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My Retirement Checklist

PigsDad

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Guess again, Amy. I am genX, one of the oldest, and am on track to depart cube life in 2025. Of course, I started saving and investing in my 20s which maybe many of my age did not. I graduated at recession so there weren't any gifts on silver platters, just decades of scrimping and saving so I could quit working before age 70.
I'm with you, Geekette. Yes, there are many GenX'ers that may have not saved enough and will have to work beyond retirement, but IMO they have no one to blame but themselves in most cases.

I'm 51 and from the very beginning of my working career I knew I needed to start saving for retirement. I knew SS might be a crapshoot (would probably still be there, but benefits would likely be curbed) and it was clear, even 30 years ago, that one should not rely on a company pension, etc. I needed to be responsible for myself, and I saved accordingly. I started out on the bottom rung and had student loans like most others. We didn't buy the biggest house we could have afforded, we didn't buy fancy cars every 2-3 years, etc. I invested aggressively and never panicked when the markets had setbacks because I knew in the long term, the markets always performed. In fact, when the stock market crashed in 2008, we stayed in the market, tightened our belts and increased our saving contributions -- turned out to be the best move ever! I never tried to time the market; I'm sure some people make money doing that, but history and statistics say most will not.

All of that paid off very well for me, I'm happy to say. I'm on track to retire in 7 years. I probably could do it a bit sooner, but I don't want to retire before my daughter is out of college as that is an unknown expense at this time. I'm sure I have had some good luck along the way, but anyone who starts thinking about saving for retirement at the beginning of their career will have a high probability of success. Those who just assume the government or their company would take care of them in retirement are fools, and I don't particularly feel that sorry for them.

Money Magazine had a decent article in this month's issue profiling three families and their plans to retire early. It was a good read, and comparing their situation to mine made me feel good about my progress, as I was way ahead of all of the examples in the article. Now I find myself planning my retirement activities. :whooopie:

Kurt
 

rapmarks

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I keep getting quoted on my social security statement. I get sixty dollars a month, I am not counting on it, my husband is not counting on mine after I die, which would be thirty dollars a month. I merely responded to another teachers question about it Way back in this thread. Worst case, I don't get social security, I would not notice.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

DancingWaters

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I definitely agree that a monthly pension is the way to go because if you take the lump sum it could be gone in a few short years. It great to hear how much fun everyone is having in retirement. Once we get all the decisions made we will have to start our retirement list. Definitely on mine will be to not set an alarm.
 

Talent312

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Once we get all the decisions made, we will have to start our retirement list. Definitely on mine will be to not set an alarm.

There will be two times when you'll want an alarm:
1. Morning flights to a vacation destination.
2. Morning appts for a lab-test after fasting the night b4.

.
 

Icc5

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Kurt, I would say you are in a way where I was. I'm 15 years older and never borrowed for school as I went to a local State College (became a University) while I was there. I started saving for my future at 18 and felt like I was more from my parent's generation. While everyone was buying the new or fastest car I bought what was a decent car that wouldn't cost me a fortune. I went for the job with a good pension and good benefits all while looking at the future. Bought my house at 26 again with the idea of the future and without carrying a huge debt. Load. Retired at 62 with 43 years of never not working. I could have retired at 55 but looked at what that extra 7 years would be worth to my family.
Now, we're both retired,live a kick back life, help the kids and grandkids. I've done this all well living in one of the most costly areas of the country. It is also right next door to where I grew up in a low to middle class family which survived because my Dad was also the same way but without an education.
 

WinniWoman

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Kurt, I would say you are in a way where I was. I'm 15 years older and never borrowed for school as I went to a local State College (became a University) while I was there. I started saving for my future at 18 and felt like I was more from my parent's generation. While everyone was buying the new or fastest car I bought what was a decent car that wouldn't cost me a fortune. I went for the job with a good pension and good benefits all while looking at the future. Bought my house at 26 again with the idea of the future and without carrying a huge debt. Load. Retired at 62 with 43 years of never not working. I could have retired at 55 but looked at what that extra 7 years would be worth to my family.
Now, we're both retired,live a kick back life, help the kids and grandkids. I've done this all well living in one of the most costly areas of the country. It is also right next door to where I grew up in a low to middle class family which survived because my Dad was also the same way but without an education.


I- and my husband-the same as you. Except the key in your story is still the pension. If we had a pension we would be retired now as well. Unfortunately, we have to wait to get SS and Medicare, even with all we have saved.
 

WinniWoman

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An annuity shifts the risk of the market to the insurer. Also, there are enough (all) studies to show that people who have pension that makes up part of their retirement income, large or small, are the happiest retirees. Buying an annuity is essentially creating your own pension income.

I consider SS an annuity. Other than that, I really can't see giving an insurance company a big lump sum of our money just to turn around and give it back to us each month. You could do that yourself. Plus- if you need a chunk of money for a medical emergency or whatever, now you don't have access to it. Maybe you need it for assisted living or to give to a grandchild. No thanks on annuities for me. Already gave SS my money over my lifetime. That is enough of an annuity.
 

amycurl

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Please speak for yourself. When I started out, it made sense to assume no SS, that every nickel needed in retirement would come from me.

I'm 51 and do believe SS will be there for me and I do not believe in UFOs. I do not plan to take SS until 70 unless I actually need it, but I have planned and saved to not need it.

I was speaking for myself, and I was quoting from national research about the belief in UFOs vs. presence of SS. Sorry if you apparently took offense at my comments.
 

VacationForever

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I consider SS an annuity. Other than that, I really can't see giving an insurance company a big lump sum of our money just to turn around and give it back to us each month. You could do that yourself. Plus- if you need a chunk of money for a medical emergency or whatever, now you don't have access to it. Maybe you need it for assisted living or to give to a grandchild. No thanks on annuities for me. Already gave SS my money over my lifetime. That is enough of an annuity.

I like having "guaranteed" income stream and SS income is insufficient to meet our expense needs. What I "gave" to the annuity company has guaranteed double returns, not something any market or investment company can guarantee on my investments. We still have other financial resources/investments to support emergency needs. The assets surrendered to buy annuity makes up about 15 percent of our assets. We like the diversification. If we have any sort of decent pension, we would not be buying an annuity. We do not have a pension and we are creating one for ourselves through an annuity.
 

DancingWaters

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I can appreciate your take on annunities. Going through my retirement papers I found I have a couple of accounts that I can draw from or take a chunk out at one time. That makes me feel better plus my DH keeps telling me we will be fine On to enjoying adventure without being so tired
 

DavidnRobin

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There are 3 major financial aspects for a Retirement Plan:
SPEND rate
PORTFOLIO amount
YEARS (how long $ expected to last based on Spend and Portfolio)

For an interesting analysis these factors and their infliuences - this check out the free FIRE Calculator.
http://firecalc.com

What is great about this retirement calculator is that you can easily change inputs and submit. It evaluates risk (probability) of running out of money based on ever-changing historic economic conditions.

The Tabs on top are:
Start: Spend, Portfolio, and Years
Other Income/Spending: Covers SS, and Pensions (etc) as well as additional Spend
Not Retired: Covers Retirement Year, and Amount added to Porfolio
Spending Models: Covers Inflation scenarios, and future Spending (changes with age). The 3rd button is basic annual market growth (equities, fixed income, and inflation) - this was very eye opening for me.
Portfolio: Covers Management fees (expense ratio) and Portfolio types
Portfolio Changes: Add/Subtract Lump Sum changes in future (e.g. House sale/purchase)
Investigate: Investigates changes to Retirement Plan (the 5th button looks at Portfolio and Spend as function of success - very interesting and important evaluation). The Spend level button - shows the success rate of various spend rates.

I used my numbers and scenarios in the FIRE Calculator prior to consulting a Wealth Management advisor. It really helped in confidence in ability to retire as it is quite scary to give up an income from working that I am so used to after so many (too many) years.

Good luck.
 

tashamen

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I appreciate all the helpful information in this thread. I was planning on retiring early at the end of 2018 but am now shooting for the end of 2017 and believe I can do it!
 

DavidnRobin

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I appreciate all the helpful information in this thread. I was planning on retiring early at the end of 2018 but am now shooting for the end of 2017 and believe I can do it!

Congrats.
Along with FIRE Calc (above) - check out Early Retirement BBS (like TUG for early retirement - lots of helpful and diverse users, and practical/pragmatic info)

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/
 

tashamen

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chalee94

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Yes. I am building a rising income tide to replace work salary. When mortgage is gone and I can reliably pay my bills with investments then I can retire. Not before 59.5 as I must be able to pull from 401k>IRA without penalty, just in case.

exceptions to the rule about 401(k)s to be aware of, in case you are not:

Tax on early distributions.

If a distribution is made to you under the plan before you reach age 59½, you may have to pay a 10% additional tax on the distribution. This tax applies to the amount received that you must include in income.

Exceptions. The 10% tax will not apply if distributions before age 59 ½ are made in any of the following circumstances:

  • Made as part of a series of substantially equal periodic payments beginning after separation from service and made at least annually for the life or life expectancy of the participant or the joint lives or life expectancies of the participant and his or her designated beneficiary. (The payments under this exception, except in the case of death or disability, must continue for at least 5 years or until the employee reaches age 59½, whichever is the longer period.),
  • Made to a participant after separation from service if the separation occurred during or after the calendar year in which the participant reached age 55
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plan...-plan-participants-general-distribution-rules
 

puppymommo

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My current retirement plan is to "retire" at ago 62 or 63 and go teach English abroad until my FRA. This is a life-long dream for me. I should earn enough to live on and delay receiving my pension benefit and SS such as it may be in the future. Right now I'm thinking a year or two in Indonesia (where I lived for 6 months back in my early 20s) and a year in China (also on my bucket list). The only drawback I can see is possible health problems in the future and being away that long (a year at a time) from my daughter.
 

VacationForever

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I retired last year at 53 despite my original plan to retire at 62. Then figuring out where the money is going to come from was both a challenge and a fascination. No pension, little SS that will start at 62... hence using my IRA to buy annuity that starts at 60, narrowed my income gap into a 7-year problem, that felt alot more manageable. Thought I might go back to work since I do really enjoy working. But I am really busy with not working, so we decided that as long as we can make retirement work and I am not bored, I won't work anymore. I will probably run for HOA board next year here where we live.
 

WinniWoman

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The CFP called me today and spoke with me for an hour. He was excellent and comprehensive. I liked most of what I heard- except the amount of the yearly fee-$10,000!!!!! I honestly think he would deserve that going in because it is a lot of work to do holistic and comprehensive management. BUT- my husband and I just have a problem with paying that kind of money out of what we don't consider that substantial of assets. He charges what I have read most advisors of this type charge, but we are not people with pensions- except a private one my husband MIGHT get which is small and nothing you can live on. Then if we have to pay the advisor- I just can't wrap my head around paying out that kind of money from what we have- now or when we are retired. In ten years- that would be $100,000 out of our funds! Our net worth is good, but it also includes a possible lump sum payout of my husband's pension- again, which is not that large and which he might not get because he works for a private company and you never know-and it also includes our home, which we could have a hard time selling and we could also have a hard time buying another place to live because our house value is low because of a bad market here as well.

Then we could be stuck living in high tax NY, in our aging, high maintenance house, living on our SS checks and so forth, and also paying the FP $10,000 per year? Yikes!

He said the fee amount would be good for 2 years and then adjusted accordingly.

He emphasized that he does not sell investments, but he did say as part of his service he would manage our accounts- put them in TD Ameritrade- I was not crazy about that either. I would rather an advisor suggest what I should do with what we have and we decide and make the transactions, etc. I guess he must also make money by moving clients assets into a discount brokerage firm.He did say we could keep some of our fund company funds within TDA or whatever.

So, we are going to write down more questions and also look into his other plans that have just a one time fee, or hourly, etc.
 
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John Cummings

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At the beginning my CFP charged 1% annually of the value of how much he was managing. He not only managed our investments but also advised me on my corporate business. I had my own business and was incorporated. He is an enrolled tax agent so he also did our taxes. He saved us a lot of money in taxes. Once everything was setup, he charged us very little. I work very closely with him as we talk at least once a week. Since I have been retired I pay almost nothing.

I believe 1% is pretty common for a fee based CFP. Of course you must have a large enough portfolio to make it worth their time.
 

geekette

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He emphasized that he does not sell investments, but he did say as part of his service he would manage our accounts

That's not part of his service, that IS his service! From what I understand of what you have put together over the years, you definitely don't need that. I am not sure you need ongoing assistance, either, certainly not that much of it.

Hold your ground on what you want, what you need as their motivation will be to get your account, not have a one and done meeting. I would hate to see your confidence shaken by a ts salesman. Buy the advice and not the combo platter.
 

Talent312

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...[H]e did say as part of his service he would manage our accounts- put them in TD Ameritrade...

DW and I each have a Rollover IRA and a Roth IRA at TD Ameritrade (4 accounts). We set them up and manage them ourselves. Ameritrade may not be the cheapest online broker, but IMO, they have a decent trading and research platform. I'm sure that many others would do just as well.

IOW, he's not out to lunch on that, but his fee would send me running for the hills.
.
 

WinniWoman

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At the beginning my CFP charged 1% annually of the value of how much he was managing. He not only managed our investments but also advised me on my corporate business. I had my own business and was incorporated. He is an enrolled tax agent so he also did our taxes. He saved us a lot of money in taxes. Once everything was setup, he charged us very little. I work very closely with him as we talk at least once a week. Since I have been retired I pay almost nothing.

I believe 1% is pretty common for a fee based CFP. Of course you must have a large enough portfolio to make it worth their time.


Yes, this guy I spoke with specializes in taxes- that is an extra fee as well. When you own a business- this is different as there is even more for the CFP to deal with.
 

WinniWoman

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DW and I each have a Rollover IRA and a Roth IRA at TD Ameritrade (4 accounts). We set them up and manage them ourselves. Ameritrade may not be the cheapest online broker, but IMO, they have a decent trading and research platform. I'm sure that many others would do just as well.

IOW, he's not out to lunch on that, but his fee would send me running for the hills.
.

Right. I don't see why I have to move my money to another place. I use a mutual find company and their brokerage.
 

sts1732

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Right. I don't see why I have to move my money to another place. I use a mutual find company and their brokerage.
As I am approaching the 70 and half rule, and I have several annuities, thus having taking to take allocations from each. I rolled them into a new Roth IRA. For future use. Perhaps that island with the umbrella drinks. Where I can watch the ocean and wonder how the people back home are doing in the snow..........:cool:
 
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