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I was doing fine working and saving. Then my 401k got embezzled and I got laid off shortly after. All other savings were used for survival until I got a decent full time job to start building again but that took about three years.
I planned to work for many more years but illness forced me to quit.
So I have told my story before. One never knows how things will turn out. Today I am living very frugally on SS and a tiny pension; not how I has planned. I have savings and have to borrow from them from time to time. But I try to live within or below my means.
Not much room for frivolous spending but I do okay.
Not everyone who doesn't have a lot to live on in retirement brought it upon themselves. Stuff happens.
On the whole I would have to say mine has worked out OK. I save what some would say is too much (~50% of my salary) but don't realy have expensive hobbies other than traveling. I am short of the goal I set for myself some 10-15 yrs ago but have learned I live much more cheaply than I thought. I plan on this being my last year of working at a job I don't like. I have a decent savings, own my modest home free & clear, a moderate pension and 10 yrs of subsidised health insurance if I am lucky enough that my employer doesnt take it away before that. I will retire this time next year at age 54 and start enjoying life more and hopefully the sacrafices I made will be worth it.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah
I was doing fine working and saving. Then .... Stuff happens.
Eldercare for disabled parent (for 30+yrs) moved several states away to reduce family pressures (and ended up having 2 house payments for 7 yrs) Bought a farm (not wise for 'investment, tho financially worked ok, but I was BEAT after 10 yrs of working nights and farming days and eldercare 24x7) Many varied Real estate and equity investments +/-
I PLANNED and with roadblocks above, still retired pre-age 50, (with 32 yrs at company) BUT...MORE Stuff happens.AFTER retirement too
Property taxes increase over 500% in 5yrs Healthcare increase over 300% in 5yrs Spouse gets chronic disease requiring care + insurance. Market pressures significantly change projected returns on investments Real Estate crisis makes trading / 1031 / revenue generation difficult Internet shopping changes viability of my Brick and Mortar tenants Banks not keen on lending $$ on commercial loans (most roll every 5 yrs) Planned PT jobs not possible to get due to massive qty of overqualified people. Alternative investments (senior Housing) tanks b'cuz old folks can't sell their homes
back to work for healthcare benefits. ... Stuff happens. All was 'UNPLANNED" by me, but should have been calculated into my 'early retirement' formula. After all, anyone could have guessed property tax would change from $3/day to $33/day.
Eldercare for disabled parent (for 30+yrs) moved several states away to reduce family pressures (and ended up having 2 house payments for 7 yrs) Bought a farm (not wise for 'investment, tho financially worked ok, but I was BEAT after 10 yrs of working nights and farming days and eldercare 24x7) Many varied Real estate and equity investments +/-
I PLANNED and with roadblocks above, still retired pre-age 50, (with 32 yrs at company) BUT...MORE Stuff happens.AFTER retirement too
Property taxes increase over 500% in 5yrs Healthcare increase over 300% in 5yrs Spouse gets chronic disease requiring care + insurance. Market pressures significantly change projected returns on investments Real Estate crisis makes trading / 1031 / revenue generation difficult Internet shopping changes viability of my Brick and Mortar tenants Banks not keen on lending $$ on commercial loans (most roll every 5 yrs) Planned PT jobs not possible to get due to massive qty of overqualified people. Alternative investments (senior Housing) tanks b'cuz old folks can't sell their homes
back to work for healthcare benefits. ... Stuff happens. All was 'UNPLANNED" by me, but should have been calculated into my 'early retirement' formula. After all, anyone could have guessed property tax would change from $3/day to $33/day.
You have had many difficulties and setbacks in life. Congratulations for surviving with your spirit apparently intact. Many lesser people would have been broken by the load and degenerated into something like alcoholism or the like. However, many other members of our race, such as you, are incredibly resilient. A wise older lady once told me, "It's not how you get knocked down, it's how you pick yourself back up".
Thought we were doing well.The majority of our retirement funds were to be realized from real estate sales.
The timing sucked and those sales were about 30% less than anticpated and some invested funds took a hit with the stock market fall.
And, joining a certain crowd, medical expenses are higher than expected.
However,we always did and continue to live pretty 'low on the hog' and while that might mean we qualify for one of the "Spending our children's inheritance" bumper stickers, it should be sufficient for us to live as we're used to.
The above is subject to the "s*t happens" rule, of course.
However,we always did and continue to live pretty 'low on the hog' and while that might mean we qualify for one of the "Spending our children's inheritance" bumper stickers, it should be sufficient for us to live as we're used to.
The above is subject to the "s*t happens" rule, of course.
As Shakespeare penned in Hamlet, "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd."
I sincerely hope we're spending our childrens' inheritance. If so, our plan is working!
Luck played a large part in my retirement planning. When I first entered the permanent workforce, I thought it was nice my employer had a pension plan. Beyond that, I didn't really think about it. My next employer had a 401k plan, which I just put in enough to get the company match. I don't think I really started to think about retirement until I became vested in my next employer's state pension plan. That's when I realized how lucky we were to have stumbled into a defined benefit plan that included medical benefits. My final employer is a member of the same retirement system, so I continue to accrue time in the same system.
My wife works for the state and she just recently vested for retirement medical benefits (different Tier than me). She now qualifies for the same benefits as I do.
We should be well covered for retirement with pensions, SS and IRA accounts. Especially, once the mortgage is paid off. So as I said we lucked out since a large portion of our retirement contribution were mandatory. Planning over time showed that I can retire at 60 versus the 66+ I originally thought when I first started thinking about it.
My husband was the motivator ... he wanted to retire early and started with his five year plan in his 40's ... all of our friends and relatives were aware of "The Five Year Plan" and as time passed would laugh and inquire how is the plan working.
Finally at 57 our home was paid for, a car, truck, RV, two motorcycles, two boats all paid for and he was there! He was ready to retire ... then out of the goodness of his heart and unselfishly as he describes it ... he stayed on his job two more years. He couldn't draw his company paid pension until the age of 59 and he stashed the two additional years of salary in his 401k plan & savings.
This all happened before the bottom fell out of the economy. I continued to work for four more years. Now looking back he did the right thing with his retirement tunnel vision as I went merrily on my way. I thank goodness for his "Five Year Plan!"
I recovered my stock market losses before I retired. Even so I had a financial issue with retiring at age 64. In order to continue to live on Long Island, I would have needed to work for several more years, probably to about age 70. I realized that the retirement calculators worked at that point mainly because I was considerably closer to death rather than accruing a substantially bigger nest egg. So we sold the house, moved into an RV and are travelling. Fulltime RV travel costs a lot less than maintaining a modest house on Long Island. So far we have been travelling for close to a year. We are living on my wife's rather small disability check and taking a little out from the sale of the house. Social security and 401/403 funds are still growing and have not been touched.
Stuff happens. All was 'UNPLANNED" by me, but should have been calculated into my 'early retirement' formula. After all, anyone could have guessed property tax would change from $3/day to $33/day.
So right...
I thought I had a great plan, BUT in just a few years...
1) company with great retirement benefits was bought out after I had 16 years in at age 47 but it took 20 years and age 50 for a full pension settlement... took what I could.
2) new company with modest retirement downsized leading me to work as a contractor without benefits.
3) decided to sell home and move to desired retirement area since as a contractor I was not tied to a location...
bought home in a new location and moved after getting a contract on the sale, BUT contract fell through (as well as two others) and finally sold at a 20% discount after carrying the property for 11 months.
4) stock market dropped dramatically before we were fully positioned for retirement... reducing portfolio by 25%.
5) big change in business environment ended all contract opportunities that were secured leaving us with no employment.
6) changes in health care insurance market moved us from a reasonably priced comprehensive insurance plan to a very high deductible plan at a higher price. Large HC expenditures were experienced.
7) increases in COL, property taxes, unexpected housing and auto expenses has shown the budget we prepared was unrealistic.
Not to say all decisions we made were good but clearly lots of stuff happened outside of our control. We are retired and happy but it is more modest than the original plan and certainly not as a secure.
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