Thinking about retiring

[K9Torro]

Well I have finally decided to think about retiring ,

I have worked from the time I was 17 years old when I joined the military straight out of high school, I am 45 now and lately have started to think about pulling the plug on working full time.

I have two retirement pensions locked in, but here is the deal on those, one is a federal that starts at age 60, the other is a state that starts at age 55, then of course I would have social security if there is any left when I reach that age.

I have done pretty well with my investments in real estate and I am currently debt free, I own my home free and clear, all my vehicles and currently have only the recurring monthly expenses that everyone has such as food, gasoline, and electric.

My wife works in a well paid job and plans to keep on plugging away at it, she has a 401K which we can tap later in life, we have been married 26 years and she is 43.

She tells me to " just quit " about every day, I think she wants me to have more time around the house to do stuff for her, lol.

We currently have about six years of my net salary in the bank in liquid assets, for the past three years we have been using my salary as living/spending money and just depositing her's in the bank, she makes appx 3 times my base salary.

A word about health care, mine is fully paid by the job, hers is an add on at my job and we pay a small premium for this coverage, we could switch this around to her job's health care but would have to pay a slightly larger premium for the both of us as her's is not provided there,

We also have military retiree health care, full benefit's.

I " want " to quit , but just can't seem to pull the plug, so there it is...

Any thoughts ?

Todd

[mossguy]

Torro - If having your wife as the breadwinner isn't an issue for you, go ahead and retire! Then: Work on/Finish your "Honey-do" list, Complete your own unfinished projects, start some new ones, get really, really good at your hobbies and avocations, and, If you run out money, or things to do, or get bored, go back to work.

Enjoy!

Tom

[legion]

Sounds like you have the assets and debt structure to never work again. It's your call.

Do you have any vacation?

Try taking a month off as a "trial retirement". You might love it. You might be bored as hell.

Also, keep in mind that you will probably have to restructure your assets for living off of a fixed income. Try meeting with a financial adviser to get a second opinion and some ideas for what your portfolio should look like.

[K9Torro]

Tom -

Thanks for the reply , I guess what is really nagging at me right now and holding me back is the fact that our liquid assets in the bank do not cover the years until the retirement income starts to come in, having said that I don't think we would run out of money just living during those years, esp. with her working.

Once the retirement checks start to arrive we would be in good shape without any income at all.

Todd

[K9Torro]

Chris -

I am taking three weeks off Sept/Oct to do a little trip we have planned, that will pretty much empty out the ole vacation bank at work,

Have sat down and figured a budget for us, it equals out to about half of my wifes net income a year, I figured on the high side on everything I could think of.

The other half of her income would go to just doing stuff or back in the bank,

I would probably find something to do to add a little money to the income, just dont know what it would be.

Todd

[Zeke]

No need to punch a time clock in your situation. I'm sure you can work as you wish and play when you want to. If I were in your situation, I'd probably "retire". However, I like to work, so I'd most likely be back at the grindstone after a nice rest.

[pwd72s]

Are you out of debt? By that, I mean, house paid for? Credit cards paid off monthly with no interest or "service" charges? No car payments? These questions may sound minor, but they can loom large once you don't have that regular paycheck...

[Racerbvd]

I've been thinking on this myself, "if I sell the main biz and get rid of some of the extra stuff( i.e the 20+ years of Porsche stuff stored in mult warehouses) I could retire & spend some time in the islands, so instead I too the money from the last big gig and am starting another biz

I know, I'm a glutton for punishment, all I've even done is worked toward goals, I was raised to work to achieve so I don't know that I could ever be happy doing nothing

[Dennis Kalma]

I am having the same problem...one difference is that I do not have any pensions coming, so I need to live on what I have banked, which begs all the questions about stability and returns on financial markets.

Anyway, on to the important things....take at least 3 months off...1 month won't do it. Make sure your wife takes the same time off, so you can figure out if you can put up with each other on a close to continuous basis. Break the cycle by going off on vacation for as long a period as you can manage...we did a month and still wish we would have taken longer.

Also, do a post retirement budget. Make it real, include your vacation and travel desires, include buying parts from Wayne for your Porsche, build in realistic numbers for anything you are practically going to want to do. We did that and found our income needs are not as high as we thought, which eases the concerns a bit. We also did not build in the sale value of our house, idea is that we need a place to live and don't want to leave until we have no choice.

Ahhh...I could go on forever....another thing is can you in fact stand making your hobbies into your job? What are you going to fill your day with for the rest of your life. I don't think you need to map it out, but you should at least have some variety and mix of individual stuff and people oriented things.....

And last thing. Just do it.

Dennis

[K9Torro]

milt - that is kind of what will probably happen, I might try and flip some car's since I like working on them, maybe something like that.

pwd - yep completely out of debt , have been for several years, own everything we have.... whoo hooo.

racer - you know I am just up the road from you, Camden Co right across the state line, get down to Al Broadfoots from time to time.

Dennis - the after retirement budget is a hard one, figuring things we would like to do and what not,,, but will have to take a serious look at it.

Todd

[Racerbvd]

Originally posted by K9Torro

racer - you know I am just up the road from you, Camden Co right across the state line, get down to Al Broadfoots from time to time.

.

Todd

Let me know next time you are heading down, Albert has been a very good friend to me!!

[Evans, Marv]

Sounds like you have it pretty well figured out.
I've only been retired for a little over two years now. My wife still works and will continue for the forseeable future, although not making millions as a teacher. I like to work also and haven't had a break since I retired. Haven't awakened one day to ask myself what fun thing I would like to do that day.
Right now I'm building a house and still working infrequently on my car. The house is pretty much a full time job, and I'm doing a lot of the stuff myself. After it's completed, I'll still have a ton of things to do to it and around it. So I don't see much difference between working and retirement, except I am doing things I like and want to, and can do them according to my schedule lots of the time.
I think you would be better off if you got something going either before you retire or shortly thereafter. I'm 20 years older than you, and I wouldn't want to wake up daily wondering what to do - and I'll never do that.
At your age, it could be an opening door for you to devote time and energy to something or somethings you always wanted to explore.

[Dueller]

Keepin mind that Social security is extending the age for you to receive full retirement benefits. Plus, they will use your highest 40 years of earnings to compute your benefits. So all those "zero" years will substantially lower your SS benefit. The estimate you receive every year or so assumes you will continue to work at your current income until you retire.

Plus you may want to check if any of your pensions will offset your SS benefit....might want to go to the local SSA office and ask them to compute a benefit estimate based on a bunch of "0" years as well as if you'll be impacted by GPO (gov't pension offset).

Have you thought about going part time for a while or starting a sideline business? My dad retired from the military then retired from civilian job. Drove him nuts so now he raises a herd of 60 or so Black angus....makes about $40K a year shuffling his heard but more important than the $$$$ it keeps him sane. He's 75 and hgealthy as a horse.

[Tobra]

Sounds to me like you need to build yourself a nice big, well equipped shop, and get to work on those projects.

[rammstein]

I wish I was you. Well Done!

[gerard vaglio]

What type of work do you do?

The reason I ask is that some type of work can be done on a freelance basis or as a consultant. In cses like these it's not hard to earn 3/4ths of your income while only working half time.

[dmcummins]

I'm just turned 50 and I called it quits this year. I have no problem finding plenty to do. My wife is going to work another year or two so I try and help alittle more around the house to make it easier for her.

You only have so much time in your life. If you can afford it why spend it working for someone else.

[dmcummins]

Check out http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/

[K9Torro]

Wow this thread is getting some good feedback and alot of people posting in with their thoughts, I appreciate all the stuff you guys put on here...

Racer - will do, thought about coming down for the gun show at the fair grounds this weekend but we have a house project well under way so I might not make it. Al and Kelli are great folks, I try an send them some business when I can.

Marv - we are thinking about traveling around the U.S., it might sound stupid but we have not really seen much of the country that we call home.

Dueller - good info on the SSI , did not know some of that, I don't have the federal offset with the one retirement I will have at 60, the other is a state retirement so that should not bother me on SSI, I can't go part time where I work, but I could always get a part time job doing something completely different, have had one decent offer of part time employment, plus there is always Lowe's up the road...lol

Tob - got the shop already, and plenty to do in there if I ever get the time, haha

Wayne - maybe I could be your East coast rep for Pelican ...

Ramm - thanks for the kind words.

Gerard - I am a local govt. slave, can't do free lance or consult very easy, might be able to get a job teaching some in service courses but it would more than likely be full time work and the drive would be about one hour each way, so not to sure about that. It would more than likely be a clean break once I decide to leave.

DM - actually " time " has become a big factor lately, for the past couple of months we have received some really bad news from both family and friends who have health issues, mainly cancer, or in some cases they just out right pass away, these people are only a few years older than we are, my family has a very short life span for some reason or the other which weighs heavy on my mind, would hate to work my whole life to end up dead on the job, if that makes any sense.

Todd

[azasadny]

Todd,

Retire and enjoy, you deserve it!