Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are about 5 Years away, have been planning for Years, no pensions in our line of work, all our investments, 401K's and a Real estate we aquired over the Years, The homesl will be dumped in favor of a nice small home, close to town and water in the East and North. Probably Southern ME. having no children , it was just a a plan we could stick with for a long time. Hope it will work out in the end!
Location: Finally escaped The People's Republic of California
11,314 posts, read 8,654,334 times
Reputation: 6391
Just turned 50, started putting into company 401k at the start of current job (I was 19), defined pension plan, company has slashed some of it but I'm still ok...Started thinking about the future retirement when I was around 32-33 years old and uped my contributions to 401K....
Refinanced house when interest rates dropped but went for a 15 year loan, house now paid off...with 5 years of work till early retirement... mid 6 figure 401 k, modest defined pension.....and wanting to move from California to Missouri, should work out for me.....
I lost about 300K between stocks and the RE crash. Then my marriage broke up and that finished the job. I'm too old to make up for what I lost so all I can do is make the best of what I have.
This happened to a substantial number of us.
10 years ago I was looking super great heading towards an early retirement when a long time customer went bankrupt leaving me holding the bag. $100k here, $100k there and after a while you get to the point when you realize it's a lot of money.
But I am very fortunate because I have my health, I have a job I love doing, can work until age 70 or later as long as my brain doesn't deteriorate on me and I want to continue working. It's all good!
I knew I needed to take advantage of the 401K and employer matches, and always put in the max. allowable. Also chose to work for employers who had pension plans and now that I'm retired, am very grateful for that. I live modestly on two pensions and SS and haven't needed to touch my investments thank goodness. Plan to leave them alone until I need to take minimum distributions in five years. I also paid down my mortgage so that I would have none when I retired and that's a blessing.
Early in our careers we thought our retirement plan would consist of rental income, so we'd save up a down payment, buy a house, live in it while saving another down payment, buy another house, rent out the first, etc. We ended up with 4 rentals and the house we were living in before we realized being a landlord sucked. We also dumped the max into 401Ks and ESPP.
At about age 40 we went to a financial planner who took the stock porfolio and invested it wisely through diversification. We also began to sell off the rental houses (during the housing boom, there's no substitute for dumb luck) and invested that as well.
We worked with our financial guy for ~15 years before we retired, (myself at 55 and my wife at 50). He continues to manage the investments, analyzes our income vs spending and advises us on various strategies.
I've planned for everything except for the outrageous increase of healhcare costs and DW was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. Now, all I can hope for is the healthcare reform will take effect in 2014 as intended so we can buy medical insurance at affordable rate.
I didn't estimate what I would need for retirement years ago, I simply lived far below my means and invested in stuff I knew as the opportunities presented. Being self employed, I knew that any retirement income would be from my own investments rather than a defined benefit plan or similar program. SS would be but a small part of my cash flow planned for retirement, and I didn't take it into account for my planning. My portfolio includes real estate (solely owned and limited partnerships), annuities, and a few stocks in a SEP-IRA.
Having lost most of what I'd put away in my early career years to a divorce, I had to start all over again in my late 30's.
Now, well past the age when most retire, I'm still working but shifting my energy, time, and cash flow to my farm/ranch. There's ample cash flow from my investments to maintain my lifestyle, so I can quit working anytime I'd care to do so ... although a small farm is pretty labor intensive between field crops and greenhouses, and then the livestock operations. We've gotten into doing poultry ... about 75 turkeys this year on the ground, and 150 chickens every two months; USDA processed and sold at the local Farmer's Market. I can't say that the farm/ranch is a real big profit center, but it keeps me busy and gainfully occupied instead of sitting in a rocking chair and watching life go by, waiting to pass away and whining about not having enough money to enjoy life doing whatever ....
LIVING BELOW ONE'S MEANS and SAVING doesn't sound all that exciting to many folks today who want to have what they want, when they want it!
However, it is almost a universal theme among people who are now financially secure in their retirement.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Retirement planning in mid-career
