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Welcome to my world! Single and pension alone ensures 85% of SS is taxed and 25% tax bracket. SS and/or 401k withdrawals start to trigger 28% tax bracket, higher Medicare Part B premiums, and potential future SS means testing. Never qualified for a tax credit and paying school taxes for children I never had. No tax break for helping out needy relatives. But I'm fortunate to havethose "problems." Deferred taxes on your 401k were always a temporary benefit to be taxed in the future. If your RMDs are that much higher than your normal withdrawals, you must have done very well in the market or you chose to LBYM in retirement.
Yes, you are. And you are fortunate to have a wonderful sense of perspective on life as well.
Yes, you are. And you are fortunate to have a wonderful sense of perspective on life as well.
Thanks, Escort Rider. I'm not so sure it is a wonderful perspective as much as an attitude of "it is what it is and I did better than expected." As I approach retirement, it is easy to beat myself up for not putting more in a Roth but the Roth IRA is just 20 years old with a limited contribution amount and came too late for many of us when our incomes and tax brackets were already high. The internet was also a work in progress without all the good information it provides today and some of these taxes (Medicare Part B, 85% of SS taxed) were slowly phased in over time. I got bits and pieces of financial advice from the internet and retirement classes but no way to put it all together 20 years ahead of time to develop a cohesive long term financial plan for retirement except to keep saving, diversify, pay off your mortgage, etc. And my personal opinion is that it is harder for singles as there are less options and you are going it alone.
Thanks, Escort Rider. I'm not so sure it is a wonderful perspective as much as an attitude of "it is what it is and I did better than expected." As I approach retirement, it is easy to beat myself up for not putting more in a Roth but the Roth IRA is just 20 years old with a limited contribution amount and came too late for many of us when our incomes and tax brackets were already high. The internet was also a work in progress without all the good information it provides today and some of these taxes (Medicare Part B, 85% of SS taxed) were slowly phased in over time. I got bits and pieces of financial advice from the internet and retirement classes but no way to put it all together 20 years ahead of time to develop a cohesive long term financial plan for retirement except to keep saving, diversify, pay off your mortgage, etc. And my personal opinion is that it is harder for singles as there are less options and you are going it alone.
Tend to agree with you on this.
Jim and I have been together for 43? years and for almost all of it we did our financial planning as 2 single persons as pension/SS and other rules could not apply to us. We did try to take advantage of every little way to use each others income to be able to set up joint finances and maximize individual accounts.
One thing that we may have considered differently, although not definite, it that Jim stayed on Civil Service Retirement vs converting the the newer FERS.
Either way, things have worked out pretty well and happy that we have made it this far together.
Thanks, Escort Rider. I'm not so sure it is a wonderful perspective as much as an attitude of "it is what it is and I did better than expected." As I approach retirement, it is easy to beat myself up for not putting more in a Roth but the Roth IRA is just 20 years old with a limited contribution amount and came too late for many of us when our incomes and tax brackets were already high. The internet was also a work in progress without all the good information it provides today and some of these taxes (Medicare Part B, 85% of SS taxed) were slowly phased in over time. I got bits and pieces of financial advice from the internet and retirement classes but no way to put it all together 20 years ahead of time to develop a cohesive long term financial plan for retirement except to keep saving, diversify, pay off your mortgage, etc. And my personal opinion is that it is harder for singles as there are less options and you are going it alone.
I am with you 100%. WE feel blessed having the realities we have in retirement. I say realities because it would be a joke to call our taxes etc a problem and it would be appropriate for folks to run me out of the forum if I did. I was talking to the wife yesterday and we were discussing that when one of us passes the surviving spouse will see a big jump in taxes. We smiled knowing it is a problem the overwhelming number of widows in this country would love to have. Yes it is easier when there are two of you and both have good pensions, SS and benefits so if we could have avoided some taxation and didn't, OK!
What portfolio? I didn't have one. Just took a leap of faith and retired at age 49, without any assets or money in the bank.
Now at age 68, we now only spend 50% of my monthly pension overseas without any debts and our home mortgage is paid off.
I'm 5 years into retirement, and this year will have to start RMDs for the first time. Other than that I have "withdrawn" nothing from my savings in retirement. That depends on what you think of as a withdrawal, because I have pulled about $100k to invest in my home. I figure real estate investment is a better bet than anything else right now.
Just curious if you care to reply, Larry, but when did you start collecting your SS? If early, do you think now you would rather have lived off your savings to file for that larger amount now? Or had you already delayed to where you felt it made sense?
Well, don't YOU know that not everyone is the same? Perhaps some people can have exactly the standard of living they wish by withdrawing the 2% per year. And perhaps those people also like the idea of leaving more than a negligible amount to their children and/or to their favorite charities.
There is nothing wrong with the goal of dying with little or nothing left, but there is something wrong with trying to force everyone into the same mold.
Everyone who dies has nothing left.
As far as savings for retirement I find it irrelevant because retirement income streams aren't included with the calculations.
Just curious if you care to reply, Larry, but when did you start collecting your SS? If early, do you think now you would rather have lived off your savings to file for that larger amount now? Or had you already delayed to where you felt it made sense?
I am trying to answer that for myself as I just started SS and RMD's next year. Which path would have been better. Either would have been good so no regrets here.
As far as savings for retirement I find it irrelevant because retirement income streams aren't included with the calculations.
Anyone married having a surviving spouse they love has a major part of them left!
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