Retirement - Gripes 'n Complaints
- Thread starter Ernie n Tara
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Jeff said:Now all we have to do is decide if we (and our RV) are going to live until 75, 80, 85, 90........... :
That is, how long will it be between the time we retire and the time we expire.
Two tough questions, how much money will we need each year during retirement and how long will we need the annual income?
Jim Godward
Well-known member
Jeff said:Now all we have to do is decide if we (and our RV) are going to live until 75, 80, 85, 90........... :
Pat & I have an agreement that is valid till I reach 90 so it must be that long!
Marsha/CA
Moderator Emeritus
Jim, you are gonna like this being an engineer. Tim, who is also an engineer as you know, and I have sat down and prepared a full spreadsheet for all income and expenses plus contingency amounts until we both are 90. In the next column header where year 91 would go, we put our son's name at the top and entered into the column: "Chris takes over". :
Marsha~
Marsha~
gwcowgill
Well-known member
After reading all the posts and digesting it all, I honestly believe a Personal Fianance Course should be offered at the High School level where they would not only teach investing for ones future but also show the ills of credit cards. I pray that each and everyone of you get to enjoy your retirement to the fullest.
Utclmjmpr
Well-known member
Your expecting a lot GW, its hard enough to get the 3 Rs taught today.>>>D
gwcowgill
Well-known member
Too much government interference. The teachers are teaching tests here in Florida not what the students need to compete in the real world.
SteelHeadR
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2010
- Posts
- 83
Marsha/CA said:
It's only hard to talk about if we let it.
Waiting until it is too late to take care of our final arrangements is not very smart. It saddles our loved ones with some very difficult decisions at just the time they are least capable of reasoned coherent thought. This is a very bad idea and I am glad to see that you and others here have handled the situation well before it turns into a disaster. A review of your plans from time to time is also an excellent idea. Something that seemed real good 4-5 years ago may not seem so good now.
I'm VERY concerned about your uncle. If he dies intestate, the laws of his state of residence, and not him, will determine where his estate goes. A good part of that WILL be absorbed by courts and lawyers. His desire to donate to the university will not be realized, as they have no legal standing to participate in his probate. Only living relatives, creditors, and those specifically mentioned in a will can do that. You can believe that the fight will be on to see who gets what and how much. Nothing brings out the fangs and claws faster than a will in probate. I think that you should ask him rather point blank if he really wants to leave money to the university or not because if he does not take positive action to ensure this, it will NOT happen. It may be that you need to have a will and the other documents he needs done so all he needs to do is read them over and sign them. Yes, this is being somewhat intrusive but if you don't act to ensure his wishes who will? He certainly isn't doing anything about it and death never makes an appointment. He just shows up whenever he wants and we never know when that will be.
My 84 year old parents told me last year that while I had a lot of good ideas about estate planning, they would "take care of it in our own good time". I asked them, "Just how much time do you think you have for this?". They were a little startled but didn't say much. Three months later, my Mom got pneumonia while on a trip to CA and almost died. WAKE UP CALL! HELLO!! A few weeks later, they were suddenly VERY interested in estate planning. We got their will and trust written up, signed, witnessed, and notarized. Whew!
Yes, most of the BB generation is woefully under-capitalized as far as retirement goes. I worked long and hard to plan, save, and invest for retirement. A critical element in my planning was what would happen to us if SS were not available. At times, I probably put more into it than I should have. A lot was sacrificed. I never got that boat I wanted, for example, and DW never got the beach cottage she wanted. We are well funded for retirement now, however, and that is what counts more than having had a string of toys that would by now surely be sold, broken, or forgotten. Our remaining mortgage is small, our home equity large (because we never borrowed it out and spent it), and retired life is good.
Ed
Vicsr
Member
I retired three years ago & I can tell you that retirement ain't all it's cracked up to be....it's better! Our income is half of what it was when I worked but we seem to be able to do more with it & seldom notice our "poverty". We find ways to do the things we love usually without creating additional expense. The RV we have has a major part in creating that situation. We camp from mid-April to mid-Oct at a car racetrack free of charge because we volunteer at the track doing things like security, gridding cars before they go on track, & doing photography plus we can store the trailer at the track for the winter. We get free passes to all the major pro races as well as all the regional ones for the same reasons. We also travel to 2 other tracks for events with free camping as volunteers. We would love to go to other campgrounds more often but we don't have time! Our grandkids (16, 7, 4) love coming to the track to camp with us.....although it does cost us for french fries at the snack bar! I even get to drive some pretty exotic vehicles when the track has to get them for a pro event! We don't do cruises, all inclusive resorts or long camping trips to warmer climates in the winter because we can't afford it (& there is always ice racing to photograph!).
The key to retirement, to me, is knowing & understanding your financial situation plus finding something that you can enjoy within your means.
Vic
The key to retirement, to me, is knowing & understanding your financial situation plus finding something that you can enjoy within your means.
Vic
jje1960
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2007
- Posts
- 1,556
Vicsr said:
Hey this thread was for "Retirement - Gripes 'n Complaints" and here you go showing happiness... I love it!
Vicsr
Member
jje1960 said:
Thankfully my father taught me the "glass is half full" theory! If you run into a problem, you either fix it or learn to live with it...sure makes life a lot easier & less stressful!
One of the big things in retirement planning that bites most people is medical expense. You are getting older & the body is more apt to break down! Fortunately I live in Canada & have medicare so this is not a major issue but it could have been. Since retirement, I have had a partial cornea transplant & cataract surgery on my left eye, spent a week in hospital with blood clots in my left lung & had an infection in my leg that required home care....all at no expense to me (other than darn expensive hospital parking cost!). I also get all my medications for $100/yr deductible on another government program. By my estimation, if I lived in the USA, I would need more than twice the income I have to be retired & a major illness would be devastating.
This is not meant to demean the US system or promote medicare. It is merely to point out another very important part of retirement planning & how different circumstances can effect it. Most people plan well for maintaining and/or upgrading their RV unit during their retirement but maintaining their own body unit falls by the wayside or gets a cursory view at best.
6 weeks until we start our camping season......Wahooooo!!!!!!! ;D
Vic
Utclmjmpr
Well-known member
To make a comparison,, I just had cateract surgery with lens replacement,, first time in my life I have 20-20 eyesite since I can remember.. My total cost on a medicare advantage plan was $85.00>>>Dan
Irover
Well-known member
8) My Dad always believed in the harder you worked the better you would live your retirement. I have worked since I was 12 with paper routes, the local farmers' harvesting and in the local auto salvage when i was 16 with working papers. Did My 3 yr service stint and worked around motorized vehicles most of my life. I had a good state job, many benefits and retirement, but 8 months into it got injured on the job. It was the state, so no long term disability Insurance. I was not able to work for 8 yrs, believe me I tried, lost my home, cars, wife and kid left. I kept pressing on trying to figure out how to work smarter, instead of harder. I am subsisting on work camping employ since the Fall of 2009, hopefully in 2013, I will get a little bit of the SS We all have invested in. As for me I will work somehow, sometimes, somewhere and for the rest of my days. I have done all the crying and whining about life when I was injured and maybe a bit longer. Nothing changed until I decide to do something to change it. No More tears, just bitter-sweet memories and the guts to carry on. Irover
SargeW
Site Team
I applaud your resolve.
Orick
Well-known member
RVcyclist said:
I always hated that advice too and think it's highly misleading. I think the point it is trying to make is that many/most/some people in retirement SPEND 75% to 85% of their pre-retirement SPENDING... it really has nothing to do with salary.
Orick said:
I agree. A better method would be to project your spending by doing some type of budget. One of the things that I am doing is looking at our annual income and then deducting what I know we will not have to spend in retirement (e.g., Social Security contribution, 401K contribution, IRA contribution, kids' expenses, mortgage payment, . . .). That gives me an idea of how much money I may need in retirement each year, in current dollars. The next question is, how much will our spending habits change?
I really like the idea that was posted earlier about living on a retirement type budget during the last few years of work to see how it goes.
Derby6
Well-known member
Gripes 'n Complaints:
VA is slower than pond water processing claims.
Can't survive on Military retirement and the corporate sector really expects me to work.
My wife complains I need to shave. ;D
VA is slower than pond water processing claims.
Can't survive on Military retirement and the corporate sector really expects me to work.
My wife complains I need to shave. ;D
Vicsr
Member
jamarynn1 said:
I guess I would start something if I paraphrased that to read:
"Half the income, Twice too much wife"
It isn't that my "Honey-do list" is killing me...it's that my wife is going to kill me if I don't get more on the list done!
Vic
