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Post by Nomad-wino on Aug 3, 2011 23:30:44 GMT -5
Since I turned 56 a month ago I've been dwelling on a retirement plan. When is the right time to retire? I've never been one to make decisions that are based on financial situation; it's always been gut feeling. When I retired from the Navy my gut told me it was time to move on to the next stage of my life. However, this time when I retire it'll be a full retirement -- as in no more work for pay. Sit around and do nothing or travel, or play with hobbies or write a book that will never be published... that kind of retirement. I'm thinking age 60 might be a good round number to aim for to retire. Emi thinks 70 is an even better age for me to shoot for -- yuck! Unless our Economy has a total collapse and the USA ceases to exist, I should be financially set for age 60.
Anyway, I know some of you Chatterboxers have already retired. And, some who haven't might have a plan. Please share your thoughts on this.
Best regards, Mike
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Post by doctork on Aug 4, 2011 0:05:27 GMT -5
I do not plan on retiring as long as I am able to work, so my plan is to continue working at least until age 70 - like Emi!
I am lucky in that I like my work, and it lends itself to part-time employment, or locums jobs in varied locations, full-time but for a finite duration, after which I will have XXX amount of time off. And some of my vacations will still be working vacations - medical aid in foreign countries.
So I hope retirement for me will be the same work, just less of it, and only in locations and situations I choose.
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Post by Jane on Aug 4, 2011 11:30:28 GMT -5
I retired only because my husband needed the health care coverage I would receive from the state upon my quitting my job. (The details are too confusing to go into here.) But I didn't want to retire; I liked my job and like working. I do not enjoy being retired. I still do some freelance writing and work when anyone will hire me (four months last year as a reading tutor, but the funding is no longer there), and I do a lot of volunteering. I miss the structure of having a job and feeling that I am contributing something.
We also managed to time it so that the finances were totally not in our favor. Bought a house right before the housing crash (and paid too much) and lost lots on our investments. We are now living on a three or four pensions, SS and involuntary poverty. I don't like not having money and our plans of lots of travel when we retired (but before we couldn't walk) were scaled back considerably.
So basically, we are a cautionary tale of how NOT to retire.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Aug 4, 2011 17:11:40 GMT -5
DocK, Jane, thank you for sharing; your feedback is excellent food for thought. Your input and the input I received from other people I talked to has me thinking that age 60 might be a little early.
Somewhat related to retirement -- how about the stock market today; wow! They said raise the debt celling or the world will come to an end... say what! Now I have to think about taking advantage of the market crash by investing more money right now, or wait and see if it gets worse. Anybody got a crystal ball?
Mike
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Post by doctork on Aug 4, 2011 19:29:28 GMT -5
No crystal ball, but a general observation: timing the market does not work.
The only exception I have seen is some medical investments when as a physician I happen to know something in advance. Not insider trading, but occasionally knowing that company X has a good drug in the pipeline about to be approved, and it will represent a major advance in treatment of an important disease.
If you know an industry segment well, you may be able to make a wise investment. Another time when I lived in Denver, there was a local Colorado company doing poorly financially though it was a highly regarded firm with good products. They were bringing in a "turn around" specialist and I was about to buy a bunch of stock while it was low. A patient of mine who was a stockbroker said, "Don't do that now, wait until the guy is in place and they re-capitalize, then buy." Yup, price dropped right after the turn around guy came in, reaching an all time low for that company, I bought a bunch and in less than 2 years, it quadrupled in price. That turn around guy did a great job. It was public information, but if you didn't live in the Denver area or follow that industry segment closely, you'd miss such an opportunity.
What has been shown to be an effective strategy is steady investing of the same amount regularly ("dollar cost averaging") - say a certain dollar amount you contribute to your 401(k) every pay period. When stock prices are up, you don't get as many shares, but when prices are down, you get "stocks on sale." Over time, that strategy works the best.
Being 55 - 62/66 right now really sucks from a retirement investment strategy point of view.
But if you have a chunk of money to invest at the moment Mike, you might put half of it into one of the no-load market-based mutual funds, then see what happens and whether or not you want to put the other half in.
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Post by gailkate on Aug 4, 2011 23:22:45 GMT -5
If I had any money right now, I'd invest for sure. Alas, whenever there are bargains to be had, we have no money. I don't think it's hard to pick companies with real products (not financial/banking speculation), so long as you're not trying to make a killing. My judgment has always been excellent - it's such a bummer not having any cash to go with my investment acumen.
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Post by SeattleDan on Aug 5, 2011 15:49:46 GMT -5
On an un-serious note, my retirement plan, such as it is, is investing in Bookstore Futures. I know it didn't work out well for Borders, but, hey, a guy can dream.
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Post by BoatBabe on Aug 5, 2011 23:38:11 GMT -5
On an un-serious note, my retirement plan, such as it is, is investing in Bookstore Futures. I know it didn't work out well for Borders, but, hey, a guy can dream. ;D ;D ;D Yes, my carpenter husband is counting on his child bride to deliver retirement in her new career. I'm thinking 80-ish.
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Post by doctork on Aug 6, 2011 11:42:49 GMT -5
//I'm thinking 80-ish. //
That is very optimistic of you. Despite the "How Old Are You" quiz, I do not think I will live that long, as my karma is not right for that. But if I do survive, yeah I think I will be working!
One of those local news human interest stories about elderly docs who still make house calls or something!
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Post by gailkate on Aug 8, 2011 18:20:29 GMT -5
Well, well, well, here we go again. I've been listening off and on to various TV and radio analyses, and I'm thinking it would be a fine thing for a hurricane to blow through Wall St. How is it that so much of our welfare - and the whole world's - depends on such a relatively small number of wimps? Greedy wimps, at that.
I think I said here, at some point in the 2008 crash, that they should have just closed the stock market to give everyone some breathing space. Since they won't do that, I advise anyone with any money left to buy solid dividend-earning stocks - buy as much as you can and wait two years. There will be a recovery. Of course, the ups and downs of financial gambling will not make one whit of difference to people who never benefit from a recovery anyway. They're still out of work, out of their home, out of luck.
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Post by Jane on Aug 8, 2011 20:54:52 GMT -5
I'm with Paul Krugman--you can't grow the economy by cutting, cutting, cutting. Nobody but the tea party (which, I read, is diminishing day by day) got what they wanted.
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Post by doctork on Aug 8, 2011 21:35:45 GMT -5
The tea party got only what they think they wanted, you know, that "Be careful what you wish for" stuff. As soon as their own favorite government hand-out is cut, they will be the first to blame somebody else, likely President Obama.
The classic is the tea bagger with the "Don't Touch My Medicare" banner, but it's also all those federal employees/retirees who don't want their salary/pension/healthcare cut, or their local highway project cancelled (it was a joint fed-state effort), or the latest cancer miracle drug that they needed not approved, or the food safety programs cut and they are the ones that get E.coli.
Kind of like those Phoenix flood canals BB referred too. They sit there empty until they are flooded. The tea bag ideas sound great. Until they aren't.
What worries me is that I don't think anybody has any idea of what to do about this financial dilemma. Both sides have some valid arguments, but I see politicians worried only about getting re-elected next year, not whether or not our nation goes down the tubes. And certainly not about taking any difficult measures.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Aug 8, 2011 21:56:48 GMT -5
One thing I miss about being in the Navy was being on a winning team. We all worked together to get the job done, to support the mission, to be the best. Nobody minded the hard work, the sacrifice, the family seperation... we did whatever it took and there was no crying or whining. And then, when we achieved the goal (whatever it might be) we all felt great, we'd burst with pride, we'd rejoice and celebrate with our shipmates. There were no cash bonuses, there were no special interest deals, at best you got a medal or ribbon pinned on your chest that meant the world to you but wouldn't buy a cup of coffee.
When I look at our political leaders, for the most part I want to puke. These guys make Ted Kennedy look like a saint; at least he could work across party lines. These dirt bags need to be thrown into trenches that require them to fight together as a team or die.
I've always been told that my political outlook and beliefs are naive, that I'm a dreamer. Maybe it's so. However I don't see the hardcore smarty pants political junkies coming up with anything that works either.
America needs to become a winning team, again.
I am... a dreamer.
Mike
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Post by BoatBabe on Aug 8, 2011 23:29:27 GMT -5
One thing I miss about being in the Navy was being on a winning team. We all worked together to get the job done, to support the mission, to be the best. Nobody minded the hard work, the sacrifice, the family seperation... we did whatever it took and there was no crying or whining. And then, when we achieved the goal (whatever it might be) we all felt great, we'd burst with pride, we'd rejoice and celebrate with our shipmates. There were no cash bonuses, there were no special interest deals, at best you got a medal or ribbon pinned on your chest that meant the world to you but wouldn't buy a cup of coffee. When I look at our political leaders, for the most part I want to puke. These guys make Ted Kennedy look like a saint; at least he could work across party lines. These dirt bags need to be thrown into trenches that require them to fight together as a team or die. I've always been told that my political outlook and beliefs are naive, that I'm a dreamer. Maybe it's so. However I don't see the hardcore smarty pants political junkies coming up with anything that works either. America needs to become a winning team, again. I am... a dreamer. Mike That's a great memory, Mike, about being in the Navy. That's the kind of thing that makes us feel important, vital and giving. So, who says you have to risk The Stock Market to have investments? The stock market is not insured. You MAY make some money, but you may lose your investment as well. Strong community banks with FDIC insurance give a good return on your principal with NO CHANCE of losing your investment. Why aren't you considering this as a viable option? edit: I was speaking American, Mike. I'm sure the FDIC doesn't cover your Certificates of Deposit in Japan, if they offer that sort of thing. I was mostly talking to the folks who live here in America as "you." But you are still an American citizen, right, Mike? You can have CDs here in America.
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Post by liriodendron on Aug 9, 2011 16:20:37 GMT -5
So what are CDs paying at your bank, BoatBabe? The last time I checked out here, the interest rate was practically nothing.
My husband says that he doesn't think that he will ever be able to retire - not because he wouldn't like to have some free time but because he doesn't think we will be able to afford to have him quit. Me, I'm still trying to latch onto a full time job after all my years at home. I was just offered 19 hours per week at one of the libraries where I've been working (I previously had Sundays during the school year and one evening per week year round). Combine that with the 10 hours per week that I have at the other library and it still doesn't equal a full time job, but it's getting closer. I figure that by the time I'm ready to retire that you all will have figured out all the angles and you can give me lots of pointers on how to do it right.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Aug 9, 2011 18:45:34 GMT -5
Hi Babe!
Emi invests in Japanese companies, I invest in the good old U.S.A!
I've always banked with the Navy Federal Credit Union because they have branches overseas and in CONUS. Almost every country I visit has a branch -- very convenient.
My serious investing is with Dodge & Cox. And, I bought a big chunk of shares today at a bargain price. But then so did a lot of other people. What a rebound on wall street!
Mike
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Post by joew on Aug 10, 2011 15:49:04 GMT -5
I retired 11 years ago, at age 55. With only 30 years working for Uncle my pension was 56% of the average of my high 3 years' wages. If I had stayed long enough, it would have been 80%. To be getting $10 for every $7 I'm now getting would make life much more comfortable. But then, money has always burned a hole in my pocket, so the question is how worthwhile the things I'd have spent it on would have been.
I retired for several reasons, but the determining one was that my mother had begun to need to have somebody around during the day. There is no monetary value for being able to fill that need.
I guess my advice is to continue to work as long as the work is tolerable and until you realize you can have a reasonably good life with what you'll have available post-retirement. And at some point recognize that the market value of you investments isn't nearly so important as the cash flow they provide, and the closer you are to retirement, the less volatility you can tolerate. IOW, start looking at bonds and Treasury instruments.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Aug 10, 2011 17:19:53 GMT -5
...I guess my advice is to continue to work as long as the work is tolerable... I've been reading some self motivation books to help me turn around my take-this-job-and-shove-it blues. I do have a good job, I'm just not that crazy about it anymore; but I think I can turn that around. Mike
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