went shopping with mom today and got several xmas gifts.

Started at Bed, Bath N Beyong. Got an oven liner for mom and a miniature frying pan just big enough for one or two eggs for me. Had a $5 off of $15 coupons. Total spent $22.53

Went to Hobby Lobby and got a decorative chest for mom. 50% off. Spent $53.00

Lunch at Sonic. Mom bought

Linen's and Things - got a ratchet screwdriver for dad and a foot massager thing for me. 2 20% off coupons. Total spent $17.16

Target was the last stop. Got a Tamagotchi virtual pet game and lanyard for youngest niece. On sale, total $19.19

Someone asked how much I plan to have when I retire. I've been tracking my spending for many years now. Without my mortgage, which I plan to have paid off by the time I retire, I expect to need about $1700 a month. That includs an anticipated $350/month for health care, $150/month for a car replacement fund, and $50/month for maintenance/repair of car/household items.

I figure to be safe and account for unforseen items, I need $2000/month or $24,000 a year. Then I need to pay taxes on top of that, I expect taxes to run around 10% since some of the money will be from investments, where the taxes have already been paid. So my rule of thumb is I will need $27,500 a year for the first few years of retirement.

I figure I can safely take out 4.5 - 5% a year from my investments meaning I need at least $600,000 in investments.

My goal is to have my house paid off and between $650,000 and $700,000 in investments in order to retire.

I expect to have a min $90,000 in cash/bonds at the start of my retirement and the rest in stocks. That's riskier than most investment counselor's advice, but it's a number I'm comfortable with. The stocks are diversified and invested in the following formula:

Health fund 5%
REIT fund 5%
US small caps fund 25%
Foreign fund 15%
Emerging Markets fund 10%
US Lg Cap - Value fund 20%
US Lg Cap - Growth fund 20%

Finished reading my book Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts. Romance. Very good.