Retirement

A place to hang out, get to know other Muggles and discuss everything under the sun.
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SReh26
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#61

Post by SReh26 »

katnahat wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:54 am
SReh26 wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:24 pm Omfg - deciding among Schwab, TRowe, UBS, Fidelity vs Vanguard? Doing a backdoor Roth conversion? Glad none of this is complicated, boring or annoying! And glad there is no one quick correct answer either!
My two cents of advice is this: never use a friend or a child of friends or a friend of your children as a financial advisor; it's brutal when they mess up and you have to fire them.
Yes I would think that would be wrenching for both parties. I don’t listen to anyone, so it works out. Or, I listen but rarely do what anyone tells me to do, so it’s perfect. I don’t even have a taxable brokerage account yet and the howls are such a din.
Last edited by SReh26 on Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SewYoung
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#62

Post by SewYoung »

"I love questions with a million possible good answers..." Makes me think of Sherlock Holmes famous line, "When you eliminate the impossible; whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth." Very clever, catchy, and memorable, but the catch is that there may be any number of things that are still possible after eliminating the impossible.
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RPardoe
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#63

Post by RPardoe »

SewYoung wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:35 pm ..... Makes me think of Sherlock Holmes famous line, "When you eliminate the impossible; whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth." Very clever, catchy, and memorable, but the catch is that there may be any number of things that are still possible after eliminating the impossible.
Sounds like the way to solve a Week 4 (or 5) Gaffney Meta.
hoover
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#64

Post by hoover »

SReh26 wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:55 am
BarbaraK wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:35 am
SReh26 wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:24 pm Omfg - deciding among Schwab, TRowe, UBS, Fidelity vs Vanguard? Doing a backdoor Roth conversion? Glad none of this is complicated, boring or annoying! And glad there is no one quick correct answer either!
Figuring out whether to do a Roth conversion for money you eventually expect to spend is a simple matter. Just hop in a time machine and look up your future income in the future tax tables and see if the rate is higher or lower than now.

But for money you will donate after reaching the age for RMDs, the answer is always no. Since you can do a qualified charitable distribution and never pay taxes on that money, there’s no reason to prepay taxes now.
The time machine tells me my taxes in retirement will be a lot lower than they are now.
[Note: this response is highly edited.]

At the risk of getting too political, never underestimate the creativity of those who want to change the rules to access more of what you saved and invested for retirement.
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SReh26
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#65

Post by SReh26 »

hoover wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:47 pm
SReh26 wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:55 am
BarbaraK wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:35 am

Figuring out whether to do a Roth conversion for money you eventually expect to spend is a simple matter. Just hop in a time machine and look up your future income in the future tax tables and see if the rate is higher or lower than now.

But for money you will donate after reaching the age for RMDs, the answer is always no. Since you can do a qualified charitable distribution and never pay taxes on that money, there’s no reason to prepay taxes now.
The time machine tells me my taxes in retirement will be a lot lower than they are now.
[Note: this response is highly edited.]

At the risk of getting too political, never underestimate the creativity of those who want to change the rules to access more of what you saved and invested for retirement.
It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future...
hoover
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#66

Post by hoover »

SReh26 wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:34 pm
hoover wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:47 pm
SReh26 wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:55 am

The time machine tells me my taxes in retirement will be a lot lower than they are now.
[Note: this response is highly edited.]

At the risk of getting too political, never underestimate the creativity of those who want to change the rules to access more of what you saved and invested for retirement.
It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future...
When I started saving for retirement 35 years ago, the advice at that time was to think of retirement funds as a three-legged stool: pensions, Social Security, and personal savings. Well, nobody in the late 1980s was offering pensions, so already one leg of the stool was kicked out. But even back then, people were predicting that Social Security wouldn't be around by the time I retired, so I always ran all of my calculations assuming that SocSec wouldn't be there and that I was solely responsible for creating enough savings during my working years to live on in my retirement years.

Now look at today's headlines: "Social Security Costs Expected to Exceed Total Income in 2021 as Covid-19 Takes Financial Toll" with subhead "trust fund is now expected to be depleted in 2034 unless Congress shores up program."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/social-sec ... _permalink
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SReh26
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#67

Post by SReh26 »

SewYoung wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:35 pm "I love questions with a million possible good answers..." Makes me think of Sherlock Holmes famous line, "When you eliminate the impossible; whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth." Very clever, catchy, and memorable, but the catch is that there may be any number of things that are still possible after eliminating the impossible.
I’m such a fan, also of that great Belgian monsieur Poirot. Ive used his techniques in office politics to great advantage.. 😄

My dream retirement is 1/2 the year in St Pete’s beach and the other half in Europe, using Switzerland as my travel base.

But I’ll be lucky to make it through my 60s honestly, so Id better get to steppin!
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SReh26
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#68

Post by SReh26 »

We just had a retirement seminar at work, sponsored by TRowe Price, about the non financial aspects.

One that stood out for me is they said it’s very, very hard to create a meaningful life with rewarding activities and a sense of community in retirement for people who do not have a close knit community, close family, kids, grandkids or a lot of hobbies.

They said if you have a job you like with nice people and good management, you may want to keep it or go part time rather than retire.

They asked us is to think about the answers to a variety of questions, including:

1. what activities will replace 40 hours of work for you?
2. who will be on your wellness team and who will you be caring for in retirement?
3. who do you socialize with now and how will that change?
4. is your criterion for retirement a certain age, asset level or achievement?
5. what kind of climate do you want? Year round warm weather isnt for everyone and can be hard to adjust to.

aaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhh!
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SReh26
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#69

Post by SReh26 »

hoover wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:44 pm
SReh26 wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:34 pm
hoover wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:47 pm

[Note: this response is highly edited.]

At the risk of getting too political, never underestimate the creativity of those who want to change the rules to access more of what you saved and invested for retirement.
It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future...
When I started saving for retirement 35 years ago, the advice at that time was to think of retirement funds as a three-legged stool: pensions, Social Security, and personal savings. Well, nobody in the late 1980s was offering pensions, so already one leg of the stool was kicked out. But even back then, people were predicting that Social Security wouldn't be around by the time I retired, so I always ran all of my calculations assuming that SocSec wouldn't be there and that I was solely responsible for creating enough savings during my working years to live on in my retirement years.

Now look at today's headlines: "Social Security Costs Expected to Exceed Total Income in 2021 as Covid-19 Takes Financial Toll" with subhead "trust fund is now expected to be depleted in 2034 unless Congress shores up program."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/social-sec ... _permalink
Good point not to rely on social security. Gen X was told this pretty much from day 1, but lately that message has become more muted.

Id love to hear people’s thoughts on utilities ETFs. I recommended them to my brother and he’s happy with them so far.
hoover
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#70

Post by hoover »

My clock says 4 minutes past the hour and whereintheheck is the WSJ puzzle?
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SReh26
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#71

Post by SReh26 »

I just realized - I have the best source ever of info about pleasant places to retire, the muggles! I‘d really like to leave NYC and Ive seen lovely places across the US but they were almost all big cities.

I like cool, dry (low humidity in summer, rain and snow ok in winter), weather, coastal, safe, relatively affluent with great hospitals without being over the top snobby, and orderly. Any ideas?
hoover
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#72

Post by hoover »

SReh26 wrote: Mon Sep 06, 2021 5:19 pm I just realized - I have the best source ever of info about pleasant places to retire, the muggles! I‘d really like to leave NYC and Ive seen lovely places across the US but they were almost all big cities.

I like cool, dry (low humidity in summer, rain and snow ok in winter), weather, coastal, safe, relatively affluent with great hospitals without being over the top snobby, and orderly. Any ideas?
Speaking as someone who lives in a coastal city, I think you may have difficulty reconciling your requirements for coastal + low humidity in summer. Think subtropical with humidity from 60% to 90%. You may fare better if you're willing to expand your idea of "coastal" to include lakes and rivers.

There are lots of large towns / small cities (< 100K population) with decent hospitals and friendly atmosphere that are safe, orderly, and unsnobby in what New Yorkers derisively call "flyover country."
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Tom Shea
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#73

Post by Tom Shea »

I had a couple of numbers as goals. One was age, the other was total in our IRAs. They coincided magically (or deliberately) with the bonus that my company decided to give me a severance package at the same time.

We had always said we wanted to travel when we retired, expecting to spend winters in a different warmer location every year. That lasted a year, then the world became a little scarier to travel in, so we have ended up in Hawaii the last few winters. Hopefully, we will start again soon with an extended stay elsewhere at least every other year.

I used to be asked what would I spend my time on after I retired. Now I ask myself how I had time to work.

When people ask what is the secret to retiring early, my canned response is 0 divorces and 0 kids. Those will definitely push the date back if they are non-zero numbers.

Financially, I recommend the Fidelity Contrafund. If you look at the last 40+ years, they almost always beat the S&P and recover from downturns much more quickly. Caveats are always look 3 years out minimum and don't panic during downturns. And no, I have no connection with Fidelity, other than investing through them.
Rufus T. Firefly
hoover
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#74

Post by hoover »

Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:49 am When people ask what is the secret to retiring early, my canned response is 0 divorces and 0 kids. Those will definitely push the date back if they are non-zero numbers.
I concur.
Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:49 am Financially, I recommend the Fidelity Contrafund. If you look at the last 40+ years, they almost always beat the S&P and recover from downturns much more quickly.
Oof, not if you bought into it in 1999 and held it through the early 2000s like I did.
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Tom Shea
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#75

Post by Tom Shea »

hoover wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:53 am
Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:49 am When people ask what is the secret to retiring early, my canned response is 0 divorces and 0 kids. Those will definitely push the date back if they are non-zero numbers.
I concur.
Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:49 am Financially, I recommend the Fidelity Contrafund. If you look at the last 40+ years, they almost always beat the S&P and recover from downturns much more quickly.
Oof, not if you bought into it in 1999 and held it through the early 2000s like I did.
Caveats are always look 3 years out minimum and don't panic during downturns. It still beat the S&P and came back with a vengeance in 2003. Dotcom bubble and 9/11 made almost everything tank in that time period.
Rufus T. Firefly
hoover
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#76

Post by hoover »

Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 11:04 am
hoover wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:53 am
Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:49 am When people ask what is the secret to retiring early, my canned response is 0 divorces and 0 kids. Those will definitely push the date back if they are non-zero numbers.
I concur.
Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:49 am Financially, I recommend the Fidelity Contrafund. If you look at the last 40+ years, they almost always beat the S&P and recover from downturns much more quickly.
Oof, not if you bought into it in 1999 and held it through the early 2000s like I did.
Caveats are always look 3 years out minimum and don't panic during downturns. It still beat the S&P and came back with a vengeance in 2003. Dotcom bubble and 9/11 made almost everything tank in that time period.
Right, but the Contrafund performed worse than the S&P during that time. I had no choice but to get out of it, since I held it only in my 401(k), and it was dropped from the portfolio of funds that we could choose from in our plan.
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Tom Shea
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#77

Post by Tom Shea »

hoover wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 2:12 pm
Tom Shea wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 11:04 am
hoover wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:53 am

I concur.



Oof, not if you bought into it in 1999 and held it through the early 2000s like I did.
Caveats are always look 3 years out minimum and don't panic during downturns. It still beat the S&P and came back with a vengeance in 2003. Dotcom bubble and 9/11 made almost everything tank in that time period.
Right, but the Contrafund performed worse than the S&P during that time. I had no choice but to get out of it, since I held it only in my 401(k), and it was dropped from the portfolio of funds that we could choose from in our plan.
I had a similar windfall (sic) in that my company matched 6% (a quaint concept nowadays) but only in company stock, that you were not allowed to sell. Then they sold it for you because it was too 'volatile'. Then it quadrupled. I was fortunate because I never bought into it other than the required match. Which turned out to be 1.5% net.
Rufus T. Firefly
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boharr
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#78

Post by boharr »

The Contrafund has been very very good to me over the years.
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SReh26
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#79

Post by SReh26 »

Anyone have any experiences w TRowe Price funds, State Street S&P Index and Baird Core Plus Institutional Bond Funds? They were among the least atrocious choices in my 401k but I’m still uneasy. If it weren’t for the match, tax deferral and bankruptcy remoteness, I wouldn’t likely invest much. My so called risk tolerance is less than zero.
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SReh26
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#80

Post by SReh26 »

Lately I’m being urged to open a Health Savings Account with a High Deductible Health Plan.

Im told its triple tax free, you can have one and use your flex spending account money to pay the high deductible, and anything still in the account at age 65 you get to use for anything but then it gets taxed like a traditional 401k.

Anyone have a Health Savings Account and have you had a good or bad experience with them? Thanks.
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