Retirement Shock and Needing to Find a Job.

[CardsFan]

Not just YOUR wife, but this seems to be a common situation among the retired couples that we know.

In our case we have found that we love living next door to each other and having our own separate space. We can spend plenty of time alone or with other friends, and only spend time together when both of us want to do that.

I think the amount of time spent together in retirement is something that couples sometimes need to think about and work out as part of adjusting to retirement, unless one of them wants to go back to work.

From your posts, it seems you guys have a perfect arrangement. We all have to work at it, otherwise it doesn't work!

 

[Red Badger]

If a couple spends too much time together, then sometimes I hear the wives complaining about their husbands being underfoot, and the husbands complaining about too many honey-do's. The solution often is for the husband to go back to work, which he'd rather do anyway. It's sad but for reasons other than income.

DW broke it to me in six words.

Too much husband. Not enough money.

Money's fine, she just wasn't used to not seeing $$$ hit the bank each month. But yeah, I was crowding her space - we're a work in progress, and it's improving.

 

[MRG]

Do they think that anyone with an $85k pension is going to get a lot of sympathy? I think not, not here nor anywhere else.

Was this guy totally brain-dead for Enron, GM, etc.?

+1

Thanks. I moved a large sum out of Megacorp, while working, only to diversify my holdings away from Megacorp.

In my case, woulda, coulda, shoulda, hindsight says I lost over a half million dollars. My reality is I slept well at night not worrying about all my eggs in the same basket.

 

[jazz4cash]

I dunno... I've been retired for 6 years and we have a mortgage... in fact, I refinanced to get a lower rate (3.375%) just before I retired. Depending on the circumstances, retiring with a mortgage is quite prudent. Our investment return on money that we would have used to pay off the mortgage has been many multiples of what we paid in mortgage interest so we are way ahead.

I tend to agree that retiring with a mortgage (esp in HCOL) is not a big deal. I don't know details of the mortgage, but I view it as providing some flexibility in the current rate environment.

 

[Aerides]

If a couple spends too much time together, then sometimes I hear the wives complaining about their husbands being underfoot.

I'd never send DH back to work, but this is a good point! It's definitely a transition when you retire together. I worked from home the last few years before retiring, so I was quite used to having the house empty most every day.

And I know I'm not the only woman who really cannot properly clean the house when DH is on the couch. It's just not scientifically possible.

But the article doesn't make a whole lotta sense. The amount of his GE, even chopped, wasn't make-or-break money, given the pension. And if his mortgage and HI are that much that his pensions isn't enough, then $280k or $110k .... eh. Unless the plan was to cash in the $280, pay off the house, and then live off the pension?

Either way, moving/downsizing might be easier than going back to work at 62.

 

[CardsFan]

And I know I'm not the only woman who really cannot properly clean the house when DH is on the couch. It's just not scientifically possible.

I am sure DH will begrudgingly move for the few minutes it takes.

Sorry, could not resist.

But I have also determined it is not scientifically possible for me to clean the house to DW's satisfaction.

I'm and engineer, we believe in " close enough".

 

[marko]

How many times do we have to see this until people learn the safety and wisdom of diversification. I don't know whether to feel pity or just apathy for people who insist one keeping all of their eggs in the same basket.

If he's a long time GE'er I'd guess that since his start day he was told "Don't worry about a thing, your retirement is taken care of." Early on my own company would preach a similar mantra.

Actually, I knew a guy who took an early retirement package from that same GE Lynn (I live a few towns over). It was an incredibly good package. Don't know how much he got but he lived very, very well; new cars every few years, 2 month around the world trips and so on; he actually was living better than when he was working.

Of course, those days are gone........

 

[JoeWras]

If he's a long time GE'er I'd guess that since his start day he was told "Don't worry about a thing, your retirement is taken care of." Early on my own company would preach a similar mantra.

Oh yeah, for sure! I haven't worked for IBM for 25 years and I still try to get that brainwashing out of my head since it pops up every now and then. Weird.

 

[griffithee]

It cracks me up to see some of these comments about SOs both being retired and in the house all day together. I retired first, and it was the best. I would get up with her, make her breaky, and help her and the man cub get off to work/daycare. Then I would have ALL day to myself in the house alone. It was heaven. Right before they got home, I would cook the evening meal, they would get home, we could have dinner, and get our family time in. All in bed at a reasonable hour. Then two years after that, she retired. And now we compete to see who is going to have to leave the house. Man I miss the days when she was working.

 

[Dash man]

Not to mention that he still has a mortgage?? I know it can be done, but retiring with a mortgage doesn’t seem prudent and not something I would have done. Even with the pension, that’s too much risk on top of all the eggs being in one basket.

I agree, but you’ll find many on this forum believe in keeping a mortgage so their money can stay invested in the markets. I prefer the safety of owning my properties outright.

 

[splitwdw]

A bit from the article:

Quote:
He left GE with an annual pension of $85,000 and company stock valued at more than $280,000.

Retirement looked pretty good until GE shares collapsed. His shares are now worth about $110,000, prompting a late-life job hunt. “I never planned on retiring and having to go back to work,” said Mr. Zabroski, who has monthly mortgage payments and supports a partially disabled wife. “It’s kind of scary.”

I can't read the article but from Braumeister's quote I wonder if the treatment for partially disabled wife is eating into the pension. None of you have commented on this just that you wonder if being together all the time is causing a conflict. Is a conflict mentioned in the article? Wasn't there a news article that retiree healthcare benefits were being reduced or GE was trying to reduce that benefit.

 

[Gumby]

I think the amount of time spent together in retirement is something that couples sometimes need to think about and work out as part of adjusting to retirement, unless one of them wants to go back to work.

How does that saying go? "I married you for better or for worse, but not for lunch."

 

[jollystomper]

I can't read the article but from Braumeister's quote I wonder if the treatment for partially disabled wife is eating into the pension. None of you have commented on this just that you wonder if being together all the time is causing a conflict. Is a conflict mentioned in the article? Wasn't there a news article that retiree healthcare benefits were being reduced or GE was trying to reduce that benefit.

I cannot read the article either but I have the same thought. That $85K pension is good only if it can cover your expenses. If they have high healthcare expenses that might be the big issue.

As for the spouse around the house, I must be lucky, DW cannot wait for me to be around the house more (and not just because of the amount of work I do around the house ).

 

[jimandthom]

I dunno... I've been retired for 6 years and we have a mortgage... in fact, I refinanced to get a lower rate (3.375%) just before I retired. Depending on the circumstances, retiring with a mortgage is quite prudent. Our investment return on money that we would have used to pay off the mortgage has been many multiples of what we paid in mortgage interest so we are way ahead.

Agreed that having a mortgage is not necessarily a bad thing. We have a 15 yr at 3.12% with about 13 years left to go. House was only 120K( ina LCOL area. We could have paid cash for the whole amount, but felt more comfy having the cash on hand.

We used some of the cash on hand for paying taxes on Roth conversions, with another year or two more conversions to go. The cost of the mortage will be somewhat reduced by the long term non taxable gains of the conversion.

 

[bmass]

What ever the real story I'm sure he had other options as a employee.
My wife and I both worked for GE in the early 70's GE had and still has a mutual fund (S&S program fund) may be under a new name now.

We invested in it and have had it since the 70's been a very good investment for us. Proves the old saying don't put all your eggs in one basket.

B

 

[audreyh1]

And even while you are there to the degree that you can... it is stupid to have both your job/income and investments tied up in one company.

I took that gamble and won, leading to a very early retirement. It was a calculated risk as I was still young and had lots of career flexibility. Otherwise I would probably have been working a couple more decades like “normal” folks and still retiring a bit early.

I didn’t have my 401K invested in company stock, but my taxable investments dwarfed my 401K even though I had been maxing out as much as I could. And I did start diversifying away as I approached my target “magic” number and decided I could really pull this crazy early retirement thing off in a year or two.

 

[pb4uski]

Good move on the mortgage. Like everything else, fortunately it worked out. However the individual in the article probably didn't make the mortgage choice based on a sound financial decision. I personally favor windfall RE transactions but would not recommend that approach to anyone. In fact I've got a pretty good dry spell going right now. A vulture has to be patient. In any event I certainly wouldn't risk anything that would compromise my lifestyle.

That's part of what separates this group from society as a whole.

Agreed... our assets were 10x our mortgage at the time that I refinanced... so it wasn't a huge bet and the last 6 years have been very good.

 

[JoeWras]

and help her and the man cub get off to work/daycare.

I couldn't stop laughing when I read this! My sister still works on getting my 30 year old man-cub nephew off to work.

 

[ncbill]

Can't have much sympathy, even with his circumstances.

I have a relative who had to retire from 25+ years physically worn out plus getting a few things dropped on them (aircraft mechanic) with a pension closer to $35,000 than $85,000, with savings at the time of their retirement of maybe $50,000.

So they felt they had to take SS at age 62, but they've managed to make it 20+ years now on the above.

 

[Bir48die]

I dunno... I've been retired for 6 years and we have a mortgage... in fact, I refinanced to get a lower rate (3.375%) just before I retired. Depending on the circumstances, retiring with a mortgage is quite prudent. Our investment return on money that we would have used to pay off the mortgage has been many multiples of what we paid in mortgage interest so we are way ahead.

Never been a fan of this logic

 

[Montecfo]

I agree, but you’ll find many on this forum believe in keeping a mortgage so their money can stay invested in the markets. I prefer the safety of owning my properties outright.

I am not a fan of the mortgage per se, but I have had variable rate mortgages for about 11 years or so. Very small but it is at 2.75%, at least until 2021. So not paying it off till then at least.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We live in a state with poor asset protection for homes, homes are very expensive and we know people who have been sued over issues like car accidents that can happen to anyone. In some locations equity stripping has its merits, besides the other potential benefits like keeping the money invested at a higher return.

 

[Winemaker]

I have been retired for 3.5 years, I have mortgages on my home and three rentals. 6 years left on the house and one rental. 20 years and 25 years left on the others, less than 4% on all. Rentals are all cash flow positive. I sleep well.

As an aside, I am not quite 60 yo and not afraid of a shovel, wheel barrow and pickup truck full of mulch, rock, gravel, manure, or top soil for myself, friends,relatives or my rentals. There are 2 guys working across the street from me (at least 60 years old) and they have been shlugging it out for the last three days. I wouldn't do it unless it was for a lot of money.

 

[Music Lover]

Well, if you're not smart enough live comfortably on an $85,000 pension, then maybe you deserve to be working.

 

[NW-Bound]

I wonder how much his salary when still working was. Was it more than $85K? I did not know GE pays factory workers that well, but then anything is possible.