JustCurious
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2006
- Messages
- 1,396
Either that or they grossly underestimated what they needed to retire comfortably with relatively conservative drawdown rates.The article fails to mention the stock/bond allocation of the early retirees. Bear markets are all part of the stock market cycle and should be fully expected without surprise. I wonder if some of the people who were interviewed allocated more to stocks than what is prudent when taking their personal circumstances into consideration.
Let me get this straight. I'm supposed to feel sorry for someone with a $52,000 pension?? I think not.
Ziggy, I agree. Their pension alone gives them more income than the average American household. According to the census bureau, the median household income in the U.S. for 2007 is $50,233.
Income 2007
What never gets mentioned in these discussions is how much uncounted income there is. For example, health insurance, life insurance and many other job benefits. Then on the low end, Medicaid, food stamps, etc.
As a self funded retiree you are going to get none of that stuff.
Ha
We had a single guy posting on here a few years back who retired with a couple million plus in his nest egg. It declined by a few thousand dollars and he couldn't stand it - panicked went looking for a job almost immediately.Someone I w*rk with retired at the end of last year and then came back 3 months later. He was driven insane by the gyrating stock market. Before he retired, I know he had a 60/40 asset allocation and had a decent pension.
Just watching the market go sideways drove him back. I talked to him and he admitted that intellectually he could easily weather the drops but when he watched his portfolio drop he became unnerved by the whole process.
I think you need to be reputable to be an expert witness.
Although I remember one lawyer in a corporate civil case talking about expert witnesses. He said one was $7000 but he was very reputable and respectable. One was $5000 and he was pretty credible. One was $3000 and had a very bad reputation but had the benefit of being "a whore that will say anything we want him to say".
So maybe you'd make it.
Oooh Counselor! You are so good on direct, and your cross was a-a-a-amazing!Well see, I'd do it for $2k and act like I really enjoyed it.
[qoute]
Let me get this straight. I'm supposed to feel sorry for someone with a $52,000 pension?? I think not.
Someone I w*rk with retired at the end of last year and then came back 3 months later. He was driven insane by the gyrating stock market.
Just as well, somebody needs to pay for my SS.
I bitch a lot about the market but it sure doesn't make me want to go back to work. I just like to bitch.
Really? Hadn't noticed...
I agree -- but it is a separate issue. The bottom line is that these two are, even after deducting their health insurance costs, getting a hell of a lot better deal with the pension than private sector folks my age and younger could realistically hope for. So it's still hard for me to muster up much sympathy.No, but do you think the insurance company will charge less if you have a pension? I think we should all feel sorry for ourselves.
It's outrageous for any of us to have to pay that much for insurance period.
What never gets mentioned in these discussions is how much uncounted income there is. For example, health insurance, life insurance and many other job benefits. Then on the low end, Medicaid, food stamps, etc.
As a self funded retiree you are going to get none of that stuff.
Ha
I'll gladly pay that much for health insurance if you give me a $52,000 pension.
The answer may be yes, but not to the degree that someone can safely -- and assuming no market risk -- collect $52,000 a year for life before the age of 60.The question, then, and I don't know the answer, is do positions that offer DBs pay less over one's working career?
The answer may be yes, but not to the degree that someone can safely -- and assuming no market risk -- collect $52,000 a year for life before the age of 60.
I've done pretty well with salary, come close to maxing out the 401K and Roth limits most years, have been fortunate to have generous company matches on the 401Ks, and even if I can get 4% real return on about a 75/25 investment mix until the age of 60 -- assuming considerable risk -- I don't think I can safely get out more than about $38,000 a year in today's dollars at age 60. And I suspect I've done better than 90-95% of the people who are increasingly counting on 401Ks and IRAs as their primary retirement vehicle.