Retirement nestegg

[Moparsmitty]

Don't forget to factor in divorce. Nobody plans on it. But it happens. We all probably know someone who has an ex who took half of their nest egg. So, if you're married, keep her happy, Gents.

Man ain't that the truth. Most of the guys that I know that are divorced (some 3 or 4 times) are flat broke and just barely getting by. They never seem to recover from the financial damage. The ones that only lost half of their stuff are the lucky ones. When someone asks me how to be successful, The first thing I tell them is stay married or stay single, pick one and stay with it.

 

[Cranky]

Yeah, a buddy of mine has been talking about divorce for some time now. He just retired a few years ago. She treats him like crap and he treats her way too good but it's not working. Tried to get him to quit treating her so good. It's kinda like kids....the better you treat them, the worse they act. I went through a 'stock split' too but back in 86. It hurt the back pocket for sure. She turned into Godzilla as soon as she went into the delivery room and things went down hill from there and I wasn't about to live like that for the rest of my life. It was like I was a dirty rotten SOB because she was having a baby and everything from then on was my fault and for damn sure "stay away from my baby when I'm not it the same room!" Damnit woman, you're the one that did all the talkin about how nice it would be to have a baby and yet you turn into this? Not much you can do with a crazy biotch. She went home to mommy and I got to keep the house and my 70 Challenger! She hated my cars anyways. Dang, sometimes us guys can be dumb asses lol

 

[ga66mopar]

I let fidelity talk me into letting them invest my retirement savings last summer. I told them I would give them one year to see how well they do. Well so far this year I have earned a whopping 3.5 %. I done much better investing my savings myself but I will give them to July.
Living in Georgia helps because the cost of living is so low. I see a lot of retired northerners moving down south. I suspect it is because they can't maintain the same lifestyle after retirement as they had while working. Staying out of debt is I think the key to retiring and not worrying how to make ends meet.
With my house paid for and no other debt I believe I can live well on $3000 a month. But it is nice to have a nest egg for any unexpected expenses.

 

[Cranky]

I let fidelity talk me into letting them invest my retirement savings last summer. I told them I would give them one year to see how well they do. Well so far this year I have earned a whopping 3.5 %. I done much better investing my savings myself but I will give them to July.
Living in Georgia helps because the cost of living is so low. I see a lot of retired northerners moving down south. I suspect it is because they can't maintain the same lifestyle after retirement as they had while working. Staying out of debt is I think the key to retiring and not worrying how to make ends meet.
With my house paid for and no other debt I believe I can live well on $3000 a month. But it is nice to have a nest egg for any unexpected expenses.

Around here Century Management seems to do pretty good but like most places like that, it's easy to do well in an up market....but 3.5% since July? That sucks and if that was my account, I'd be moving on. Do you know exactly what your money is invested in?

 

[67GTX440]

You never mention how many years you have until you plan to retire to save the 1 million or at what age you plan to retire. Regardless to the response to both questions, the answer is probably still no. That 1 million number is going to be reduced in spending power by 2-3% inflation every year while you are accumulating it. Medical expenses for a tie in plan and prescription drug plan will cost you $250 a month for just yourself even when you qualify for Medicare. Twice that for you and a spouse. If the 1 million is in taxable accounts, it will be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn at anywhere from 15-28%. You need to get your social security estimates if you have not already to know what to expect from that. Your living expenses will only go down in retirement if you sit home and do nothing.

 

[hawkeye]

I am 60 now and plan on farming in some capacity for another 15 to 20 years. I probably could retire sooner but I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Warren Buffet always said only to invest in things you understand. I understand gold, silver, farmland and old cars. However if things ever get tight, the old cars won't hold their value like the other 3.

 

[64BEL]

She turned into Godzilla as soon as she went into the delivery room

Oh man, that's a funny image to think about.

Sorry for your pain, though, Cranky.

 

[Cranky]

Oh man, that's a funny image to think about.

Sorry for your pain, though, Cranky.

Thanks. Yeah, it was nuts. A woman that never said anything worse than 'damn' spewed every imaginable cuss word known to man that day. She was ready to kill!

 

[Ryguytoodry]

Dang, sometimes us guys can be dumb asses lol

Damn right about that one.

 

[coronet340]

There are some long time standing mutual funds that have averaged 12% over the past 10 years. At 1 million you would still be able to live off 8% or 80k a year. In a debt free environment, including being mortgage free leaves you 6700 a month to live on minus taxes. If you maxed out your Roth IRA every year your taxes would be significantly lower. And don't forget that if you are under age 59 1/2 then you will also get hit with a penalty.

Luckily I saw the light and will be debt free this year. Still need to buy a house which we are about to start saving for but realistically, we are shooting for the 5-10 million in the bank before retirement. 1 million has a nice ring to it but in 20 years when I am closer to retirement I have a feeling 1,000,000 will look more like 100,000. Plus social INsecurity will be long gone by the time I can get what I paid into it.

One example, the crash hurt it as you can tell but over the long term it will be back close to 12%
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/large-growth/jensen-quality-growth-fund/jensx

 

[HYRDGOON]

This brings me to a question but along the same line... Is there a big culture on your side of the border right now of people "retiring" by this I mean taking their eligible pension but agreeing to stay on for contract work? It appears quite a few at that age is keen to double dip because they need the money and at the same time not make any room for those coming up behind them... I work between an assortment of people as an independent third party and I see this trend in Hospital employees, Project Managers/Consultants, plumbers both union and non-union (of course the union has a big problem with this!)

I can't tell if it's a matter of people actually just want to keep working afraid to be bored (but with the freedom of knowing they can leave at any time) or if they are living above their means (seems more likely to me in today's market)

This actually pissed me off as of late because I had a conversation with one of the partners I work for about wanting a solid plan for my retirement (I'm 35 now) and he essentially told me "People are coming back from retiring now and working till their 70's what are you thinking about it for??" this coming from a guy that's been semi-retired since mid 40's

With that said the "plan" for me is to assume half of this company and for it to keep paying me after I stop working but there's no way to set date for this so I continue to have retirement savings and work with an advisor that's done well for me.... Retirement and lifestyle after work is such a scary topic!

 

[HYRDGOON]

You could live off of a million dollars for your whole life.... Think about it. If you put that into a low interest savings account (lets say 1% monthly) you will be making $10,000 just from interest alone per month. I plan on retiring at ripe age of 50 haha. Solar panels, no debt, a savings account since I was 16 that won't be touched until retirement, etc. Are all going to help out a lot. Make sure you have enough to mess around with your toys as well, you won't want to retire and sit around all day. That's how you end up with dementia.

Ryan didn't you just post a month ago asking for recommendations on school and possible career choices and you honestly think you're going to retire by 50?? Unless the lottery factors into your plans brother I think you're in for a rude awakening when you see what the true cost of living post-school is these days... I'll be the first to say it ain't easy!!! Not to mention the fact if you do go into a union trade most here now have a "rule of 90" (bumped from 85 I believe) that age plus years of service (factored on hours not years) must = 90 before you can retire.

 

[Moparsmitty]

I've seen a lot of what Hydrgoon's talking about in the places I've worked. About 10 years ago, the telcom company I worked for offered me a bonus if I would retire early. I took their offer and then they turned around and offered me my old job back as an independent contractor with the same pay and no benefits. They figured it would actually save them money since my pension came out of a "different pocket" of money that was already in a trust to be used only for pensions. I wouldn't need benefits since the pension trust included medical coverage etc. It was simply a way for them to keep me on the job and cut expenses from the operations side of the business. They also save money by not having to hire and train new employees. I said "no thanks" took my enhanced retirement and left the business. I know of a few guys that took the company's offer and went back to work as contractors. Several of them quit soon after going back because the managers still tried to treat them like they were employees of the company. They said to hell with it and left the business.

 

[Pops1967GTX]