Retirement planning

[dave1949]

On the other side of that bell curve ...

I know a young man that is working for about $100 net per week. Of that $100, he faces a mandatory deduction of $25 for child support. I'm OK with that, as I would be if he faced a mandatory retirement payment. I just think we, as a nation, can come up with a plan, or set of plans, that is FARRRRRRRRRR better than SS.

What SS lacks is good management at the Congressional level. The concept is workable. A typical Ponzi scheme appeals to greed by promising something too good to be true and eventually runs out of greedy people with the means to invest.

Assuming an ever-growing labor force, SS never runs out of "investors." SS is still solvent (in terms of actual collections vs payouts) for a couple decades even though it has been over-promising in some areas.

As a nation we may be lacking a sense of what it means to be a responsible "capitalist" for lack of a better term. Nationalism, like all isms, can be a dangerous thing but maybe people don't understand that being on a sound financial footing personally leads to a sound nation. Sort of goes back to JFK's "Ask not ..." Whatever people may lack, or feel, in this regard, they've had a lot of help getting there. Some of those Wall Streeter's could use some guidance in this area too.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

What SS lacks is good management at the Congressional level. The concept is workable. A typical Ponzi scheme appeals to greed by promising something too good to be true and eventually runs out of greedy people with the means to invest.

Assuming an ever-growing labor force, SS never runs out of "investors." SS is still solvent (in terms of actual collections vs payouts) for a couple decades even though it has been over-promising in some areas.

As a nation we may be lacking a sense of what it means to be a responsible "capitalist" for lack of a better term. Nationalism, like all isms, can be a dangerous thing but maybe people don't understand that being on a sound financial footing personally leads to a sound nation. Sort of goes back to JFK's "Ask not ..." Whatever people may lack, or feel, in this regard, they've had a lot of help getting there. Some of those Wall Streeter's could use some guidance in this area too.

The concept is workable "on paper" but not in reality. The fact is, SS used to have something like 10 workers supporting a single retiree. Now is more like 3 for 1. The ponzi scheme has exceeded its pool of victims.

And, yes, it was a giant leap backward for mankind to go from the JFK quote to an administration that actually recruits people for food stamps. Not to debate - just stating a fact.

 

[dave1949]

The concept is workable "on paper" but not in reality. The fact is, SS used to have something like 10 workers supporting a single retiree. Now is more like 3 for 1. The ponzi scheme has exceeded its pool of victims.

And, yes, it was a giant leap backward for mankind to go from the JFK quote to an administration that actually recruits people for food stamps. Not to debate - just stating a fact.

Sure there are demographic challenges kicked off by the boomers, that won't last forever. Good management means you deal with it.

Anyhoo, sleep well. Time for bed.

 

[riptides]

Yes, a $500 dollar mortgage payment. Housing here is very inexpensive. Decent used cars are cheap. Our gas, electric, phone, satellite and internet average less than $300 per month, so $400 is conservative. People can live well on average wages if they make the correct choices. That's why they call them average.

Unless you live in an above average area making average or below average wages.

I had a friend.....

We were both set in our little rat race jobs, bought homes, good paying jobs, lived within our means. We both wanted "country".
He sells, moves way down to the corner of our state, buys his "country" house. Only issue, he now has "country" wages.

20 years later, we both are looking for our next retirement gig.

His place in the "country", yeah, no real monies over the years to fix it up to today's standards of buyers. He will get out of it probably what he paid into it.
Has decent "country" wages for the job he has done.

Me, same issue with the monies, but I did manage to score some serious cash infusions over the years. I can probably walk away triple what I bought it for.
I have insane wages for the job I am doing.

Location, location, location. Isn't that what they say?

 

[ultrarunner]

It's a lot like those that move after a lifetime of working in California... dollars often go father outside the State.

A person I have worked with for 22 years will retire Friday... we have no company pension of employer match...

She and her husband have been renting most of their lives... 5 years ago, her mom became very sick and eventually passed... they took care of her.

Mom left the 1960 ranch style home to her and her 2 siblings... Each netted 175k from the sale of Mom's home.

My co-worker and her husband bought a nice place on a few acres in Alabama... he has lot's of relatives they are close with there... they paid 110k for the spread...

Her husband receives disability after nearly being electrocuted on a job 12 years ago... they looked at their finances and decided moving to a lower cost state would make retirement possible.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

It's a lot like those that move after a lifetime of working in California... dollars often go father outside the State.

No need to leave Kalifornia if all you want is a lower property cost basis. In 2010 I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area (2400 Sq.Ft., 1/4AC) to Butte County, CA (1900 Sq.Ft., 13AC) and paid only half what the old place sold for. The only thing that is higher here is auto insurance, I guess the deer and drunk drivers are worse. No traffic, no population pressure, and people are a whole lot more friendly. Still have all the problems from the idiots in the State House, but the weather's better than in 99% of the rest of the country

Edit -
Just down the way is another 13 acre parcel with a 3000 Sq.Ft. home, 40x60 barn/shop, 40x60 horse barn, horse pen, nice pond, and beautiful landscaping. It's for sale at something like $350K, and has been for the last year. Unfortunately there's one "bad egg" in the neighborhood, and they live just across the street. Location, location, location!

 

[ultrarunner]

Have not checked housing prices in the North for some time...

I know they feel like they won the lotto buying a 10 year old home with an out building on just under 2.5 acres for 110k...

Plus there is the family factor of wanting to be close to his side of the family...

I'd say the majority of couple I know cash out of the Bay Area around retirement...

Not a single person retiring from the Hospital where I work has stayed in the area the last 5 to 6 years... most move out of State with one or two moving to places like Quincy or other Gold Rush communities...

Oregon and Nevada has long been favorites and now... many seem to be heading for the South...

 

[300UGUY]

Property values in California are way higher than what we have. You can buy a nice home here, on a few acres, for 150K. One of my neighbor's just sold a beautiful 3000 sg ft home. On 10 acres with a 30x40 pole barn. Really nice place, looks like something from a magazine. $300K. In 2005, it was built for $375K. She had it for sale for 3 years, only got 1 offer. Location, location, location?

 

[Parkanzky]

I don't live terribly far from 300UGUY and we recently bought a decent 2600 sq. ft. house on 4.4 wooded acres with an attached, over-sized three-car garage upstairs and heated shop (same footprint as the garage upstairs but with a 2-car door on the short-side) downstairs. Lots of nice features, but it needs landscaping, flooring and paint in areas. It came with high-end woodworking tools already installed in the shop. All for $365k. I ended up selling most of the woodworking stuff for $8750 because I'm a car guy and not a cabinet maker. If I was at our company's Buena Park, California location, I'd have purchased a nice two bedroom, two bath condo instead.

 

[Parkanzky]

I should point out that our new home is less than two miles from a great grocery store, four miles from our work, five miles from the airport and about 10-15 miles from downtown Grand Rapids. If I'd have been willing to go another 10 miles out of town, I'd have gotten all of that for half the cost.

 

[300UGUY]

I should point out that our new home is less than two miles from a great grocery store, four miles from our work, five miles from the airport and about 10-15 miles from downtown Grand Rapids. If I'd have been willing to go another 10 miles out of town, I'd have gotten all of that for half the cost.

I'm on a gravel road, 7 miles from the grocery store, 5 miles from a gas station. 60 miles +/- from Metro airport. I drove 51 miles each way for work. The gravel road is the only thing that bothers me. My neighbor definitely overbuilt for the area, but it was supposed to be his retirement home. He died right after it was built, before he could retire. This is a bedroom community, very few jobs here that pay well enough to live here.

 

[Parkanzky]

Before this house, we lived in a very nice 2500 sq. ft. home (in some ways nicer than the new place, although the new place has more land and way more potential) 24 miles from work. We sold it for half of what we paid for the new house. Like you said, location, location, location.

 

[riptides]

Property values in California are way higher than what we have. You can buy a nice home here, on a few acres, for 150K. One of my neighbor's just sold a beautiful 3000 sg ft home. On 10 acres with a 30x40 pole barn. Really nice place, looks like something from a magazine. $300K. In 2005, it was built for $375K. She had it for sale for 3 years, only got 1 offer. Location, location, location?

Same description like that in my immediate area would go 400-500k. Just a zipcode away, 600-700k, a few more zipcodes to the north, well above 1 million. The further north one goes from me, the acres just don't exist.

 

[coveredbridge]

My Two Cents : Retiring at 55 and 58 is way too soon. I've made more money between 50 and 56 than I did in all of my 40's. And I'm not done, yet. Why would I retire now, when I can still make some nice bank in the next 10 years? Don't give up your big earning years.

That's fine if you love your work, but there are many who work to live and not the other way around. For those people, including myself, I don't want to work one day longer than I have to in order to live comfortably in retirement and hopefully spend my last dollar on the day that I die. What good is all that money if you can't enjoy it doing the things you love to do?

 

[Travelover]

That's fine if you love your work, but there are many who work to live and not the other way around. For those people, including myself, I don't want to work one day longer than I have to in order to live comfortably in retirement and hopefully spend my last dollar on the day that I die. What good is all that money if you can't enjoy it doing the things you love to do?

+1. I retired at age 54 with a pension I can't spend every month and a portfolio that would replace my pension if it went away. I'd have been a fool to work any longer. What is precious is time, especially when you have enough money - key word being "enough".

 

[ultrarunner]

You guys are killing me...

December 31 2003 I bought my current 1956-57 1725 square foot home for 598K and had to fight with the assessor for the next year because he said my purchase price was below market for East Oakland California... mind you the bathrooms are untouched 1957 as is the kitchen except the linoleum was changed to green sometime around 1980???

I did buy it because it was built and owned by a car guy and it has a separate 22 x 30 shop which is most unusual here...

Here is a link to a home that just went on sale in the area... I know the owner who at age 101 decided she no longer wanted to live by herself...

50 LEAMONT CT, OAKLAND, CA 94605 (MLS # 40683286) - Sharp Realty

I'm old enough to remember when these homes were selling for 30k back in the 1970's... and Oakland is reported to have the one one of the highest incidents of crime in the country...

 

[PapaPerk]

You guys are killing me... December 31 2003 I bought my current 1956-57 1725 square foot home for 598K and had to fight with the assessor for the next year because he said my purchase price was below market for East Oakland California... mind you the bathrooms are untouched 1957 as is the kitchen except the linoleum was changed to green sometime around 1980??? I did buy it because it was built and owned by a car guy and it has a separate 22 x 30 shop which is most unusual here... Here is a link to a home that just went on sale in the area... I know the owner who at age 101 decided she no longer wanted to live by herself... 50 LEAMONT CT, OAKLAND, CA 94605 (MLS # 40683286) - Sharp Realty I'm old enough to remember when these homes were selling for 30k back in the 1970's... and Oakland is reported to have the one one of the highest incidents of crime in the country...

"They called it paradise the place to be."

 

[SandburRanch]

I wouldn't trust an insurance company as far as I could throw the Empire State building. I have a life policy that's been paid in full for nearly 60 years that my parents took out on me as a kid. I have the policy in hand. That original company has been sold 3 times, the last in 1999 and the present company has no record of it.

 

[300UGUY]

You guys are killing me...

December 31 2003 I bought my current 1956-57 1725 square foot home for 598K and had to fight with the assessor for the next year because he said my purchase price was below market for East Oakland California... mind you the bathrooms are untouched 1957 as is the kitchen except the linoleum was changed to green sometime around 1980???

I did buy it because it was built and owned by a car guy and it has a separate 22 x 30 shop which is most unusual here...

Here is a link to a home that just went on sale in the area... I know the owner who at age 101 decided she no longer wanted to live by herself...

50 LEAMONT CT, OAKLAND, CA 94605 (MLS # 40683286) - Sharp Realty

I'm old enough to remember when these homes were selling for 30k back in the 1970's... and Oakland is reported to have the one one of the highest incidents of crime in the country...

It's currently 5F, windchill of -13, going below 0 tonight. Last year my back yard still had patches of ice on April 20. We also had a period of -15F weather, that broke some pipes in my rental. The insurance paid out about $10K in damages. Jobs in this area pay lower than national averages. Basically, it sucks. There are reasons why folks want to live in California.

 

[smstonypoint]

I wouldn't trust an insurance company as far as I could throw the Empire State building. I have a life policy that's been paid in full for nearly 60 years that my parents took out on me as a kid. I have the policy in hand. That original company has been sold 3 times, the last in 1999 and the present company has no record of it.

I hope that you haven't given up hope in getting this matter cleared up to your satisfaction. If you haven't done so already, I would contact the office of the Insurance Commissioner in your state: National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) State Web Map.

Steve