- Joined
- Feb 25, 2021
- Messages
- 3,130
I guess that means your signature line will need to change!I've been 100% self-employed for 9 years and work is on track to fizzle out, so the wife and I will start receiving SS benefits starting Jan 2023
I guess that means your signature line will need to change!I've been 100% self-employed for 9 years and work is on track to fizzle out, so the wife and I will start receiving SS benefits starting Jan 2023
I forgot about that.I guess that means your signature line will need to change!
4.5% earnings on cash!No debt . Houses have been paid off 15 years ago . Land has been paid off for years . I've lived cheaply , a 20 % into the 401 K since I was 24 YO ? I add things up and it makes sense . I can earn $18,000 a year without penalties from SS which I plan on doing . I'll start up my LLC when I reach the limit . Medical benefits are pretty good thru the states program . I'm getting ready to tie up a few grand on a 4.5 % 1 year CD that has earned nothing over the past 5 years . A pension has been locked up for 23 years without a dime interest . So I have to go to the expert on this to figure out what to do .
Bruce,I retired at 62 & 5 months on 2/28/2022. We are doing great, not from luck (well, maybe some) but through saving for many years before retiring. More bragging than anything, but advisors will give a rough estimate of 10X of your salary in your 401K to be comfortable in retirement. We dipped to about 30x when the market took a dump down to 29K, and are back up to around 35X now. I'm not taking SS at this time. Starting next year I'll be rolling over 401K money into a Roth IRA so I'm paying taxes on just the 401K, not 401K plus SS. I'll wait until 67-70 to start drawing.
We paid off our house and other debt over 10 years ago. I'm also not taking a pension from GM (my former employer) as I had the option of a lump sum or a monthly pension. In my case, the lump sum was 21 years of my annual pension; easy decision. I should have probably retired from GM 3 or 4 years earlier, but didn't hate what I did. My Fidelity modeler 3 or 4 years ago showed that I could sustain what was my current salary at the time until 93. Now the modeler shows me bringing in 15% more than I made when I retired until I hit 93. With no debt, daughter through law school 5 years ago, son with a BS in Computer Engineering 3 years ago, we're are in a good place.
The toughest thing we're running into is switching from "save mode" to "we can spend some money" mode. We've needed new stools at our kitchen island for years. Do we REALLY need them, no, so we sat on the uncomfortable, unpadded, $10 each ones from Oak Express for 20 years. We just splurged on some $175 a pop ones with nice padded seats, lumbar support, swivel seat, etc. Oh no, $750 out of the bank account?!? Yep, and very glad we did.
Bruce
I'm no mathematician by any means . I figure this . I added everything up that is liquid . I then divide the amount by 360 which represents 30 years in months . This is what I plan to receive each month . This amount along with SS is greater than my bring home pay at this point . Neither of the houses or land are in the equation .Dave, you’ve worked hard, all your life. You may have a rough patch the first few months then things settle down. At least that was my experience.
Taking SS is a big decision. Good for you.
Stay healthy my friend. That makes all the difference.
Medicare is great compared to what I had at work. That saves a lot of money.
We just tend to drop dead . It runs in the family blood .The big unknowns are long term care in an old folks home.
I retired as soon as we felt we could afford it. The relief from the above mentioned malady more than makes up for loss of income.Retirement really helped my people allergies.