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OT Retirement

TampaBaySkers

Nebraska Football Hall of Fame
Oct 30, 2010
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What age is a good age for retirement? What dollar amount is enough for retirement? For those who retired young, did you get board and go back to work?

Appreciate any advice for us somewhat young bucks
 
I “retired” 4 times before I quit working for good and told people/schools no. I was 66 and waiting for my wife to retire.

I would advise retiring as soon as you can financially. Get everything paid for. We are saving more money now than we use to make in our younger years.

If you have 401(k) and other savings look at it like this: 2 million saved, 4% yearly withdrawal gets you 80k. Then figure out when you want to take SS and that’s another roughly 3k a month. Then whatever your wife has saved and her SS if applicable.

We like to travel some but really prefer home and helping others so that is pretty much what we do through our church and other groups. I wish we would have quit working a few years earlier. Time gets away from you and in a heartbeat at 65 you are feeling great and then in a short time you are 70 and you start to slow down.

The biggest thing we both notice is time just flies by and a year is nothing which is very scary.

Edit: Some additional thoughts - if you love your work and it brings you joy, then keep doing it. I don't truly believe in "retiring" as quitting the race, it is more shifting gears to make the best use of my time and abilities. Also consider giving back to others whether that is time or money. We didn't save a ton of money but have no problems giving it away for the right need. I want my kids and have taught them about saving and investing so i don't want to spoil their opportunity to learn as I did how to build a future financially. The best part of my retirement is spending time and doing whatever I want with my wife. We had a lot of years of stressful living, now it is time to enjoy each other and not the rigors of getting there. There is peace there.
 
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What age is a good age for retirement? What dollar amount is enough for retirement? For those who retired young, did you get board and go back to work?

Appreciate any advice for us somewhat young bucks
What age are you to consider yourself a young buck
 
I’ll retire at 55, though still work side jobs for $$. I’ve got a good retirement deal, but have to pay for insurance and such.

My wife will be working until the day I die though!
 
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What age is a good age for retirement? What dollar amount is enough for retirement? For those who retired young, did you get board and go back to work?

Appreciate any advice for us somewhat young bucks

There are so many variables to take into consideration…lifestyle, location for retirement, health insurance etc…
 
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You have to decide the right age for you. Best thing you can do is pay off your mortgage and retire debt free. Much easier to live that way. You can get by easily on 50% of your working wage if you don’t have debt. How much you need really depends on your lifestyle. We love to take multiple trips per year so we need more than some people. Come up with a budget and go from there.
 
we plan to be very active and travel as much as we can. My goal number is $10M. Plan to work until my kids are through college and hopefully they can graduate debt free. Approximate target age is 58-60 and we are currently on track to hit those goals. Should note that I hope to keep investing aggressively in retirement and have enough to manage the swings of the market. Don’t want to pump the brakes when the accounts are at their best earning power.

I can’t imagine doing nothing - but we will see what interests we have at that time and go from there!

Congrats to those who have retired, love reading about people who are starting that next chapter after well planned career and finances!
 
Need $10M in the bank to pay yourself $300k/year in interest and leave a lasting generational legacy via thoughtfully constructed trust
Good for you if you can get 10M in the bank. My wife and I could maybe get there if we work until 65, but we’d rather retire at 50 and enjoy life. Hopefully don’t need 300k a year but ya never know with money printing
 
we plan to be very active and travel as much as we can. My goal number is $10M. Plan to work until my kids are through college and hopefully they can graduate debt free. Approximate target age is 58-60 and we are currently on track to hit those goals. Should note that I hope to keep investing aggressively in retirement and have enough to manage the swings of the market. Don’t want to pump the brakes when the accounts are at their best earning power.

I can’t imagine doing nothing - but we will see what interests we have at that time and go from there!

Congrats to those who have retired, love reading about people who are starting that next chapter after well planned career and finances!
With the ag land appreciation we’re right at your number but both still working. I think considering inflation people need to adjust their retirement financial goals upward. I’m one that hopes to leave a good chunk to my kids.
 
What age is a good age for retirement? What dollar amount is enough for retirement? For those who retired young, did you get board and go back to work?

Appreciate any advice for us somewhat young bucks
Dollar amount depends on expenses. I would suggest talking to a financial advisor or at least using retirement planning software. This blog is informative if you are a DIY'er:
 
The biggest thing we both notice is time just flies by and a year is nothing which is very scary.
Every spring I put screens on three storm doors. Every fall I replace the screens with glass. My wife mentioned yesterday it was probably time to put the screens in and I was like really? seems I just put the glass in a couple weeks ago.

Yes, very scary how fast the time is going.
 
I retired 6 years ago and have never looked back..
Best piece of advice from the beginning was save and invest as much money as you can afford..

Everyone has different spending priorities on how they spend money, but as long as you don’t spend it foolishly and have a budget unlike our government you should enjoy retirement..
 
I’ll retire at 55, though still work side jobs for $$. I’ve got a good retirement deal, but have to pay for insurance and such.

My wife will be working until the day I die though!
Every public school teacher knows the exact date, down the second, when they are done!

Are you going to sub?

I might, if I ever retire, snag the part-time parking lot guard gig at my school. You sit in the school car, write some parking tickets and listen to sports talk shows for 4 hours.
 
Plan is 58 - 60. Take SS at 62. Need 1.7 mil - 2 mil. House will be paid off on time but I want to time it so I take care of major expenses like shingles or a new vehicle before retirement.
 
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I retired 6 years ago and have never looked back..
Best piece of advice from the beginning was save and invest as much money as you can afford..

Everyone has different spending priorities on how they spend money, but as long as you don’t spend it foolishly and have a budget unlike our government you should enjoy retirement..
I “retired” at 41. Wife said I have to keep working. She has needs!
JK, a little. Air Force retirement is nice but still like to have more money and no way could I do nothing all day. I would like to retire at 60, 6 more years, and travel. I’d like for the wife to see a lot of the countries I’ve been to. But the way this F’d up economy is going it probably won’t be til 70.
 
Nice post. I'm not a big money maker, but I will be debt free in 15 months at 47 years old. I'm thinking about buying a managed property somewhere like Costa Rica shortly after, and hope that builds to a retirement place for me by 60-62 ish.
It’s not what you make. It’s what you save and invest. Too many people don’t think about retirement until their 40s to 50s. We’ve had several elderly church members pass away who worked at low paying jobs. They’ve left hundreds of thousands of dollars to our church when you swore they couldn’t have had anything. They lived in the same modest house for 40 years but appeared to be content and have good lives.
 
I “retired” at 41. Wife said I have to keep working. She has needs!
JK, a little. Air Force retirement is nice but still like to have more money and no way could I do nothing all day. I would like to retire at 60, 6 more years, and travel. I’d like for the wife to see a lot of the countries I’ve been to. But the way this F’d up economy is going it probably won’t be til 70.
Is Air Force 20 years and you can retire?

Firemen have it the best, isn't it like 19.5 years and you retire with that insane pension!?!?!
 
It’s not what you make. It’s what you save and invest. Too many people don’t think about retirement until their 40s to 50s. We’ve had several elderly church members pass away who worked at low paying jobs. They’ve left hundreds of thousands of dollars to our church when you swore they couldn’t have had anything. They lived in the same modest house for 40 years but appeared to be content and have good lives.
Man, looking back on it there are so many ways to do things better.

For years I lived in Apts with friends. It was great and I loved not having to do anything BUT looking back I wish we would have chipped in, bought a duplex, lived in one side and rented out the other. Then buy another and another...it would be great to have 3-4 of them, paid off by now and bringing in 2-3K a month each.

But, when I was in my 20's, I didn't really think about that and if I did it was always a fleeting thought.
 
Some variables loom large - surprised certain ones aren't getting more discussion in this thread, particularly for those talking about retiring in their 40s/early 50s.
Yeah health insurance is a big cost. Time value of money is very important as well. 300k a year is a lot of money today, but will it be much in 30 years?

100k used to be a great salary. Now it won’t buy a median priced house
 
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One course I taught in high schools was personal finance. I also taught school finance to college students working on their administration degrees.

Know what the "rule of 72" is. Divide the return of your money into 72 and that is how long it will take it to double. Example: $1,000 divided by 10 percent return doubles every 7.2 years. This formula works for you when you save early in life as it gives you more 7.2 year periods for money to double without having to work for it and it also works against you when you are borrowing money.

I had students tell me how much they spend on soft drinks and snacks and we multiplied that out if they saved that money for a year and invested it. It blew their minds how much money it was over time. We have to understand the time value of money. I would hold out a $20 bill and ask them what it was and they of course said, a 20 knowing it was a trick question. I then do the rule of 72 on the board using 10% return and rounding to 7 years. If memory serves me well, that $20 at age 20 when invested could potentially return $1,280 by age 62. Then go figure how much you are actually paying for a house or a car that devalues faster than anything.

Someone mentioned real estate investing. We have two rental properties and they provide excellent income, wish we had purchased more but I was too busy running schools and too dumb. Only purchased if the price was right, did most of my own work and paid them off quickly. I don't like sharing my money with bankers. The government I mind less because it means I actually earned income.

The other golden rule is Don't wait. There are several interactive calculators out there that show how much more you have to save later in life when you put off saving early in life. It is an amazing number that gets your attention.
 
One course I taught in high schools was personal finance. I also taught school finance to college students working on their administration degrees.

Know what the "rule of 72" is. Divide the return of your money into 72 and that is how long it will take it to double. Example: $1,000 divided by 10 percent return doubles every 7.2 years. This formula works for you when you save early in life as it gives you more 7.2 year periods for money to double without having to work for it and it also works against you when you are borrowing money.

I had students tell me how much they spend on soft drinks and snacks and we multiplied that out if they saved that money for a year and invested it. It blew their minds how much money it was over time. We have to understand the time value of money. I would hold out a $20 bill and ask them what it was and they of course said, a 20 knowing it was a trick question. I then do the rule of 72 on the board using 10% return and rounding to 7 years. If memory serves me well, that $20 at age 20 when invested could potentially return $1,280 by age 62. Then go figure how much you are actually paying for a house or a car that devalues faster than anything.

Someone mentioned real estate investing. We have two rental properties and they provide excellent income, wish we had purchased more but I was too busy running schools and too dumb. Only purchased if the price was right, did most of my own work and paid them off quickly. I don't like sharing my money with bankers. The government I mind less because it means I actually earned income.

The other golden rule is Don't wait. There are several interactive calculators out there that show how much more you have to save later in life when you put off saving early in life. It is an amazing number that gets your attention.
Compounding interest is a beautiful thing.

Here’s the calculator I use..
 
Jan 22 after 38 years with the USG. Never looked back and never worked again. Absolutely loving life. Between my retirement and wife's SS we are netting about the same as when we were working.
I've always felt that taking Social Security is a math question. I advise some of my older nephews and nieces all the time, and sometimes friends if they want my suggestions.

As with TruHusker, Laner2, myself and others, IF they've (we've) developed a strong retirement in different ways, it pays to at least weigh their suggestions, then make your own decisions as all our financial situations are different.'
 
I’m going to retire in September, looking forward to it
Don't put it off Baxter. I know dudes that say they're retiring this date, then they extend it and extend it even more. Make that decision to pull the plug and enjoy your life with a lot less time restraints. Good luck buddy.
 
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