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Reintro: I'm back!
Hey MMers! I disappeared for awhile because the site changed, and I didn't feel like figure it out. I think I was last here in spring or early summer. Anyways, I realized I really miss this community and I needed to come back! Here's a little update on me:
Work:
Work.....is difficult right now. I'm dissatisfied with my position; I've been given a lot of additional roles and have begun to feel undercompensated. I've also been passed over for some other opportunities due to office politics and restructuring. It's very frustrating. I've started looking at other financial institutions to see what's out there. The silver lining is that our company just announced a huge acquisition that will double the footprint. I feel like that opens up potential opportunities down the road, as the additional states we will be located in are places that DH and I would consider moving.
Travel:
We took our planned trip to Glacier NP/Banff/Jasper in late July. It was absolutely spectacular! Everybody should put the Canadian Rockies on their bucket list. I've seen a lot of mountains in the US and they just don't compare.
We have a lot of trips we'd like to take that I am budgeting for. Our 10th anniversary is 2 1/2 years out so I have a very detailed 2 1/2 year budget--my H thinks I'm crazy because I've been obsessing over it, but its the only way I can make sure we can afford it all. Here's what we have in the works:
4-day Caribbean cruise in February 2017--this is already booked. We wanted a warm weather getaway; in hindsight, I wish I would have chosen California or Arizona, as I think traveling would have been easier. It's going to be 2 days travel both directions to get to Florida. It will still be fun though.
Short trip to Washington state for DH's nephew's wedding-May 2017
Possible 4 or 5 day trip to Minneapolis for a baseball game some time in the summer of 2017--this isn't planned but we're hoping to fit it in. We like to do a baseball trip once a year.
Winter trip in 2018--I'm thinking about spring traiing in Arizona--we're Angels fans. This is a maybe.
Washington DC June 2018--This trip will be to celebrate my college graduation.
Disneyland late summer 2018--I promised my niece I would take her to Disneyland. It would be me and my siblings and niece.
10th anniversary May 2019-British Isles cruise
Budget:
No huge changes to our budget since I last visited. I paid my car off and that payment was promptly absorbed by other things. We finally got rid of our landline, which is saving about $46/month. We started a Home Chef subscription a couple of months ago, and even though it is a splurge and expensive, it has been totally worth it. Neither of us has the time or energy to meal plan. It's so nice to have 3 meals per week already planned and shopped for.
Retirement:
H is itching to retire early. He's really fed up with his work but he doesn't want to start over somewhere else. He would like to retire at 55 (six years). I think it's doable but we have to start making a plan NOW. He hasn't planned very well before we met so his retirement savings is not good. The only reason I think we could make it work is because of our age difference--I will still be in the workforce another 15 years after that, and that's if I retire at 55 as well--which is my goal. Also, our house will be paid off in 9 years. I think we might try to get that paid off in 6 now that he's looking at that as a retirement goal. Once the mortgage is paid off and his student loan, he could take a job making $25-28K per year and maintain his current spending habits without a problem. It's crazy to think about really.... Also, I will in theory be making more in six years, although that's never guaranteed. But the earnings potential in banking is pretty huge. It would be a huge leap and we are not considering it lightly by any means.
Debt:
Mortgage--$72K; we may try to accelerate the payments on this (see above)
H student loan--$8K? I have no idea. I told him he needs to look up what the balance is ASAP.
Front porch loan--$18K. We haven't been in a hurry to pay this. I know we should, since we're paying 4.5% interest on it, but we're just not. We are comfortable with having the amount of debt that we have, and using the rest of our budget for travel, and other splurges.
Anyways, I think that's most of what we've been up to MM-wise. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things with all of you!
Re: Reintro: I'm back!
I'll be interested to hear what baseball cities you go to. H and I don't have this as a travel goal per se but when it works out we like to see our team play at other semi-close ball parks. We have been to Cincinnati and Chicago so far and Detroit will happen sometime in the next few years when the schedule for our team aligns.
Welcome back! It's great to hear from you again and read your updates. Lots of great trips! Sounds like your retirement plans are on pace, awesome! An early retirement is my ultimate goal.
Since you're not happy at your current job, hopefully the recent acquisition will open up so much more opportunity for you. Especially since you all don't mind moving.
Sounds like you've got some great plans set up. My mom and stepdad are basically you and your H, reversed. My stepdad is 12 years younger than her. She retired 2 years ago, although she still works part time at her old job. He still works, and probably will for at least 10 more years. As a side note, because of their set up and her good retirement savings, they're going to be able to move out here to CO next summer and the pressure for him to find a job right away isn't that huge. He's going to be able to "retire" from his job in CA and take a $500/month pension, so between her social security and his pension they could actually live OK, without even touching her retirement savings. So when he actually gets a job, even though he'll make less here than he did in CA, they'll be in really good shape.