60+ year old thread.

Good morning fellow Porchatonians!! The coffee is hot and life is good!

 

I changed jobs at 50. Looking back, I'll call it retirement. The job had slowly changed over the years to a less than desirable chore. Shortly thereafter, at a professional seminar, I was offered a part time gig, around 30hrs./wk. Money was better, I was very much happier, so I worked another 20. It's hard to change jobs sometimes. Think it through. Best thing I ever did for myself and family. Life is short. Be happy.

 

Great stories!
One saying that always struck me...no one ever put on their tombstone: " wish I'd spent more time at work '' !

 

Good morning folks! I really enjoyed all of your retirement stories and the good advice, I plan to stand firm on my 2 days a week semi-retirement this week.

Doug it was a little over 2 years ago that my former boss (and a good friend) at my last job and I both set our retirement dates for this year. I at least semi-retired and he’s still working, gotta get on him about that haha. Time flies so you’ll be there soon!

Good morning Mark, you’re always the first here with coffee but I have mine now

I’m gonna save that saying, awesome! Much better than the “I told you I was sick” tombstone quote lol.

 

Latest stock market tank let me buy more. Can't resist bargain hunting (with brain engaged) when market fluctuations drag down the "good guys".........

I hate the idea of electric cars - can't imagine owning an E-truck - but Ford stock went nuts when the F-150 went to batteries. Missed that one. Tesla was way lower on Friday, dragged down by the techies fear of higher interest rates - but I think they are strong future contenders. Look at their last years high........

 

I have a managed IRA, a 401K, and a Roth I call my “play account” in which I bought a few shares of Ford when they announced the F150 Lightning EV. Smart move I thought as it immediate went up. Of course it’s me here so I soon after made a dumb move when it appeared to flatline and sold it for a few hundred bucks gain, and watched it a month or two later go up about $5 more dollars a share lol.

 

A fellow "retiree" buddy has been buying Tesla - a few at a time, every dip - until Friday he confided he was up to 750 shares. I ain't going there (well, never say never)........ but it could be his key to comfy future retirement funds.

 

I retired at 66 1/2 and my company put me on a 1099 at a negotiated hourly rate. I worked pretty much as I wanted/was needed which tapered off over a year and 1/2. It worked out pretty well for me as I felt like I was calling my own shots for the most part. Took full SS at 70 and doing ok now. I don't miss the daily "have to be here, have to be there, irate customer to soothe, etc. grind" at all.

 

Morning all:

Been there, done that! Just remember the old saying " a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". any profit is good.
Been looking at RIVIAN, a bit speculative and purely a cap. gains play, I like stocks with dividends. Right now with what's going on in the Ukraine, the market could go South real fast and offer buying opportunities.

 

Good Morning Porch Peoples! What a game-what a finish! As a football fan, you could easily wait another lifetime to get 7 consecutive games that matter decided in the last minute or OT. As a long suffering Lions fan, CHEERS to Matt Stafford. See? Told you he was good!

Ran into all the retirement stories last night, and said "I'm gonna wait until this game is done!"

Thirty seven years in the same company I started at. Now, it got bought and sold, and conglomerated, and up until the last 4 years, our name was still on the products. I moved from Michigan to take that job - got here and the HR girl said "what job?". Fortunately, I had a year of Drafting, so they put me there. Then Field Service (longest serving person in that task). Laid me off, right when we bought our house. Year later, my old boss got promoted, so he brought me back as the Controls Products Manager. (Still had to do the Field Service though). Designed a few things, and drove the department from a million a year, to 3 mil, then 6, then 10. 30% of all the business was Controls. Even got my bonus "banned" by the CEO of corp, because "we don't pay that position bonuses". Watched new bosses come and go, some new kid with zip experience killed our group, so the Engineering Manager moved me into his group. I was not an Engineer. Still designed stuff, learn some CAD (poorly), got a bizarre patent (we put a garage door opener IN a light fixture), became the UL Specialist, and Quality Manager, and ISO Rep by default. Made the first "on-line" ISO documentation system in our industry (no more stupid books to track, and drawings to chase), brought three divisions under one roof under one common ISO system, and got each one their own cert. Still the Quality Manager, but was getting tired of always losing to 3 straw bosses that just wanted to ship shit. Quit being the Quality Manager when one of the Engineers got away with using a Green ground wire for a SWITCHED HOT inside a light fixture (because it was set up in the system, and was to lazy to make another one), and Management refused to stop it. Got an offer to go into the Customer Satisfaction team as a data analyst, and did that the last four years. Developed a reporting system that was shared among 32 factories, and eleven brands across North America. (Collecting THAT was fun, and very popular - people love to share their mistakes.) Every aspect of product issues was measured equally, fairly, and "just the facts, maam".

Finally met my last boss in person. He had just sent me to Eindhoven NL, to be part of the new service tracking software (it was bad, but I tried). Came to San Marcos for my review. Gave me a raise, a bonus, and then even a bonus for the coming year? Wait, what? Have to let you go. He had 5 people under him, the other 4 all managed real people. I just managed data. And that was the end of the system right there. No one to replace me, new system had no analysis, and would all be run from Europe. Gave me a nice severance for all my years, and said I could leave today if I wanted. I had some promises to fulfill, so I stayed until the end of the month. And the house just got paid for....

Now that's a long story to get to the retirement. All this stuff didn't pay for crap - low pay all my life. But I finally looked at the IRA that I'd been putting into, and them matching. Looked like a lot to me, don't need to touch it for a year. And, one of the ownerships had a Pension for a while - small but I get it. Paid off the truck with severance that year. Took a minimum to live exactly the same out of retirement the second year (except to purchase the roof solar and wipe out the power bill for the most part). Past year took both retire money and SS finally, and made a little cushion, bought the wife the RAV4. This year, mostly just taking the SS and Pension, small amount of retire. If covid dies, we may take some money for a trip, but she won't travel until then. So, I'm rich without being rich.

Good Morning ALL!

 

Plenty of great retirement strategy stories! Good reading, thanks.

My dad started taking SS at 62 instead of his FRA of 65. Ran the numbers and his breakover date was 88 years old. He made it past that age but I don't think he had any regrets.

His situation and mine are very different though. Dad was booted out of his job at 59. He took SS as soon as he could because he thought he had to. He worked a consulting gig for a few years, then his financial adviser sat him down and said "what the heck are you doing?" and showed him how he could fully retire. In my case I was working fulltime until last month, and taking SS early or even at my FRA would have been silly. Now at 68 years and 9 months, when I weigh whether I should start taking it now or go to 70, one thing comes to mind. SS payout goes up 8% a year for every year you wait; actually they calculate that by month so it is 0.75% a month I think. That's not a bad return, especially considering there is zero risk. At least it wasn't a bad return until now! I have some stock options from my last job that need to be used over the next 2 years, and I planned to blow through them and use the proceeds to cover what SS would have paid me, and wait until 70 for the biggest SS payout. Naturally the stock market has to tank just as I get ready to put this brilliant plan in motion!

 

Well, I guess I kinda started something with this retirement plan stuff, so I'll add some more.
When I was a dumb kid, I thought that I deserved all the comforts of life just because I was fully employed. I played one credit card against another, back and forth till all my credit cards were maxed out and delinquent. The wife actually had to accept food from the church at one point. I was about to have a nervous breakdown over it all and gave over the finances to my wife.
She got us out of trouble and I took the reins again, never again to pay interest to anything but our house mortgage. We learned to spend less than we earned, and took every opportunity to invest in our future. With good fortune, good planning, and both of us having retired from good paying jobs, we are well positioned for whatever the future holds for us. My stocks and bonds were sold off at a fortunate time before the crash a few years back, not knowing if or when the recovery would happen, of course with hindsight not a problem, but at that time... So no more speculation, no more risk taking, just comfortably watching our nestegg continuing to accumulate, but at a more leisurely rate.
The big problem with this plan being so successful is that now that we can afford anything we want, our declining health won't let us enjoy it. We have lost so many good friends from our club affiliations, we don't even know the newbies in our clubs. We can't take a trip, we can't fly, we're stuck here with cabin fever and a bucket list never to tackle. The good part? Our heirs can sock us away in a good home instead of in a poorhouse. Life is hell and then you die.

 

Best way to take on a cold night here in northeast PA.

 

Back to the real world....
"What are we doing for dinner tonight?"
"We're going to the Bistro, remember?"
"Oh, we have reservations?"
"No, they don't take them. I don't think. I'll look it up"
"Well?"
"Um, they aren't even open until Wednesday.... "

Got a thick ribeye to sear, and some lobster tails to grill in a little bit....

 

I considered waiting to 70 to take SS as well. When I initiated the paperwork a few months back the stock market was doing great and I was beating that 8% yearly increase quite well with my investments. Of course we were in a market bubble as I think everyone knew and now down she comes. This year I doubt there’s any way the stock market (S&P 500 etc) beats SS 8%, and if you consider a possible 7% cost of living increase next year on that same 8% annual increase if you wait, that would be an effective 8.56% SS increase waiting out this year alone.
I could stop SS if I wanted and accrue the SS raises, there’s a form and mechanism for that, and draw off the cash and bonds I have in my portfolio. However there’s also the psychological aspect for me - just don’t want to see that nest egg draw down faster than it has to, lol. I have enough cash, securities and bonds to wait out the stock ETFs to recover for 5-6 years, so I’m fine with how I have it now. SS, a small retirement check from a previous job will minimize how much I draw from investments. Wife will reach her full retirement age in 2 1/2 years and her SS will help as well. And while I’m working 2 days a week for a while I won’t even have to touch my investments. I did wait a year and a half past my full retirement age so that was a 12% SS increase there. So all in all no regrets.

 

Mister Gray agrees, from somewhat further south but still quite cold PA.

 

Good morning fellow Porchatonians!!

 

I "retired" (refused a job relocation at 67) - took the SS and a small retirement from a much earlier employer. Don't know about the rest of you, but I hated the endless "honey-do" lists from my Mrs (who stlll works - full time) - and got this job in a machine shop near my house. Tapered that off to 4-1/2 to 5 hours every day....... its interfering with my own projects now (Thunderbird needs front disc conversion).

We don't have money woes, a roof over our heads - and I'm grateful for that - and know that many struggle.

 

Good Morning Porch Pals & Gals! Lovely day for some mulch and spigot box making. Have to send Masterbuilt a note about my temp probes going crazy though - almost ruined Valentines dinner!
All the Ladybugs came yesterday, and I let them loose in the greenhouse at sundown. Makes them Love Bugs I guess!

 

If you are thinking of retirement, be like Ken!

Again Be like Ken!

I will get back to you on the install of the new NAV map. I should receive the card this week.

I was forced into retirement through a "RIF" at work. Best thing that ever happened to me. They tried to make me quit by giving me the armpit jobs but I stuck it out. I was rewarded with a retirement package that included 6 months' pay. The package ran out 1 week after I turned 62. I filed for unemployment and Social Security. Running the number I would need to live past 87 to make up the difference. A month later I received a letter from Social Security. that my son had a benefit too. He was a rising high school freshman, so I received 4 years of a monthly check to support his. Easy enough to do since the SS checks paid for his high school. I refigured the breakeven date for social Security, and it was not at 108 years old. No brainer not to go back to work. My wife and I saved quite a bit for retirement over the 18 years since we were married. We maxed out two 401K plans, putting in the extra cash as allowed after turning 50, and a combination of 4 Roth and Simple IRA's. We even had enough to invest $500 a month in a brokerage account. My dad passed the same year I was retired, and we took a decent portion of that money and invested in an Annuity that came due this past November. We opted for a lower payout so no matter which one of us passes first the survivor will still be paid out the rest of their life, even if we deplete the account. This payout will be in August to pay the property tax, homeowners' insurance and one of the semi-yearly car insurances premiums. If there is any money left in the account after both of us passes on our son will inherit the remaining amount.

We are doing well enough to take wonderful vacations every year.

I just per-ordered a Samsung S22 Ultra yesterday, to replace my now 5 generations old Samsung S10+. Life is good.