Posted on 02/09/2023 7:30:30 AM PST by mikelets456
My wife did some Roth conversions on hers so we will have some tax free to pull from. Meantime, I'm focusing on building up my savings - would like to have about a year of living expenses saved in cash that can be used for unexpected expenses like home repairs and such.
We “downsized” from a 3500 sq ft house to a 7800 sq ft house for less money. So we have no mortgage and netted some cash which we spent on the new house. But we got addicted to having that money in savings.
So going back to work after I retire means I can’t touch the retirement money. It’s basically a long term care policy because we will never have “lean” years because of pensions and social security.
I’m thinking about writing a book called “The Accidental Millionaire” about people who became millionaires without setting out to do it and the challenges they face. People who plan to be a millionaire have a *plan*. People who just stumble into it end up saying “Now what?”. I know plenty of these people like me who don’t really do anything with the money. One of my friends says he is a poor person who has money. That’s a great description. My wife worked out a spreadsheet last night showing how we will be in financial trouble when I retire because our income will drop.
Nothing wrong with leaving a windfall for your children but they shouldn't be led to expect it and you certainly don't want your own children to waiting for you to die so they can get their hands on it. Not that I think my children are like that but then again, they probably won't be rooting for me to join the centenarian club either! I often joke to my kids that I'll leave them just enough to pay for my funeral - so they should be pleasantly surprised when my time comes.
What I think saddest of all are folks that spend their retirements living much more frugally then they need to because they want to leave that big windfall for their kids. People in retirement have worked all their lives. They should be able to live fully up to the means that their retirement savings provides for them. I tell my retired parents and in-laws to go ahead and spend it all. Have some fun!
Biggest problem with TN for retirees is that pesky sky high sales tax on everything.
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Perhaps retire in a part of Tennessee that borders a low sales tax state!! 8 to chooose from!
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