113R | Making your Retirement Plan Bullet Proof | Tanja Hester

Published: Feb. 8, 2019, 6 a.m.

113R | Tanja Hester retired early 15 months ago and joins the show to share her experience of being work optional, Brad makes a decision about solar panels, and a review of Monday\u2019s episode with Grant Sabatier.

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  • Brad shares some updates with his car malfunctions and follows up about his solar panel cost analysis.
  • Brad anticipates a 9.6% return on his solar panel investment, compared to Brian\u2019s 12.5% return in Rhode Island.
  • Solar panels are expected to last for about 25 years.
  • Message from Dan, who realized while listening to Monday\u2019s episode with Grant Sabatier, that he is charging too little for his side hustle work, and paying too much in taxes.
  • Sales is story telling \u2013 Grant figured out how to tell his story right and understand potential client\u2019s needs.
  • A message from Ben, who feels like building relationships with recruiters is more likely to get you job options that is $10-15k, compared to the $60-80k Grant mentioned.
  • You\u2019re unlikely to get a big pay bump by staying with the same company; getting a significant jump usually requires moving jobs.
  • Maybe you don\u2019t need a budget, but you do need to know what your life costs.
  • Tanja Hester, author of Work Optional, joins the show:
    • How did Tanja change from wanting to stick with her career forever, to choosing early retirement?
    • Took Tanja and her husband about 6 years to reach early retirement.
    • It\u2019s hard to know your \u201cwhy of FI\u201d, but moving into early retirement requires some life planning.
    • After 15 months, is early retirement meeting Tanja\u2019s expectations?
    • Whether you\u2019re retiring at 45 or 65, the transition is still very similar; we all have a desire to matter and contribute.
    • What are Tanja and Mark pursuing now that allows them to contribute?
    • What things should people be considering in order to make their retirement plan bullet proof?
      • A variety of different retirement options, aside from full retirement.
      • One-phase or two-phase retirement \u2013 should you plan differently for your expenses and savings before and after the traditional retirement age?
      • Does 25x and/or 4% work for you?
      • When and how to cut your spending?
    • It\u2019s always better to over save.
    • Tanja\u2019s FI calculations don\u2019t include social security, as there\u2019s a possible it could change.
    • Most retirees spend about $300k on medical expenses, beyond Medicare.

For more information, visit the show notes at\xa0https://ChooseFI.com/113R