Senator
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I see a lot of people’s assets on here and I think ‘That’s a no-brainer, retire’, but when it comes to me, it’s somehow different.
I have use Fidelity Retirement Income Planner, FireCalc, Flexible Retirement Planner, Quicken Lifetime Planner, AARP calculator, MarketWatch planner, my own spreadsheets, you name it. I have used literally 100’s of them in the past year. All seem to be 100% success.
I even discount rental income by at least 20% and increase personal expenses by 100%, just in case, and they all still work. I plan for $100K in spending, and I do not spend $40K now. But I do want to travel the USA a bit with an RV (5th wheel) that I still need to purchase. Trust me; I have no love for my job. It’s easy, and great money, but I would take a severance in a heartbeat.
But I still think I need to go until 7/1/2016 at my ‘real’ job, just to be sure. Part of the hesitation are the many ‘what ifs’. What if the market performs way worse? What if inflation is extreme? What if my expenses are a lot more? What if taxes go up a lot? What if a polar bear (or asteroid) comes through my house and it somehow impacts me negatively?
Rental income is not as sure as a pension or Social Security. But I have $297K in gross income today, with just at $100K going to the large expenses of mortgages, taxes and association dues. Much of the rental income is offset by depreciation, and there are many other business write-offs, so my tax bill should be lower too.
So there should be at least $100K there for the foreseeable future, until any small pensions (~$14K) and Social Security (close to max) and I start at my investment accounts ($1M now). BUT, I still have hesitation.
Of course I am not calculating into the picture “what if my expiration date is closer than I think”. It’s also a real mental game for me to picture myself actually drawing from any retirement account, not adding to it, as I have been squirreling money away for so long. I will want to save some no matter what, because that’s just what you do.
So, when you did your retirement budgeting and planning exercises, what success rate in the planners did you feel was good enough? And did you discount any income streams or add to any expenses ‘just in case’?
Did you ever wish you would have worked longer as you did not have enough income in retirement? (Not those of you who go back for fun). Or actually had to pick up a minimal wage job because you needed the money?
I have use Fidelity Retirement Income Planner, FireCalc, Flexible Retirement Planner, Quicken Lifetime Planner, AARP calculator, MarketWatch planner, my own spreadsheets, you name it. I have used literally 100’s of them in the past year. All seem to be 100% success.
I even discount rental income by at least 20% and increase personal expenses by 100%, just in case, and they all still work. I plan for $100K in spending, and I do not spend $40K now. But I do want to travel the USA a bit with an RV (5th wheel) that I still need to purchase. Trust me; I have no love for my job. It’s easy, and great money, but I would take a severance in a heartbeat.
But I still think I need to go until 7/1/2016 at my ‘real’ job, just to be sure. Part of the hesitation are the many ‘what ifs’. What if the market performs way worse? What if inflation is extreme? What if my expenses are a lot more? What if taxes go up a lot? What if a polar bear (or asteroid) comes through my house and it somehow impacts me negatively?
Rental income is not as sure as a pension or Social Security. But I have $297K in gross income today, with just at $100K going to the large expenses of mortgages, taxes and association dues. Much of the rental income is offset by depreciation, and there are many other business write-offs, so my tax bill should be lower too.
So there should be at least $100K there for the foreseeable future, until any small pensions (~$14K) and Social Security (close to max) and I start at my investment accounts ($1M now). BUT, I still have hesitation.
Of course I am not calculating into the picture “what if my expiration date is closer than I think”. It’s also a real mental game for me to picture myself actually drawing from any retirement account, not adding to it, as I have been squirreling money away for so long. I will want to save some no matter what, because that’s just what you do.
So, when you did your retirement budgeting and planning exercises, what success rate in the planners did you feel was good enough? And did you discount any income streams or add to any expenses ‘just in case’?
Did you ever wish you would have worked longer as you did not have enough income in retirement? (Not those of you who go back for fun). Or actually had to pick up a minimal wage job because you needed the money?