OxidizedDreamer
Dryer sheet wannabe
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2016
- Messages
- 15
I made financial blunders as a young adult, recovered, made more blunders, recovered. So, my whole approach has been that anything can be recovered. I'm also pretty good at grasping reality and understanding that "this is real, therefore I must..." For instance, I lose jobs sort of often, got raises slowly - my brain is badly disorganized and while I've been able to improve, I never was able to produce as effectively as other employees. So, since my reality is that income was not assured, I steadfastly avoided debt, and when I did buy a house, I took on second jobs, got roommates or whatever, to get it paid off fast.
I got into a lucky spot circa 1995, found a small technology niche that kept me employed nonstop for 20 years...by which time the niche had shrunk and is now an afterthought. Got laid off in 2013, took a few other jobs, but was definitely not suited, and fed up with the stress, I decided to stay unemployed long enough to assess things.
My assessment was that we had enough. Several outside wealth managers agree. My wife, however, cannot believe that it's OK to quit work in your 50s - we're gonna die, it seems.
Poor thing has gone out and got a crap job that's high stress. I feel for her, but as they say, I didn't cause her emotion, therefore I can't fix it. I'm trying to be supportive. And in fact, I'm not retired, I'm just using this time to develop a small electronics manufacturing company. I've had some success and very small income, but nothing big - won't have sizeable income, I figure, for 3-5 years.
Since I see others doing this, I'll do so as well, would be interesting to see responses.
Debt: zero
Home: worth $500k or so, purchased with cash
Vehicles: Two of them young enough that we'll be 80 before they need to be replaced
Total 401k/IRA/investments: let's just call it $1 mill
Social Security, when we take it at age 70: $39k for me, half again for spouse
Current spending level: Approx $35k per year and declining
Longevity expectation: 40 more years, based on family history
Plan: Using the Income For Life plan, we extract 3-5 years worth from the portfolio - when the market is at a relatively high spot - and put that into something like an annuity or other vehicle we can draw from regularly. Therefore, the money on which we're living is not coming from funds at market risk. And..we can accept a bit higher risk in the market to achieve better long-term results, since a temporary down won't impact our ability to spend.
What's not accounted for: impact of her having a job, or my business making earnings. I don't see those as negatives, yet....
Will be interested to see comments.
Thanks!
I got into a lucky spot circa 1995, found a small technology niche that kept me employed nonstop for 20 years...by which time the niche had shrunk and is now an afterthought. Got laid off in 2013, took a few other jobs, but was definitely not suited, and fed up with the stress, I decided to stay unemployed long enough to assess things.
My assessment was that we had enough. Several outside wealth managers agree. My wife, however, cannot believe that it's OK to quit work in your 50s - we're gonna die, it seems.
Poor thing has gone out and got a crap job that's high stress. I feel for her, but as they say, I didn't cause her emotion, therefore I can't fix it. I'm trying to be supportive. And in fact, I'm not retired, I'm just using this time to develop a small electronics manufacturing company. I've had some success and very small income, but nothing big - won't have sizeable income, I figure, for 3-5 years.
Since I see others doing this, I'll do so as well, would be interesting to see responses.
Debt: zero
Home: worth $500k or so, purchased with cash
Vehicles: Two of them young enough that we'll be 80 before they need to be replaced
Total 401k/IRA/investments: let's just call it $1 mill
Social Security, when we take it at age 70: $39k for me, half again for spouse
Current spending level: Approx $35k per year and declining
Longevity expectation: 40 more years, based on family history
Plan: Using the Income For Life plan, we extract 3-5 years worth from the portfolio - when the market is at a relatively high spot - and put that into something like an annuity or other vehicle we can draw from regularly. Therefore, the money on which we're living is not coming from funds at market risk. And..we can accept a bit higher risk in the market to achieve better long-term results, since a temporary down won't impact our ability to spend.
What's not accounted for: impact of her having a job, or my business making earnings. I don't see those as negatives, yet....
Will be interested to see comments.
Thanks!
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