Mid 50's retirees question

[Bob-WY]

One thing we've been doing is running the numbers. What's the benefit/payout if work continues another year, or two, or three...

Take the amount you are investing, do the math, add average/conservative growth to the nest egg over that time. See what difference your 1-3 years of contributions makes. The larger the nest egg, the smaller difference your direct contributions makes.

Then judge that vs working part time at a more fun job or 100% retiring.

You may be surprised at the limited difference another year or two of work makes. the bigger change will be defering withdrawals, if you can pump money into savings acccount and live off that for 1-3 years, that allows the nest egg to naturally grow while deferring withdrawals

 

[Farmerj]

work to live.

Not live to work.

I had a heart attack at age 47…

Too many say, “just one more year…”

For what? Not being able to live your dream today? Once you get too old, what you wanted to do becomes impossible or unrealistic.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I feel like these stories of people passing away shortly after retiring is not an accurate picture across the entire population.

You’re right. Public safety careers are a different animal though. I started in 2009 and I’ve lost count of the number of coworkers who died between the ages of 52-64. Make it to 70 and you’re a unicorn. Anyone in my field who wants to enjoy years past retirement, it’s usually best to get out as early as you can swing it financially.

 

[Mallardsx2]

On the flip side of everyones hopes and dreams I have personally seen a lot of people who didnt plan very well and then retire early and run out of money and get a job at wal-mart.....

 

[AlaskaHunter]

One thing we've been doing is running the numbers. What's the benefit/payout if work continues another year, or two, or three...

Take the amount you are investing, do the math, add average/conservative growth to the nest egg over that time. See what difference your 1-3 years of contributions makes. The larger the nest egg, the smaller difference your direct contributions makes.

Then judge that vs working part time at a more fun job or 100% retiring.

You may be surprised at the limited difference another year or two of work makes. the bigger change will be defering withdrawals, if you can pump money into savings acccount and live off that for 1-3 years, that allows the nest egg to naturally grow while deferring withdrawals

Another advantage of pumping up the savings account is limiting taxable income for affordable health care until medicare kicks in at age 65. For example, in Alaska as long as we limit our gross income to 89k or less, Obamacare subsidized Blue Cross Gold premium is less than $65 per month that is a saving of over $25k per year for Blue Cross Gold.

 

[chadv]

Can someone smarter than me say if the 4% rule works? Ive heard varying opinions lately. If it somewhat works 59 for me. With pension and 3 or 4% of 401k Ill make as much as working.

 

[peterk1234]

Can someone smarter than me say if the 4% rule works? Ive heard varying opinions lately. If it somewhat works 59 for me. With pension and 3 or 4% of 401k Ill make as much as working.

Historically, yes. The question we are faced with is will it work in the future? Low interest rates will force you to take more risk in the market. And then there is this inflation thing. I know, I know, it is because of covid so inflation will end once eveyone is injected. But what if it is not the case? Let's suppose that we continue with quantitative easing? Well then the 4% rule goes out the window. I think that today you need to plan for the 2% to 3% rule. Build a buffer.

 

[WyoDoug]

I retired early myself but I have four sources of retirement income. We have enough for our basic expenses and then some for extras but not a whole lot. I do odd jobs and doordash for my extras to pay for hunting, fishing and gold panning trips plus wife has her own retirement from hospital and social security. We aint rich by any means but we make a survivable retirement together and can afford a lot more than some retirees that only have their basic retirement plans plus social security to fall back on. Biggest problem I have is retirement itself is boring. You need hobbies to keep you busy plus you have got to keep moving or you gain a ton of weight like I did and develop some health issues related to it.

 

[NEW PA MT MN]

I thought I'd post my thoughts while I a on my lunch break at Amazon. I retired in January 2010 at 56. Never had or wanted to go back to work
Things change. After buying my second Alaska lot and paying it off in three payments .the secy one coming due in February and my wife saying no more money out of savings

On the flip side of everyones hopes and dreams I have personally seen a lot of people who didnt plan very well and then retire early and run out of money and get a job at wal-mart.....

I retired in 2010 at age 56. Never went back to work till this November. At Amazon working the peak. Actually on lunch break. Wife said no more out of savings.
Didn't plan on buying two properties in Alaska and building a cabin on one. Going to start construction on the new one in 2023 when I turn 70.
Most of my friends are dead so I have no regrets. On a side note ,of all the friends left not one could do the job I'm doing. So I'm really blessed.

 

[Allenkoz]

I'm in the process of making a decision in the next year and a half or so on whether to retire from my LE career at age 56, or stay for another year past that, and retire at 57. The difference in staying the additional year until age 57, would get me another $300 a month on the monthly pension that I'll receive. My wife and I are debt free. She will continue working full time, and carry our health insurance for the next 9 years until we hit age 65. During those 9 years, I'm planning on working my part time job about 3 days per week, just so that I can still maintain my current LE salary (pension plus 3 days a week at my PT job =same amount as current LE salary). This will also allow us to continue maxing out our roth IRA. Wife has a 401k at work, she'll also get a full SS check when she retires. I'll get a reduced SS check (Windfall Elimination Program) because of my pension. We keep a very detailed monthly budget, so we are very aware of our monthly needs. Even without staying the additional year to gain the extra $300 per month, we will have enough cash flow to easily cover our monthly expenses.

I'm currently very healthy, and have a decent level of fitness, and am more than ready to step out of this career. Looking forward to more hunting trips, etc. We've talked about this, and agreed that it might be nice to have that $300 extra per month, just to have a little extra. Not sure if it's really worth it or not. I realize this is a decision based on our personal situation.

Were any of you early retirees faced with a similar decision? If so, did you leave early, or stay the extra year or two, and was it worth it?

If you're healthy, I would keep going and maximize the time you can take off while you are working. If it's not enough, then I would call it quits if that's what will make you happiest.

 

[Bob-WY]

One thing we've been doing is running the numbers. What's the benefit/payout if work continues another year, or two, or three...

Take the amount you are investing, do the math, add average/conservative growth to the nest egg over that time. See what difference your 1-3 years of contributions makes. The larger the nest egg, the smaller difference your direct contributions makes.

Then judge that vs working part time at a more fun job or 100% retiring.

You may be surprised at the limited difference another year or two of work makes. the bigger change will be defering withdrawals, if you can pump money into savings acccount and live off that for 1-3 years, that allows the nest egg to naturally grow while deferring withdrawals

sorry to bring up an old thread, but our personal situation, some of which was due to the above, has evolved. We've talked to 2 different financial planners, plus a tool on fidelity web site to plug in lots of numbers and options to predict future finances. Add in blood pressure, work sucks more and is changing to a new technology direction, which I don't have the motivation at this point to learn. I also researched the Obama Care market place and can get blue cross/blue shield "gold" for essentially no cost for the next couple of years, a doctor, and wife who say, retirement most likely will reduce stress and BP meds and........

I am bailing. July 29th is my last day, I burn PTOB til September, then have to pay 50% health premiums to carry my companies forward to December (about $700/month). Obamacare for 2+ years while we burn savings we have been socking away, then I'll be old enough to hit the retirement fund penalty free, wife's teacher pension kicks in.

So I will be spending August fly-fishing, hiking, golfing, then off the the praire and mountains to hunt antelope, deer and elk! Then off to New England for a few weeks to play with grandsons! I'll probably pick up some part time "fun job" along the way this winter, time will tell!

I was stressed over this, a lot, but once I made the decision the world lifted off my shoulders!

 

[Johnny Bravo]

sorry to bring up an old thread, but our personal situation, some of which was due to the above, has evolved. We've talked to 2 different financial planners, plus a tool on fidelity web site to plug in lots of numbers and options to predict future finances. Add in blood pressure, work sucks more and is changing to a new technology direction, which I don't have the motivation at this point to learn. I also researched the Obama Care market place and can get blue cross/blue shield "gold" for essentially no cost for the next couple of years, a doctor, and wife who say, retirement most likely will reduce stress and BP meds and........

I am bailing. July 29th is may last day, I burn PTOB til September, then have to pay 50% health premiums to carry my companies forward to December (about $700/month). Obamacare for 2+ years while we burn savings we have been socking away, then I'll be old enough to hit the retirement fund penalty free, wife's teacher pension kicks in.

So I will be spending August fly-fishing, hiking, golfing, then off the the praire and mountains to hunt antelope, deer and elk! Then off to New England for a few weeks to play with grandsons! I'll probably pick up some part time "fun job" along the way this winter, time will tell!

I was stressed over this, a lot, but once I made the decision the world lifted off my shoulders!Man

Man, Good for you ! I did not read all of this, but man I don't know how ya'll can afford to retired mid 50's....I wish I could based on what you said above, tech change and not really interested. I'm stuck here working for about 9 more years.

 

[WyoDoug]

sorry to bring up an old thread, but our personal situation, some of which was due to the above, has evolved. We've talked to 2 different financial planners, plus a tool on fidelity web site to plug in lots of numbers and options to predict future finances. Add in blood pressure, work sucks more and is changing to a new technology direction, which I don't have the motivation at this point to learn. I also researched the Obama Care market place and can get blue cross/blue shield "gold" for essentially no cost for the next couple of years, a doctor, and wife who say, retirement most likely will reduce stress and BP meds and........

I am bailing. July 29th is may last day, I burn PTOB til September, then have to pay 50% health premiums to carry my companies forward to December (about $700/month). Obamacare for 2+ years while we burn savings we have been socking away, then I'll be old enough to hit the retirement fund penalty free, wife's teacher pension kicks in.

So I will be spending August fly-fishing, hiking, golfing, then off the the praire and mountains to hunt antelope, deer and elk! Then off to New England for a few weeks to play with grandsons! I'll probably pick up some part time "fun job" along the way this winter, time will tell!

I was stressed over this, a lot, but once I made the decision the world lifted off my shoulders!

Good for you. I will be spending August chasing antelope with a bow and trying out my new blind.

 

[hank4elk]

I've decided when and if the time comes, I'm not retiring as much as being able to take a lower paying job that I would enjoy more...Because of it being less structured, more flexible, less stressful, etc. I don't think any one just retires and stops working overnight. From the board room to the beach so to speak...

Or from the restroom to the front porch...
Wishful thinking is good.
Health (physical/mental) past 55 jumps into your face out of nowhere it seems.

Jobs that pay decent or are worth it are few.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

On the flip side of everyones hopes and dreams I have personally seen a lot of people who didnt plan very well and then retire early and run out of money and get a job at wal-mart.....

That is an important consideration. My dad passed away at 96, my mom is still alive at 100.
So when I retired, I wanted a high likelihood that we would not outlive our retirement investments.
For me retiring at age 62, that could be another 30-40 years.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

That is an important consideration. My dad passed away at 96, my mom is still alive at 100.
So when I retired, I wanted a high likelihood that we would not outlive our retirement investments.
For me retiring at age 62, that could be another 30-40 years.

The one interesting thing that I don't personally believe is properly taken into account is how money is spent in retirement.

For example, its pretty safe to assume those first ten years in retirement you're probably going to spend money traveling, hunting etc. You'll probably burn down the savings slightly quicker than what the online calculator shows.

Most people tend to slow down their spending once their body slows down. By the time most folks hit 80, they aren't traveling around and spending money like they did at 65. You end up spending on mainly basic necessities.


This ends up presenting an interesting issue then. You start off spending a lot, and then reduce that spending. Then you have to calculate in inflation, additional cost of health care, etc. for the long term.


What I see, you really need a good financial planner to crunch some numbers and see how its going to look for your individual scenario. Online calculators over simplify when folks are right on the cusp of retirement.

 

[Farmerj]

If anything, medical costs increase exponentially as you age and ailments change.

As you age, you spend less on maintaining the items to support the household (lawn mower maintenance and snow removal) to paying for a service for yard care and snow removal.

my heart attack changed my perspective on snow removal and the snow blower went away and was replaced with an ATV with a blade. At age 47. Doctors all tell me a heart attack at that age is genetics…. Not life style.

My parents now pay for a service to come in and cut the grass and plow the driveway. Dad is 83. Things he’d have done on his own are now paid and hired out.

Mom at 82 lives in a memory care center due to a stroke and dementia. Dad’s bout with bladder cancer has added to the stress of the medical situation which seems to be common with older men.

 

[Bob-WY]

sorry to bring up an old thread, but our personal situation, some of which was due to the above, has evolved. We've talked to 2 different financial planners, plus a tool on fidelity web site to plug in lots of numbers and options to predict future finances. Add in blood pressure, work sucks more and is changing to a new technology direction, which I don't have the motivation at this point to learn. I also researched the Obama Care market place and can get blue cross/blue shield "gold" for essentially no cost for the next couple of years, a doctor, and wife who say, retirement most likely will reduce stress and BP meds and........

I am bailing. July 29th is my last day, I burn PTOB til September, then have to pay 50% health premiums to carry my companies forward to December (about $700/month). Obamacare for 2+ years while we burn savings we have been socking away, then I'll be old enough to hit the retirement fund penalty free, wife's teacher pension kicks in.

So I will be spending August fly-fishing, hiking, golfing, then off the the praire and mountains to hunt antelope, deer and elk! Then off to New England for a few weeks to play with grandsons! I'll probably pick up some part time "fun job" along the way this winter, time will tell!

I was stressed over this, a lot, but once I made the decision the world lifted off my shoulders!

Day 1 of retirement. Body wouldnt let me sleep past "work wakeup time" brain kicked in on work things. I knew it wouldn't work like flipping a switch.

Heading to the golf course after another cup of coffee

This is gonna be weird transitioning

 

[hank4elk]

13 years in and its all good. No crying over spilled/stolen milk. No point. Glad I did take the early option.
I make more in retirement than most folks make working full time, around here. Got another 3% COLA again last year too.
Ins. is cheaper now too. Medicare & part N suppliment are less than $300/mo...1/3 of what Bluerippoff wanted 10 years ago. And I'm fully covered.

 

[manitou1]

Why retire to have to take a menial job for a fraction of the $$$?
As a retiree myself and being on a fixed income that $300 might come in handy for play toys. A year is nothing but a blink of the eye. Then again, you are the only one that knows if you are miserable going to to your current job. $300 isn't worth being miserble.
Retirement is not as great as it seems. Unless you have retired buddies with the same interests, hiking, fishing, etc alone gets boring. Waking up without a purpose is strange also.