Posted on 03/28/2018 6:52:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Add in the benefits of staying active and keeping your mind working doing something you enjoy - it's all good.
I’m working on it.
To quote Jimmy... where I go, I hope there’s rum
For example, the cost of bridging healthcare until Medicare kicked in ballooned out of recognition in the days of the 0bamacare individual mandate. Using employee benefits to bridge that counts as income, so make sure there's withholding, and if you do happen to take Social Security, be aware that the income involved in the healthcare purchase can kick you into territory where the SS is taxable. Surprise! None of those were factors when I first began retirement planning a decade ago.
And yes, as others have said, paying off the mortgage and the car and the credit cards makes a world of difference. It doesn't mean you've stopped maintenance and insurance spending on the first two, however. It might mean a sudden drop in how much you use that car, which can help in insurance.
So plan, plan, plan, and be ready for some of those plans to need serious modification. The 2008 crash put my retirement back five years or so, but stick to the plan and The Day will arrive.
“By the time I’m ready to pull the plug on 9-5 job I’ll have all of my retirement accounts moved into those types of instruments, and being debt-free, will have no need to draw against the principal.”
That’s great. But, if any of those are in a 401K, then you will have to make Required Minimum Distributions (RMD).
“I’m retiring on Friday. Woo-hoo!”
Awesome!
Yes, you are correct. Uncle Sugar gotta get his cut too.
OMG this is number one subject on my mind all the time.
I have been working since I was 14.
I will be 56 this year....saving in my 401k since I was 26.
I do not make a lot of money but its true, little by little, its almost a million dollars. Nowadays, not that much money but everything to me!
I cannot tell you how many 65+ years olds I meet everyday that had to go BACK to work because for whatever reason, they ran out of money.
Its a gamble and 56 is not what it was when we were kids. I remember my uncles in their early 60s were old. Now its just the beginning of life!! LOL
So many thoughts! Thanks for this article~!
FREEPERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Note to youngsters: Start saving for retirement YOUR VERY FIRST PAYCHECK.”
When I worked corporate, I gave the youngsters a single piece of advice: put every penny you can into your tax-deferred retirement accounts; every time you get a raise, add ALL of it to your retirement accounts: you’ll never miss it because you never had it. This was particularly valuable advice because my corporation generously matched contributions two to one, up to 10% of ones gross salary.
I live in a pretty upscale place (top 5% median household income by zip code) and TAXES have always been my highest expense, even back in the days right after I bought my house and had a 13.5% mortgage. (SSI+MED alone, has always been more so long as one considers the so-called employers share as part of an individual's burden. And my wife pays too!)
ML/NJ
“I’ve retired early and for me the most important thing, something that these guys never seem to say is buy a house and get it paid for. Do not go into retirement with a mortgage or rent. It is almost always a persons biggest monthly expense. It’s amazing how much less income I need now that I’m not working”
indeed and ditto. I went into early retirement completely debt free and have stayed that way.
Lost that $2 million “nest egg” in the 2008 between the stock market crash and the housing market collapse. Lost my job at the same time. Now 67 and working BUT retiring at the end of the year. No $2 million though but enough to live “comfortably” on SS and the little that’s in the bank.
This cannot be stressed enough.
And there's nothing wrong with parents helping their offspring to do this, because it will put the kids in a better position to help their parents down the road.
Keep as much wealth within the family as possible.
You get taxed on that 80k unless its in tax free investments.
Just buy tax free muni bonds after moving/retiring to a state income tax free state (TX, FL, NV, etc). Buy 2mm in tax free AA rated bonds with insurance and you'll get 80k a year at 4%. After the bonds are called/matured, you get your 2mm back to reinvest. Nice if you are retiring now because interest rates are going up. You can get 5% if you go out longer near par. That's 100k a year TAX FREE!
Two of my closest childhood Friends both died when they were just 61 Years Old.
All that money they paid into SS and Medicare, probably a half Million or more between the two of them and they got nothing.
The moment I was diagnosed with Leukemia, I decided to start collecting my Social Security at age 62.
The downside is that I am still working part time and taking money from my IRA to pay the Bills (including our $2,100 a month Healthcare Premiums, thanks Obama), so I pay Income Tax on most of my Social Security income and I still pay SS and Medicare Taxes.
Quite a fustercluck of you ask me.
As soon as our CPA says we can do it, we are setting up my 6 and 8 year old with ROTH IRAs, but we have to match gifting of 3000 and log their "work". Taking out the trash and doing chores doesn't cut it with IRS....they have to actually work. We just don't have time to document them yet. Age 10-14 is good age to set up a custodial ROTH IRA.
I was lucky and got my “revenge” early.
C+ student and underperforming athlete (youngest in my class)
By my 10th reunion I’d served in the USAF, finished my MS at USC, and was an engineer on the Shuttle program.
Augie wrote: “Yes, you are correct. Uncle Sugar gotta get his cut too.”
There is another aspect to this not often discussed. Why does one want to have a huge surplus in their retirement accounts when they die? Not only does one need a plan to accumulate cash in your retirement accounts, one also needs a plan to disperse that cash.
There is a saying: “Fly first class after you retire. If you don’t your grandkids will.”
>>She’s still entitled to 50% of yours, isn’t she?<<
Oh, hell yes! :)
I have no intention to live like a pauper after retiring. Nor do I intend to piss it all away like a drunken sailor.
I've got enough put away to do pretty much what I want to do, and leave some to make life a little easier on the grandkids.
You and your wife have got it nailed! I am happy for you!
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