I Wanna Retire!!

Parent Cafe
61

<p>Taxes? Not sure. I do know that the county I’m in, Essex, includes many higher crime/social service cities, which property taxes go toward. Also, there are a lot of retirees and summer home people in Cape may, meaning less kids and much lower school taxes.</p>

<p>Atlantic City is about 40 minutes away. Philly, I think, maybe one and a half hours. NYC is about three hours. DC, maybe 3-4 by ferry and car.</p>

<p>Mosquitos can get bad, depending on where you live (close to marshlands, for instance.) It varies according to recent rainfall and breeze or lack of. Never been a huge problem when i’ve been there.</p>

62

<p>Garland, thanks.</p>

63

<p>SC seems nice, but all the politicians are to the right of Attila the Hun…</p>

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<p>How to Survive Retirement –
Even if You’re Short on Savings
<a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/29kpox[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/29kpox&lt;/a&gt;
January 17, 2007; Page D1
Over the past decade, financial experts have been busy figuring out how much retirees can safely spend each year without running out of money. The result? We now have a better grasp of the risks involved – and a pretty good idea of what a sensible strategy looks like.</p>

<p>There’s just one problem: Sensible won’t cut it for most Americans.</p>

65

<p>There are much cheaper areas than Cary around the Triangle. A nice 1500 sf home in Raleigh or Durham would be half that number ($400k) or less.</p>

66

<p>2dsdad, your link goes to a WSJ.com article, for which you have to be a (paid) subscriber. Could you summarize some of the high points of the article?</p>

67

<p>barrons, I know that there are houses available for less. I am surprised to see how pricey some homes are getting in that area. The homes that you are talking about, just curious, is that new construction?</p>

68

<p>I retired so I could do what I always wanted to do, and I am doing it. It’s my last big adventure. Well actually it’s the only adventure I’ve ever had.</p>

<p>Sometimes I think: “G__ this is so cool. I can’t believe the hired me. Must have wanted to be able to blame the old white guy.”</p>

69

<p>No, just a nice well built existing home in an older close-in area which is better for most retirees. A well built home from the 30-s-50’s has more quality in it than any new built spec tract house that is slapped together by some low-paid folks.</p>

70

<p>Everyone is talking about moving to a house – any thoughts on moving to an apartment? No snow to shovel, no lawn to mow …</p>

71

<p>Cary is one of the MOST expensive areas of the Triangle. CARY=concentrated area of relocated Yankees</p>

<p>The surrounding areas are much more reasonable. Sister is to the northeast of Cary but within driving distance for work. Her neighboorhood (her house, 2 years old) 3200+ sq. feet, 3 floors, stone front, 5 bd/3 bath, full attic, big lot, all hardwoods, upgraded cabinets/appliances/lighting $245,000. Surrounding neighborhoods, smaller homes 2300-2800 sq. ft. $175-210,000, same amenities just 1-2 miles north, small town (8-10K population). All within driving distances of RTP (biotech galore), Raleigh-the capital, RDU airport, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State. </p>

<p>Yes, we found Cary, NC expensive so looked for attractive alternatives. And my kiddos had not been east of Vegas their whole lives, talk about culture shock! But it has been fun.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

72

<p>Or a condo??</p>

<p>Back to my original point: I wanna retire, because my job is stupid. I work for morons and pigs, and the project I’ve been working on for two years – that has another 18 months to go – just got put on hold because someone stupid in one of our rural locations “doesn’t think we should move forward.” Wha . . . .??? </p>

<p>What do people do when their jobs stink? When you really want to do something else but still have four years of tuition staring you in the face?</p>

<p>I have about four or five part-time things I’d like to do, but none of them alone makes an income – and none of them provides benefits!! So what do people do?</p>

73

<p>Sorry, I thought that link was free. Perhaps some excerpts will give you the idea without getting me in trouble.</p>

<p>"Spending down a portfolio in retirement is a treacherous business, because you don’t know how long you will live, what the inflation rate will be or how financial markets will fare.</p>

<p>Faced with all this uncertainty, experts typically suggest two solutions. First, you might limit your initial portfolio withdrawal rate to just 3% or 4%, equal to $3,000 or $4,000 for every $100,000 saved. This is well below the 5% and 6% withdrawal rates that used to be advocated and reflects, in part, a concern about today’s lofty stock valuations and low after-inflation bond yields.</p>

<p>“Two percent is bullet-proof, 3% is probably safe, 4% is pushing it and, at 5%, you’re eating Alpo in your old age,” reckons William Bernstein, an investment adviser in North Bend, Ore. “If you take out 5% and you live into your 90s, there’s a 50% chance you will run out of money.”"</p>

<p>“Trouble is, the typical household headed by a 55- to 64-year-old has less than $90,000 in savings, so a 3% or 4% withdrawal rate would mean scant income. To make matters worse, if markets are kind, these folks may look back later in retirement and find they had pinched pennies unnecessarily.”</p>

<p>"My suggestion: Think about your retirement in two acts, the period until age 85 and the period after.</p>

<p>Suppose you retire at age 65. Plan on spending down 85% of your portfolio over the next 20 years. You might withdraw 1/20th in your first year of retirement, 1/19th in the second year and so on.</p>

<p>With this strategy, your initial annual withdrawal would be equal to 4.25% of your total savings. But if your investments perform well, your subsequent withdrawals would soar and you would end up with far more income than with a traditional approach, where you start at 3% or 4% and increase for inflation.</p>

<p>In case you live beyond age 85, you need a financial backstop. To that end, invest the other 15% of your savings in a mix of stocks and 20-year inflation-indexed Treasury bonds. If you are still alive at age 85, you can spend down this money gradually or use it to buy an income annuity. To supplement this income, plan on tapping your home’s equity at age 85 by taking out a conventional or reverse mortgage."</p>

74

<p>I know one thing for sure. I will NOT expect my kids to support me in my old age. I’ll live in a shack before that happens.</p>

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<p>It amuses me that southerners still use the term Yankees fairly commonly. And not as a term of endearment.</p>

76

<p>“What do people do when their jobs stink? When you really want to do something else but still have four years of tuition staring you in the face?”</p>

<p>It all boils down to the life style choices people make.</p>

<p>If you are frustrated and stressed in current job and continue that situation you may die early.</p>

<p>I had read it somewhere that every year of stressfull job past 55 cuts down your life by two years.</p>

<p>If you retire early, you may be happy and live longer. But, that may involve a decision about the kind of life you want to live. Only you can decide, what income is enough for you.</p>

77

<p>VeryHappy, work not even one more day in a place where you are miserable. Type out your resignation letter, send it off, do the exit formalities, snag the reference commitments, and leave. </p>

<p>Life is too short, and there are absolutely endless opportunities and all sorts of interesting, profitable things to do and be.</p>

<p>Go do something fun, interesting and profitable, with fun, interesting and profitable people.</p>

78

<p>Uh – I wish I had your moxie, latetoschool. What about being grown-up, and accepting one’s responsibilities, and not being selfish or childish?</p>

79

<p>Doing something that is fun, interesting and profitable IS being responsible, grown up, and yes, selfish, but then I happen to think it’s healthy and reasonable to put one’s interests first. I think being “selfish” is o.k. and even desirable. Or at least, it’s better than being an indentured servant, and a miserable one at that. </p>

<p>I’m not suggesting you ditch your responsibilities. I’m actually suggesting you TAKE responsibility - for your own future, your happiness, and your productivity. How does staying in your current position - which you have already posted is going nowhere, isn’t making you happy, and won’t get you to a comforable retirement - how is that taking responsibility? Seems to me you’re avoiding responsibility and acting rather childish by staying in an unproductive, unprofitable, miserable business relationship - and then complaining about it, instead of taking action. </p>

<p>What is it you really want to do? Whatever it is, go do it. If you’re not sure, at least try it. Don’t wait until all conditions are absolutely perfect - if you do, a year or two or three from now you’ll still be in the same place, and probably still posting about it. </p>

<p>Leap - and the net will appear. :)</p>

80

<p>I never said my current job wasn’t profitable. I’m being paid a huge amount of money to do what I’m doing – truth be told, I can’t fathom why they’re paying me so much. That’s the hook for me. After all, we work for money. Satisfaction, yes, but money. Hell, if they didn’t pay us, we probably wouldn’t do a lot of things.</p>

<p>Doing the things that interest me will cut our income down to about one fourth of what it is today. It’s feasible, I suppose, that over time I could build it back up, but again – I’ve got four years of tuition still ahead, I’m 58, I don’t want to jeopardize a comfortable retirement – which is what I’ll have if I hang in there.</p>

<p>So maybe I’m just whining and I really don’t have any intention of making a change. I could live with that. (That’s 'cause today I’m not in the office; I’m working from home.)</p>