OT: Retiring early

[e5fdny]

I'm thinking of doing something my Mom did. She bought an RV and took 3 to 4 weeks a year and saw the country. She always said, "I've been to a lot of places all over the world, now it's time to experience my own country in person before its too late". For me and my wife it would probably involve Rutgers sports in some facet, especially now with it being a coast-to-coast conference.

That was my late Dad’s plan too.

My Mom said, “Have fun and send me a postcard.”

 

[Bababooey_Class'80]

By eyeballing the NJFamilyCare limits/requirements, you seem to be in a sweet spot for eligibility. If I am reading correctly, it is either 137% or 148% times the poverty limit for the family size (in our case 2).

We have rental homes and investment income that I think would push us over the limit, and this will not be an option. Sounds like you don't have a pension (like me (us)).

No pension here. Just CD interest below the income limit.

 

[tom1944]

I'm thinking of doing something my Mom did. She bought an RV and took 3 to 4 weeks a year and saw the country. She always said, "I've been to a lot of places all over the world, now it's time to experience my own country in person before its too late". For me and my wife it would probably involve Rutgers sports in some facet, especially now with it being a coast-to-coast conference.

That seems like a great idea.

 

[jtung230]

That was my late Dad’s plan too.

My Mom said, “Have fun and send me a postcard.”

That’s why their marriage lasted.

 

[newell138]

Yep, said the same thing in my long post. Great advice we got from my dad and my wife's dad when I started at Merck after grad school. Also, we were already living together when I was in grad school, so we were used to living on a pittance, just getting by, so when our income took a huge jump when I started working in 1989 it was easy for us to put most of that increase away, maxing out my 401K from day one and putting some additional money away into investments/savings to buy a house (4 years later). Compounding is awesome especially if one starts with a nice chunk of change.

One other financial piece of advice we almost got burned on by not following it early in my career: diversify your investments in your 401K or elsewhere. For my first ~11 years of work, I had 90% of our 401K in Merck stock, which was doing great, so I made a lot on paper, but for a few years I had several friends tell me that that position was risky, in case something happened to he company stock. So I converted about 90% of the MK stock to a diverse portfolio of funds within the 401K when our stock was at $90 in late 2000, a few months before the VIOXX mess, which led to the stock dropping to $30 within 3-4 years - and it took 20 years to get back to $90. Best financial decision I ever made, but an even smarter one would've been to not be invested so heavily in one stock in the first place.

I recall a few peeps in Rahway who were close to retiring when that happened, some of them had 100% of their 401K in the Merck stock. Not good!

 

[Knight Shift]

I recall a few peeps in Rahway who were close to retiring when that happened, some of them had 100% of their 401K in the Merck stock. Not good!

Had a friend at a corp I worked at about 30 years ago. We were permitted to move our 401K money in and out of company stock freely. Stock had reached an all-time high, and friend was going on a long trip without access to watch and/or move investments while away, so he moved all of it to a stable value fund. Stock crashed while away, IIRC going down 300% or more. When the stock was down around $1, he moved all his 401K money back in, and watched it rise to $4/share, and by then, he had a cool $1M in his 401K under 30.

We rode the crash all the way down and never recovered our losses in that 401K. 🤡
Win some, lose some.

 

[Scarlet4Shore]

For those of you that have NJ Family Care for your health insurance, how hard is it to see a doctor you want to see? I work in health care and we don't take that insurance. We get at least one call a day from people looking for a provider that takes NJ Family Care. The person on the other end is so frustrated no one worth going to takes their insurance. Around here, it's VNA for general health issues, and the clinics at the hospitals. You don't usually see the same doctor twice.

 

[rutgersdave]

For those of you that have NJ Family Care for your health insurance, how hard is it to see a doctor you want to see? I work in health care and we don't take that insurance. We get at least one call a day from people looking for a provider that takes NJ Family Care. The person on the other end is so frustrated no one worth going to takes their insurance. Around here, it's VNA for general health issues, and the clinics at the hospitals. You don't usually see the same doctor twice.

I had Family Care for a few years before reaching 65 and then getting Medicare and supplemental insurance. I didn’t have many medical problems and generally had my annual check up, checking my blood pressure and adjusting the medicine. They assign you a general practitioner when you get your card. No problem getting an appointment.

 

[jtung230]

Had a friend at a corp I worked at about 30 years ago. We were permitted to move our 401K money in and out of company stock freely. Stock had reached an all-time high, and friend was going on a long trip without access to watch and/or move investments while away, so he moved all of it to a stable value fund. Stock crashed while away, IIRC going down 300% or more. When the stock was down around $1, he moved all his 401K money back in, and watched it rise to $4/share, and by then, he had a cool $1M in his 401K under 30.

We rode the crash all the way down and never recovered our losses in that 401K. 🤡
Win some, lose some.

How does a stock go down by 300%?

 

[Bababooey_Class'80]

For those of you that have NJ Family Care for your health insurance, how hard is it to see a doctor you want to see? I work in health care and we don't take that insurance. We get at least one call a day from people looking for a provider that takes NJ Family Care. The person on the other end is so frustrated no one worth going to takes their insurance. Around here, it's VNA for general health issues, and the clinics at the hospitals. You don't usually see the same doctor twice.

I was able to choose my expiring carrier Horizon and there were no problems with my existing doctors. I also had the misfortunate of coming down with a severe medical issue that required several operations and hospital stays at Hunterdon Medical Center. Again, no issues. Never saw a bill.
On the other hand, dental was a different story. Very limited and sketchy providers. I decided to pay for my own dental plan.

 

[rutgersdave]

Bernie Sanders' Report Reveals Over Half Of Older Adults Survive On Under $30,000 A Year: 'Americans Deserve To Retire With Dignity' But The Current System Won't Allow It

During the golden years, where rest and leisure should be the reward for decades of dedication, the American dream of retirement is quietly turning into an elusive fantasy for many. As financial insecurity grows with age, retirement is becoming a luxury few can afford. This grim reality is...

www.yahoo.com

According to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, over half of Americans older than 65 live on incomes of $30,000 or less annually, with nearly a quarter surviving on between $10,000 and $19,999.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

How does a stock go down by 300%?

It’s that new math.

 

[koleszar]

How does a stock go down by 300%?

So much so, that in the end, you owe them money. 😁

 

[RUShea]

Great thread. Lots of good insight. I think about this daily. I'm 52 and am hoping to be able to get out in 6-7 years. It's interesting to hear the different thoughts on how much you'd need. I'm thinking 3.5 is the magic number but I love hearing others say less! While I understand the folks who say they'd be bored, my POV is I'm happy to give it a try. I have enough hobbies I think I'd be alright. If not, I think the plan is to work part time at Bass Pro or something that I enjoy.

 

[Rhuarc]

How does a stock go down by 300%?

It's probably the same reason that pigeons aren't real.

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/draft-prospect-tip-reiman-pigeons-combine-nfl-trends-2024/

 

[Jimpeg]

still 5+- years away and my financial planner that only manages 20 years of rollower 401ks and has done multiple analysis over the years consistently says the following...
1- your expenses will not really go down much when you retire, you have more spare time and realize that your in the 4th quarter and want to enjoy your time....travel is not cheap..
2- inflation will continue to go up, so enjoy the 5:00 dinner specials
3- besides determining where your going to live with different state taxes can impact many financial decisions
4- Increase in prices of housing will essential equate to rolling over my current house to my retirement home and any leftover money should just be put away for housing costs/taxes/hoa dues...
5-take social security within 2 years of retirement, the variable of you don't know how long your going to live outweighs any hypothetical of waiting 5 years longer for a higher SS amount...
6- longer term health care plan is essential

 

[Unionst]

Timely topic by OP. We are not far off from retiring, but before we even get there, we are trying to figure out when/if we want to be done. I'm a member of an LLC, and work is work and can suck, but I still derive a great deal of satisfaction from my work, and we have a great team that has been together for a long time. We are not world travelers, and don't have aspirations to be world travelers. We have a place in AZ that is paid for, everything back East is paid for. We carry no debt.

We were both raised by depression-era (Great Depression, not mental lol) parents, and we still live with a depression-era mentality. I've been mocked for not having premium here, but we are very careful with our money. I grew up dirt poor, and in our minds we never have "enough."

We don't have pensions, but we will have an income stream from rental properties that should cover our basic living expenses. We have a very low burn rate. I have been told numerous times by colleagues that we have more than enough to retire. For us, it is more about finding things to fill our time. I already spend a fair amount of time doing volunteer work, and I suppose I could up that.

The biggest tether in our minds is health insurance. This is the question. For those that are not retired from the public sector or do not have a decent retirement health plan from their employer, what is the cost and quality of health insurance for a couple to bridge the gap until medicare kicks in at 65. And then, what is the cost of Medicare? Google says $505 per month for a couple- is this right?

Health insurance is huge cost unless you are eligible for Obamacare. I retired at 59, got a year of Cobra and then hit the market at 60. Ouch. By 65 we were each $1,000 a month for a high deductible plan. Add to that copays on everything. If anything even modestly significant happened in a year health wise I figured $30k for the two of us. Just hit Medicare. Yay! Medicare numbers are easy to find online. Somewhat income dependent but way less than the open market.

 

[RUBlackout]

still 5+- years away and my financial planner that only manages 20 years of rollower 401ks and has done multiple analysis over the years consistently says the following...
1- your expenses will not really go down much when you retire, you have more spare time and realize that your in the 4th quarter and want to enjoy your time....travel is not cheap..
2- inflation will continue to go up, so enjoy the 5:00 dinner specials
3- besides determining where your going to live with different state taxes can impact many financial decisions
4- Increase in prices of housing will essential equate to rolling over my current house to my retirement home and any leftover money should just be put away for housing costs/taxes/hoa dues...
5-take social security within 2 years of retirement, the variable of you don't know how long your going to live outweighs any hypothetical of waiting 5 years longer for a higher SS amount...
6- longer term health care plan is essential

This is why I have $6mm as my target as that should put me around $14k/mth after taxes for expenses. Lower that my current expenses but there are many things included today that won’t be necessary at that point.
I’m not counting on SS or any other forms of income as that will all be gravy on top. My goal is to only live off interest and hopefully be able to pass along any semblance of wealth to my kids.

 

[newell138]

This is why I have $6mm as my target as that should put me around $14k/mth after taxes for expenses. Lower that my current expenses but there are many things included today that won’t be necessary at that point.
I’m not counting on SS or any other forms of income as that will all be gravy on top. My goal is to only live off interest and hopefully be able to pass along any semblance of wealth to my kids.

14k a month in “expenses”?? You’ll need 6mm at that rate

 

[Jimpeg]

This is why I have $6mm as my target as that should put me around $14k/mth after taxes for expenses. Lower that my current expenses but there are many things included today that won’t be necessary at that point.
I’m not counting on SS or any other forms of income as that will all be gravy on top. My goal is to only live off interest and hopefully be able to pass along any semblance of wealth to my kids.

....i think my back of the napkin expenses will be somewhere at $10K a month for me & wife...with no mortgage i figure 2k in housing expenses (taxes,upkeep,utilities) 6K in fixed expenses (food, cars, insurances, etc) and 2k in travel/entertainment a month...

 

[BossNJ]

As I am eating curry goat…yum

Yah mon!

I’m more a stew chicken and oxtail guy, but my wife is all curry goat.

 

[Knight Shift]

How does a stock go down by 300%?

Aww shite, typing on phone sux. I meant 3X, but just looked it up, and it was worse. Stock was at a high of 77 and fell to 0.75. friend got back in at around 1 and rode it up.

 

[Scarlet16E]

It sounds like a lot of people here expect to live the high life right up until the end.
The thing is, at some point you will be 80+ years old (or not), and you will probably not have much interest in that high life any more.
Now those funds could then support medical and long term care expenses, but if you have insurance you can mitigate such costs.
Just food for thought.

 

[jtung230]

It sounds like a lot of people here expect to live the high life right up until the end.
The thing is, at some point you will be 80+ years old (or not), and you will probably not have much interest in that high life any more.
Now those funds could then support medical and long term care expenses, but if you have insurance you can mitigate such costs.
Just food for thought.

Don’t forget RU

 

[czxqa]

Whoops, that's per year. Sorry, will fix.

haha, I was starting to think the bank wasn't boning us anywhere near as hard as we all thought

 

[GSGS]

Sounds like you're doing most of the things you need to. I also couldn't wait to retire, as I liked work, but I love my hobbies and since retiring 4 years ago at 57, I've really indulged them. While the pandemic put the kibosh on our travel plans for awhile, I've been having a blast playing disc golf 4-5 days a week (about 3-4 hours for travel and to play typically), including many tournaments on the weekends (those are all day affairs), plus I've picked regular golf back up a bit and started playing weekly soccer again on Sunday mornings last year, plus there's softball in the spring/summer. In addition, my wife and I do about one day trip per week within a 1 hour drive (or train if we go into the City), plus we eat out several nights a week, including going out with friends at least once a week. We're hoping to start traveling more extensively this year: Europe trip in the works and we go to Vero Beach 2x a year to see my dad and my sister who live there, as my dad can't really travel anymore.

We also started playing poker weekly when the pandemic hit, as our group of 8, which has been playing monthly since the late 1980s, had more free time and one of the guys in the group took a rudimentary poker game in the Steam gaming environment and programmed the shit out of it, creating a game that's way better than any other on-line games, as it's free and it automatically deals any of our ~20 games with betting, folding, shuffling and pot-splitting (high low games) all automated, so it's even significantly faster than our in-person game. And we're on Zoom the whole time so the connection/banter is still there. Now we play in-person monthly and on-line monthly - and I often go to the casino to play on the off weeks.

And then there's my weather hobby (obsession? lol) as people see here (and in about 4 other places) and my music hobby, DJ-ing several events per year, still, plus going to see bigger shows several times a year, plus local acts periodically and, of course, my RU sports fanaticism with a group of 12 for football and a group of 4 for hoops - and this board and TOS - and other social media sites like FB. I also do some volunteering as I'm on the RU Chem/Biochem Eng'g Dept's Industrial Advisory Board, plus I do some info sessions and student mentoring and my wife and I do some local volunteer activities in town.

Financially, the most important thing anyone can do, IMO (apart from never, ever, ever carrying credit card debt, which is the worst thing anyone can do), is to save as much as you can from day one of working which we both did - it's especially important to max out with any 401K/IRA contributions (not just for a company match but the max amount one can, legally or at least the most one can afford). That wasn't hard for my wife and I, as we got used to living off of my tiny stipend from RU while in grad school and her fairly low income at the time - and then when I started working at Merck for a lot more $$ ($55K to start in 1989), we put most of that away from the beginning.

We ate out a lot and traveled some, still, but were thrifty in other areas - for example, we almost never bought new cars (just once) and drove them until they died, we furnished our house mostly from death, divorce and estate/garage sales (my wife got some amazing stuff at 10-20% of cost at estate sales), and we never spent much at all on clothes or jewelry (I probably never spent more than $200/year on clothes, since I went to work in jeans and an oxford shirt, generally). Over decades, I'm sure that saved us a ton.

We invested our 401K money pretty aggressively until we hit about 50, when we started going more conservative (some bonds/bond funds), as our goal shifted towards preservation. It also helped a lot to work for a company with a defined benefit pension plan, which I was originally going to take as a monthly annuity, but in early 2022, I could see inflation was coming and might get bad, so since I had been sitting on the pension, I decided to take the lump sum right then and there before it went down by quite a bit with rising interest rates (lump sum amounts changed quarterly and I would've lost over $300K from the lump sum if I had waited another month to execute the lump sum) and we rolled it over with our financial advisor into a mixture of mostly bonds and some stocks, since at 59 preservation was absolutely our goal over growth (which comes with more risk and we didn't need more $$, we just didn't want to lose what we had if there was a big market drop). Even invested conservatively, we've made far more in 2 years than the zero we would've made on the pension annuity, which had no COLA associated with it.

I was also fortunate to have my best friend as my boss my last 5 years (I kind of got him the job, so he was always grateful), meaning I did very well at a senior director level with regard to bonuses/raises, but more importantly, he knew I was thinking about retiring in my late 50s, so when he came to me in early 2019 asking if I would want to retire with a very nice separation package (1.5 years of salary) I jumped at it and retired in early 2020 - and then they hired me back as a consultant at a 25% higher rate for ~20 hours a week right at the start of the pandemic, so I did that for my first 18 months of retirement, but have been 100% done with work for 2.5 years now, despite still getting offers to do consulting. I don't miss it at all apart from the people - and I still get to see a bunch of the folks I worked with as I'm close by, plus they still invite me to the holiday and summer BBQ parties (which I still DJ). The one thing I still miss, though, is working with groups of talented people to solve really difficult technical/project problems, especially when we were all under the gun and working like maniacs to figure things out.

At this point, we're living off of monthly disbursements from our various IRA funds at a level just a bit above our after tax income when I retired and despite having to withdraw from that our overall funds have increased in value above that cost. We also had enough liquidity to put about $70K into the house over the past 2 years for some much needed renovations (complete remodels of the 2 upstairs bathrooms and a complete remodel of our family room with very nice new furniture for a change, plus repainting of every room in the house) and we're planning on a complete redo of the backyard (~$70K to take out the old deck, put in a new large stone patio and do a bunch of landscaping and other stuff). Probably won't take our SS until 70 on the advice of our FA, who basically said that if you don't need it, wait to take it as you'll get more, overall, by the time you're 80 and beyond - sure there's some risk of not getting to 80, but from our perspective, SS is a bonus and just in case our estimates of things are off and we end up having a much tighter situation, we'll appreciate having more $$ overall by waiting (we'd get an extra $400K by the age of 92 if we wait until we're 70 to take it vs. 62).

Our other major asset is our house, which is worth close to $1MM now (crazy, as we bought it for $250K in 1993) and is 100% paid off. In addition, as per my other post, one other benefit of working for a pharma company is that our retirement health care is essentially the same as it was as an employee and while it's more than it was as an employee, it's still reasonably cheap ($800/month for my wife and I) vs. the open market and we'll have that until I'm 65 and have to go into the Medicare pool. Given that our overall assets are in pretty good shape, we've started donating more to groups that mean a lot to us, including RU, where my old boss and I - he also got his PhD in chem eng'g from RU - established a $50K endowed scholarship 4 years ago. And we started gifting our son this year so can get at least some of his inheritance at a lower tax rate (and when he can really use it), as the pre-tax IRAs he inherits (much of our portfolio) will need to be cashed out over 10 years, which will likely mean some higher taxes on that - it's still way better than getting nothing though, lol. My wife and I can gift him up to $36K/year tax-free - we did around $20K this year to start.

One more thing. It'll probably come as no surprise, but there's no way we're leaving NJ, especially for anywhere warmer - the furthest away I'd ever consider is NWNJ to get more snow, lol.

Good stuff, RU#'s. I'll mention one thing that's worked well for me - instead of putting too much money in fixed income, over time I've bought some stocks of good companies that typically increase their dividend every year. In some ways, this strategy is actually be more conservative over time than fixed income, because the increasing dividend stream allows you to manage the inflation risk. Some very solid companies in the energy, financial services, and pharma spaces pay generous dividends that are well covered by earnings and have excellent histories of increasing their dividends over time.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Yah mon!

I’m more a stew chicken and oxtail guy, but my wife is all curry goat.

Boss- there are some here that have no idea…

Breakfast for me for b-days - ackie &saltfish plantains and dumplings

Oxtail is by far my favorite meal ever.

Always something special going to happen when you see the beans in water the night before

 

[T2Kplus20]

Aww shite, typing on phone sux. I meant 3X, but just looked it up, and it was worse. Stock was at a high of 77 and fell to 0.75. friend got back in at around 1 and rode it up.

I really like my current company and believe in its future success. We get a ridiculous amount of equity and our stock is up big over the past year. I have a pretty high risk tolerance, but this single stock risk got way, way too high. Over the past month, I started to exercise and sell. Cut back 25-30%, but another round of options and RSU were just granted on Monday, so I'm back close to my starting point. LOL!

Single stock risk is a tough to manage and it depends on a lot of variables. However, the one thing I always say to my colleagues and team members, the value looks amazing on your Fidelity dashboard, but until you push the button to sell/exercise, it's not your money.

 

[Scarlet83]

What will you do on a daily basis if retired in your 40’s? I personally could never retire, id be too bored

Everyone is different. One of the keys in successful early retirement is to find activities that are personally meaningful and require mental, physical and/or social effort. Many people can do that well, but some can’t.

 

[LeapinLou]

still 5+- years away and my financial planner that only manages 20 years of rollower 401ks and has done multiple analysis over the years consistently says the following...
1- your expenses will not really go down much when you retire, you have more spare time and realize that your in the 4th quarter and want to enjoy your time....travel is not cheap..
2- inflation will continue to go up, so enjoy the 5:00 dinner specials
3- besides determining where your going to live with different state taxes can impact many financial decisions
4- Increase in prices of housing will essential equate to rolling over my current house to my retirement home and any leftover money should just be put away for housing costs/taxes/hoa dues...
5-take social security within 2 years of retirement, the variable of you don't know how long your going to live outweighs any hypothetical of waiting 5 years longer for a higher SS amount...
6- longer term health care plan is essential

1 - good point
2 - I like to cook. I know people love restaurants but I can eat for a week by shopping/cooking for what it costs for 2 meals in a restaurant. I always tell the young people in my office they can save $200/month just by shopping and preparing their own lunch instead of going out.
3 - While NJ is expensive, this is where I'm happy. I know people that left our area and love their new spot. But others regret leaving. If you're going to move, make sure you'll be happy there.
4 - agree
5 - Depends on who you are. My wife is 5 years younger. She'll benefit greatly if I wait.
6 - For me, this is the single toughest decision. I'm not a big insurance guy. I know people that spent tens of thousands on long term health insurance and died without ever using it. So my tendency is not to do it. But if you don't have it and you need it, you could spend every last penny and leave nothing to your kids. If you're crazy rich, definitely get it. If you're poor, obviously you can't afford it. If you're in the middle like most of us, you need to make a judgment call.

 

[RU at the shore]

I'm sorry, you pay $32,000 to $36,000 a month for health insurance? Or is there an implied decimal there?

My family health plan is just over 36 k

 

[RobertG]

1 - good point
2 - I like to cook. I know people love restaurants but I can eat for a week by shopping/cooking for what it costs for 2 meals in a restaurant. I always tell the young people in my office they can save $200/month just by shopping and preparing their own lunch instead of going out.
3 - While NJ is expensive, this is where I'm happy. I know people that left our area and love their new spot. But others regret leaving. If you're going to move, make sure you'll be happy there.
4 - agree
5 - Depends on who you are. My wife is 5 years younger. She'll benefit greatly if I wait.
6 - For me, this is the single toughest decision. I'm not a big insurance guy. I know people that spent tens of thousands on long term health insurance and died without ever using it. So my tendency is not to do it. But if you don't have it and you need it, you could spend every last penny and leave nothing to your kids. If you're crazy rich, definitely get it. If you're poor, obviously you can't afford it. If you're in the middle like most of us, you need to make a judgment call.

My only retirement saving strategy : I'm not leaving anything to the kids! Haven't I done enough for them!

 

[RU848789]

My only retirement saving strategy : I'm not leaving anything to the kids! Haven't I done enough for them!

lol, my buddy's mantra is he wants to blow all his money and then have the funeral check to bounce...

 

[ClassOf02]

My only retirement saving strategy : I'm not leaving anything to the kids! Haven't I done enough for them!

My parents did it right. Sadly, they’re both gone now, but the entirety of the estate was about $100k to be split among 4 kids. Spend your last penny on the day you die, I say!

 

[Scarlet1984]

It’s notable in this thread that different people make different choices that make sense for them.

My wife and I have gone “back and forth” on retiring. I’m semi-retired now (consult to my old company with monthly retainer) and she works full-time. She’s thinking about calling it quits. I try to point out that we are already spending more than we make from working 🤷‍♂️😳. And I like the medical and dental insurance.

Got good advice from my financial planner: “I hope you guys fly first class, because if you don’t your kids will.”

I have never been good at saving money. And my wife is not much better. We don’t have “the one who is good at saving” that many couples have.

Having said that I am actually well-positioned financially for retirement, but I like the income and the activity.

 

[JayDogSmooth]

It’s notable in this thread that different people make different choices that make sense for them.

My wife and I have gone “back and forth” on retiring. I’m semi-retired now (consult to my old company with monthly retainer) and she works full-time. She’s thinking about calling it quits. I try to point out that we are already spending more than we make from working 🤷‍♂️😳. And I like the medical and dental insurance.

Got good advice from my financial planner: “I hope you guys fly first class, because if you don’t your kids will.”

I have never been good at saving money. And my wife is not much better. We don’t have “the one who is good at saving” that many couples have.

Having said that I am actually well-positioned financially for retirement, but I like the income and the activity.

Interesting take re leaving $ for kids
Striking the right balance between living life & leaving $$ could be tricky

 

[miketd1]

IMO, if your kids believe they are in line for a large inheritance, it'll have a negative effect on their drive and desire for personal success.

I'll just do what my folks did for me: Pay for college. Help with weddings. Offer home down payment assistance (we declined). Jumpstart grandkids' college fund.

I have no idea if I'm in line for $$$. I do know that my parents definitely had no problem enjoying the fruits of their labor and I plan on doing the same!

 

[batts]

I'm in my late 60s and I am a partner in my small law firm along with my brother, who is a year younger than me. Our plan is to not retire in the next 5 years or so, but to instead down size our law practice by concentrating our practice on wills, trusts, and transactional law, which we still enjoy practicing. We will avoid any and all heavy duty and stressful litigation. Although our respective incomes will be reduced, the tradeoff will be less stress and more free time to enjoy travel and golf.

 

[rutgersdave]

IMO, if your kids believe they are in line for a large inheritance, it'll have a negative effect on their drive and desire for personal success.

I'll just do what my folks did for me: Pay for college. Help with weddings. Offer home down payment assistance (we declined). Jumpstart grandkids' college fund.

I have no idea if I'm in line for $$$. I do know that my parents definitely had no problem enjoying the fruits of their labor and I plan on doing the same!

I don’t think so. If my siblings and I live to a decent age 80-85, the kids will get the inheritance around 50-60 years old and pretty much lived their own lives hopefully successfully. They don’t know the exact amounts and we don't know the exact amount, some $3-6 million at late 60’s could end up $9-40 million depending on long we live. The kids, late 30’s early 40’s, are more successful than their parent, like numbers or TK2, and will save more. Giving the money to them in their 20’s might spoil them, my brother kids did get credit cards in HS. The grandkids are spoiled.

My parent grew up during the depression like Knight Shift so they were extremely frugal when we were kids. Some of that was passed on to us and less so on the next generation.

 

[Scarlet1984]

Interesting take re leaving $ for kids
Striking the right balance between living life & leaving $$ could be tricky

More context is that he was saying we should not be pinching pennies as he assumes we will be dying with plenty of money left over. Also, there is a significant life insurance trust that is already funded so my kids will be set.