(Worry Emoticon) Retirement May be Sooner Than Planned

[FreeAtLast]

Good luck with you retirement.

My job came to an end about 6 months ago and I went right into retirement. I am 59 and did not want to undertake another job search.
I had been semi retired for several years and had started living on my retirement income and banking most of my paycheck into savings as I could see the job coming to an end.

So far things are working out OK.

[Finance Dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by webdweeb Hi, I'm a newbie to this forum but not to retirement planning-I've been obsessed with the topic since my 20s (which seems like an eternity ago), which I hope will pay off for me now. My company is beginning to downsize (a direct result of the current and upcoming defense budget cuts), and given my age (mid 50s) it is unlikely that I will easily find a job (any job, let alone one that pays what I am now earning), so I am firing (no pun intended) up the retirement calculators to see how much pain I have to inflict on our current lifestyle if the worst case happens. I've already checked out the Firecalc web calculators and have been following the Retire Early web site for some time (and py]laying with the numerous excellent spreadsheet calculators available there), but now that the reality of the situation is hitting me, it definitely impacts the way I think about the numbers that go into the calculators-before it was more of an engineering or probabilistic exercise, but now my future (and that of my wife and children) are dependent on the accuracy of the predictions that I generate to determine how much to withdraw, how much our future expenses will be, when to tap into pensions and SS, what to assume for inflation rates, taxes, annual yields, etc, etc, etc, etc-my head is hurting just typing about it! From reading the forum threads, it seems like there are a lot of kindred spirits here that are in the same boat as myself (or at least in the same harbor), so I am looking forward to participating in the forum. Thanks for spending the time to read my post, and I look forward to lots of stimulating interactions on the forum.

Welcome to the forum web!

I sense from the bold above a bit of negativity, perhaps you're a bit down about what's going on. But rather than focusing on the negative aspect of your "age", why not focus on the positive aspect of your experience, wisdom, and knowledge that comes with your career! Be optimistic, and you may just find that next j*b, even if only for a few short years.

Good luck.

[BigNick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by webdweeb One area in particular I will probably need help with is projecting the cost of health care

I sometimes think that this board could close down completely if the US had a decent universal healthcare system.

Quote:

Originally Posted by webdweeb - projections of discretionary expenses for the first 10 years, when we plan to do most of our expensive traveling (mainly Europe) while we are still healthy (leaving the US we haven't seen yet for later, when we presumably have less money and tolerance for 12 hour nonstop flights)

You could maybe consider home exchange (eg, Intervac Home Exchange - The original home exchange holiday service) as a way to have European vacations at greatly reduced cost (and a better experience than hotel life). Many European families would love to come to your part of the US for three or four weeks, almost regardless of which part of the US that is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by webdweeb I will leave anyway since I can afford to do so, but I feel lucky-there are others that are not as fortunate and will have some significant hardships as a result of the layoff, but unfortunately it will be exacerbated by the manner in which the layoff is conducted.

Try to avoid burning too many bridges - if they get a big contract and need people in a hurry, you may be able to name your price for some consultancy.

[JBmadera]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finance Dave Welcome to the forum web! I sense from the bold above a bit of negativity, perhaps you're a bit down about what's going on. But rather than focusing on the negative aspect of your "age", why not focus on the positive aspect of your experience, wisdom, and knowledge that comes with your career! Be optimistic, and you may just find that next j*b, even if only for a few short years. Good luck.

Funny story, at least to me: After I was laid off I sat in on one of the outplacement services webinars, something like "how to find work after 50", anyway it was a two day thing, focused on all the great benefits us older workers can provide, however during the wrap up the facilitator spent the entire time coaching us on how to "look" younger - everything from appearance to resume, language and social media. All of us participants left feeling pretty down.....

I know that having 30 years of experience can mean a lot but when employers have the choice of hiring a 30-35 year old or a 50+ guy seems like the 30+ wins most of the time (at least that has been my experience).

Hope things work out for you.

[Live And Learn]

Congratulations on your decision ! it must be very freeing to know that you're ready to go whether they want you to or not. Hang in there, if they do lay you off the severance package and unemployment insurance would be a bonus !