52 in Altha Florida

[Larro Darro]

Hi guys. I was on a retirement thread over on Tractorbynet, and one of the posters had a link to this site. It looks there is lots of good information here.

As you may have guessed from my use of a tractor social network, I am a country boy. My sister and I own 105 acres of the old farm place together, and each of us have 80 acres of our own. My wife also owns the lot in Blountstown where her parents' house was. [house fire]

I am married, with my wife being the main money maker in the family. She makes $77K and I make $25K per year. Her retirement date is set in stone, 12-31-16. As is her retirement income from the state. She is a county official, but will draw state retirement.

My retirement date is up in the air. The small private, not for profit I work for doesn't offer any retirement, but they do pay 100% of my health insurance. So that is like $450 per month that I can save.

Our house and cars are paid for. And we do have some saving. Between $250 and $300K. Well, it looks like I am going on too long, so I will just say hello, and I look forward to getting to know you guys.

 

[katwillny]

Welcome to the forum. There is a lot of great info here and the community is very helpful. We are a bit away from retirement, both 38, and plan to retire by 55. My wife is a nurse and works for a city hospital in NYC and is fully vested with the union. We also have IRAs and max out our 401k and 403b accounts. The plan is to eventually retire in the Southwest or overseas in the Caribbean, every day is a day closer to paradise.

 

[MBAustin]

Welcome! This is a friendly bunch here so the only dumb questions are the ones you don't ask.

 

[supernova72]

Hi guys. I was on a retirement thread over on Tractorbynet, and one of the posters had a link to this site. It looks there is lots of good information here.

As you may have guessed from my use of a tractor social network, I am a country boy. My sister and I own 105 acres of the old farm place together, and each of us have 80 acres of our own. My wife also owns the lot in Blountstown where her parents' house was. [house fire]

I am married, with my wife being the main money maker in the family. She makes $77K and I make $25K per year. Her retirement date is set in stone, 12-31-16. As is her retirement income from the state. She is a county official, but will draw state retirement.

My retirement date is up in the air. The small private, not for profit I work for doesn't offer any retirement, but they do pay 100% of my health insurance. So that is like $450 per month that I can save.

Our house and cars are paid for. And we do have some saving. Between $250 and $300K. Well, it looks like I am going on too long, so I will just say hello, and I look forward to getting to know you guys.

Hi, you may not feel comfortable sharing this but someone will ask so I guess I will be the someone. How much is your wires state retirement? Thx.

 

[Larro Darro]

Hi, you may not feel comfortable sharing this but someone will ask so I guess I will be the someone. How much is your wires state retirement? Thx.

She makes $77K, and her retirement will be just over half of that. She will be 63 then, so she will get SS also. But we may wait until 65 to start that. That would just be a yer and a half. Her health will be a deciding factor in that.

As crazy as this sounds for this site, I don't want to stop working anytime soon. I guess you could say the FI part fits my needs more than the RE part. I'm working on writing a series of novels, and write both at home and at work. I can get more done at work it seems. Since I work nights and weekends, I have my weekdays to do what I like. [which is like a mini retirement] Once my DW is at home during the day, I'm afraid I won't get much writing done there. I have seven novels written, but only one that I feel is ready to publish. And when I do, it will be on KDP. If it doesn't sell, I won't be lost anything but the time I spent writing it. And the four years I have spent writing them have been very rewarding, even if I never sell a copy.

What I want is to not have to work anymore. I love my job and look forward to going to work everyday.

 

[Larro Darro]

I asked the DW this morning just what her monthly retirement would be. It will be about $3.25K, so it will come out to just over half her income now.

I also thought of something else I hadn't mentioned. We have 20 acres of 14 year old Longleaf pines and 10 acres of 20 year old Slash pines. The pulpwood market is off, but if we wait for them to be saw logs, that will be a little more money.

Also my 85 year old mother may have some money to leave my sister and I. Right now it would be about $75 to a $100K each. But I don't really count on this money. No way of knowing what the future holds for her. In the last couple of years she has been more free with her money. She gave her granddaughter, my sister's girl, $25K for a down payment on a house. [Me and DW don't have any kids] And $15K for each of her two great grandkids. I have ask her to go ahead and give my sister and I $25K per year. [my sister could really use the money. I just don't want to see it ate up if she has to go into a nursing home] So far Mamma is hanging on to her money. She is the kind who likes to be in control, and her money is about the only real asset she has left. All the land in in my sister's and my name.

 

[MRG]

Also my 85 year old mother may have some money to leave my sister and I. Right now it would be about $75 to a $100K each. But I don't really count on this money. No way of knowing what the future holds for her. In the last couple of years she has been more free with her money. She gave her granddaughter, my sister's girl, $25K for a down payment on a house. [Me and DW don't have any kids] And $15K for each of her two great grandkids. I have ask her to go ahead and give my sister and I $25K per year. [my sister could really use the money. I just don't want to see it ate up if she has to go into a nursing home] So far Mamma is hanging on to her money. She is the kind who likes to be in control, and her money is about the only real asset she has left. All the land in in my sister's and my name.

WOW, shes being very generous. Does she understand the 5 year lookback rules used by medicaid? If she needs medicaid support, after that much gifting there may be a problem. Does she have LTC?

Best thing to do is get her with a real elder care specialist, make a plan. Make sure all the family knows the plan and is onboard.

Things may be just fine the way they are, but after reviewing Medicaid where my father(age 95) lives and his gifting habits, it was eye opening. Changes had to be made and he wasn't at all happy about it.

MRG

 

[Larro Darro]

Yes, we know the lookback rules for Medicaid. At this point we are just hoping she stays out of the nursing home. She is healthy for her age. She mowed her yard yesterday with the rider, and complains because we don't let her use the big tractor anymore.
No LTC, but my father was 100% disabled with the VA for over a year before he died. She get her drugs through the VA at no charge. There is some kind of VA insurance, TRI-CARE, I think. Plus a supplemental policy she pays. And of course, Medicare. She doesn't have to pay any out of pocket for regular health care.

My sister is more in charge of her health care. She used to work in the field and knows more than I do. I try to advise her on money matters. Not that she takes my advice, but she trusts me not to try to take her money. Mine and my sister's names are on all her accounts. Does it count as gifting if we are on the accounts? From the bank's POV we would just be taking our money.

Unlike most 85 year old's, her savings grow every month. When you add half of my dad's Va and half of his longshoreman retirement, plus her SS and a small amount of farm income, she makes over $2K per month. She was LBYM fifty years before the term was coined. And she hasn't changed just because she is old.

 

[obgyn65]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Larro Darro]

Thanks for the welcome Obgyn65. As I read through the threads, your comments are always interesting and insightful.