Retirement Question

[newbury]

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That approach is probably the best if looked at strictly from the $ standpoint.
My father passed away just as he was within a year of retiring and that has got me thinking that I'd rather err on the side of retiring too early versus too late
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And that is a great point - you cannot just look at it from the $ standpoint. Two of my coworkers had sudden illnesses, one leukemia, one heart attack which cut their life short. SWMBO, though slightly overweight, had a good bill of health until she had two strokes. The first laid her up for a few months. The second almost killed her and effectively forced her unplanned retirement. She's almost 100% better now.
But that brought it home to me, why work when I could get paid 75% of my salary, much lower taxes, no longer pay into the retirement fund, none of the costs of maintaining a job.

 

[mkr7734]

I did at 56, was not ready but the writing was on the wall at the end of 2008 working at Cat for 36 years. I took the buy out paid off the house and let the wife keep working. I watched my dad work, retire and drop dead. It has been 7 years now. Would it be nice to have more money or more time???? Good question only you can answer. I am glad I got out and I have had a blast just screwing off with the grand-kids and keeping up with our place. More money? sure but more time is worth something to. JMHO

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

I'm in a similar situation, can't help much but am also interested. Thanks for The CFP link. Seems like the CFP's near me want you to have .5 - 1M before they will talk to you, and it seems they want to invest your money for you, for a commission. I did find my credit union will do a free session with you, and they have a CFP, so I'm going to go talk to them.

I'm eligible to retire early from my present company. The company is no longer contributing to the pension, so I've been thinking about drawing it early, and putting it into a Roth. However I need to work a few more years to pay for kids college, so I would retire and work elsewhere for a few more years.

Call them and talk to them about retirement. CFP will work with you and review all the options. If you plan to invest go with a company that does not sell anything. If you do all they will want to sell you products that make them the most commission.

https://investor.vanguard.com/home/
I use Vanguard which has the lowest fees on the mutual funds. Fidelity also has low fees. It does add up, so if you have a mutual fund make sure the fees are not more than what you are making.

 

[ultrarunner]

...But that brought it home to me, why work when I could get paid 75% of my salary, much lower taxes, no longer pay into the retirement fund, none of the costs of maintaining a job.

I think this makes it much easier...

My public safety friends retire with 90 to 100% with lifetime medical so those that stay are really working for free... and this can be a powerful motivator...

Unfortunately, the only ones I know are Police and Fire...

Worse case is get another job if you get bored... which is exactly what one did... retired with 180k at 52 and lifetime medical... got bored with 15k coming in each month and went to work for another agency making 130k

At least this is delema I won't have to worry about.

 

[justinramani]

The wife and I are both in the military. If we are lucky - we will retire after 20 years of service with 50% of our base salaries and medical benefits for the rest of our lives. The military recently changed the retirement system to a matching 401k type. Luckily we are grandfathered into the legacy system. Hopefully we can both make it to 20 years. The downsizing is really taking its toll. If it all works out I will be about 42 when I am retirement eledgible.

 

[ultrarunner]

Know many with Tricare... it really makes options more viable having medical covered.

Some retired are near military hospitals/clinics and also take advantage of on base shopping.

I've noticed the local recruiting offices have all closed... they were quite active at one time.

 

[justinramani]

It's bitter sweet - the military is getting rid of some "dead weight" - but the uncertainty is pretty stressful for many people.

There are also some good guys that are being asked to leave as well..... Just have to believe that everything happens for a reason.

 

[mjarrels]

Tricare sucks big time. Pays 80% on what some buracrate sez the cost should be. $100 medical bill, tricare sez it should cost $10, so pays 80% of $10! Some doctors/hospitals write it off, other hound you forever. Plus side, no monthly cost and it meets obama care requirements. Don't get me started on the VA system!

mark, USN Retired

 

[dmccarty]

Retirement has changed. It used to be you worked until you reached retirement age, which for many, meant you were not really able to work anymore. You retired and then died shortly thereafter. You only were retired for a few years and then you were gone. There were exceptions of course but this happened to many people.

My first professional job while I was still in school was working for a very large company in personal. NOT the job I wanted but I figured it would be a start and it would be good to have the company on my resume....

Turned out to be THE BEST JOB I could have had at that age. That one position led to several others and I got great experience in my degree but in other areas outside my degree.

One of the many good things I learned was about retirement. I would run retirement calculations for employees and it was an eye opener to see how much money they were making, how much they would get from the retirement plan, and how much for Social Security. Many people would be ok to well off in retirement. Then there were others I don't know how they were going to eat. :confused3::shocked:

Back then, the company even though it was huge, was very much family. Employees were very proud of working for the company and loyalty worked both ways. Many, many employees would retire very late in life and die within a couple of years. I think it was because they had left their friends, "family" and identity behind. Back then you could roll over unused vacation. We had one guy who was struggling with the decision to retire and he had 6-9 months of vacations saved up. :confused2: We suggested he go on vacation for six months or so as a retirement test. He did. He loved it and after the preretirement he retired. He was back within a year wanting his job back. He just could not handle being home with nothing to do. He had no hobbies that would hold his interest and he missed being at "home" aka work. He was brought back to work. No way would that happen to day for many reasons. The loyalty in the old company was amazing. It went from the top down and it mattered. I saw retirees come back to work for a short time because the company needed them. Can't see that happening in today's world for many reasons. None good.

The balance today is making a very good guess on how much money you need, how much money you will have saved, how the investments will do over the years and how long you will live. Not just live but being able to enjoy yourself and do things. I have seen too many friends just drop dead and honestly they were the lucky ones compared to friends with long term illnesses that lasted years and were just flat out torture....

Tis a tough call that is for sure.

Later,
Dan

 

[DrRod]

As noted above, a financial advisor just sees money [not all that bad]. I remember when I bought my townhouse, moving up from a very small condo, they said I should reconsider investing in real estate. Hey, its not an investment pure and simple, I need a place to live.

Certainly look hard at the financial realities and then quietly consider the balance of time and money. When your gut says you value time over money, then its time to retire.