Retirement Plans?

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Chris said:
I already live between two countries now. Luckily the only serious heath event that I have ever had took place in a country with very good quality doctors and facilities, plus national health care. But my most valuable asset is a considerably younger wife.
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I get you. My wife is half my age

What country? Chris
 
I've said a thousand times, I'd get my duel citizenship for Italy, and retire there. Unfortunately, that would take me divorcing my wife, so here we sit. I guess it all depends on your lifestyle. We lead a simple life, never have spent beyond our means, and have impeccable credit. I became semi retired a few months ago, and will be unemployed at months end. I'll turn 64 in April. Been beating the hell out of my body since I was 12, starting out in my uncles shop. Don't regret a moment, as repairing, deigning, and building stuff is pure joy. I'll pick up some part time hours till I hit 65, though I don't have to. I could go back to a full time job behind a desk, but I've been there, and it just boars the shit out of me.
No mortgage or car payments, and money coming in, along with investments. I need very little to be happy in retirement.... truck is runnin strong, motorcycle doesn't get ridden enough, and I have enough projects to keep me busy for many years. Wife, daughter, and dog are happy and healthy.... and my retirement plan is to enjoy every day till I buy the farm. I opted to leave the company, turning down the shop foreman's position so I can do just that...:cheers:
 
If I go before I'm old
Oh, brother of mine please don't forget me if I go
Bartender please, fill my glass for me
With the wine you gave Jesus that set him free
After three days in the ground

 
Another Medicare related item: You can NOT contribute to an HSA once you enroll in Medicare. I wish I had known this as I would have contributed more to it prior to getting Medicare.

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Emir of Schmo said:
Another Medicare related item: You can NOT contribute to an HSA once you enroll in Medicare. I wish I had known this as I would have contributed more to it prior to getting Medicare.

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Interesting and thanks for sharing! I'll be retiring a couple of years before I'm eligible for Medicare and already contribute the max. I'm hoping that we don't need to use it too much before I retire....
 
Im 52. My wife of 30 years is 51. I am an architect and own a small architectural firm. My wife is a RN and just works 1-2 days away week to basically pay for our health insurance. Currently have a healthy 401k and other investments. No debt of any kind and own our home. We are closing on a 2nd home in AZ at the end of the month that we are paying cash for.

15 years ago we had to short sell our home as we over extended ourselves and the economy tanked and I had no work. I was laid off from the firm I was partners in and it eventually folded. We had plenty of debt including student loans. For close to two years I resorted to going to storage auctions and yard sales to buy things to resale and/or fix and sell on Craigslist just to help pay bills. Did odd construction jobs and took any architectural work I could find. Was not a fun time at all but I learned many hard lessons and gradually as the economy came back things got better work wise. I started my own little firm in the middle of a bad economy and scraped by.

I grew up dirt floor poor (literally). Ive lived in shelters, with friends and in cars before. Not a great childhood. But somehow managed to find my way into college and get a degree while working graveyard shift at a gas station. Anyway, money is something I always worried about as a kid and I have a difficult time not worrying still to this day. Drives my wife nuts... but then she grew up middle-class.

I would like to work another 5-8 years full time-ish.. Then just work on occasion when I want. I could probably retire now if I wanted to and if we tightened things up a bit. I enjoy my work most days so Ill continue to do it as long as I have great projects and it doesn’t prevent us form traveling and enjoying our lives.
 
I'm approaching 50 and my wife is a couple years younger. It's our second marriage, so we have 4 kids between us that we are either currently or planning on putting through college. We split that cost with their other parents though, so it's not quite as pricey as it sounds (and we both saved for it with 529s from the time the kids were little).

We have a large home in NoVA with a good amount of equity, a good-sized nest egg account, and another smaller 401(k) from my company. I'm obviously still over a decade away from considering retirement. I have ownership in my current company, so when that sells we will get a nice payout and then look to add another property. When the actual time comes to retire, we want to move south.
 
I've been retired for several years and agree this is a great idea for a thread.

I retired at 60 to drive an Uber, one of the best decisions of my life. I drove full time until the pandemic but I was free and felt retired. I paid for health care because Medicaid only goes by current earnings, not assets, for health coverage. Once I deducted all the miles I was legally entitled to I had very little taxable income. So we got free health care and a tax refund due to the low income tax credit or whatever it's call for 5 years until I was eligible for Medicare.

But now I rely on my savings and Social Security, which I filed for at 65 to sync iwith Medicare. As I knew I was about to undergo cancer treatment (I'm OK) my Plan G for supplemental coverage had no out of pocket for $140 a month. You absolutely need supplemental coverage as Medicare only pays 80%. And yeah no Advantage, it sounds great until it's not.

To respond to a comment Boone had posted figuring your income is pretty simple. Take your portfolio balance when you chose to draw and withdraw 4% a year, don't forget to have taxes withheld. Each year you can raise that amount by the inflation rate of that year and you should still see your balance grow a bit over the decades. This is my first tax year under this income stream so I had a lot of taxes witheld from our retirement withdrawls and hope that's enough. Our tax bill this year will be pretty close to our tax bill for the rest of our life and I hope I've taken enough out. So once you have that figure and your SS check amount that is now your salary. I was paid weekly so I pay myself each week from my account that holds my funds. No different than a paycheck.

There is no answer as to when to file for SS because nobody knows how long they will live. For me I would have broken even at 83 had I waited until full retirment (a year and 9 months). So I felt OK taking it at 65. One misconception people have is they believe they get a giant bump in their benefits once they reach their Full Returement Age (FRA). This is not true, it goes up gradually each month so filing a month or 2 short won't have much of an impact. One thing to consider is the more your SS check is the less you need to take in taxable retirement accounts. So filing too early could end up costing you a bit in additional income tax. But I felt uneasy spending more than my 4% allotment while I had a check calling my name waiting for me. But you tend to be better off if you wait.
 
I took SS at 62 totally because of that break even math Darrell Green Fan. Knowing full well that at that age (if I make it) my income needs would be a fraction of what they currently are now.

I live quite well on SS and quarterly dividends. My home here and my wife’s home in Finland are mortgage free and both of our cars are owned outright. My largest expenses are travel related; both between the US & Finland and recreational. I have been fully retired for 5 years and have yet to tap any of my investment accounts.

This enrollment period I signed up for a Medicare Advantage Plan that starts on January 1. Now you guys are having me seriously question that decision.
 
I didn't plan on retiring until my 60s. Also I had a really good insurance plan with my last job but I quit and bought a house in a different state and while looking for a new job here I found out that I had pancreatic cancer at 47 years old. Wish I did a checkup before I quit because I would have been paid about 2000 a week once I was unable to work and living in the hospital.

Fortunately I was deemed 100% disabled by the VA and Social security as well so I am doing ok. Also, I survived, which wasn't supposed to happen since around 99% die within 18 months with what I got. And that isn't even counting the infection the hospital gave me which cost me 1 leg and at least a dozen surgeries on the other one and more than a month with sepsis.

I don't know how I lived through it all but I feel mostly fine 1/2 the time now, just waiting for the cancer to reappear somewhere else again. So far it has only invaded my liver pancreas and stomach.

I have Medicare now too but I'm thinking about stopping paying for it because the VA has so far paid for everything I need.
 
Good lord, brother, you have really been through it. ❤️
 
Well I'm just lucky to be alive still. If I didn't avoid going to get checked out so much it probably wouldn't have been this bad. I was in perfect health for 47 years then boom I felt like something wasn't right for a while but I never went to the hospital until I realized that I had lost 25 pounds without trying to lose weight. By the time I had my cancer tumor surgery I was down over 60 pounds. So I guess it was a good thing that I was carrying an extra 10-15 more than I needed lol.
 
SkinsFTW said:
I didn't plan on retiring until my 60s. Also I had a really good insurance plan with my last job but I quit and bought a house in a different state and while looking for a new job here I found out that I had pancreatic cancer at 47 years old. Wish I did a checkup before I quit because I would have been paid about 2000 a week once I was unable to work and living in the hospital.

Fortunately I was deemed 100% disabled by the VA and Social security as well so I am doing ok. Also, I survived, which wasn't supposed to happen since around 99% die within 18 months with what I got. And that isn't even counting the infection the hospital gave me which cost me 1 leg and at least a dozen surgeries on the other one and more than a month with sepsis.

I don't know how I lived through it all but I feel mostly fine 1/2 the time now, just waiting for the cancer to reappear somewhere else again. So far it has only invaded my liver pancreas and stomach.

I have Medicare now too but I'm thinking about stopping paying for it because the VA has so far paid for everything I need.
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You have been through Hell, thanks for sharing. But you had 1% chance of survival yet here you are decades later still with us. I call that a win. You may have made it worse by waiting but at 47 and in great health as well I just didn't worry about my health that much back then either.
 
I am blown away by your will to live and your resolve to overcome. Because, sincerely, it is at a level that I simply don’t possess.
 
F**K THE VA
 
All I can say is that I am forturnate. I was able to cash out on some stock options for the company I used to work for and retired (or semi-retired) at age 51. I have been working part-time as a dog walker ever since (for the last 6 years). My wife is working part time and is able to get health insurance through her work. My father passed last year and I recieved a considerable inheritance and my only real concern is that my investements don't go in the tank with a potentially foundering economy and that I get my almost adult kids out of the house and out on their own feet (halfway there).
 
I am cashing out on all my property. House #1 in WVA closed today. Two more underway in MD and VA. Also a property in Colombia
 
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