Anyone else here forced to retire and scared to death?

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetireAge50 What do you like to do? I would try to do that for a job (instead of Walmart). I'm thinking I would try to do the canoes at Disney World. Or you probably have enough to just hang out if that is what you like to do.

+1 This and moving to a lower cost area are probably great places to start planning. You can live pretty cheaply and happily if you want. Some folks live full time in an RV (me included, but I don't travel) and explore all parts of the country. Others find a low cost of living area and settle there. Some move to very low cost of living areas in other countries. When you start SS, you can earn up to $15,720 without penalty. If you move and earn something close to that, you should do fine and maybe you could cut back on withdrawals for a few years which would allow your stash to last several more years. So... What do you REALLY want to do??

[aggie76]

Like others have said..this site tends to be dominated with fairly wealthy types who have had the great skill and LUCK to have had steady employment in industries that paid well and had retirement options that they took advantage of. There is also a HUGE set on here that worked in the government side..public service..or military. They really have a total different financial situation that is hard for many of us to even understand the acronyms nor their issues.
Like you I was " retired" at 62..$40bbl oil , grey hair, part of old guard and the fatal " too outspoken" tag around my neck......It was a horrific few months as I planned to work a few more years but thru a lot of hard work, a great wife who had about 3 years selling new homes that paid astronomically for 2 of those 3. I'm ok financially BUT it is in large part cause I do NOT live in N Va, or [mod edit], or any of the trendy high cost parts of the country.
I will be very blunt with you....Your numbers say that you have to move. Head to an area with reasonable cost of living and some employment ops for an old fart.
In Houston you can still find a job in about 30 minutes if you actually WANT to work and are willing to look at it as a job not a career. And I'm not talking burger flipper. Retail is booming, service and medical are huge down here...there just i nothing for anything Oil related.

[highlow65]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forced to Retire I have been reading the posts on this board for months and am shocked how many people have retired after years of great career success and expert and wonderful skills regarding financial planning. Many posters are so proud to tell the world that they only take 2% or less out of their portfolio every year and expect to give millions to their family upon their death. I don't think this the real world. The real world is someone like me. Struggled to save money, had bad investment choices, and were forced to retire when they were fired from their job and due to lack of job opportunities for sixty one year old men with white hair who look and feel like they are 70, are sitting at home waiting for Social Security to become available in 2017. (I am going to be 62 in October 2017) Any support for someone who was forced to retire early and only has $300K saved?

Sorry that life has dealt you some bad breaks. I am in very good shape financially but nobody gave me anything. I worked a state job for years while building up my business. That being said you have more saved than most people and if this is going to be your income going forward it really comes down to adjusting your spending to match. You need to prioritize your spending to get as much pleasure from life as you can. I think your a smart person and can make the changes necessary.Life can be good on a budget,try to enjoy.

[Cassius King]

A lot of good advice has been given already. My father just retired in February at the age of 65. Never planned for retirement. Both he and my mother are care free and day to day. They have a paid for house and live comfortably on SS alone. He has less than you do in savings.
There are several suggestions provided to you that I plan on incorporating myself. The wife and I will move to a cheap coastal town in Florida. She plans on working with Manatee and sea turtle rescue. I plan on getting a very part time job at a golf course for playing privileges only. I should have more than enough easily saved to do this without working, but want to stay engaged somehow. At least I think I do at this point.

I'm a simple man and am like my avatar.

A good round of golf, good tunes, something good on the grill, and my honey by my side and life is good.

My point being, you'll be fine. Incorporate some of the ideas suggested here and you can enjoy a nice retirement. Don't worry about what you can't change now, and make the best of it.

Cheers!

[jim584672]

Consider a move to Thailand? You can live well on SS. They have a 1 year retirement visa for those 50+.

[SumDay]

Since it sounds like you don't have family ties where you are, moving to a lower cost area sounds like a great first step:

Top 10 Cities With the Lowest Cost of Living in America 2015

Heck, have you thought about moving somewhere in South America or Mexico? There are large US retiree communities there, and I think we have a few on this board.

You may not be where you want to be financially, but it sounds like with a few tweaks you can make it work. And who knows, maybe you can get a job in your new locale.

Best of luck to you. Let us know how it turns out.

[Llep]

I'm in one of those low COL areas people are telling you about. I track my spending very closely. So far this year my monthly spending has been about $1900 per month and that includes 2 3500 mile trips I had to make for family reasons and 3 shorter interstate trips I made for fun, all five included hotels and one included a rental car. I do not feel deprived. My lowest month was $1423. I am new at this (14 months) so I am watching the spending closely and am in the under 2% WR club. I have my own apartment and a silver ACA healthcare plan. Get your housing and healthcare expenses under control and everything could fall into place. I live in an area of about 800,000 population so I imagine part-time work is available should I want it. Cut your cash burn and you should be fine. Read more here too. These guys and gals are smart!

[JoeWras]

We have a couple of extreme ER people who are much younger and are retiring on similar funds. So there is hope. Too bad, many of these people don't participate here much recently.

For housing, consider some of the senior housing options. I'm not talking assisted living, but rather regular apartments that the local government helps subsidize with. My area has a few organizations that specialize in affordable housing. This is not public housing either.

Consider your options.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I don't think 5% is too high if retiring at 60+. Of course it depends on your expected life span. I think it's very unlikely i'll see 80 so I would take 5% at 61 like the OP plans to do.

I disagree. 5% is very risky and if you live long you could end up being destitute. Firecalc agrees with me too.

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[Forced to Retire]

So many good and thoughtful answers, thanks.

I went to my landlord, at the large corporate owned apartment complex I live at, and they told me I could leave as soon as my lease is up. Or I could leave immediately if I paid off the entire lease term. With rent about $2500 a month I would have to pay them $15,000 to leave. (I have six months left on my lease.)

In the mean time my forced early retirement is quite expensive. After cutting my expenses to a bone I got my costs down to $4000 a month. (Rent and COBRA is about 80% of my fixed expenses.)

According to this website, I can make my money last with a five percent withdrawal and a three percent annual inflation increase for 30 years:

[mod edit]

So how could I move to a new apartment in a quiet small town setting where the cost of living is very low if I have no income? Everyplace I have ever lived has done a complete background investigation about my assets and income.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit +1 This and moving to a lower cost area are probably great places to start planning. You can live pretty cheaply and happily if you want. Some folks live full time in an RV (me included, but I don't travel) and explore all parts of the country. Others find a low cost of living area and settle there. Some move to very low cost of living areas in other countries. When you start SS, you can earn up to $15,720 without penalty. If you move and earn something close to that, you should do fine and maybe you could cut back on withdrawals for a few years which would allow your stash to last several more years. So... What do you REALLY want to do??

Very good point on the RV idea. Had I retired from the AF *without* the income source of a rental property and some decent dividends to supplement it, then my path was going to be that of RV living. Often, you can get free camping if you are willing to do a little w*rk at the site. There are forums that speak to this quite extensively, so you can dig deeper if you are so inclined.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit +1 This and moving to a lower cost area are probably great places to start planning. You can live pretty cheaply and happily if you want. Some folks live full time in an RV (me included, but I don't travel) and explore all parts of the country.

Come to think of it there's an RV campground not far from where we live. I went in there once and it was pretty clear that some of those RVs had not moved in years. I saw a sign for the monthly rent and can't remember what it was but it was under $100/month.

[ivinsfan]

Interesting, you speak of layoffs and getting fired, so perhaps it's not your age that is making you look harder for jobs.

So are you are handy type person at all, perhaps you could find a super( I mean be around to troubleshoot for owners and renters) type apartment complex and work part time for some free rent.Are you qualified to be an Uber driver? How about a few hours a weekend doing samples at Costco. Even a few bucks in income would make your stash last longer. Otherwise I agree with those that say you need to relocate..Have you look around for any senior subsided low income housing? They might have a waiting list, but it wouldn't hurt to check that out. I see a couple of us have mentioned this. You are probably going to need some extra income to be comfortable so the sooner you find something you like the easier things could be.

[Droo]

I'm not a social security expert, but would using the $300k to float expenses now in order to delay taking SS until full retirement age (or later) be a useful thing for the OP to do? I see people talk about how valuable that is to do, and the option exists to live off the $300k exclusively for 5-10 years in order to get a bigger social security check.

[ERD50]

It is the real world for those who were able to achieve it. Though I doubt there are many (or any?) here who retired with portfolio large enough to provide a comfortable early retirement with some extras at a conservative withdraw rate and also experienced "Lots of layoffs and firings during my career due to my outspoken eccentric personality and long periods of unemployment." Unless they won the lottery, or had a large inheritance, etc. But regardless their career salary, the successful ones lived below their means, saved and invested.

Your VTI/BND looks good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forced to Retire ... Right now I am burning through cash but when I get Social Security at age 62 next year I will have an income of $2500 a month with about $1250 in Social Security and $1250 in 5% annual withdrawals. A figure almost impossible to live on in very expensive Fairfax VA.

Then you have some adjustments to make. While most would agree that a 2% WR is very conservative, I also think most would think that 5% is pretty aggressive for a 62 YO.

If you really think you are not going to earn income, I'd suggest you look at a 3.5%-4% WR, and find a way to live on that budget. Health care? That's gonna take a bite out of your SS, though I'm not familiar with the current numbers.

You might investigate delaying SS. Yes, that means drawing down your portfolio, but you are effectively buying an increase in a COLA annuity. You aren't looking to save anything for heirs, so drawing it down in favor of the SS annuity might be the right thing to do? Run the numbers.

-ERD50

[SomedaySoon]

You mention COBRA being another part of your fixed expense. With only SS income next year you may be on Medicaid. If you are pulling money from IRA/401K resources then you may be able to get a very decent ACA subsidy. Look into changing over now to ACA as I know from personal experience that COBRA was way more expensive !

[bmcgonig]

Two things. Get off cobra and on to ACA. That will save u a bundle. No reason that you can't get health care for a few hundred, if not free on medicaid. Secondly, move. I have friends who moved to Tucson, bought a decent mobile home for 70k with only 100$/Mo HOA. It's in a nice over 55 park where they actually own the land under the mobile home. It has a huge swimming pool and a golf course. I'm sure there are lots of other places like that around the country. Finally don't risk going 5℅. Get ur expenses down to where u can live on 4℅.

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[OneDay]

A lot of us are in good financial shape because we have seen people who just didn't prepare for retirement or seen scenarios like yours play out. You are in better shape than most people at your age, I know many people who didn't have anything including a close family member with no savings who gets $550 a month SS, they keep foster children to help with their income. With 300k and SS, you can make it and be just fine but you can't do it in your area, Florida is cheap, your money will go much further down there, I have a fried who makes about 25K a year, lives just fine in Daytona. Best wishes.

[bmcgonig]

Also, try to arrange it so that you own something like a good mobile home rather than renting. If you ever end up in a nursing home Medicaid can grab your assets to pay for it, except for your home and car.

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[pb4uski]

Does your lease allow you to sublet your apartment? It might be worth talking to a lawyer to see if there's a way to get out of your lease.

http://real-estate-law.freeadvice.co...fford-rent.htm