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OP I agree you've just hit the basics. I am not qualified to comment really but appreciate your goal to Remain fit & healthy, near your children, house paid off and maximizing SS. You seem to have your values in order but it may not make for the best quality of life.
My preferences have never changed. I live simply and love living that way. A million bucks wouldn't change my way of life much. It would be great to have for my kids inheritance though
Who knows? I am still 2+ years away from retirement, but I’ve never had any sort of “ midlife crisis “. I HAVE, however, had a love of traveling ever since I was in my twenties and worked overseas. Not everyone develops that love though - I know plenty of folks that have no desire to even leave their home state. But I know my own mind pretty well, and always have loved visiting other cultures and geography. It’s really a personal thing.
It might depend upon location. It's Heaven on earth here. Within 1 hour is : snow skiing, Ocean, good restaurants, abundance of nature, camping, national forests, waterslides, rivers, lakes, gambling at Indian Casino, great shopping, OHV trails, coffee houses, various clubs, whitewater rafting, etc
The planner is simply wanting you to value his services higher since the more wealth you will desire as a retiree, the more intensely a planner would theoretically need to work to get you to that level.
He’s not being devious just wanting to drum up business.
she offered me nothing other than what is already common knowledge about investing. I never said I do not desire more wealth if I can legally get it from my retirement
But I take issue when
1- she looks down upon how i want to spend /use that wealth
2- her claim that she somehow has some magic formula that can save me hundreds of thousands
3- also her assumption that everyone will be in great health to scuba dive, sky dive etc
OP I agree you've just hit the basics. I am not qualified to comment really but appreciate your goal to Remain fit & healthy, near your children, house paid off and maximizing SS. You seem to have your values in order but it may not make for the best quality of life.
My preferences have never changed. I live simply and love living that way. A million bucks wouldn't change my way of life much. It would be great to have for my kids inheritance though
But it got me thinking am I underestimating or not anticipating a mid-life crisis or retirement blues that seniors face and that is why they travel so much ? or is it just highly variable ? And thoughts , ideas appreciated
I find it useful to do thought experiments and "what if..." scenario reviews. Here's one:
WHAT IF a long lost relative or childhood friend died and left you $1 Million. What would you do? Don't treat it as a 30 second exercise - actually sit down and focus on the task and write up a formal plan. Following are things you hypothetically might come up with (I'm just pulling this out of the air, of course).
Do nothing. Don't do anything materially different. End result: your heirs & the IRS will inherit more money than they otherwise would 40-50 years from now.
Set aside money for your grandkids college educations. End result: relieves financial pressure from your children.
Once per year, every year, take your extended family on a nice vacation, to build lasting family memories among all involved; save the rest.
Keep it a secret. Invest. Once you're elderly, tap into that money to hire services to help you remain in your own home rather than go into assisted living. Example might include someone to do the laundry, grocery shopping, transport you to doctors appts, maintain the house, etc.
Retire 10 years earlier than you otherwise would be financially able to do so. Spend the time with your grandkids.
Create a college scholarship in honor of your own parents.
Donate it your favorite charity.
Now... imagine a conversation with a planner where you talk about the above. The planner might tell you "you know, you can achieve XX without inheriting that million dollars."
That wasn't worded correctly, sorry. Best quality of life in case something costly happens such as Social Security goes solvent or is cut dramatically. Not that I am really in a position to comment.
That wasn't worded correctly, sorry. Best quality of life in case something costly happens such as Social Security goes solvent or is cut dramatically. Not that I am really in a position to comment.
no worries , I understand now what you mean
I'm definately not banking on SS, it would be nice to have but is not included in my retirement plan
I find it useful to do thought experiments and "what if..." scenario reviews. Here's one:
WHAT IF a long lost relative or childhood friend died and left you $1 Million. What would you do? Don't treat it as a 30 second exercise - actually sit down and focus on the task and write up a formal plan. Following are things you hypothetically might come up with (I'm just pulling this out of the air, of course).
Do nothing. Don't do anything materially different. End result: your heirs & the IRS will inherit more money than they otherwise would 40-50 years from now.
Set aside money for your grandkids college educations. End result: relieves financial pressure from your children.
Once per year, every year, take your extended family on a nice vacation, to build lasting family memories among all involved; save the rest.
Keep it a secret. Invest. Once you're elderly, tap into that money to hire services to help you remain in your own home rather than go into assisted living. Example might include someone to do the laundry, grocery shopping, transport you to doctors appts, maintain the house, etc.
Retire 10 years earlier than you otherwise would be financially able to do so. Spend the time with your grandkids.
Create a college scholarship in honor of your own parents.
Donate it your favorite charity.
Now... imagine a conversation with a planner where you talk about the above. The planner might tell you "you know, you can achieve XX without inheriting that million dollars."
I see what you mean and again I have definite plans regarding retirement , but my point was it does not have to involve a lot of travel and esp not to resorts/tropical places etc
As far as saving money I'm actually pretty frugal infact cheap , I just spend on things that are important to me but not on anything to keep up with the Jones.
My two travel plans involve
1-travelling alone once my kid is more independent
2-cheap airline tickets
3-backpack trips
4-staying in cheap small motels
5-using public transport /trains in countries i plan to visit
6-visiting the sites i want to see
and thats is why i want to do it while i can still be healthy enough to sustain the rigors of such travel
as far as " building memories trips" my kids mom has a time share in FL and my siblings lives in CA so I go there twice a yr to visit them and tickets are not expensive usually if you plan in advance
Hello
I'm asking this question as in the last yr I met twice with a "retirement planner" ( which was offered through my job) and apart from the usual investing/stocks talk they kept asking me about retirement goals.
When stated my goals are like follows
1-be in the best health i can be so i can take care of my grandkids
2-live close to my kid and siblings
3-maintain a modest house and have a paid off car
4-Maximize my SS benefits
The financial planner got condescending and tried to make me feel guilty for aiming too low and not enjoying my "golden years" and was really surprised that I did not want to travel and see the world.
Now I'm 40 and So I'm assuming ( if I'm healthy enough ) I will work full time till 65 yrs of age. I travelled a bit in my younger yrs and still I have a couple of places I want see in my life ( but Ive already saved for it and have a definite timeline when to visit them and it will be well before I'm 55).
I feel like not everyone had a wanderlust and not everybody wants to hang out in a beach resort with a margarita all day and go gambling.It seems to me that the planner was about to pitch me some unscrupulous retirement plan /managed funds, and was wooing me by presenting this rosy picture of retirement .So I got a little snippy and left.
But it got me thinking am I underestimating or not anticipating a mid-life crisis or retirement blues that seniors face and that is why they travel so much ? or is it just highly variable ? And thoughts , ideas appreciated
p.s My parents unfortunately did not save much for retirement but they put 3 of their kids to college w/o loans so it turned out to be an excellent retirement plan for them as they lived with us until they passed.So their example is of not much help
I traveled a lot and saw a lot during my military career.
I really do not have the travel bug now. I wonder if people go on crusies and casinos because that is what is targeted at seniors and they feel as if they have to go?
Now i have thought about going to Antarctica - but then i see how destructive those trips can be to that environment - and maybe not. Destructive might be too harsh of a word.
I do want to spend a summer at a beach. I love the sound of the waves.
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