Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Another who has given up on TMF REHP
Old 02-04-2014, 09:44 AM   #1
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 158
Another who has given up on TMF REHP

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
InParadise is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 02-04-2014, 09:50 AM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 18,085
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.
__________________
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

- George Orwell

Ezekiel 23:20
brewer12345 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 09:50 AM   #3
Moderator
rodi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,169
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?
rodi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 09:55 AM   #4
Full time employment: Posting here.
Jack_Pine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 834
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......................
__________________
The Constitution. It's not just a good idea...it's the law.
Jack_Pine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:04 AM   #5
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 158
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
InParadise is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:08 AM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Sarah in SC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
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!
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way

Sarah in SC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:09 AM   #7
Full time employment: Posting here.
Jack_Pine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 834
Wow, just spent a little time over there. That board uses software that is not very good....and the postings are out of control.
__________________
The Constitution. It's not just a good idea...it's the law.
Jack_Pine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:15 AM   #8
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 158
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 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:18 AM   #9
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 158
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!
InParadise is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:21 AM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ets-44456.html

Other good info can be found here: Early Retirement FAQs - Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:29 AM   #11
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Major Tom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 4,324
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!
__________________
Contentedly ER, with 3 furry friends (now, sadly, 1).
Planning my escape to the wide open spaces in my campervan (with my remaining kitty, of course!)
On a mission to become the world's second most boring man.

Major Tom is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:35 AM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
2B's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 4,337
Quote:
Originally Posted by InParadise View Post
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.
__________________
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane -- Marcus Aurelius
2B is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:35 AM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
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/foru...org-53657.html
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:36 AM   #14
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ziggy29's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
Quote:
Originally Posted by InParadise View Post
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!
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
ziggy29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:40 AM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Ed_The_Gypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
Quote:
Originally Posted by InParadise View Post
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.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
Ed_The_Gypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:55 AM   #16
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2B View Post
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 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 10:58 AM   #17
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 158
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 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 11:12 AM   #18
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo View Post
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/foru...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
InParadise is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 11:16 AM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 18,085
Quote:
Originally Posted by InParadise View Post
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.
__________________
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

- George Orwell

Ezekiel 23:20
brewer12345 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 11:21 AM   #20
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ziggy29's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
Quote:
Originally Posted by InParadise View Post
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!
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
ziggy29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
With Yesterday's Lows Dow Has Given Back Half Of Its Great Rise 1982-2007 haha FIRE and Money 8 02-25-2009 12:06 PM
Stolen from TMF brewer12345 Other topics 3 08-16-2006 04:54 PM
MFing TMF brewer12345 Other topics 11 12-22-2005 03:50 PM
Blech, had it with TMF brewer12345 Other topics 13 08-27-2005 01:50 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:45 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.