DrRoy
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Hello all.
I discovered this site a couple of days ago, and registered yesterday to really give it a go. I noticed that a lot of users hung around as a guest for a long time before signing up, but I thought it was important to post as part of the experience.
Regarding my user name: I am not a doctor in either sense; that’s just my initials. It is something that a work friend called me and I went with it.
The background story: I am a very happily married (33 yrs.), empty-nested, mid 50’s chemical engineer. Our 2 adult sons (late 20’s) share an apartment nearby. We own our home and have no debt. We like to travel, and regularly vacation around the US, Canada, and Europe. My favorite hobby is photography, which I mostly do on these trips. I sometimes like to collect things, and have been through phases of acquiring coins, glass paperweights, and rock/mineral specimens.
My VDW stopped working a few months ago. She doesn’t call it retirement, but does not want to go back to work either. She was a part-time bank teller for the last 10 years, but after the second bank takeover, the new company had a policy that she could no longer take unpaid time off to travel. That was unacceptable to both of us, and because we didn’t need the income, she quit.
I have a secure, long-time job with good pay and a lot of independence, but after working 34 years I am getting tired of the stressful periods. We are discussing when I should retire. I’m eligible for a modest pension that would cover 3/8 of our desired income, and retirement medical. I have always practiced LBYM, even before it had a name. We have never needed a budget, and over the years I first saved 10-20% of my income, spent less than the rest, and then saved the leftover too. We now have a fortunate portfolio of investments that are currently 75% indexed funds/ETFs and 25% bonds & cash. Due to my age, the pension would be slightly reduced. If I wait another year and a half, it will peak out and provide another 3% of our target income, so that is in a sense free $ to wait.
Our default position is for me to keep working to full pension, and DW is not quite ready to give up the security of the paycheck (I’m not sure I am either). Even so, FIRECalc gives us 100%. I have a friend who retired before his full pension with a smaller nest egg than me and is quite pleased that he did. I can make up the balance of our target income with a <2% draw on the portfolio.
That’s my story, and I am looking to exchange thoughts with others that have similar interests or experiences including photography, travel, investing for income instead of growth, and making that RE decision.
I discovered this site a couple of days ago, and registered yesterday to really give it a go. I noticed that a lot of users hung around as a guest for a long time before signing up, but I thought it was important to post as part of the experience.
Regarding my user name: I am not a doctor in either sense; that’s just my initials. It is something that a work friend called me and I went with it.
The background story: I am a very happily married (33 yrs.), empty-nested, mid 50’s chemical engineer. Our 2 adult sons (late 20’s) share an apartment nearby. We own our home and have no debt. We like to travel, and regularly vacation around the US, Canada, and Europe. My favorite hobby is photography, which I mostly do on these trips. I sometimes like to collect things, and have been through phases of acquiring coins, glass paperweights, and rock/mineral specimens.
My VDW stopped working a few months ago. She doesn’t call it retirement, but does not want to go back to work either. She was a part-time bank teller for the last 10 years, but after the second bank takeover, the new company had a policy that she could no longer take unpaid time off to travel. That was unacceptable to both of us, and because we didn’t need the income, she quit.
I have a secure, long-time job with good pay and a lot of independence, but after working 34 years I am getting tired of the stressful periods. We are discussing when I should retire. I’m eligible for a modest pension that would cover 3/8 of our desired income, and retirement medical. I have always practiced LBYM, even before it had a name. We have never needed a budget, and over the years I first saved 10-20% of my income, spent less than the rest, and then saved the leftover too. We now have a fortunate portfolio of investments that are currently 75% indexed funds/ETFs and 25% bonds & cash. Due to my age, the pension would be slightly reduced. If I wait another year and a half, it will peak out and provide another 3% of our target income, so that is in a sense free $ to wait.
Our default position is for me to keep working to full pension, and DW is not quite ready to give up the security of the paycheck (I’m not sure I am either). Even so, FIRECalc gives us 100%. I have a friend who retired before his full pension with a smaller nest egg than me and is quite pleased that he did. I can make up the balance of our target income with a <2% draw on the portfolio.
That’s my story, and I am looking to exchange thoughts with others that have similar interests or experiences including photography, travel, investing for income instead of growth, and making that RE decision.