Preparing for Retirement

[Weedygarden]

This is a topic of some conversations that I have with friends because I know too many people who have had no thought nor preparation for retirement. I've looked for a good article to use as a talking point here, and there are several articles out there. Most are put out by financial institutions that want to handle our money. There was not one article that I thought was totally satisfactory to my thoughts and maybe one of you has a good one to share. Why am I sharing this article? Because I have looked at so many, I just had to pick one.

I know that our ability to be in a good place financially for retirement can be affected negatively by a few situations: divorce, bad relationships, health, and other conditions, some outside of our ability to control. However, some are within our ability to control.

https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/market-news-insights/retirement/preparing/retirement-checklist

If retirement is coming into view, it’s time to kick your planning into high gear. This checklist can help you plan ahead for things like Social Security, health care costs and how to go from saving to spending.

Sharpen your focus on retirement

• Outline your vision for retirement and develop a strategy to reach it. Take into account how you'd like to spend your time – maybe working part time or spending time with family, volunteering, traveling and more.
• If you still have a few years until retirement, ramp up your retirement plan contributions and savings.
• Review your debt, considering if there is some you should pay down now versus carrying into retirement.

Determine your income needs

• Estimate how much after-tax income you think you'll need and how many years you may spend in retirement.
• Don't forget about other financial obligations such as caring for parents, supporting children and any remaining debt balances.
• Expect your income needs to increase over time due to inflation.

Plan now for the cost of health care

Health care represents one of the largest expenses for retirees, so to estimate your income needs, you should:

• Understand your Medicare options – costs and coverage – and enrollment timing.
• If you’re leaving your job before age 65, determine how you’ll cover health care. Some options include:
  • Enrolling in your spouse’s medical plan
  • Obtaining insurance through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace®
  • Extending your employer’s coverage under COBRA
• Consider funding a health savings account (HSA) on your own or at work, if your employer offers one.
• Consider purchasing long-term care insurance.

Develop your income strategy

• Consider when it's most advantageous to take your Social Security benefit, even though it will be just a portion of your retirement income.
• Estimate your other income sources, such as pensions, part-time employment and other government benefits.
• Determine an appropriate withdrawal strategy from your portfolio to ensure your money will last.
• Position your portfolio to provide income for today and growth potential for tomorrow.
• Consider annuities to supplement your guaranteed income sources.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

All good info.
In my case, for the last 25 years of my full time employment, my salary alone supported myself, a non working disabled wife, three horses, 50 chickens, 8 dogs and a mortgage on the homestead.
Consequently, there was nothing left over for “retirement savings “.
My 401k paid off the mortgage and we had no other debt of any kind. No credit cards, no vehicle loans, nothing.

We collect my Social Security, which is a little above average, and my wife’s, which is not a lot due to her not being able to work a full career.
Just to make ends meet, I’m still working part time at age 73.

My best advice to young people is save as much as you can.
Invest heavily in your 401k at work.
Skip the annual vacation.
Don’t trade in and get a new vehicle every couple of years, buy a good one and make it last 15-20 years or more.
Forget eating out on a regular basis.
In other words, put off immediate gratification and concentrate on the long game.

 

[Weedygarden]

All good info.
In my case, for the last 25 years of my full time employment, my salary alone supported myself, a non working disabled wife, three horses, 50 chickens, 8 dogs and a mortgage on the homestead.
Consequently, there was nothing left over for “retirement savings “.
My 401k paid off the mortgage and we had no other debt of any kind. No credit cards, no vehicle loans, nothing.

We collect my Social Security, which is a little above average, and my wife’s, which is not a lot due to her not being able to work a full career.
Just to make ends meet, I’m still working part time at age 73.

My best advice to young people is save as much as you can.
Invest heavily in your 401k at work.
Skip the annual vacation.
Don’t trade in and get a new vehicle every couple of years, buy a good one and make it last 15-20 years or more.
Forget eating out on a regular basis.
In other words, put off immediate gratification and concentrate on the long game.

I have a relatively new friend who is retired. She and her husband made good money, got some inheritance, and were awarded a big settlement when a child was killed in an accident. They lost their home because they were so messed up financially. Now they live in a home that one of their sons owns. But they took REALLY nice vacations every year. I notice that she has some really nice clothing and some really nice jewelry collections, so that she can wear several pieces that all go together. I do know that she loves to shop because even though they moved here a couple years ago, she knows clerks in stores at malls on a first name basis. She has tried to tell me that she let her husband handle all the finances and he messed things up. It is possible that he did, but she has a piece in it as well.

One person in a couple is usually better with money than the other, but if you don't pay attention to what is going on, you are equally at fault.

 

[Bacpacker]

Good list Weedy. I will add a link to guy on you tube, (yeah I know) that talks a lot of retirement stuff, social Security in particular, later tonight.
His main thing is for people to know as much as possible what their expenses are gonna be, close as you can before you get close to retirement. Get outta debt before hand if possible.

RPD, something to look at, if you haven't already, is getting your wife set up to draw off of you. If you're SSI is significantly higher than hers, she could draw up to have of you're SSI, if it is more than hers. SSI website has calculators to figure that. Thats what my wife is gonna do once I retire.

I look forward to discussion with this as I'm hoping to retire Dec 2025 if plans hold out.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

My wife’s is about half of mine, give or take a thousand.

 

[Bacpacker]

My wife’s is about half of mine, give or take a thousand.

Likely won't change much in that case. Just thought I'd mention it, in case it would.

 

[Morgan101]

This topic is front and center with me, since I have every intention of retiring in April. All of the advice in the article is good, and I agree with Rice Paddy Daddy. I too would strongly recommend maxing out your 401K contributions. It is painless since you never see it. It comes out of your check like taxes and you don't miss it. It will probably be by far your highest return on investment if your company contributes as well.

One of the key elements to successful investing is time. The longer you can save and invest the better off you will be. If I was to offer advice it would be to start NOW if you haven't started already. Find a good financial advisor; check their references and their performance. I wish I had found the guy I am using now at least 10 years if not 20 years sooner. He has gotten me double digit returns in the good years, and very close to double digits (8-9%) in the bad years.

I have had people ask me "What are you going to do? Won't you be bored?" My response is Whatever I want to do, and NO, I will not be bored. I may work part time. We will just have to see how the finances work out. My wife has done a stellar job of researching and planning out our medical requirements. We have been very pleased with that. Only God knows how much time we have left, but our tentative plan is to last 20 years. That would put both of us well past the age our parents passed away. I have hobbies I would like to pursue, and some things on the bucket list, but if I went tomorrow I could say it has been a good run, and I have few regrets.

If anybody has questions I would be happy to share my experiences and knowledge.

 

[Weedygarden]

All good info.
In my case, for the last 25 years of my full time employment, my salary alone supported myself, a non working disabled wife, three horses, 50 chickens, 8 dogs and a mortgage on the homestead.
Consequently, there was nothing left over for “retirement savings “.
My 401k paid off the mortgage and we had no other debt of any kind. No credit cards, no vehicle loans, nothing.

We collect my Social Security, which is a little above average, and my wife’s, which is not a lot due to her not being able to work a full career.
Just to make ends meet, I’m still working part time at age 73.

My best advice to young people is save as much as you can.
Invest heavily in your 401k at work.
Skip the annual vacation.
Don’t trade in and get a new vehicle every couple of years, buy a good one and make it last 15-20 years or more.
Forget eating out on a regular basis.
In other words, put off immediate gratification and concentrate on the long game.

A friend that I was talking to yesterday is maybe a decade from retirement. She makes around $150K a year, so much more than most people, but not all, that I know. She told me that she used to have to have the latest and the greatest of everything. (There is an addiction to new things, a high) She would get a new cell phone every year, especially when the new models come out. Then one day she had the realization that she didn't need a new phone, and something shifted for her, financially, for all of her shopping. She told me that she knows people who are still in that mind set, having the latest and the greatest in phones and other things. She also knows people who get a new car every year or so. We probably all know at least one person with that mind set.

In the course of this great discussion, she told me that she has figured out that so many things can last a long time and are not so important. She takes her two dogs to the dog park and knows that her clothing can be damaged and get dirty there, so she has a bunch of older, out of style clothing that she keeps just for that purpose. She has dropped being a fashionista. My new friend is a fashionista, having some high quality clothing, part of why she and her husband are broke and living in their son's home, and still shopping.

This is the key thing in yesterday's discussion, imho. Three things that friend thinks are worth investing in, and I am not going to run out and follow her, just food for thought about how some people think. I am not necessarily criticizing her either. :
1. a land line. She explained that if satellites had a problem, land lines would work in a different way, and could work when none of our cell phones would. She has not had a land line in her home, and is going to get one. I never thought of it like that. I got rid of my land line because of the expense about a year ago. Wish I still had it!

2. Getting rid of cable television and getting one of the newer television sets. I have no idea how much the newer television sets are, but I saw someone show photos from their phone on their new television. Why this as a retirement prep? If anything happens, and we are in lockdown again, she will still be able to watch something to be entertained. She has lots of books and is a reader, but she is also aware that she goes through books quickly and will want something else to read. There is also a lot more free stuff to watch now, such as Peacock, Pluto, tubitv. Of course, this could be a problem if the internet is down.

I have not had cable television for decades, and only had it for a few years. If and when we sit in front of a television, we are being influenced by forces, and not being productive.

3. A new computer. The computer she is using and has been for a few years actually belongs to her employer. There is value, and expense, in having a newer computer. How in the world did we live without them? We had books and used snail mail.

But, we did live without them and could again. One of the things relative to the current shortages is if things like computers, televisions, new appliances become completely unavailable, what are our options? Repair, if we can get the parts. Buy used, if something is available.

All 3 of these things are definitely debatable as necessities, but just something I have thought about since friend and I talked. When we live pay check to pay check, are all of our expenditures necessities? Do we have to have cable television? The latest cell phone? A new vehicle with high payments as well as higher car insurance rates. Eating out frequently? New this and new that? There are things that do impact our ability to save and to contribute to our future life.

 

[phideaux]

I retired over 22 years ago.

The biggest thing for me , and still is, being totally 100% debt free.

Jim

 

[Amish Heart]

I notice a person who makes more, spends more. I don't have to keep up with my working (office) clothes anymore, and I don't wear heels anymore. We made it a point to be totally debt free when we retired, too. My phone must be 15 yrs old. Even the amish have better phones than I do.

 

[The Lazy L]

I had a bucket list of what I needed to accomplished before I retired.
1. Debt free.
2. Replace 25 year old asphalt roof shingles with steel.
3. Replace major appliances.
4. Purchase a good used vehicle as our last vehicle.
5. Become 100% vested in employer’s pension plan.
6. Have a minimum of $$$ in 401K
7. Old enough for Medicare.
8. And a count down timer APP on my phone when the above was to accomplished.

No expensive annual vacations. We didn’t have the latest gadgets or style of clothes. Decent car for the wife while I drove junkers. My last career 20% went into a 401k. We did without.

Too many family and friends getting close to retirement have saved nothing and are complaining that Social Security will not be enough. Usually I’m able to keep my mouth shut but a few times I explain that SS is designed to be a SUPPLEMENT income only, not a sole source.

 

[angie_nrs]

I thought we had a topic like this, but I can't seem to find it. No matter....it's a good topic to visit.

Some people should also consider the fact that if you are home with your spouse ALL of the time, that is a transition that you need to get used to as well. Lots of couples divorce in their later years. Apparantly all that together time is not what they thought it would be.

Hubs and I had retirement plans and we gave it a go, but neither of us can sit still for long. I like my alone time at home and he likes to be on the go. Instead of retiring, we just work a bit less.....sometimes. LOL! I picked up a part time gig and he still does a portion of what he did before on his own terms. We will definitely be taking more vacations when this Covid 'crisis' goes away. I do think folks need a vacation every year to blow off steam and have something to look forward to. We all only live once, so go and have a little bit of fun while you can. That said, if someone is still saving for the future, a less expensive vacation (on a budget) should be the goal. We tend to go the inexpensive route anyways, b/c that's just who we are and we're quite content with that. We know how to have fun without all the frills. We really just like a change of scenery. Making those memories are important, but can be done on a budget.

We started saving the max into our retirement accounts when we were in our 20's. I push any young person that I can find to do this as well. When you don't have that money in your paycheck, you don't miss it. Plus, you can have the comfort of knowing you can retire at an early age and not have to worry much about it when you're in your 60's. If you don't manage the accounts yourself, get an advisor you can trust and does a good job. The biggest part for us was figuring out how to pay for medical, but we got it figured out. It really shouldn't be that hard to do, but with all the regulations (thanks Obama) it is a PIA.

No debt is also a biggie. You certainly don't want payments to deal with when you are on a fixed income.

 

[Amish Heart]

My medical and the three grandkids were a pain to figure out, but we finally did. There is an adjustment not going in to work every day. I didn't have a problem with it, but husband has. He's been retired a little over a year, and complains that he's bored sometimes. But not always. He needs to get into the hobbies he said he would be doing when he retired. I'm never bored, but that's just me.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

We have a land line because our WiFi modem comes from the phone company.
We have tried satellite Internet, and it’s too darn expensive.
Cable TV never made it this far out, and we got rid of Dish Network satellite TV almost a decade ago. So no “bundling “ possible there.
Our Internet speed is slooow, but still much faster than the plain old dial up we had for years.
We have been the working poor all our lives.
I would not want a lot of money, I do not worship money. God has always provided for us, and I have ultimate faith in Him.

 

[Supervisor42]

My best advice to young people is save as much as you can.
Invest heavily in your 401k at work.
Skip the annual vacation.
Don’t trade in and get a new vehicle every couple of years, buy a good one and make it last 15-20 years or more.
Forget eating out on a regular basis.
In other words, put off immediate gratification and concentrate on the long game.

Much better advice than Edward Jones who wants to 'manage' your money for retirement and you will never even notice the $4,000 they siphon off every year .
I spent a lot of time with old people when I was growing up and all they talked about was having to pinch pennies.
I promised myself, that would not be me.
On the 401K: when the economy and stock market crashed in 2008, I quietly cranked my 401K withholding from 6% to 14% (the max for company matching) because I knew I wouldn't need the money for 10 years. The worm turned.
Vehicles: I have never bought a new vehicle and never will. People don't realize 25% of the value of it evaporates when you drive it off the lot and they will throw away more money than it costs in interest payments and expensive full-coverage insurance.
Annuities: Stay the hell away from them. I learned my lesson the hard way - don't be me!
They are not an investment, they are an insurance product.
If you want to put your hard-earned savings into an account so a broker will have an income to live off of for years, annuities are still out there.
Being debt free: This is so important because it greatly reduces the amount of income you will need after you retire. If making extra payments on your mortgage while you are still working is possible to end it before you retire, it will be one of the best investments you can make.

Last words for the young people: Don't wait, that old phrase 'time is money' and 'not another minute can you buy' are true. And don't get sucked into making the common mistakes so many people do when they discover their 'golden years' are made of tin.

 

[Weedygarden]

This is something that someone I know did that is debatable.

Friend and her husband are on second marriage, in their early 40's. They previously lived in Florida and thought they wanted to start over, to get away from the life and friends of previous marriage. I get that. She had worked at Disney World when she was younger and later as a firefighter. I know there are missing pieces about her life for me. When they got to Colorado, they wanted a house, but did not have the money for a down payment. She cashed in her retirement money so that they could put a down payment on a home. I have thought about this situation many times. They could forever live in someone else's home and make their mortgage payment for them, and never own a home.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Okay, I have 1 question: Has anyone got any clear guidance as to what you expect out of retirement and what you actually get after taxes and medical insurance?

I have been working since 1968 and still have between 3 and 5 years to go before I think I can afford to stop working, but it bothers me when I try to compare my bills with what my income should be, everything the establishment tells you is in pre-tax dollars....

 

[Weedygarden]

I notice a person who makes more, spends more. I don't have to keep up with my working (office) clothes anymore, and I don't wear heels anymore. We made it a point to be totally debt free when we retired, too. My phone must be 15 yrs old. Even the amish have better phones than I do.

I think this is so true. I also think that when we become used to a certain lifestyle, not having that can be difficult. Money and spending it can be an addiction. What if I made $50,000 a month? I would definitely spend more on new vehicles, food to go, ordering online. Now I have necessities and that is what I focus on.

I used to be very strategic in my clothing purchases for work. I shopped President's day for winter clothing and Labor Day weekend for summer clothes. I set certain limits on what I would pay for clothing, and wouldn't pay more for clothing than that set price. Those were two times that I shopped. I do not like shopping. I am not someone who wanders into a store and has to look at, feel and touch everything there. I know people who do! I have my lists, my guidelines and I zip around and am focused on the task at hand. I mostly go alone.

 

[Weedygarden]

Okay, I have 1 question: Has anyone got any clear guidance as to what you expect out of retirement and what you actually get after taxes and medical insurance?

I have been working since 1968 and still have between 3 and 5 years to go before I think I can afford to stop working, but it bothers me when I try to compare my bills with what my income should be, everything the establishment tells you is in pre-tax dollars....

I think you can visit with the people who have your money in your retirement account about what you can expect as an income from your current funds. I have one company that had my main funds, and I knew that SS was going to fairly low for me. At one point in time, my uncle told me that for every additional year that he worked, it meant another $3,000 in annual income during his retirement. He worked longer than he needed to, because he wanted more annual income.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I started saving for retirement before I was a teenager. I retired 7 years ago at 57, paid off the ranch, built the house barns out buildings, bought a herd of cattle, etc, etc all out of pocket. Starting Jan 1st I started receiving SS. The wife retired last November even younger than I. She'll start SS in a few years at 62.
The key is to start saving early and consistently, and to choose your investments wisely. We dont need SS, but it is a nice little bonus. We consider it our fun money.

 

[dademoss]

Geez, here is my 4 cents, worth every penny.

Two facets to retirement, your money and your happiness. If you are a homesteader, you have your work already defined. For others happiness and fulfillment thoughts, I recommend a book/facebook group:

Your Retirement Quest: 10 Secrets for Creating and Living a Fulfilling Retirement

Facebook group: Your Retirement Quest

If you are not a financial genius, HIRE ONE. Me, managing my money would look like the Coyote chasing the Roadrunner using his Acme Catalog. When you find one, my recommendation is to make sure they are a FIDUCIARY, not just a broker. I do know people happy as **** with their brokers, I also know people who lost their ass. Your call of course, but do your due diligence.

Our wealth manager plans things for minimum tax impact, last year I paid 118 bucks in state taxes, no federal. Still not taking SS, their current advice is to wait till I am 70, to maximize my DW benefits.

I have been retired for 6+ years, since I was 55. My DW retired at 53.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

A person’s SS monthly benefit is based on, among other things, actuarial tables that predict your average life span.
Retire at age 62, and your payment will be less than if you waited until full retirement age.
Work past your full retirement age and your monthly payment will be higher.
BUT, in the long run the total amount you receive will be the same if you live until they figure you will.

The REAL racket is when you pay in your entire working life, and then die 4 or 5 years into retirement. The greedy government gets to take all that extra money and give it to lowlifes that have never worked a day in their life.

 

[joel]

I have been retired nineteen months, I am looking at building on the farm.
I will finance an acre of land with $10,000.00 down & put a decreasing term policy on myself, so if I die with a mortgage, it will be paid off. I am making the same I made in 2020 with no raise, but I have money left over at the month. SS will pay the building monthly payment.

 

[Supervisor42]

A person’s SS monthly benefit is based on, among other things, actuarial tables that predict your average life span.
Retire at age 62, and your payment will be less than if you waited until full retirement age.
Work past your full retirement age and your monthly payment will be higher.
BUT, in the long run the total amount you receive will be the same if you live until they figure you will.

The REAL racket is when you pay in your entire working life, and then die 4 or 5 years into retirement. The greedy government gets to take all that extra money and give it to lowlifes that have never worked a day in their life.

Yes, my brother had enough money in his 401K that he held out until 65 to get 'the big SS check'.
He died as a single man at 65.
His live-in girlfriend was left with nothing.
The SS "full retirement age" finish-line for people starting work today: 72.

 

[Morgan101]

The way I calculated Social Security benefits there was about a 12 year payback period. If I started taking payments at 62 when I was 74 I would be receiving less than if I had waited until I was 66. Same result when deciding between 66 and 70; a 12 year payback period. Two things weighed heavily in my decision. First was age. I figured I had/have a reasonably good chance of living past 74. Living until 82 is a lot more risky. Both of my parents died when they were 80. The second factor, which was huge to me, was losing Social Security income because I continued to work. At 62 if I continued to work and earned more than $14,000 a year or some ridiculously low amount. my Social Security benefits would be reduced. If I waited until I was 66 I could continue to work and earn as much as I wanted without sacrificing or losing Social Security benefits. I opted to start taking SS at 66 and have been double dipping for the last three years. That seemed to be the best path for me.

 

[Haertig]

The biggest thing we think about for retirement is saving money, not spending needlessly, and investing it wisely. This is a bedrock principle. But I'd also like to inject that you should protect what you have as well. What if, Heaven forbid, you caused a car accident where somebody was killed. Could you financially survive that? Would you still own your house after being sued? Or say you rent out a property and get sued by the renter for something. Or someone comes up to your door to sell you a garbage item, slips on an icy patch, and sues you?

I am big on encapsulating things into LLC's and Trusts. One of my renters sues me? Well, they can't really. They can sue the LLC they pay rent to. And the only thing that LLC "owns" is the house they are renting. They can't get to MY house, or MY bank accounts, or anything I own. Well, I guess I do own that house they are renting, but it's not worth that much compared to the rest of our assets. Other renters rent other houses that are owned by different LLCs. Our main house is owned by an LLC, which is in turn owned by a Trust. All of our bank accounts are owned by the Trust. That unwanted door to door salesman who slips on the ice? They can sue the LLC that owns my house. But they can't touch my bank accounts, investments, other houses or personal property. We also have a large umbrella insurance policy on our main house.

For retirement: Point 1: Save more money, invest more wisely, start sooner. Point 2: Protect the money that you already have. Use LLCs to own property - one property per LLC. Use a Trust to own all the LLCs. The Trust can also directly own bank accounts, automobiles, and other things that aren't owned by LLCs. What the wife and I own (outside of the Trust), is very little. We are paupers. Maybe $30,000 or $40,000. When we die, that's not enough for our kids to even have to go through probate. Further protection of what we have.

I would recommend seeing a good estate planning lawyer in addition to a financial advisor when preparing for retirement. Estate planning is done based on the laws in your state. What we have done here in Colorado may not be exactly what someone in Mississippi would do (but probably pretty close).

 

[Neb]

Interesting thread.

Ditto on much that has been said.

Get out of debt and stay out.

Live well below your means.

Buy a handy man's special cash and fix it up yourself working over time to pay for the repairs. Put the money tou would have spent on rent in the bank.

Buy another handy man's special fix it up and rent it out. Put the rent money in the bank. Repeat.

I went to college and graduated when I was 40. We lived off of what The Princess made and didn't take out a student loan. When I graduated we still lived of what The Princess made and my paycheck went in the bank.

Maxed-out the employer match to double my money.

The Princess purchased the cheapest new car possible and drove her hand me down car until it died. Lather rinse repeat.

Get a financial advisor that is a fiduciary.

Only eat out at McDonald's once every 3 months.

Only buy new appliances when you can't get replacement parts for a failing unit.

Never pay someone else to do what you can do yourself. My exemptions are;

Car repairs
Roofing
Flooring/carpets

Those jobs often are better done with special tools that would not pay for themselves if I purchased them but professional workers use regularly.

Ben

 

[Neb]

The biggest thing we think about for retirement is saving money, not spending needlessly, and investing it wisely. This is a bedrock principle. But I'd also like to inject that you should protect what you have as well. What if, Heaven forbid, you caused a car accident where somebody was killed. Could you financially survive that? Would you still own your house after being sued? Or say you rent out a property and get sued by the renter for something. Or someone comes up to your door to sell you a garbage item, slips on an icy patch, and sues you?

I am big on encapsulating things into LLC's and Trusts. One of my renters sues me? Well, they can't really. They can sue the LLC they pay rent to. And the only thing that LLC "owns" is the house they are renting. They can't get to MY house, or MY bank accounts, or anything I own. Well, I guess I do own that house they are renting, but it's not worth that much compared to the rest of our assets. Other renters rent other houses that are owned by different LLCs. Our main house is owned by an LLC, which is in turn owned by a Trust. All of our bank accounts are owned by the Trust. That unwanted door to door salesman who slips on the ice? They can sue the LLC that owns my house. But they can't touch my bank accounts, investments, other houses or personal property. We also have a large umbrella insurance policy on our main house.

For retirement: Point 1: Save more money, invest more wisely, start sooner. Point 2: Protect the money that you already have. Use LLCs to own property - one property per LLC. Use a Trust to own all the LLCs. The Trust can also directly own bank accounts, automobiles, and other things that aren't owned by LLCs. What the wife and I own (outside of the Trust), is very little. We are paupers. Maybe $30,000 or $40,000. When we die, that's not enough for our kids to even have to go through probate. Further protection of what we have.

I would recommend seeing a good estate planning lawyer in addition to a financial advisor when preparing for retirement. Estate planning is done based on the laws in your state. What we have done here in Colorado may not be exactly what someone in Mississippi would do (but probably pretty close).

Ditto the LLCs.

We also have an umbrella policy to cover the odd ball issues.

Ben

 

[Neb]

The way I calculated Social Security benefits there was about a 12 year payback period. If I started taking payments at 62 when I was 74 I would be receiving less than if I had waited until I was 66. Same result when deciding between 66 and 70; a 12 year payback period. Two things weighed heavily in my decision. First was age. I figured I had/have a reasonably good chance of living past 74. Living until 82 is a lot more risky. Both of my parents died when they were 80. The second factor, which was huge to me, was losing Social Security income because I continued to work. At 62 if I continued to work and earned more than $14,000 a year or some ridiculously low amount. my Social Security benefits would be reduced. If I waited until I was 66 I could continue to work and earn as much as I wanted without sacrificing or losing Social Security benefits. I opted to start taking SS at 66 and have been double dipping for the last three years. That seemed to be the best path for me.

I started SS at 63 because I can make more money from investments than waiting for SS to go up.

Ben

 

[Neb]

I think this is so true. I also think that when we become used to a certain lifestyle, not having that can be difficult. Money and spending it can be an addiction. What if I made $50,000 a month? I would definitely spend more on new vehicles, food to go, ordering online. Now I have necessities and that is what I focus on.

I used to be very strategic in my clothing purchases for work. I shopped President's day for winter clothing and Labor Day weekend for summer clothes. I set certain limits on what I would pay for clothing, and wouldn't pay more for clothing than that set price. Those were two times that I shopped. I do not like shopping. I am not someone who wanders into a store and has to look at, feel and touch everything there. I know people who do! I have my lists, my guidelines and I zip around and am focused on the task at hand. I mostly go alone.

The Princess, her sister, and my sister, shop rummage sales yard sales and thrift stores. The SIL once quipped...

The most expensive thing I am wearing is my socks.

Also shop the curbs the night before trash pick-up. Most of our furniture is second hand or "finish yourself" book shelves.

Ben