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Old 10-14-2015, 07:31 PM
 
Location: middle tennessee
2,159 posts, read 1,656,452 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP View Post
I am not having a bad day, my comments are in reaction to all of the posts about no SS Cola increase, especially by folks who may have taken it at 62 with little or no other source of income. There are many threads about when to take SS. Most of them absent conversation on COLA and how your benefit grows in subsequent years. Waiting not only gives you more but increases your compounding power which for some appears to be very critical for many.

I see that now. I don't usually read the strictly finance threads, so I didn't catch your reference.

I thought you were saying that retirement lacks the exciting possibilities of work life
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Old 10-14-2015, 08:05 PM
 
Location: Planet Woof
3,222 posts, read 4,558,149 times
Reputation: 10238
This is all assuming one is gainfully employed. Many of us retiring early are not. I've been long-term unemployed and underemployed since the multiple lay-offs that I experienced during the recession in 2009.
I have spent almost 7 years trying to get a full-time job with benefits. I don't see it happening though I keep sending those resumes out while working a part-time minimum wage job which I feel lucky to have.
When I retire at age 62 in a little over a year and draw my SS and work-part-time then I will finally feel some relief from financial stress and not feel afraid of homelessness and hunger like I have for all this time.
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Old 10-14-2015, 08:59 PM
 
31,680 posts, read 40,976,802 times
Reputation: 14424
Quote:
Originally Posted by FeelinLow View Post
This is all assuming one is gainfully employed. Many of us retiring early are not. I've been long-term unemployed and underemployed since the multiple lay-offs that I experienced during the recession in 2009.
I have spent almost 7 years trying to get a full-time job with benefits. I don't see it happening though I keep sending those resumes out while working a part-time minimum wage job which I feel lucky to have.
When I retire at age 62 in a little over a year and draw my SS and work-part-time then I will finally feel some relief from financial stress and not feel afraid of homelessness and hunger like I have for all this time.
And that is a topic that needs to be discussed as many in your situation will be especially challenged in the long term especially if unable to work part time.
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Old 10-15-2015, 05:54 AM
 
5,097 posts, read 6,333,694 times
Reputation: 11750
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vasily View Post
What IS your problem?? If you don't like the information people are posting in the thread, stop reading it.

But there is no information. It's all "hey watch this and that or else" And then everyone responding with their own situation... blah, have we not been there, read all of that. WHAT information are you talking about?
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:02 AM
 
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach FL
14,617 posts, read 21,434,279 times
Reputation: 6794
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
May I ask how did that work out for you ? Any regrets ? That is something I hadn't thought of.
You're talking about taking SS at age 62 - yes? Well it has worked out fine. So far. When my husband and I started taking SS at age 62 - our FRA was 66 IIRC. And our break-even point on the SS website calculator (which has since disappeared from the website) was in our late 70's (78-79). My husband is 70 now - and I am 68. So we are still a long way off from that break-even point.

Note that for people whose FRA is 67 - the break-even point would be later in life. I honestly don't know why the FRA for SS keeps going up - but the "early retirement" age is still stuck at 62.

Also note that we really didn't take into account our longevity when we decided to do this. Because who knows? And our family histories when it comes to parents and grandparents are all over the place.

In any event - because we save at least part of what we earn (more than we get in SS) - by the time we get to our late 70's - even at a relatively modest investment rate of return (3%) - the SS money will be worth 28% more than we received over the years. I mean we don't keep the SS money in a separate account - or anything like that. It's just extra money that is part of our overall investment portfolio. Because of that - our personal break-even point is probably in our early 80's. I guess if we both get to 90 - we can say "sheesh - we gambled and lost". But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it .

Like I've said - this has worked out for us given our circumstances. But - if you took someone at the opposite end of the spectrum - a person/couple with little/no savings - no pension - no possibility of a nice inheritance (that's something most people don't mention - inheritances) - nothing - who plan to rely mostly or exclusively on SS for retirement income - then it is best IMO to work as long as possible to get maximum SS payments. Because that person/couple is going to need maximum cash flow from SS at retirement. Also wouldn't be a bad idea to *try* to save some money. Even if that means some Draconian budgeting now. I honestly can't understand the concept of living paycheck to paycheck without at least some money in the bank for emergencies. I know from personal experience that people do it - but it would make me *extremely* nervous.

Then of course - there are lots of people "in the middle". Where the best thing to do can vary a lot depending on personal circumstances. This is far from a "one size fits all" thing. Robyn
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:15 AM
 
Location: Near a river
16,042 posts, read 21,939,523 times
Reputation: 15773
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP View Post
My friend this isn't for us, it is for those not yet retired who will be the future us and food for them to think about. Especially with the evolution expected in SS and pensions. Chained CPI etc. What we can do is to share insight and perspective to help them. You have shared much previously about what you did to secure your retirement. Yes you have had pit falls but are hanging in there and moving on.
If for future retirees, place this subject in the personal finance forum. I doubt that many in their 40s an 50s will be seeing this here.
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:26 AM
 
Location: Central Massachusetts
6,535 posts, read 7,037,142 times
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In the course of all this life goes on. People losing good paying jobs in their 50's and early 60's are stuck. No one is hiring a computer tech, a mechanic, an electrician, electical engineer, and even some mid-level managers at age 52 and up. Professions that are age resistant are nurses, doctors, lawyers, musicians. I am being retired in March. It would have been done already but because my office needed me for a database conversion to an enterprise database. Will I be able to find another full-time job at 58.5? Hardly! So as important a discussion as you better be able to find employment is. That line has no meaning in real life. It is especially true in this particular forum. The vast majority of the posters and lurkers here are in the above named age group or older. So when this thread was started it was preaching to the choir. TuborgP it is a good discussion to have so please do not take this as a knock on you or the thread. It just means that we need to be more sensitive to those of us being forced into situations that are not the best for financial needs. If it means food on the table or starvation take your SS at 62. If you can hold out to FRA awesome. If you have even better fortune to go to 70 then you have the best decision but don't forget to file, 62, FRA or 70. No matter what your income.
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:29 AM
 
106,242 posts, read 108,257,613 times
Reputation: 79786
actually in our area electrical engineers are in big demand at any age . we have been hiring for years and when someone has the right credentials they are snatched up regardless of age . . in fact in sales , if you have a following you can write your own pay check at any age .

since i retired the offers i get from competitors are just insane
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:43 AM
 
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach FL
14,617 posts, read 21,434,279 times
Reputation: 6794
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP View Post
Robyn, let me give you a shout out. Many including myself have learned from you on this very topic. Hopefully you can continue to help folks learn how to structure fixed income investments in this very increasingly challenging environment. If I remember right you months ago were not feeling as confident. Not worried but slicing the pie was more of a challenge. I have been reading some consumer related news that isn't reassuring that interest rates will head up much anytime soon. Walmart is looking like a holiday season downer.
What wasn't I confident about - interest rates going up? Sounds about right to me. And that is about where I am today. Part of the problem for new investors is going out *today* and trying to put together something that works. I have had the luxury/good fortune to be doing this for years/decades now - so I have been able to buy some stuff when it was "on sale" and lock in rates that are more favorable than those you'll find today. OTOH - all bonds mature or get called. So I always have new money to re-invest in a given year.

Like I've mentioned - well today you're talking about maximums of about 3-4% in investment grade fixed income. Whether on the taxable side or the tax-free side (munis are still somewhat of a "bargain" compared to taxables). I do play around with some junk bonds (both in non-leveraged and leveraged ETFs and CEFs (I trade them). Where the yields are more attractive. But they're not the foundation of a decent somewhat conservative retirement portfolio - they're just a little icing on an otherwise pretty unattractive cake. And I sure don't think that anyone who is starting to work in fixed income/learn something about it should go straight from nothing to all or mostly junk bonds.

In any event - my preferred "core" investments today are the same as they've been for years now. Intermediate term brokered CDs on the taxable side and high quality munis when it comes to tax-free (although I do buy the occasional taxable muni if the price/yield is "right").

I am still very keen on managing investments from a tax point of view - keeping taxes at a minimum (it's easier to save $1 in taxes than earn $1 in the markets). I suppose that is one upside of not having a pension (we don't have any "taxable income" unless we choose to generate taxable income). That will change in 2018 when I have to start taking RMDs out of my Rollover IRA - and I will probably do some things to minimize the effects of the RMDs (a little) starting this year.

Equities haven't done much to boost portfolio returns this year (4 of the 5 major indices are down for the year). Even the stuff that has been "up" (and there isn't much of it) isn't knocking the ball out of the ball park. The "new normal" isn't much fun. Robyn
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Old 10-15-2015, 07:06 AM
 
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach FL
14,617 posts, read 21,434,279 times
Reputation: 6794
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
Walmart made a huge statement today and Walmart should be considered the canary in the coal mine here.

Also reported was foreign countries selling off their US debt (Treasuries).
Countries have sold more Treasuries then bought in the last 10 months.

A global slowdown may be closer than we think.
I personally think the Walmart news says more about the way people (especially millennials) shop than whether they shop. I have never been a Walmart shopper (depressing place IMO) - but I know that I now buy a lot of stuff on line (especially at Amazon) that I used to buy in bricks and mortar places. All kinds of silly little things. Order this week was for floss threaders (who wants to drive 5-10 miles to buy those?) and 1 teaspoon sugar packets (those in our local stores all have < 1 teaspoon of sugar in them). I do enjoy going out and shopping - but not for things like this.

BTW - when it comes to Walmart - remember that a fair amount of the expected earnings hit is due to its decision to increase salaries for a lot of its "associates". I have no idea what this might mean in terms of possibly enhancing the Walmart "shopping experience".

I don't think we're on the verge of a recession. But I don't think the economy is going to surge in the near future either. My hunch is that we'll continue to keep plodding along. Robyn
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