My Retirement Plan

[riptides]

Retirement? I feel for those who are actually in the position of trying to figure this out right now.

The game has changed dramatically for everyone involved.

For a while I was on auto-pilot. Had a pension, had cash, had credit had a 401k. Even had a retirement medical account.

Now, I have (like so many others) almost none of the above. The only thing I am fortunate enoBgh to have is more time than the majority of people to make a better post work life.

I'll try and take it one day at a time. I hope the best for the future.

My goal is to come home from work, kiss the wife, walk down the long driveway. Be at peace watching the sunset, get the mail. Turn back to the house. Listen to the birds, see a deer, fox, turkey or combinations thereof... have a massive heart attack and go in peace with a smile on my face.

 

[ultrarunner]

Retirement is not something I've grown up around... both sides or should I say three sides of the family including my step-grandfather, all had a very strong work ethic... I guess it comes from my family farming roots.

My parents, Grandparents, Uncles and Step-Grandparents never retired...

The only one that cut-back to part-time was Mom at age 62...

The sad part is my Dad passed away shortly after getting his first Social Security Check at age 70... he was still working the business 6 days a week... He promised Mom that they would do some traveling now that the extra Social Security Money was coming in... just didn't work out that way...

Don't plan that my brothers and I will actually ever retire in the traditional sense...

The days of the lifetime pension, medical and Gold Watch are fading fast in the public sector... About a dozen guys and 2 gals I went to High School are now retired with 20 or more years in Law Enforcement... so it is still possible for some.

 

[capi75rs]

Interesting topic, my wife and I are in our early 30's so we have another 30 years before we can retire, or so I'm told. Right now we are trying to get out of debt. 2 years ago I sold off my brand new PU, sold off my wheeler, wife sold off her car, we sold so much stuff the kids thought they were next and the dog ran away. We did go and get a used mini van and I now drive a paid for chevy suburban with 103000 miles. I keep putting money into my IRA in hopes that the market will come back in a few years. We've set aside a small emergency fund and just keep putting any extra money on our debt. I really wish I'd listened to my grandmother when she told me, "if you can't pay cash for it then you really don't deserve it." I really never knew what she was saying until I realized that those credit cards do require you to pay them back.

 

[chh]

Getting out of debt is the best thing you can ever do. You will be amazed at how much money you have when you aren't giving it to a bank,CC company ect, ect... every month. I am not too worried about my stocks and 401K, I am only 47 and will probably will probably watch it go thru the panic cycle again a time or two before I start cashing anything out to "retire" with.

 

[ultrarunner]

I really wish I'd listened to my grandmother when she told me, "if you can't pay cash for it then you really don't deserve it." I really never knew what she was saying until I realized that those credit cards do require you to pay them back.

We might be related???

 

[mikim]

retired 27 days ago ...... still trying to figure it out.....Plans are in my head ....but haven't reached my hands yet....worked on the house some last week to get it ready to sell -- have a few more weeks to go at the rate I'm working on it. Probably could do it all in 2 weeks if I really worked at it ...but hey ...I'm retired.

 

[scgargoyle]

Rather than retire, I 'd like to go into a different line of work in a few years. When we get in to a position to sell this house, I'm going to take the money (if there is any) and head to our acreage in SC to build a house myself. Once that's done, or nearly so, I'll be close to 60. I've been a tool maker all my life, but jobs are getting far and few between, and my body is getting tired of the heavy lifting and squinty eye work. We hopefully won't have a mortgage, so I won't need to make nearly as much at whatever I do. I dunno- maybe make bird houses and sell 'em at the flea market! You never, EVER know how much time you have in this life, so make sure you take time to smell the tractors! Don't put everything off 'until I retire'- you might never get there.

 

[CurlyDave]

*Why take the money out of the house so you can rebuild the house so you can get the money out of the house when you all ready have the money out of the house.

I consider this a legitimate question and I am going to answer it.

There are a few reasons.

First, the mortgage didn't burn up with the house. The lender doesn't ordinarily lend on raw land, so if I don't rebuild the lender has first call on the insurance money, which will take everything. I could still try to sell the lot, but the market for lots is very thin. Just about the only potential buyers would be contractors.

The location is very good, but contractors are going to want to make a profit on the house they build & sell and are going to be offering less money than if I have a house to sell. I am an amateur at land selling, contractors are professionals at land buying. Who do you think is going to come out of that transaction in better shape?

If I rebuild the house, I am still an amateur at house selling, but the buyers are also going to be amateurs. The ground is more level.

Our insurance was fairly typical. $XXX to replace the house, 20% additional for cost increases, if we actually spend it on rebuilding, 10% additional for building code upgrades, if we actually spend it on rebuilding, and 5% additional for debris removal, if we actually spend it on rebuilding.

So, if I rebuild the house and then sell it there is an extra 35% in insurance payment available, which in our case is ~$130k. Now I believe that at least some of that will be reflected in a higher sales price.

 

[txdon]

retired 27 days ago ...... still trying to figure it out.....Plans are in my head ....but haven't reached my hands yet....worked on the house some last week to get it ready to sell -- have a few more weeks to go at the rate I'm working on it. Probably could do it all in 2 weeks if I really worked at it ...but hey ...I'm retired.

retired 39 months ago ........ still trying to figure it out..... Plans are in my head..... but haven't reached my hands yet.... worked on the land and cabin last year to keep it comfortably livable...... have a few more months (or years) at the rate I work. Probably could do it all in 2 months if I really worked at it... but hey....I'm retired!!!

 

[Uncle Doug]

I am 3 years away from an early retirement at 55 from a major chemical company. It does have a nice pension and the 401K has not been hit too bad.

15 years ago we bought our 12 acre farm, which happened to be next door to our current home on 1 acre. Since then we have paid off the farm, made improvements like barn, tractor and fencing. All now also paid off. This past year we built a smaller retirement home 800 SqFt on the 12 acres using saved cash. We used a local shell home builder and finished out the insides ourselves. All total for under 40K.

We plan on selling the older home after making a few repairs. I did buy a new 4 door PU last year when the rebates were very high. It will be almost paid off at retirement. We have a 3 year old travel trailer we have used for short camping trips but will start making longer trips after retirement.

I was off work for 2 months after surgery, one day I told my wife " lets go the Colorado for a week to see some snow". A few searches for hotel rooms and we were on our way. I told her I was practicing for being retired.