Preparing for Retirement Income

Real estate is usually a good investment. Don't know if I'd be in to the landlord scene again, but it can pay.

Retirement income is where you find it. The last ten years have been rocky in a few areas, it took a while to recover from a few years ago. Our funds are "diverse" to say the least. Some here and some there. I don't have one big "basket" by design. The wife has gov't. retirement and for the last 15 years I've been shoving handfuls into a couple or IRA interests and some real estate.

Retiring and "feeling comfortable" about is probably a trick. My whole life I have been accustom to earning and socking it away. Now that it's time to draw from it make me a little uneasy...but I think I'll cope. 😉

I have been looking at retirement options lately and decided to keep working, as I can't come up with a good plan for all the free time. If I had to fish everyday, it would become a job. I have decided that I want a position where I am just surveying. No proposals, invoices, marketing, budget analysis, hiring, firing, or other business functions. In other words, spend each day doing what I love and retire from the business. This will probably mean less money, but I would actually enjoy what I am doing and I don't need as much money at this stage in life. Another benefit is for each year up to age 70 that you defer, your monthly SS check increases by about 8% per year. A few generations ago a man would work until they could not and then put on their Sunday shirt and sit on the porch and wait for the undertaker. I know that many people retire and have a productive and enjoyable time. I congratulate everyone who is able to do this; however, retirement at 65 or 66 is not for everyone.

My standard answer to "When are you going to retire?" is "Three days before my funeral."

As long as I enjoy enough of what I'm doing I'll probably still be doing it. Haven't worked for "the man" in nearly 30 years so there is no company-sponsored retirement plan out there to spend. It's all been socked away a little here and a little there. Pretty much everything could be turned into dollars within a few months or less if the need was absolutely essential. Grew up "doing without" so it's difficult, even now, to spend money on myself.

I have too much in real estate, but it's been a very nice ride. The bottom could fall out someday I suppose. The goal is that nearly all of it pass to the next generation. But, something like injuries from an accident, developing a debilitating disease or some horrible family issue could change all of that.

lmbrls, post: 376909, member: 6823 wrote: I have been looking at retirement options lately and decided to keep working

until

Holy Cow, post: 376911, member: 50 wrote: Three days before my funeral

Of course I am only 46 now, and am facing 10 straight years of college payments for 3 kids starting this fall. I only have about $17k in IRAs that have been stagnant (I mean NO growth) for a long time now. So since I have been charging twice as much and working half as much, I like to say that I am "semi-retired" now, I just have about 40 more years to go.

[USER=197]@Brad Ott[/USER]

Let them earn their degrees on their own, Brad. It's pays off in so many positive ways. Well, unless you are paying them to go somewhere else so when they do embarrassing things, like most all college students do, it won't get back to your friends and neighbors and make you look bad. I think that's the number one reason for parents paying for their kids higher education.

Brad Ott, post: 376915, member: 197 wrote: until

Of course I am only 46 now, and am facing 10 straight years of college payments for 3 kids starting this fall. I only have about $17k in IRAs that have been stagnant (I mean NO growth) for a long time now. So since I have been charging twice as much and working half as much, I like to say that I am "semi-retired" now, I just have about 40 more years to go.

None of my business but If you are 46 and only have 17K saved for you, then you better get a contract signed by those kids to pay for your retirement in exchange for you paying for their college! my 2 cents, Jp

Brad Ott, post: 376915, member: 197 wrote: until

Of course I am only 46 now, and am facing 10 straight years of college payments for 3 kids starting this fall. I only have about $17k in IRAs that have been stagnant (I mean NO growth) for a long time now. So since I have been charging twice as much and working half as much, I like to say that I am "semi-retired" now, I just have about 40 more years to go.

You need to get onboard with a professional investment advisor today! And you have way more than 46 years to go - your life expectancy may surprise you. You need to do something right now unless you plan on moving in with your kids when you do retire...

Brad Ott, post: 376915, member: 197 wrote: Of course I am only 46 now, and am facing 10 straight years of college payments for 3 kids starting this fall. I only have about $17k in IRAs that have been stagnant (I mean NO growth) for a long time now

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/worlds-9-most-affordable-places-132700908.html&apos ;">Just Sayin'

Brad Ott, post: 376915, member: 197 wrote:
Of course I am only 46 now, and am facing 10 straight years of college payments for 3 kids starting this fall..

I am 37 and have 3 kids to put through college starting in about 5 years. I plan on paying half. I figure that way they have a head start at least but with the responsibility of paying part.

Income required for "retirement" can be a vastly variable amount.

I have a buddy that has maintained the 4 bedroom castle (by the golf course) he and his wife purchased over twenty years ago when the kids were all in MS and HS. It's just them now. He and his wife have 4 vehicles at the house (not including the motorhome). He draws US military AND civil service retirement. I get a little tired of him complaining he can't make it on his "fixed" income. I don't have any idea, but I bet between his two retirements he's got probably 7K in mailbox income. His biggest problem is his wife and her credit cards. I have no mercy or sympathy for his so-called woes. One of his sons got married recently in Hawaii and he complained about the plane ticket prices....

I wish I could talk him into a good regular poker game.

I on the other hand have a modest home that's paid for and "monthly" expenses are fairly minimal. Ever little thing is taken care of here and that makes me a happy camper. If I had his retirement I would be stuffing 6K a month in Mason Jars.

Retirement requires a lot more planning than money. If you are able to retire and maintain the lifestyle you enjoyed while working you're a lucky and smart individual. If I had my buddy's motorhome I'd probably be living in it. B-)

Paden's post reminds me of the saying: you don't get rich by making a lot of money. You get rich by not spending it.

Retirement planning consists of two big questions/ If you don't have at least an approximate answer to both, you aren't ready to retire.
What am I going to do with my time?
Do I have enough money to live that way for as long as I might live?

I was fortunate to work for one company and its successors for 34 years and get one of the old-fashioned pensions that few employers nowadays provide. And I have no problem being entertained, between helping at the arts venue, church repairs, playing music (or trying to), participating in a writers group, following this forum, reporting benchmark recoveries, etc, etc.

I've seen people who didn't know what they were going to do, and after watching TV for a couple years they developed problems and faded away. On the other hand being retired can relieve a lot of stress and let you stay healthy. My first boss at that company retired after a heart attack when he was in his 60's, but is still active in his 90's. I had an uncle who was still vigorous and busy at 83 after being retired more years than he worked, and would probably still be with us if he hadn't accidentally ridden his motorcycle into the path of a truck.

There of course a lot of variables that you have no way of knowing, but you can guess at the impact and the odds.

I know a couple who retired at the peak of the stock market and apparently expected it to continue its rate of growth. He was a CPA and should have known the odds of that working out. They bought into an expensive retirement community, ran out of money when the stocks went down so they couldn't keep up with the expenses, and are now living on his social security with their daughter. And I know older people who don't spend all of their income from renting out a small family farm.

One big variable is what if one spouse develops problems that require a long stay in a care facility. The odds aren't high, but the impact is large. Will this prevent the other from being able to afford a normal life? I took out long term care insurance for us that will pay for up to five years for each of us and five years additional for one of us. I think it was cheap - if either of us uses it for just six months, we essentially get our money back.

Retirement's a crap shoot, but so is most of life, and you need to think of all the ways it could play out.

In addition to having a defined-benefit retirement plan from my public sector employer, I've squirreled away some money in a Section 457 plan which is somewhat similar to a 401(k) plan. Not a huge amount in the 457 plan, but it may allow me to retire earlier and it could be used to cover health care premiums. My pension should be pretty healthy if I make it that far, I have over 37 years in now and am looking at just under six years for retiring without a benefit reduction.

Having your house paid off is a major factor to retiring comfortably IMO- I paid mine off several years ago. Debt-free is good.

Bill93, post: 376953, member: 87 wrote: What am I going to do with my time?
Do I have enough money to live that way for as long as I might live?

I am as busy now as before I retired, always have plenty to do, but Most of it is on my own schedule.

I planned: starting in my early 40's my goal was to extinguish all debt, and a general down size.
It was accomplished by the time I was 54, on schedule, and I retired. I went back for a couple years to max out on my SS, and at 58 it was a done deal. Started drawing SS at 62, no regrets.

Am I really Retired? nope, but I only take the work I want, if I feel like it. and I manage my properties, but they are vacant so not too many obligations there.

Increase Income? I buy a lottery ticket once a year, if I remember

I'll have 2 kids in college (hopefully) in 14 years or so, when I'll still be a few years away from "full" retirement age. 401k is doing okay. I keep a good chunk of it in a "guaranteed" (aka safe) fund so I'm not making the most I could, but I don't panic when the market goes down either. I also just increased the amount put into the 401k to close to the max, I think. The house should be paid off about when the kids go to college if we don't accelerate payments more than we are now. When my dad died, he left me enough that I was able to start accounts for the kids' education plus pay off my 2 401k loans. Partner just got a substantial raise by switching jobs within our company. We're doing pretty good, and it probably still won't be enough to quite maintain our lifestyle as it currently exists. No car loans, but do have some repairs/upgrades on the house coming.

Side note on the kids education:
A big thing in California is to go to community college for 2 years (hah!) then switch in the Cal State or UC systems. I have a few problems with that including the fact that it's crazy difficult to finish with all classes in 2 years due to scheduling and capacity then you may not be able to immediately transfer immediately. Also, the courses are not often as rigorous as what you would get at the 4 year school and that can seriously put you behind in your major coursework. I'll be doing my best to get them out into a 4 year school, rather than do the cheaper, and slower, community college route. That'll be more expensive, of course, but I think it'll be better for their prospects and careers over time.

With both parents in the GIS field, they may follow in our footsteps. I'll certainly discuss surveying with them too!

My suggestion for young folks that are starting to think about retirement:

Don't just think you only need money to retire. Look around, talk to people that are retired. Compare what they are experiencing and try and decide what would keep you happy...and be realistic and honest with yourself. Once you think you might have a "target" on the horizon, steer toward it.

And steady as she goes. We all know what happens when you try to alter your course quickly...and there is no one there to holler "Jibe ho" to warn you of what is fixing to knock you off the deck.

I had an older co-worker once-upon-a-time that retired while I was working with him. He had made his entire career as a licensed party chief. This was back in the day when grandfathered licenses were all over the place like tree frogs. I don't think he had made all that much money in his career.

His idea of retirement was to travel, fish and sightsee. After raising kids his wife and he had a small frame house that was paid for and a "new" 1980 Ford pickup with a camper. And travel they did. He was on the Gulf in the winter and in Canada in the summer. They spent a month or two each year coming back to their little house and "roosting". He was a happy man until the day we shut the lid on his casket.

And although at the time I wasn't conscious of my admiration of his situation; over the years I came to appreciate his simplistic approach to his retirement. He had lived within his means his whole life, and he retired within his means. He kept himself happy, healthy and busy until the end.

To find the "secret of life" one doesn't have to seek a sage on top of a mountain in Tibet. You might find one in a "Travel Time" cabover camper at a KOA somewhere.

I guess the point is that you want to be able to retire, even if you don't want to retire. Reality is that you may have to retire, due to health or other issues.

Bill93, post: 376953, member: 87 wrote: Paden's post reminds me of the saying: you don't get rich by making a lot of money. You get rich by not spending it.

Retirement planning consists of two big questions/ If you don't have at least an approximate answer to both, you aren't ready to retire.
What am I going to do with my time?
Do I have enough money to live that way for as long as I might live?

I was fortunate to work for one company and its successors for 34 years and get one of the old-fashioned pensions that few employers nowadays provide. And I have no problem being entertained, between helping at the arts venue, church repairs, playing music (or trying to), participating in a writers group, following this forum, reporting benchmark recoveries, etc, etc.

I've seen people who didn't know what they were going to do, and after watching TV for a couple years they developed problems and faded away. On the other hand being retired can relieve a lot of stress and let you stay healthy. My first boss at that company retired after a heart attack when he was in his 60's, but is still active in his 90's. I had an uncle who was still vigorous and busy at 83 after being retired more years than he worked, and would probably still be with us if he hadn't accidentally ridden his motorcycle into the path of a truck.

There of course a lot of variables that you have no way of knowing, but you can guess at the impact and the odds.

I know a couple who retired at the peak of the stock market and apparently expected it to continue its rate of growth. He was a CPA and should have known the odds of that working out. They bought into an expensive retirement community, ran out of money when the stocks went down so they couldn't keep up with the expenses, and are now living on his social security with their daughter. And I know older people who don't spend all of their income from renting out a small family farm.

One big variable is what if one spouse develops problems that require a long stay in a care facility. The odds aren't high, but the impact is large. Will this prevent the other from being able to afford a normal life? I took out long term care insurance for us that will pay for up to five years for each of us and five years additional for one of us. I think it was cheap - if either of us uses it for just six months, we essentially get our money back.

Retirement's a crap shoot, but so is most of life, and you need to think of all the ways it could play out.

Bill - you are dead on with regards to having LTC insurance, nothing will eat up savings faster. I respect my children enough not to saddle them with taking care of me when I can't...

lmbrls, post: 376975, member: 6823 wrote: Reality is that you may have to retire, due to health or other issues.

AMEN...

lmbrls, post: 376975, member: 6823 wrote: ...Reality is that you may have to retire, due to health or other issues.

"Keep in mind that while the road of life may be steep at times, you can still enjoy the journey. It's all in how you look at it.

[MEDIA=youtube]hr0rDW5j1KU[/MEDIA]