Retirement Targets

Also as far as investing yourself, once you hit a certain threshold, the big investment companies now off a free advisor. I have received offers from Schwab and Vanguard. I haven't used them so far, but may in the future.
My advice? Proceed with caution if going this route. "There is no such thing as a free lunch" applies here; if your advisor is not a fiduciary (preferrably fee-based), there are likely to be alterior motives. They are making money off that service, one way or another.
 
We have a living trust since my wife has had Parkinson's for 20 years and if something happens to me there is nothing she has to deal with. It just simplifies things for her. We did some changes this year since our circumstances have changed a lot compared to five years ago when we first did it. I had to drag her along to get it done, but it is a good thing for her. We will evaluate every two to three years depending upon how much things change.

Also as far as investing yourself, once you hit a certain threshold, the big investment companies now off a free advisor. I have received offers from Schwab and Vanguard. I haven't used them so far, but may in the future.
We have the same. Just wanted it to be simple and avoid probate and all that. More costly up front but much easier for whomever is last and thereafter. My wife was like should we tell the kids about it (none of them are the named trustees) we have this. I said I didnt think so. Want them to expect nothing and provide as a surprise what remains when we are gone (if anything left, which there should be).
 
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My advice? Proceed with caution if going this route. "There is no such thing as a free lunch" applies here; if your advisor is not a fiduciary (preferrably fee-based), there are likely to be alterior motives. They are making money off that service, one way or another.
There isn't a free lunch. A pay for fee advisor will have a set amount for their advice. Many others take a percentage of the value of the investments every year. It is in their best interest for you to do well as a fiduciary. Also, if they are a no-load mutual fund company, their fees are so low on the management and trade portion of the better ones, they are more likely looking for you to do well so you recommend their company. Always do your due diligence no matter who it is.
 
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I hired Hope Wood and did estate planning for our family before our 1st was born. Don't be an irresponsible parent and leave matters to your kids after you die that could easily be handled on your time..

It wasn't that expensive and provides my family peace of mind. I also have $1M of term life until I turn 60 for < $600 a year. I'm no financial advisor.. But for less than $2/day. My family won't have to worry about money if I die tomorrow
 
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I hired Hope Wood and did estate planning for our family before our 1st was born. Don't be an irresponsible parent and leave matters to your kids after you die that could easily be handled on your time..

It wasn't that expensive and provides my family peace of mind. I also have $1M of term life until I turn 60 for < $600 a year. I'm no financial advisor.. But for less than $2/day. My family won't have to worry about money if I die tomorrow
I have opted in to $500K (the maximum available) in life insurance through my work until I retire. They also automatically give employees a small policy that probably won't quite cover final expenses. I also got the small policy they offered for my kids and wife to help with final expenses if the worst happens.
 
My advice? Proceed with caution if going this route. "There is no such thing as a free lunch" applies here; if your advisor is not a fiduciary (preferrably fee-based), there are likely to be alterior motives. They are making money off that service, one way or another.
Agree. Interview a few advisors in your area. Shop around. Do you really want to turn the situation over to someone you'll never meet, or, probably won't be there down the road as those people want to run their own practice one day. Flo and the Gecko are catchy characters for a reason. Try getting great hands on service when you need it. As your portfolio is in question down the road, cause this will happen again, have someone where you can drive to their office and get eyeball to eyeball with.
 
Awesome. No negative years with those either, other than when inflation eats into it some like this year with gas and food.
Agree. Inflation is something to contend with in that type of a retirement model. You have to have a big enough cushion upon retirement to survive approximately 30 years down the road and/or build up assets during those 30 years that can be liquidated to cover any inflation gap. Another avenue for survival was that my wife offered to go back to work if things got tight, lolol.
 
Agree. Inflation is something to contend with in that type of a retirement model. You have to have a big enough cushion upon retirement to survive approximately 30 years down the road and/or build up assets during those 30 years that can be liquidated to cover any inflation gap. Another avenue for survival was that my wife offered to go back to work if things got tight, lolol.
Did she miss not working??????
 
I hired Hope Wood and did estate planning for our family before our 1st was born. Don't be an irresponsible parent and leave matters to your kids after you die that could easily be handled on your time..

It wasn't that expensive and provides my family peace of mind. I also have $1M of term life until I turn 60 for < $600 a year. I'm no financial advisor.. But for less than $2/day. My family won't have to worry about money if I die tomorrow
Nice job.

The guy bragging about having no life insurance is a DINK. surprised those people don't retire at 45 lol.
 
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Nice job.

The guy bragging about having no life insurance is a DINK. surprised those people don't retire at 45 lol.
My wife and I dropped our life insurance plans this spring, I am 60 and she is 62, both plan on retiring next summer and drawing full IPERS and SS. For what we were paying in insurance premiums at our age, we just sock that money away in case of emergencies. Life insurance is cheap when you are young, and gets expensive as hell when you reach your 50's and 60's.

Between our IPERS, SS and investments, I figure we will bring in around $11K a month, post tax.
 
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I’ll be 58 next year and my wife 54. I have no plans to retire anytime soon. I work from home my company will pay for my wife to travel with me on some trips. My wife just started a new job, the health benefits alone really helped our bottom line as moving to BC/BS gained us an $13,000/year. Still have one in college yet to. She works from home to. Really no advantage to retire when I like what I do, it’s almost like I’m semi-retired right now.

I look at my neighbor who is a retired pharmacist. He does the same exact thing everyday!! The guy has no life even though he is married. He walks his dog 3x a day, goes to the gym twice a day. According to his wife, I’m one of the few people he will talk to, but he won’t talk to my wife. Then again he is really not a social person.

I’ve told my wife that I do not want to retire as I would be bored to death and be like him. We have some land and investments along with some securities along with a couple IRA’s. I started filing with SS when I was 16 so will have that. Just glad that we started thinking about building for our later years, early on in life.
 
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I hired Hope Wood and did estate planning for our family before our 1st was born. Don't be an irresponsible parent and leave matters to your kids after you die that could easily be handled on your time..

It wasn't that expensive and provides my family peace of mind. I also have $1M of term life until I turn 60 for < $600 a year. I'm no financial advisor.. But for less than $2/day. My family won't have to worry about money if I die tomorrow
Keep an eye on them.
 
I’ll be 58 next year and my wife 54. I have no plans to retire anytime soon. I work from home my company will pay for my wife to travel with me on some trips. My wife just started a new job, the health benefits alone really helped our bottom line as moving to BC/BS gained us an $13,000/year. Still have one in college yet to. She works from home to. Really no advantage to retire when I like what I do, it’s almost like I’m semi-retired right now.

I look at my neighbor who is a retired pharmacist. He does the same exact thing everyday!! The guy has no life even though he is married. He walks his dog 3x a day, goes to the gym twice a day. According to his wife, I’m one of the few people he will talk to, but he won’t talk to my wife. Then again he is really not a social person.

I’ve told my wife that I do not want to retire as I would be bored to death and be like him. We have some land and investments along with some securities along with a couple IRA’s. I started filing with SS when I was 16 so will have that. Just glad that we started thinking about building for our later years, early on in life.
You just cant beat time value.
 
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Reading about I bonds (something I didn’t know existed). If I don’t need the $10k max for 5 years, why shouldn’t I buy them? Anyone have any recommendation to not buy them? 9.62% for this bi-annual.
 
Amount necessary for retirement differs for everyone. Lifestyle, Residence, Travel, and Health all have a direct impact. What is more than enough for me and my wife is inadequate for someone else. I reached the point where I had accumulated “enough”. I have income producing property and other sources adequate for my lifestyle. When I reach full SS age I will have that as well. My SS and rental property income will adjust with inflation. Should be good unless we both end up in nursing home for a decade or more. That will eat up assets.
I watch and read a lot on retirement. The long term care scare is over hyped. Yes, it MAY strike you and run you out of money but 1. the odds you need LTC is only like 30-35% 2. since you don't go into LTC until you need to, the average stay for males is around 12 months and women 20 months. (** These numbers are off my memory, I have them saved but on my PC at work**). So, if you can sock away 24 months of LTC expense and not have to utilize it during retirement (but it is there as emergency/backup) then you have a very high probability of being covered.
This has proven true for most of the people I know that went into nursing homes. They were there 2 years or less before passing away.
 
I watch and read a lot on retirement. The long term care scare is over hyped. Yes, it MAY strike you and run you out of money but 1. the odds you need LTC is only like 30-35% 2. since you don't go into LTC until you need to, the average stay for males is around 12 months and women 20 months. (** These numbers are off my memory, I have them saved but on my PC at work**). So, if you can sock away 24 months of LTC expense and not have to utilize it during retirement (but it is there as emergency/backup) then you have a very high probability of being covered.
This has proven true for most of the people I know that went into nursing homes. They were there 2 years or less before passing away.
Many times the care centers will work the system hard. They have learned how to code things so your supplemental insurance pays (highest rate of all also) along with Medicare for up to 100 days for each time you enter from the hospital. If you visit the hospital a couple times a year, you may only need about 5 months worth of LTC to pay for that year.
 
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Being currently retired, and this messed up world - look at 2-3 mil w/o pensions. And regional dependency, along with “dream retirement”
In this society where the rich get richer and increasingly disrespect middle/lower class, it will become increasingly tougher.
The actual citizens of all countries lost control
 
I would retire now, but so then would the wife. When the wife has free time, she enjoys spending money, so then I would have to go back to work and she wouldn’t. When I’m not around, she gets even more bored, it’s a vicious cycle. Need to keep the status quo now for my sanity.
 
Reading about I bonds (something I didn’t know existed). If I don’t need the $10k max for 5 years, why shouldn’t I buy them? Anyone have any recommendation to not buy them? 9.62% for this bi-annual.
I think you missed your window on those, but I certainly don’t know that to be true. If considering I Bonds, you have to consider a couple things. 1. How quickly is the fed going to get inflation under control and 2. Liquidity.

I strongly considered purchasing I Bonds in December. At that time, I decided I didn’t want to because the fed was making it pretty clear they were going to focus on taming inflation. They haven’t done a great job, but they are certainly making it even more clear that is their #1 goal. If you are investing in I Bonds right now, you are saying you don’t think they will get inflation under control for at least a year.

Which brings me to my second point. You can’t pivot out of I Bonds for at least 12 months from when you purchase. That means you again have to believe whatever you invest your I Bond money in needs to do better in I Bonds than it would in other investments. For me, the only thing I felt comfortable believing that would be true for was our emergency fund. But how good is an emergency fund that you can’t touch for 12 months? I personally opted for TIPS. I’ll be honest…they didn’t do as well as I thought they would. I only limited my losses (but honestly would have been better just throwing the money in a money market). But TIPS are more liquid. You can move them into some else quickly and easily…and ride the market back up.