Feed Me Popeyes

I'm in the process of doing so.

To answer your question, look into the "Roth Conversion Ladder" as explained here. Between that and a decent balance in taxable accounts, I should have those bridge years between early retirement and 59.5 covered easily.

Other tips - focus on tax efficiency and be sure to maximize your HSA now to buffer against health care outlays once you give up your employer-sponsored care.

You will find nearly any answer to early retirement questions at one of these two forums:
LINK
LINK


Best of luck.

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the compact SUV category is overpriced, IMHO. Think long & hard about whether you need the cargo capacity, high clearance, etc before you buy. I ended up with a compact hatchback and a sedan....the compact hatch (with rear seat folded down) holds more than most small SUVs, and both cars are less expensive to insure & have way way better gas mileage than small SUVs.

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After 5 years of owning a compact SUV, I agree with all of this.

I'm planning to downsize to a compact hatchback soon. I expect to lose only about 10 cubic feet of storage, which is irrelevant 99% of the time I drive. I'll get a cargo box for the roof if I really miss it that other 1% of the time

if you are willing to invest every cent of the ~$2,500 difference in closing costs (and let that investment grow long term) AND you itemize your taxes, option 1

if you invest the difference but you don't itemize your taxes, it's a closer call but still option 1

if you won't invest, option 2

if neither, option 2

I've done an absurd amount of research on this topic for my own situation. It's quite interesting.

The 4% rule is often misunderstood. It isn't 4% of the nest egg each year. It is 4% of the amount of your nest egg in the first year, which is then adjusted every year thereafter for inflation over a 30 year period. If done correctly, you stand a 98-100% chance of having some money left over after 30 years. Asset allocation does make a difference (i.e. 98-100% is lowered if you have little/no exposure to equities)

See these for more info LINK and LINK and LINK

the 4% rule doesn't account for Social Security payments, nor does it assume you might cut back your spending in a recession - both of which would help keep a nice cushion that much more

FWIW, I plan to go with ~3.25% just to be totally safe

Assuming the price is right and there are no hidden fees, I feel good about financing pretty much anything at 0%

Option A

We are 100% pursuing this option right now.

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Be sure to contact your bank/credit card company in advance of your travel and let them know you will be traveling out of country

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this

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use his debit card at an ATM on arrival

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and this

there was a recent thread with plenty of info here: LINK

Yeah, that's about what I've found. This from IRS Pub. 970:

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To qualify for tax-free treatment, for the cancellation of your loan, your loan must have been made by a qualified lender to assist you in attending an eligible educational institution and contain a provision that all or part of the debt will be canceled if you work:

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For a certain period of time,

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In certain professions, and

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For any of a broad class of employers.

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doesn't exactly give me a warm feeling, but I suppose it's the best out there. I'll be very interested to see what happens in 2017 when the first of the PSLF participants hit their 120 payment mark.

And yes, that studentaid.gov is a government site - Department of Education. I fully indend to make that studentaid.gov page part of my appeal to the IRS should I get hit with a "tax bomb" after the balance of my debt is forgiven under PSLF.

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