Search results

Hey ya'll. I did a search but didn't see this specific topic. Like many people, I got sucked into buying a whole life policy when my kids were young. I retired at 63 and am now 66. The death benefit is $225,000. The surrender value is about $115,000 last I checked. We sold an asset that...

My official retirement date was April 1 of this year. On May 5, I had "emergency" back surgery. A back problem I had managed for years got worse and worse until on April 29, I couldn't hardly walk. It just got worse and worse during the last week or two of April. When my regular doc saw me...

Just started the 3d week of not working. We're not calling it retirement since I am free to and have done a little bit of work the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately, now that I'm not working, I don't seem to have the time to post here. I'm just too busy doing stuff! It's hard to understand how I...

2d week of not working. The adjustment has been.....no adjustment at all. There are still a few loose ends. Went to the office yesterday for a while to tie up some of the loose ends. Somebody is already in my old corner office with the nice view. Don't miss it at all. We're going away for at...

The BCBS coverage my business pays for is over $1,000 a month for me, Mrs. Me and college kid. COBRA would be that plus 15%. So I was mildly worried. I got a high deductible HSA policy for just over $700 a month for the 3 of use. The deductible is $5,000 per individual and $10,000 total. I...

I'm done. I'm KMA. The official last day is March 29, but I've got most of the difficult work stuff is pretty well wrapped up. There are still a few matters that require some serious attention, but mostly, it's wrap up time. It is a weird feeling. My partners in the law firm want to have a...

I am sure this has been addressed here, but I would like some wisdom. Whole life policies are generally frowned upon here and I now understand why. But I have a really old one and the "return" now is pretty good. The cash value increases annually at a pretty good rate. The cash value is...

I'm class of 2013. April 1 is the day, which means March 29 is the last work day. Because we're a relatively small law firm, and I have some nice credentials and certifications, I've agreed they can leave my name on everything and suggested it would be foolish to announce an official...

The person who owns the agency where my company gets it's health insurance said there was no problem with keeping me and my family on the policy when I retire. Since then, I've started the wheels in motion here and somebody here contacted somebody else at the same insurance agency. The new...

I'm a 63 year old lawyer who has been in private practice my whole life. We're not rich, but we have plenty of money to live a reasonably decent life and we have no debt. I'm leaving the work force on April 1, 2013. All the lawyers I know seem amazed. "What are you going to do?" "You'll be...

What sort of returns are you guys seeing year to date on your investment accounts? I just met with the guy from one of those brokerage firms you guys don't like and our returns are in the 9-10% range for the year. When I retire next year, I haven't decided whether to stay with them or pull...

It is sort of official that I'm out of here as of April 1, 2013. It was a hard thing to make the final decision, but the time was right and I'm 63, so it isn't exactly super early. I'll miss the people but not the petty stuff. Everybody asks "what will you do" or "won't you be bored". They...

Does the presidential election effect where anyone is putting their money? Just curious.

A couple of the people at work told me today that I would certainly be bored when I stop working next April. That led to a thought on the way home. I've just turned 63 and I don't think I'll be bored when not working. The guys who asked me that are early to mid 50's. Assuming the people who...

Are financial advisers worth their fee? - Chuck Jaffe - MarketWatch According to this story, the "value" of using a financial advisor, compared to the "average person", 1.82% additional annual income. "Gamma" is the claimed value of having a paid advisor. I suspect they are people here and...

My wife and I have decided that the stars and our retirement accounts all align for an April 1, 2013 date, although the numbers would work fine as of January 1. The only magic of April 1 is that I will be within 18 months of being 65 and can COBRA for 18 months. That and our youngest will be...

This is a first. I'm planning on retiring either at the first of next year or April 1 next year. The cost of health insurance is a major concern. Every year in our small business, the cost has either gone up or we've switched to a crummier program to keep the cost about the same for the 5...

After reading and lurking here a good bit, and reading some books and articles about "early retirement", I decided to try one approach that was in a book. I'm a shareholder in a law firm. At the end of last year, I worked out a deal where I would take 75% compensation in return for more time...

I think I did this right, but don't know. My wife and I have a very well secured note/mortgage that pays quarterly an amount almost adequate for us to live on. It will be satisfied at the end of 2018, exactly one year before I hit 70 (I'm 62 now, going on 63). The only way I can figure out...

In the never ending preparation phase for retirement, early or not at this point, I'm thinking about starting out with at least 1 year's worth of cash on hand and replenishing it as need be from the various retirement accounts or retirement income. Is there anywhere you can actually earn a...

Here's a question to ponder. At least I'm pondering it. I'm in transition from full time to part time this year to fully retired. Maybe I'll make it before 65, but if I don't have to work too hard, make a little money and enjoy it, it's okay. We're trying to determine a cash management...

We're getting about $400k from the sale of a piece of property. The way we've got things set up, we shouldn't really need any income from it for probably another 7 years. Right now, we are pretty heavily allocated in bonds, and largely tax free bonds, but have been buying some dividend paying...

Today was the 1st official day of not being full time. Of course, I worked full time today. My deal is that I am taking a 25% cut in compensation and getting more time off. Starting in late April through October, I'm planning on going away for 2 weeks, working for 2 or 3 weeks, going away for...

Despite some unfortunate (but not devestating) financial events, my wife and I are in agreement that next year I'm not going to work full time. I shared the happy news with a couple of my partners and I'm getting some push back. My thought is that a "normal" work year for the younger guys...

She's 57, I'm 62. We have retirement savings that generate about $52,000 a year without touching principal. We have some income from an installment sale that generates about $95,000 annually through 2018. We can live easily on the $95,000 and the $52,000. We've got some commercial property...