athena53
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- May 11, 2014
- Messages
- 7,384
Hi!
This all happened really fast but in a way I've been preparing for it since I started my first job straight out of college. I grew up with good examples- Dad started investing in stocks in his 30s, well before 401(k)s, the Internet and discount brokerages. I also saw him get edged out of a job at age 57 after a corporate acquisition. He and Mom left Chicago, paid cash for a little house near the ocean, and are still doing well in their early 80s.
I've been saving and investing my entire adult life, survived a 13-year marriage to a spendthrift, and married my best friend 11 years ago. We moved to a LCOL area for my job and that, plus some nice gains on the houses we sold when we left NJ, really helped the retirement savings.
I'd set a mental finish line of 65, but over the last few months political conditions at my job got really ugly. Last Monday we came to an agreement on the conditions of my departure and Friday was my last day. As it all sinks in, it feels more and more like a good decision- DH is 75 and won't live forever, and I always wanted to see Australia, preferably with him but without the constraints of vacation time. Now I think that will happen.
If I'd worked to 65, our net worth under some pretty reasonable assumptions would have been $1 million more. Sigh. My estimate is that we can meet our current living expenses by drawing down 1.5-2% of the assets every year till I collect SS and then, presumably, we'll need less, so I think we'll be fine even though people in my family tend to live forever.
I'm looking forward to hearing everyone else's stories and maybe offering some advice!
This all happened really fast but in a way I've been preparing for it since I started my first job straight out of college. I grew up with good examples- Dad started investing in stocks in his 30s, well before 401(k)s, the Internet and discount brokerages. I also saw him get edged out of a job at age 57 after a corporate acquisition. He and Mom left Chicago, paid cash for a little house near the ocean, and are still doing well in their early 80s.
I've been saving and investing my entire adult life, survived a 13-year marriage to a spendthrift, and married my best friend 11 years ago. We moved to a LCOL area for my job and that, plus some nice gains on the houses we sold when we left NJ, really helped the retirement savings.
I'd set a mental finish line of 65, but over the last few months political conditions at my job got really ugly. Last Monday we came to an agreement on the conditions of my departure and Friday was my last day. As it all sinks in, it feels more and more like a good decision- DH is 75 and won't live forever, and I always wanted to see Australia, preferably with him but without the constraints of vacation time. Now I think that will happen.
If I'd worked to 65, our net worth under some pretty reasonable assumptions would have been $1 million more. Sigh. My estimate is that we can meet our current living expenses by drawing down 1.5-2% of the assets every year till I collect SS and then, presumably, we'll need less, so I think we'll be fine even though people in my family tend to live forever.
I'm looking forward to hearing everyone else's stories and maybe offering some advice!