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common sense says:
1. Do not "hand my money over to a stranger" or a financial "expert."
2. Be conservative with investing and spending
3. Be debt free; no house or car payment, credit cards, student loans
4. Let your adult kids support themselves
5. Stop buying crap (ie. rings, necklaces , house remodels , timeshares , etc.)
6. Learn from You Tube or the internet how to fix and maintain your house.
7. Do not get every prescription your doctor tells you to get. Research the pill and it's side affects.
8. Work part-time at a fun job.
9. Relax, make friends, play softball and be grateful your not stuck in traffic, sitting in an office, teaching emotional disturbed students, selling anything, ...
10. Turn off all news channels and stop trying to control the world.
1. I rely on my Edward Jones guy - he has to be better at it than me (hey, I'm THE (only) guy that bought a Sony Betamax )
2. There is a cost to being too conservative in investing as well as a risk. And my plan is that the last check I write will be the first one I bounce. At current rates, I'm good until February.
3. I wish - I will die with a large mortgage
4. No problem - my only son makes biggo buckos - probably a 1%er
5. One man's crap is another man's treasure.
6. I have used Youtube to work on the Harley
7. I didn't go to med school (although I did go to grad school) so I pretty much do as he says. If you don't trust your doctor's advise, you need a new doctor.
8. Surprisingly, no one would hire an old guy with a bad heart. Go figure.
9. A couple of glasses of wine every evening and I'm relaxxxxxxed
10. The news is the same every day, so I quit watching a long time ago. And I can't control our 2 fur babies, let alone the world.
Different strokes for different folks (Sly & the Family Stone)
I also like that list, although, once again, it's personal. I do use a financial planner because he IS an expert in his field. I also agree that without a pension we need to be more agressive than the retirees with pensions. We are in a different situation, hence, all the remarks that there isn't a one size fits all answer! And, btw, my husband checks our account with the financial planner daily. He calls us regularly for phone chats and goes over everything with a fine tooth comb so we understand it and agree to it. Just like I go to a dr when I need medical advice and assitance, an attorney when I need legal help and advice, I think a trustworthy financial advisor is also worth the investment.
This has worked for me, it might not work for you.
I have observed that trusting strangers because they have a title or degree in something does not always make them an expert. Their motive is to make money by getting my money. I have been lucky and not needed their services for the most part.
I did trust people in my community that I knew for years. Common people that had great advice because they lived it. My mom taught me to read and love, dad taught me how to work hard and be honest. My little league coach taught sportsmanship. My early jobs taught me that the money I made should not be wasted on one night of entertainment. I learned that the doctor could not cure my common cold. And so forth.
I would rather play rec sports than talk to a business guy any day or go to a doctor's office to get a pill or visit a lawyer and sue somebody else or make a trust.
I hope my conversations consist of , "how many outs are there?" or "how about them Giants"
The article gives a figure of $40,938 annually. Firstly, don't drive yourself crazy like I am doing. I added up all the expenses listed and it doesn't come up to the $40,938 figure. I had to plug in an "Other" category of $2,319 to come up with their number.
Secondly, I'm not sure what year we are talking about here. How is anyone only spending $403 on their pet? Just through November I've spent $5,459.23. An annual trip to the vet to get vaccinations, flea and tick preventative and heart worm prevention for the year costs me close to $1,000. And never mind that a bag of dry food that lasts a month is $70. Clearly their idea of a pet is not a dog.
Thirdly, what happened to all the other necessary expenses like income tax, and repairs and maintenance?
Well, I know we've all listed our expenses in prior posts. Some people can retire on less and other's on more. I compared our spending to this article. In some of the categories we are close. And I suppose we have an additional $189 to play with because we don't smoke. Yay for small favors.
I don't get anything from those articles either.
We're all individual people and my idea of a good retirement most likely isn't yours.
This is for two of us.
Our biggest monthly cost by far is $602.99 for medical which covers Part B, Plan F supplement, plan D drugs and dental insurance. The Plan F supplement is highest cost but there's never any co-pays or other charges for any medical care.
For two of us it appears we're going to need $3,210.26 monthly broken down as follows:
Medical $602.99
Property Tax and Insurance $200.00
Gardener $200.00
Auto Insurance $75.00
Gasoline $75.00
Auto Maintenance $50.00
Utilities $250.00
Cell Phones $177.00
Cable/Internet $123.27
Food $433.00
Clothing $50.00
Entertainment/Spending Money $433.00
Emergencies $433.00 Church $108.00 Monthly Total $3,210.26
Annual Total $38,523.12
One of the advantages to living in the deep rural south is property taxes are near non-existent. Laughable if you're from up north which we were.
There's obvious places we could cut back.
Cell phones, we both have Smart Phones with all the bells and whistles and I know we can cut back on those.
The gardener could go... I could cut my own lawn but I hate it.
I will never cut back on utilities. I didn't work my entire life not to have the temperature exactly where I want it all the time and I enjoy a well lit up house.
We have $200 weekly between entertainment/spending money and emergencies is likely a little high but clothing is a little low. But I live in the south where I am happy to spend the rest of my life in shorts, tennis shoes and shirt. Still I recognize the clothing allowance for two is a bit light.
With a little work we could probably get that monthly total below $3,000 if we had to.
Depending on what we decide to do our retirement income is gong to be somewhere between $4,723.96 and $5,924.26 monthly without digging into what savings we have so it appears we're good to go. We should be good to go because if we can't live on what we plan to have we either need to move or we got an overspending problem that needs to be addressed.
I've always liked the cash, I enjoy knowing I have a thousand bucks in my pocket and I can spend it any way I want. But I am not foolish, if we can live within the budget and save $1,000 monthly not only will I be happy but secure as well and for me the feeling of financial security is 99% of the ball game.
I do have one expense I have that I don't show on my budget and that is life insurance on me. Normally a couple would not have to do this but over half that retirement income is mine and goes with me should I die first.
So we spend $500.50 monthly on life insurance on me. I am fortunate that we can do it without feeling it but, most important to me, I know if I die my wife won't have to worry about money. I pay it so I can sleep.
7. I didn't go to med school (although I did go to grad school) so I pretty much do as he says. If you don't trust your doctor's advise, you need a new doctor.
8. Surprisingly, no one would hire an old guy with a bad heart. Go figure.
I agree with you on #7. This week, I met my new doctor. I grabbed the sleeve of his lab coat but I did not feel cured instantly. All he can do is to advise me what I need to do to remain healthy. If I am not going to follow his advice, when pay the $$$ to see him.
On #8, it has rarely stopped me from working. I can no longer wrestle calves, lift and place sheets of metal on a press break or anything very physical. There are so many things that are out there where they are looking for the right person.
What I thought was odd was: Just the cost of my health insurance is more than that (for a single person). Good thing my employer pays about 75% of the premiums. They are obviously averaging those with health care costs of $10-20K with those only paying Medicare Part B, $104 x 12 = $1,248 with no Rx or other costs.
Average per US government stats for employer contribution per employee is 13+K per year in 2012. Many retired on Medicare have other coverage either from employer or Medigap. Out of pocket grows each year for most seniors as they age. Under ACA with mandates its risen ;at least with mine but its even then a split.
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