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Will you be able to retire? |
Are you kidding? I'll have to work till the day I drop. |
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17% |
[ 11 ] |
Maybe, but not until I'm past 70. |
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14% |
[ 9 ] |
Yes, but I'll have to live frugally. |
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25% |
[ 16 ] |
Yes, and I'll be able to live comfortably. |
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22% |
[ 14 ] |
No problem, I'm going to be able to do what I want after 60. |
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19% |
[ 12 ] |
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Total Votes : 62 |
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Malachai Constant Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002 Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Steve, we did the same thing while I still had my office I was on Lynda's health care as were the kids. In Canada the Government paid most but my employer covered drugs, Dental, and Optical pluses US for the kids until 26. Obamacare allowed Lynda to retire as our "income " is very low. For her to Cobra would have been prohibitive. ACA is cheaper and comparable. Medicare comes out of SS which we receive from two countries. Kids are employed by Universities as they TA or RA and also have outside income. Since house is paid off our main expenses are taxes and food. Hiking is cheap.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Magellan Brutally Handsome
Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics Location: Inexorable descent |
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
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Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:11 pm
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BigSteve wrote: | Glad we got hitched |
Congratulations!
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DigitalJanitor Dirt hippie
Joined: 20 May 2012 Posts: 792 | TRs | Pics
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Chief Joseph wrote: | Retirement is cheap and easy if you live in a van down by the river.
I will prob be living in a trailer by the creek, but the river is only a 10 minute walk.
Grow my own, brew my own, hunt, fish...retirement and the money necessary to do so is over-rated. |
HA! When investment types either at the bank or at work, or family, or friends, etc etc etc ask "So what's your retirement plan?", we always answer "LIVING IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER". We even taught our then-toddler-daughter when asked where she lived to tell people "IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!"... which was super funny up until we discovered the (vastly more responsible) daycare peeps were actually having the littles memorize their phone numbers and addresses for 911 purposes. OOPS.
So in one fell swoop we've somehow managed to fail both parenthood and retirement planning.
We actually have more money saved up than most at our age, keep setting more aside, and will hopefully pay off the house in just a few more years... but I still can't wrap my head around how the math is going to work. So we keep doing what we're doing, and whenever the 401K statements come in husby says "hey look... we can get a better van now..."
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HitTheTrail Member
Joined: 30 Oct 2007 Posts: 5455 | TRs | Pics Location: 509 |
I actually enjoyed the work at my last professional job and would still be there but they "invited" me to leave because I had passed the age limit of the country's labor law. I found working made it easier to stay motivated and keep my mind running at it's highest level. Retirement was an adjustment. One of the hardest things to overcome was that if you can do nothing you sometimes will. One way I attack that problem is to start every day with some kind of a hike or physical activity. That usually gets me cranked for the rest of the day.
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Navy salad Member
Joined: 09 Sep 2008 Posts: 1865 | TRs | Pics Location: Woodinville |
One of the best financial decisions I ever made was to save as much as possible, starting with my first salaried job. I mostly tried to max out my pre-tax 401(k), but also with some after-tax contributions (although now I wish I had put in even more after-tax money to provide me with more options to deal with taxes). You young whipper-snappers -- take note!
I've been "mostly" retired since around age 58 (except for the occasional work contract during the bad-weather months) and am completely retired now (age 65). I've used much of my spare time staying in shape (hiking more than I ever did when working, doing weights and cardio in the gym, etc) and am in better shape now than 20 years ago (ok -- slight exaggeration, since my joints were definitely better then.....).
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Well congrats Steve. Im happy for you guys.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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cascadeclimber Member
Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1427 | TRs | Pics
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RandyHiker wrote: | Health insurance is crazy |
It's not the insurance that's crazy, it's the cost of care.
I've been buying health insurance on the open market since 2001. The last two years have had the lowest premium increases ever, and we have better coverage. In particular, the elimination of the $1,000,000 lifetime max is huge for anyone who plays in the mountains. That less than 10 days in the ICU after a helo evac.
We have a shot at retiring. Mostly because we were able to buy a home at age 23. I mourn for the kids in college now (including my oldest who starts in the fall)- most will graduate with huge debt that will prevent them from being able to save for or qualify for a loan to purchase a home.
The runaway cost of college is screwing the young generation.
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boot up Old Not Bold Hiker
Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 4745 | TRs | Pics Location: Bend Oregon |
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boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker
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Fri May 01, 2015 2:50 pm
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cascadeclimber wrote: | I mourn for the kids in college now (including my oldest who starts in the fall)- most will graduate with huge debt that will prevent them from being able to save for or qualify for a loan to purchase a home. |
I had to pay for my own college, and expenses during, my wife got a tiny bit of help from her parents, and our choice in life was to help our 2 daughters get their college degrees debt-free, and wean them into their own lives, including getting them their first cars. That was a major boon for them since their careers are not coming close to what they would have needed to pay off student debt. Meanwhile my wife was a stay at home mom raising them, which is a noble profession, but doesn't add to the income stream.
The down side is I won't get to retire until I am almost 70, after 40 years at a high stress career. Assuming I live that long.
We had to move to a state where we knew no one(WA) to finally be able to afford a house in my mid thirties. We will be moving again to a cheaper housing location to afford a retirement home. Both changes we managed to work that negative into a plus.
We live very frugally to pull this off, even having to work half way through the good years of retirement. Currently living on about half of what I earn and socking away the rest. Still those medical insurance costs are a major driver on when and how well I can retire.
That is why I make a point hiking pretty much every weekend, while I still have knees. Gotta enjoy it along the way.
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bobbi stillaGUAMish
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 8012 | TRs | Pics Location: olympics! |
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bobbi
stillaGUAMish
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Fri May 01, 2015 4:16 pm
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our retirement 2000 eurovan.... just got it the first week of April
bobbi ૐ
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
bobbi ૐ
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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HitTheTrail Member
Joined: 30 Oct 2007 Posts: 5455 | TRs | Pics Location: 509 |
boot up wrote: | ..and our choice in life was to help our 2 daughters get their college degrees debt-free, and... |
Investing money in adult children for college expenses is not nearly as painful as some of the other situations that can come up that a parent is more or less morally obligated to help them with. That's why it is so important to invest time with them as they are growing up so they make better choices later. I would take college expenses any day.
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Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9512 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
Snarky Member
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Fri May 01, 2015 10:01 pm
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College inflation is crazy too. College for me cost $2000/yr My starting salary was $11,000 in the late '70s , So paying back my student loans wasn't bad. My oldest son has $150,000 in student debt from law school ( I paid for his undergrad degree) and his salary as a public defender is less than half of his debt.
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Malachai Constant Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002 Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
When I was at the U tuition and fees was $188 a trimester. For my daughter it was around $20k. Luckily she graduated in 3 and is now a TA also working for a start up. It used to be you could pay for a year at a state u by working the summer on a fishing boat, not any more. I got through law school on money I made teaching for two years and some fortunate currency revaluations, thanks tricky dick. Now you have to be upper middle class to have your parents pay, otherwise bucobucks in loans.😠
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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mike Member
Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 6397 | TRs | Pics Location: SJIsl |
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mike
Member
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Sat May 02, 2015 8:57 pm
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I paid around $1200 a year to go to school and made $5 and change /hr during the summer. Had to work into the fall so stretched out to 5 yrs to graduate but didn't owe anything. Same school is now $40k plus and kids can make 9 bucks±. it sucks.
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lookout bob WTA proponent.....
Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 3043 | TRs | Pics Location: wta work while in between lookouts |
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lookout bob
WTA proponent.....
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Sun May 03, 2015 4:22 pm
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Hesman....NOW is the time to start putting money away and rely on the power of compounding to make your retirement happen. If you start saving or investing in your 50s, you'll wind up living in your van too.....
"Altitude is its own reward"
John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
"Altitude is its own reward"
John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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Malachai Constant Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002 Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Good idea but, the power of compounding is pretty puny when CDs pay 0.5% for 1 year, 2% for 2 year, and 5% for 5 year. Savings accounts are near 0 and bonds pay 3 % a less "junk". Stocks can pay dividends of,a couple percent but are more risky. Main advantage of 401 toe IRA is immediate tax deduction.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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