Hello and in need of some advice please! (money, investor)

[swooshman]

OK I feel the need to chime back in here. Now well I certainly can understand where scrantonluna is coming from and some of his arguments IMO have merit, but I do take exception to him suggesting that I am brainwashed in to thinking that I need these things to be happy.

As I was looking at houses I honestly and purposefully did not look at any of the prices as I was browsing for homes. Now of course you can say that its common sense the larger the house you are lookin at the more expensive it will be but my point is I was lookin for things in the house that made it a desirable house for me and my family. Things like spaciousness of rooms warmth and character of rooms, available recreation space. Yes I know this could be considered unneccessary but it is something I feel is important in a house especially one that you plan to live in for a very long time. Also location which I know may seem insignificant to some but living in an area that we consider beautiful and having a location that is appealing especially to raise a family... Well I don't think that there is anything wrong with looking for those things when looking for a house, and I would be willing to bet that many many people place importance in the above mentioned qualities when they are shopping for a new home. Now can a cheaper house be had in a different area/location most definitely but if someone has the means to purchase the home they are most interested in and be able to live in the exact area that they want to I say there is nothing wrong with that.
When I say means I mean being able to purchase the house and have enough money for taxes, bills and everything else that goes with it, including liquid assets available for emergencies and other situations that may arise.
Also if someone is able to achieve this and not be strapped with a large mortgage and can still afford the things they want out of life and be comfortable I would say go for it. And first and foremost I would say this house has absolutely NO impact on the amount of love I would give to my child nor is it daddy thinkin that by buying this big nice house I am providing for my family.
No Way!! I want to provide for my family by being there physically and emotionally for my wife and children in whatever capacity they need from me. I want to spend as much time with my children and watch every minute of their development from an infant to a child to a young adult to an upstanding productive citizen. IMO those are the real important ways to provide for your family by giving of yourself to see them achieve the above mentioned things.

Bottom line I have not completely made up my mind about any houses yet and I will not make the leap until I am absolutely certain that I can afford it in a way that my family can live comfortably without having to worry about money. If that can be achieved I think it is a very nice position to be in and I am grateful for that.
Thanks again to all those who have offered advice so far. It is very much appreciated and just one piece of the puzzle as I continue to do my research. Hope I made some sense, cause I have trouble sometimes clearly expressing what I am trying to say.

[mathjak107]

we all try to just bombard you with thoughts and ideas and we even get to go off track a bit too, and asyou digest all this info we all gave you remember never let the facts get in the way of a good story lol...

[scrantonluna]

You also have to consider that taxes are subject to change. Aside from all
of the Federal mandates waiting in the wings to be approved, such as 'cap
and trade,' and the proposed 30% rate hike on electric alone for next year,
local taxes could threaten to remove you from a home you are stretching to
afford. Look at all those at Harvey's Lake who had homes up there since the
50s and 60s, who in the later stages of life, had to sell their homes and relocate
due to a huge jump in taxes after not being assessed since the late 60s.

[mathjak107]

we are pulling the plug next year and retiring early to pa and all those things you mentioned are the unkown for us.. we worked the numbers many times and we should be good to go by a wide margin even without social security at this point. but i got to tell you, its scarey just walking away from our jobs into the unkown.

while we know what our bills and expenses run us as we have the house now going on 3 years we havent a clue yet what life will run us, you know all the stuff you buy ,do and go to..... but what the heck , just do it ........

i can always send marilyn out to work right????

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

You also have to consider that taxes are subject to change. Aside from all
of the Federal mandates waiting in the wings to be approved, such as 'cap
and trade,' and the proposed 30% rate hike on electric alone for next year,
local taxes could threaten to remove you from a home you are stretching to
afford. Look at all those at Harvey's Lake who had homes up there since the
50s and 60s, who in the later stages of life, had to sell their homes and relocate
due to a huge jump in taxes after not being assessed since the late 60s.

Yep, I agree that is why many of the houses around Lake Wallenpaupack went up for sale was because of the reassessment............

[bloominscranton]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

we are pulling the plug next year and retiring early to pa and all those things you mentioned are the unkown for us.. we worked the numbers many times and we should be good to go by a wide margin even without social security at this point. but i got to tell you, its scarey just walking away from our jobs into the unkown.

while we know what our bills and expenses run us as we have the house now going on 3 years we havent a clue yet what life will run us, you know all the stuff you buy ,do and go to..... but what the heck , just do it ........

i can always send marilyn out to work right????

LOL! Go for it!

[iamnoteddie]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

if this advisor is trying to sell you any type of annuity other then a particualar type called an immeadiate annuity which is not the type that holds mutual funds you better look at the fees and charges with a fine tooth comb, those annuties that most advisers sell are chock full of fees and commissions and is how most earn their living off you.so be careful here.

im not in the business myself but i do consider myself quite savey as an investor and i do quite a few financial planning articles for a few publications. in fact one feature story in money magazine was me going head to head against their team of pros to see if they could do better at planning then i have. anyway its a field i always loved and one day i may even work in the field in retirement . . but regardless ill be glad to answere any questions you have about the product if you direct message me.

in my opinian 60% equities could be high for a retiree too, unless you have a system in place to provide at least 10 years of income before you have to liquidate any stock fiunds to generate more money to live on. the markets can be quite volatile and any good planning today should allow time frames of 10-15 years of withdrawls as having to sell stock funds during a prolonged downturn is death to a retirement.


before you do anything i suggest you read ray lucias book ready set retire. you wont be sorry you read it before making any committments to an adviser


theres a very comforting feeling that comes from owning your home out right.. we had a choice of buying the home out right or taking a mortgage.

even though though i could get more return on the money taking a mortgage we didnt. we will be retiring next year early and still have quite a few years to go before we are able to get social security or medicare. its so much easier to plan and figure when a big chunk of housing costs are out of the picture as well as the comfort of knowing you own your home not someone else.

one other point is you must be able to inflation adjust your 80,000 by about 3% a year. 80,000 today in bills will take at least 160,0000 to pay the same bills in 25 years.. you have to be able to do this and still have your portfolio generating enough income. the retirement graveyard is full of failed,miserable retirements because folks forgot this fact.

while things may not go up every year there is very little i can think of that isnt more than double 25 years ago .

our plan is to be able to generate 80,000 a year with our portfiolio and be able to take a 3% raise every year, have the house paid for and later on add social security to that amount. marilyn will take hers at 62 and i will hold off until 66 or 70. that way we can spend a whole lot more in the early years with the comfort of knowing at 70 a payment will kick in that will be almost double the early filing payment. that will re-fill our buckets to compensate for taking out alot more from savings in the early years while we are young enough and healthy enough to enjoy it.


by laying out the money from savings until 66 or 70 that becomes the best deal in annuties you can buy. you could never buy an annuity from anyone for anywheres near what you will lay out . my early ss is 1600 a month, that goes to 3,000 a month at 70. to get that difference in an annuity kicking in at 70 , inflation adjusted every year and passing on to your spouse would cost 2 to 3x what it does if you plan this way using social security.

only requirement is that you have enough to layout out of pocket until you collect.

Okay.Start collecting 1600ss a month at 62.1600x12=19,200.19,200 x8 =153,600.So i retire at 62 and i get 153,600 before you retire.I get 8 years to fish,golf,etc.and massage my wifes feet.You start at 3000ss=36,000 a year.you live 5 more years and get 180,000.i get 96,000 in those 5 years.you get 84,000 more in those 5 years.but i'm up 153,600 before that.so i got 229,000 by 75.you got 180,000.We are both dead at 75.i got 229,000g,you got 180,000g.We both go to 77,...i get 267,000g,you get 252,000g.78,..me 286,600,...you 282,000g.At 79 your clearly in the lead monetarily.Me a measley 305,800,...you a huge 312,000.At 80 you cream me.342,000g you and me a paltry 325,000g.By 80 you made 17g more than me.For 17g my wifes feet are in lots better shape than yours though.
We have old stupid guys with no life who can't do math.They come to work for nothing$ or are paying money to come to work.I show them on paper they are working for nothing.Their eyes get wide and they hide their embarassment?sp by being belligerent and angry.Their wives wait for the call that they dropped dead at work.You have to add in 40g a year in pension to really see the stupidity.
So i urge everyone to wait till 70 till retiring.If you live till 90 you will get big checks at the nursing home.I myself will be poor and hope to live till 70.After all those foot massages my wife will truly cry at the funeral.She will have happy feet though.

[scrantonluna]

Originally Posted by iamnoteddie

Okay.Start collecting 1600ss a month at 62.1600x12=19,200.19,200 x8 =153,600.So i retire at 62 and i get 153,600 before you retire.I get 8 years to fish,golf,etc.and massage my wifes feet.You start at 3000ss=36,000 a year.you live 5 more years and get 180,000.i get 96,000 in those 5 years.you get 84,000 more in those 5 years.but i'm up 153,600 before that.so i got 229,000 by 75.you got 180,000.We are both dead at 75.i got 229,000g,you got 180,000g.We both go to 77,...i get 267,000g,you get 252,000g.78,..me 286,600,...you 282,000g.At 79 your clearly in the lead monetarily.Me a measley 305,800,...you a huge 312,000.At 80 you cream me.342,000g you and me a paltry 325,000g.By 80 you made 17g more than me.For 17g my wifes feet are in lots better shape than yours though.
We have old stupid guys with no life who can't do math.They come to work for nothing$ or are paying money to come to work.I show them on paper they are working for nothing.Their eyes get wide and they hide their embarassment?sp by being belligerent and angry.Their wives wait for the call that they dropped dead at work.You have to add in 40g a year in pension to really see the stupidity.
So i urge everyone to wait till 70 till retiring.If you live till 90 you will get big checks at the nursing home.I myself will be poor and hope to live till 70.After all those foot massages my wife will truly cry at the funeral.She will have happy feet though.

Can somebody translate?

[Chefkey]

This is why my wife and I ruled out kids. We are happy with our Dogs and Cats.

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Originally Posted by Chefkey

This is why my wife and I ruled out kids. We are happy with our Dogs and Cats.

LOL, he' not talking about kids, but him and his wife