harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Hi everyone,
My wife and I retired 2 years ago, at age 50, with enough money to last forever properly managed (and with no unforeseen holocausts). I have been working toward this for most of my adult life. I have a list of things to do that will last me 20-30 years at least, and have what I thought was a clear picture in my head of how I was going to handle our finances moving forward. I was the most prepared FIREd person I've met.
I'm seeing now that things aren't that simple. Life sure can get in the way. I'm not complaining, just a little baffled by it all.
We have built and moved into our dreamhouse on the Eastern shore of MD (that's my backyard view in the avatar), and just closed on our previous home in Northern VA last week. It only took 1 week to sell it, and thy wanted to close in less than a month - sweet! I'm going to learn to play golf properly (just hacking at it before), play my music, do some wood working (if I ever get the garage cleaned out), and work my way through my list. If I ever get enough spare time. The retiree's paradox.
I also have now wrested control of about 1/2 my assets back from our CFA, and intend to invest in various index funds and ETFs going forward, with regular re-allocations. I'll take the rest over as time and taxes allow, until I'm completely managing my own money. He's a really nice guy, but over the years he's convinced me to put too much money in investments I just don't understand, and that are hidden in insurance vehicles that I can't get information on from Morningstar. I want transparency, low costs, and tax flexibility, and I'm not going to get that with him. But it's funny how easy it is to decide how to invest your money, and how hard it is to actually pull the trigger with the big bucks on the line and only yourself to hold responsible.
One thing that has really changed things, my mom's husband just passed away (also last week), and left her in a god-awful financial situation. They were doing great together, with a $6K/month (after taxes) military pension, and another $2200/month in SS. That's nearly $100K/year! I have no idea what they spent it all on. But they assumed he would outlive her, and that he would be fine. Assuming in the face of statistics is a bad move. She is now left with only his SS income ($1300/month), no investments except a chunk in savings, and some small life insurance policies. Overall she has a net worth of about $250K (not counting her house, maybe another $200K), and will get his $1300/month from SS. I know many people have it worse, but if they had handled their money better she could have been worth at least a couple million. She'll be OK, and I'll help where I can (and she lets me), but it makes me mad to see people not take care of themselves and their loved ones properly.
That's enough for now. I'm hoping to be fairly active on the board, since I have a million questions, and maybe one or two pieces of good advice. I'll see you all around.
Harley
My wife and I retired 2 years ago, at age 50, with enough money to last forever properly managed (and with no unforeseen holocausts). I have been working toward this for most of my adult life. I have a list of things to do that will last me 20-30 years at least, and have what I thought was a clear picture in my head of how I was going to handle our finances moving forward. I was the most prepared FIREd person I've met.
I'm seeing now that things aren't that simple. Life sure can get in the way. I'm not complaining, just a little baffled by it all.
We have built and moved into our dreamhouse on the Eastern shore of MD (that's my backyard view in the avatar), and just closed on our previous home in Northern VA last week. It only took 1 week to sell it, and thy wanted to close in less than a month - sweet! I'm going to learn to play golf properly (just hacking at it before), play my music, do some wood working (if I ever get the garage cleaned out), and work my way through my list. If I ever get enough spare time. The retiree's paradox.
I also have now wrested control of about 1/2 my assets back from our CFA, and intend to invest in various index funds and ETFs going forward, with regular re-allocations. I'll take the rest over as time and taxes allow, until I'm completely managing my own money. He's a really nice guy, but over the years he's convinced me to put too much money in investments I just don't understand, and that are hidden in insurance vehicles that I can't get information on from Morningstar. I want transparency, low costs, and tax flexibility, and I'm not going to get that with him. But it's funny how easy it is to decide how to invest your money, and how hard it is to actually pull the trigger with the big bucks on the line and only yourself to hold responsible.
One thing that has really changed things, my mom's husband just passed away (also last week), and left her in a god-awful financial situation. They were doing great together, with a $6K/month (after taxes) military pension, and another $2200/month in SS. That's nearly $100K/year! I have no idea what they spent it all on. But they assumed he would outlive her, and that he would be fine. Assuming in the face of statistics is a bad move. She is now left with only his SS income ($1300/month), no investments except a chunk in savings, and some small life insurance policies. Overall she has a net worth of about $250K (not counting her house, maybe another $200K), and will get his $1300/month from SS. I know many people have it worse, but if they had handled their money better she could have been worth at least a couple million. She'll be OK, and I'll help where I can (and she lets me), but it makes me mad to see people not take care of themselves and their loved ones properly.
That's enough for now. I'm hoping to be fairly active on the board, since I have a million questions, and maybe one or two pieces of good advice. I'll see you all around.
Harley
