Retirement ramblings

[TammyJ]

I can help you, Jeff! With managing your anger. I will be your Online Psychologist. For a nominal fee. No gimmicks. First Session half price if you sign up for six to begin with. Get Cool and Normal!

 

[Yvonne G]

I can help you, Jeff! With managing your anger. I will be your Online Psychologist. For a nominal fee. No gimmicks. First Session half price if you sign up for six to begin with. Get Cool and Normal!

Oh boy, Jeff Such a deal!! Bare your soul to the one who has conversations with her alter ego! Who could pass that up? (insert many smiley faces here!!!)

 

[wellington]

Oh boy, Jeff Such a deal!! Bare your soul to the one who has conversations with her alter ego! Who could pass that up? (insert many smiley faces here!!!)

I was thinking the same thing. Jeff will be talking to himself and we'll have two of them, oh no lol

 

[Cathie G]

I can help you, Jeff! With managing your anger. I will be your Online Psychologist. For a nominal fee. No gimmicks. First Session half price if you sign up for six to begin with. Get Cool and Normal!

Oh my garsh

 

[TammyJ]

I can help you, Jeff! With managing your anger. I will be your Online Psychologist. For a nominal fee. No gimmicks. First Session half price if you sign up for six to begin with. Get Cool and Normal!

Tammy, you nincompoop. See what you've done... scared Jeff away from his own thread!

 

[Cathie G]

Tammy, you nincompoop. See what you've done... scared Jeff away from his own thread!

He's probably just planning marriage shenanigans

 

[jeff kushner]

I will be your Online Psychologist. For a nominal fee. No gimmicks. First Session half price if you sign up for six to begin with.

I dunno Tammy, I had a Jamaican online psychic, Miss Cleo who I spent hours on the phone with.....
[In the late 1990s, Harris began work for the Psychic Readers Network under the name Cleo. She appeared as a television infomercial psychic in which she claimed to be a shaman from Jamaica.[8][18] Her employers' website also stated that Harris had been born in Trelawny, Jamaica, and grown up there.[6]]


Yes, I drifted from the thread..............but such a treat to come back to an offer like that Tammy('s)! LOL

We are coming down to zero-hour tomorrow. I found my plumbers pension stuff and my latest SS stuff last night. So all my paperwork is gathered and accounted for now.

Financially, I've done a lot of calculations and of course estimates of how much lower my taxes will be when I draw from funds than earning. I paid over 29K in Fed tax so far this year, I suspect that will drop substantially at my reduced income rate. good, all part of the plan to reduce my tax footprint as the game has changed. Now, the game is not earning it, it's keeping it!


I love how the Social Security shows the "bait" list which basically says;
"work 2.5 more years, get another grand every month"


Going to be a long couple of days......

 

[Len B]

Yes, when you croak(brutal isn't it?), will you plan to leave money for your kids? Some folks structure their retirement funds to benefit their kids and some set them up for max benefit now, not so much to be inherited by anyone.

There is no "right or wrong" and certainly no judgements from me but I find myself often at odds with "general thinking" so it makes me curious to hear other folks opinions and ideas and why they think that way.

I ran into this subject as I am planning to leave work. My kids know as long as I am alive, their "safety net" will always be there, but don't count on Daddy making you rich. At least that is my thinking today, it may change over time.


One of the other aspects of Retirement is duration..................how long do you expect to live? New on the scene is an AI program touting the ability to nail down the year/month you will croak....excluding injury. Do you really want to know? Financially, what if you were to take the $$ and live like a King or Queen for the 7 years it says you will live......then it's WRONG? Also it brings up the option for those who cannot afford to retire for 30yrs but know they will only live two years so they do it anyway!


There is also the 1% charged by the Fiduciary firm handling your accounts. Seems like a lot of money when their avg client is 1.4mil. 14 grand, per year to do what exactly?
I admit though....every time I've put myself against the pros in the markets over the years they beat me every time....not by much.... 2.5- 5% better than I can do on my own.....it's isn't much of a delta but it's enough to cover their costs.



General mindset
I've never much worried about it since I really never envisioned myself in this position but now the chickens are coming home to roost aren't they? I will know in the 22nd if I can actually afford to retire or how much of my savings I will have to burn through if I choose to....we are going to see the $$ guy next Friday to learn how to funnel the various funds from my various jobs into usable income at this point. We will soon see.....LOL

Obviously I have not invested much time or effort into "making money for retirement". You have to understand where this comes from because I don't think that I'm a stupid person, I may be one of conviction though. I have hated money my whole life....I see it's evil, it's attraction and the bad things folks do to get it but we won't delve there now. So with that kind of thinking, I admit to being lax in seeing to it that I was well covered, now we'll see if I did "enough" w/o SS.

The 1 year goal is to sell my home in April or May, pay hers off with the proceeds to avoid Capital Gains and be able to cover all our costs on my income so when Kerry and I marry in March. Her money/income/pension is to be hopefully all separate and our "mad money" fund. SS would simply be a bonus if I'm really lucky. We'll see how it all plays out though.

If not....then what? Well, Kerry and I are getting married in March so I'll likely still retire and begin moving stuff and getting ready to sell my home..............and burn though some savings. I may only be in the red till my home is sold in 6 mos provided the market doesn't tank again but I can't control that so I don't worry too much.

SS kicks in 6-8 months from now when I'm at full-retirement age. I will get the max $$ tier benefit and TODAY it's enough to live comfortably on .....but I imagine in 20 years, it may only buy a doz eggs. I'm sure we have plenty of members who have lived with that scenario sadly I'm afraid.

It's cool.....I have faith that things will all work out................LOL


Life sure is fun...........like Gump's "box of chocolates"............


For me "Retirement" is;
It's very scary, a little overwhelming with all the things that need to be done but very exciting too! I think if I can convert a little more of that fear into excitement, I'll be ok. I keep pretty close tabs on my mental state so I don't go off the rails because when you move at supermans speed, even a couple of seconds off of the rails can have you in a real ugly mess!!



I know a bunch of you guys are further down this road............................I will appreciate any insights you share....

My insight is don't fear the unknown future. You'll be getting the pension from local 5 and SS benefits to boot. I retired in 2002 before my 52 birthday. I knew I couldn't get SS for years but it was the right thing for me to do at the time. I got to spend more time with my wife just doing things we enjoyed doing together before she died.

 

[jeff kushner]

I love that Len, you put you-guy's fun over $$. We seem to get into this system where we are always chasing the next $1000 or 10,000. There's no end if you get sucked in. I'm really happy that you didn't! It gives me support to know that this is quite do'able! Thank you Len, I'm used to trusting my gut.....but boy it's been tough to have faith in it this time!

We have so many things that we want to do and we just like being in the same house so I can't wait. The "goodbyes" on Sundays are only getting harder and harder. We both thought they would get easier but it's not how it is.

I put my #5 card on the shelf after only 17 years back in the 90's when I moved into more senior management so my pension from them is very small. It was supposed to go 100% to my ex but somehow when I got the paperwork to sign, it split it 50/50. I think my end is gas or appropriately, "burn one" money @ $420 a month. My other funds should replace what's missing though, well that's the question will it? I won't move to collect SS till July at the earliest so it really is going to be going from Feast to Famine.....from a paycheck each week, to the equivalent of one per month but it's ok, I don't get too twisted over money and the one will cover things.

My housing costs will disappear in April-June when I sell this one and my savings is 2 yrs solid. The math is actually pretty good....I'll find out later today what reality is. I want to sell this house and pay off the other mortgage but of course I want to do it intelligently so as not to pay unnecessary fees.

I'm naturally an optimist......it's only hard at this point to contain the excitement till it's "real". No one including me wants their hopes dashed.....so we try to keep from getting TOO hopeful.

Life sure is interesting though. Most of us remember thoughts and perspectives we had as children. As a kid, I envisioned "getting old and retiring @65 to a big party & gold watch" and going quietly into the night on a rocking chair.

LMAO.....it ain't turning out that way at all.....better, lots, lots better, even though I'm a year late!

 

[jaizei]

My housing costs will disappear in April-June when I sell this one and my savings is 2 yrs solid. The math is actually pretty good....I'll find out later today what reality is. I want to sell this house and pay off the other mortgage but of course I want to do it intelligently so as not to pay unnecessary fees.

In the other thread you said she bought her house 4ish years ago; if she got a good rate then and because of the current interest rates, depending on specifics, the profit from your house could make more than the interest on hers if it was invested or maybe even just put into a CD. idk about state taxes but first $250k profit isn't taxed fed.

 

[Cathie G]

My insight is don't fear the unknown future. You'll be getting the pension from local 5 and SS benefits to boot. I retired in 2002 before my 52 birthday. I knew I couldn't get SS for years but it was the right thing for me to do at the time. I got to spend more time with my wife just doing things we enjoyed doing together before she died.

Yes. Sometimes the only decision you can do is to follow your heart. Love gives back more than you can give. though. even if it's just memories.

 

[Len B]

I love that Len, you put you-guy's fun over $$. We seem to get into this system where we are always chasing the next $1000 or 10,000. There's no end if you get sucked in. I'm really happy that you didn't! It gives me support to know that this is quite do'able! Thank you Len, I'm used to trusting my gut.....but boy it's been tough to have faith in it this time!

We have so many things that we want to do and we just like being in the same house so I can't wait. The "goodbyes" on Sundays are only getting harder and harder. We both thought they would get easier but it's not how it is.

I put my #5 card on the shelf after only 17 years back in the 90's when I moved into more senior management so my pension from them is very small. It was supposed to go 100% to my ex but somehow when I got the paperwork to sign, it split it 50/50. I think my end is gas or appropriately, "burn one" money @ $420 a month. My other funds should replace what's missing though, well that's the question will it? I won't move to collect SS till July at the earliest so it really is going to be going from Feast to Famine.....from a paycheck each week, to the equivalent of one per month but it's ok, I don't get too twisted over money and the one will cover things.

My housing costs will disappear in April-June when I sell this one and my savings is 2 yrs solid. The math is actually pretty good....I'll find out later today what reality is. I want to sell this house and pay off the other mortgage but of course I want to do it intelligently so as not to pay unnecessary fees.

I'm naturally an optimist......it's only hard at this point to contain the excitement till it's "real". No one including me wants their hopes dashed.....so we try to keep from getting TOO hopeful.

Life sure is interesting though. Most of us remember thoughts and perspectives we had as children. As a kid, I envisioned "getting old and retiring @65 to a big party & gold watch" and going quietly into the night on a rocking chair.

LMAO.....it ain't turning out that way at all.....better, lots, lots better, even though I'm a year late!

Have you factored in the cost of health insurance after you both retire? I ask because it doesn't take long to run up a very large bill. With Betty's surgery and hospital stay the total bills were over $240,000 almost a quarter million.

 

[Yvonne G]

Have you factored in the cost of health insurance after you both retire? I ask because it doesn't take long to run up a very large bill. With Betty's surgery and hospital stay the total bills were over $240,000 almost a quarter million.

I was lucky in that my health insurance continues to be paid by my employer

 

[Len B]

I was lucky in that my health insurance continues to be paid by my employer

That's great, Mine comes out of my pension but it's only $56 a month and it picks up everything medical. Even paid every penny of Betty's bills. If I have a medical expense the only bill I have is paying the Medicare deductible each year since it's my primary.

 

[jeff kushner]

Ya'll know I used to do math for a living right? My numbers were within 25 dollars of his numbers but I don't know finances, just costs.. It was nice to hear someone else that does that finance stuff for a living, lay it all out where Kerry can see as well b/c she is the "worrier".

Yes I can retire comfortably,...and the only one that doesn't know it already is "work" LOL

WHEW!

I have enough that I could elect not to take SS till 70, gaining another 1000 per month BUT after doing the math, I'm better to take it in July. Here's why....from July till I'm 70 I would collect 134,500 in benefits. To get that back @ 1000 per month is 11.6 years! I wouldn't even break even till 81.5 years old! So I will absolutely take SS in July because I'm not stupid.

My home had several Capital improvements in the past year which will push the 250K deduction higher, but I think she only owes 240 on this house so it would work out. It also doesn't matter if we're married or not. Good point on taking the dividend from investing the profit on my home against her sub3% mortgage J...that's smart!


Kerry and I went into town early to go to the Tavern to run our open house idea past them, they were cool with it....wow, it's all working out.....we can have our Family for the ceremony, a sit down meal then open the doors for everyone to come by for the afternoon.

I'm still pinching myself........