The Myth of Outliving your Retirement Savings - EBRI

[Dtail]

I know a few people who retired with $0 savings...but they have a COLA pension that covers their expenses.

I retired with just 3 years of expense money but also have a COLA pension that although is modest, it exceeds my monthly expenses. I have no worries and if I had to do it over again, would do the same thing.

Don't forget that some of those people with little or no savings may also have a few hundred $$ of home equity that they can cash in if needed. A few hundred thousand $$ from the proceeds of a house can easily cover a couple decades of of years of rent and expenses.

Makes sense. Do you keep up with the yearly funding % of your pension plan just in case....

 

[SecondCor521]

Interesting, but all a little too complex for me. If my parents die of something that there's a cure for in my lifetime, it's almost as if they died in a car accident rather than due to health problems.

I don't worry too much about genes anyway, since there's only so much I can do about it (except for a few things, like taking lutein because my dad has macular generation and my gene test shows that I have a slightly elevated risk). I only brought it up because I don't think anecdotal evidence of a few friends passing early is an argument against genetics, but I understand the personal perspective. I'm more focused on exercise and eating healthy (though I could do a lot better on the latter) to hopefully extend my time and quality of life.

I would probably agree that luck is the biggest factor, but healthy living and genetics are relevant rather than being a poor indicator. Maybe that's just semantics.

Didn't mean to pick on you. Just was using your quote as a handy point to address the larger trend I see where people say, "Well, none of the males in my family lived past 60 and all died of a heart attack. I'm male and 55, so I shouldn't plan to live much longer." (I think there are some other posts here which say similar things.) Or the converse: "All my grandparents lived to 90 so I plan to make it to 100."

JMHO but I think people ascribe too much weight to their family's anecdotal data either on the short side or the long side.

As a counterexample, my father's male ancestors all died early of heart problems and my Dad was historically obese for most of his adult life and he is still overweight. Not good, right? But he is 82, still kicking, and has better BP and cholesterol numbers than I do.

I do as you do, though: I try to take care of myself with diet, exercise, minimizing stress, see my GP once a year, and try not to walk in front of buses. I haven't done the genetic thing yet but that'd be a good idea.

I think people tend to underweight the controllable factors too. I'm not sure why, because I think the data is pretty clear.

 

[Teacher Terry]

If our pensions went away we would have to sell our house and move somewhere cheaper. But they are decently funded so not really worried.

 

[Winemaker]

A neighbor that was 3 years older than I couldn't believe I retired at 56. His wife later told my wife that since male longevity on his side of the family was low, they bought life insurance instead of investing. He thought he'd be dead by 50, he's 63 now, and still employed as is his wife.

 

[HI Bill]

No, but it sure helps the economy!

I watched some early retirees buy Rolexes, then trade them in for other Rolexes, replace stuff in their home all the time...then they went out and bought a Hundai! Really! Not sure if any of their purchases made them happy until they bought a ranch with some horses!

 

[joeea]

That's my plan, to be shot and killed at the age of 95 by a 20-year-old jealous husband.

It might be hard to find someone 20 years old to be your husband when you are 95. But I suppose that's a plan!

 

[NYEXPAT]

It might be hard to find someone 20 years old to be your husband when you are 95. But I suppose that's a plan!

This Gal did it at 72:https://www.healthspiritbody.com/almeda-errell-and-gary-hardwick/

 

[HFWR]

It might be hard...when you are 95...

Or not...

 

[Music Lover]

Makes sense. Do you keep up with the yearly funding % of your pension plan just in case....

Yes, I do. It's fully funded, I still have 3 years of expenses on hand, and my house is paid off. So, I'm happily spending my monthly pension as fast as it comes in

 

[ncbill]

A neighbor that was 3 years older than I couldn't believe I retired at 56. His wife later told my wife that since male longevity on his side of the family was low, they bought life insurance instead of investing. He thought he'd be dead by 50, he's 63 now, and still employed as is his wife.

You can always do both.

Hefty term life insurance on me that doesn't expire until I'm nearly 70.

Plus shove as much as I can into investments.

 

[NYEXPAT]

My best friend is 66 and wife is 28, He makes 500k/yr and spends it all. has about 500k in investments and will work until he dies. He keeps a life insurance policy for 3 million for the young wife.

 

[Red Badger]

Sorry about your cousin, but you are right, go doing what you love.

In the other thread, "Tips from a Cardiologist", there is a referenced article. The author contends that deer hunting is extremely risky, as risky has high intensity interval training.

But I'm still going deer hunting. And yeah, If I died in the stand, I was already half-way to the promised land.

 

[googily]

Why not choose the quick death at 95?

I always thought my mom would drop dead at 95 on a golf course after hitting a hole in one.

Didn't happen that way, but it should have!

 

[Olbidness]

comforts me, a little.

Actually it does comfort me a little. I'm coming up on 1 full year of retirement and seem to be hitting my stride. Being very apprehensive at first, it just seemed nuts to walk away from a steady, good paying job. Seeing the data of how retired people naturally respond it gives me some comfort that I'll figure it out too. My mother is the only retired person that I know the details of their finances so I'm aware how she deals with the challenges.
As normal for my M.O. I find people who are doing what I want to do and I imitate them until I develop my own style.

Congrats on the impending freedom day BTW.

 

[kcowan]

I have numerous large discretionary items I can change at will: funding the granddaughters' 529s, travel and charitable donations (although I would hesitate to reduce a church pledge once I made it, I could pledge less the next year). I could even file for SS earlier than planned- I'm 65 and collecting Survivor benefits and planning to wait on my own till age 70. Mid-course corrections are always possible.

Yes we have a large discretionary transfer every year to heirs and charities that we have some flexibility on. At 75 we have never had to but we have been through great markets too.

 

[kcowan]

Why not choose the quick death at 95?

Dad chose that. A mini-stroke caused him to fall and break his hip, then morphine for 3 days (his choice beforehand).

 

[bmcgonig]

Dad chose that. A mini-stroke caused him to fall and break his hip, then morphine for 3 days (his choice beforehand).

How did he get to choose that?

 

[kcowan]

How did he get to choose that?

The first choice was to stop his daily low dose aspirin (causing the mini-stroke), then a DNR. He had told everyone that he was ready.

 

[Bigdawg]

The first choice was to stop his daily low dose aspirin (causing the mini-stroke), then a DNR. He had told everyone that he was ready.

My dad got to choose also. He was on blood meds because of a stoke a few years earlier. He was fine until he fell and had a leg issue. He wasn't in the mood for rehab. They then found cancer in the abdomen. Any and all treatments would basically kill him in his state at the time. He choose to go off the blood meds. He said he would rather die of a heart attack/stroke than waste away with cancer. He was gone a week later.

 

[NYEXPAT]

My father basically did the same thing at 99, no health issues waited to go to hospice till my sisters arrived three days of morphine, we talked on the phone and I said my goodbye, as I could not get there until the day after. He died in his sleep a few hours after we talked.

 

[kcowan]

The thing about my Dad was that we had a visitation at the funeral home and the staff were amazed that 150 people showed up in 2 days. Normally for a 95 yo, there were a dozen or so.

Lots were from his work that he had retired from 30 years before.

 

[Bigdawg]

The thing about my Dad was that we had a visitation at the funeral home and the staff were amazed that 150 people showed up in 2 days. Normally for a 95 yo, there were a dozen or so.

Lots were from his work that he had retired from 30 years before.

Totally opposite with my dad. He gave his body to science. No service. I said me peace. In some ways I am the ying to my dad's yang. He was brilliant with no common sense. Or at least no nerve to act decisively. He had a full ride tennis scholarship to Iowa that he turned down because grampa died the week my dad graduated HS. I didn't and don't judge him. Walk a mile in a man's shoes right. I had a different life than him. He taught me a lot and I will never forget him. We weren't NOT close but not super close either. I'r been a bit over 5 years now. I do miss him.

 

[Souschef]

My sis, BIL and I all flew to Florida for my mom's 102nd birthday, She had just gotten moved to a nursing home as her money finally ran out.I flew home the next day, and a day later, my BIL called to tell me mom had passed away.
I think she was just waiting to see us one more time.

 

[kcowan]

Totally opposite with my dad. He gave his body to science. No service. I said me peace. In some ways I am the ying to my dad's yang. He was brilliant with no common sense. Or at least no nerve to act decisively. He had a full ride tennis scholarship to Iowa that he turned down because grampa died the week my dad graduated HS. I didn't and don't judge him. Walk a mile in a man's shoes right. I had a different life than him. He taught me a lot and I will never forget him. We weren't NOT close but not super close either. I'r been a bit over 5 years now. I do miss him.

It has been 18 years for me. But Mom died of cancer at 57, so I got to spend a lot of time with Dad because we moved close to him for 15 years. I always had a project on the go that he could help with.