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View Poll Results: FOR THOSE NOT ALREADY RETIRED:
My outlook/time horizon on (early) retirement HAS changed 54 50.47%
My time horizon on (early) retirement has NOT changed 53 49.53%
Voters: 107. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 03-14-2009, 01:11 PM   #21
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no pension, no provided health care, no or little social security to look forward too. Had planned on being on the loose this year (age 60), but have no desire or need to give away the rental properties and we are kind of tied by a lovely 94 YO parent. If she hangs on for a few years more that should coincide with a healthier real estate market. We can bail then and have fuller coffers. It works.
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Old 03-14-2009, 01:15 PM   #22
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I can tell you from previous polls and posts, that the SIRE crowd seems to outnumber the pure FIRE crowd about 2:1. That's significantly changed how I take the responses I get at this forum. Many responses seemed almost cavalier, 'yeah, go for it, you won't regret retiring - I haven't looked back' until I realized many of them had pensions (even COLA'd) and retiree health care in some form. One is not better than another, but it's a very different set of circumstances...
Well we have a non cola'd pension waiting. Its fairly substantial but not enough to cover our spending habits. Besides my wife loves her job so its not an issue yet. Even so we were pushed back some.
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Old 03-14-2009, 01:32 PM   #23
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Besides my wife loves her job so its not an issue yet.
Some guys have all the luck.
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Old 03-14-2009, 03:33 PM   #24
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Some guys have all the luck.
I would say she is the lucky one. I never had a job I loved.
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Old 03-14-2009, 04:24 PM   #25
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I do not know how to vote.

My wife RE'ed and would never go back to work. I had been working part-time on and off for the last 6 years. No pension here for either of us.

Midpack is right about it being tough for FIRE'ed people. After losing 1/3 of our portfolio, my wife recently got scared and wondered if we should just go to all cash. I tried to assure her that the market will recover, and with two children still in college, our expenses will be lower in a few years. In addition, we will get SS in 10 years and that should help.

Yes, it's tough when you have no steady income. But people who have their own small business always have this problem to deal with. Of course, it is even harder now for them. I have not heard from the builder of my 2nd home, with whom we have become good friends. His business has all but dried up. Meanwhile, a couple relative of mine who work for a quasi state agency in California just had a home upgrade. RE prices are too low for them to resist, with both holding secure jobs and Calpers seemingly in good shape.
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Old 03-15-2009, 08:02 AM   #26
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Well, the poll was a flop (WRT lopsided). I keep making the mistake of thinking from a FIRE perspective, when the SIRE crowd on this forum outnumbers us about 2:1. One day I'll learn...
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Old 03-15-2009, 08:05 AM   #27
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Well, the poll was a flop (WRT lopsided). I keep making the mistake of thinking from a FIRE perspective, when the SIRE crowd on this forum outnumbers us about 2:1. One day I'll learn...
Well, you have to consider the universe of people for whom "early retirement" is a possibility. That includes very few people whose retirement is all in 401Ks and IRAs. I'd say those of us who (even now) have a chance at FIRE with no DB goodies coming our way are in the very small minority -- a considerably smaller minority than 18 months ago.
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Old 03-15-2009, 08:42 AM   #28
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It's still too early for me to know if I can stick with my original date of 4.5 years from now.

It will depend on what the inflation rate is and whether they offer an early out where I work. It will also depend on what my job and health are like. We are also still hoping to sell our house in the country and buy one in the city. A lot is up in the air.

For sanity sake, I'm telling myself 4.5 years till ER.
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Old 03-15-2009, 02:11 PM   #29
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please help me out, what does SIRE stand for?
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Old 03-15-2009, 02:12 PM   #30
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please help me out, what does SIRE stand for?
I never knew what it stood for, but I know it refers to people with pensions and/or retiree health insurance, so I'd guess the "S" either refers to "semi" or "subsidized."
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Old 03-15-2009, 02:30 PM   #31
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If I remember the "S" in SIRE stands for "secure".

SIRE = Secure Income Retired Early... something like that.
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Old 03-15-2009, 02:33 PM   #32
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If I remember the "S" in SIRE stands for "secure".

SIRE = Secure Income Retired Early... something like that.
Yeah, that could be, too. Certainly nothing that could be applied to the 401K Generation.
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Old 03-15-2009, 02:53 PM   #33
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so since everyone in the USA who had earned income is either covered by SS or some type of DB plan that excluded SS (now rare), anyone who retires early will have some secure income at some time in their retirement (unless they die before reaching eligability age) and is therefore SIRE, right?
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Old 03-15-2009, 03:02 PM   #34
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so since everyone in the USA who had earned income is either covered by SS or some type of DB plan that excluded SS (now rare), anyone who retires early will have some secure income at some time in their retirement (unless they die before reaching eligability age) and is therefore SIRE, right?
I do not believe that SIRE covers SS (because so many of us are doubtful about the long term viability of SS). I believe that the acronym was coined to describe people with DB pensions and/or retiree healthcare benefits.

After digging around a bit, I believe this is the thread that gave birth to "SIRE":

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...l-40830-2.html (see post #35)
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Old 03-15-2009, 03:22 PM   #35
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I do not believe that SIRE covers SS (because so many of us are doubtful about the long term viability of SS). I believe that the acronym was coined to describe people with DB pensions and/or retiree healthcare benefits.

After digging around a bit, I believe this is the thread that gave birth to "SIRE":

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...l-40830-2.html (see post #35)
thank you for the reference. i do have another question though, do u really think that SS (with the federal government's power to print money) is that much worse off (i.e. more likely to not pay out) then alot of private/local government/state government DB plans?
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Old 03-15-2009, 03:34 PM   #36
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thank you for the reference. i do have another question though, do u really think that SS (with the federal government's power to print money) is that much worse off (i.e. more likely to not pay out) then alot of private/local government/state government DB plans?
Many will disagree but I believe that SS is more secure than a private pension plan. I know several retirees who lost a lot of their pension income when their company's plan went under, I know no one who has lost SS.

I am due a private pension plan but that is very suspect at present even though I am very close to starting it because one of 2 companies that employ me is very close to bankruptcy.

Also, private pension plans fail and until recently their recipients got hit very hard. These days a government backed insurance scheme PBGC will cover part of this. For example if I do start drawing a pension next year and the plan fails the following year I will lose about 25%/year of my income from the pension.

While SS may lose value over time I have a lot more confidence in its long term viability than my private pension.
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Old 03-15-2009, 03:43 PM   #37
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Many will disagree but I believe that SS is more secure than a private pension plan. I know several retirees who lost a lot of their pension income when their company's plan went under, I know no one who has lost SS.
IMO, the key word above is company, as in "private employer." They can't just raise taxes on everyone to shore up their pension fund -- and if they have strong competition, they can't shore it up through pricing power, either. They either go under, freeze their pensions, or freeze their pensions and then go under.

As for SS, it will be around, but whether the payouts will decrease or the rules for eligibility change remain to be seen. One side benefit of my 401K's meltdown is that I feel a lot less likely to be means-tested out of SS benefits. Glass half-full.
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Old 03-15-2009, 04:12 PM   #38
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thank you for the reference. i do have another question though, do u really think that SS (with the federal government's power to print money) is that much worse off (i.e. more likely to not pay out) then alot of private/local government/state government DB plans?
I don't think SS is going anywhere for most people. But as Ziggy said, a lot of us fear that we will be means-tested out of SS. I already hear people on the left say aloud that rich people should not be receiving any SS benefits at all because they don't need it. If you can retire early without a DB pension, I am pretty sure that you'll be considered "rich".
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Old 03-15-2009, 04:21 PM   #39
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I voted that my time horizon has changed. On the other hand,I'm a bit uncertain and my plan might always remain "just one more year" - so in that case, my plans haven't changed at all.

I have a non-COLAed pension that will cover most of my expenses when I start tapping into it 7 years from now. Even with the recent losses, I think I could still ER now, or very soon, and my saving would safely cover me the next several years. I'm just being a lot more conservative in my thinking, and of course worrying that things might get worse. So, I'm still w*rking, waiting to see what happens, and thinking about ER.
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Old 03-15-2009, 05:01 PM   #40
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IMO, the key word above is company, as in "private employer." They can't just raise taxes on everyone to shore up their pension fund -- and if they have strong competition, they can't shore it up through pricing power, either. They either go under, freeze their pensions, or freeze their pensions and then go under.

As for SS, it will be around, but whether the payouts will decrease or the rules for eligibility change remain to be seen. One side benefit of my 401K's meltdown is that I feel a lot less likely to be means-tested out of SS benefits. Glass half-full.

I agree - I definitely meant to say Company. Our company's pension plan is managed by a well known insurance provider and everyone knows how reliable they are.

Means testing of SS is a definite possibility in the future along with actual across the board erosion of benefits. A few years back while in England on vacation there was an article comparing UK SS with other EU countries, and just for kicks they added in the US SS which dwarfed everyone else's. (At the time DW and I decided that a lot of the difference could be explained by health costs as UK SS recipients (over 65) pay nothing including stuff they used to pay for such as eye exams, prescription co-pays etc.)
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