What did you do on the first day of retirement?

[BrokenTrack]

Not all debt is bad, especially in business. My wife and I have (3) different houses in (2) different states, so we understand the the housing market. But we are using sound judgement to make decisions, it is when people are "trying to keep up with the Jone's" as it is called, that typically things go bad.

That really is just contentment. Are you happy with what you have?

Honestly that is easier said than done, because while say the husband is perfectly happy driving a car until 250,000 miles, his wife may not. I have never struggled with that, BUT I have completely failed with my children. We built loft beds because of all the toys they have, and they want more! They lack gratitude.

My biggest challenge is actually property taxes. The trend now is to try and balance Federal and State Budgets that ultimately push the burden on landowners. This makes property taxes often jump unpredictably. I am partly to blame of course, as I do have 4 young daughters in school, and those schools contribute 75% to my property taxes, but I also know as a conservative, they could do a little better job in reducing costs. I leave it there as I do not want to get into politics, but without question, in a high tax state like Maine, property taxes are pretty high, and New Hampshire is even worse!

 

[ultrarunner]

Taxes are my biggest expense bar none... it staggers the mind when I look at it.

I would imagine Health Care would be second if I had to pay the full amount out of pocket.

Never used public schools but that is where the bulk of the money goes plus in my California city there are dozens of special assessments with many for Police and Fire and the Oakland Raiders and public transportation...

Taxes would have to more than double to keep ahead of the pensions promised to municipal employees... and this is where the real showdown is coming.

 

[goeduck]

Taxes would have to more than double to keep ahead of the pensions promised to municipal employees... and this is where the real showdown is coming.

That combined with what seems to be ever growing municipal employment makes it really concerning.

 

[ultrarunner]

My city went on strike demanding better wages and more staffing... city hall caved so nothing new.

Seems retired friends fall into two camps... lots of plans or no plans...

 

[MossRoad]

..... I never financed anything that I couldn't deduct on my income tax. .....

We've never paid enough in interest annually, ever in our lives, to beat the standard deduction. Never.

 

[thepumpguysc]

I read the 1st page & jumped to the last.. I don't know what we're talking about now..??
BUT.. its been alittle over a month since I quit the rat race & I STILL get up at 4:30-5:00 & sometime sooner.
When does THAT stop??
I've just about forgotten about the daily grind, getting up at 5:00, sitting in traffic for an hour, putting up with moron coworkers day in & day out.. fighting the 5:00 traffic on the way home.. but still get mad when I'm forced to talk about it.
The projects are never ending but its nice to have the TIME to actually sit down & figure them out..
I've got project LISTS scattered all over the house w/ parts lists & building material lists for my "NEXT" project..
The projects are so many that they run together.. you start 1 & before you know it, your working on something entirely different than when you started..
The daily naps are a BIG +.. maybe that's why I'm waking up so early??
EVERY DAY the wife asks, whatcha gonna do today?? I just laugh & say, "oh, I don't know".. Lol

 

[BrokenTrack]

We've never paid enough in interest annually, ever in our lives, to beat the standard deduction. Never.

I find that quite interesting. I always felt that the Section 179 clause was an invaluable tool for depreciation in and of itself, but maybe that is only available for farmers???

Myself, it will be interesting to see what the new new tax plan does for my farm. At this point I am neither for, nor against it. It is just now I will not be allowed to deduct my full property taxes as the limit is set at $10,000. That means what I could fully deduct before, the remaining property taxes is a non-deductible expense, and while the tax rate is lower, that may help or hurt me depending on what sort of year I have. Considering the inverted nature of a farm...that is buying most things at retail prices and selling them at wholesale prices and somehow managing to get a profit, means I tend to have plenty of deductions year to year.

And that is only one provision of the new tax code. It will be interesting to see how the Law of Unintended Consequences plays out on this radical tax plan in the coming years.

 

[check]

We've never paid enough in interest annually, ever in our lives, to beat the standard deduction. Never.

We don't have a deduction in Canada. If the interest is on money borrowed to earn income, it is fully deductible. And, in the case of a rental property, if your costs exceed your income, then the rental loss is deductible from your employment or other taxable income! (Of course, this rental los can't go on forever. If you keep losing money, then the Canada Revenue Service will eventually disallow your rental loss claim.)

 

[George2615]

BUT.. its been alittle over a month since I quit the rat race & I STILL get up at 4:30-5:00 & sometime sooner.
When does THAT stop??
I've just about forgotten about the daily grind, getting up at 5:00, sitting in traffic for an hour, putting up with moron coworkers day in & day out.. fighting the 5:00 traffic on the way home.. but still get mad when I'm forced to talk about it.
The projects are never ending but its nice to have the TIME to actually sit down & figure them out..
I've got project LISTS scattered all over the house w/ parts lists & building material lists for my "NEXT" project..
The projects are so many that they run together.. you start 1 & before you know it, your working on something entirely different than when you started..
The daily naps are a BIG +.. maybe that's why I'm waking up so early??
EVERY DAY the wife asks, whatcha gonna do today?? I just laugh & say, "oh, I don't know".. Lol

See post 247

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Im a night person, so i wont have any problems sleeping in once i retire. I only get up early to beat traffic.