<p>Edad - Forgive me if you have already addressed this question. I admiit that I skimmed through a couple of pages.</p>
<p>Have you actually done a “trial run”? Have you traveled in your camper for a couple of months to see if you even enjoy it? Have you traveled in your camper so that you can see what life would really be like “on the road”? And if it is the right size camper for the two of you in good weather and in bad? Were you a “camping family” before this planned retirement?</p>
<p>If you haven’t alrleady gone out on the road, I highly recommend it before you sell the house and sell or store major possessions.</p>
<p>Hugcheck,
The outcome of the 4% rule is HIGHLY dependent on investment returns and the rate of inflation. The 4% rule tells you how much you will have to spend at the beginning of your retirement. If you continue to pull out the same amount in inflation indexed dollars you will usually deplete your savings in 30 years or so. You can use the retirement planning calculators but the bottom line is highly dependent on the future rates.</p>
<p>eddieodessa,<br>
In our youth we did a lot of tent camping often for weeks at a time. We have also done our share of motel travel. We have not given the camper a dry run except for one overnight. Compared in tent camping it is great to have refrigerator, kitchen, heat, A/C and a clean dry queen sized bed. I do suspect we will not continue as “full timers” living on the road. We might only last a few months. We do plan on looking for a new permanent location and taking our time. If I am going to be able to retire, then the house must be sold and we must relocate to a less expensive area.</p>
<p>kjofkw,
We collect and save things for lots of reasons. If one is good, more is better. We become attached to our possessions because some have sentimental value. They provide a connection with past events, family, and friends. Some things are tools and supplies we might want in the future. Some things are status symbols or like clothing are adornments. As the old saying goes, you win if you die with the most possessions. There are all sorts of reasons including being too lazy to sort and discard. After a while our possessions take over and we become their curators. We can become like Midas counting our hoards of gold. For me it is time to move forward and live in the future. I cannot do that and still handle all of the life’s past clutter.</p>
<p>I was all inspired to de-clutter on Saturday morning, but just succeeded in recycling about a foot high stack of paper. H and I’s “fight” was not about the dog kennel but was about cards…H saves every Christmas card, birthday card, mothers and fathers day card, etc that anyone in the family receives. He thinks we are going to look back on them fondly some day…but seriously, 95% contain no personal message other than notes to the effect of “Hope you have a happy birthday…” When we are old and Aunt Linda who sent that card is dead and gone, are we REALLY going to love opening up that card and knowing that Aunt Linda wanted me to have a happy birthday?</p>
<p>I am working through this thread when I take breaks from my own punch list. (We are getting ready to sell and build a smaller house.) My own mantra as I go through nearly thirty years’ accumulation is “just because you get rid of the stuff doesn’t mean you have to get rid of the memories”. I am currently contemplating the “Story Couch”, where we always read at bedtime. I also remind myself that there are people who might actually need the things we have been hanging onto for sentimental reasons.</p>
<p>Since H and I don’t have pensions, we’re looking at turning a portion of our retirement funds into an immediate annuity when we retire. It buys a decent monthly stream of income, and ensures that you don’t run out of money before you die. For those of us without company pensions, it seems to be the way to go. </p>
<p>The problem I have with most retirement calculators is that they ask for what % of your current income you want to have in retirement. This doesn’t work IMO. I prefer the bottom up method. Calculate all of your expenses (including healthcare) and work from there. We won’t have a mortgage in retirement so why would what I make now have any bearing on what I need in the future? Honestly, I think many calculators OVER estimate what you need…after all, most of them are sponsored by companies that want you to hand over as much money as possible.</p>
<p>Here is an idea for those of you thinking about what to do with your old negatives and 16 mm and 8 mm movies: take them to costco or another place that offers film to digital transfer. You will be able to take your boxes of memories with you on a flash drive. We are in the process of doing this, going through stashes of H’s old movies and pictures that he had taken in HS and college.</p>
<p>Toneranger–I have taken the same approach as you. We are also thinking bottom up–what will we need then, not how it relates to our income now. I think a lot of financial planning information entails products to buy, commissions to pay, etc. We are keeping it simple. What will we need, what will it cost. It’s like mortgage calculators which assume we could afford a much bigger mortgage than we would ever consider; our future monetary plans start from our extreme frugality.</p>
<p>You also have to be careful about how these investment companies define the assumptions for what you need. Many of the retirement calculators do not take into account that you’ll be getting Social Security benefits (no throwing tomatoes, please :)) and the value of that can be a significant chunk of your “number.” Some assume inflation, others don’t.</p>
<p>If you aren’t throwing at least enough money to get the maximum match from your employer’s 401(k), you’re leaving funds on the table.</p>
<p>I like Garland’s comparison to the mortgage calculator. We didn’t buy nearly as much as was theoretically possible, and we live pretty cheaply. (College is the big splurge.)</p>
<p>So I read on article on saving for retirement in the Washington Post yesterday. The columnist was spot on when talking about building what you need from the bottom up. But then he lost me on “the number”. Actually, I sunk into a deep depression and was unable to read any further :)</p>
<p>Here’s an excerpt:
“Whatever figure you come up with – let’s say, $50,000 – consider it a minimum. Divide it by 26 to come up with your biweekly retirement income – about $1,925. Your figure will probably be much less than the usual 80 percent of your current income that most financial advisers say you’ll need. We’re talking about getting by; any extra will only make life better.”</p>
<p>“So without a pension, how much do you need to get $50,000 (before inflation) each year? Simply put: a bundle. If you plan to retire at 65 and hope to have at least 30 years in retirement, you’ll probably need something like $1.5 million in today’s dollars.” </p>
<p>Wow…I need to sell my house and live in a tent. :)</p>
<p>But here’s the thing, to me, toneranger–obviously, the vast, vast majority of the country will not retire with 1.5 mil in the bank. And they’re not going to all be starving, roaming the streets (or in tents:)).</p>
<p>Like CD says, they don’t take into account SS. That’s a big chunk of that number right now.</p>
<p>Plus, with a paid off mortgage, 50K is more than enough–for us, anyway. We could get by on signficantly less.</p>
<p>I have a very stupid question about Social Security. When the time comes, do we collect both mine and my husband’s, or do we have to choose the higher?</p>
<p>Ha! Ha! I met a couple this year that do live in a tent. They travel the planet and live here and there and sing for schools etc. etc. They seemed very happy and are originally from Connecticut. They take their bikes with them. They are connected to Columbia U. somehow. Gee, a snail only needs its shell.</p>
<p>But being the caretaker of my parents who lived well into their 90s, I am totally aware of the complications of modern life.</p>
<p>I have just arrived home after travelling to the states to attend my son’s wedding! This is a wonderful discussion. When I get home I start filling up trash bags of junk accumulated for the year. I recently sold some hospital furniture that I had purchased when my mom lived with me here and I still have medicines and bandages and finally tackled all that. It has been two years since she died.</p>
<p>I love my summers now. I can see the end of my working cycle. I have travelled intensively for the past twenty years and look forward to moving home, the old bay area for awhile. I wish in a way that I had grown up in Michigan or someplace like that but I have things to do in the bay before I move on. California is my home in a funny way. A storage shed to go through, family there.</p>
<p>But cart before the horse: I have 2-3 more working years. Carry on!</p>
<p>I feel freer now. Still working. Mother of the Groom. Parents are both gone which is the saddest thing for me and they would have loved the wedding. But that is the way it goes.</p>
<p>Missypie–no marriage penalty. You can collect both.</p>
<p>Here’s a great article (I think it was posted here before) about retirement planning. It includes links to Social Security calculators and information.</p>
<p>Again, prodded by this thread we started looking at my W’s early retirement plus our SS at 62 and the numbers “weren’t that bad”. She’s 55 and I’m almost 54 so maybe we can start shooting for 62 and making plans that direction. Kid will be well into residency by then and could write 'scripts…so things are looking “not as bleak”. Now, just to convince her to let us live in her “doctor condo” and we are set. I’m thinking mountains. W wants the beach. D is suicidal.</p>
<p>Thank you for all you’ve contributed to CC, I’m a newer member but really appreciate everyone’s time and dedication they put into the board and other’s questions, especially from the adult CC members. </p>
<p>Curm–we’re picking out the beach house S will buy us when he wins the World Series of Poker…</p>
<p>Oh, wait, that’s not a sure thing???</p>
<p>Well, we didn’t get rich on medicine, so this is our next gameplan. And slightly better odds than my novel getting published and picked up for a movie deal.</p>
<p>Read an article yesterday about a guy -about 65 - who went on his son’s family plan for his cell. Told my DS. He said I would have to pay for texting. And no data plan (why does that sound familiar?). </p>
<p>So maybe the tent is extreme but I can see a much smaller home. It’s funny, we have a lot of “originals” in our neighborhood and the houses are 40 years old. And they are retired and in their 60s and 70s. So somehow, these folks don’t need to downsize to retire I guess. This will not apply to us…but that’s OK. Time for new adventures!</p>
<p>Funny that ^; I just put my 80 year old mother on my family plan. Now if I could just get her to carry the phone when she’s out tooling around in her sixteen year old Saturn . . .</p>
I LOVE this! I am going to save this to a word document and get DH to read it. And Cur - why, you’re just a baby! Why did I think you were as old as the hills?</p>