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Old 08-03-2008, 09:35 PM   #41
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I still look forward to working on my project everyday except for the weekends.
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Old 08-03-2008, 09:38 PM   #42
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But if we should happen to experience hyperinflation at some point in the future, however, it probably won't matter what your margin of safety was at the time you FIREd or the fact that you might even be still working because almost all of us will likely be wiped out by the hyperinflation.
Will hyperinflation impact those receiving COLA pensions?
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Old 08-03-2008, 10:06 PM   #43
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This is an early retirement blog after all so it one is looking for a way to improve their work situation in order to stay in their longer they will have to look elsewhere.
Many people in the forum are not yet retired. For example, the Young Dreamers who have their own forum here, and the many people who find the FIRECalc through Google. They come here in search of retirement planning information.

All too often I, and others like the OP, see the attitude of members who advise just dropping a job and retiring without enough financial backing. That just doesn't make sense to me. And, yes, I understand that you personally are able to FIRE without any problem.

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Waiting another 16 years 10 months for my full retirement to do all of the things we are able to do now would have been stupid. For what? Just to pad the bank account?
Everyone can do their own math and decide what's right for themselves. Like I said in the obligatory disclaimer "Not everyone's situation is identical. Some early retirees are very well prepared for retirement."

But, some of the benefits of having more money at retirement include things like more peace of mind, a more comfortable retirement, ability to help other family members financially, ability to leave an inheritance to children, and better medical and nursing care -- just to name a few.

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I think you are stereotyping early retirees as living a "frugal existence" to mean loads of self sacrifice and denial.
[...]
Guess what these people were living that way while working. For others it means tripping the light fantastic. Its all good.
I don't know if it's all good, but there is a lot of sacrifice and denial, as well as positive tradeoffs. I would still caution people thinking of early retirement to err on the side of being more financially conservative and not buy into the hype. In the end, the cost of living in retirement over a period of 20-30 years may turn out to be a very unpleasant surprise, if not properly prepared.

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Dont mind the One Note Wonder. We're all living in poverty because Jeeves isnt polishing the Rolls out front right now.
Ah, the triumphant return of Mr. Mom, the only member of this forum who is able to pay a lower tax rate than Warren Buffet. Come on, ask him how he does it...
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Old 08-03-2008, 10:45 PM   #44
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So, this boils down to: "I think people should have enough money before they retire from work."

I agree. I'll bet everyone here does.

What is not reasonable is to toil away for ten extra healthy years of your life in order to "have enough" to be prepared for a once-in-100-years catastrophe. Everyone needs to do the math themselves, don't let emotion drive a critical decision, then do what makes sense.

Like it or not, this riverboat ride ends the same way for all of us--over the falls and onto the rocks. We don't know if we'll hear the roar around the next bend, or after many, many miles. I want to get out and enjoy the view as soon as I'm sure the boat is safe. I damn sure don't want to spend the whole trip below decks applying sealant and installing backup bilge pumps for the backup bilge pumps.
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Old 08-03-2008, 10:59 PM   #45
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I find it hard to believe anyone dislikes work in general, but maybe I'm wrong.
I'll raise my hand.

I enjoyed doing submarine operations and teaching. I'm good at them-- I have the awards & citations to prove it, and although the skills may be perishable they can still be refreshed. The trusting younger generation also lacks my decades of cunning, deceipt, & dirty tricks.

When I went through all the retirement-counseling career assessments and self-interest surveys, they suggested that I'd make an excellent nuclear engineer and/or a middle manager. (Golly.) And when I retired I was offered several jobs involving... submarine operations and teaching.

There are plenty of other jobs out there. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see something and think "Hey, I could do that and make a pile of money at it." Maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong in my assessment, but the things I've tried so far... I've made a pile of money at them. They just weren't worth the hours of effort.

So I feel that I've resolved the questions of upgrading my skills or finding desirable employment. They're not the issue.

What I object to is the dissatisfiers of "overhead" and the hassle factor: commuting, wearing business-attire uniforms, meetings, projects planning, mandatory training, standing on my feet for long periods of time, meeting deadlines, liability insurance, risk assessment/management, crafting carefully-worded e-mails in response to taskers that I don't give a crap about, suffering fools gladly, emergencies... the list is nearly endless. Prove me wrong-- find me an occupation that avoids those hurdles.

I'm happy with the ER lifestyle. Power is not a motivator-- too much responsibility. Prestige is not a motivator-- had it, don't care. Money is not a motivator-- can't spend what I have now. Being a voice for change-- feh. Using my skills to make the world a better place-- hey, that's what our philanthropy is for.

When I evaluated my first job offer (teaching nuclear engineering to shipyard supervisors, what else?) I realized that I lacked a commitment to the mission, the co-workers, and the customers. Even worse, I feared that if I gave it a year or two then I'd send myself down the same old hyperachieving path of trying to be the best and most qualified engineer instructor I could be-- even if it took extra training, weekends, & midwatches. For no other purpose than to pound my chest and bellow that I was the best silverback in the pack.

I'm lazy but I'm not sedentary. I have no problem with doing 2-3 hours of yardwork, or home improvement, or fixing infrastructure at 2 AM, or volunteering for a school trip, or reading/writing/editing, or spending hours at taekwondo. But I'd rather not be hostage to a paycheck.

One of my criteria for evaluating a job has been: "If I decide that morning to take four hours off for surfing, will anyone care or even notice?" There's probably a good reason that the surfers in the Tuesday 9 AM lineup are on retired, on vacation, calling in "sick", or unemployed.

I enjoy surfing. I enjoy teaching surfing even more. But if I had to show up at 10:30 AM next Tuesday to teach someone at $__/hour, I wouldn't enjoy it anymore.

I could be wrong. In 10 years I could be so bored, unfiulfilled, and lonely that I'll be taking defense contracts. But I doubt it. If any of you can think of something that'd knock me out of my comfortable ER rut, I'm happy to consider it! But after six years of ageless exploration, I've pretty much concluded that ER is my avocation.

I used to have a work problem, but now I make enough money to avoid it...
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Old 08-03-2008, 11:39 PM   #46
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Will hyperinflation impact those receiving COLA pensions?
In theory, no. In practice, probably.

There is always a time lag between the increase in prices and the COLA adjustments (since the price increases have to happen first before the COLA can be calculated and then paid). For low rates of inflation (a few percent a year), this time lag is not a big problem even when COLA calculations are done on an annual basis.

But when inflation exceeds 50% a month (Hyperinflation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), this time lag becomes significant. Even if the COLA calculations are done every month, they will be using last month's price increase information. By the time you get your increased pension money this month or next month, the actual cost of living will have gone up considerably.
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Old 08-03-2008, 11:55 PM   #47
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That also assumes that whoever is paying your pension will be able to stay in business with hyper inflation happening. If we were seeing 50% increase a month I doubt even cities and states would be able to continue paying pensions adjusted for inflation.
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Old 08-04-2008, 12:12 AM   #48
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I very much ditto Nords post.

I also dislike the concept of work in general - that your time, location, energy and priorities belong to someone else for MOST of your waking hours. To me, work is about earning a living, nothing more. Now that I no longer have to earn a living, I just really don't see the point (for me).

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Old 08-04-2008, 02:40 PM   #49
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All too often I, and others like the OP, see the attitude of members who advise just dropping a job and retiring without enough financial backing. That just doesn't make sense to me. And, yes, I understand that you personally are able to FIRE without any problem.
You will have to pull an example of a post like that. I have never seen anyone here give irresponsible advice like that. Sorry your gonna have to show me.
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Old 08-04-2008, 03:20 PM   #50
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Eh, he's just trolling us. Put him on ignore like I did.
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Old 08-04-2008, 04:43 PM   #51
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Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny View Post
I solved the "what if my plan is off and I run out of money at 95" problem.
So you finally bought that annuity!
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Old 08-04-2008, 04:50 PM   #52
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I very much ditto Nords post.

I also dislike the concept of work in general - that your time, location, energy and priorities belong to someone else for MOST of your waking hours. To me, work is about earning a living, nothing more. Now that I no longer have to earn a living, I just really don't see the point (for me).

Audrey
I agree. I need to find a hit man!

I'm somewhat trapped for the moment. I'm planning on retiring when the "moment" happens. In the interim, I'm doing the best I can.

I have a performance review Friday. I did my part by copying my employee part from last year. I have refrained from asking "Why?" I think I need to let my supervisor retain his dignity and belief that his subordinates care. He's a real good boss. I hardly ever see him and he almost never tells me what to do. Once in a while he assigns me to a new project. Once a month he buys everyone in his department lunch because that's the only way he'd get most of us to the department staff meeting.

Hey Ed, we're hiring!
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Old 08-04-2008, 04:53 PM   #53
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So you finally bought that annuity!
No but if I make it to 95 and run out of money, I'll sell my house and think about buying one. I'll bet the payout rate is pretty good at that age. In fact, they might just tell me to keep my money and offer me a grand to walk back out the door so they dont have to do all that paperwork.
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Old 08-04-2008, 05:21 PM   #54
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Show me a "job" doing something I enjoy doing, with no corporate BS or bureaucracy (that means NO activity and status reports!) and where I can set the hours I want to work, and maybe I would keep working forever.

Let me know when you find such a position.
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Old 08-04-2008, 05:23 PM   #55
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All I could come up with was being the paid sex slave for the current playmate of the month.

But something tells me I'd find something to bitch about eventually.
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Old 08-04-2008, 05:55 PM   #56
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All I could come up with was being the paid sex slave for the current playmate of the month.
But something tells me I'd find something to bitch about eventually.
That brings new depth of meaning to the term "hedonic treadmill"...
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Old 08-04-2008, 06:01 PM   #57
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I'm 4 years and 4 months from being in what one co-worker calls "The Happy Place", i.e. age 55 with retiree medical benefits and DB pension available as soon as I fill out the paperwork. However, the growth in the monthly pension amount over the 4 to 5 five years after age 55 is considerable and likely to lead to a severe case of "one more year syndrome". I still enjoy most aspects of the job. That could change over time and make the decision to pull the plug much easier. I won't stay and be miserable if I'm FI.

Because my job provides 80% of our household income, I'm willing to put in a few extra years so that DW can ER at 55. I'm fortunate to have a very generous vacation plan and am able to get about as much time off for travel as we desire. She can take unpaid leave almost at will by providing a few weeks advance notice. We kind of feel semi-retired already. These conditions certainly make it easier to stay on the job until we're comfortable with our retirement income picture.
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Old 08-04-2008, 06:39 PM   #58
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Ah, the triumphant return of Mr. Mom, the only member of this forum who is able to pay a lower tax rate than Warren Buffet. Come on, ask him how he does it...
FYI - this is a really sexist remark, I don't care how you meant it. Because a Dad is choosing to raise his kids instead of commuting to the office he's changed his gender? Maybe become emasculated? I'd love the opportunity to raise my kids myself, it didn't work that way.

Just because YOU would not enjoy a particular lifestyle does not mean that person does not enjoy it. You keep pushing your own emotional reactions on other people. Not everybody needs $10 million to be happy. Quit trying to tell people they are in denial.

To the OP: Firecalc shows you what size portfolio would survive a certain withdrawal rate, with inflation, right? The only reason to save 1.5 to 2.0 the amount needed is essential to say, "What if it's different this time?" Do you think it's different this time?
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Old 08-04-2008, 06:44 PM   #59
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I agree. I need to find a hit man!

Hey Ed, we're hiring!
Hmmm I wonder how long it would take to reach FI as a hitman...

If Ed can't stand the sight of blood, do you mind if I apply?
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Old 08-04-2008, 06:46 PM   #60
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FYI - this is a really sexist remark, I don't care how you meant it. Because a Dad is choosing to raise his kids instead of commuting to the office he's changed his gender? Maybe become emasculated? I'd love the opportunity to raise my kids myself, it didn't work that way.
Just add him to "Ignore Poster"... I think he set a record.

The fewer posters quoting the ones on our ignore lists, the better the thread reads.
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