Two questions for the retired.

[MBAustin]

1) Bought and remodeled our "downsized house" and sold our previous house. Actually, I did not seriously consider ER until that was complete and all the bills paid - then realized we had enough assets for me to ER.

2) I worried too much about what other people would think. We live comfortably in a nice neighborhood but definitely LBYM in a community of credit card spenders. Turns out most people either don't care or don't ask.

 

[Moemg]

1- tracked my expenses for several years pre retirement
2- making friends outside of work to smooth the transition

 

[jimnjana]

Why there rather than in qualified?

Plan was that our pension income would pay the bills and allow for cash flow of expenses. This would have worked but we decided to buy a lake front property and had to come up with the down payment, selling stock near market lows.... Then had to fund some major renovations, then a new roof. Pretty much cleaned us out. I learned my lesson, and have virtually zero equity exposure in my taxable accounts and have built up a cash cushion (cds, money markets) (hmmm maybe working on another down payment...)

I'm glad I maxed out IRAs and TSPs before I retired, just wished I would have been a little more cautious in my outlook regarding my taxable investments.

 

[veremchuka]

1 - I read extensively on the internet about retirement, investing and financial matters in my last 4 years working. I really learned a lot and consider myself much more knowledgeable about such matters than the average person but I guess that not such a big deal considering the average person can't stay out of debt or balance their checkbook!

2 - I wish I'd put more into taxable. Also I wish that I decided to pay off my mortgage before I retired rather than thinking I'd just pay the mortgage in retirement which would have been for 26 years. I wish I found this site and the BH before retiring as it may well have changed how I did some things.

 

[scrabbler1]

Scrabbler, would you mind elaborating a bit on the catastrophic plan? I am thinking of making a switch as my premiums have also increased 50% over about the past 3 years. I'm looking at higher deductibles with lower premiums, but also have to factor that none of the higher-deductible plans available to me are eligible for an HSA.

I switched to a hospital-only plan, one which covers only hospital services, not medical services. Prescription drugs are not covered, either. It is offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield.

A lengthy hospital stay is one which I fear the most financially. If I have to pay out a few thousand dollars for doctor bills that won't break me. But tens of thousands of dollars (or more) for a hospital stay due to illness or injury does scare me.

An emergency room visit would have some of the charges covered (relating to the hospital) but not others (such as individual doctor bills). I have not been a hospital patient since 1980 when I was a teenager. I have had one prescription for drugs in the last 30 years.

I am not married to this plan, of course. If Obamacare offers me a better premium or a subsidy to a broader coverage, I can always switch to it.

The premium for the BCBS policy is about $500 less per month so as long as any bills for medical services previously covered do not exceed $6,000 per year I will come out ahead.

And I am still covered for any car accidents from my auto insurance (PIP) policy, probably the most hazardous activity I undertake on a regular basis.

I can live with this, at least for a while.

 

[JmfromTx]

1. Started investing outside our 401K's in 1995 to bridge the years between 56 and 59.5. Smartest thing I've ever done, money wise.
2. Nothing yet.

 

[megacorp-firee]

1. What's the one thing that you did in preparation for your retirement that you are all so glad you did?

LBYM and save a bundle in preparation

2. What's the one thing that your kicking yourself in the butt wishing you'd of done it before retiring?

Know during the 1st 4 years of FIRE what I know now.
... for example, REALLY KNOW your risk tolerance
also keeping your investment choices as simple as you can ... i.e. etf's and mutual funds that represent the total market instead of individual stocks and esoteric investments.

 

[flyfishnevada]

1) Buying service retirement years to start pension early.

Oh I gotta add that to my response. I bought five years of service when I was 23 and paid only $14,000. Best money I've ever spent.

 

[bbbamI]

1. DH and I mapped out a plan together and stayed the course.

2. Nothing.

 

[Walt34]

1. Had zero debt two years before retirement.

2. Given more thought to what I was going to do with all that free time.

 

[donheff]

Oh I gotta add that to my response. I bought five years of service when I was 23 and paid only $14,000. Best money I've ever spent.

Wow, that is planning in advance for ER. How were you sure enough you would/could stay at your employer long enough for that to pay off?

 

[El Sargento]

I'm reading all of your responses and taking notes!

 

[Nords]

1. What's the one thing that you did in preparation for your retirement that you are all so glad you did?

Surfing lessons.

2. What's the one thing that your kicking yourself in the butt wishing you'd of done it before retiring?

I should've left active duty for the Reserves at the 10-year point when I thought it was a good idea to go to a shore staff billet.

My mistake was thinking that family would have a higher priority than working nights, weekends, holidays, and midwatches. Everything eventually worked out OK, but they were two of the most miserable years in my life.

 

[FreeAtLast]

The best thing that I did was paying off the mortgage. Everything started falling into place after that. I am still working (semi-retired), however, I do it because I enjoy getting out of the house a few morning a week.

 

[urn2bfree]

Regarding the insurance scrabbler1 posted- BE very careful...some medical care as an outpatient can be unbelievably expensive--cancer treatment for example...most outpt procedures, xrays etc....you could go broke very fast if you ever need them.

 

[chinaco]

I have not ERd yet. We are transitioning now. I am sure we will have certain regrets in retrospect. Nothing like being in the future to see the holes in ones plans and actions.


One transition situation that I found painful, then elation, then painful....

Adjusting our portfolio at 50 for FIRE.... I reallocated a large amount of money to bonds in 2006.

1. It was painful to see stocks continue to go up, up and up (Felt like I was missing out).
2. 2007 -2009... elation, My FIRE plans will not be interrupted.
3. Now.... the pain is back

[in a voice struggling to talk while in physical combat with an adversary] Must...uh uh.. FIGHT uh grunt... GREED!

 

[Lsbcal]

...(snip)..
3. Now.... the pain is back....

Welcome to the club. That's why I spent mucho hours in late 2008 to the present designing my portfolio to ride with trends. It just suits my personality more then buy-hold. But trading is very low and so it's nearly buy-hold thus can feel somewhat saintly too.

I can still feel the pain though. Never completely satisfied, that's life.

 

[freebird5825]

1. Everything.
I had to shift from Plan A to Plan B in very short order when my husband passed. Plan B included ramping up my contributions to my TSP 401(k) and being faster on my feet than I had anticipated. It was tough, but I got through it all and came out shining.

A few added items...
I had a new roof put on the house and the upstairs bathroom completely remodeled while I still had an ample paycheck to replace the money already saved for these projects. It would have been very diificult to pay for projects of this scale on my FIRE income. I wanted to have the house in tip top condition for high cost maintenance/repair/upgrade items that I am unable to do myself. All I need to do now is replace the 1977 vintage windows, a few at a time each year as I can afford to. So far so good.


2. No regrets.

Well, maybe one little one. I had 1 year 10 months to go until I would have been eligible for an early out at age 50 with 20 years service. The early out option was not guaranteed to even be offered at my 50/20 date, and if it had been, there were a lot of local politics and favoritism involved in being "approved". I had already observed how this process was applied to other co-w*rkers. Many applications were refused or delayed processing.
However, exiting a toxic w*rk environment (for lots of people, not just me) on my own terms (at 18 years 3 months service) probably added years to my life. It was and still is a good decision from that perspective.

 

[antmary]

The best thing we have done was paid off our home and rental. Also, reading The Boglehead's Guide to Investing helped me to plan out a chart. Before that, I had no clue. I sort of wondered around in a cloud thinking that things always work out. Also, we purchased a small business (part-time) that we love, and that gives a nice feeling of security when the markets seem to be unstable. The business is low-maintenance, and low-stress.

I wish I had learned about the Bogleheads website earlier than I did. I can't express how helpful those people have been in helping us to get our ducks in a row.

 

[flyfishnevada]

Wow, that is planning in advance for ER. How were you sure enough you would/could stay at your employer long enough for that to pay off?

I had to pretty much decide then to stick it out. At the time I was taking classes offered through my employer, the Nevada Dept of Transportation, to allow me to become a professional engineer. I already had 5 years in so only 20 to go after purchasing the additional 5. I don't regret it, but in retrospect I really limited my opportunities to make more money in the private sector. I set a goal to retire at a certain grade and I met that goal plus about 8 years before I retired the salaries of engineers was raised 10% to keep up with local government and the private companies so I'm really 10% beyond my goal.

Either way, I'm retired now.

 

[Nords]

I don't regret it, but in retrospect I really limited my opportunities to make more money in the private sector.

Every time I hear a grass/greener story (we hear a lot of them in the military) I wonder if the extra salary compensates for the layoff risk.

Buying all those years of service was a heckuva deferred-comp benefit, too, and I don't know how easily those are found in private employ.

 

[Moscyn]

1. With most of the debts (including house) paid and some investments in place, I learned to live on 15% of my last drawn salary for more than a year before I retired which meant I changed my shopping habits and learned to stretch the dollar. So, it was really quite easy to carry on living with less when I retired.

2. I wished I put aside more for unforseen expenditure which does not relate to me or DH for instance medical expenses for my parent who was diagnosed of cancer in his eighties.

 

[Skimmer]

Mine too - I have enough money to retire, I'm just can't afford health insurance. We are 50 yrs and now must work to pay for health insurance! I would gladly give up my job, so a younger person could start working if only I could find affordable health insurance.

2. I would say that the health care situation in this country is probably the only note souring my decision to retire early. Health care is my biggest source of worry and frustration for the future. So, in retrospect, I should have focused more on retirement benefits when I was looking for jobs. I turned down a job at a state university because the pay was subpar. I think it may have been shortsighted.[/QUOTE]

 

[Khan]

Spent very little money on stuff that wasn't worth it.