Which of you have already retired, and when?

[JesseMartin]

I'm kind of curious to get some firsthand info from those who have already gone through the process of retiring to make sure I don't miss anything. By not overextending ourselves and paying off debt early, we figure to avoid using half of our money to pay interest on everything for the rest of our lives. Even with a very conservative estimate of income, by our early 50's we should have enough saved and invested to cover expenses, with inflation, for a few decades and will probably do some side jobs (keep selling collectibles and making art, etc) to cover spending money to travel and such while we're still young enough to enjoy the world.

What I'd like to hear from those of you who already passed that point is what else I need to consider. One concern is healthcare. If we retire, and don't have coverage from whatever were our last jobs, but are too young for Medicare or whatever might still be around at the time, isn't it crazy expensive to buy health insurance on your own? Obviously if we have to dump half of our savings and investments into insurance and copays and other health expenses in the 10-15 years before we're eligible to get the coverage we've been paying into for years, then that nice stash will dwindle pretty quickly. Are there reasonably priced alternatives available for people who retire fairly young?

What other things do we need to consider when planning? I don't want to make any blind assumptions, which is why I'm planning 15-20 years in advance while still making sure to look out for other variables that come along in the meantime. Any insight you guys might have would be very welcome. Thanks.

[UNT90]

I'm kind of curious to get some firsthand info from those who have already gone through the process of retiring to make sure I don't miss anything. By not overextending ourselves and paying off debt early, we figure to avoid using half of our money to pay interest on everything for the rest of our lives. Even with a very conservative estimate of income, by our early 50's we should have enough saved and invested to cover expenses, with inflation, for a few decades and will probably do some side jobs (keep selling collectibles and making art, etc) to cover spending money to travel and such while we're still young enough to enjoy the world.

What I'd like to hear from those of you who already passed that point is what else I need to consider. One concern is healthcare. If we retire, and don't have coverage from whatever were our last jobs, but are too young for Medicare or whatever might still be around at the time, isn't it crazy expensive to buy health insurance on your own? Obviously if we have to dump half of our savings and investments into insurance and copays and other health expenses in the 10-15 years before we're eligible to get the coverage we've been paying into for years, then that nice stash will dwindle pretty quickly. Are there reasonably priced alternatives available for people who retire fairly young?

What other things do we need to consider when planning? I don't want to make any blind assumptions, which is why I'm planning 15-20 years in advance while still making sure to look out for other variables that come along in the meantime. Any insight you guys might have would be very welcome. Thanks.

The fact that you are asking the question and planning so far in advance means to me that you will be fine.

The biggest thing is to stay as debt free as possible, save as much as possible, (while still living your life), start a college fund now if you have/are planning on having kids, and seek advice from a professional financial planner. You don't have to give the guy a percentage of your investments. You can just go periodically to someone you feel comfortable with for financial check ups. About once every 3 years should do it. You may want to up it to once every year or bi-yearly when you get into your 40s. Having a strategy is a must. As far as health insurance, no one can really offer any advice without knowing your employment situation and retirement benefits. This is why a planner is so important.

Sounds like you are already on top of it. It's not people like you us old guys worry about.

Edited June 7, 2013 by UNT90

[MDH]

Private insurance is incredibly expensive, I have a client paying $900/month each for a Blue Cross plan. It's hard to say exactly where its going to be in 15-20 years from now, but I expect that it will continue to be expensive. I'm a young guy that also plans to retire very early, but my definition of retirement is a little different. I plan to work part time from years 50-66 so I can get some benefits but also enjoy life.

I'll echo what UNT90 said above and also add the importance of maxing out retirement plan contributions. It's better to put more money into your 401k and IRA than focus on paying down your mortgage as fast as possible. Speaking of your mortgage (assuming you have one), have you refinanced lately? Rates have certainly gone up from their bottom a few months ago, but they're still at historically low levels.

Try not to factor Social Security into your retirement income stream.

[JesseMartin]

The fact that you are asking the question and planning so far in advance means to me that you will be fine.

The biggest thing is to stay as debt free as possible, save as much as possible, (while still living your life), start a college fund now if you have/are planning on having kids, and seek advice from a professional financial planner. You don't have to give the guy a percentage of your investments. You can just go periodically to someone you feel comfortable with for financial check ups. About once every 3 years should do it. You may want to up it to once every year or bi-yearly when you get into your 40s. Having a strategy is a must. As far as health insurance, no one can really offer any advice without knowing your employment situation and retirement benefits. This is why a planner is so important.

Sounds like you are already on top of it. It's not people like you us old guys worry about.

This is pretty close to what we're doing so far. We figured financial planning advice would come after stage 1, which is pay off everything. Stage 2 involves college and more extreme retirement fund savings. By the end of stage 1 we'll already have a bit saved so we'll talk to somebody before getting too far into stage 2.

Private insurance is incredibly expensive, I have a client paying $900/month each for a Blue Cross plan. It's hard to say exactly where its going to be in 15-20 years from now, but I expect that it will continue to be expensive. I'm a young guy that also plans to retire very early, but my definition of retirement is a little different. I plan to work part time from years 50-66 so I can get some benefits but also enjoy life.

I'll echo what UNT90 said above and also add the importance of maxing out retirement plan contributions. It's better to put more money into your 401k and IRA than focus on paying down your mortgage as fast as possible. Speaking of your mortgage (assuming you have one), have you refinanced lately? Rates have certainly gone up from their bottom a few months ago, but they're still at historically low levels.

Try not to factor Social Security into your retirement income stream.

Yeah, our conservative estimates involve zero SSI, so if it's still around for us then we'll probably just use it for property taxes and such. The mortgage isn't an issue yet because we're in a lease-to-buy right now and hopefully will get this formerly $250K house for the current value, about $60K and pay it off pretty quickly, otherwise we'll look for something else on the market that's low while the market is still good.

So the big issue still seems to be health benefits. We would love to be pretty much self-employed in our early 50's, so we could work when we want and travel when we want. And there aren't a lot of employment options with benefits for people who want to travel for most of the year. I guess we can stick with our current plan for now and revisit the healthcare issue when we're mid-40's just to see where everything is at.

Thanks for the input so far; I just wish there was an easier answer for affordable healthcare without employer contributions and such. Maybe in 15-20 years that will have changed...

[oldguystudent]

Don't get married and keep your property separate if you do. I was well on pace to retire at 55. Welp, I'm nigh 41 now and don't have a pot to piss in. Starting over, and I'll work until the day I fall over and die.

[NT03]

Don't get married and keep your property separate if you do. I was well on pace to retire at 55. Welp, I'm nigh 41 now and don't have a pot to piss in. Starting over, and I'll work until the day I fall over and die.

I had everything planned to retire at 49.5.

Then I got married & had kids... I've been too scared to figure out the magic # since

[UNT90]

I had everything planned to retire at 49.5.

Then I got married & had kids... I've been too scared to figure out the magic # since

If you like what you do, you won't want to retire at 50, anyway.

If you don't like what you do, need to get that resume updated ;-)

[Harry]

This is pretty close to what we're doing so far. We figured financial planning advice would come after stage 1, which is pay off everything. Stage 2 involves college and more extreme retirement fund savings. By the end of stage 1 we'll already have a bit saved so we'll talk to somebody before getting too far into stage 2.

Yeah, our conservative estimates involve zero SSI, so if it's still around for us then we'll probably just use it for property taxes and such. The mortgage isn't an issue yet because we're in a lease-to-buy right now and hopefully will get this formerly $250K house for the current value, about $60K and pay it off pretty quickly, otherwise we'll look for something else on the market that's low while the market is still good.

So the big issue still seems to be health benefits. We would love to be pretty much self-employed in our early 50's, so we could work when we want and travel when we want. And there aren't a lot of employment options with benefits for people who want to travel for most of the year. I guess we can stick with our current plan for now and revisit the healthcare issue when we're mid-40's just to see where everything is at.

Thanks for the input so far; I just wish there was an easier answer for affordable healthcare without employer contributions and such. Maybe in 15-20 years that will have changed...

Not to turn this into a health insurance thread but you actually could benefit from Obamacare from an eligibility standpoint (in your 40's, 50's up until 65) since the carriers are no longer allowed to deny or rate up coverage due to medical conditions etc... this hasn't been the case in the past and it forced a lot of the pre-Medicare aged folks to work at larger companies that offered group coverage which could not deny them coverage and could absorb the higher costs associated with age. The Obamacare or Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) goes into place this January 1, 2014 and will go live online Oct 1st on the healthcare.gov site. The big question mark that remains unanswered is what will it cost. PPACA mandates that there are certain "essential" benefits which must be offered by all plans and this is good from a coverage standpoint but will most certainly raise the cost of these plans. My point is that many people in their 50's could not choose to work in jobs that they might have preferred due to the fact that they could not be approved for individual health care coverage and that issue is going away on January 1, 2014. The issue that remains is what will it cost?

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

If you like what you do, you won't want to retire at 50, anyway.

If you don't like what you do, need to get that resume updated ;-)

.

For once we agree .....I am retired (sorta) but teach 2-3 college classes ... I have them all on two days, MW, .... so have very long weekends... but do the related work whenever I want to do it. Can't imagine sitting home and watching TV all the time..

Stay busy somehow .. just don't kill yourself with work... enjoy what do .... you will live longer.

Always maximum match any employers contributions to a fund.. and if health is good don't take Social Security until full retirement age... if you happen to work some after that .. it will be adjusted up. . STAY out of debt ...especially credit card debt and don't try to impress everyone with a new car every couple years.. they don't care. I know some broke friends who did that... No one is impressed now by their financial condition.

If you are young and with an extremely low mortgage rate.. I would not make an effort to pay it off ... Just rathole the money in some safe account (money market?) Rates will eventually rise and it will look like cheap money... There was a time I had CDs rates making more that my home interest rate. Debt... home mortgage interest is tax deductible ... so if you are itemizing it is costing you only about 3/4 of what it appears to be. Good luck.. Credit card debt can kill you. ..and is not deductible...

.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Not to turn this into a health insurance thread but you actually could benefit from Obamacare from an eligibility standpoint (in your 40's, 50's up until 65) since the carriers are no longer allowed to deny or rate up coverage due to medical conditions etc... this hasn't been the case in the past and it forced a lot of the pre-Medicare aged folks to work at larger companies that offered group coverage which could not deny them coverage and could absorb the higher costs associated with age. The Obamacare or Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) goes into place this January 1, 2014 and will go live online Oct 1st on the healthcare.gov site. The big question mark that remains unanswered is what will it cost. PPACA mandates that there are certain "essential" benefits which must be offered by all plans and this is good from a coverage standpoint but will most certainly raise the cost of these plans. My point is that many people in their 50's could not choose to work in jobs that they might have preferred due to the fact that they could not be approved for individual health care coverage and that issue is going away on January 1, 2014. The issue that remains is what will it cost?

Good post ....I am not sold on Obama-care yet... but it could turn out to be very good for many of us .. (all about cost). Like it or not we are NOW paying higher hospital/medical bills now than we should... because of all the free care given to indigents... It least your post has real facts not political crap... Some of those who oppose it don't have a clue it will be good for them.. -- I have never posted for or against this.. just don't know.... not the expert on it that some think they are. .. all about the cost.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Don't get married and keep your property separate if you do. I was well on pace to retire at 55. Welp, I'm nigh 41 now and don't have a pot to piss in. Starting over, and I'll work until the day I fall over and die.

.

-- Things can go wrong...but marry for the right reasons.... not because she/he is "hot" or because of money or social standing... (and be sure they aren't either). Chose someone that you can get along with 24-7 and has similar beliefs and goals. That makes it nice to have someone to come home to.

--- A son of mine in law school had a fellow student that was commenting he had a teenage-son that was dumb as a rock... He had married a "hot chick" in college, had a kid, and that lasted a few of years but she was also dumb as a rock and he got to the point he could not stand to be around her. He married again later and those kids are some to be very proud of. ie. marry for the right reasons... ( the two biggest decision you make in life is who you marry and what profession you go into... both can kill you or your enjoyment of life).

.

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[Mean Green 93-98]

... It least your post has real facts not political crap...

But thank you for bringing the latter into the discussion.

[oldguystudent]

.

-- Things can go wrong...but marry for the right reasons.... not because she/he is "hot" or because of money or social standing... (and be sure they aren't either). Chose someone that you can get along with 24-7 and has similar beliefs and goals. That makes it nice to have someone to come home to.

Yeah, I got married at 25 just cuz. It went alright for a while, until it didn't. Got a great kid out of the deal, though, so there's that. What am I saying? TOTALLY WORTH IT!

[LongJim]

The best advice I ever received about handling money, etc. was:

• "If you have to ask--you can't afford it."
• "If you have to use a credit card--you can't afford it."
• "Pay cash."
• "Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need most."
• "Pay yourself first."

[FirefightnRick]

The issue that remains is what will it cost?

History and Experience tells me exactly what the cost is going to be.

Rick

[JesseMartin]

Lots of good replies and info, guys. And the insurance question is almost moot, because if you think about it, health care is vastly different now than it was when many of you were younger, and that was considerably different from when your parents were younger. So I expect that there will be at least a moderate amount of change by the time we're ready to "retire."

And of course I won't just stop doing everything and hang out, because by the time we hit the "sweet spot" financially we will already have gotten some great headway in terms of doing what we really like and making money on it, enough to where we can do that whenever we want and not have to work for somebody else's company.

And for me, one of the biggest upsides of marriage is that I'm with somebody who actually sees the value in what I do and supports it. I made spending cash ever since I was a kid by making art and dealing in collectibles and such, but it took somebody finally paying attention to see that if you have the eye for it, you can do pretty well in whatever you want. I just wish I'd had the confidence to stick with it earlier, because we could realistically already have the kids' college funds taken care of. So I'd have to say that doing what you love not only makes you happier, but if you figure out how to have a decent edge, you can actually do a lot better than if you took a job "for the money."