Brand New

[seraphim]

OK - a LAST last thought. IF you go ahead and ER now, I'd look into asset protection strategies: perhaps an immediate annuity to guarantee your income for life, or an irrevocable trust which your funds from the government's 5 year look-back policy, in case of medical emergencies.

You need to confer with better minds than mine on those two issues, however.

[seraphim]

I'm not qualified to suggest anything. You just have all your eggs in one basket, income wise, and if that basket gets damaged you have no other source of income. An elder care attorney can offer advice about asset protection. Others here can offer advice about the protection an annuity may offer. I'm not big on annuities for investment purposes, but they may have a use for to offer protected, guaranteed income.

[militaryman]

I would echo many of the thoughts in the above posts.

My parents are making it on about what you are saying is what you are able to make it on however ** to me ** it is not an ideal situation. Retirement really opens up life for you and frees up your schedule for many things. While you may be able to
** deal with ** the income level now, consider that your mind and activity is substantially consumed by work day in and day out --- Will you still be as satisfied if all that time is freed up but you have no funds to DO anything that costs $$.

If so, then go for it! There are plenty of activities that cost little to nothing but for me --

I am hoping there is a substantial buffer to allow me to feel free to add things to my bucket list.

[Nomad4hire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by militaryman I would echo many of the thoughts in the above posts. My parents are making it on about what you are saying is what you are able to make it on however ** to me ** it is not an ideal situation. Retirement really opens up life for you and frees up your schedule for many things. While you may be able to ** deal with ** the income level now, consider that your mind and activity is substantially consumed by work day in and day out --- Will you still be as satisfied if all that time is freed up but you have no funds to DO anything that costs $$. If so, then go for it! There are plenty of activities that cost little to nothing but for me -- I am hoping there is a substantial buffer to allow me to feel free to add things to my bucket list.

Thank you Militaryman. The more I read and with the input here on this forum, I am thinking we need to get closer to 60. We actually might try to relocate to an area where cost of living is lower and we own a home with no mortgage. Taking a less stressful job might be the ticket to getting through the next few years.

Thanks for your input!

[obgyn65]

Welcome to the forum. If Firecalc says you are good to go, then you are good to go.

[Nomad4hire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 Welcome to the forum. If Firecalc says you are good to go, then you are good to go.

Thank you! It sure is tempting! While we are close, I am concerned about the healthcare costs. Our estimated expenses are a bit over giving us a buffer. We are very ready, but might push to 2014 to make a final decision.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad4hire Thank you Militaryman. The more I read and with the input here on this forum, I am thinking we need to get closer to 60. We actually might try to relocate to an area where cost of living is lower and we own a home with no mortgage. Taking a less stressful job might be the ticket to getting through the next few years. Thanks for your input!

What about a break from the current job, a sabbatical for a half year or so, then a less stressful job? You could live on some of that cash, while letting your nest egg accumulate, and then find something that could cover the lower expenses you think you'll have, again giving the egg time to grow undisturbed until you are closer to 60.

This is a bit closer to my plan, albeit one that is a ways off.

[Nomad4hire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC What about a break from the current job, a sabbatical for a half year or so, then a less stressful job? You could live on some of that cash, while letting your nest egg accumulate, and then find something that could cover the lower expenses you think you'll have, again giving the egg time to grow undisturbed until you are closer to 60. This is a bit closer to my plan, albeit one that is a ways off.

My wife said that's a great idea! It was her exact thought last night.

I go back and forth on it. As you can tell from my posts.

I truly appreciate all of the input.

[Sarah in SC]

See, women are always right!

My DH (who is 50) is leaving his job in July for a sabbatical of about a year, maybe. I'm taking 6-7 weeks off at the start of his sabbatical, and then back to work. He'll probably do something after the break, at least for a while, until I feel comfortable leaving my work for good. That's where my perspective comes from. Good luck to y'all!

[Nomad4hire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC See, women are always right! My DH (who is 50) is leaving his job in July for a sabbatical of about a year, maybe. I'm taking 6-7 weeks off at the start of his sabbatical, and then back to work. He'll probably do something after the break, at least for a while, until I feel comfortable leaving my work for good. That's where my perspective comes from. Good luck to y'all!

Thank you much for the thoughts. Are you comfortable with your expenses and income plus nest egg?

[Nomad4hire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad4hire Thank you much for the thoughts. Are you comfortable with your expenses and income plus nest egg?

And you are right - women are always right. Just ask my DW!

[Sarah in SC]

Comfortable...well, I know that we can live up or down the scale, depending on what we want to do. Our normal life expenses are pretty cheap, on the same level as yours. It is the wild and crazy stuff that blows our budget, like travel.

I think that we'll be fine with what we've got saved, not touching it, if we leave it til I'm a bit over 50. That is dependent on Mr. Market, of course, but that's my gut. I just figure that for us, work and not-work is a flowing thing, where we work sometimes, and don't work sometimes, until we feel like we need to retire full-time. The Travis McGee system is what I call it, after the John D. MacDonald character of the same name.

I am not looking for sure things and permanent retirements. I can do something, somewhere, if I need/want to, or I can do nothing if the markets are good. It is a long time, hopefully, til we die, and I just want the luxury of time off between jobs.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC See, women are always right!

I was with you all the way, 'till this.

Nomad, will you get any Social Security? I don't see it mentioned. With a gross income of $36K you are eligible for health care with a premium below your $4.8K estimate, so it looks like you are in the affordable range. Not much $$ to do things, but that is a choice and trade off we all make.

Taking time off to figure things out is not a bad option.

[Nomad4hire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Comfortable...well, I know that we can live up or down the scale, depending on what we want to do. Our normal life expenses are pretty cheap, on the same level as yours. It is the wild and crazy stuff that blows our budget, like travel. I think that we'll be fine with what we've got saved, not touching it, if we leave it til I'm a bit over 50. That is dependent on Mr. Market, of course, but that's my gut. I just figure that for us, work and not-work is a flowing thing, where we work sometimes, and don't work sometimes, until we feel like we need to retire full-time. The Travis McGee system is what I call it, after the John D. MacDonald character of the same name. I am not looking for sure things and permanent retirements. I can do something, somewhere, if I need/want to, or I can do nothing if the markets are good. It is a long time, hopefully, til we die, and I just want the luxury of time off between jobs.

That makes perfect sense to me. I think we will be a bit closer to that option and lifestyle in about a year.

[Nomad4hire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB I was with you all the way, 'till this. Nomad, will you get any Social Security? I don't see it mentioned. With a gross income of $36K you are eligible for health care with a premium below your $4.8K estimate, so it looks like you are in the affordable range. Not much $$ to do things, but that is a choice and trade off we all make. Taking time off to figure things out is not a bad option.

Hi MichaelB....yes we will get SS. Mine is about 25,000 and DW will be 20,000 (estimates). She is ten years behind me though.

Can you explain what you mean by the lower HC premium?

[rodi]

I plugged in the base numbers ($1.1M nest egg, 36k spending, and an assumption of 40 years) into firecalc - Yes - it returned 100%

And that was without social security.

Like others - the spending is the part that raises my eyebrow a little. I assume you have no kids, or the kids are launched. But there are several folks who post here often who live on about that or less. So it's doable.

As for the LTC discussion. Are you planning on leaving an estate? If not, it might make sense to self insure - or let Medicaid pick up the tab if you run out of money. (We're doing estate planning for in-laws right now - and I've become very familiar with the medicaid spend down rules.) The comment earlier about the government clawing back for medicare and medicaid shows a misunderstanding. Medicare is just there... once you turn 65. No clawbacks... it's medical insurance. Medicaid doesn't kick in till you've spent EVERYTHING (except 3k). (Some exceptions for spouse to remain in the home, and set aside a decent chunk of assets). So assuming you did the spend down, and depleted your assets - it will pick up the shortfall of the long term care, after ss, pension, and other income streams are paid.

Also - not all medicaid qualified nursing homes are awful. We have my father-in-law in a very nice home, it gets top ratings for inspections, staff levels, customer satisfaction... and it takes medicaid. Others are awful.

It's worth researching before assuming you need LTC insurance.

(For us - our home equity will provide a buy in for a CCRC and an income stream to pay the rent, when the time comes. )

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seraphim Also, we both have subsidized health care throu our employers better than ACA subsidies. Our costs are about $7200 a year. I'd plan on $8000 through Obamacare - bare minimum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad4hire Thank you! It sure is tempting! While we are close, I am concerned about the healthcare costs. Our estimated expenses are a bit over giving us a buffer. We are very ready, but might push to 2014 to make a final decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad4hire Can you explain what you mean by the lower HC premium?

I'll take a stab at this, since it looks like it might be confusing. Maybe I'll muddy the waters even more, hehe.

The price of health insurance will probably be much more than you are paying today. I'm planning for a 35% to 45% higher price for my planning calculations. seraphim is suggesting a 60% increase. Whatever...that's an unknown. But what Michael is saying is that because your income is low enough, you will qualify for a discount. A big discount that will take you down below your $4,800 estimate! So, higher price tag, but you'll be paying less. These are some of the rules for the new healthcare act. Prices will be on the state "exchanges" in October.

So +1 on obgyn65 says...if firecalc says 'go', I'd feel pretty good about it.

--Dale--

[wmc1000]

Welcome to the forum! If my understanding is correct, As to the lower HI premiums, starting in 2014 a couple can have MAGI of up to 400% of the FPL = a little over $60K per year and qualify for a subsidy that potentially reduces the cost of HI "bronze" level, max OOP of $12500 for an amount not to exceed 9.5% of your AGI.

[Nomad4hire]

A delayed but very sincere thank you to all who offered us input. Much appreciated. We are going to let things simmer into 2014 with a new goal of ER 2014.
Thanks again everyone! Nomad

[ducky911]

Health care goes up as you age along with outpacing inflation. A high deductible plan today for a healthy 60+ couple is over 10k...and may go much higher.