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This is ugly but it has to be said.
Who among us is not feverishly recalculating prospective retirement survivability, given the
market doldrums?
Nothing new about market doldrums, they have always been with us. Anyone whose retirement survivability depends upon a stable market, well that's a recipe for disaster.
Nothing new about market doldrums, they have always been with us. Anyone whose retirement survivability depends upon a stable market, well that's a recipe for disaster.
BM very true words but many have started way too late to not have their eggs in the fire and singing on the edges about now. They are just going to have to ride it out. The storm will pass and the seas will settle but until then batten down the hatches.
Wow, that IS a great deduction! Essentially state tax free for a hefty retirement income up to $130k per couple! Virginia's is only $6k per between 62 & 64 & $24k per couple at 65!!
Yes, it is a good program to attract more retirees with higher incomes. Many states are changing their laws to make living in them more desirable for people over 65.
Some people continue to work out of enjoyment, such as my mother who is 73 and works 30-40 hours per week, plus provides expert witness testimony in personal injury trials, is still on-staff at the local hospital, and travels occasionally. Note that she did not start working until her 40's, so in part she worked to meet and maximize her Social Security benefits.
Obviously, my mother's job is not very physically demanding, so she might work until she has 75 years.
Anyway, the point is you work until you think you have enough money to do whatever it is you want to do while retired, instead of doing what everyone else is doing.
To save space, I only quoted part of your post, but you make an excellent point. Some people have no choice in the matter, and they need to work to make ends meet, but often it has to do with one's personal lifestyle.
Take a couple I know who just built a 5,000 sf home for retirement. He gets a very nice government pension with benefits, but their living expenses are very high. She's always complaining about how poor they are. At 65, he started his own consulting business and continues to work, although he probably enjoys what he does for a living. If she weren't a relative, we wouldn't even know each other, not because I'm jealous or envious, but because I wouldn't fit into her circle of friends.
On the other side of the fence, I had neighbors in a nice manufactured home community who sold their house in Massachusetts, bought a 14 x 56 single-wide with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths and remodeled it beautifully. They both get Soc Sec benefits and pensions and are enjoying a nice life, golfing, boating, or just lying around the pool.
Not everybody has a choice, since there are plenty of people 70 and older working to pay their grocery bills, but many retirees just want the ability to dine out, travel or shop for new clothes and electronics without going into debt. However, as you wrote, there are people who enjoy their jobs and work full or part-time. I doubt if Betty White needs the income.
Nothing new about market doldrums, they have always been with us. Anyone whose retirement survivability depends upon a stable market, well that's a recipe for disaster.
modern portfolio theory for retirement is based on the absolute worst of times . anything better is an upside surprise and we had some pretty nasty times in the past , worse than 2000 or 2008.
nothing was worse than retiring 1in 1965/1966 for a retiree . that holds the record as far as the worst time frame in history being even worse than had you retired in 1929 .
so that puts in to perspective what things like a safe withdrawal rate are founded on . .
so to quantify just how bad do things have to be to do worse than what is already baked in to a 90% or better success rate when a safe withdrawal rate of 4% inflation adjusted is used with at least 40% equtiy's ?
you would need to see less than a 2% average return over the first 15 years of a 30 year retirement . that is what it would take to do worse than 1966/1965 , the worst time frame ever .
anything better is gravy . even average times would have left you with more than you started with 90% of the time and 2x what you started with 2/3's of the time of every rolling 30 year period since 1926 . so things are already based on some pretty poor outcomes in the markets and inflation
Last edited by mathjak107; 09-13-2015 at 04:23 AM..
I'll be 49 in a little less than a month, and I'm eligible to retire at 56. At lot will depend on health at that time, but I'll have 33 years in at 56 and seriously considering it. My health now is great, but working rotating shifts does take it's toll. I know I won't have any problem at all finding things to do as I have many hobbies. That absolute latest I'd retire is 60. Definitely would not be working at 65.
I'll be 49 in a little less than a month, and I'm eligible to retire at 56. At lot will depend on health at that time, but I'll have 33 years in at 56 and seriously considering it. My health now is great, but working rotating shifts does take it's toll. I know I won't have any problem at all finding things to do as I have many hobbies. That absolute latest I'd retire is 60. Definitely would not be working at 65.
If you can afford it then retire early. The younger you are the more you can do.
I retired early and have no regrets.
I have a 45 acre ranch with some livestock. I also do Math tutoring in the local schools part time (Oct-April). This was something I wanted to do and needed to be young enough to handle it.
And I love spending the day mowing or dragging the pastures.
And when the time comes I'll sell and move to a smaller place inside the city limits.
But for now I'm having fun being a "Texas rancher"
Been retired 2 months and loving it . Photographing the city of savannah for the rest of the week. Then off to memphis and nashville.
The ability to do anything and go anywhere is an amazing feeling.
I'll be there Sept 30!
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