Lets talk about early retirement...shall we ?

[Lowhound]

I wish I could have worked longer. Im 43 now but I became disabled at 37. After 3 back surgeries & 1 neck surgery my body cant take the wear & tear of doing a whole lot. What pisses me off is some people think Im lucky not to work. I have actually had people tell me this. Of coarse there are others that think Im lazy because I dont work. I started working at 16 & for almost 15years I worked 2 jobs at 1 time. I guess you could say I was forced to retire before I wanted to. I have twin girls that keep me pretty busy so I do get to spend more time with them.

 

[Budnicks]

Man,
Your 49, that IS young...by todays standards...
Go back to school...


Latley, I'm not too sure the Unions have their memmbers "best interest at heart"

Bingo we have a winner.... Hey Ski, IMHFO we can't say it often enough, thanks for your service to our country....

 

[super-bee_ski]

:eusa_hand:he's not gonna come down and get you, your family is not going to let that happen ,he's gonna keep you here and punish you :alien_probe:

Wich in turn seems to punish US...

 

[lewtot184]

for those of you with 401k's and ira's it is possible to dip into them before 59 1/2 without a tax penalty. this is what i did and never had a tax penalty. find a financial or tax consultant to help you get a plan together. stick to your plan and don't get spend happy or greedy! debt is the noose around your neck.

 

[Sonny Black]

My Grandfather started the business and
worked 'till 91yrs old. He could drive one of the
trucks 'till he was 82! My Father worked daily
'till 80 , passed on at 82. I am still working.
One of my sons works at the business my Grandfather started.
I am not looking to "pull the plug" soon.

thanks for listening,

Sonny

 

[tpodwdog]

its nice to hear all of your thoughts. a few of you are in my profession and as you well know, our livelihood depends on our bodies keeping up. from the time we start...til we are done, our bodies take one hell of a beating. yeah im in relatively good health except for smoking and im a bit over weight , but my 6'-5" frame can take the extra punishment. i kinda feel like im 14 years old again and having my dad in my ear saying.." you better figure out what you want to do the rest of your life " . i feel like a slug not doing anything and accepting un-enjoy-ment, but on the other hand.. i worked for years and put into alot of my money over the years that fund.... not that its justified , but in my own mind it kinda makes me feel a little better about it .

youre right. the unions DO NOT have our best interest at heart. this aint 1970 any more, and anyone that going to stand up for us just might end up like Jimmy Hoffa. who knows. the union is a money making game like anything else. We in the unions call ourselves " over priced whores"...because when theyre done with us.. we get laid off and they forget all about how freekin hard you worked for them and how you got things done on their stupid dead lines. I HAD ENOUGH. if i was working, i would more than likely be out in this arctic weather we are having , because it has happened many times before. i dont want to work in this weather, freezing all day and having a whip across your back for 8 hours. im just tired guys, tired mentally, physically, emotionally...you name it. i have been taking care of alot of people for alot of years , work suxx....weather suxx.... this never ending court battle im in with my x to get my money back suxx.... not hearing from my lawyers suxx... my biggest fear right now is having to sell my cars just to keep things going once un-enjoy-ment runs out, and thats something i just dont want to do . if i do get my money back...that will take the strain off a bit.....but im not counting on that...and it could be 5 years before that happens at the rate things are going.

 

[44070dart]

I had to retire at 51 (disability injury ) I was a civil service employee and began collecting my pension early ...SS disability soon followed ...the day I had to retire I thought was the worst day of my life but it turned out to be the best ..I always find something to do .. if you can work out the NUMBER$$ retire ASAP. I started working at 15 .(6 1/2 hrs a night at a gas station after school and another station 14 hrs sat/sun) and worked steady till 51..I've paid my dues and now enjoy whatever the Lord has in store for me ..:angel7: ..why people work longer than they have to is a mystery to me ...between family/friends and working on some muscle cars ( which I do every minute I can ) who needs work ???

 

[dgraver]

for those of you with 401k's and ira's it is possible to dip into them before 59 1/2 without a tax penalty. this is what i did and never had a tax penalty. find a financial or tax consultant to help you get a plan together. stick to your plan and don't get spend happy or greedy! debt is the noose around your neck.

This is a hardship withdrawal, you have to be going through a qualifying event to be eligible. Also, your employer must approve this. Withdrawals prior to 59 1/2 are subject to a 10% penalty on top of the taxes you must pay which would be at least 20%. Some plans allow for early retirement at age 55, or you can use the IRS code 72T to get to it, but it is restrictive. All of this applies to any kind of defined contribution plan (401k, profit sharing, 403b, etc).

Pensions are even more complex, they could have their own rules such as must wait till 65 to receive your benefit, no lump sum option, yadayadayada. Tpod, pension payments are based of years of service and earnings, in some cases provide lifetime income. Even if they allowed you to access it at age 50, your benefit would be significantly lower than taking it in your 60s. They use mortality tables, taking it too early should definitely be avoided. You prob don't want to hear this, but I would keep trying to work till at least 55, then you at least have options. Now, you are basically screwed because being 6'5" ogre does not qualify for hardship.

 

[tpodwdog]

This is a hardship withdrawal, you have to be going through a qualifying event to be eligible. Also, your employer must approve this. Withdrawals prior to 59 1/2 are subject to a 10% penalty on top of the taxes you must pay which would be at least 20%. Some plans allow for early retirement at age 55, or you can use the IRS code 72T to get to it, but it is restrictive. All of this applies to any kind of defined contribution plan (401k, profit sharing, 403b, etc).

Pensions are even more complex, they could have their own rules such as must wait till 65 to receive your benefit, no lump sum option, yadayadayada. Tpod, pension payments are based of years of service and earnings, in some cases provide lifetime income. Even if they allowed you to access it at age 50, your benefit would be significantly lower than taking it in your 60s. They use mortality tables, taking it too early should definitely be avoided. You prob don't want to hear this, but I would keep trying to work till at least 55, then you at least have options. Now, you are basically screwed because being 6'5" ogre does not qualify for hardship.

hahahahha... good one. !:headbang:

 

[tallhair]

I had to retire at 51 (disability injury ) I was a civil service employee and began collecting my pension early ...SS disability soon followed ...the day I had to retire I thought was the worst day of my life but it turned out to be the best ..I always find something to do .. if you can work out the NUMBER$$ retire ASAP. I started working at 15 .(6 1/2 hrs a night at a gas station after school and another station 14 hrs sat/sun) and worked steady till 51..I've paid my dues and now enjoy whatever the Lord has in store for me ..:angel7: ..why people work longer than they have to is a mystery to me ...between family/friends and working on some muscle cars ( which I do every minute I can ) who needs work ???

I was working full time 5 1/2 days a week (avg 45 hrs) in a factory since 2 weeks after my 16th birthday, then in AF when 18, retired a few years ago and went back to work for the AF again as a civilian. I'm 47 now. How many "years", quarters, or however they keep track of it do you have to work to hit the number that gives you the max or fairly close to the max in SS retirement benefits? ... as if there will actually be any for me But still curious!

 

[daredevil]

:eusa_hand:he's not gonna come down and get you, your family is not going to let that happen ,he's gonna keep you here and punish you :alien_probe:

And a big thanks.(sarcastic)

 

[snakeyes]

DD :wavesmile::yaayy:

 

[MarPar]

now, you are basically screwed because being 6'5" ogre does not qualify for hardship.

lmfao!!

 

[tpodwdog]

lmfao!!

View attachment 101338

MAR-PAR is " messin' with sasquatch "

 

[kb67mopar]

As a young guy reading through this I have to say the earlier you can retire the better! Get out of the work force and let others work if you can afford to retire. Working at age 70+ is greedy in my mind (those doing it without a necessity) and you are taking jobs away from people struggling to get by when you could be comfortably soaking up your earned income.

On another front, for those of us in our younger years there is no hope of retirement anymore, they engineered the system to result in us working to within 2 years of our expected length of life and they keep trying to raise the age of retirement. At this point they are looking at age 67 and by the time I retire it will be over 70. That means I will have to work 54 years to earn my retirement...that's bullshit.

Besides the fact that they want to work us to death, the cost of everything has gone up so fast compared to wages that it will be impossible for me to get ahead. I'll still be paying of school debt when my son goes to college which means I will not have had time to build up a nest egg of any sizable value and then have to try to support his tuition, fees, books etc which by that time will probably be 3x as expensive as now.

IMHO those of you in your 50's-60's had an easier opportunity and have a much better chance of getting out alive..me, I am just F-ed in the A.

 

[Stumper]

Glad to see I'm not alone ... I stopped working when I was 55 thinking I had built up enough savings etc. to make it. Then the collapse of 2008-9 hit and today the numbers don't look very good. There's a big difference between earning 5% interest and .5% on savings. My work used to be my life and fully consumed all my time. When I stopped I thought I had enough hobbies to keep me busy but after awhile found myself getting lazy and in a rut, physically and mentally. I realized over a year ago that I needed to get back doing something productive but then the realities hit - the longer you have been out of work the harder it is to get back in, especially at my age. I spent most of last year looking at opening various types of businesses but then the election hit and now I'm just not sure what direction to go in.
One thing I did learn for those of you in a similar boat is that you can use your 401K/IRA money to open a business with no penalities. The process basiclly turns your existing 401K into a 401K for your new company giving you the money to work with to buy real estate, inventory, etc.

 

[lewtot184]

i lived off my 401k for 7yrs; started at 55 1/2, stopped at 62 1/2, and paid no penalties and had no hardship. i did pay normal income taxes on what i withdrew. it's my understanding that someone can take disbursements off an ira at age 55 1/2 but the disbursements have to at least be the same annually until age 59 1/2.

 

[dgraver]

Yep, that's the 72T.

i lived off my 401k for 7yrs; started at 55 1/2, stopped at 62 1/2, and paid no penalties and had no hardship. i did pay normal income taxes on what i withdrew. it's my understanding that someone can take disbursements off an ira at age 55 1/2 but the disbursements have to at least be the same annually until age 59 1/2.

 

[MoparMitch]

I hope this doesn't piss too many of you off, but I retired at age 44 back in 2000. I basically worked my a## of for 29 yrs. Newspapers at 14 , first paid job at the Burger Chef at 15, needed a work permit back then. After HS graduation I got a job as a delivery boy for $1.95 at a privately owned auto parts store ,age 17. Standing behind the parts counter one day leaning against a catalog rack ( Yes Paper Book Catalog Rack )a customer asked about a part. Next thing I know I'm a counterman. The ownership saw me as ambitious, and made me a store manager at one of their 6 stores at age 20. In 1981 the two owners split up and the owner that ended up with the store I was managing offered me a partnership. I realized that he was looking for an exit plan in me , and I paid him each month and held back my monthly bonuses towards ownership. He allowed me to buy in to 25% of the business , and taught me alot of valuable business princepals along the 10 year stretch. Bill was 25 years my elder , and he basically taught me all the administrative parts of the business. In 1991 it got to the point where I had learned pretty much all I needed. I was doing most of the work , and he was taking most of the money. He elected to sell his 75% out to me. I took some money out against my house as a down payment , and he took back the rest of the note at 8%. Him and his previous partner always stressed the importance of owning the real estate you were doing business in.They had owned most of the buildings that they were in , but not the one I was in. In 1992 I approached the building owner and asked to buy it. He sold to me that year , and took back part of the note. I went on to open 2 more parts stores in the next few years. I always saw my business as my retirement vehicle. I knew that SS wasn't going to do it for me. We just kept adding more and more inventory as the years went on. Around late 1997 my wife fell ill with brain tumors, and had two of them resected by the end of that year. Also competition for price in this business got really intense. WH distributors selling directly to installers and the like. With gross profit waning and my wifes health issues , we decided to look around for a buyer. The national parts chain Carquest was wanting to make inroads into our areas . I actually contacted them , and they liked the way we ran our business operations. In late 2000 we sold our small chain of stores to Carquest for seven figures. They paid us for all of our inventories and fixtures and equipment , and kept all of the employees employed as well. Sue and I paid off Bill's note and the remaining notes on commercial real estates we owned. Invested the balance of the money. Carquest signed long term notes with us on the buildings that they occupied, and to this day 13yrs later they still are tenants. I basically just went home to spend more time with my wife. God bless, she has been cancer free now for 10 years. So ,again , basically our retirement is in the commercial real estate that we own outright. And of course IRA's and SS in a couple of years. I never depended on the Gooberment for retirement , and I don't recommend it either. I used to tell young employees that the delivery position is'nt a dead end job at all. It's all in how hard you want to work. Of course they always knew my story. When I was younger and not as wise, I used to think that I accomplished all these things on my own . I know now that the Lord has blessed me and my family, and put wise , helpfull people in our lives from whome to take advise and counsil from. I'm really just a High School educated Southern Maryland Redneck , that took all the great advise and help along the way.

 

[snakeyes]

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