I know we have a few older folks on here that are already retired. And, as time cannot be stopped, we're all barreling towards old age and must think about our future, I figured this could be an interesting discussion topic.

For those of you who are retired, at what age did you decide to retire? For those that are still working, how much thought and planning have you put into retirement? Any plans to retire early? Anyone planning on retiring abroad in a cheaper location?

I'm fairly obsessed with retiring, I hate working for a company and if working for myself was financial feasible without risk I would. Outside of trying to buy a house, I have most of money in the market, max out 401K, Roth/IRA, and live as frugally as possible while still enjoying life. I want to be able to say fuck it an retire by 50.

I'm in the same boat. Retiring at 50 is my current goal. And by retiring, I still plan on doing something to make an income, I just don't want to be working for anyone but myself (or clients I choose). We do have a 6 year plan in place to pay off all of our debts, which would be the last little bit of my student loans, our two cars, and our house.

I knew I could retire without a penalty at age 55, but ended up leaving at 57 on my own terms.  Might have stayed til 60 if the job stressed hadn't ramped up like it did.

COA, you're on the right track to meet that goal.

posted by Commander of Awesome

I'm fairly obsessed with retiring, I hate working for a company and if working for myself was financial feasible without risk I would. Outside of trying to buy a house, I have most of money in the market, max out 401K, Roth/IRA, and live as frugally as possible while still enjoying life. I want to be able to say fuck it an retire by 50.

This is how I live (and try to get my wife to live). I want to be done at 55, she can work as long as she wants to keep me health insurance and she likes working. I would work, just not this career path. We max out 401k's, put as much savings into the market with an advisor as we can. Our problem is we have one kid, another one adds a significant amount of money for daycare, and then who knows what 2 college tuitions would look like in 20 years. So it all sounds nice (I'm 32), but a lof of question marks up ahead.  

I'm ok with having debt (1 car payment at a time < 2% interest and a mortgage <4.5% interest) if my money in the market is earning me better returns which it has been. We pay more towards the mortgage than the minimum though, but odds are won't be in the house forever either. 

I have my retirement already put aside and on the market. I've been very fortunate.

Thankfully I have no debt. The only thing that keeps me up at night in the high cost of living here. I currently have a large chunk of money just sitting in a savings account as we're trying to buy a house. But I can't wrap my head around paying $700k for a house that would be worth $50-90k if it were in Cleveland. Living in the bay area is great for many reasons, but I'm not sure lack of snow is worth the potential 10+ extra yrs of work required to retire comfortably.

posted by justincredible

I know we have a few older folks on here that are already retired. And, as time cannot be stopped, we're all barreling towards old age and must think about our future, I figured this could be an interesting discussion topic.

For those of you who are retired, at what age did you decide to retire? For those that are still working, how much thought and planning have you put into retirement? Any plans to retire early? Anyone planning on retiring abroad in a cheaper location?

 

I'm putting a ton of money aside for retirement (like maxing all accounts out). my plan is to retire at 50 regardless of what the money situation is. So some time around 42 years old i'm planning to start only putting the match in my 401k and the 5500 in the IRA. then rathole the difference between that and what i'm putting in now into various investment accounts. 

I'm watching my mom die less than a year after retiring. my dad died young. i'm not going out like that. imma do what the fuck i want for the last 10-20 years of my life.

For those of you planning on retiring at 50-55, what is your projected expense for major medical insurance?

posted by Con_Alma

For those of you planning on retiring at 50-55, what is your projected expense for major medical insurance?

Have my wife keep working! Otherwise f that noise I'll find a job with insurance. Shit is going to be sky high, or free by then and all income going to taxes. Also not planning on needing SS when I'm old, but that would be a nice little supplement.

I'll be playing insurance by ear and dealing with it when the time comes. There is no way to be certain what insurance is going to look like in 15 years so I'm not going to worry about it yet. That said, I do come from healthy stock so hopefully it won't matter much. :)

I close my business down and thought about retiring. Nope not going to happen.

I retired once with a military disability at the age of 21 , provides a nice monthly income that has increase in the last few months because of additional 

combat injury related issues. 

Medical, dental and vision I'm covered and so is my wife between Medicare/VA so insurance cost is very low

Money saved, 401, investments market, sold property, social security, military disability retirement  and a few other revenue earning things adds up to a nice monthly income.

Other than utilities, food/clothing, car/truck, homeowner insurance and small payment to the IRS ( pay that off soon) is all that is out going, no car, truck, credit card or house payments 

So I retired from my business at the age of 65 closed the doors 66 collected my SS... started back working 7:30 to 4:00 three months after that.

Im still working and loving it, ( i think I will alway be doing something  ... I need work) the wife as just about 1 1/2 years to work for her company retirement plan to retire, she collecting her SS also now.

In the process of downsizing but start to late, I suggest downsizing once the last kid hits high school that way you're ready to move out. Downsizing is a pain in the ass and difficult to d. Not an easy task... to much stuff and to much value to piss away ... but it is what it is.

Looking for a small type home, new but Im just not ready to pull the trigger yet. I'm confident that our home will sell quickly and we will get the asking price. Question is will it cover what we want to buy if we get what the wife is thinking the answer is no.., I dont want to go into another mortgage payment. We started to look at Condos now also. 

Note: If it was just me... I would be happy with a condo, old pick up truck, cycle, dog and  the idea that I could road trip anytime I wanted.

Another 12-16 years for me

Education keeps changing. It’s whatever. Very little thought of it.

I'm in my mid 30s. I have a decent amount in my 401k. I've long had the view that there simply will not be an SS remaining for my generation and thus the 401k is my "retirement". I've also had the long term view that the concept of retirement will not be available for my generation. I'm just going to work until I can no longer, and even then, who knows where technology will be in 30-40 years. 

I don't imagine I'll really retire. I love what I do, and I can't think of doing anything else other than it continuously. Sure, that could change, but I'm not sure what all would change the mentality.

I'm preparing as much as I can though, mostly to help the kids in their futures. I've got a 401k and a Roth. Will be able to do more every year for the next 5 years, and after year 5...there'll be tons of freed up money (no more childcare, no more student loan debt). We live frugally really. We don't have much else we do or spend money on. I'm sure my wife will retire when she can as a teacher, but she knows I'll keep doing as much coaching as I can.

posted by OSH

I don't imagine I'll really retire. I love what I do...

This is kinda where I'm at...we were able to put all three of our kids through private high schools (the public school system here in Toledo sucks), as well as their undergrad studies at OSU, YSU & Miami without debt--so needless to say there wasn't a whole lot of 'savings' going on. However, due to a frugal lifestyle and some smart investments (on my wife's part), we're in pretty good shape financially, but we both love what we do and can't imagine retiring just for the sake of retiring. We both have jobs with maximum flexibility, so we travel when we want, along with visiting our kids/grandkids in Columbus almost every other weekend. We know that when we do retire, we'll move to Cbus to be closer to the family--but to be honest, the thought of physically moving makes me cringe.

posted by Con_Alma

For those of you planning on retiring at 50-55, what is your projected expense for major medical insurance?

This.  Will have the assets and wealth, but health insurance will preclude when.

posted by Commander of Awesome

 but I'm not sure lack of snow is worth the potential 10+ extra yrs of work required to retire comfortably.

Does the weather allow for better health that makes it worth it?  i.e. biking to work in winter

i was going to retire at 56.  But the state added 5 years on retirement.  So now 61.  that is 15 years away

My husband will probably practice law until he dies, even if it's just a few clients here and there. 

I really have no idea when I'll retire. I'd like to stay home for a few years if/ when we have kids, but that's also a wait and see situation. 

STRS.  I'll retire (more than likely) after 35 years of work.  I'm on year 15.  I don't think much about retirement b/c our retirement system, for the most part, isn't too bad.

posted by Fab4Runner

My husband will probably practice law until he dies, even if it's just a few clients here and there. 

I really have no idea when I'll retire. I'd like to stay home for a few years if/ when we have kids, but that's also a wait and see situation. 

Reminds me of my father in law. He's 71 and in terrible health. He can barely walk short distances without being sore and is frequently in/out of hospital. But he's a psychologist and loves what he does and doesn't really have any huge hobbies outside of work. 

Some folks are just like that.

At the postal facility I retired from, whoever has the most seniority at the time is given the nickname "Number One", and is usually addressed that way by everyone who knows them until they retire

The current Number One will have 65 years of seniority next year.  The guy's amazing.  He loves his job, always has a smile on his face and a friendly word for everyone.  He was like that when I first met him 30 years ago, when he'd been there "only" 34 years.  

He'll die before he gives up that nickname. 

posted by friendfromlowry

Reminds me of my father in law. He's 71 and in terrible health. He can barely walk short distances without being sore and is frequently in/out of hospital. But he's a psychologist and loves what he does and doesn't really have any huge hobbies outside of work. 

Well I hope it doesn't go like that for us, lol. My husband is a pretty healthy guy and he has several hobbies, but he does love his job. 

I thought I had a pretty decent plan. Currently my plan is to retire as soon as I can start withdrawing from my 401k at 59 1/2. Depending on my 401k performance and what happened to health insurance at that time. I'm pretty flexible but I do not enjoy corporate life. If something better comes along, I'll jump on it. 

Take a shit on Brenda's desk.