Retirement planning

[SandburRanch]

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

That's my next step. I don't have much hope but it has to be done to satisfy myself so I can say I went down fighting. My attorney struck out. An old insurance agent that's been in the business for 60 years struck out as well as my financial adviser that has contacts in the insurance arena.

The Ins. Commissioner will be contacted and provided with a copy of the policy.

Thanks for the National link. I have the state but not national.

 

[MossRoad]

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...

My wife has relatives that moved to Santa Rosa back in the 50's. They bought a few acres, a house, and a mother-in-law house out back. Kids took over when the mom and dad retired. They all sat on it until the kids retired. They sold it, built a new house in Idaho and will never want for money ever again, nor will their kids or grand kids. :confused2:

 

[ultrarunner]

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.

It was 70 yesterday with blue sky and calm...

 

[ultrarunner]

My wife has relatives that moved to Santa Rosa back in the 50's. They bought a few acres, a house, and a mother-in-law house out back. Kids took over when the mom and dad retired. They all sat on it until the kids retired. They sold it, built a new house in Idaho and will never want for money ever again, nor will their kids or grand kids. :confused2:

This is what makes retirement planning somewhat dependent on location...

One very good thing for California Homeowners is property tax is somewhat predictable... in general, increases are limited to 2% annually and over decades some pay very little compared to the new kid on the block... my sellers were paying $1200 and I went to $9,000

I guess worse case I could do like so many friends... liquidate and take the proceeds to a lower cost of living location.

One of my best friends growing up was an older couple... they were both from Indiana and made their way to California via WWII and work in the shipyards... they often thought about going back home and in the end decided not too because most of what they remembered and friends no longer existed after 50 years here.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Call me a pessimist, BUT, given today's questionable economic politics; ie, underfunded pensions by corporations, SS inequities, and city bankruptcies, I would not be counting on my pension or IRA to last forever. These are far from certainties.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Interesting stories on house / property values. Our situation is quite different in we bought a small mansion {7,500 sq ft} on 80 acres, 40 x 40 shop, and small guest house for 1/2 of what it took to build 15 years ago. Rural location where house was for sale for over 5 years, and we were the second couple to even show any interest. I'm fortunate in I'm self employed and work nationwide, so I'm not relying on the "local" economy. My wife and I often wonder what our property will be worth in 20 to 30 years, given the rural location, but who knows. I plan on staying till the end... Just for comparison, if you are wondering, our taxes are 3 grand a year.

 

[ultrarunner]

Sounds like a wonderful spot with all the amenities and privacy....

The 1922 3-bedroom 1100 square foot home on a 40 x 100 city lot has taxes of 3k... bought in in 1998 and all we hear is California is a low property tax state and we should be paying more...

It there any income that can be derived from the property to offset or help with taxes?

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

It may be true that 55 is too early but if I save enough why stay at work when I can be home and still be young enough to work on the projects I don't have time for now, spend time with my kids/grandkids. I may be very wrong but I don't want to have to be at work a day longer than necessary.

There is no right or wrong. If you can afford to retire at 55 and have other plans and goals go for it! I retired at 58 and have never been happier, for me there was more to life than making more money.

 

[riptides]

Curiosity here,

How are you really retired people of early age bridging your medical insurance gaps?
Especially iinterested if you still have "family" plans.

 

[smstonypoint]

Curiosity here,

How are you really retired people of early age bridging your medical insurance gaps?
Especially iinterested if you still have "family" plans.

I suspect that my experience is atypical. I retired from teaching at a state university in SC at age 60. As a SC state retiree, I was able to continue medical insurance for my wife and myself at the same premium rate I was paying before retirement. Now that we are over 65 and covered by Medicare, my retiree insurance has become our supplemental insurance.

Steve

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Curiosity here,

How are you really retired people of early age bridging your medical insurance gaps?
Especially iinterested if you still have "family" plans.

My medical insurance continued after I retired, but was up for major revisions that would have caused it to cost more and deliver a lower level of benefit. That and a declining quality of life and lack of job satisfaction were the reasons I retired when I did. Coverage ends when I reach Medicare eligibility age, but I've got a little while before that happens and will be keeping an eye out for changes in the Medicare system.

 

[300UGUY]

This is what makes retirement planning somewhat dependent on location...

One very good thing for California Homeowners is property tax is somewhat predictable... in general, increases are limited to 2% annually and over decades some pay very little compared to the new kid on the block... my sellers were paying $1200 and I went to $9,000

I guess worse case I could do like so many friends... liquidate and take the proceeds to a lower cost of living location.

One of my best friends growing up was an older couple... they were both from Indiana and made their way to California via WWII and work in the shipyards... they often thought about going back home and in the end decided not too because most of what they remembered and friends no longer existed after 50 years here.

Parts of Indiana are below 0 this morning. And much of it is worse off economically than Michigan. Comparisons to California are like comparisons to another country.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Quote Originally Posted by Steppenwolfe:
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?

Enough is Enough! That's what I came to realize as, after 28 years, pension and medical benefits plans were being shredded, urban pressures were turning my daily commute into a nightmare, and a micro managing never satisfied boss was ruining my health. When my spread sheet told me that this quiet little house in the country was affordable with what could made from conservative portfolio investments and a small pension, retirement was a no brainer. Yes, I could have changed jobs again, and probably made a boat load more money. What would I spend it on? Fancy cars? Big house? Extravagant vacations? None of those appeal to me. I already had enough money to live comfortably, and there are too many things I'd never get to on my Bucket List to waste another minute working for a living.

While I was working I traveled a great deal, both for the job and during vacations, and I was always looking for the place where I'd want to spend the rest of my days. Now that I've found it, my feet don't itch nearly as much as they used to, and the best part of every trip is coming home. Indeed, Enough is Enough, at last!

 

[Parkanzky]

While I was working I traveled a great deal, both for the job and during vacations, and I was always looking for the place where I'd want to spend the rest of my days. Now that I've found it, my feet don't itch nearly as much as they used to, and the best part of every trip is coming home. Indeed, Enough is Enough, at last!

My wife and I travel a lot, and a few years ago we talked about using every trip to decide where we want to either settle to when we retire or to at least buy a winter home. I still don't know where we'll end up, but I know that we have a lot of awesome options!

 

[xtn]

The 3:1 spread between the median and mean values in the Vanguard retirement savings charts are curious. I guess it means there are a bunch accounts that have low holdings combined with a bunch with high holdings. Not much middle ground? People are either serious savers or not?

Generally this indicates the opposite of what you've concluded, a small percentage of very high or low outliers in the set. And extreme example: If Bill Gates sticks ten billion into a fund having ten thousand other members with only $20k, it's going to spread the mean up around fifty times the median.

Mathematically, it COULD mean what you concluded, but it's much safer (absent any other information) to conclude something closer to a normal bell curve (a whole lot of middle ground) wherein the few participants at one end or the other are really out there.

xtn

 

[xtn]

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?

On what day are you going to die? Knowing your death date gives you a HUGE planning advantage over the rest of us. I hope you don't accidentally live too long.

xtn

 

[dave1949]

Curiosity here,

How are you really retired people of early age bridging your medical insurance gaps?
Especially iinterested if you still have "family" plans.

Similar to Steve, I was covered as a family member on my wife's plan until she retired. After retiring her benefit covered herself only at reduced costs, adding a spouse was ~$1100/month , so I bought an individual policy (ranged from ~$250-$310 monthly) for ~2 years until I reached Medicare age. With Medicare I have a supplemental medical and prescription drug plan for $89 month.

 

[vintagefred]

I am 64, retired since age 54, raised 2 kids on a modest income, and I believe you are not wrong, you have a sensible goal. Understand that your retirement income requirement depends on how self-sufficient you are. Do you call a professional every time your lawn mower quits, your tap drips, or your car sputters? Then a million $ in savings is not enough at today's rates. Or have you developed skills to deal with life's hiccups and are a competent DIYer? If so, these skills have already saved you a lot of expense and will continue to do so, which means $700k would be a safe goal. Do not retire as long as you still have a mortgage. Once retired buy only what you can afford to pay cash for. A 3 year-old used truck is half of the cost of new and does the same job. And money is not as important as good health, so start practising healthy habits now. I am shocked at how many people I know who believe it's okay to abuse and neglect their bodies and then assume it is the doctor's responsibility to make them well again when organs or joints breakdown. I did not plan my retirement: I was unexpectedly laid off due to outsourcing. But a few years before that I remember reading a report from the Boeing Company showing that for every year an employee continued working after age 55, they lost 2 years off their life expectancy. I have seen many examples proving this holds true. Good luck, stick with your plan.

It may be true that 55 is too early but if I save enough why stay at work when I can be home and still be young enough to work on the projects I don't have time for now, spend time with my kids/grandkids. I may be very wrong but I don't want to have to be at work a day longer than necessary.

 

[ultrarunner]

Lets face it... some people need a lot of money no matter what and with more free time will even tend to spend more... or try.

Mom does very well on her social security... she tends her garden, mows her own lawns, cleans her own home, tithes to the church... etc... she is 80.

For mother's day I bought her a top of the line commercial Honda power mower 13 years ago... the push mower was getting to be a chore... should have heard the negative comments I got about buying my 74 year old mother a mower instead of hiring a gardener!

She loves her easy to start mower and the commercial one she has stays running when the bag is emptied which can easily be a dozen or more times depending on year.

Maybe I'm lucky in that we always had what we needed and never needed a lot...

 

[riptides]

On what day are you going to die? Knowing your death date gives you a HUGE planning advantage over the rest of us. I hope you don't accidentally live too long.

xtn

Well, one has to plan accordingly. LOL

The Death Clock: Calculate your life expectancy today