Tired...Anyone retired this year, how has it been, any issues. Looking at 3 more yrs.

[Travelover]

Understanding your spending is critical to retiring with peace of mind. Over at the early retirement forum, people show up almost daily that have analyzed their investments, pensions, SS, etc in detail and want to know if they are good to go. The first question from the other forum members is - "how much do you need to spend?".... Silence.

Gee, doesn't everyone have the same expenses? Uh, no. Ideally you need to figure out a bare minimum budget that covers health insurance, housing, car expenses, then create a second one with all your wants, like travel and toys.

Knowing that you still have a roof over your head if things go bad is reassuring.

 

[newbury]

And you should ALWAYS add in a big "fudge factor" for those "out of the blue" things that blindside you but are easily recovered from.

Our children recently had 3 semi emergencies, non-life threatening, which we could have ignored and let them deal with it totally but by LOANING them the $$ it made life much easier and less stressful for all. (Note we have loaned them $$ before and it's all got paid back on time.) Plus we charge them the same interest we get on our savings account.

It means we go without a lot of "niceties" (replacing a car w/100K miles, a new kitchen we had planned on) but having that "float" in the bank so when something happens it can immediately be fixed greatly lowers stress levels.

 

[dmccarty]

I recall a while back, FOR ME, that I got some notification from SS that my retirement age had been moved forward on benefits collection.

When I saw that, I ended up rethinking my "benefit" from SS altogether and made other arrangements.

A previous employer did the same "raise the bar" trick to a pension plan I was in. Lesson learned. If you know what I mean.

We figure that by the time we can draw SS, it will have decreased in value, and we will use the payment to pay for health care. Or maybe I should say, that we HOPE that the SS payment will be enough to pay for health care. :shocked:

Any money we get out of SS will be gravy so to speak.

I THINK my retirement age was moved up back in the 80s when SS was "fixed." Course it was not fixed, the problem was just kicked down the road.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

Here's a good chart showing the break even point after starting SS from the ages of 62, 66 and 70. The age at which the dollar amounts you receive will be equal is around the age of 79. That is...if you start your SS at 62 or 66, the dollar amount you get out will be equal at around age 79. The question is: Would you rather receive less money early on, or more money later on? What if your family history shows an earlier death rate? Or your health is not very good early on. Is it worth putting off SS until just before death, or enjoying the money earlier...while you can?

http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2006/606/images/ex1p43.pdf

Opinions?

Those questions have to be asked and the answer is very specific to each person/family. Health wise, my family is long lived, so retiring early/later really does not matter from that point of view. The wifey's health may be a different story and time will tell.

An advantage of retiring early and getting SS is that the SS check can be saved if your expenses are covered by other income/savings. This is yet another variable to ponder. Another point to ponder is survivor benefits for the spouse since an early retirement can hit the survivor benefit by 35%.

SS benefits by year of birth and retirement age -> http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/agereduction.htm

As a college intern, I worked in Personal for quite some time. I thought it was going to be the worse job ever, but the company had an excellent reputation, and hey, it was a job! :thumbsup::laughing::laughing::laughing: Turned out to be the best job I could have had at that age. It really was a great job and led to others down the road. Part of my job was to run retirement calculations for employees thinking about retirement. I saw their earning history, the company retirement and SS. Twas an eye opener for sure. At the time, most of the employees died within a couple of years of retirement...

Now, I don't think this applies to people at that company today nor would I think it applies to many places today. But back then people worked for this company their entire career. Most would start right out of school, work their entire lives in the one company, then retire. The company truly was a family and I think this is why so many died after retirement. When they retired they not only lost work, but their friends, coworkers, and identity. I think many of them felt they had nothing else to live for and they simply died. The employees really identified themselves with the company and I worked with a couple of guys who came back to work after retirement to help out the company. You ain't likely to see that today...

I saw one guy whose wife wanted him to retire but he did not want too. At the time, employees could roll over vacation time and this guy had over six months saved up. This was very common back then. This guy went back and forth about retiring and really did not know what to do. We suggested he take six months off as a practice retirement so he did. After the six months was over he decided to retire. Within the year he was begging for his job back. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: The company brought him back. No way in heck would that happen today, neither from the employee's point of view nor the company.

The decision to retire is hard but I think it is more difficult if the person is really bound to the job/company/organization...

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

...
Oh..here is a short piece about a friend of mine who did not make it back. He was my good friend and "hutch" mate. One day we were both not assigned to work with a Cambodian BN so we flipped a coin to see who would go to the field with a BN. Jerry "won" the coin toss and departed the next morning. About 5:30PM I was teaching a Cambodian Mortar crew (81MM) and heard a lot of noise on my PRC25. I listened and heard Jerry had seen a NVA PLT and was moving down to intercept. Short time later he was ambushed.
POW-MIA Case Synopsis

I hope their remains can be found one day.

I did a double take/read when the other LT was a McCarty. Aint' many McCarty's around, so he has to be related somehow. I wonder if he was from KY...

What happened to the ARVN officer that refused to help? I know what should have happened to him....

My FIL was in SF back in the 60's. His last name is Valentine. I think he was in the 10th Group though. If I am remember what he has told me, and connect the dots right, I think he knew some of the men at Lang Vei. He thought for years that some of the men he knew had died in the battle and did not learn until the last few years they had survived.

Later,
Dan

 

[sfloggie]

1. The ARVN Officer got his, but not in this fight!
2. I am not sure Dan about McCarty. He was about 5'11'' and very slim. He actually was not shot at the fight. The ambush was the beginning of a three day battle in which more than 166 Cambodians and about 20 Americans were killed. I saw McCarty after he evaded for two days. He got to the East side of the mountain and talked a resident into taking him on his mopad. As they rode off, James was shot in the soft flesh under his right arm. He rode up and got off where I was standing and was treated by our Medics.

Jerry's body was not found nor was Harwood.

 

[dmccarty]

1. The ARVN Officer got his, but not in this fight!
2. I am not sure Dan about McCarty. He was about 5'11'' and very slim. He actually was not shot at the fight. The ambush was the beginning of a three day battle in which more than 166 Cambodians and about 20 Americans were killed. I saw McCarty after he evaded for two days. He got to the East side of the mountain and talked a resident into taking him on his mopad. As they rode off, James was shot in the soft flesh under his right arm. He rode up and got off where I was standing and was treated by our Medics.

Jerry's body was not found nor was Harwood.

Glad the ARVN officer got what her earned.

McCarty sounds like he has the McCarty genes, tall and thin. Most of my McCarty's went into the Marines so he must have been from the other McCarty's. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

McCarty's evasion reminded me of Nick Rowe's book, "Five Years to Freedom" and how lucky he was to escape the VC.

For those who do not know, Rowe was a Green Beret officer who was captured by the VC and held under very harsh conditions and after five years he managed to escape. The problem was he was in the bush and dressed like a VC. Another officer, who knew Rowe, and was back on another tour, and got on a copter to ride around the area where Rowe was captured. What are the odds that Rowe was even alive? Much less they would find him? Find him they did and the copter crew was going to shoot Rowe who looked like a VC, when Rowe's friend said to hold their fire. They landed and brought Rowe home.

Rowe eventually created the Escape and Evasion school that air crew and others attend. Rowe was assassinated by communists in the PI's in the late 80's.

It has been more than a few years since I read "Five Years to Freedom" but a few things I remember, besides how Rowe was able to escape, was that Rowe was captured with two other Americans. One was an officer named Rocky Versace. Rocky was an apt nickname because the VC could not break him. Eventually, the VC murdered Rocky because they could not break his spirit and shut him up. One of the tortures both Rowe and Rocky endured was simply having their bug nets taken away. The squeeters bit them so bad they just puffed up. They could not see because their faces were so swollen from the bug bites. Course the VC did worse than letting the bugs bite them. Rocky was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in captivity.

Later,
Dan

 

[sfloggie]

We had two Metal of Honors in our camp when I was there and one just before I got there. CPT Drew Dix was with us and SFC or MSG Fred Zabatowski. I did not talk to them much other than greetings. They were/are good men.

 

[MacLawn]

Oh me, flog, those Vietnam memories. I'm a Navy vet. We had some horrific injuries and deaths many people don't realize if Navy. Anyway, whew, brings back the memories/nightmares.

On to retirement, thanks for that VA help! I'm 70% service connected disabled from Vietnam, did nothing personally to get it, but my wife (bless her!) knew my issues, and by herself contacted the DAV and got some help for me. A stressful process for me, but I'm glad she did it.

Dan, those stories you gave about the social aspects of leaving coworkers, etc., are very helpful too! We must understand that part of retirement. My situation is different being a one man self employed show, but I still have to do something about the social contact issues. Thanks boys, keep them stories coming. Helping me a lot.

 

[Redbug]

Those questions have to be asked and the answer is very specific to each person/family. Health wise, my family is long lived, so retiring early/later really does not matter from that point of view. The wifey's health may be a different story and time will tell.

An advantage of retiring early and getting SS is that the SS check can be saved if your expenses are covered by other income/savings. This is yet another variable to ponder. Another point to ponder is survivor benefits for the spouse since an early retirement can hit the survivor benefit by 35%.

SS benefits by year of birth and retirement age -> http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/agereduction.htm

As a college intern, I worked in Personal for quite some time. I thought it was going to be the worse job ever, but the company had an excellent reputation, and hey, it was a job! :thumbsup::laughing::laughing::laughing: Turned out to be the best job I could have had at that age. It really was a great job and led to others down the road. Part of my job was to run retirement calculations for employees thinking about retirement. I saw their earning history, the company retirement and SS. Twas an eye opener for sure. At the time, most of the employees died within a couple of years of retirement...

Now, I don't think this applies to people at that company today nor would I think it applies to many places today. But back then people worked for this company their entire career. Most would start right out of school, work their entire lives in the one company, then retire. The company truly was a family and I think this is why so many died after retirement. When they retired they not only lost work, but their friends, coworkers, and identity. I think many of them felt they had nothing else to live for and they simply died. The employees really identified themselves with the company and I worked with a couple of guys who came back to work after retirement to help out the company. You ain't likely to see that today...

I saw one guy whose wife wanted him to retire but he did not want too. At the time, employees could roll over vacation time and this guy had over six months saved up. This was very common back then. This guy went back and forth about retiring and really did not know what to do. We suggested he take six months off as a practice retirement so he did. After the six months was over he decided to retire. Within the year he was begging for his job back. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: The company brought him back. No way in heck would that happen today, neither from the employee's point of view nor the company.

The decision to retire is hard but I think it is more difficult if the person is really bound to the job/company/organization...

Later,
Dan

===============================

Dan...I can see how that early job formed your perception of how to arrange your life later on. Most people don't get an insight like that until it's too late or they do finally grow up and the window of time has closed.

For me...Home life was not so good as a kid. I left home and was on my own. It was sink or swim. And that brought independence and self reliance. As I worked my way into a career, there was a reorganization at work with layoffs. I went through a couple in my career. I feel that feeling of panic and helplessness to this day. After that first one, I decided that if I survived that...I would do all I could to become as financially independent as possible and not have to ever go through something like that again. More than just luck. Living below our means and not just living in the present and pissing all you make away buying stuff. With my retirement, I essentially will be financially independent and not have to ever work a job again. That's how I look at retirement.