3 1/2 months into retirement and Corona. Is it a good thing I’m retired, or a bad thi

[Canoesmith]

I go back and forth Whether or not it is better to be out and retired, or still in making the bucks and socking it away. Cant decide if I was brilliantly lucky or unlucky that I went at the end of 2019. I’m down 7.3% which isn't too concerning right now.

Hope you are all doing very well!

 

[statsman]

As long as the bottom doesn't fall out from your investments, you should be fine.

 

[Sunset]

As long as the bottom doesn't fall out from your investments, you should be fine.

Or catch Covid-19 and die....

 

[statsman]

Or catch Covid-19 and die....

Then I guess it wouldn't have mattered if the OP had continued working or retired as was done. Although I think retiring probably gives the OP more options to stay safe from COVID-19 than someone who would have been working well into March 2020.

 

[Dtail]

Better to be retired. It will pass eventually and you will enjoy the best part of your life.

 

[greengo523]

If you are like me, at least you probably aren't spending a lot of money right now.

 

[Ready]

If you had a job that was conducive to working at home full time and never had to put yourself at risk of exposure to the virus, it might have helped to keep you distracted while sheltering at home. If you would have had to travel or go into an office, I think you are better off retired.

I’ve been retired a couple of years now and have loved it, but I’m not loving spending all day around the house. If I had a job that allowed me to work from home and keep busy I wouldn’t mind that right now. I like to keep my mind challenged. I’m not a putter around the house type of person.

 

[Andre1969]

If you're only down 7.3% YTD, that's not bad. As of yesterday morning, I think I was down around 17-18%. I'm a bit lucky, in that I'm able to work from home, and haven't had my income dry up.

On one hand, it does feel nice, to be able to keep investing in my 401k, while prices are low. But in the overall scheme of things, it probably doesn't make much difference for me. I had hit roughly $2.048M on February 19. The ~$883 every two weeks I'm adding to my 401k, even at these depressed prices, doesn't hold much sway at all.

The bigger advantage, however, is having steady income still coming in, instead of starting to tap my investments to cover expenses.

Anyway, it sounds to me like you're doing fine so far. These are uncertain times though, so it's reasonable to be nervous.

 

[CaptTom]

I've been thankful that I'm retired every day of this virus situation.

I'm also thankful I have a comfortable home to self-isolate in, and all the other things which make this SO much easier for me than for many people, be they trapped in crowded cities, out of work unexpectedly or in dangerous essential service jobs.

Had I still been working, I'd be working from home. So that's not an issue for me. The fact is, I miss work no more or less now than I have for the past (almost) four years. There are times when I recall how much fun it could be to be in the thick of things, but they pass pretty quickly. This is so much better.

Everyone's situation is different. But we were long overdue for an economic down-turn anyway. Presumably that would have been baked into your retirement plan. So you're not much worse off there, but you're able to be much more flexible with your time. It's all good.

 

[swakyaby]

Had I still been w*rking, I would be in the thick of the sickest people coming into the hospital, with N-95 masks and isolation gowns in short supply or not available at all. I am enjoying my serenity and relative safety at home.

 

[freedomatlast]

If I hadn't retired last year, I'd be expected to report to a large manufacturing plant every day. The people there are very concerned that once one person gets Covid 19, it will spread quickly due to the recirculated air throughout the plant. I'm very thankful that I'm out of there.

 

[Timeisprecious]

I go back and forth Whether or not it is better to be out and retired, or still in making the bucks and socking it away. Cant decide if I was brilliantly lucky or unlucky that I went at the end of 2019. I’m down 7.3% which isn't too concerning right now.

Hope you are all doing very well!

+1. However, I've concluded that it's better to be retired right now. It's much nicer to be home doing what I want - and getting out a bit WHEN I want - than to be home cranking out the work and feeling the need to always produce absolutely stellar work now that I'm home. I'm not worried so much about the investments. I'm down a bit too, but with a pension coming in and some investment interest on top of that the lady and I are doing fine.

 

[Bir48die]

If you are like me, at least you probably aren't spending a lot of money right now.

Except at the liquor store.

 

[EdL3]

I consider it a Blessing to be able to stay at home, avoid exposure, and not have any concerns about losing my job or income.

EdL3

 

[YakGrl]

One of the blessings during this pandemic is that I retired last year and I am no longer responsible for keeping the company and department/employees going. I was manager/director during 9-11, the 2008 crash and multiple hurricanes. Did disaster recovery reports and work from alternate locations as needed. This one is someone else's responsibility. I am just concentrating on helping myself, my family and friends through this. Counting my blessings in gratitude!

 

[pacergal]

DH and I are both so thankful we are retired.
We would have been in the thick of things if working (public health and community justice).

 

[Poopycat]

If you’re down less than 10% during this mess, I think you’re doing fine. The market isn’t going to go up every year; there will be down times. I think we are in, and will continue to be in, one of the worst down times of our lifetime. If you can get through this period relatively unscathed, you’ll be glad you retired. Things won’t be this murky and bearish forever; we will eventually have good periods where your assets will appreciate in value once again.

I’m struggling with how much time I want to invest in finding another job. I had been aggressively searching because of all this stuff I was reading from “experts” who are predicting a 50-80% drop in the market. That terrified me. But my investments are hanging in there; I’m at about a 12% loss overall. Of course things could drop further, I expect them to, but my financial advisor ran scenarios for what my portfolio would look like with two consecutive years of 20% drops and it still looks like I would be just fine. FIRECalc always shows a zero percent chance of failure even with some of my least conservative spending and portfolio scenarios. So I’m starting to feel more confident about my ability to weather this storm without going back to the workforce full-time. I’m in the running for two jobs, and while I committed to aggressive job search through the end of July, I’m starting to think that if neither of these two opportunities pan out then it may be time to turn my attention to retirement and look for work part time work once I move to my preferred location.

 

[atmsmshr]

One of the blessings during this pandemic is that I retired last year and I am no longer responsible for keeping the company and department/employees going. I was manager/director during 9-11, the 2008 crash and multiple hurricanes. Did disaster recovery reports and work from alternate locations as needed. This one is someone else's responsibility. I am just concentrating on helping myself, my family and friends through this. Counting my blessings in gratitude!

+1

 

[DrRoy]

Better to be retired. It will pass eventually and you will enjoy the best part of your life.

+1

If you are like me, at least you probably aren't spending a lot of money right now.

Definitely less for us too, since we cancelled a lot of travel, but we are slowly getting some remodeling completed.

I consider it a Blessing to be able to stay at home, avoid exposure, and not have any concerns about losing my job or income.

+1

 

[mystang52]

As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I thought "Great timing" and I am NOT being sarcastic.

 

[Big_Hitter]

As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I thought "Great timing" and I am NOT being sarcastic.

I'm in the same boat - retired end of 2019 - I think it was great timing actually

 

[target2019]

"Timing is everything."
Me, 2-29-20.