Retirement - Gripes 'n Complaints

bucks2 said:

So now I hear how lucky I was to have saved money? It wasn't luck, it was hard work.

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Very well said.  Kind of reminds me of how some of my friends and family told me that golf "came easy to me" but they had no clue about the bloody callouses on my hands from pounding practice balls hours on end... and they didn't understand why they couldn't play the game well just because they wanted to.

Rick

[quote author=Orick]
..... Kind of reminds me of how some of my friends and family told me that golf "came easy to me" but they had no clue about the bloody callouses on my hands from pounding practice balls hours on end... Rick
[/quote]

Have you tried loosening you grip just a tad? 

My instructor suggested that I replace my clubs, take a few more lessons and then give the game up.  I took his advice.

Good thread?. Most if not all (posters), it  seemed to me, read the Story of ?The three little pigs? introduced to me in my first or second grade ?reader? book.
Now I went on line to find this story book, and to my amazement there were so many versions that I can not ?point? to one for reference.

The story (Illustrated) I remember (and held on to) was as follows:

Three little pigs left home to be on their own?.,
the first decided to build a home out of ?straw?  so he could have fun and party.
The second built his home out of ?sticks? so he too could ?Party?.
The third built his home out of ?bricks? and it took him lots of time and energy to complete.

The first two pigs taunted the third and reminded him of how much ?fun? he was missing as he worked his (you know what off).
Soon the WOLF came along and ?blew? the ?straw? home down and the little pig ran to the ?stick? house. And, the WOLF blew the ?stick? home down, with both pigs running to the pig with the ?brick? house.
All were safe in the brick house and the WOLF (not being able to blow the "brick" house down) died after climbing down the chimney into a big pot of boiling water.
I never understood why the ?third pig? took those SOB?s into his home. Today I understand the concept, but still have trouble with it.
I'll get better soon, maybe.

I never understood why the ?third pig? took those SOB?s into his home.

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Because these pigs were in the USA and threatened to sue Piggy#3 for recklessly endangering their lives if he did not.  And in book 2, Piggy#3 was arrested for using excessive force to defend his home and in doing so killed a member of an endangered species (the wolf). Then Piggies #1 & #2 successfully sued the federal government for failing to warn them that wolves could blow down houses of stick or straw and received new titanium houses as compensation.

Which brings this discussion back to the original message, which wondered why some folks can't seem to accept any personal responsibility for their failure to plan ahead.

I agree Gary......

Gary RV Roamer said:

Which brings this discussion back to the original message, which wondered why some folks can't seem to accept any personal responsibility for their failure to plan ahead.

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For the exact same reason people try and pin the blame on Microsoft when they get a virus after surfing to a porn site.

OHHHHHH  is that the voice of experience  TOM 

Foxysdad said:

OHHHHHH  is that the voice of experience  TOM 

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Nope, I have never had a virus or any malware in 30 years of computing. And I have never ran anti-virus or anti-malware of any kind. If you follow the rules they are totally unnecessary.

We have always done fine.  Guess we were poor way back when but I've never felt poor. We lived within our means always.  We used credit rarely and judiciously but its been a long time since we have.

We just wait until we can afford what we want then pay for it.  It might take a bit longer but I can't sleep at night with payments hanging over my head and neither can hubby.  Thank God, our son followed in our footsteps he is the same, so we did something right.

I never invested in stocks, we did some equities in Tom's 401k, but pulled it into stable funds when I felt a was crash coming.  I investigated those and found they were heavy in CDO's and some of the really iffy real estate market funds, they started pulling out of them but I pulled almost everything out.  We were lucky hubby was vested and old enough to roll them over and I did.  We lost nothing, have not in any of the crashes.  Of course, we haven't earned as much as others but we haven't had to re earn and re earn it either.  Pay attention, when markets start getting overheated its a matter of time before it crashes, if it had not we would be at 40 or 50000 on the market by now.

Another thing housing was getting overheated so I sold 2 of our rental townhouses because they are the first to go down along with condos, that was 3 years or so ago.  I read the WSJ daily, one of the good papers to follow in my opinon.  I saw Walmart getting out of fabric 2 years before and stocked up.  2 years ago saw that cotton is going to go nuts, then because of demand, now adding in bad weather for crops, I have most everything we need.  I try to read and notice the trends and see what is going to happen so I can jump in an counter the effects on our cost of living. Groceries are set to skyrocket because wheat now is almost $8 a bushel and the big companies are ready to pass on big increases they claim they haven't in the past few years.

Strange they don't see reducing the amount in packages or selling less product for the same money as a price increase.  Oh well.  We also do not eat that much processed foods if we can help it.

Now do we spend to much on the wrong things sure we do, but at least we aren't charging it, so we are still ok. And we never beleived in pulling equity out of our houses, no way, and that saved us also. And as some of you have seen Tom and I LOVE doing everything ourselves that we can, I know that has helped us.  Hubby still wants to work 3 more years because he likes his job, whether he can or not is to be seen, but we will be ok either way, just better off if he can.  As he says at some point you have to make do on whatever resources you have and that will be us also. Our variables I can't control are health insurance and fuel for the vehicles.  We took care of the house got a high efficiency furnace a few weeks back, hope that helps. We have tried and continue to try to anticipate how to live well now and for the rest of our lives, hope I'm doing it right.  So far, so good.

Oh and here is a tidbit I heard today.  10,000 boomers will reach age 65 every single day for the next 19 years and most of them claim they are going to continue working.  And as they stated, good luck when most over age 55 workers have a hard time getting or keeping a job.

I don't know, I just think a lot of people if they would really pay attention could do as well or better then us, I had to quit work many years early and we never made a fortune, the last 10 years have been very good to us though,.  We aren't smarter, I guess just willing to compromise and work together as partners on the same page.

aka Porky said:

Have you tried loosening you grip just a tad? 

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The "death grip" has never been a problem for me Lou.  I think I estimated once that I had hit >300,000 range balls though and that will take it's toll.    It was all good conditioning though for the golf trips I used to take with the boys where we'd play between 36 and 54 holes every day for 7 days.... and still be crying when we had to rush off of the golf course to catch our planes back home.  And Tom thinks photography is addictive.

Rick

It's interesting to see the differences and similarities to the approaches taken by all of us.  All of them got us to the point where we are able to enjoy the RVing lifestyle so there is certainly more than one way to skin a cat.....

I do want to point out though that I don't believe that credit and stock market investments should be necessarily painted as "bad".  They are tools available for financial management and, like any tool, can be harmfull if not used properly. 

JMHO

Rick

I'm back,

We're drifting a little, but this has turned out to be a much more productive thread than even I had hoped.

One more observation I've made that might help some people; If it cost a lot to acquire (not talking investment), it will cost a lot to own! I've yet to find an exception, cars have repair costs directly proportional to original price; homes (not an investment category as many are now finding out), cost more in repairs, taxes, utilities, and all other areas if they initially cost more; all of the toys - airplanes, boats, motor homes, ..... have the same feature. Maybe this is just another way of saying "live within your means", but its one that many people do not understand until its way too late!

Ernie

We live in an era of entitlement and justification with less responsibility or accountability.

Know that saying "Life Happens"?  While I'm in agreement it just doesn't seem to happen as often now that I'm on a better track.  Maybe what goes around comes around is more than a saying.

Orick said:

I do want to point out though that I don't believe that credit and stock market investments should be necessarily painted as "bad".  They are tools available for financial management and, like any tool, can be harmfull if not used properly. 

JMHO

Rick

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I agree that credit and stocks have their place. I believe though that many placed all their eggs in one basket with the market and then wanted to blame someone else for their losses.

The problem I see with credit is not using it as a tool. Many folks use it to enjoy now and put off payment as long as they can.

Gary RV Roamer said:

Because these pigs were in the USA and threatened to sue Piggy#3 for recklessly endangering their lives if he did not.  And in book 2, Piggy#3 was arrested for using excessive force to defend his home and in doing so killed a member of an endangered species (the wolf). Then Piggies #1 & #2 successfully sued the federal government for failing to warn them that wolves could blow down houses of stick or straw and received new titanium houses as compensation.

Which brings this discussion back to the original message, which wondered why some folks can't seem to accept any personal responsibility for their failure to plan ahead.

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  Great post Gary, right on the money.Thanks Alan

Excellent thread here.  I retired at age 55 after 2 years of college teaching and 31 years as an industrial chemist.  My wife retired at age 51 after 30 years as a school district teacher and administrator.  We started without much of anything except each other and a desire to succeed.  We built a good life together. 

I learned very early in life that successful people had 2 primary things in common.  First, they planned their lives and did not just lurch and reel from one episode to another.  Second, they made good choices.  Neither of these things are difficult.  Anyone can do them if they just will.  Problem is, a lot of folks out there simply won't do them.  Sooner or later, the bill comes due for making poor choices and / or not planning.  A wise fellow once said, "He who fails to plan, plans to fail".  Simplistic?  Perhaps, but also accurate.

I do not discount the value of good luck in life.  Good luck is most often encouraged by good planning and choices but it can also stand on its own.  I had three items of terrific luck on my side in all this: 1) I married an outstanding woman who has been my best friend, stalwart defender, and equal partner for 41 years now;  2) the 1981-2000 and 2003-2007 bull markets in stocks aided me immensely; and 3) my employer offered an excellent 401k plan with some very good mutual fund choices, minimal fees, and some helpful financial seminars.  All this got me interested in investing and learning how it works.  I read every book and magazine I could find on the subject and there were many.  It really is true that no one else cares nearly as much about your money or financial success as you do.  Additionally, it is not quantum mechanics or even mere rocket science.  Most folks can do this, if they choose to and apply themselves.  As the old Nike commercials used to say, "Just do it!". 

SteelHeadR said:

my employer offered an excellent 401k plan with some very good mutual fund choices, minimal fees, and some helpful financial seminars.

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My husband was a president of an environmental consulting company for several years before he took an early retirement.  The employees of the company were mostly younger workers; most college educated and career driven.  The company offered them 401 plans where the company would match the worker's contribution.  You would be surprised how few employees participated; or if they did participate didn't put in the full amount they were offered.

Marsha~

So many good points! In my career in the financial services and investment business we spent a great deal of time trying to create investment products such as Annunites and Mutual funds that would help. One of the great fears (which I share) is the fear of outliving our income!! My own experience much like many of you is ;that  having worked since I was 12 with my first paperroute, I can't imagine not have a paycheck coming in. I had the opportunity to retire two years ago and worried if I could adjust. Pundits say you should be able to draw down 5% of your savings and along with SS should have have enough income for life. What they don't talk about is the things you can't control...i.e. SS cuts, government incompetence, medical care especially an unexpected catastrophic illness of yourself or child.

I still do consulting, but plan make the leap to completely retire this year and thus my interest in enjoying the RV life! What I'm beginning to realize is it's not just about having enough income or assets but having the "mindset" and ability to let go and not get" [paralysis from analysis!"

Just my thoughts.

Ed

Ed, The one thing that will ease your retirement pain is not owing anything to anyone.>>>Dan