Retired 1 Year - Things I've Learned

[jimj]

Is anyone else apprehensive about what will happen to their retirement accounts if this bailout doesn't work or if we have a serious recession?

[46Barb]

All I know is that we have reviewed our retirement account and have begun getting rid of things that aren't FDIC insured just in case another brokerage firm bites the dust. I'd rather lose a little in value now than lose it all.

[Vinegaroon]

Originally Posted by jimj

Is anyone else apprehensive about what will happen to their retirement accounts if this bailout doesn't work or if we have a serious recession?

Your retirement account will be safe as long as you didn't throw it all into the stock market. If you have retired, most of your money should be in very safe investments. Even if we have a serious recession, your losses will be minimal.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Vinegaroon

Your retirement account will be safe as long as you didn't throw it all into the stock market. If you have retired, most of your money should be in very safe investments. Even if we have a serious recession, your losses will be minimal.

Well they are all dividend paying stocks... Need I say what's happened to their value? For the time being they're still paying but for how long? Gotta love financial advisors/stock brokers right? Never saw it comming...

[Keeper]

I have lost over 25K in the last year. Thank goodness I am not relying on that money to live or I would be in serious trouble.

Do I move my 401K out now or wait and pray the stock market recovers a little before doing this. I have around 50% in a 'safer' investment and hasn't lost much there but the other ones lost a lot and they were small to begin with.
I also can't do anything until the end of a month.

[HowDeDo]

This thread especially Lauras OP, was a real encouragement to me since im going to semi-retire within the next 3 months at age 54. I say 'semi-retire' because ill take on sidejobs in the Field ive always been in. I would ask the people in this thead the following :

1. Did you move to a different area that was lower in cost of living to stretch your savings/pension ? Did you purposely downsize to accomplish this goal ?
2. Have you considered volunteering some of your time at a worthy cause ? What would you consider doing ?
3. If youve experienced boredom, on a scale of 1 thru 10 with 10 being the pits.... where do u think youd fit in ? And what sort of assertiveness have you undertaken to limit this ?
4. If you are a single Retiree, what steps have you taken to overcome any feelings of lonliness ?

Thank you so much for sharing from the heart they way you all have. Regards.

[Chickrae]

Originally Posted by Keeper

I have lost over 25K in the last year. Thank goodness I am not relying on that money to live or I would be in serious trouble.

Do I move my 401K out now or wait and pray the stock market recovers a little before doing this. I have around 50% in a 'safer' investment and hasn't lost much there but the other ones lost a lot and they were small to begin with.
I also can't do anything until the end of a month.

Thats my question to. I want to take it out or move it into something more conservative, but then I think should I wait things will get better and make back some of the money. While I am thinking that, it drops more, so what do you do

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Chickrae

Thats my question to. I want to take it out or move it into something more conservative, but then I think should I wait things will get better and make back some of the money. While I am thinking that, it drops more, so what do you do

I watched a 2 hour special this morning with Neal Cavuto and a bunch of others talking about what's going on and what to do. It was suggested that you don't do anything at this point but start looking at where you're money is allocated and reconsider whether it's allocated properly for your goals. They suggested that it's more prudent to wait a bit if you're in now and let things shake out for a while.

[emilybh]

I was afraid this market downturn might happen. So I took a course on how to take advantage of down markets with Options. I've also been taking advantage of some of the ultra short exchange traded funds that do well when the market isn't.

The problem is the market is so volitile. It doesn't stay heading in the same direction long enough before there is a temporary reversal (that you can't be sure is just temporary) can cause you can lose any profits you made while the stock was moving the way you thought it would. It almost forces you into becoming a day trader.

Although I've lost more than I've made, most of my money is now in cash, and I'm doing at least as well if not better than most of the mutual fund managers seem to be doing based on their year to date returns so I don't feel so bad. I haven't reached by goal of an extra $2500/week of spending money/savings through my trading/investing yet however.

I still have my insurance business which is mostly on-line and I work on part time from home. Because my schedule is so flexible and I can do what I want to do when I want to, I consider myself partly retired. I'd like to get to the point where just an hour on the computer a day making trades generates all the income and additional savings I need so I can have the option of phasing out of the insurance business completely.

[LauraC]

[quote=HowDeDo;5651910]
1. Did you move to a different area that was lower in cost of living to stretch your savings/pension ? Did you purposely downsize to accomplish this goal ?

It is a lower cost of living but that's not why I chose my location. I chose my location for the things I like to do. My apartment now is twice as big as the one I was living in when I was working but it costs $300 less per month. I live in washable play clothes so that big work dry cleaning bill is gone and I live near everything I do so there's a gasoline savings, too. I actually have more money now than when I was working even though my annual pension gross is much less than my last annual gross salary. Never realized how expensive it was to go to work (clothes, dry cleaning, gasoline, eating out, car wear and tear, office gifts, office drinks/snacks, office parties) when I was in the workforce.


2. Have you considered volunteering some of your time at a worthy cause ? What would you consider doing ?

Not yet. When I volunteer in the future it will be for events not organizations because I don't want the volunteering to turn into another job with regular hours. I'm still attending events for the first time since my move so I'm not ready to jump into anything I don't know enough about, yet.


3. If youve experienced boredom, on a scale of 1 thru 10 with 10 being the pits.... where do u think youd fit in ? And what sort of assertiveness have you undertaken to limit this?

Not bored. I've always liked to read so I joined a book discussion group that also goes out to lunch after the session. I like to take classes (science, history, photography) so I belong to a retiree program and take 4-5 classes and go on 1-2 local trips a semester. (P.S. I chose my location because of the type of classes offered.) I've developed a photography hobby so I joined the town camera club and became an annual member of a photography location I enjoy so I can go there more often for free. I like to argue about politics so I belong to a few online forums. I go to movies when there is something I want to see. If there was a town movie and lunch club, I'd probably belong to it. I've developed an interest in birds because of the photography and hope to join a local birding group, if I can find one that doesn't meet at night. I like new software and some video games just like when I was in the workforce.


4. If you are a single Retiree, what steps have you taken to overcome any feelings of lonliness ?

Assuming you aren't talking about dating...

I like solo activities. Just because you're single doesn't make you lonely or inactive. Hobby/activity/classroom conversation substitutes for work conversation. You know, you are still meeting and talking to people just not at work. My close friends live in other states. I talk to them every day, every other day or once a week, just not in person.

I would say, if you enjoy solo activities (i.e., hunting, fishing, reading, gardening, knitting, running/walking, model building, etc.), in retirement, look for clubs/groups/classes to join for those activities. You probably didn't have time for joining groups when you were working but even if you still prefer to do the activity solo in retirement, you'll probably enjoy getting together with like-minded others and talking about the things you all like to do at least once a month.

If not being bored is important to you, living near the things you like to do should come before "cheap and pretty" location choices.