Stop wasting your time whining. Spend it enjoying your health and good fortune.. You are in better shape than most. .
OT retirement question - well educated and well employed, why am I still worried about my future?
- Thread starter JMORC2003
- Start date
You make a good point about taxes. We did a comparison of NJ and Delaware (which has insanely low property taxes). The property tax difference was quickly offset by the higher income tax. Have seen a lot of people leave NJ to go to "cheaper" states, and they spend the savings traveling back to NJ 2-4 times per year to see their family and friends. Part of our plan is to cash out of our larger house/property with high taxes to get a smaller house/property closer to the beach and with lower taxes. This will lower not only our taxes but our maintenance costs for the house/property. We are partially "stuck" in NJ (not a bad place to be stuck) because we own two rental properties, and we have no problem with that. We spend little time tending to the properties, but I will not mind spending some of my time doing small maintenance projects on the rental properties.
Dave, agree with this 100%. Some people have the misfortune of doing great work for a company that is mismanaged. Instead of being rewarded, they suffer a mid-career job loss that is tough to recover from. Poor management may even hold them back due to fear of the strong worker replacing them. Then you have very average people that land early at great companies due to blind luck (secretary at Microsoft). They ride the momentum and become rich despite being completely average. That is not fair. But overall, our system tends to reward smart/hard working people and every generation seems to do better than the last, with notable exceptions. No place on Earth rewards merit more than our country and system.
From my experience the people who are rewarded the best are the people who are bullies and are good at manipulating people. That is why so many leaders are stupid people. A quiet non-combative smart person will be chewed up and spit out in no time to the person who sucks up to the boss and secretly tells the boss crap about their co-workers.
Agree somewhat. People with "big" personalities do well, even if they can't back it up. Shy competent people are buried. But ultimately, if a company rewards too many of the former at the expense of the latter, they are toast. The "boss" is paid to reward contributors and punish low performance. If a boss gets this wrong too often, he is cast aside.
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Owning rental properties is probably THE best way to go, but you have to be a certain type of person to go that route..... I inherited 1/2 of my parents house and could have wound up owning the two family if I wanted..... I hated taking care of the little things that were involved, so I was happy to sell it
My business partner owns about 30, maybe more, rental units, and is rolling in cash..... Yet nary a few hours go by without some issue, it seems...... Some problems can be really aggravating, time consuming.
But if you want to be comfortable, and you are good with doing the math when considering, you can be very well off in old age
The real problem is when you are older, do you sell when it gets a bit tougher... I have seen owners hold on longer than they should..... They love the cash flow and just can't cash in.
rutgersguy1,
I believe it covers x amount per day for the time you are in a facility. I will check my contract and update you with the particulars.
My calculator of maximum savings that you will need to retire is this. Assume you will live to be 90. If you live beyond 90 you will most likely live in a nursing home and you will not want to have any assets or the nursing home and doctors get it. Then figure out what you can live on. Some people can live on 40K or 50K a year. Some people can live on even less. Then if you want to retire at age 50, for example, you will need 40 years times 40,000 which is 1.6 million. However, this number in actuality will not have to be that high if it generates income. This also doesn't include social security that you might get later.
As for adjusting for inflation, my idea is to have a certain amount of money exposed to the stock market. The stock market basically mirrors the economy. If the dollar becomes worthless, then your money exposed to the stock market becomes more. Investing in precious metals is a waste of money IMHO as is investing in long term care, which in my opinion is a waste of money. :-)
As for adjusting for inflation, my idea is to have a certain amount of money exposed to the stock market. The stock market basically mirrors the economy. If the dollar becomes worthless, then your money exposed to the stock market becomes more. Investing in precious metals is a waste of money IMHO as is investing in long term care, which in my opinion is a waste of money. :-)
My wife will be taken care of by her Dad's estate when he passes.
If you were taught to be thrifty and save for your retirement properly by your parent, hopefully, you will have a decent inheritance from your parent. There are many baby boomers that saved assets to pass along to the next generation. My parents grew up in the depression so you know they saved a lot and I appreciate it even if they had 5 kids.
If you were taught to be thrifty and save for your retirement properly by your parent, hopefully, you will have a decent inheritance from your parent. There are many baby boomers that saved assets to pass along to the next generation. My parents grew up in the depression so you know they saved a lot and I appreciate it even if they had 5 kids.
Mine too. 3 kids, with $250,000 total in total savings to split among three kids. Thankfully my mother has a US government pension and health benefits, and she is living very comfortably in retirement.
Will be lucky to see 1/3 of $250,000. I learned the value of liking life and being happy regardless of how little money you have. I also learned that starting my own business and working hard would prevent me from being in the same situation when I retired--I will not ave a pension, but hope between savings and rental income, we will be fine. I also expect to have the benefit of being able to work 5-10 hours per week well past retirement to make some extra $ and not deplete our savings. I like what I do and the people I do it for, and continuing to work a little is OK with me.
Also keep an excel spread sheet of your spending. A row for cyclic expenses with 12 columns, and a summarized for 'other' and 'groceries' per month.. You have to do this in order to really see what you can live on. There is to be no guessing. For example if you think you can live on 50k a year, but don't factor in that you buy a new car or boat every two years, then you can't live on 50k a year. A spending work sheet exposes your spending habits.
A lot, it not all, of LTC has moved away from uncapped benefits (new policies). So it might be x amount per day, up to some cap...say $120,000 or so. Where the insurers got destroyed is in unlimited benefits and people didn't let the policies lapse at the pace they expected...so more people utilizing benefits and with higher severity than expected. Virtually all of the new stuff has limits on benefits, and there is an expectation of smaller, but more frequent, rate increases.
My view is if you have the resources to self-insure, you should. (i.e. if the benefit is $120k capped, and you can afford that expense...even if you don't want to pay it...you are better off self-insuring).
For anyone interested, a guy in Colorado retired in his 30's and has a whole blog about living the good life on minimum $. I believe he retired on $500K, but he had a rental property or two. His blog has useful information and is entertaining. He and his family live a simple lifestyle, and they do not buy new cars and other unnecessary extravagances.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
Thanks for that.
What jmc11201 said above is pretty much what I had found out when I looked at it a few years ago and I've kind of gone along with his line of thinking that I don't know that LTC insurance is as good a planning vehicle as it once was 10 years or so ago.
It's tough not having a pension. The younger kids when comparing with older individuals forget that they need to save more without the defined pension. I 'm lucky that my share is closer to 500,000 but we got in a few fights when I was a kid about how poor we were or how frugal they were.
Enjoy life but don't over do it.
If you are saving now, you should be fine by the time you are 65.
You might need to leave NJ when you retire.
If you are saving now, you should be fine by the time you are 65.
You might need to leave NJ when you retire.
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Wow, 30 properties is a lot and too much for me. Two 2 family properties will set us up fine--should give us about $50-75K in annual income. We may get a third two family property with separate buildings and live in one and have the second pay our property taxes. Owning rental properties is not for everyone, but we enjoy it. One of the properties is a beach rental, and we have a lot of repeat renters each summer who never cause us problems and are a pleasure to rent to. Having one or two bad tenants once or twice can be a draining experience. Landlord/tenant actions in court are not fun.
This 100%. I started doing this a week after moving into my dorm freshman year after I noticed I spent all my money on having fat sandwiches delivered from Giovanneli's. My friends think I'm crazy for recording every transaction I make, but I really think they are the ones who are crazy for not keeping track of their money.
That's what's always discouraged me from going into rental properties as an investment. If you get good renters it's a great income generator and pays for itself but get a lousy renter and you open up a pandora's box. I don't have the personality or tolerance to deal with those kind of things so I've stayed away. I know some people who have anywhere from a few to 10s of properties in other parts of the country including places they may not reside. I always ask how do you get good renters but I don't think there's really an answer. They have a realtor manage and screen prospective renters for them which helps to reduce possible risks but in the end you never really know for sure. I guess it's that unknown that says this isn't for me.
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yes, his dad gave him and his brother a 12 unit apartment house, so they had a hell of a head start...the father was into real estate, so the kids learned from the old man........ from that point they used that to leverage and get more apt properties.
it is impressive if you can make $50 k plus with 2 properties....best of luck
One day the earth is going to be destroyed by the sun. So our distant offspring won't even have to worry about saving money. "I owe 3.8 billion dollars to Walmart but I am going to wait for the earth to be consumed by the sun before I pay them". It is a bit to early to use that excuse now though.
By the time that happens man will have invented a biospheric spaceship that can sustain a population for the many years it will take to arrive at a habitable planet in the Alpha Centauri star system.
Your debts will follow you there, so better make good on them now before you go into arrears and starting accruing penalties and added interest costs.
I've done this for a few years, but after a while, I found that tracking every single item was simply too much and not providing good information. What I do now is track four categories per week 1) credit card transactions in the aggregate 2) ATM withdrawals 3) checks written and 4) auto-pay items. That covers every way in which cash/money goes out of my pocket. After a while, you figure out what is your run-rate of spending...and can make a determination on whether you need to cut back or have room to spend more (house projects, etc.). I've found it helpful not only to make sure we aren't getting out over our skis, but I also know how much it takes to maintain my existing lifestyle and helps me think through longer term financial goals.
Having that many rental properties close to retirement, it might make sense to try to consolidate by selling and 1031 the proceeds into a larger building that you can farm out the building management. Unless you really like being a landlord and handyman.
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They already use a full time handyman of sorts, but with so many units (spread over about 4 buildings) they constantly get problems presented..... I was away with the owner for a few days.... When he got back home he had to find a water leak that the guy could not, get estimates on roof repair, and continue the court eviction of a problem tenant.... That would drive me nuts
.. .. Your idea of one larger building has merit, but I don't think it will happen
you know when I said "fear" that was a poor choice of words. The fear is more about missing out on the extra cash I would be stocking away if I keep working and what I could use it for and finding out what the hell I want to be doing when I grow up.
I am now in the Pay me off or piss me off mode at work. I'll leave when either happen. They can let me go anytime now and I'll be fine with the severance owed.
I think the one big stress point if I was young would be being forced out early like they do now along with increased life expectancy and a SS/Med being a much reduced offering when they are older.
AND I really feel for what it costs a kid for even a decent base college education.
I got nothing ($$) from my parents but I feel so blessed to be able to help out my kids and their kids. I think we are going to need it given the structural change to this country. As long as my portrait is over the fireplace LOL!
Thanks for the advice and reassurance. Comforting to know that I'm on the right track. I know I could certainly save more, but my wife is home with the kids, so we're relying on my paycheck alone, and it goes quick.
of course I'm shooting for early retirement, but my bigger concern is being forced out before I'm financially ready to hang it up and end up struggling to make ends meet. Totally happy working the register at trader joes for extra cash in my twilight years, as long as I'm not depending in it to survive.
of course I'm shooting for early retirement, but my bigger concern is being forced out before I'm financially ready to hang it up and end up struggling to make ends meet. Totally happy working the register at trader joes for extra cash in my twilight years, as long as I'm not depending in it to survive.
Another point that should NOT be overlooked....... The financial impact of nursing home care, assisted living care, or in home health care. Long Term Care health costs over $5-6,000 a month today. By the time you will need it, and the odds are you or your spouse WILL need it, will be staggering in the future. If you are 40 today and go into a nursing home at 80, it won't be $6,000 a month, it will be several times that. Medicare does NOT pay for it except for skilled nursing care, NOT custodial care(which most cases are). And skilled care is limited in the number of days.
I recommend getting some Long Term Care insurance before age 60 with inflation protection to protect your retirement account. just a thought.
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just wondering how the wifey feels about your plan, living in one of your kids basements..... what if they kids don't want you there?
I turn 66 next month (that's weird to write). Still working and plan to do so probably for another 4-5 years. I enjoy going to work every day. I've got enough put away to retire, but the University seems to still want me to be here and I like what I do.
But after watching some old guy make an idiot of himself in a restaurant once, I said to Skillethead Jr., "If you ever see me behave like that, or see me wearing two different kinds of plaid together...." He interrupted me with, "Bullet to the back of the head, Dad, you'll never see it coming."
That's my retirement plan.
But after watching some old guy make an idiot of himself in a restaurant once, I said to Skillethead Jr., "If you ever see me behave like that, or see me wearing two different kinds of plaid together...." He interrupted me with, "Bullet to the back of the head, Dad, you'll never see it coming."
That's my retirement plan.
I'm assuming I'll be divorced within the next 2 to 3 years. Inheritance is not a marital asset in NC. At this point in my life, and after all the $hit I've endured, I'm happy with having a full stomach and a safe place to sleep every night. Doesn't cost much. Hopefully my kids will let me use what used to be my stuff, and toss me a few dollars here and there.
Wifey not part of the plan. She'll have plenty of $$$$. I want my freedom. My kids will take care of me. If not, I have some good friends. Honestly not worried about it.
