At what age do you plan to retire/have already retired?

[BeachGuy23 512]

8 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

I have paid for the care of my wife's grand mother and her mother. Also my mother and a sibling.  Last year my mom passed.  Her care cost me $120,000 her last year.  The bills for the others were less but substantial at the time.  I have a fear or respect for the dangers of healthcare bills.  I have pretty good insurance but healthcare can eat savings in a big hurry.  

Sorry to hear about the healthcare issues your family has faced but there's no guarantee they'll repeat for you.

People retire and live happy lives for decades on just social security.  Unless catastrophe strikes, you'll be fine.

Don't take SS until as late as possible and use that as your elder care cushion.

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

4 minutes ago, BeachGuy23 said:

Sorry to hear about the healthcare issues your family has faced but there's no guarantee they'll repeat for you.

People retire and live happy lives for decades on just social security.  Unless catastrophe strikes, you'll be fine.

Don't take SS until as late as possible and use that as your elder care cushion.

I had a bit of money squirreled away to cover me until I reach my presumptive social security full retirement age. I am not yet tapping into the principle i mentioned. It has been good to see the Bidenflation storm pass, a bit and to see the markets recover and even grow.

[IGotWorms 3,315]

21 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

I have paid for the care of my wife's grand mother and her mother. Also my mother and a sibling.  Last year my mom passed.  Her care cost me $120,000 her last year.  The bills for the others were less but substantial at the time.  I have a fear or respect for the dangers of healthcare bills.  I have pretty good insurance but healthcare can eat savings in a big hurry.  

You could look into supplemental insurance, like long term care insurance etc. I don’t know much about how well that works it and whether it’s worth the premium, but that’s probably your only real solution here. Otherwise you just hope for the best and come to terms with the fact that someday you could end up in a Medicaid facility. Not likely for you but could happen to anyone but the mega rich

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

1 minute ago, IGotWorms said:

You could look into supplemental insurance, like long term care insurance etc. I don’t know much about how well that works it and whether it’s worth the premium, but that’s probably your only real solution here. Otherwise you just hope for the best and come to terms with the fact that someday you could end up in a Medicaid facility. Not likely for you but could happen to anyone but the mega rich

Blood Sweat & Tears

[porkbutt 861]

49 now. if i can make to like 55-60 working real job im good. but i won't retire...i'll go work a fun remedial job...telling everyone to fock off if i want.

 

hey fock off.

[Horseman 1,514]

25 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

Good question. Food, gas utilities.  Doesn't seem it should be too much but it always is.  My wife likes to spend on decorating.  Seems things like sofas and dining sets need to be changed when they are out of style, not when they are worn out.  Also I am told we may have to fund a dance studio for my youngest.

 

In the end there will be enough money for my life expectancy.  Whether there is enough for my wife depends on her spending habits.  Frankly we should easily be able to get 175,000 every year from the money i have plus social security.  it ought to be enough but inflation is the killer.  The value of that money will be halved ina dozen years or so, and then again in another dozen years or so.  When do we start eating the principal instead of harvesting the interest, who can say? 

A couple things.

1 - By all accounts you have way more than you need for your spend.  But, all you have to do to figure out your spend it to track it.  After a few years you get a really good feeling, for example mine includes 10K to 15K a year for things like you mentioned (sofas, kitchen remodel, hot tub) so I know that's already baked in.   You can also add in bigger spends like a dance studio if it's one big payment or a known amount spread over several years.  Ideally you'd know this before retirement to prove to yourself you have enough although I'd bet it doesn't matter in your case.

2 - It's hard to tell, but, you should have it invested to account for inflation.  Investments can always outperform inflation if done correctly, over the long run. You change your investments to take advantage of things that do well when inflation is high and vise versa.

3 - You absolutely can say when you'll start eating into principle. Yes inflation is variable and unknown, but you can choose a rate that is conservative if you're worried about that.  Not having to ever tap into the principle, based on all the knowns described above, is called the cross-over point. And all that is taken into account in an accurate cash flow analysis.  

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

2 minutes ago, porkbutt said:

49 now. if i can make to like 55-60 working real job im good. but i won't retire...i'll go work a fun remedial job...telling everyone to fock off if i want.

 

hey fock off.

I thought I could be one of those Walmart greeters or maybe a school bus driver .  Maybe the guy who sits in the gatehouse for a state park and waves people with passes on their windshields on in.  

[cyclone24 1,814]

What are some of you guys taking into account on place to retire?
 

Like what is most important? Make sure it’s a ranch? Weather do you want to place like the villages where there’s a lot of activities or do you want to get away from everybody?

[Horseman 1,514]

2 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

I thought I could be one of those Walmart greeters or maybe a school bus driver .  Maybe the guy who sits in the gatehouse for a state park and waves people with passes on their windshields on in.  

Home Depot for 25 hours a week or whatever the minimum is to get benefits would be my fall back.  Spending time explaining to people why they can't just install a bigger breaker in the electrical panel when their Christmas lights keep tripping.  OR the guy that tells you you're good to go tee off on #1.

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

4 minutes ago, Horseman said:

Home Depot for 25 hours a week or whatever the minimum is to get benefits would be my fall back.  Spending time explaining to people why they can't just install a bigger breaker in the electrical panel when their Christmas lights keep tripping.  OR the guy that tells you you're good to go tee off on #1.

An excellent one, especially on ladies day.  I could break out my Carl Spackler voice.  'your lean and your mean and your not too far between."  "You're a monkey woman"

[jerryskids 5,206]

5 minutes ago, cyclone24 said:

What are some of you guys taking into account on place to retire?
 

Like what is most important? Make sure it’s a ranch? Weather do you want to place like the villages where there’s a lot of activities or do you want to get away from everybody?

I already live in a retirement destination (Phoenix), and two of my kids still live here, so I can't imagine us moving.

We dabble with getting some property up north to escape the summer heat, but to date we have lived by the credo "rent your toys," so we just occasionally get a VRBO/AirBnB for a weekend.  My son's (pretty serious) girlfriend's family has some property in Williams, about 30 minutes west of Flagstaff.  If they end up married, I could see some momentum to getting some land there.

So to answer your question in a round-about way:  proximity to family would be the main driver for us to get a second home.

Now that I say that, with my third kid in Manhattan, a nice beach house on Long Island or the Jersey shore sounds good.  I'm sure they are cheap!  

[Kopy 491]

I'm a Union worker. So between a late in the year birthday. Plus, all my vacation, sick days, personal days that start over every new calendar year. I'm looking at 60 and a half.

 

[jerryskids 5,206]

14 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

I thought I could be one of those Walmart greeters or maybe a school bus driver .  Maybe the guy who sits in the gatehouse for a state park and waves people with passes on their windshields on in.  

I live next to South Mountain park; I've thought about becoming a park ranger, walking around with an awesome day-glo green shirt and flirting with errrr... helping young ladies find the right trail (to my house).   

[cyclone24 1,814]

6 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

I already live in a retirement destination (Phoenix), and two of my kids still live here, so I can't imagine us moving.

We dabble with getting some property up north to escape the summer heat, but to date we have lived by the credo "rent your toys," so we just occasionally get a VRBO/AirBnB for a weekend.  My son's (pretty serious) girlfriend's family has some property in Williams, about 30 minutes west of Flagstaff.  If they end up married, I could see some momentum to getting some land there.

So to answer your question in a round-about way:  proximity to family would be the main driver for us to get a second home.

Now that I say that, with my third kid in Manhattan, a nice beach house on Long Island or the Jersey shore sounds good.  I'm sure they are cheap!  

Yeah it’s weird you have to take into account so many things. Are you OK living away from your kids and grandkids. Do you rent if you’re only gonna stay a couple months to get out of the weather? Like we’re so busy we don’t have time for a ton of friends and get together, so initially we’re like we’re probably just stay somewhere away from everyone anyway but then it’s like well shoot it’s just gonna be me and you kid what are we going to do every day? Lol.

it’s something I’m really mentally worried about for a couple reasons. One like I mentioned that’s the end of kind of your watch as a parent a little bit because your kids are old enough to be on their own. It’s also kind of the last stop on the train before it’s all over. Definitely something I’m concerned about mentally. 

[IGotWorms 3,315]

3 minutes ago, cyclone24 said:

Yeah it’s weird you have to take into account so many things. Are you OK living away from your kids and grandkids. Do you rent if you’re only gonna stay a couple months to get out of the weather? Like we’re so busy we don’t have time for a ton of friends and get together, so initially we’re like we’re probably just stay somewhere away from everyone anyway but then it’s like well shoot it’s just gonna be me and you kid what are we going to do every day? Lol.

it’s something I’m really mentally worried about for a couple reasons. One like I mentioned that’s the end of kind of your watch as a parent a little bit because your kids are old enough to be on their own. It’s also kind of the last stop on the train before it’s all over. Definitely something I’m concerned about mentally. 

Just enjoy the ride. None of us get out alive.

If you want best case scenario I’d check out the book Younger Next Year. Basically it does not have to be a long slow horrific decline. But even then, it’s a cliff and then death, because the only certainties are death and taxes.

[porkbutt 861]

25 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

I thought I could be one of those Walmart greeters or maybe a school bus driver .  Maybe the guy who sits in the gatehouse for a state park and waves people with passes on their windshields on in.  

im in NJ where dudes still pump gas for people. something like that would be ideal. definitely something with interaction with people...but just so i can tell them what retards they are and no care if i get fired. the more places i can get fired from the better.

[Fnord 1,141]

16 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

I live next to South Mountain park; I've thought about becoming a park ranger, walking around with an awesome day-glo green shirt and flirting with errrr... helping young ladies find the right trail (to my house).   

Love South Mountain. Had a lot of fun there when I lived in Tempe in the mid 90s.

I'm the opposite of Horseman, I don't pay nearly as close attention to my retirement as I should, but based on what my very talented financial advisor tells me, I should be good at 60, assuming no big health issues and depending on college for the kids (12 and 7). 47 now, so about 13 more years.

My plans for retirement are to fock off. I might get some sort of fun part time job, we'll see.  I love to travel and am pretty good at doing it in ways that limit expenses. Most of my favorite destinations would involve camping anyway. I plan on exploring the US, there's still a handful of states I've never visited and I want to have all 50 under my belt before I die. Natural, non-commercial hot springs are my jam, along with mountains and desert terrain. I will spend a LOT of time out west. Hoping to get out there for a 2-3 week roadie in the next couple years. @Jerry's Kids and @RaiderHaters Revenge will probably receive some meet up requests when I finally manage to get it organized. 

[Maximum Overkill 645]

3 minutes ago, porkbutt said:

in NJ where dudes still pump gas for people

"WE DON'T PUMP OUR GAS, WE PUMP OUR FISTS". 

[RLLD 3,455]

I think it will depend.  I really enjoy what I am doing now, but then again I could pick a number of others things to do instead.  I am thinking that I make work until something like 57-60, but even then I might setup something else to do.....

I was even considering taking some classes in marine engine repair.   When we try to get engine repairs on the boats its always waiting....because those guys are just overwhelmed.  They set their own schedule and you wait for them, thats it.... so I could make some spare change, hang out at the docks with people I know and like, drink maybe half the day....just have fun

Part if it might be making sure to have some health care for as long as possible.

[MDC 5,892]

Lot of people retiring early in Biden’s economy! 

[Maximum Overkill 645]

7 minutes ago, MDC said:

Lot of people retiring early in Biden’s economy! 

Is there early retirement for Fluffers like yourself? 

[MDC 5,892]

35 minutes ago, Maximum Overkill said:

Is there early retirement for Fluffers like yourself? 

Never. When you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.  

[Cdub100 3,381]

15 hours ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

 work at the post office for fun and IYKYK,

 

I don't know. Tell us.

[jonmx 1,591]

2 hours ago, BeachGuy23 said:

 

Don't take SS until as late as possible and use that as your elder care cushion.

You really can't give blanket advice on when to start SS.   Generally, if you wait a year your monthly check will go up 6-8 percent.  That sound good, but you will also recieve 12 fewer checks.   It will take you 12 to 13 years before you break even by waiting.  So the break even point for waiting between starting at age 62 and starting at 63 is when you turn 75.  And that is not even counting the fact those 12 checks will reduce what you have to take out of your other retirement which is invested in the market.  

So if you are as healthy as an ox and have other savings to carry you for a few years, most definitely wait to start withdrawing SS as long as possible (67, 68, 69 or 70) 

But if you have health issues and you doubt you will make it past 75 or 80, you are better off starting to withdraw earlier.   

Personally, I am targeting starting SS at 65, about three years after I retire.  That optimizes my retirement through the age of 80.  After 80, I probably won't be so active, so extra money is kind of meaningless.    

[jerryskids 5,206]

2 minutes ago, Fnord said:

Love South Mountain. Had a lot of fun there when I lived in Tempe in the mid 90s.

I'm the opposite of Horseman, I don't pay nearly as close attention to my retirement as I should, but based on what my very talented financial advisor tells me, I should be good at 60, assuming no big health issues and depending on college for the kids (12 and 7). 47 now, so about 15 more years.

My plans for retirement are to fock off. I might get some sort of fun part time job, we'll see.  I love to travel and am pretty good at doing it in ways that limit expenses. Most of my favorite destinations would involve camping anyway. I plan on exploring the US, there's still a handful of states I've never visited and I want to have all 50 under my belt before I die. Natural, non-commercial hot springs are my jam, along with mountains and desert terrain. I will spend a LOT of time out west. Hoping to get out there for a 2-3 week roadie in the next couple years. @Jerry's Kids and @RaiderHaters Revenge will probably receive some meet up requests when I finally manage to get it organized. 

Sounds good!

We live right by the east end of the park, by Marcos de Niza parking lot.  Tons of different trails weave around that area -- just yesterday I walked along the golf course from what you may know as the Pointe (now called Arizona Grand).  Have to go west a little to get the higher, 1000+ foot climbs, but there is enough up and down nearby to stay in shape.  Also I sometimes ruck with a 45 pound plate to make it harder.

Wife and I like to travel as well, and we like to explore different places, which is another negative for getting a second place.  

To your Horseman comment, I am like you.  I have always lived within my means, which has gone through wide ranges over my life, without spending much effort to budget -- I just have an internal radar about it.   

[Pimpadeaux 2,266]

2 hours ago, Engorgeous George said:

I have paid for the care of my wife's grand mother and her mother. Also my mother and a sibling.  Last year my mom passed.  Her care cost me $120,000 her last year.  The bills for the others were less but substantial at the time.  I have a fear or respect for the dangers of healthcare bills.  I have pretty good insurance but healthcare can eat savings in a big hurry.  

This is why a big part of what I do is long-term care. We're partnered with AARP, and I'm one of a handful of what is known as an A2O agent, meaning I watched a bunch of boring AARP videos to qualify to represent them. So when someone calls or goes online with AARP to inquire about long-term care, the contact information gets sent to me or another A2O agent. There must not be many of us, because I get leads from all over the state. Sometimes I get two or three a week.

The sad thing is that by the time they get to me, they've usually got something that makes them uninsurable, and these policies are not easy to get. The decline rate for applications I submit is like 60-70 percent, which pizzes me off, but I kind of get it because long-term care is focking expensive. The AVERAGE in my community is like $80,000 a year, and the average stay is three years. Long-term care is the No. 1 destroyer of retirement assets. 

Thank God I got a long-term care policy on my mother-in-law almost a decade ago. She's into late-stage Alzheimer's and soon will need that policy once her management becomes too much for her husband.

[Pimpadeaux 2,266]

2 hours ago, IGotWorms said:

You could look into supplemental insurance, like long term care insurance etc. I don’t know much about how well that works it and whether it’s worth the premium, but that’s probably your only real solution here. Otherwise you just hope for the best and come to terms with the fact that someday you could end up in a Medicaid facility. Not likely for you but could happen to anyone but the mega rich

There are a number of routes you can go. The policies I write usually have a daily benefit of $100-$150, a three-year benefit period and an inflation option known as CPI offers. They get a letter in the mail every year asking whether they want to increase their benefits based on whatever inflation did.

They're definitely worth the money, considering how expensive long-term care is, and statistic show that like 60 percent of us are going to wind up in long-term care. If paid through a business account, the premiums are tax-deductible.

The least expensive policies come with a stout deductible and a co-pay.

The ones I usually write don't have a co-pay or deductible.

I usually run those up the flagpole along with an application for a universal life policy that has pretty robust long-term care rider. The death benefit basically service as a return of premium and then some. If I slap a return-of-premium rider on a regular long-term care policy, it focking doubles the premiums. Also, once the policy is paid off, there is 80 percent of premiums paid sitting in cash value. 

I write both policies because they're underwritten differently. I've had people get approved for one and not the other. 

The optimal time to get a policy is late 50s through early 60s. The earlier you get one, the less the premiums and higher percentage chance of approval. 

 

[Horseman 1,514]

1 hour ago, jonmx said:

You really can't give blanket advice on when to start SS.   Generally, if you wait a year your monthly check will go up 6-8 percent.  That sound good, but you will also recieve 12 fewer checks.   It will take you 12 to 13 years before you break even by waiting.  So the break even point for waiting between starting at age 62 and starting at 63 is when you turn 75.  And that is not even counting the fact those 12 checks will reduce what you have to take out of your other retirement which is invested in the market.  

So if you are as healthy as an ox and have other savings to carry you for a few years, most definitely wait to start withdrawing SS as long as possible (67, 68, 69 or 70) 

But if you have health issues and you doubt you will make it past 75 or 80, you are better off starting to withdraw earlier.   

Personally, I am targeting starting SS at 65, about three years after I retire.  That optimizes my retirement through the age of 80.  After 80, I probably won't be so active, so extra money is kind of meaningless.    

And if you don't need the money, you're often better off taking it early and investing it and still getting the 6-8% and that will push the break even point back until around age 90.

However one strategy for a married couple where the lower wage earner is the wife is to have the wife take the greater of hers vs half her husbands early.  Then delay the male's SS until age 70 which the wife can keep getting (at the highest rate possible) after he dies since a lot of times the woman lives longer.  

[BeachGuy23 512]

53 minutes ago, jonmx said:

You really can't give blanket advice on when to start SS.   Generally, if you wait a year your monthly check will go up 6-8 percent.  That sound good, but you will also recieve 12 fewer checks.   It will take you 12 to 13 years before you break even by waiting.  So the break even point for waiting between starting at age 62 and starting at 63 is when you turn 75.  And that is not even counting the fact those 12 checks will reduce what you have to take out of your other retirement which is invested in the market.  

So if you are as healthy as an ox and have other savings to carry you for a few years, most definitely wait to start withdrawing SS as long as possible (67, 68, 69 or 70) 

But if you have health issues and you doubt you will make it past 75 or 80, you are better off starting to withdraw earlier.   

Personally, I am targeting starting SS at 65, about three years after I retire.  That optimizes my retirement through the age of 80.  After 80, I probably won't be so active, so extra money is kind of meaningless.    

This is true, not a one size fits all strategy.

I was replying to George who has tons of assets and the guaranteed extra 6-8% he'd get from SS could cushion the long term care cost.

Good discussion boyos. 

[Horseman 1,514]

55 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

To your Horseman comment, I am like you.  I have always lived within my means, which has gone through wide ranges over my life, without spending much effort to budget -- I just have an internal radar about it.   

The best thing I had going for me was that my parents are old enough to have grown up and have parents that lived through the great depression.  My dad was a blue collar worker that saved every dime he ever earned.  He never went into debt and never bought anything, car, house, unless he had the money to pay for it outright.  So I've never been in debt, other than a mortgage for a very brief time.

The worst thing I had going for me was that my parents are old enough to have grown up and have parents that lived through the great depression.  My dad was a blue collar worker that never invested his money.  He just put it under the mattress or in the bank not making anything.  I didn't get a great start investing in retirement accounts and didn't know much about investing.  One day I woke up and realized I wasn't going to meet my goal to retire by 50 if I didn't make drastic and even risky changes.  Luckily most of what I did paid off well.  

Since then I've learned a lot and the one thing that you do have full control over is the expense for investing.  70%+ of financial advisors are trying to sell you something.  Default 401k funds likely have a high expense ratios.  Just learning enough about that could increase your return by 1-2%.

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

3 hours ago, jerryskids said:

I live next to South Mountain park; I've thought about becoming a park ranger, walking around with an awesome day-glo green shirt and flirting with errrr... helping young ladies find the right trail (to my house).   

There is a high country reservoir I go to where I have interrupted margarita time for the rangers more than once.  They don;'t even make any pretense about it. They have invited me to join them.  That could be a pretty good deal.  

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,585]

2 hours ago, Cdub100 said:

I don't know. Tell us.

thats quite ok, and I can't really spell it out

 

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,585]

3 hours ago, Fnord said:

Love South Mountain. Had a lot of fun there when I lived in Tempe in the mid 90s.

I'm the opposite of Horseman, I don't pay nearly as close attention to my retirement as I should, but based on what my very talented financial advisor tells me, I should be good at 60, assuming no big health issues and depending on college for the kids (12 and 7). 47 now, so about 13 more years.

My plans for retirement are to fock off. I might get some sort of fun part time job, we'll see.  I love to travel and am pretty good at doing it in ways that limit expenses. Most of my favorite destinations would involve camping anyway. I plan on exploring the US, there's still a handful of states I've never visited and I want to have all 50 under my belt before I die. Natural, non-commercial hot springs are my jam, along with mountains and desert terrain. I will spend a LOT of time out west. Hoping to get out there for a 2-3 week roadie in the next couple years. @Jerry's Kids and @RaiderHaters Revenge will probably receive some meet up requests when I finally manage to get it organized. 

I need to get out to AZ and visit Jerry too, wish @Bier Meister would have told me I would have popped out there

[Bier Meister 1,514]

23 minutes ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

I need to get out to AZ and visit Jerry too, wish @Bier Meister would have told me I would have popped out there

Looks like daughter will be going to ASU, so we'll have many opportunities to try 

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

4 hours ago, jerryskids said:

I live next to South Mountain park; I've thought about becoming a park ranger, walking around with an awesome day-glo green shirt and flirting with errrr... helping young ladies find the right trail (to my house).   

There is a high country reservoir I go to where I have interrupted margarita time for the rangers more than once.  They don;'t even make any pretense about it. They have invited me to join them.  That could be a pretty good deal.  

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

Put the rack back on my truck today.  Ice is not completely out at the nearby reservoir, but I intend to go for the first paddle of the season tomorrow.  I have also ordered a Storm from RMR.  A nice raft for multiple day trips.  I intend to work through a few places in Montna and Wyoming before returning to Colorado to do some backback raft runs.  

[BeachGuy23 512]

24 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

Put the rack back on my truck today.  Ice is not completely out at the nearby reservoir, but I intend to go for the first paddle of the sesason tomorrow.  I have also ordered a Storm from RMR.  A nice raft for multiple day trips.  I intend to work through a few places in Montna and Wyoming before returning to Colorado to do some backback raft runs.  

I think kayaking and rafting are cool but I freaking can't stand cold water.

I'm a bit of a bish quite clearly...

[Fnord 1,141]

43 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

Put the rack back on my truck today.  Ice is not completely out at the nearby reservoir, but I intend to go for the first paddle of the sesason tomorrow.  I have also ordered a Storm from RMR.  A nice raft for multiple day trips.  I intend to work through a few places in Montna and Wyoming before returning to Colorado to do some backback raft runs.  

Psst.

If you need some useless but entertaining company, I know a guy...

[Engorgeous George 1,176]

1 minute ago, Fnord said:

Psst.

If you need some useless but entertaining company, I know a guy...

Maybe later in the season I will tire of my own company.

[Fnord 1,141]

Just now, Engorgeous George said:

Maybe later in the season I will tire of my own company.

Fair. I enjoy doing my favorite outdoor stuff on my own as well. If you're inclined toward it and staying at the right places, you'll find some good folks to hang out with anyway.

Nights spent soaking and indulging in ones' chemicals of choice with attractive (and frequently nude) strangers ain't a bad way to spend 'alone time.'