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Retiring in 4 days

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Chavak
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Retiring in 4 days  Reply with quote  

December 31 I am retiring and I thought I would run this plan by you all to see what you think.
I can always cancel my retirement if I overlooked anything Shocked

I am 61.5 years old and will have two sources of income:

Widows SS benefits of $1637 a month. I will use this benefit until I turn 70, at which time I will switch to my own benefit (approx $2800).

Rental income of $1100 after expenses.

I have $1.1 million saved in Sept IRAs and Roth IRAs. I have approximately $250,00 invested outside of IRAS. I have another $150,000 saved in cash accounts. I own approximately $800,00 in real estate, with only debt being $67,000 on a rental condo.

I have no other debt. I have no heirs to leave the money to.

My health insurance is being 50% paid by Obamacare. When I turn 65 I will switch to Medicare.

I have tracked every penny I have spent over the last six months, and it averages $2250 a month.
Included in that is $200 budgeted for unexpected expenses (dental, health, or whatever...)
Since I will be bringing in $2737 I should be okay.

Have I over looked anything? Any problems with retiring?
Post Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:26 am
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dozulu
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Before you file for widows benefit with the plan to switch to your own SS, PLEASE CHECK THAT THE CHANGES THEY JUST MADE will allow this switch. They eliminated some of these strateges starting Jan 1, 2016.

But you sound like you are in good shape!
Post Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:34 pm
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oldguy
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quote:
Have I over looked anything? Any problems with retiring?


No, I think everything looks fine. We retired 16 years ago, one surprise was that, even tho we travel more and spend more on entertainment, eating out, etc - our expenses are lower. Eg, no more $15,000/yr to pay into our SS/Med, no more $20,000/yr into our 401ks, no house payment - so in general we live cheaper than expected. And we are fairly wealthy - we aren't really trying to save money.

Warning. As you age into the senior category, you'll encounter many more scammers, phishers, etc, they prey on us old folks, lol.
Post Mon Dec 28, 2015 6:18 pm
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Chavak
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Thanks Dozulu. I know they made changes to file and suspend but I haven't heard about changes regarding widow's benefits. Excellent suggestion to check on it though.
Post Mon Dec 28, 2015 6:23 pm
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goldsnhearts
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With your current plans and funds that you have, you seem to be ready for retirement. All the best!
Post Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:18 am
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Chavak
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Thanks, goldsnhearts.

I think I am in good shape, but nervous about not working and bringing in a larger income.
It's nice to have the opinions of others.

Two more days, and I'm done!


Last edited by Chavak on Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
Post Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:15 pm
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Chavak
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quote:
Originally posted by oldguy

We retired 16 years ago, one surprise was that, even tho we travel more and spend more on entertainment, eating out, etc - our expenses are lower. Eg, no more $15,000/yr to pay into our SS/Med, no more $20,000/yr into our 401ks, no house payment - so in general we live cheaper than expected. And we are fairly wealthy - we aren't really trying to save money.


I figured I will be spending less. Much less on gas ( I had a long commute each day) and much less on eating out. Of course other costs will go up a little bit, but I should over all be spending less.

quote:

Warning. As you age into the senior category, you'll encounter many more scammers, phishers, etc, they prey on us old folks, lol.


Thanks for the warning!
Post Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:05 pm
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dozulu
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Happy Retirement Chavak!

You are going to LOVE the freedom! It is a little scarey in the beginning because you are ne to the lifestyle, but in the next year or two, you will begin to have more confidence that you will be okay.

I really enjoy participating over at the MrMoneyMustache forum. It deals with all financial aspects of being FIRE (Financally Independent/Retired).

The thing I have seen from many many examples over there, is that our society fcuses more on increasing income and totally neglects controlling/reducing expense.

I have learned quite a bit over at tht site. I am in Oregon too, well, part of the year anyway. This is not exactly a tax friendly state for the retired.

I am not eligible for SS widows benefit yet, (5Cool but I have a pretty nice federal widows pension that my husband left me which is perfectly adequate and so I dont have to dip into investments except for taxes. Like you, I have a healthy net egg of stIcks, bonds, real estate so I feel that I can do th I s retirement thing, whether or not I work.

My husband died 10 weeks into retirement, so my biggest challenge has not been money, but rather what to do with the rest of my life now that my plans have been cancelled. I could work, I guess, but why? And it is nt much fun to go do all the fun things alone. My large group of friends mostly dont have the ability to retire yet, if ever. So that is the biggest challenge for me. What to do next.

But you are in great shape money wise, and you should wallow in bed every morning for at least a month to get that work schedule fully blasted apart!
Post Sat Jan 02, 2016 6:54 pm
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Chavak
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Thanks, Dozulu!

Today was the first day I did not have to go into work. Which was great since we had snow and freezing rain.

I have visited MrMoneyMustache a couple of times, but will have more time to do so. I am sure I will learn a lot there...and here! Fortunately I have always lived relatively "cheap" so I'm not sure there is much more I can do to reduce expenses, lol.

No, Oregon is not tax friendly. It's possible in a few years I may move to a different state, not only for tax reasons, but for a change in political climate. Oregon has changed too much since I moved here in 1965.

Sorry to hear about your husband and how it has changed your life. I was so looking forward to retirement and having time to spend with my husband, but his death was before either of us retired so of course retirement is not the same now. I know what you mean about what to do next. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I had always wanted to travel, but traveling alone holds no appeal. But I am sure I will be able to find ways to fill the time.
Post Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:59 am
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littleroc02us
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Your financial position looks excellent for retirement. The real question is what did you work so hard for to be in this position, what was your end goal? Was your dream to travel more, live in a warm climate, donate and give your time or to just enjoy living in your current home and visiting friends?
I'm in my mid 40's and have been thinking about these questions for some time. My wife and I have goals to achieve so that we can live in a warm climate during the cold Minnesota winters and then enjoy a cabin on the lake in the summers. Plus lots of traveling by plane of course, because I've put on enough road miles to go to Mars and back.

Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. (Warren Buffet)
Post Tue Jan 05, 2016 2:49 pm
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oldguy
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quote:
Plus lots of traveling by plane of course, because I've put on enough road miles to go to Mars and back.


Funny how that works - before I retired I made about 300 business trips. Since retirement (17 years) I've been on a plane once, maybe twice. LOL, I have to fly when oceans are involved, other than that, I DRIVE.
Post Tue Jan 05, 2016 4:07 pm
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Chavak
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quote:
Originally posted by littleroc02us
The real question is what did you work so hard for to be in this position, what was your end goal? Was your dream to travel more, live in a warm climate,


My end goal-our end goal-was to have time to spend together, to travel, and to buy a second home in a warm, beachy area. The death of my husband changed all those goals, so now I am still sorting out new ones.
Post Tue Jan 05, 2016 4:47 pm
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dozulu
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Chavak, yes, like you, losing my husband changed everything. Often still feel at loose ends without an exact view of what to do with these remaing years. I was a housewife, so I had no cetering job to go to which made the silence rougher.

But the god news of a financially secure retirement means you wont become one of the 70 plus crowd of workers at walmart trying to make ends meet. These people, whether thru lack of planning or misfortune have no option except to keep working. You and I and the others who have spent years preparing for a secure retirement have options!

My late husband and I already had the summer home, we are mountain people versus beach people, but we had planned, like you to spend time doing all the travel we never had time for with career demands.

I still have many friends from before the widowhood, but not unattached. All of them are either still working with no hope of retiring or off living the retirement dream with a husband who is still living.

My friends worry about me being taken advantage of. Widows, especially financally secure widows have been targeted so long that it is a cliche! But I am finding many many things to enrich my life. I often pine for the kind of trips I used to have, so now I make sure to have trips unlike what we would have done. That helps, and I dont feel that sense of being cheated by my loss.

Like you, liberal Oregon grates on my nerves!
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:55 pm
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goldsnhearts
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quote:
Originally posted by Chavak
Thanks, goldsnhearts.

I think I am in good shape, but nervous about not working and bringing in a larger income.
It's nice to have the opinions of others.

Two more days, and I'm done!


No worries at all! Everything looks good and you have a couple “aces” up your sleeve. Smile I have talked to my spouse about your situation and here are just a couple of his two cents:

1. Since you have no heirs, when you get to say age 70 and if interest rates are high, consider an immediate annuity. That way you can lock in a sizeable income for life. Also, in most areas of the country, the cash-flow yield on rental real estate is not good – maybe 4% or 5% (after tax net cash flow/market value of property). If you become a lender (e.g. buying trust deeds), you will double your cash flow. We are actually leaning towards this path. Smile

I'm sure this page will help you in your awesome life as a retiree! - http://www.retirementincome.net/category/retirement-living/

Bottom line, you are in good shape with good opportunities to increase cash flow in the future should you desire. Smile All the best!
Post Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:24 am
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Chavak
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Thanks for the tips! One of the rental properties I will probably eventually live in, and then
I will sell the other one along with my current residence. Fortunately, I live in an area with
high demand for rentals and low inventory. I just raised the rent in one of them to the upper
end of the rent scale here and had people beating down my door to rent it. The property
values are also sky rocketing right now. Kind of nice!

But I don't plan to be a landlord forever. They will get sold sometime in the future.


I will definitely check out the link on retirement income.

Thanks again!
Post Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:19 pm
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