account. That provides us with an aggregation service that helps us track all of our accounts with one easy login. |
| I need financial help with... |
|---|
| I now have a fat Coverdell ESA, but my son won't be needing the money. How to unwind this account? |
| Favorite Authors |
|---|
| The Mad Fientist, my buddies Brad and Jonathan at Choose FI, big Josh at Monkey Free Me, Coach Carson, Mr. and Mrs. Groovy, and Mr. Money Mustache. |
| Favorite Books |
|---|
Cashing in on the American Dream by Paul Terhorst
The Coffeehouse Investor |
| Favorite Movies |
|---|
| Forrest Gump because it depicts an average (to below average) individual achieving incredible things in spite of his limitations. I can identify with that! |
| Website |
|---|
| https://www.millionaireeducator.com |
| Last Login |
|---|
| 7/31/2023 |
| Budget |
|---|
| This user has not created a budget |