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Old 01-08-2009, 01:04 PM   #21
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Whomever can write an eloquent book about it will become rich by running seminars about "How To Make Due on $1,000,000 a year".........
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Old 01-08-2009, 01:13 PM   #22
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Whomever can write an eloquent book about it will become rich by running seminars about "How To Make Due on $1,000,000 a year".........
Shouldn't that be Make "Doo" "Do"?
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Old 01-08-2009, 01:24 PM   #23
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Shouldn't that be Make "Doo" "Do"?
It's a play on words..........
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Old 01-08-2009, 01:28 PM   #24
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Sell the house, move aboard (a sailboat). Sell the car (use a bicycle).
This should lower monthly expenses to let's say 2k per month, saving 20k per year.
Get your sailboat ready for cruising. Retire at 60 with 100k in the cruising kitty (assuming house equity -> sailboat exchange was a wash).
Sail outside of US until you are eligible for Medicare.
Hope for a Good Run:
Beautiful clip. I've never seen a better ad.

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Old 01-08-2009, 01:53 PM   #25
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Cut expenses, expect a lower standard of living in the future. Save as much as possible, probably a little more aggressive than typical. Maybe work till 67 to postpone and maximize social security. Hopefully SS would fund a significant portion of future spending needs.

If there is equity in the house, it might be possible to sell and buy a cheaper place outright, or at least reduce expenses. Reverse mortgage is also an option.

Withdrawal rates higher than 4% might also be appropriate (even though it is risky) if retirement at 65 is a must.
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Old 01-08-2009, 04:05 PM   #26
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Cut expenses, expect a lower standard of living in the future. Save as much as possible, probably a little more aggressive than typical. Maybe work till 67 to postpone and maximize social security. Hopefully SS would fund a significant portion of future spending needs.

If there is equity in the house, it might be possible to sell and buy a cheaper place outright, or at least reduce expenses. Reverse mortgage is also an option.

Withdrawal rates higher than 4% might also be appropriate (even though it is risky) if retirement at 65 is a must.
Mr Lost-it-all might also be able to refinance, lowering his monthly mortgage payment and freeing up some of his salary to go to savings instead.
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Old 01-08-2009, 04:23 PM   #27
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As previous posters have stated, you got to get your expenses way down. This is very doable.

Boat living was mentioned. Can be cheap (we did) but not the reason to liveaboard...believe me you have to like being afloat. If not, mo bettah is renting a room in someone else's mortgaged house. 2-300 month even in our resort town, they pay utilities, phone, and when I did it even provided the social fun as since I lived there was invited to all the parties/dinners/etc that the landlord hosted. Got my rent down even cheaper through a little bartered labor to boot. You can live for nothing or even get paid to live somewhere (caretaker, college dorm leader, camp counselor, etc.)

There are some posters on this board whose properties have only doubled in value every year. Can't say I'm one of them. Making money in RE for me has required some timing luck, and the ability to get out of it when the getting is good. Like the lottery, RE is a gamble that the OP can't afford to lose.

Get rid of the car! Read the book Divorce Your Car by Katie Alvord and there are others. That vehicle costs you (if you're not atypical) like 6-10k annually. It gives you nothing. Get a bike, public transport, walk, ride-share. Reduce your stress, increase your fitness, stop contributing to global warming. Read the book, it will open your eyes to the evils that have been marketed to you as necessities. My last bike cost me $2 and lasted more than ten years...it self destructed as I was riding it home from my retirement ceremony on the day I retired.

Truthfully I think the chances of living off your investments after ten years is slim to none, so I'd concentrate on reducing your expenses and finding unique means of paying your way after retirement. I'd consider college as a career since Grad students often obtain fellowships/tuition waivers and such and you can live dirt cheap in a college town. Never know, you might learn something too. Then summers are spent getting paid to do what you'd otherwise pay others to do. Work as a deckhand/teach sailing/camp counselor at a ritzy Maine summer camp, drive the yacht club launch...whatever it is that you're into.
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Old 01-08-2009, 04:26 PM   #28
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But honobob's suggestion makes me wonder if "Mr Lost-it-all" could rent out the house he lives in now, and move to a small apartment or a mobile home as described by rec7. Depending on the existing mortgage, maybe that would give him a foot in the door of rental property investing.
Getting there! Better to rent current home and buy as principal residence new home with FHA/VA, owner financing and live in and rent out rooms until able to afford another property to move into and do the same. By the time you're at the 3rd or 4th home you should be able to live in one all by yourself.

Saving $20K a year with 6-8% returns will never match leveraging your money in real estate with other people paying your mortgages.
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Old 01-08-2009, 05:13 PM   #29
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Actually, thinking about it, my wife and I have started from scratch just over 8 years ago. Even after 8 years of consistently saving between 30% and 50% of our gross income, we are only about a third of the way to our FIRE goal.
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Old 01-08-2009, 05:21 PM   #30
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Saving $20K a year with 6-8% returns will never match leveraging your money in real estate with other people paying your mortgages.
YMMV.
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Old 01-08-2009, 05:26 PM   #31
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Well - so far this thread beats 'never lick your fingers' or some poor little kid getting or not getting circumcised.

heh heh heh -
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Old 01-08-2009, 05:47 PM   #32
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Well - so far this thread beats 'never lick your fingers' or some poor little kid getting or not getting circumcised.

heh heh heh -
Starting all over after losing it all to circumcision but not licking your fingers.
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Old 01-08-2009, 09:16 PM   #33
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One thing that pops into my mind is to get the home paid off and look at a reverse mortgage to augment SS along with saving every extra cent.
I agree with Connie. A reverse mortgage is a good "plan B" in my opinion. I've been doing some research for a family member which has resolved some conflicts I had about them. A 65 yr old with 250k in equity could reverse mortgage into a 140k lump sum or lifetime income of $7-800/ per month.
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Old 01-08-2009, 10:38 PM   #34
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And then there's always the option of purchasing a classy wardrobe, cultivating a charming demeanor and an amusing banter - then become a gigolo or kept-man.
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Old 01-08-2009, 11:12 PM   #35
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At 50K take home is only going to be 36-40K.

Being single there's no reason you should have 3K in expenses a month unless you also have lots of debt or new cars on a payment plan and a house you can barely afford.

At 50K you shouldn't be paying more than $1000 a month for a mortgage and then what's the other 2K going toward? Everything past that mortgage amount can be severely reduced if you don't have other debt. Cut the cable, you only need a cell phone and not a $1000 phone with a $100/month plan. Buy a car you can pay cash for or have no car at all. Who do you think you are buying a $500 suit every month? Anyone that's shunning you because you aren't buying them drinks at the bar or spending hundreds on gifts for them is better off out of your life anyway. I good book is a much more meaningful and personal gift than that $1000 diamond necklace. If you can't cook you better learn or get used to Ramen.

Basic strategy, cut non mortgage expenses to $600 or less a month, get a roommate and now your total expenses are only $1200 a month. sticking that extra $1800 a month into your mortgage should pay it off in around 5 years. Once that house is paid off keep the roommate and now your expenses are $200 a month leaving you with $2800 a month to save or invest. Even if you just stick the money under your mattress 5 years of $2800 a month will get you $168,000. Now if you can get a return of 7% you can withdraw 4% (initially $560/month) and keep pace with inflation. If you end up with $24000 a year in social security and have no house to pay off you've now got $2500 a month give or take, in money to spend or $3000 a month if you keep the roommate. You won't be buying your way into any charity dinners but you'll have much more money to spend on yourself than you did when you were 55 and still working.
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Old 01-09-2009, 10:54 AM   #36
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Saving $20K a year with 6-8% returns will never match leveraging your money in real estate with other people paying your mortgages.
It may not match it. Then again, it won't crater the economy like excessive speculation on real estate with borrowed money, either.
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Old 01-09-2009, 11:07 AM   #37
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Getting there! Better to rent current home and buy as principal residence new home with FHA/VA, owner financing and live in and rent out rooms until able to afford another property to move into and do the same. By the time you're at the 3rd or 4th home you should be able to live in one all by yourself.

Saving $20K a year with 6-8% returns will never match leveraging your money in real estate with other people paying your mortgages.
That true IF they pay the rent. Where I live the houses are falling the amount of the rent or more each year right now. That means if you luck is good you make no money right now. On the other side of the coin if you have some bad luck the renter does not pay so you will lose several months of rent that year and the home is dropping also at the same time. If I could find a 8% CD I would choose it over a house any day. A person can make more money in houses but they are taking on alot more risk. I know of homes that have a 25% cap rate but the risk is off the scale.
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Old 01-09-2009, 11:10 AM   #38
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I agree with Connie. A reverse mortgage is a good "plan B" in my opinion. I've been doing some research for a family member which has resolved some conflicts I had about them. A 65 yr old with 250k in equity could reverse mortgage into a 140k lump sum or lifetime income of $7-800/ per month.
One major drawback to the RM is that you had better like where you RM or you will take another financial bath when your move (unless it is to the "hereafter")!
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Old 01-09-2009, 11:11 AM   #39
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buy one dozen free range farm eggs. candle them, keep the fertilized ones warm and eat the others. When the fertilized eggs hatch keep the hens and a rooster, eat the other roosters. continue as above with each clutch of eggs. within ten years you will have the biggest egg farm in your state or be dead from excessive cholesterol (too many egg yolks). either way...
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Old 01-09-2009, 12:06 PM   #40
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Beautiful clip. I've never seen a better ad.

Ha
Mike, I never thought about it this way, but I agree with you.
DW, who is not sentimental by any stretch of imagination had tears in her eyes after watching this clip, even knowing beforehand that it was a marketing trick

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