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What Do You Plan And Hope To Do After You Retire? (21/30) (1 Viewer)

GordonGekko

Footballguy
Direct Headline: ‘At 75, I still have to work’: millions of Americans can’t afford to retire

Michael Sainato Dec 13 2021

....Number of US workers aged 75 and up expected to increase 96.5% over next decade as some say ‘we must work until we die’....Maria Rios, 75, has worked as a food prep worker with contractor HMS Host at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport for 17 years, where she makes $14.50 an hour. Her husband, who is retired, only receives about $400 a month in social security benefits. Rios would like to retire also, but she doesn’t have the option even as she is battling ovarian cancer.....An average of 65 million Americans receive a monthly social security benefit, with majority of payments going to retired workers and their dependents..... While receiving unemployment assistance, Rios and her husband had to rely on food banks to have enough food to eat, and because she lost her health insurance along with her job, she had to skip cancer treatments until she was able to get Medicare, but still paid hundreds of dollars out of pocket for treatments.....But the grim reality is millions of Americans are working into their senior years because they can’t afford not to have a job......

....Over the next decade, the number of workers ages 75 and older is expected to increase in the US by 96.5%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with their labor force participation rate projected to rise from 8.9% in 2020 to 11.7% by 2030, a rate that has steadily increased from 4.7% in 1996....By 2040, the US population of adults ages 65 and older is expected to increase to 80.8 million from 54.1 million in 2019....As the ageing US population grows, participation in retirement plans has declined since 2000. Nearly half of all families in the US have no retirement savings at all and inequality among Americans based on retirement savings is greater than income inequality. Over 15 million adults ages 65 and older are economically insecure, with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line, with Black, Hispanic and women ages 65 and older more likely to live in poverty....With the average estimated social security retirement benefit in 2021 at $1,543 a month, even with a 5.9% cost of living adjusted increase for 2022, millions of Americans who rely on social security benefits are forced to continue working past retirement age in order to make ends meet....Nearly 9 million Americans ages 50 and older still have student debt, and the amount owed by this demographic is growing faster than any other age group. In 2015, 40,000 Americans had their social security retirement benefits garnished for student loans....The total debt burden for Americans over age 70 increased 614% through 2021 from 1999, to $1.27 trillion....

....The Fed asked respondents how they would pay for a $400 emergency. The answer: 47 percent of respondents said that either they would cover the expense by borrowing or selling something, or they would not be able to come up with the $400 at all.... found that only 38 percent of Americans would cover a $1,000 emergency-room visit or $500 car repair with money they’d saved. Two reports....found, respectively, that 55 percent of households didn’t have enough liquid savings to replace a month’s worth of lost income, and.... 71 percent were concerned about having enough money to cover everyday expenses. .... asked individuals whether they could “come up with” $2,000 within 30 days for an unanticipated expense. They found that slightly more than one-quarter could not, and another 19 percent could do so only if they pawned possessions or took out payday loans... A 2011 study .... conducted measuring knowledge of fundamental financial principles (compound interest, risk diversification, and the effects of inflation) found that 65 percent of Americans ages 25 to 65 were financial illiterates.....When asked to estimate how much money they had in retirement savings, close to half of all respondents — 45% — claimed they had no money put aside for retirement, while 19% said they’ll retire with less than $10,000 to their name. If these trends hold, that means 64% of all Americans will essentially retire broke.....

.....Generation Z and millennial respondents are the most vulnerable to retiring broke. More than half in both age brackets said they had $0 in retirement savings, with 63% of Gen Zers and 54% of millennials ages 25-34 giving that response. .... those generations were the most likely to use savings accounts as a means for retirement, and the least likely to choose more efficient investing tools like 401(k) accounts and IRAs. Neither group is making enough money to save, with 47% of Gen Zers and 37% of millennials agreeing with that statement....Over half of women — 56% — leave key financial planning decisions to their husbands....Similarly, 56% of widows and divorcees find at least one financial “surprise” (e.g., high debt, hidden accounts)....Nearly 60% of women expressed regret over not taking a more active role in key financial decisions while they were married....These trends don’t decrease with age. The same report from UBS found that 61% of millennial women are more likely to leave financial planning up to men, versus 54% of women from older generations.....

....The total fertility rate — the number of children a woman can be expected to have over her lifetime — was about 2.1 children per woman, which is the level required for long-term population stability. But since then, the rate has fallen to 1.8 in 2016, implying long-term population shrinkage....Fewer kids means, eventually, fewer young workers to support an increasing population of retirees. This will result in less money being paid into the Social Security and Medicare systems, requiring either cuts in benefits, a higher retirement age or ever-ballooning deficits. Past experience suggests that Americans will be asked to work longer..... High and increasing costs of housing, child care and education show no sign of reversing. The need for ever-higher levels of education in order to thrive in the U.S. job market is causing families to delay childbirth, which results in fewer children.....



https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/dec/13/americans-retire-work-social-security















 
Direct Headline: Straight Talk On Gray Divorce – Preparing To Go It Alone After 50

Heather L. Locus Aug 12, 2021

....Divorce after 50 - aka "gray divorce" - is becoming more common....are now seeing the highest divorce rates among all age groups in the world....Many couples married and had children later and are experiencing empty nests at home for the first time at 50 or 55, prompting a hard look at what they want out of life....With over 50% of people in mid-life today looking to live past 85, the prospect of “putting up with” someone they’ve been long married to seems less palatable for an additional 30 to 40+ years....

...Your income prospects may look vastly different at 50 than they did when you were 20, or even a few years ago. The market demand for talent is different. Your personal circumstances may make you or your spouse about ready to hit your peak earning years. Conversely, you or your spouses’ skills may be becoming obsolete, and income may be substantially less going forward. It’s critical to think through all potential future salary scenarios for you and your spouse before agreeing to final terms on paying, receiving, or waiving spousal support.... Having your nest egg cut in half magnifies your financial challenges no matter how many zeros are in your combined 401(k)s and IRAs. The more accounts you have, the more complex the options for splitting them... Your ability to manage healthcare and health insurance may present significant challenges if you won’t qualify for employer benefits and are not close to qualifying for Medicare....There are additional financial challenges if you’re financially supporting children....In cases of elderly divorcing couples, the potential for cognitive or other impairments or addictions to negatively influence decision-making can also come into play.....

....Adding to the not-such-a-big-deal case is the fact that, by and large, graying divorcees are Boomers, the generation that first turned divorce into a popular American pastime....Tinder and other dating sites have been so inundated by senescent Boomers on the make that there are now numerous websites with names like Elite Singles, Silver Singles, and Our Time just for them....gray divorcees are more likely to be “divorce careerists” than novices..... some are parents who seem to have waited to call a lawyer until the kids moved out; presumably, they wanted to keep their nuclear family intact during their children’s vulnerable years. And some divorce attorneys say they’re seeing more older clients, especially women, who say they want a divorce in order to start “a new chapter”.... More than half of older divorced people were already on their second or third (or more) marriage.....Another likely misperception is that gray divorce is more common among the very wealthy....Wealthy older couples with joint assets are more likely to stay together than lower-income and non-home-owning parents. The researchers estimated that the odds of divorce were roughly 38% lower for those with over $250,000 in assets compared with couples whose assets ranged from $0 to 50,000....22% of older women and 37% of men re-partner within 10 years of a gray divorce ....

....Fathers....increase their financial support of adult children after late divorce. Dads, especially those with some college who own their own homes, increase their support; mothers, regardless of whether they remain single or re-partner, do not give as much financial assistance... that women and children are not the only ones made vulnerable by family breakdown. Gray divorce can leave men cut off from crucial social support when they are most frail, and most in need of medical care, hospital visitors, and final reassurance of family love....“Research has focused on women and children as the sufferers from divorce, but in old age, as family relationships based on marriage and parenthood grow in importance, it is males who are at risk.....”....“Boomer” or “gray” divorce, aka divorce among people currently in their mid-50s to 70s, is skyrocketing. Over the past 20 years, the overall divorce rate.... for the over-50 age group, the divorce rate has actually doubled....An April 2021 report released by the U.S. Census Department found that 34.9 percent of all Americans who got divorced in the previous calendar year were aged 55 or older — aka, baby boomers, or people who might have gray hair (hence the nicknames). Believe it or not, that’s more than twice the rate of any other age group surveyed.....

....“As we live longer, the idea of settling in with someone for 20-30 more years becomes the motivating factor.....If one party has health issues, the other spouse may not want the eventual role of caretaker....Divorce among 50- and 60-somethings can be particularly complicated from a financial perspective given that it often occurs during a couple’s peak earning years and at a point when more significant assets may have been accumulated.....”



https://www.forbes.com/sites/heathe...ring-to-go-it-alone-after-50/?sh=fddd67d36f92


https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-aftermath-of-gray-divorce-for-men-women-and-their-adult-children


https://katiecouric.com/lifestyle/relationships/boomer-gray-divorce-increase/
 
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"I'm not retiring. I am graduating. Today is my graduation day. Retirement means that you'll just go ahead and live on your laurels and surf all day in Oceanside. It ain't going to happen....."

- Junior Seau


“These are my new shoes. They’re good shoes. They won’t make you rich like me; they won’t make you rebound like me; they definitely won’t make you handsome. They’ll only make you have shoes like me. That’s it.”

- Charles Barkley




Here is another topic that is designed to increase discussion and participation in the FFA.

I see this as an interesting topic because everyone here hopes to retire in a safe and stable manner and have some opportunity to enjoy their "Golden Years". But the overall context as to how that happens and if that can happen is rife with stress, complexity and even danger. I believe this topic is broad enough where high level discussion can be had without delving into real world public policy issues, public administration conflict and generally anything politically related.

In a very general sense, what do you hope for and possibly plan for if and when you do retire?

Do you believe you will be able to actually retire? For each person, the situation can be vastly different. If you want to share some of your perspective and first hand experience, what are the complications and conditions for that to happen, or tragically, not happen for you? What adjustments or sacrifices did you make or will you have to make to see that it happens for you?

What are the common struggles you see in others in your general social network ( friends, relatives, parents, co-workers, neighbors, old college classmates, gym buddies, etc, etc ) regarding the retirement issue? What have you learned from your own mistakes over time preparing for retirement? What have you learned from observing other people's mistakes regarding preparing for retirement?

Given some research and studies have shown many people are not financially well versed nor educated as such, do you feel you are "financially literate" in regards to preparing for retirement?

What are complications that have happened in later life ( parents and their long term care, unplanned major expenses or adult children in need, etc, etc) for you that might change your perspective or timeline for retirement?

If you are already retired, what are things that you learned and what perspective can you give to others here to help them that they might not be considering on their own right now?


If you could have a no limits / no budget / no restraint "blank check" type situation for your retirement, to go where you want and do what you want to do, what and where would that be? What is your "ideal" for this and how would you spend your days?

I'll leave this here for others to discuss. (21/30)
 
I want to take a moment to invite @Chadstroma and @Shula-holic into the thread.

Both are good solid posters, well respected, thoughtful and always have something interesting to say. Both are also well known in the forums for their experienced financial discussion and acumen. Hopefully both are willing to engage here and maybe clear up some of the money side type questions and perspectives that arise.

I appreciate both of them greatly, they are valued assets to this community.
 
The same stuff I do now - hike, climb, and ski +/- cycling, until my body fails. Board games while my mind works. And travel as much as possible.

May also do some volunteer work in the developing world, or teaching locally.

When I can’t do active stuff, gonna expand my consciousness with psychedelic drugs, which conveniently are making a resurgence.
 
I have seen it over and over through the years of looking at people's full financial picture. So many are not preparing for retirement at all. It boggles my mind how few even take advantage of 401k plans at work. And then those who do prepare tend to start very late in life and try to catch up while they missed the most important part of preparing for retirement... time.
 
I am aggressively attacking every angle with regards to retirement savings. Maxing out my Roth 401k, HSA and Roth IRAs (for DW and myself). Goal is 62. I may consider a part time gig that I can control the hours if that's even possible. I have 5+ years to go...
 
retired almost 10 years now.

I stay up late and watch whatever I want, read, and surf innerwebs

I cook, go on plenty of vacations, and enjoy family.

moved on a golf course many years ago and thought I would play golf daily when I retire ...haven't played in over 11 years and don't miss it
 
I plan to live essentially how I live now just without the obligation of work so it will free me up to do more of what I am doing now. I plan to travel the country more and hit up more sporting events at different stadiums. Golf more, walk more, etc.

I don't plan to go over board with spending and live basically at the same level I am now. I plan to retire at 57 because that will get me to the minimum retirement age for the government pension as that will give me 10 yrs in. I would like to do it sooner (and could financially) but getting that extra little bit by getting to the 10 yr mark is a nice added bonus.

I started maxing my 401K with my first real job from day 1. I continued that throughout my worklife. Whenver they increased the max I would increase to match. Wife has done the same. My only real big worry is health insurance as that is really the biggest unknown. Everything else is straightforward. Should have the house paid off in a little over a year and have one kid left to put through college (kid is a junior in HS right now). Have a nice 529 account for him already pretty healthy so it should cover the bulk. If he can get a scholarship of some sort that will help too (if you have been following the kid accomplishment thread I am hoping for some baseball money...hahahaha).

Not sure where we eventually end up as home base as California is plenty expensive even with a house paid off.
 
I have seen it over and over through the years of looking at people's full financial picture. So many are not preparing for retirement at all. It boggles my mind how few even take advantage of 401k plans at work. And then those who do prepare tend to start very late in life and try to catch up while they missed the most important part of preparing for retirement... time.
I just started at my new company last July. Been talking to some younger workers telling them INVEST.. Company matches dollar for dollar up to 6%.. Crazy not to double your investment.

They also just paid out bonuses, and also allowed us to put a % into your 401k and again matched dollar for dollar to 6%.

Found it nuts to hear some say "I have plans with that bonus ". Tried to explain that by dumping some into the 401k it would lower the amount of taxes taken out, still got :shrug:

As for original post answer, already started a vineyard, started model railroading during Covid, so will continue building on those. As well as travel around the US.
Wife HATES, flying so our traveling will be by train or car, lowering the cost.
 
I'm going to have to find an outdoor hobby that gets me out of the house and around other people. I could see myself becoming a total shut-in after retirement, and there's no way that's healthy. I'll figure something out.
Yea, I'm an introvert so other than during the winter when I go cross country skiing I already don't get out much and have very few friends to do things with.

Planning on joining a pickleball league this summer just to start getting more actively out there. :thumbup:
As long as things stay as planned, I'll be retiring in 7 to 10 years(55 right now), so time to start building some friendships that are non-existent right now.
 
Currently working full time and collecting social security. Didn't make the best financial decisions when younger so I'll probably continue working full time for another 3+ years.

Body can't do what it used to do thanks to injuries and arthritis so my plans for golf and hiking etc. are no longer realistic. I do play cards a lot right now but I'm not sure I'd survive the variance if I didn't have a full time income.

I'll figure something out when the time comes.
 
A lot of what I do now. Staying active; hiking, cycling,, kayaking, pickleball (just started this past summer). If I'm still living in NJ, then snowbirding in Arizona and Costa Rica (that could change as I visit other warm winter locations). I wouldn't mind getting a part time job at like Costco. Something like 3 days a week when I'm not snowbirding to keep me busy. Some traveling outside of the snowbirding, but not too much; something like 4 weeks a year. Maybe spend time with the grandkids if that all lines up.
 
For years we had talked about moving back to our college town for retirement so that we'd have the built in activities of going to sporting events. We lost our rental in northern California two years ago right as my daughter was graduating from high school, so we made the move then and bought a house in Eugene. We have season tickets for football, men's and women's basketball, and track & field. We went to the US and World T&F championships last year, and every once in awhile go to a volleyball/lax/softball/baseball game. Friends come to town every home football weekend and our two guest rooms are always full. We're going to a concert and a comedy show in the next few weeks. I'm on the housing board for my fraternity. I walk my dog two hours a day. The outdoor paradise that is Bend, OR, is two hours away. We travel to 1-2 away football games every year. We have access to a family cabin at the beach that is 2 1/2 hours away. And our annual budget is lower than it was not doing any of those things while living in the Bay!

So that's basically the main retirement plan, we just started doing it right before I turned 50. And I have to do all that while working 40-50 hours a week.

Other than that I grew up fishing and want to get back to that. I've been in tech sales my whole career and would like to get involved with the University to help advise start ups on Go to Market, or students who would like to get into the industry. I love hiking. I coached youth hoops for 6-7 years and would like to volunteer doing that again. And the in-laws are retired in Mexico and we haven't seen them in a few years, but they are currently building a bigger house "for us" (it's really for them, but we'll have access).

So I'll have plenty to fill my time once I'm retired. The issue is that I'm just 50 and don't want to wait much longer. My dad retired and within a year suffered a serious brain injury that robbed him of his ability to play tennis and ride his bike, two activities he was doing several times a week. My mom retired and then covid hit and they were stuck in the house for the next two years. You just never know how long you have to enjoy this life, and I don't want to spend any more time than I have to working. Hoping by age 55 I'll be able to at least transition out of the high-stress tech sales game and downshift into something else for a bit. But between now and then it'll be a grind trying to stuff the retirement and investment accounts!
 
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For years we had talked about moving back to our college town for retirement so that we'd have the built in activities of going to sporting events. We lost our rental in northern California two years ago right as my daughter was graduating from high school, so we made the move then and bought a house in Eugene. We have season tickets for football, men's and women's basketball, and track & field. We went to the US and World T&F championships last year, and every once in awhile go to a volleyball/lax/softball/baseball game. Friends come to town every home football weekend and our two guest rooms are always full. We're going to a concert and a comedy show in the next few weeks. I'm on the housing board for my fraternity. I walk my dog two hours a day. The outdoor paradise that is Bend, OR, is two hours away. We travel to 1-2 away football games every year. We have access to a family cabin at the beach that is 2 1/2 hours away. And our annual budget is lower than it was not doing any of those things while living in the Bay!

So that's basically the main retirement plan, we just started doing it right before I turned 50. And I have to do all that while working 40-50 hours a week.

Other than that I grew up fishing and want to get back to that. I've been in tech sales my whole career and would like to get involved with the University to help advise start ups on Go to Market, or students who would like to get into the industry. I love hiking. I coached youth hoops for 6-7 years and would like to volunteer doing that again. And the in-laws are retired in Mexico and we haven't seen them in a few years, but they are currently building a bigger house "for us" (it's really for them, but we'll have access).

So I'll have plenty to fill my time once I'm retired. The issue is that I'm just 50 and don't want to wait much longer. My dad retired and within a year suffered a serious brain injury that robbed him of his ability to play tennis and ride his bike, two activities he was doing several times a week. My mom retired and then covid hit and they were stuck in the house for the next two years. You just never know how long you have to enjoy this life, and I don't want to spend any more time than I have to working. Hoping by age 55 I'll be able to at least transition out of the high-stress tech sales game and downshift into something else for a bit. But between now and then it'll be a grind trying to stuff the retirement and investment accounts!
Wow. There are large swaths of this post that I could have written with a few details changed. Best of luck.
 
For me personally... the thing I think I will look forward the most to retirement is being a grandpa and spending my time with my grandchildren. My kids are young now. 12, 9 and 7. I don't think I will be doing an early retirement so in 20 years from now there is a good chance there will be grand kids to spend a lot of my time and attention with. Some travel would be nice.

We are generally on track to be able to retire. My wife's current health issues is certainly a drag financially but assuming everything goes to plan and she is fully healthy in about a year then we should not have much issues getting back on track. Besides this, back in 2007, I lost my job and then my ex-company WaMu went bankrupt and I lost about close to $100K which was about a third of my retirement at that time. One big lesson there was even if you are young and even if you work for a company you could not imagine failing... don't go too heavy on company stock. Then I was unemployed/underemployed for several years after that which again held us back so being able to rebound from that took a lot of time.

As I mentioned before, I have no nose in people's financial lives for many years. The number of people who are woefully under prepared or not even prepared at all for retirement is staggering. People just keep putting it off thinking it is so far off in the distance that they can 'catch up' later when they make more money. The problem is that most people will spend more money when they make more money so if you don't 'pay yourself first' you will never get started. And getting started needs to happen today. No matter how much or what that looks like. Time is the most powerful tool you have in preparing for retirement. Allowing the money you put away to gain value and earn dividends/interest and rolling that back in.... years go by and you have a lot more than you would have.

If I had no restrictions on funding for retirement, then I would spend it on experiences with the family. Travel. Adventures. Amusement parks. Whatever.

The most important thing... whether you have money or don't is the people in your life that you love. No amount of spending on luxury or vacation or golf or whatever else can really fulfill a person the way having strong, good relationships with the people in your life that mean the most. Not that that stuff isn't nice and can not bring enjoyment but fulfillment comes from a good conversation or a good laugh or simply being around the people that matter.
 
Time is the most powerful tool you have in preparing for retirement. Allowing the money you put away to gain value and earn dividends/interest and rolling that back in.... years go by and you have a lot more than you would have.
I know this has been said a few times in this thread but it cannot be said enough. You young guys on this board (if there are any...hahah) start now. You won't be disappointed. Plus if you start at the beginning you won't even miss the money you are putting away because it's as if you never had it to miss. I think that is the biggest key. You think you can't do with out it but you can. Sure you may have to cut back on some things but you will thank yourself in the long run.

An easy way to keep adding more to your retirement without it hurting your day to day is to increase your contribution every time you get a raise to the amount of your raise. You are already living on what you are taking home so you won't miss the additional raise money. Just roll that all to your retirement. But do it.

Also, don't leave money on the table. If your company matches make sure you put in at least as much as you have to in order to make sure you get the maximum from company in a match. Do more but if things are really tight you must do at least the amount you have to in order to get the full company match. That is free money.
 
Hope to hike and stay active if my body holds up. Between the market crash, crazy high medical insurance, and starting a new business my retirement is looking more like 70-75 than 65. Basically relying on real estate rental income, a small pension, and social security to make ends meet. The houses will need to be paid off. Was on track to have that done by 65-67, but now it's looking more like 70+. The downside to real estate is that even if you own 95% of a home, that $1500 mortgage payment is still there until you own 100%. Maybe the business explodes and that outlook changes. We are very employee based and charitable so I'm only retaining about 5% of the revenue and then Uncle Sam and insurance companies starting chipping away at the rest.

Contributing to a 401k but it's going backwards and inflation is making that worse. The time component has passed me by. I encourage my kids to load up early and show them the benefit of compounding.

Lastly and may something @GordonGekko can comment on, but we are living longer once we reach what we consider standard retirement age so it should be expect that our retirement age will drift back. At 65 you need to be thinking about 25 years of income which is more than 50% of the years you previously worked. Based on that, a growing older work force should be expected.
 
Time is the most powerful tool you have in preparing for retirement. Allowing the money you put away to gain value and earn dividends/interest and rolling that back in.... years go by and you have a lot more than you would have.
I know this has been said a few times in this thread but it cannot be said enough. You young guys on this board (if there are any...hahah) start now. You won't be disappointed. Plus if you start at the beginning you won't even miss the money you are putting away because it's as if you never had it to miss. I think that is the biggest key. You think you can't do with out it but you can. Sure you may have to cut back on some things but you will thank yourself in the long run.

An easy way to keep adding more to your retirement without it hurting your day to day is to increase your contribution every time you get a raise to the amount of your raise. You are already living on what you are taking home so you won't miss the additional raise money. Just roll that all to your retirement. But do it.

Also, don't leave money on the table. If your company matches make sure you put in at least as much as you have to in order to make sure you get the maximum from company in a match. Do more but if things are really tight you must do at least the amount you have to in order to get the full company match. That is free money.
Back when I was a hiring manager... I would do my own 'orientation' with my employees and walk them through the 401k and making sure they contributed at least to the max matching program. Why people leave so much money on the table just because they can't play with it now is beyond me and very frustrating.
 
Time is the most powerful tool you have in preparing for retirement. Allowing the money you put away to gain value and earn dividends/interest and rolling that back in.... years go by and you have a lot more than you would have.
I know this has been said a few times in this thread but it cannot be said enough. You young guys on this board (if there are any...hahah) start now. You won't be disappointed. Plus if you start at the beginning you won't even miss the money you are putting away because it's as if you never had it to miss. I think that is the biggest key. You think you can't do with out it but you can. Sure you may have to cut back on some things but you will thank yourself in the long run.

An easy way to keep adding more to your retirement without it hurting your day to day is to increase your contribution every time you get a raise to the amount of your raise. You are already living on what you are taking home so you won't miss the additional raise money. Just roll that all to your retirement. But do it.

Also, don't leave money on the table. If your company matches make sure you put in at least as much as you have to in order to make sure you get the maximum from company in a match. Do more but if things are really tight you must do at least the amount you have to in order to get the full company match. That is free money.
Back when I was a hiring manager... I would do my own 'orientation' with my employees and walk them through the 401k and making sure they contributed at least to the max matching program. Why people leave so much money on the table just because they can't play with it now is beyond me and very frustrating.

I was doing the same thing earlier in my career, even as just an individual contributor. New groups of entry-level biz dev reps would come in and I'd walk them through signing up for the 401k to at least get that match.
 
I don't think there's any doubt at some point we have to raise the SS retirement age. People are living longer, that's just a statistical fact. I heard on a newscast the other night that Nikki Haley brought that up and was being skewered for it. Haley was never going to win, that's not the point. The point is there's no political way to approach it, yet it's fiscal reality. Our populace doesn't want to hear the truth, they want to hear what makes them feel good. So for now, we keep putting the problem off and the pain to fix it will be greater the longer we wait. All the while, we continue borrowing money as rates continue to rise. The situation with interest rates I'd argue was inevitable as well.

It's very similar to some points made earlier about 401Ks, people want to complain about their money issues rather than take actions to solve them. I'm in really good shape but I also didn't take vacations when I was first out of college for a few years and used every penny of my first raises to put into my 401k until it was maxed out. To get to that point it takes sacrifice, and that is something many are unwilling to do, especially when reality can be put off until some point into the future.

I'm 48 and am facing some challenges to my business. Things are still good but over the next 3-5 years I anticipate a dwindling business as some external forces in marketplaces beyond my control continue to shift against my company. The reality for me personally is I best be ready to retire because it could be forced upon me tomorrow whether I like it or not. My business relies on a supply chain I essentially cannot control. It's a unique position to be in a business where demand is typically robust, but it's the supply that has always been my biggest threat. Nobody will feel sorry for me, nor should they. I've taken care of my money and my financial house is in order. I can go tomorrow if need be, but I'm going to milk it for all it's worth. We still had a record year last year and even if it dwindles for another 3-5 years, those are good paydays on the ride out.

As far as what to do in retirement, I have middle school and elementary aged daughters. One of the sacrifices I've made is I hear how dad "always has his computer with him even on our vacations". Kids see that, but they don't see the flexibility the work I do has provided where I can be home when they get home from school. I'm able to meet the bus, pick them up from practice, take them something they left at home during the day all because I set up my company so I could work from home and be here for them. They've never known a day where I had an office job. I got a severance to leave that less than a month before the birth of my oldest daughter. I was working that job and also working for my own business at that time. The 18-20 hour days had to stop when she was born and that was the right decision.

People say you never lie on your deathbed and say "I wish I'd spent more time at the office". They're right. But there's another truth that people need to hear. I don't regret those 18 hour days because I'm going to be able to go to all their events, go to wherever they end up in college and visit, have lunch for the day, etc. I have no boss to answer to on what days I will take off or when I'll come back because I made that sacrifice earlier in life. Business has been good to me but even at my old job path as a CPA, I had a plan to walk out the door by 40 if I wanted to, and I could have. Granted, I'm much more secure today and loved what I did along the way so it's been a much richer reward both emotionally and financially than that alternative path had I not found my own way in business. But that alternate path would have been rewarding as well, it's only measured in degrees. People should always remember, sometimes you sacrifice earlier on to get that later freedom, and to me that's the path to financial security. You can have that even working for others, you just should be willing to make that sacrifice as soon as possible, early 20's was the case for me.
 
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For years we had talked about moving back to our college town for retirement so that we'd have the built in activities of going to sporting events. We lost our rental in northern California two years ago right as my daughter was graduating from high school, so we made the move then and bought a house in Eugene. We have season tickets for football, men's and women's basketball, and track & field. We went to the US and World T&F championships last year, and every once in awhile go to a volleyball/lax/softball/baseball game. Friends come to town every home football weekend and our two guest rooms are always full. We're going to a concert and a comedy show in the next few weeks. I'm on the housing board for my fraternity. I walk my dog two hours a day. The outdoor paradise that is Bend, OR, is two hours away. We travel to 1-2 away football games every year. We have access to a family cabin at the beach that is 2 1/2 hours away. And our annual budget is lower than it was not doing any of those things while living in the Bay!

So that's basically the main retirement plan, we just started doing it right before I turned 50. And I have to do all that while working 40-50 hours a week.

Other than that I grew up fishing and want to get back to that. I've been in tech sales my whole career and would like to get involved with the University to help advise start ups on Go to Market, or students who would like to get into the industry. I love hiking. I coached youth hoops for 6-7 years and would like to volunteer doing that again. And the in-laws are retired in Mexico and we haven't seen them in a few years, but they are currently building a bigger house "for us" (it's really for them, but we'll have access).

So I'll have plenty to fill my time once I'm retired. The issue is that I'm just 50 and don't want to wait much longer. My dad retired and within a year suffered a serious brain injury that robbed him of his ability to play tennis and ride his bike, two activities he was doing several times a week. My mom retired and then covid hit and they were stuck in the house for the next two years. You just never know how long you have to enjoy this life, and I don't want to spend any more time than I have to working. Hoping by age 55 I'll be able to at least transition out of the high-stress tech sales game and downshift into something else for a bit. But between now and then it'll be a grind trying to stuff the retirement and investment accounts!
Say hello for me to my old seats in sections 11, 29, and 21 next time you're there.
 
Hope to hike and stay active if my body holds up. Between the market crash, crazy high medical insurance, and starting a new business my retirement is looking more like 70-75 than 65. Basically relying on real estate rental income, a small pension, and social security to make ends meet. The houses will need to be paid off. Was on track to have that done by 65-67, but now it's looking more like 70+. The downside to real estate is that even if you own 95% of a home, that $1500 mortgage payment is still there until you own 100%. Maybe the business explodes and that outlook changes. We are very employee based and charitable so I'm only retaining about 5% of the revenue and then Uncle Sam and insurance companies starting chipping away at the rest.

Contributing to a 401k but it's going backwards and inflation is making that worse. The time component has passed me by. I encourage my kids to load up early and show them the benefit of compounding.

Lastly and may something @GordonGekko can comment on, but we are living longer once we reach what we consider standard retirement age so it should be expect that our retirement age will drift back. At 65 you need to be thinking about 25 years of income which is more than 50% of the years you previously worked. Based on that, a growing older work force should be expected.
Hang in there on the rentals. Those will be terrific long term. Rental properties are part of my planning too. I'm going through an eviction right now so one of them is being subsidized by the others until we can get the non paying renter out, make God knows how much in repairs, and hopefully find a better tenant.
 
People say you never lie on your deathbed and say "I wish I'd spent more time at the office". They're right. But there's another truth that people need to hear. I don't regret those 18 hour days because I'm going to be able to go to all their events, go to wherever they end up in college and visit, have lunch for the day, etc. I have no boss to answer to on what days I will take off or when I'll come back because I made that sacrifice earlier in life. Business has been good to me but even at my old job path as a CPA, I had a plan to walk out the door by 40 if I wanted to, and I could have. Granted, I'm much more secure today and loved what I did along the way so it's been a much richer reward both emotionally and financially than that alternative path had I not found my own way in business. But that alternate path would have been rewarding as well, it's only measured in degrees. People should always remember, sometimes you sacrifice earlier on to get that later freedom, and to me that's the path to financial security. You can have that even working for others, you just should be willing to make that sacrifice as soon as possible, early 20's was the case for me.
Everyone always has a "boss" to answer to. The boss is just different if you own your own business. All jobs should have the flexibility to go to kids games, go on vacation, etc. The little secret that many people don't understand is that life/job/etc will go on without you. This is probably more of a conversation for the work/life balance/harmony thread but if you are in a job that won't allow you to be flexible with your life then you probably need a different job. Owning your own business seems like a great thing for that because you are your own boss but the reality is depending on what you want your business to be like you may have less flexibility than you would have working for someone else's business. I have a friend that owns his own business. He has had to miss out on some get togethers because he can't take the time off. I always give him a hard time about that because he is "his own boss" and works for a slavedriver but many times that is what you have to do as a business owner to get the business you want. That type of lifestyle isn't for everyone.
 
People say you never lie on your deathbed and say "I wish I'd spent more time at the office". They're right. But there's another truth that people need to hear. I don't regret those 18 hour days because I'm going to be able to go to all their events, go to wherever they end up in college and visit, have lunch for the day, etc. I have no boss to answer to on what days I will take off or when I'll come back because I made that sacrifice earlier in life. Business has been good to me but even at my old job path as a CPA, I had a plan to walk out the door by 40 if I wanted to, and I could have. Granted, I'm much more secure today and loved what I did along the way so it's been a much richer reward both emotionally and financially than that alternative path had I not found my own way in business. But that alternate path would have been rewarding as well, it's only measured in degrees. People should always remember, sometimes you sacrifice earlier on to get that later freedom, and to me that's the path to financial security. You can have that even working for others, you just should be willing to make that sacrifice as soon as possible, early 20's was the case for me.
Everyone always has a "boss" to answer to. The boss is just different if you own your own business. All jobs should have the flexibility to go to kids games, go on vacation, etc. The little secret that many people don't understand is that life/job/etc will go on without you. This is probably more of a conversation for the work/life balance/harmony thread but if you are in a job that won't allow you to be flexible with your life then you probably need a different job. Owning your own business seems like a great thing for that because you are your own boss but the reality is depending on what you want your business to be like you may have less flexibility than you would have working for someone else's business. I have a friend that owns his own business. He has had to miss out on some get togethers because he can't take the time off. I always give him a hard time about that because he is "his own boss" and works for a slavedriver but many times that is what you have to do as a business owner to get the business you want. That type of lifestyle isn't for everyone.
I can’t disagree with you. It isn’t for everyone. I never worked harder in my life than I worked for myself. There was never a more critical evaluator of my performance than myself. It takes a different mindset because speaking from experience, mentally you never leave the job at the office. You may get a salary, but reality is every profit or loss is yours to enjoy or endure.
 
I have seen it over and over through the years of looking at people's full financial picture. So many are not preparing for retirement at all. It boggles my mind how few even take advantage of 401k plans at work. And then those who do prepare tend to start very late in life and try to catch up while they missed the most important part of preparing for retirement... time.
I just started at my new company last July. Been talking to some younger workers telling them INVEST.. Company matches dollar for dollar up to 6%.. Crazy not to double your investment.

They also just paid out bonuses, and also allowed us to put a % into your 401k and again matched dollar for dollar to 6%.

Found it nuts to hear some say "I have plans with that bonus ". Tried to explain that by dumping some into the 401k it would lower the amount of taxes taken out, still got :shrug:

As for original post answer, already started a vineyard, started model railroading during Covid, so will continue building on those. As well as travel around the US.
Wife HATES, flying so our traveling will be by train or car, lowering the cost.

What scale are your trains?
 
Volunteer. Travel. Hopefully have some grandkids to visit.
Pretty much this.

I keep considering getting a CFP so I can advise others in retirement. But really I think I’ll partner with my wife and help families looking to adopt. Maybe keep my bar license so I can help in court as well as support the families as they go through the process.

My wife has this almost nailed down already. Works part time at a preschool, volunteers a lot with St Jude’s both on her own, providing a parent’s perspective to medical professionals on boards a few times a year and with our daughter (if you’ve been to a Kay jeweler’s or some other places you’ve probably seen her in fundraising pictures).

ETA: after our youngest graduates HS, we’ll sell this house, move to a smaller house on a lake and either rent a month at a time or have a house in our favorite vacation spot. I’m really not sure which way I prefer at this point but we’ll need to wait a year or two now anyway, if we decide to buy well before retirement.
 
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I'm 46. I wish I have saved more. My wife and I are both teachers, we will retire with a pension of about 50% of our salary. We were really bad with money the first 10 years we were married. However, we lucked into doing two helpful things. We bought a house in 2003 which has tripled in value and we started to contribute to a 403b in 2007. My plan is to retire at age 62 in 2038. Pension, social security, and our modest savings I hope will be enough. I have no dreams of living some glamorous lifestyle. Go to the gym, play poker, maybe a little bowling/golf, and hopefully a few grandkids to visit. Also, people always sold their houses up north and moved to Florida and bought something cheaper and made a profit. I'm starting to think I will be selling my house in Florida and moving somewhere else cheaper the way real estate is in Florida right now.
 
Marry someone 11 years younger than you. :headbang:
I wonder if my wife would be cool with that 🤔
I suggested she watch modern family (we somehow missed this when it was originally on, so I’m catching up on peacock) and joked that I want to be Jay.

She was not amused.
 
Over the last 5 years I've saved about 60% of my after tax salary, so am on my way. Biggest issue really is that my job requires and has required all my attention away from the house. So my social circle and social outlet is the folks at work (who I generally adore - great group). Losing that is something I haven't figured out. Covid at least showed me how awful working at home, i.e. isolated all day every day, is. It's torture - I have no idea how this is a popular choice for people. So for now I'm plugging away until I'm sure I can run out retirement monetarily without issue and then reassess. In the meantime I'll be trying to loosen up on the reins and start taking some nice vacations in greater frequency than previous.
 
I have seen it over and over through the years of looking at people's full financial picture. So many are not preparing for retirement at all. It boggles my mind how few even take advantage of 401k plans at work. And then those who do prepare tend to start very late in life and try to catch up while they missed the most important part of preparing for retirement... time.
I just started at my new company last July. Been talking to some younger workers telling them INVEST.. Company matches dollar for dollar up to 6%.. Crazy not to double your investment.

They also just paid out bonuses, and also allowed us to put a % into your 401k and again matched dollar for dollar to 6%.

Found it nuts to hear some say "I have plans with that bonus ". Tried to explain that by dumping some into the 401k it would lower the amount of taxes taken out, still got :shrug:

As for original post answer, already started a vineyard, started model railroading during Covid, so will continue building on those. As well as travel around the US.
Wife HATES, flying so our traveling will be by train or car, lowering the cost.

What scale are your trains?
HO.. I started 2 years ago with 8'X6', and this past winter added a 8'X4' section.. Next winter plan to add another 6'X4' section to make it almost a full U :biggrin:
 
I'm 53, my wife is 52, so we're 10 years from retiring, but we recently decided we're gonna retire somewhere abroad.

We want to go somewhere warm, affordable, and laid back. Places in Ecuador, Portugal, Spain, and Panama are on our radar. They're all in pretty much every list of the best places outside the US to retire (based on things like low cost of living, economic stabilty, government, climate, infrastructure, health care, safety, etc) and they all have sizable ex-pat populations, as people are discovering that the cost of living/retiring in certain countries can be way lower than where they currently live.

Doing research and reading stories and watching videos from people who have done it is fascinating.

The plan is to sell our house which should net us a few hundred thousand profit, along with our savings, social security, and my wifes pension and we should be set up nicely wherever we end up.

We don't know exactly where thats gonna be yet, but its gonna be fun traveling to the places we narrow it down to, to scope them out and hopefully find our retirement paradise.
 
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I am kicking the tires on retirement here in August. I will be 54, but being employed by the government for the entirety of my working life, I have a hefty pension coming. it will all depend on if we can make the insurance numbers work. My wife has over 25 years in PERA as well, so we are hoping to get her out in the next 4-5 years.

I am honestly scared. My wife and I are the most boring people in the world and do not do change well. I have some "interests" but I don't really have a plan. I mean I have a massive sports card collection (like a million plus cards) that needs to be inventoried. I have started collecting Lego recently (yeah, I am a child) and that can be lucrative for resale. That being said, I don't feel like some of you do--inspired with this higher purpose to travel or helping my fellow man. I don't know, I should be stoked that I can relax and stop working, but I have never been able to give myself permission to relax. I keep finding a reason to put this off--"Oh we need a new car, I better not retire. What the A/C needs to be replaced, I better not retire," I keep finding reasons not to go, but the bottom line is we have the money and only because I am a type one diabetic, I want to make sure the insurance coverage is squared away.

I need a plan and sadly, I don't have one yet. I just don't take risks and always play things safe way too often. However, I just feel the sands of the hourglass of life are slipping by day after day and it is time for a change.
 
We had a plan, but then 4 years ago "we" decided that "we" wanted to cheat. Youngest boy (16 at the time) had no interest in living or doing anything w/ her (due to her attempts to manipulate him), so I brokered a deal..........he lives w/ me and only sees you when he wants, in exchange you get to keep your retirement (she's a pharmacist) and you can have 1/2 of mine, but I get proceeds from selling the house which I used to downsize and pay cash for the new house.

Best decision I ever made. Son (baseball playing freshman in college) and I have never been closer.

Retirement will have to wait (I'm 57, and had thought about it at 60) until 67-68, but I was able to provide him w/ a good last 3 years of high school so it was all worth it.

Dad runs his own business and my mom has a nice nest egg, which my sister, her kids and my kids will all share in, but that's morbid to think about.

I can see myself moving into a condo or something, and working at a local golf course in return for free golf when I'm not being a grandpa.
 
Wife and I are both 67. She retired a handful of years ago; I'm still enjoying the academic life. We recently moved to be closer to our kids/grandkids, but we picked up some mortgage with the move and it will take us about four years to pay that off. My situation is pretty much a win/win. I can keep teaching, researching, going to conferences ..or I could retire in a year or two or three. With SS and retirement savings, we'll probably have more income in retirement than we do now! A deciding factor for retirement will be resolution of my tenure status, which has been an ongoing battle for a year and a half. I'll find out in a few weeks. Tenure denial gets me a final year, and that'll be enough. Receiving tenure gives me flexibility to choose my timing.

Once retired, I'll focus on grandkids; running; reading; puzzles; and some level of volunteering/church activities. I look forward to being mostly off the clock.
 
Currently 45, should be able to retire at 60, trying to find a way to semi-retired at 55. Want to do a lot of the things mentioned. Travel, volunteer, spend time with my kids and their potential families.

We've been super aggressive with 401k and other investments, so should be good there as long as college doesn't get too crazy with cost over the next 6 years.

Never bought rental properties, which I wanted to do for retirement. Also want to look into some more aggressive dividend investment options for a different kind of income stream. Health insurance is just scary (I work in medical sales and see the bills people get) and that's the second piece to figure out after college - how to have coverage between retirement and Medicare kicking in. Oh, and I'll tell anyone that will listen, buy supplemental insurance to partner with Medicare. You still get bills with Medicare, and some can be significant.

Love the idea of retiring in another country, which I saw someone else mentioned. I've heard Belize is another good option for that.
 
I'm 53, my wife is 52, so we're 10 years from retiring, but we recently decided we're gonna retire somewhere abroad.

We want to go somewhere warm, affordable, and laid back. Places in Ecuador, Portugal, Spain, and Panama are on our radar. They're all in pretty much every list of the best places outside the US to retire (based on things like low cost of living, economic stabilty, government, climate, infrastructure, health care, safety, etc) and they all have sizable ex-pat populations, as people are discovering that the cost of living/retiring in certain countries can be way lower than where they currently live.

Doing research and reading stories and watching videos from people who have done it is fascinating.

The plan is to sell our house which should net us a few hundred thousand profit, along with our savings, social security, and my wifes pension and we should be set up nicely wherever we end up.

We don't know exactly where thats gonna be yet, but its gonna be fun traveling to the places we narrow it down to, to scope them out and hopefully find our retirement paradise.
Whats the plan for insurance since Medicare doesn't apply outside US
 
I'm 53, my wife is 52, so we're 10 years from retiring, but we recently decided we're gonna retire somewhere abroad.

We want to go somewhere warm, affordable, and laid back. Places in Ecuador, Portugal, Spain, and Panama are on our radar. They're all in pretty much every list of the best places outside the US to retire (based on things like low cost of living, economic stabilty, government, climate, infrastructure, health care, safety, etc) and they all have sizable ex-pat populations, as people are discovering that the cost of living/retiring in certain countries can be way lower than where they currently live.

Doing research and reading stories and watching videos from people who have done it is fascinating.

The plan is to sell our house which should net us a few hundred thousand profit, along with our savings, social security, and my wifes pension and we should be set up nicely wherever we end up.

We don't know exactly where thats gonna be yet, but its gonna be fun traveling to the places we narrow it down to, to scope them out and hopefully find our retirement paradise.
I’d look at Aspen. Where the beer flows like wine.
 
I don't plan to ever retire. First, I pretty much like what I do. I'd be bored without something else to do. And slowing down seems to lead to decay and death.
 
I'm 53, my wife is 52, so we're 10 years from retiring, but we recently decided we're gonna retire somewhere abroad.

We want to go somewhere warm, affordable, and laid back. Places in Ecuador, Portugal, Spain, and Panama are on our radar. They're all in pretty much every list of the best places outside the US to retire (based on things like low cost of living, economic stabilty, government, climate, infrastructure, health care, safety, etc) and they all have sizable ex-pat populations, as people are discovering that the cost of living/retiring in certain countries can be way lower than where they currently live.

Doing research and reading stories and watching videos from people who have done it is fascinating.

The plan is to sell our house which should net us a few hundred thousand profit, along with our savings, social security, and my wifes pension and we should be set up nicely wherever we end up.

We don't know exactly where thats gonna be yet, but its gonna be fun traveling to the places we narrow it down to, to scope them out and hopefully find our retirement paradise.
Whats the plan for insurance since Medicare doesn't apply outside US

This is a really good point. My father thought he was going to live out his retirement years in Costa Rica. He wasn’t there a year when he had a major health issue that put him in intensive care with a significant brain injury. I don’t care how great they say the health care is there. It’s not the standard of care you get at major hospitals in the states. I flew down and spent 8 days with him in the hospital there and it was rough (thankfully he recovered and mostly back to normal). Obviously, Costa Rica isn’t Spain or Portugal, but the other issue was that everything was cash pay. Sure, overall services are a whole lot cheaper in Costa Rica than in the states, but without insurance coverage, it was a huge bill. Once he had recovered, they moved back to the states and we were all relieved.
 
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Great thread. I’m 61. Originally 62 was my goal but I may go a bit longer for a couple reasons. First is have a good chance at a decent exit with my new gig. PE company wants to sell in a year. So I’ll ride that out. Also, while I can afford it I don’t like the idea of $20-25K in health insurance premiums for multiple years. My wife is 2 years younger than I am so we’re taking up to 6 years. And I’m still having fun working for the most part. Like the challenge. I may start a consulting company to do fractional Chief Revenue Officer type gigs and ease into retirement.

We are in good financial shape. Wife hasn’t worked outside the home for 25 years
So haven’t had the double income effect but I’ve always been a good earner and a decent saver. I’ve maxed out 401K’s since the beginning and also did backdoor Roth. Also have a good chunk of stock from my previous company outside of retirement accounts. No debt outside of a modest mortgage payment. All 3 kids college paid for and youngest getting married in May. So all weddings will be done too. Kids almost off the payroll except we decided to do a matching program for them to save for a down payment on a house. Our mortgage will be paid off in 3 years. I’m trying to have everything done before we retire. Newer cars (paid in cash) that will serve us for the first 10 years or so of retirement, major house remodel, etc. Trying to eliminate the big stuff in retirement. Have a financial planner so doing all the right things with a Trust, planning for long term care insurance, etc.

I want to spend a month or two in Mexico every year. Cabo, Loreto, La Paz etc. Just love the vibe, pace, food etc. Doing Duolingo every day to help with language. I’d love to live abroad but our family (including grandkids) and a big circle of friends are here. So probably stay in So Cal. I belong to a golf club now and will definitely play more, especially weekday mornings. Golf, workouts and yoga will be part of my routine as long as I’m able. Have to keep moving. Other than that it’s about life experiences. Lots of travel, culture and exploration. Doing plenty of that now but I’d love the freedom to do more. I’ll cook and volunteer more as well. Spend more time reading.

I almost tapped out 3 years so every day above ground is a blessing. Trying to make the most of it. Nothing is guaranteed and I know it.
 
I don't plan to ever retire. First, I pretty much like what I do. I'd be bored without something else to do. And slowing down seems to lead to decay and death.
It’s great you like what you do, at least pretty much. But isn’t there something else you‘d potentially enjoy, perhaps something physical, which could occupy your time, and not result in slowing down in retirement?

If I had the means, I’d retire tomorrow, and spend as much time active outdoors as my body would allow.
 

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