Light at the end of the tunnel

[GMfitter]

Hi, I'm Phil. I currently work at GM as a skilled tradesman. My wife and I decided a while ago that we wanted to retire in Florida. She works for an airline, and she wants to work to work 2 years after I retire.
GM has a 30 and out pension for the legacy workers, new hires just get 401k.

I will have my 30 in March, but I am staying until Sept/Oct. This gives me two things......
1. Sept 15th is the end of our contract and the company sometimes offers incentive bonuses to get people out.

2. It will give me enough hours to qualify for any profit sharing for this year.

We sold our house and my wife was able to transfer to Orlando.

I plan to finally join her in Sept. I'm sure I will learn many things here by reading first and asking questions later!

 

[braumeister]

Sounds terrific, Phil.

Besides running FIRECalc (link at the bottom of this page), this set of questions might be useful for you:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f47/some-important-questions-to-answer-before-asking-can-i-retire-69999.html

 

[Vacation4us]

Having a pension is great. Will it cover all your needs? What about healthcare? What happens when your wife retires?

Welcome to the site and congratulations on your last year of work!

 

[ckelly78z]

Sounds like a good plan, I hope you get an incentive to leave to help you out, and get you down to your wife in good financial shape.

 

[Rianne]

Congratulations! As a skilled tradesman you might find some interesting hobbies in your retirement. It sounds like you've figured out the finances to be comfortable. That was a big effort for us. We tracked spending, used countless calculators to be safe, discussed details over and over. Healthcare was the biggest obstacle, but the ACA saved us. I have pre existing conditions. Without the ACA we would spend a fortune for healthcare.

 

[Bir48die]

Hi Phil! Reminds me of the AA response. I'm always so happy to hear stories of people that work the trades and retire earlier than many. Just met a guy in the USVI's that worked hard in the trades and is enjoying his retirement. His response was "I should have done it sooner". Heard that a few times.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Welcome to the forum, Phil! Hopefully your last w*rk days will go by quickly!!!

Hi Phil! Reminds me of the AA response. I'm always so happy to hear stories of people that work the trades and retire earlier than many. Just met a guy in the USVI's that worked hard in the trades and is enjoying his retirement. His response was "I should have done it sooner". Heard that a few times.

That was pretty much my Dad. He flew for Eastern for a few years, but union issues made him sour, so he went into HVAC. Eventually, he started his own company and was pretty successful but was never the "office type" (Mom did that), he was always doing the wrench turning. He retired at 62 and the only regret he ever vocalized to me was that they didn't retire earlier.

 

[GMfitter]

Hi Phil! Reminds me of the AA response. I'm always so happy to hear stories of people that work the trades and retire earlier than many. Just met a guy in the USVI's that worked hard in the trades and is enjoying his retirement. His response was "I should have done it sooner". Heard that a few times.

Guess you can say I am a former "friend of Bill".

 

[GMfitter]

Having a pension is great. Will it cover all your needs? What about healthcare? What happens when your wife retires?

Welcome to the site and congratulations on your last year of work!

I really am not sure I belong on this site

I don't consider myself FI and retiring at 64 is not early!!
Full disclosure......we will have to go into our savings if we plan to retire with $0 debt. This upcoming profit sharing will just about pay off our car note. Some CC debt to take care of. Sold our home and didn't do very well.
I will have BCBS through my job in retirement. Wife plans to work a few more years. I will retire at 64 and file for SS at my full age of 66.5. I also have a small pension from the trade union I worked through before GM. I wasn't smart enough to do the "live below your means thing".
We married later in life (3rd time for both), and traveled and enjoyed our lives. We plan to buy a home and have a very small mortgage. With our 2 401k's, two pensions (1 fair and 1 small), and 2 SS incomes, I don't foresee any major issues. That's the part that scares me....the unknown.
I could work longer, but coming from the NY/NJ area, Texas is like another planet to me! I pray all works out.

 

[Dtail]

I really am not sure I belong on this site

I don't consider myself FI and retiring at 64 is not early!!
Full disclosure......we will have to go into our savings if we plan to retire with $0 debt. This upcoming profit sharing will just about pay off our car note. Some CC debt to take care of. Sold our home and didn't do very well.
I will have BCBS through my job in retirement. Wife plans to work a few more years. I will retire at 64 and file for SS at my full age of 66.5. I also have a small pension from the trade union I worked through before GM. I wasn't smart enough to do the "live below your means thing".
We married later in life (3rd time for both), and traveled and enjoyed our lives. We plan to buy a home and have a very small mortgage. With our 2 401k's, two pensions (1 fair and 1 small), and 2 SS incomes, I don't foresee any major issues. That's the part that scares me....the unknown.
I could work longer, but coming from the NY/NJ area, Texas is like another planet to me! I pray all works out.

Are you in Texas or Florida?

 

[GMfitter]

Are you in Texas or Florida?

Texas now, Fla. Sept./Oct. 2019

 

[Dtail]

Texas now, Fla. Sept./Oct. 2019

Makes sense now. We are from the same northern area and now in Tampa. FLA also different than up North in many areas, but love it overall.

 

[JoeWras]

Had a few GM retiree neighbors when I lived in FL. I was in my 20s, they were in their early 50s.

They actually inspired me. I knew I'd have to take a different path since I was in tech and pensions were already looking shaky.

Congrats! As braumeister mentioned, make sure to run "firecalc" with all your pension numbers. It is more than just net worth. You can use your after-debt-paid net worth.

Also, is your pension COLA'd? That is, adjusted for inflation? This is important.

Finally, stick around. Despite many of us having to manage our own pensions, there are plenty on site like you, and we can all learn from each other. There's more than just managing the money. Lots of fun threads like "identify this tool" and that kind of thing. A bunch of us recently were in awe over TromboneAl's ditch digging project after his blow-bag failed. Good stuff.

 

[dtbach]

Well you might not be an "early" retiree but you certainly do belong on this board if you are interested in great tips to stretch your money and tune up your AA for the long run.
Congratulations on retiring!

 

[Vacation4us]

You definitely belong. Lots of years of experience on this site.

 

[GMfitter]

Hi Phil! Reminds me of the AA response. I'm always so happy to hear stories of people that work the trades and retire earlier than many. Just met a guy in the USVI's that worked hard in the trades and is enjoying his retirement. His response was "I should have done it sooner". Heard that a few times.

Used to be a friend of Bill.

 

[Vacation4us]

My dad was a friend of Bill's we accepted his 10 year chip after he passed. Welcome!

 

[GMfitter]

My dad was a friend of Bill's we accepted his 10 year chip after he passed. Welcome!

Thank you so much.