Retirement Doubt removed for many

[Chuckanut]

Here is an interesting article from the 12/9/11 WSJ:

Only Downside to Retirement: Not Getting There Soon Enough - Total Return - WSJ

This article, plus this week's trials and tribulations at work have me chomping at the bit to FIRE!!

 

[Midpack]

Magic!

What if they need help making ends meet in retirement? Only 14% of retirees said they would move into a more modest home, and only 15% said they would drive a less-expensive car. They were even less willing to give up dining out, entertainment and recreation, they survey found.

 

[braumeister]

Time to start increasing the allocation to lottery tickets?

 

[Koolau]

Magic!

Yeah, I kinda wondered what they WOULD be willing to give up. Supplemental health insurance? Travel? Gifts (especially to kids/grandkids)?

I haven't decided yet what order of things I would sacrifice, but the ones listed in the article would probably be my first cut. I've actually built such potential "sacrifices" into my plan though I haven't ordered them - probably the "extra" car would go first. I'd be willing to do all those things to avoid the need to w*rk again - especially since I would never be able to earn the kind of money I did at Megacorp doing the very specialized w*rk I did. Any w*rk I do from now until final "graduation" I sincerely hope will be something I would do for free if I had to. W*rking for money doesn't interest me.

Very strange indeed. It makes me think that their "backup" would be to go back to w*rk. Bummer!! I wonder if they know how difficult it would be to find a j*b that would pay enough to cover those luxuries they are not willing to give up. I wonder if they realize that most "senior" j*bs pay very little (for the most part), leave them little time, leave them little energy, disrupt retirement in general. Maybe they STILL haven't learned even after 40 years of w*rk that time is the most precious possession.

 

[mickeyd]

Most retirees are pleased with their lives – and 77% say they are happier than when they were working,

Wow, they must have interviewed a bunch of you guys as I never got a call.

 

[Alan]

Wow, they must have interviewed a bunch of you guys as I never got a call.

GfK Roper conducted 1,964 telephone interviews in October with adults who were at least 45 years old.

Not me, I gave up my landline when I ER'd

 

[Mulligan]

Yeah, I kinda wondered what they WOULD be willing to give up. Supplemental health insurance? Travel? Gifts (especially to kids/grandkids)?

I haven't decided yet what order of things I would sacrifice, but the ones listed in the article would probably be my first cut. I've actually built such potential "sacrifices" into my plan though I haven't ordered them - probably the "extra" car would go first. I'd be willing to do all those things to avoid the need to w*rk again - especially since I would never be able to earn the kind of money I did at Megacorp doing the very specialized w*rk I did. Any w*rk I do from now until final "graduation" I sincerely hope will be something I would do for free if I had to. W*rking for money doesn't interest me.

Very strange indeed. It makes me think that their "backup" would be to go back to w*rk. Bummer!! I wonder if they know how difficult it would be to find a j*b that would pay enough to cover those luxuries they are not willing to give up. I wonder if they realize that most "senior" j*bs pay very little (for the most part), leave them little time, leave them little energy, disrupt retirement in general. Maybe they STILL haven't learned even after 40 years of w*rk that time is the most precious possession.

If you have low income, and need the money part time jobs can help immensely Im sure. But in my case, I am realizing it just doesnt work math wise. My part-time jobs that I have done since retiring are low wage jobs, but are taxed at the 25 % rate, plus 6% state, plus SS around 4% (which I wont recieve) plus medicare 1.?%. So in reality for me, it really isnt worth the time to do them. Im just not quite at the point mentally where I want to be retired all 365 days a year yet.

 

[Nords]

Most retirees are pleased with their lives – and 77% say they are happier than when they were working,

77% of the unhappy retires have already done something about it...

 

[W2R]

If 77% of retirees are happier than when they were working, then 23% say they were happier working. Hard to imagine. 5% I would believe, since I know there are some that just can't let go, but 23%?

This reminds me of that commercial, "Who would want more cash?" Only in this case, "Who wouldn't want more time?"

I wonder if some of those they interviewed were unemployed, and just claiming to be retired because they couldn't find a job.

 

[mickeyd]

I wonder if some of those they interviewed were unemployed

Are not all retired folks unemployed?

 

[kyounge1956]

If 77% of retirees are happier than when they were working, then 23% say they were happier working. Hard to imagine. 5% I would believe, since I know there are some that just can't let go, but 23%?

This reminds me of that commercial, "Who would want more cash?" Only in this case, "Who wouldn't want more time?"

I wonder if some of those they interviewed were unemployed, and just claiming to be retired because they couldn't find a job.

Maybe it is 77% happier retired, 3% happier working and 20% "about the same". I can imagine people saying "about the same" if they had to retire due to health problems or before they had planned to because of layoff, or the like.

 

[rescueme]

Are not all retired folks unemployed?

Nope. Some (even on this forum) talk about "retirement jobs" - full or part-time.

It's a bit like being "a little pregnant". There is no such thing; either you are, or you are not ...

BTW, I'm neither pregnant nor have a retirement j*b

 

[67walkon]

So what have you guys "given up"? I "gave up" the expensive car in anticipation of retiring; our business provides us leased cars and for years, I've had pretty expensive cars. The most recent one is a Subaru that the business is buying for me instead of leasing and I'll take it with me.

I'm still planning on going sort of part time next year to see how it goes. The other thing I would gladly "give up" is the house we've lived in for 20+ years and in which we raised 3 kids. The mortgage is low and almost paid off. The equity is at least $1,000,000. If we can afford it in retirement, we'll keep it, but if things ever get tight, even my dear wife agrees we will sell it and buy something much, much less expensive.

What else did you guys "give up"?

 

[Midpack]

What else did you guys "give up"?

After 22 years, we gave up our sail boat. As much as we loved it, the expenses were just crazy. And I sailed last summer as much as ever, on OPB (other people's boats) - free!

 

[REWahoo]

I gave up suits and ties...

 

[rescueme]

So what have you guys "given up"?

For us, nothing at all.

We planned to retire at 100% of our net income as of our last paycheck before retirement (considering future annual personal cost of living adjustements).

While we had a joint plan of retiring at age 59 (we're the same age), I did while DW is still employed (not emotionally ready).

I turn 64 in three weeks and our (financial) plan turned out better than expected. A great part of that is due to my DW's decision to continue to stayed employed (reduces withdrawls), but also decisions made after retirement related to purchase of an SPIA and delay of SS.

If we needed to "give up" anything, then we would have not retired. I'm sure we would have regretted reducing our lifestyle. Of course, that's just us and I'm sure there are many that would indeed sacrifice their standard of living to retire.

 

[MichaelB]

What else did you guys "give up"?

Meetings.

 

[W2R]

What else did you guys "give up"?

Routinely getting up before dawn.

Oh, you meant as far as standard of living? Nothing. But, in a few years we might move to an area that has a lower cost of living, if we decide to get out of this hurricane prone, crime ridden city.

On the other hand, I would have been happy to give up something to retire; I just didn't have to do that. I wasn't willing to give up federal retiree health insurance, so I retired as soon as I qualified for it.

 

[powerplay]

So what have you guys "given up"?

I gave up my j*b to retire. That should help the economy also since it opened up a j*b for someone else. Along with this I gave up the associated commuting in rush hour traffic and going to meetings.

With respect to my lifestyle, I haven't had to give up anything yet. If it is necessary to cut back at some point I would probably downsize to only one vehicle (currently have 2) and look at other smaller cuts I could make in my budget.

 

[audreyh1]

After 22 years, we gave up our sail boat. As much as we loved it, the expenses were just crazy. And I sailed last summer as much as ever, on OPB (other people's boats) - free!

We gave up our sailboat too! But that was mostly because we started traveling a lot more and weren't home as much to sail. Plus it turned out that sailing was a major stress reliever while I was working, and that stress disappeared!

Sailing on OPBs is a brilliant strategy IMO!, and easy to do when you and the friends and are already plugged into the sailing network.

Audrey

 

[FUEGO]

I'm not ER'd yet but plan to do so in my 30's (sooner rather than later after the awesome Monday morning I have had!).

I would certainly include "going back to work" on the list of things to do if I hit monetary hard times in ER.

Part of the reasoning is that some or all of our children will still be in the house for the first 10-15 or so years of ER. I don't guess it would be fair to be a layabout father when the kids are complaining of not having any shoes, they are freezing because we have the heat set on 50 degrees, and they don't like inviting their friends over to have ramen noodles for dinner.

I figure the odds of such a bad catastrophic collapse of the economy that would lead to portfolio declines sufficient to scare me back to work are of such a low probability that I can live with the outcome if they do hit. I'd rather take those odds than endure a 100% chance of working an extra 5 years to double our portfolio to reduce the withdrawal rate by half.

But before considering reemployment, I think we would cut back on vacations/travel and consider getting rid of 1 car (cutting down to 1 car in the family). I doubt we would downsize our house since the back up plan would be for the kids to live with us through college instead of living on campus to save on room+board expenses.

 

[FIREd]

If I had to cut back, I would consider giving up (in no particular order) the 2 iPhones, cable TV, one car, the big house, nicer clothes, dining out, and some vacation. Frankly, I think giving up any one of those things would be pretty painless for me.

If I had to cut back any more than that though, I would consider going back to work. If I had to start cutting back on groceries or if I couldn't visit my family once a year, I would be really miserable.

 

[Texas Proud]

If 77% of retirees are happier than when they were working, then 23% say they were happier working. Hard to imagine. 5% I would believe, since I know there are some that just can't let go, but 23%?

This reminds me of that commercial, "Who would want more cash?" Only in this case, "Who wouldn't want more time?"

I wonder if some of those they interviewed were unemployed, and just claiming to be retired because they couldn't find a job.

Maybe it is 77% happier retired, 3% happier working and 20% "about the same". I can imagine people saying "about the same" if they had to retire due to health problems or before they had planned to because of layoff, or the like.

W2R... I am surprised that you jumped to that conclusion, being a scientist and all...

As pointed out by kyounge, there are other possible answers besides 'being happier at work than retired'.... there always seems to be a number of people who 'don't know' for any question...

I do admit that almost everybody that I have met does the same... I can say 'I don't like something'.... and then sometime later I will hear Texas Proud hates whatever it was.... I will point out that I do not 'hate' it, I just don't like it... there can be a big middle ground of indifference...

 

[Mulligan]

I gave up suits and ties...

+1 to that, and about the only thing. I have to go to a dress up Christmas party with GF soon. Dont know if I have anything current enough style wise to wear. She might be embarrassed as Im not going to buy something just for that.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I curse you people who get to enjoy other people's boats!
Sigh...ours is like some kind of reverse (perverse) ATM machine that only takes money, never doles it back out. And it only takes $100 bills.
Come to Charleston Midpack and Audrey, y'all we'll take you out in style!