Out the door
The time has come...out the door on Jan 18,2008...
AMEN
AMEN
If "Out the Door" means retirement-then congratulations brother.
I was out the door about 2 weeks ago. I was going to wait another year-then I decided another 3 months-then finally just said "screw it" and left.
When you get close to retirement-you can get what they used to refer to in the Army as "a short timers attitude". It is amazing how little day to day bullshit you encounter on the job tends to irritate you more as you age.
Time to break free from the rat race!!!!
I was out the door about 2 weeks ago. I was going to wait another year-then I decided another 3 months-then finally just said "screw it" and left.
When you get close to retirement-you can get what they used to refer to in the Army as "a short timers attitude". It is amazing how little day to day bullshit you encounter on the job tends to irritate you more as you age.
Time to break free from the rat race!!!!
6 months ago
Hi Hal,
Please post more about deciding to go for retirement. I have to continue working, but do like hearing other's stories about retirement and how they went about it.
This group really isn't that busy, so I'm glad you are posting.
Please post more about deciding to go for retirement. I have to continue working, but do like hearing other's stories about retirement and how they went about it.
This group really isn't that busy, so I'm glad you are posting.
6 months ago
What do you want to know?
The financial end of it-I am not rich by a long shot-but I have no debt-which is the main ingredient. I can live pretty cheaply-and it doesn't take much to make me happy. I can cover almost all my expenses with social security alone-except for healthcare.
After playing the stock market and losing my ass like everyone else, I kind of stumbled onto an investment scheme that seems to work very well.
Think about this-the most common investment scheme is to buy stock and hope the share price goes up-you either do this yourself or invest in mutual funds where "experts" buy and sell for you. If you knew what to buy, when to buy it, and when to sell it-hell we would all be millionaires-if the "experts" knew-then we wouldn't have lost money in the downturn. They don't know either-they are more informed than we are-but bottom line-they are just making an educated guess.
So lets say you invest in the market-your account balance goes up-you plan to live off this money plus social security when you retire. Two problems-first you are depleting your principal-second-the next market downturn will really deplete your principal-and we have one of those every few years.
What you are investing for is future income-so why not just "invest for income"? CD's-these days you won't even keep up with inflation. Dividends beat CD's hands down. You get a much better rate of return, a steady income stream-plus you also get growth potential. If you get more income than you need-you reinvest-which increases your shares-and increases your dividends. If the market goes south(being from the south-I used to take offense at that phrase)-you still get your dividends to live off of-and the market will recover at some point-it always does. While the market is down-you are reinvesting at bargain prices. You are buying more shares for the same money-and when the market returns to normal(whatever the hell "normal" is)-you will have an even larger balance.
YOU CAN"T COUNT ON DIVIDENDS EITHER YOU SAY-well this is also true-if you are talking about your usual everyday run of the mill dividends. Recently, alot of companies have either cut or dropped their dividends-DOW And PFIZER cut theirs to make acquistions-but if you are a widow living a Whistletoot, Wisconsin living off the old mans' stock dividends-then you will have to back off the beer and bratwurst and pay the heat bill.
What I am doing(but I'm no expert either) is investing in "dividend funds". The whole reason for their existence is to pay dividends. I only buy those that have paid a consistent dividend-even during the recent downturn. Yes the share price dropped-so the return(yield) is even better than it was before the market dropped. There are many different types of funds-Reits(real estate trusts), CEF's(closed end funds), MLP's(Master Limited Partnerships), Stock Funds, Bond Funds,-yada yada yada.
Risk-yes there is some-but you have to take on some risk-everything has risk-and doing nothing has the greatest risk of all.
I minimize my risk by diversifying. It makes no difference whether one fund sends me $100 per month-or 4 funds send me $25 each. I like funds that pay monthly-patience is not one of my better traits-I don't like to wait 3 months(quarterly) to get my money-and I always have money to invest every month. Usually I buy a different fund thereby spreading my risk around even more. My monthly dividends will soon exceed my monthly social security -as long as this is working for me-I plan to keep doing it in retirement. That way I am getting a cost of living adjustment every month. I will need to start spending some of my dividends on healthcare insurance pretty soon.
Once I get to a certain point-I may start investing in something more mainstream-even CD's. Yes-they may return to something that pays a reasonable return one of these days-if the government doesn't run out of paper and ink-inflation is a good possibility-and the FED will have to raise rates to counter it.
Well that probably wasn't what you wanted to know-but that's the financial end of it. If you have to work for awhile-my recommendation is-get a plan and stick to it-but don't think about retiring too much-it can really mess up your head. Think long term-ease into it-get comfortable with working-because once you know you are capable of doing it-your attitude will change. Perhaps you enjoy what you are doing-you are one of the lucky few.
As you age it seems your tolerance for corporate bullshit decreases-and you may feel like cashing in your chips a little early-especially if you are a grumpy, old school, old fart like me.
Retirement can be a big change-no schedule-no alarm clock to set-Right now, I am bored-but in a few months- I will be moving out west to be close to my son and his family-then those grandkids will keep me busy.
If I get too bored-I will find a part time job-or start an at home business-but the beauty of it-I will be doing it because I want to-not because I have too.
The financial end of it-I am not rich by a long shot-but I have no debt-which is the main ingredient. I can live pretty cheaply-and it doesn't take much to make me happy. I can cover almost all my expenses with social security alone-except for healthcare.
After playing the stock market and losing my ass like everyone else, I kind of stumbled onto an investment scheme that seems to work very well.
Think about this-the most common investment scheme is to buy stock and hope the share price goes up-you either do this yourself or invest in mutual funds where "experts" buy and sell for you. If you knew what to buy, when to buy it, and when to sell it-hell we would all be millionaires-if the "experts" knew-then we wouldn't have lost money in the downturn. They don't know either-they are more informed than we are-but bottom line-they are just making an educated guess.
So lets say you invest in the market-your account balance goes up-you plan to live off this money plus social security when you retire. Two problems-first you are depleting your principal-second-the next market downturn will really deplete your principal-and we have one of those every few years.
What you are investing for is future income-so why not just "invest for income"? CD's-these days you won't even keep up with inflation. Dividends beat CD's hands down. You get a much better rate of return, a steady income stream-plus you also get growth potential. If you get more income than you need-you reinvest-which increases your shares-and increases your dividends. If the market goes south(being from the south-I used to take offense at that phrase)-you still get your dividends to live off of-and the market will recover at some point-it always does. While the market is down-you are reinvesting at bargain prices. You are buying more shares for the same money-and when the market returns to normal(whatever the hell "normal" is)-you will have an even larger balance.
YOU CAN"T COUNT ON DIVIDENDS EITHER YOU SAY-well this is also true-if you are talking about your usual everyday run of the mill dividends. Recently, alot of companies have either cut or dropped their dividends-DOW And PFIZER cut theirs to make acquistions-but if you are a widow living a Whistletoot, Wisconsin living off the old mans' stock dividends-then you will have to back off the beer and bratwurst and pay the heat bill.
What I am doing(but I'm no expert either) is investing in "dividend funds". The whole reason for their existence is to pay dividends. I only buy those that have paid a consistent dividend-even during the recent downturn. Yes the share price dropped-so the return(yield) is even better than it was before the market dropped. There are many different types of funds-Reits(real estate trusts), CEF's(closed end funds), MLP's(Master Limited Partnerships), Stock Funds, Bond Funds,-yada yada yada.
Risk-yes there is some-but you have to take on some risk-everything has risk-and doing nothing has the greatest risk of all.
I minimize my risk by diversifying. It makes no difference whether one fund sends me $100 per month-or 4 funds send me $25 each. I like funds that pay monthly-patience is not one of my better traits-I don't like to wait 3 months(quarterly) to get my money-and I always have money to invest every month. Usually I buy a different fund thereby spreading my risk around even more. My monthly dividends will soon exceed my monthly social security -as long as this is working for me-I plan to keep doing it in retirement. That way I am getting a cost of living adjustment every month. I will need to start spending some of my dividends on healthcare insurance pretty soon.
Once I get to a certain point-I may start investing in something more mainstream-even CD's. Yes-they may return to something that pays a reasonable return one of these days-if the government doesn't run out of paper and ink-inflation is a good possibility-and the FED will have to raise rates to counter it.
Well that probably wasn't what you wanted to know-but that's the financial end of it. If you have to work for awhile-my recommendation is-get a plan and stick to it-but don't think about retiring too much-it can really mess up your head. Think long term-ease into it-get comfortable with working-because once you know you are capable of doing it-your attitude will change. Perhaps you enjoy what you are doing-you are one of the lucky few.
As you age it seems your tolerance for corporate bullshit decreases-and you may feel like cashing in your chips a little early-especially if you are a grumpy, old school, old fart like me.
Retirement can be a big change-no schedule-no alarm clock to set-Right now, I am bored-but in a few months- I will be moving out west to be close to my son and his family-then those grandkids will keep me busy.
If I get too bored-I will find a part time job-or start an at home business-but the beauty of it-I will be doing it because I want to-not because I have too.
6 months ago
Elzbieta-is that your real name? You don't hear that one everyday.
Sounds like maybe a spanish derivative of "Elizabeth".
As far as retirement is concerned-evaluate your lifestyle and how much you will need to maintain it. Are you happy with the simple things in life-or do require more. Do you have expensive hobbies?
Be sure you will be happy doing what you can afford to do.
As for me-I never have been a joiner or a big socializer-but simple things like family and a few friends keep me happy. Some people require alot of expensive activities to keep themselves entertained. My brother, who retired early, has more hobbies than I can count, he refers to them as investments-but in reality-they are toys.
I couldn't afford his lifestyle-and he wouldn't be happy with mine.
So make sure that your finances match your activities.
Sounds like maybe a spanish derivative of "Elizabeth".
As far as retirement is concerned-evaluate your lifestyle and how much you will need to maintain it. Are you happy with the simple things in life-or do require more. Do you have expensive hobbies?
Be sure you will be happy doing what you can afford to do.
As for me-I never have been a joiner or a big socializer-but simple things like family and a few friends keep me happy. Some people require alot of expensive activities to keep themselves entertained. My brother, who retired early, has more hobbies than I can count, he refers to them as investments-but in reality-they are toys.
I couldn't afford his lifestyle-and he wouldn't be happy with mine.
So make sure that your finances match your activities.
6 months ago
