Another who has given up on TMF REHP

[InParadise]

Just a quick thanks to several who have supplied this link to a like minded board without the politics that TMF has become so bombarded with. Sorry it took so many of you to finally get me here, but sometimes I can be a slow learner!

For those of you I've never met, we are in the final 18 month countdown to retirement, complicated by two kids in college for another collective 5 years of tuition payments post pulling the retirement lever. We've been working closely with a financial planner for the past couple of years and feel pretty comfortable that our planning will see us through. I look forward to perusing the boards here to make sure I've accounted for all contingencies, and get ideas on what to expect when DH leaves the corporate world and the world becomes our oyster.

In the meantime, I continue to downsize our stuff, prepare the house to put on the market, and fix up the vacation home to move into full time.

Look forward to getting to know you!

IP

 

[brewer12345]

Hi, IP. I am sure you remember me from TMF. I left the REHP (AKA right wing circle jerk) a decade ago for these fair lands, and I have not had much to do with TMF for years owing to the fact that it is a sewer of political poop-throwing. The mods here do an excellent job nipping that stuff in the bud and I am grateful for their efforts.

Are you still in the VI? I pulled the plug last month and so far it is great. It was a lot of work to get here in the final year run up, though.

 

[rodi]

Congrats on being in the final glide path.

Took me a while to figure out that TMF = the motley fool. Is REHP the retiree health plan? Or is it something else?

 

[Jack_Pine]

Good luck with your plans. I have to second that the mods here do a great job. These guys/gals and one other gun forum I am on are the best I have ever seen.

I have to ask (maybe everyone else gets it). What is TMF?

EDIT: Got it, just had to google better......................

 

[InParadise]

Hey there Brewer! You are actually one of those that prodded me way too long ago to come over and check things out. CONGRATS on retiring. I remember you having kids even younger than ours...am I mistaken in that?

We left the VI about 10 years ago to come back to the mainland. This is MY paradise, though with all the snow we've gotten this year...Paradise to me is a state of mind, anyway, and we hope to go to another physical and mental paradise as soon as Youngest graduates high school. One can be miserable no matter where they are, or conversely, happy. Your choice!

<i>It was a lot of work to get here in the final year run up, though. </i>

Any direction you can point me in to read about your trials of reaching retirement in the last year?

Rodi, REHP is Retire Early Home Page, once a board on TMF that was pretty great for discussing early retirement but long ago changed it's name to Retire Early Camp Fire and mostly discusses, ( a kind term for what actually happens,) politics. The original REHP is still in existence as a blog by the board founder. Sorry for the unexplained acronym!

IP

 

[Sarah in SC]

Glad to have you. I didn't spend any time over there, but I certainly heard the stories.
Delighted to know that we've got a good rep for snuffing out politics around these parts!

 

[Jack_Pine]

Wow, just spent a little time over there. That board uses software that is not very good....and the postings are out of control.

 

[InParadise]

Jack: Wow, just spent a little time over there. That board uses software that is not very good....and the postings are out of control.

Now Jack, the point of my intro was not to send you into the lion's den! As to the software, I think it all depends on what you are used to. It will take me some time to figure out the new to me format of this board. Clearly, however, I don't use HTML for quoting! I rather think being out of control is kind of the point of RECF.

IP

 

[InParadise]

What the heck is with the dryer sheets thing? I am not at all confused about them. While they are a misery for the laundry, they make an excellent bug repellent while kayaking, when tucked into your hat. Only drawback is that you too have to smell that smell that drives the bugs away!

 

[REWahoo]

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f47/whats-the-deal-with-the-dryer-sheets-44456.html

Other good info can be found here: Early Retirement FAQs - Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community

 

[Major Tom]

TMF was my major introduction to the idea that I could take control of the financial side of my retirement life. This was back during those heady tech-stock boom days of the late 1990's. I thought I was being terribly smart by following their "Foolish Four" stock strategy, quite unaware that a) most stocks were going up and up anyway and b) the value of my portfolio wasn't actually going to keep going up forever without taking a break. I never did learn how to value a stock or the company and business behind it, so the basic buy and hold strategy I eventually gravitated towards involving index funds and a pre-determined AA suits me much better.

I spent quite a bit of time reading the TMF boards and formed a rough idea of who the main characters were, but never really got to grips with their back-stories, and the dynamics of the various boards and interactions between the characters. Not really sure why that was, but I did enjoy the writing style and content in the articles on TMF. Then TMF became a paid service and I left them in search of something free, spent a few years mainly working, then eventually found this place. Spent a year or two doing nothing but reading here, before even posting, and still feel like something of an outlier (but perhaps that's something I'd need to talk to my shrink about, if I had one!)

I still read the occasional article on TMF (and have subscribed to their Rule Breakers newsletter for the last few years) but don't go anywhere near the discussion boards. I understand that Bogleheads is an OK place to hang out but there is only so much room in my life for online forums. I mean, you have to get up to eat, go to the bathroom, and sleep occasionally

Good to make your acquaintance IP. The mods do a lot to help make these forums a pleasant place for all. Sounds like the next 18 months will be an exciting time for you. Perhaps you'll be able to share some of your experiences with us. Looking forward to that!

 

[2B]

We've been working closely with a financial planner for the past couple of years and feel pretty comfortable that our planning will see us through.
IP

I'm surprised no one commented on the financial planner yet. One of the big opportunites of this forum is to get help and support to stop you giving a major portion of your investment returns to someone that ultimately provides very little value.

Do you care to discuss this topic? It would be good to know your fee structure and what you feel the FP is doing for you.

 

[REWahoo]

InParadise, if you are curious as to what was going on here at E-R.org while you were slogging through the politics at TMF, here's a bit of history: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f32/the-history-of-early-retirement-org-53657.html

 

[ziggy29]

Just a quick thanks to several who have supplied this link to a like minded board without the politics that TMF has become so bombarded with. Sorry it took so many of you to finally get me here, but sometimes I can be a slow learner!

Look forward to getting to know you!

Howdy stranger! Yeah, I never much go over there any more, since the politics are simply too dominant and the signal to political noise ratio is very nearly zero.

Anyway, welcome aboard!

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Hey there Brewer! You are actually one of those that prodded me way too long ago to come over and check things out. CONGRATS on retiring. I remember you having kids even younger than ours...am I mistaken in that?

We left the VI about 10 years ago to come back to the mainland. This is MY paradise, though with all the snow we've gotten this year...Paradise to me is a state of mind, anyway, and we hope to go to another physical and mental paradise as soon as Youngest graduates high school. One can be miserable no matter where they are, or conversely, happy. Your choice!

<i>It was a lot of work to get here in the final year run up, though. </i>

Any direction you can point me in to read about your trials of reaching retirement in the last year?

Rodi, REHP is Retire Early Home Page, once a board on TMF that was pretty great for discussing early retirement but long ago changed it's name to Retire Early Camp Fire and mostly discusses, ( a kind term for what actually happens,) politics. The original REHP is still in existence as a blog by the board founder. Sorry for the unexplained acronym!

IP

REHP by John P. Greaney, my patron saint, from whom with the Terhorsts and the Kaderlies I learned that it was possible to leave the game before I die.

It still has resources that are updated from time to time that are priceless.

Bless you, John, where ever you are.

 

[InParadise]

I'm surprised no one commented on the financial planner yet. One of the big opportunites of this forum is to get help and support to stop you giving a major portion of your investment returns to someone that ultimately provides very little value.

Do you care to discuss this topic? It would be good to know your fee structure and what you feel the FP is doing for you.

2B, the financial planner came into play a couple of years ago when I realized that this close to retirement I had better get more conservative. I've been investing our funds for years, but frankly did not want to continue to deal with the hassle of management or learning how to be anything other than 100% invested in stocks. We started out with the FP slowly, but we are now to the point where his after fee returns have earned him 90% of our non-real estate holdings. Frankly, if DH gets to give up his job I get to give up one of mine too! While I would have to search for the exact number, our funds invested with the FP returned about 23% for 2013, net his 1%. There are no trading costs at all. Our kids' accounts, particularly Eldest's Roth which is not as conservatively invested as ours, did even better. He provides other free services as well, which are valuable to us, mostly knowing that in a hit by a bus scenario, the kids will have someone to advise them financially beyond our less than competent siblings! Having an FP was a god send when dealing with my parent's passing, and I am glad he will do the same for our guys should the need arise.

To each his own, but frankly I would rather be kayaking.

IP

 

[InParadise]

Hey Ziggy! Good to see you!

We keep on discussing getting an urban retreat to go with our cabin and would be sorely tempted by your neck of the woods if it were not so blooming cold in the winter!

IP
looking to ditch this snow

 

[InParadise]

InParadise, if you are curious as to what was going on here at E-R.org while you were slogging through the politics at TMF, here's a bit of history: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f32/the-history-of-early-retirement-org-53657.html

Huh. Didn't realize this was Dory's brain child. His leaving the REHP board at TMF was a great loss. Have to disagree with him on TMF, though. The pay to use boards were wonderful...the decline came when they made them free again. But I guess that is easy to say when I never did have to pay for the board, based on comps for contributions.

Thanks for the history lesson.

IP

 

[brewer12345]

Hey there Brewer! You are actually one of those that prodded me way too long ago to come over and check things out. CONGRATS on retiring. I remember you having kids even younger than ours...am I mistaken in that?

We left the VI about 10 years ago to come back to the mainland. This is MY paradise, though with all the snow we've gotten this year...Paradise to me is a state of mind, anyway, and we hope to go to another physical and mental paradise as soon as Youngest graduates high school. One can be miserable no matter where they are, or conversely, happy. Your choice!

<i>It was a lot of work to get here in the final year run up, though. </i>

Any direction you can point me in to read about your trials of reaching retirement in the last year?


IP

I have a 7YO and a 9YO, so my kids are a lot younger than yours by the sounds of it.

In addition to holding down an aggravating job, I had a lot of things to do or figure out by the time I was ready to split. I had to get a vasectomy done, I had to deconcentrate our portfolio (lots of large individual equity positions), I had to figure out the intricacies of Obamacare and make sure we could get decent coverage at a price we could afford, I had to come up with a retirement budget, I had to connect the dots on how the part time self employment thing would work out (part of our retirement financial plan), I had to figure out what I was retiring too rather than from, etc. There was a truckload to do in between working, chasing kids, etc.

 

[ziggy29]

Hey Ziggy! Good to see you!

We keep on discussing getting an urban retreat to go with our cabin and would be sorely tempted by your neck of the woods if it were not so blooming cold in the winter!

There's nothing "urban" about our neck of the woods unless you drive 45+ miles into Victoria, or close to 90 minutes to San Antonio if you need something really urban!

 

[InParadise]

I have a 7YO and a 9YO, so my kids are a lot younger than yours by the sounds of it.

In addition to holding down an aggravating job, I had a lot of things to do or figure out by the time I was ready to split. I had to get a vasectomy done, I had to deconcentrate our portfolio (lots of large individual equity positions), I had to figure out the intricacies of Obamacare and make sure we could get decent coverage at a price we could afford, I had to come up with a retirement budget, I had to connect the dots on how the part time self employment thing would work out (part of our retirement financial plan), I had to figure out what I was retiring too rather than from, etc. There was a truckload to do in between working, chasing kids, etc.

Yikes! You are way braver than we are! Going part time was never an option, though. DH tends to be an all or nothing kind of guy, putting in way more hours than he is paid for...if that is possible when salaried. We definitely need to get a better handle on ACA, though I think that will have evolved some by the time we are done, and his company does offer retiree health care at this time. I suspect that will be a casualty of ACA, however. Could have been pulled at any time anyway, causing us to budget an extra 20K /year just in case. Our FP took care of the change in portfolio, which is now much less high octane. Our last hurdle is getting Youngest out of high school so we can move out of this high cost of living area to our county house, assuming by then I have finished the punch list that is required to get our primary residence on the market and sold.

I think we have a decent handle on what we are retiring to, having bought a river front home in the boonies out of preforeclosure a couple of years ago. I've been modifying it from a 1br/1.5ba, in the process of adding two more bedrooms, a bunk house and having a shower added to the half bath, basically converting the lower level workshop/garage to the first level of the home. It took me a while to realize a 1 br house would not work when the kids were home from school, but it is coming along nicely: riverhse's uploaded images - Imgur The real trick is going to be DH's transition from 12 hour days at work to working hard at fishing, hiking, and kayaking! That's work worth doing!

IP

 

[InParadise]

There's nothing "urban" about our neck of the woods unless you drive 45+ miles into Victoria, or close to 90 minutes to San Antonio if you need something really urban!

Oooh, sorry. Had you confused with another poster at REHP that shares your (real) first name and lives in Pittsburgh.

Did consider some of the rivers in your general neck of the woods, particularly when we almost took a transfer down there. Definitely look forward to checking out that area better, being already fond of Austin and San Antonio. There is only so much one can pick up about an area on line.

IP

 

[clifp]

Welcome InParadise. I was very active in REHP TMF forum from 2000 until about 2007. Did you post under the same username? I used the same name.

It is sad what has happened to the Motley Fool. My mom (and I) seem to be permanently on their mailing list, and mom also reads their stuff in her local Sunday paper.

She is convinced that they are some type of stock gurus. I've tried explaining that 15 years ago they were, big proponents of index funds, do it yourself investing and sharing of ideas among members. However, they quickly discovered their was no money in that. So they switched 180 degrees and now push, managed funds, newsletters and expert advice.

 

[ziggy29]

She is convinced that they are some type of stock gurus. I've tried explaining that 15 years ago they were, big proponents of index funds, do it yourself investing and sharing of ideas among members. However, they quickly discovered their was no money in that. So they switched 180 degrees and now push, managed funds, newsletters and expert advice.

Yep, I've said that for years about TMF. They have become almost exactly "The Wise" they used to dismiss as money-suck who didn't know any more than a well-informed individual investor.

 

[brewer12345]

The house is lovely, IP.

Part time is actually not a big deal. DW has been part time self employed for years and now that I am free I can see so many low effort ways to pick up a few shekels here and there. Our budget is pretty modest (5k/month) and I figure we will cover 2 to 3k/month for the first few years to mitigate sequence of returns risk and hedge the fact that W and I are pulling the plug at age 40.