Retirement down the road

[cjogo]

Looking to retire this year .... no debt ... no job ... all our cash is in a fixed annuity.

... SO looking for a ultra conservative path to generate a monthly income / with little~no principal loss. I believe the Jackson account is paying about 2.7 at present.. all surrender charges are null ... past the 7 year rule. Not sure what is out there these days > looking for all/any advise .....

Never really sure what kind of fees are "hidden" with the Jackson > most were at the front end, I believe.

thanks kindly

 

[growing_older]

I have no idea what a "Jackson account" is. If all your money is already locked up in a fixed annuity, what advice are you looking for?

 

[cjogo]

Sorry :: Jackson National http://https://www.jackson.com/annuities/Index.jsp


Just looking for some other direction ?? Not that knowledgeable on the latest views /returns .

 

[cjogo]

Did the stock /bond investments starting back in the 80's .. lost the six figures amount > back with the major dips in the last 20 years . Jumped into the Jackson National annuities because they were paying 7% with a fixed low end of 2.0%.. Ready to retire & looking for advice from others. Maybe the fixed annuity is the best thing out there ...with my requests.

 

[growing_older]

I'm sure you understand what you are writing about and it makes sense to you. But the sentence fragments which reference details you know, but are not included in the rest of the post, are not at all clear to me. I think you are saying 30 years ago you lost money in stocks and bonds, so have decided that insurance contracts are the only investment for you. As a result you have made between 2 and 7 percent for all those years and are now asking if we have other ideas for guaranteed investments that will do better.

If this is a correct translation, then you would probably be best served by trying to get some basic investment education. In my experience a scary incident followed by decades of nothing but insurance products usually means that there's a salesman somewhere in the picture. Weaning yourself from that dependency is probably necessary to branch out to anything other than what you have been sold for so long.

 

[cjogo]

Thanks --- sorry for the fragmentation .. use to doing short stab blogs in other sites.

Yes, most my basic info has included a sales forces, in the past 30 years. Trying to wean myself off the costly local folks >> over to this new discovered site

thanks again

 

[obgyn65]

Sorry but your messages are not totally clear to me. Anyway, I bought an 8 year CD a couple of weeks ago at about 2.6%. You may wish to contact your advisors. One of my advisors is with Edward Jones.

Thanks --- sorry for the fragmentation .. use to doing short stab blogs in other sites.

Yes, most my basic info has included a sales forces, in the past 30 years. Trying to wean myself off the costly local folks >> over to this new discovered site

thanks again

 

[pb4uski]

If you JNL annuity is paying 2.7%, which looks pretty good today and is conservative and safe, why not just take partial withdrawals from that account as you need cash (once or a few times a year). I suspect that you don't necessarily need to withdraw all at once and can do partial withdrawals (most contracts would allow that).

If you're insistent on an ultra conservative path then that might be a good alternative. If you're a little more adventurous, then you might look into Vanguard's Wellesley fund which is a 40% equities/60% bond mix IIRC.

 

[cjogo]

Thanks pb4uski :::

Just looking for steady monthly income > were the principal is somewhat safe ....maybe best to stay with the Jackson fixed annuity.

It pays about $1000 a month in interest ...& yes , I am beyond all surrender charges / etc... Still trying to find the "fine print" in what Jacksons' yearly maintenance fees are.

Will look at what the Vanguard has to offer ...

thanks kindly

 

[heeyy_joe]

If $1000 a month meets your needs, you will have to find something that pays better with no increased risk or fees to make a change. You have much homework/research to do.

I am very interested though - how is it that $1000 monthly is enough to live on?

 

[cjogo]

heeyy_joe

Well , I have SS at $750 starting this year , which will help immensely >> it's just a life time of being very frugal.

It's really equates to how much you don't spend. Not trying to focus on making more money to meet your "movin' up" lifestyle. Think twice before making a purchase - and then research even further. That science of Neuroeconomics



Same house for 25 years / 15 year old car / job for 30 years ...etc. Keep the attitude : you are better off then those in more half the worlds population BUT : if you spend a $100 instead of $10 and you just might find yourself slippin'

You find ways not to buy anything but > just your essentials... My parents taught me well

 

[heeyy_joe]

heeyy_joe

Well , I have SS at $750 starting this year , which will help immensely >> it's just a life time of being very frugal.

It's really equates to how much you don't spend. Not trying to focus on making more money to meet your "movin' up" lifestyle. Think twice before making a purchase - and then research even further. That science of Neuroeconomics



Same house for 25 years / 15 year old car / job for 30 years ...etc. Keep the attitude : you are better off then those in more half the worlds population BUT : if you spend a $100 instead of $10 and you just might find yourself slippin'

You find ways not to buy anything but > just your essentials... My parents taught me well

Most of the active posters on this forum are well off - this means that you have a much different, and welcome, perspective. I hope you will post often - those that read our forum will realize that FIre comes in all sizes, not just for the affleunt.

 

[FinancialDave]

You did not mention your age, nor if you are married, but have you considered alternate starting dates for the SS. If you are married and were the highest or only wage earner, then you need to wait at least until age 66 to start taking SS to then be able to get a better spousal benefit for your spouse, or vice versa, if spouse has the higher lifetime wages.

Waiting on SS past 62 all the way to 70, is almost a 80% improvement in income from SS (a little less than 8% per year.)

fd

 

[Milton]

FIRE comes in all sizes, not just for the affluent.

That is certainly true (remember Lawrence's advice inOffice Space (1999): "Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do sh*t"). If one can get by on a very most income, there is no need for a large amount of capital.

 

[cjogo]

You did not mention your age, nor if you are married, but have you considered alternate starting dates for the SS. If you are married and were the highest or only wage earner, then you need to wait at least until age 66 to start taking SS to then be able to get a better spousal benefit for your spouse, or vice versa, if spouse has the higher lifetime wages.

Waiting on SS past 62 all the way to 70, is almost a 80% improvement in income from SS (a little less than 8% per year.)

fd

I am 62 .. My ex-wife is on a organ transplant list ..no longer an employed RN. I have been a self-employed artist since 1975 ...but need the income now. SO, no waiting till a mature 66

 

[cjogo]

Most of the active posters on this forum are well off - this means that you have a much different, and welcome, perspective. I hope you will post often - those that read our forum will realize that FIre comes in all sizes, not just for the affleunt.

I guess my idea of well-off has always been the amount of free time..Although I have a resume of 26 jobs ( since age 9) a few years after college >I pursued the alternative.

Music & photography were my line of work. Photographed many of the top of the world figures/US Presidents/ CEO ...just rubbing elbows > still made me a great living & able to afford the West Coast living . The main payment came in a form of :: only working an average of 50/80 days a year.

So now > to retire fully :: & find the safest "sleep at nite" investment = producing in the neighborhood of 3%

 

[Koolau]

cjogo, welcome to the forum. It's nice to have a different perspective. Sounds like you have lived a fascinating life. Maybe you can fill in some of the details for us over time.

Regarding a relatively spartan retirement, rest assured there are folks on this forum who lead a rather spartan retirement. You can search for polls etc. which show a wide range of monthly income levels here.

Regarding JNL. YEARS ago, I got a couple of SPDAs from JNL and, though they are a relatively small part of my retirement, I am glad RIGHT NOW, that I have them. I'm getting 4.5% (the base was much higher back then). True enough, the agent saw me coming! Until you feel comfortable doing something "different", my (mild) suggestion would be to hang on to what you have, read up on alternatives and then work toward some diversification of your portfolio.

If you have "enough" right now, from SS and JNL annuities, will it be enough when inflation rears its ugly rear in the (near?) future? IOW, have you planned for inflation? If not, I doubt that 2+% interest in your SPDAs will be sufficient protection for a 30+ year retirement. Not meant to frighten you, but to suggest further education about your own finances. (I am aware that SS is theoretically indexed for inflation, but that could change - and SS doesn't cover all your needs anyway.)

Best wishes in your retirement. Visit often and feel free to ask questions. Folks here are not shy about sharing ideas. Some of them are actually useful. Of course, YMMV, so do your own research.

 

[cjogo]

Thanks Kindly All >> Yes, lots of stories to tell ... But first > I will research here ~ to find more advice for my happy retirement ...

Did I tell you about being a garbage man for the summer of '69 ..one of my 26 jobs ...my father had connections with the Mayor of our little MidWest town...Thanks Dad ~~~~ A long way from living here in Carmel all these years ...