Any retirees? Any retire rather young? Looking for thoughts on any issues or surprises that may have popped up that maybe were not thought about before making the decision.

thread off the rails in 5...4...3...2...1....

47 minutes ago, wholesale_Melvin said:

thread off the rails in 5...4...3...2...1....

Why? It's not a crazy question and what's wrong with gathering information from people who may have gone through similar situations?

20 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

Why? It's not a crazy question and what's wrong with gathering information from people who may have gone through similar situations?

nothing wrong at all and a legit thread. it's just this place. 

2 minutes ago, wholesale_Melvin said:

nothing wrong at all and a legit thread. it's just this place. 

Ahhh gotcha lol. Oh well, I will risk suffering through some nonsense if I can possibly gain an insight or two.

I've got six years to go, but I have friends who have retired. They love it, but all say you gotta have a plan to do something, can't just sit on your arse waiting to die. Doesn't matter what it is, gardening, golf, part-time job, volunteering. You have to get out of bed and off the couch.

retired from my job with the city water works at the end of 2010 at the age of 52 with a full pension and insurance. been doing carpentry work since then. house is paid for so no money issues. wife continues to work as a sign language interpreter with the local school system. if you’re self motivated it’s very doable.

15 minutes ago, TV Guy said:

I've got six years to go, but I have friends who have retired. They love it, but all say you gotta have a plan to do something, can't just sit on your arse waiting to die. Doesn't matter what it is, gardening, golf, part-time job, volunteering. You have to get out of bed and off the couch.

I plan to prove you wrong.

1 hour ago, Boogyman said:

Any retirees? Any retire rather young? Looking for thoughts on any issues or surprises that may have popped up that maybe were not thought about before making the decision.

Retiring in about 3 years (hopefully) the only thing that worries me is health insurance. I'll be 62. 

15 minutes ago, greend said:

Retiring in about 3 years (hopefully) the only thing that worries me is health insurance. I'll be 62. 

My wife is going to continue working, she works from home, makes a lot of money and loves her career (also get fully paid insurance),  so I won't have to worry about healthcare.  I'll only be 45 next year when I plan on retiring, that why I am concerned a bit about unforseen things that may pop up as I'll still (hopefully) have a long way to go.

39 minutes ago, NCTANK said:

retired from my job with the city water works at the end of 2010 at the age of 52 with a full pension and insurance. been doing carpentry work since then. house is paid for so no money issues. wife continues to work as a sign language interpreter with the local school system. if you’re self motivated it’s very doable.

 

42 minutes ago, TV Guy said:

I've got six years to go, but I have friends who have retired. They love it, but all say you gotta have a plan to do something, can't just sit on your arse waiting to die. Doesn't matter what it is, gardening, golf, part-time job, volunteering. You have to get out of bed and off the couch.

Yeah I have a laundry list of things I'd like to do or at least try. Also plan on traveling a lot and spend some time abroad

5 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

My wife is going to continue working, she works from home, makes a lot of money and loves her career (also get fully paid insurance),  so I won't have to worry about healthcare.  I'll only be 45 next year when I plan on retiring, that why I am concerned a bit about unforseen things that may pop up as I'll still (hopefully) have a long way to go.

It may have a negative affect on your social security benefits when you do come of "retirement age". If you care

why leave money on the table?

51 minutes ago, greend said:

It may have a negative affect on your social security benefits when you do come of "retirement age". If you care

Yeah I purposefully left SS completely out of the equation when we did our figuring. Her salary has easily paid all our bills for the last 4 to 5 years now and both our retirement plans are very fat.

I do plan on finding a laid back PT job for pocket/beer money and to fill a few hours sometime next fall or winter. We also own a rental home and have a few small passive income streams.

Obviously this question is based on present-day metrics and cost of living, but is there a "target" 401k balance people should try to reach as far as retirement goes? Obviously the majority of people are retiring at retirement age, so their 401k is also being supplemented with social security earnings. Also, those in their mid-to-late 60s are of an era where pensions and things like that may also contribute to their post-retirement monthly income, and that era is also highly married, so a single household would be getting social security checks for two people at a minimum. 

I withdrew my 401k back in 2014ish after 2 separate lengthy stints of unemployment, so I was at zero dollars around 5 years ago when I was finally able to start contributing with my current employer. I'm up to about $95k right now which isn't bad for 5 years and at age 35, seems decent based on this random chart I just found in an article just now from a google search. I like what I do now and hope they continue to pay me well for years and years to come, but I definitely don't want to be working until my late 60s. 

 

37 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

Yeah I purposefully left SS completely out of the equation when we did our figuring. Her salary has easily paid all our bills for the last 4 to 5 years now and both our retirement plans are very fat.

I do plan on finding a laid back PT job for pocket/beer money and to fill a few hours sometime next fall or winter. We also own a rental home and have a few small passive income streams.

sounds like a good plan. 

edit: if you can avoid working PT for someone else you can call your own shots. 

11 minutes ago, Agent23 said:

Obviously this question is based on present-day metrics and cost of living, but is there a "target" 401k balance people should try to reach as far as retirement goes? Obviously the majority of people are retiring at retirement age, so their 401k is also being supplemented with social security earnings. Also, those in their mid-to-late 60s are of an era where pensions and things like that may also contribute to their post-retirement monthly income, and that era is also highly married, so a single household would be getting social security checks for two people at a minimum. 

I withdrew my 401k back in 2014ish after 2 separate lengthy stints of unemployment, so I was at zero dollars around 5 years ago when I was finally able to start contributing with my current employer. I'm up to about $95k right now which isn't bad for 5 years and at age 35, seems decent based on this random chart I just found in an article just now from a google search. I like what I do now and hope they continue to pay me well for years and years to come, but I definitely don't want to be working until my late 60s. 

 

I think the amount a person should have is very variable. I am lucky in that outside buy my first home many years ago, I never touched it.  And even then I borrowed from it and paid it back. 

You basically need to assume you will live to be very old and make sure you can withdraw enough each year to cover living expenses without it running out before you die. Since living expenses can vary a ton person to person it's tough for anyone on a message board to give you that answer.

I definitely wouldn't go by those amounts listed though, as most Americans are under prepared and underestimate retirement expenses. At 35 you still have a lot of time, but I would definitely start to make retirement saving a priority. Once you stop working and get "old", the money you have is pretty much what you got in most cases.

I fully plan on dropping dead at work while on the job before I ever get the chance to retire

2 hours ago, mr_irie1 said:

I fully plan on dropping dead at work while on the job before I ever get the chance to retire

Sounds like my retirement plan!

On 5/26/2021 at 4:42 PM, NCTANK said:

sounds like a good plan. 

edit: if you can avoid working PT for someone else you can call your own shots. 

I thought about that, but I don't think I would be able to just be "laid back" if I did my own thing. Although a thought the wife and I did have was to purchase 2 or 3 more rental properties and I could just manage them as my "side work". Maybe a little more risk there than I would like though.

On 5/26/2021 at 4:33 PM, Agent23 said:

Obviously this question is based on present-day metrics and cost of living, but is there a "target" 401k balance people should try to reach as far as retirement goes? Obviously the majority of people are retiring at retirement age, so their 401k is also being supplemented with social security earnings. Also, those in their mid-to-late 60s are of an era where pensions and things like that may also contribute to their post-retirement monthly income, and that era is also highly married, so a single household would be getting social security checks for two people at a minimum. 

I withdrew my 401k back in 2014ish after 2 separate lengthy stints of unemployment, so I was at zero dollars around 5 years ago when I was finally able to start contributing with my current employer. I'm up to about $95k right now which isn't bad for 5 years and at age 35, seems decent based on this random chart I just found in an article just now from a google search. I like what I do now and hope they continue to pay me well for years and years to come, but I definitely don't want to be working until my late 60s. 

 

I read how America saves every year and that median number is freaking scary. basically people will work until they die or try to live just off SS. 

 

Im fortunate in that my wife is well paid and gets a pension and I put a crap load away into retirement annually. If I don’t have $3-$4 mill by 65 I’ll be disappointed. I just can’t fathom how people don’t take more care to save. I get it not everyone has any disposable income, but I middle class for sure

5 hours ago, homerpat said:

I read how America saves every year and that median number is freaking scary. basically people will work until they die or try to live just off SS. 

 

Im fortunate in that my wife is well paid and gets a pension and I put a crap load away into retirement annually. If I don’t have $3-$4 mill by 65 I’ll be disappointed. I just can’t fathom how people don’t take more care to save. I get it not everyone has any disposable income, but I middle class for sure

my first 7ish years out of school, I was putting in the minimum needed to get max company match (so probably 5-6% on my end, of what was a $50k salary on the low end), so that doesn't translate to that much. Thankfully the most recent 2 years I'm able to contribute the $19,500 max on my end but if I had a kid or some deadbeat spouse to take care of there's no way I would be able to contribute anywhere close to that level. 

Not retired, but I could retire if I wanted to do so.  I'll throw out a few financial issues to consider:

1) Inflation. Not to get too far into the weeds, but there is going to be some really destructive inflationary pressures over the next few decades. Make sure your cash flow is going to keep pace with inflation.

2) Related to #1, the entitlement system is FUBAR. Do not rely on social security or Medicare for anything.

3) Many pension systems are going to blow up. Again, plan accordingly.

On 5/27/2021 at 4:16 AM, mr_irie1 said:

I fully plan on dropping dead at work while on the job before I ever get the chance to retire

11 hours ago, Agent23 said:

my first 7ish years out of school, I was putting in the minimum needed to get max company match (so probably 5-6% on my end, of what was a $50k salary on the low end), so that doesn't translate to that much. Thankfully the most recent 2 years I'm able to contribute the $19,500 max on my end but if I had a kid or some deadbeat spouse to take care of there's no way I would be able to contribute anywhere close to that level. 

The one thing I insist on with everyone is get the match. I’m not saying everyone should save like I do, but $65k at 65 years old is like pissing in the wind. If you just cut down on non essentials and try to put an extra $50 a month into retirement at a young age it really does compound