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Old 10-15-2008, 09:16 PM   #21
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Like many here, I will be one to look back on this period and say...'yup, I'm one of the idiots that retired during the financial crisis of 2008.' Oh well, just gonna party till the money runs out. Got enough cd's to last me a good 15 to 18 years. Plus SS will start in 8 years and that will help stretch out my portfolio. And who knows, maybe this mess will get straighten out somewhere along the way and we all recoup our stock losses. Not counting on it though. After all......I'm the born loser.
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Old 10-15-2008, 09:34 PM   #22
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Hey Dawg, at least you were smart enough to have a bunch of CD's.
I on the other hand used bonds and everything I have is getting killed. I'm holding a 2 CD's but I wish I had more.

This environment is not for the weak who are living off their port as I am. I'm getting weaker by the day.

I think Dory may have to recalculate firecalc when this is over.
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Old 10-15-2008, 11:43 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by brewer12345 View Post
Easy to say: until we see otherwise, the worst time to retire was 1966. The combination of galloping inflation and lousy asset price performance was devastating.
I agree and Firecalc bears it out.

If the current crappy market stretches out for a few years and is joined by years of staggering inflation, then we'll have some reason to think this is the worse time to retire. But as of yet, no. Not that right now is exactly fun........
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Old 10-16-2008, 06:58 AM   #24
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I have a question on retirement timing. I ER three years ago but DW continued to work. I did not take my pension yet as it continues to grow at 6% per year. Is now the time to take it and put it into equities?

FA has thought this would be good as he always wants more investments. 0.95% fee. DW can get another lump sum pension in two years. We are looking ahead at 10 years with no income before SS to start depleting all the pretax accounts converting to Roths starting in 2010. I expect market will not recover until 2011 and this tells me to stick with the 6 % per year until 2010.
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Old 10-16-2008, 06:59 AM   #25
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The all time worst time to retire would be the day after you die.
Talking with a fellow at work last week, also a retired police officer, he told me of a call that affected him the rest of his life. In his early 20s he got a call for a car stopped with the engine running. The car is stopped in front of the owner's house. Looking in, he sees an older guy, dead, with his face planted in his retirement cake on the front seat.

"Tomorrow is not guaranteed" is the lesson he learned.
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Old 10-16-2008, 07:22 AM   #26
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an older guy, dead, with his face planted in his retirement cake on the front seat. "Tomorrow is not guaranteed"
That should be a photograph for this board.
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Old 10-16-2008, 07:29 AM   #27
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Talking with a fellow at work last week, also a retired police officer, he told me of a call that affected him the rest of his life. In his early 20s he got a call for a car stopped with the engine running. The car is stopped in front of the owner's house. Looking in, he sees an older guy, dead, with his face planted in his retirement cake on the front seat.

"Tomorrow is not guaranteed" is the lesson he learned.
Good point. As OCD as I can be about saving as much of our cash flow for retirement savings as we can, I also try to take this into account and not be *too* miserly today, particularly if something can improve our enjoyment of life. I don't want to put ALL our eggs in the "someday" bucket when we don't even know we'll be there "some day." We *do* know we're here today, so it's important for me to find a balance between
tomorrow and today.
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Old 10-16-2008, 09:26 PM   #28
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Like many here, I will be one to look back on this period and say...'yup, I'm one of the idiots that retired during the financial crisis of 2008.' Oh well, just gonna party till the money runs out. Got enough cd's to last me a good 15 to 18 years. Plus SS will start in 8 years and that will help stretch out my portfolio. And who knows, maybe this mess will get straighten out somewhere along the way and we all recoup our stock losses. Not counting on it though. After all......I'm the born loser.
I became retirement eligible May 2008, which happens to coincide with my net-worth all time high. It's been straight down from there, in the order of 5 large.

Fortunately and unfortunately I put off retirement "till the end of the year" and/or "until I could find a position with less travel/less stress". The fortunately part is I still have a good paying j*b (at least as long as it lasts given deteriorating economic conditions). The unfortunately part is I still have a j*b with long hours and lots of travel and with additional "stage fright" in terms of RE. (Although I am RE I am fairly young (early 50's) with a young child.)
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Old 10-16-2008, 09:35 PM   #29
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Well I retired last October and this is the first year that my net worth is going to be lower than the year before. But I'm also a year closer to death.
Last month our portfolio was down enough to the point that we figured we'll have to die one year earlier than planned. Hmm, wonder how that will work?
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Old 10-16-2008, 10:14 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by Walt34 View Post
Talking with a fellow at work last week, also a retired police officer, he told me of a call that affected him the rest of his life. In his early 20s he got a call for a car stopped with the engine running. The car is stopped in front of the owner's house. Looking in, he sees an older guy, dead, with his face planted in his retirement cake on the front seat.

"Tomorrow is not guaranteed" is the lesson he learned.
Question: If the guy's face was planted in the cake, how could your friend tell that the cake was a retirement cake. It could have been any cake.
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Old 10-16-2008, 10:24 PM   #31
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Question: If the guy's face was planted in the cake, how could your friend tell that the cake was a retirement cake. It could have been any cake.
Do you really believe this stuff.
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Old 10-16-2008, 11:02 PM   #32
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Got enough cd's to last me a good 15 to 18 years. Plus SS will start in 8 years and that will help stretch out my portfolio.
...
After all......I'm the born loser.
Stop banging your head and call yourself a loser. Do you really expect sympathy for a guy with 15 yrs worth of CD?
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Old 10-16-2008, 11:17 PM   #33
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Talking with a fellow at work last week, also a retired police officer, he told me of a call that affected him the rest of his life. In his early 20s he got a call for a car stopped with the engine running. The car is stopped in front of the owner's house. Looking in, he sees an older guy, dead, with his face planted in his retirement cake on the front seat.

"Tomorrow is not guaranteed" is the lesson he learned.
I have first hand knowledge of this incidence at one of my former megacorp employers. This guy retired on Friday. Got heart attack, died on Sunday. We heard the news at work on Monday.

And so many croaked while at work, I lost count. This is an "established" megacorp, where my age (early 50s) is the mere median age . Gee, people dropped like flies there.

My friends and I said our goal was to get out of there alive.

PS. I am out, they are still stuck there.
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Old 10-17-2008, 12:34 AM   #34
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Last month our portfolio was down enough to the point that we figured we'll have to die one year earlier than planned. Hmm, wonder how that will work?
That reminds me of an old New Yorker cartoon: A older couple is doing accounting/running figures in their living room, and the man says, "If we take a late retirement and an early death, we'll just squeak by.."
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Old 10-17-2008, 01:31 AM   #35
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I always thought that in an ideal world my money and my time on earth would run out at the same time. I'm on track for this, IF I can arrange to die next Wednesday.
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Old 10-17-2008, 06:12 AM   #36
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Last day at Megacorp was 10/3 so I seem to have nailed this one! LOL I'm rationalizing that since I received some parting gifts (severance and some long term bonus money that will pay out for a year or two) that I'm really not retired for about 3 more years when that money runs out at the current spending rates. By then, we plan to move to a much cheaper area to live and my wife will have a very small pension that will cover most of her medical benefits. We also have a rental house we'll sell at a reasonable price so net is that we don't plan to start dipping in to the actual retirement savings for at least 3 more years so maybe 2008 won't be such a bad starting spot for us!
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Old 10-17-2008, 06:45 AM   #37
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I also retired in this mess and I do not regret my decision . I was ready physically and mentally to retire . I've also seen many people die on the job and I was determined that was not going to be me . My portfolio has taken a major hit but I had a lot of padding in my budget and I'm going to opt for SS at 62 .
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Old 10-17-2008, 07:15 AM   #38
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Stop banging your head and call yourself a loser. Do you really expect sympathy for a guy with 15 yrs worth of CD?
I'm telling ya, that's the only thing that is getting me through this mess. I am sleeping better at night knowing I have the cd's. Oh well, I think I've adjusted my mind to having a lower net worth.

BTW, the guy that I replaced at my old company retired at 65 and was dead at 66. He was down town having breakfast at some business club he belonged to and had a heart attack. He was literally face down in his plate of food. Amazing how many stories like this we hear of.
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Old 10-17-2008, 07:26 AM   #39
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BTW, the guy that I replaced at my old company retired at 65 and was dead at 66. He was down town having breakfast at some business club he belonged to and had a heart attack. He was literally face down in his plate of food. Amazing how many stories like this we hear of.
Now that I have turned 60, I notice stories like this a lot. And here I am, FI but still w*rking. It is so tempting to just go in and quit today! But in another year and three weeks I will have lifetime medical, so I might as well wait.
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Old 10-17-2008, 07:45 AM   #40
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Now that I have turned 60, I notice stories like this a lot. And here I am, FI but still w*rking. It is so tempting to just go in and quit today!.
I hear ya'. I'd go part-time tomorrow if circumstances permitted.

It's that "part-time" to "no-time" transition that confuses me, but that's still a few years down the road.

Feel like I've been nibbled by a black swan. Don't care to find out what it feels like to get fully bit, so we march on.

Heck, temps are in the 60s and 70s, blue skies, quick 9 holes planned for later today, weekend awaits.

Jeez, just read my post and I'm starting to sound like UncleMick heh heh heh.
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As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.
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