<p>“used MS money to track all my expenses.”</p>
<p>Simba: What’s MS money??</p>
<p>You mean you kept track of all your expenses for a year or so to see where it all actually went?</p>
<p>DKE…we’re in the same boat. Two kids in college…three more years. DH loves his job. I like parts of my job and hate others. I think I would LOVE my job if I were only working part time which is what I will be looking for in a few years. I’ve been doing the SAME job for 33 years, 26 of them in the same workplace. However (teacher talking), I will not be eligible for full retirement benefits in this state for another TEN years (you need 35 years of service to get the full benefits). I do not think I’ll make it THAT long.</p>
<p>“Simba: What’s MS money??”</p>
<p>Microsoft Money.</p>
<p>First, we started to charge everything - we hardly write checks. We had different credit cards for various categories. Also, it made it easy to set up MS MOney for auto entry. All I had to do was change the amount. I did it for 3 years, to average out the spikes.</p>
<p>i’ve worked for 3 months at a local supermarket cleaning toilets and bagging, and i wanna retire, too.</p>
<p>VeryHappy:</p>
<p>You could just get a sports car and keep working for a while longer instead. The car will rejuvenate and invigorate you and make you feel younger and not so inclined towards retirement. :)</p>
<p>VeryHappy, you could try entrepreneurialism. I highly recommend it. I will never, ever again work for a traditional employer, AND, once you get used to it (the mental transition takes a while) you can get to the point where your schedule is your own and you can do anything you want - in theory at least - but theory feels really, really good. </p>
<p>Oh, and yes, please do buy a sports car. It’s awesome. :)</p>
<p>I don’t want to retire yet (54) but I do want to cut back on my practice in a year or so. The thing that feels the hardest is how to tell my assistant. Any suggestions? I know she could get another job fairly easily, it’s just hard, I’ve known and worked with her so very long. </p>
<p>I could retire to another part of the country just about any time, but I am kind of addicted to the Bay Area and all it has to offer, although if this frickin cold weather keeps up much longer, what’s the point???</p>
<p>I can’t imagine retirement… I don’t think golf would provide the challenges or mental stimulation of exciting projects. I envision more of a cutting back, focusing on the work that provides most enjoyment, and dabbling in some areas that provide more fun than revenue.</p>
<p>Oh God, no; not golf; never golf. But teaching, and mentoring, and volunteering, and teaching, and decorating, and cooking . . . . And having clean underwear seven days a week. (I aim small.)</p>
<p>Sports car, huh. How about a face lift instead??</p>
<p>No, you can invest with modest sums. Certain funds have high minimums, most don’t.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to think I’ll need $2M to retire.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I love my work, and it’s part-time… one of the reasons I love it :)</p>
<p>“You mean you kept track of all your expenses for a year or so to see where it all actually went?”</p>
<p>I use Quicken. Have for years. Track all personal expenses, set up categories, etc. It can help with taxes if you use Turbo-Tax, but I have to have an accountant because of my P.C. and the complexities of the d**n tax code. What Quicken can do is answer the question at the end of the year of “Where did all the money go?” Sometimes you don’t want to know.</p>
<p>DH can’t fill a three-day weekend, once the “New York Times” has been read and recycled. Our plan is for him to work forever, and me to retire as soon as DS is done with college. We shall see.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the Fidelity link! I have a couple of accounts with them but didn’t know about this planner. It’s great that they do monte carlo runs, much more reassuring than just plugging in your numbers and hoping they will work.</p>
<p>$2M - total? You think you can do it with $2M total including equity in house? Nah. Especially nah here in the Bay Area.</p>
<p>Retirement might be going away with the boomers. The days after WWII of 25 years and a gold watch are long gone. Beyond military retirement and social security/FERS, I am saving absolutely nothing for retirement. (30) I have seen way too many people scrimp their whole lives just to give it away. Besides, I don’t lead the healthiest lifestyle, and you need to have fun while you are young.</p>
<p>Good grief. Don’t you ever consider that you will perhaps have a future, and that during that future you will want to eat someothing other than catfood?</p>
<p>Joev, being old isn’t the greatest, but being old and poor is a really bad combo. Look ahead and start saving…NOW.</p>
<p>I think H and I started looking at retirement differently (like wondering if it would ever be possible) as we watched how much $$ it took for our parents to be safe and comfortable when they all became really elderly. It was somewhat of a wake-up call for us.</p>
<p>What do people think about moving to another locale after retirement vs staying in place?</p>