After the positive responses and congratulations on my Retirement thread, the idea came to me that there should be a thread that helps everyone prepare for the eventuality of retirement.
There were many great ideas, comments and great suggestions that came out of the conversation. What I would like to do is put this here as a repository for information for anyone who is:
Ready to retire
Close to retirement
Beginning to plan for retirement
One of the things I came to find out is that no matter how much I had thought I was prepared for retirement, there were still things I had not pondered or prepared for.
So this thread is for all your questions, comments, advice to help others that are close to retirement.
I mean....this board is about a year and a half away from being around for a quarter of a century, and many of us who have been around are there already.
Originally Posted by greg63:
Thank you all for the advice. I really hadn't any clue. I work for a non profit and started a 403(b) plan about a year ago, I'll start upping the amount that goes into it each month. I have about 13,000 in KPERS that is really just sitting there. I thought about putting it into an Edward Jones account. Not trying to bring "DC" talk here but I fear the prospect of the unrealized gains tax.
Giving that I'm retired I don't follow the limit anymore, but a quick search says that the limit for a 401K or 403B in 2024 is $23K, so if you can max it out to the point of pain, that would be a good start. For 2025 it looks like the limits will be $23.5K, so see if you can budget ~$1,950 a month for all of 2025. If you can, great, if not, put as much in as you financial pain threshold will allow. Remember, 401K and 403B contributions are pre-tax, or they were, so that's a little relief for you...
Originally Posted by GloryDayz:
Giving that I'm retired I don't follow the limit anymore, but a quick search says that the limit for a 401K or 403B in 2024 is $23K, so if you can max it out to the point of pain, that would be a good start. For 2025 it looks like the limits will be $23.5K, so see if you can budget ~$1,950 a month for all of 2025. If you can, great, if not, put as much in as you financial pain threshold will allow. Remember, 401K and 403B contributions are pre-tax, or they were, so that's a little relief for you...
Originally Posted by TrebMaxx:
I am now officially retired. Just returned home from the happy hour my co-workers had for me. It is still hard for me to comprehend but I am ready for this new phase in my life.
Congratulations on your retirement....welcome to the club!
The first few days of your retirement are odd...your body will wonder why you are sleeping in and not getting ready to work. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mosbonian:
I'm retired because I have worked all my life to get here. I am puzzled that some people think you should work until you drop dead.
I agree. I just want to have a few years before health issues could start happening and be able to do somethings I didn't have time to do while working. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mosbonian:
I'm retired because I have worked all my life to get here. I am puzzled that some people think you should work until you drop dead.
We had a plan. One of the reasons I took the job in Florida was because we were tired of snow and ice. Just go into Quick Trip and you slip on some ice and bust your ass. Had enough of that.
Now, I had to retire a couple of years early but the plan still was in place. We bought at the bottom of a crashed housing market. Set us up for a successful retirement. Now, the hurricane insurance may make us move away from the water but we still stay down here.
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
We had a plan. One of the reasons I took the job in Florida was because we were tired of snow and ice. Just go into Quick Trip and you slip on some ice and bust your ass. Had enough of that.
Now, I had to retire a couple of years early but the plan still was in place. We bought at the bottom of a crashed housing market. Set us up for a successful retirement. Now, the hurricane insurance may make us move away from the water but we still stay down here.
Have a plan. Things change. Be flexible.
Seen too many friends continue to work past retirement age....and regret it.
I have health issues...one's that make the thought of working a silly thought. I don't want to be the guy whose wife gets a call saying "sorry Mrs. Mosbonian, but your husband had a heart attack at work and didn't make it to the hospital". [Reply]
Two days... Feels really weird... Like this is the last Thursday and Friday of work and then every day is Saturday forever. No more asking for the day off, after hours support or planning things on the weekend so I can be back on Monday.
The end of one thing is the beginning of another.
My brother in law wants to work until he is 70 to maximize his SS money. They were on the first leg of a trip in Arkansas, he tripped on a trail, fell, landed on a big rock and broke his hip. Now his vacation is surgery, physical therapy and recovery. I hope this wakes him up because life can and does change in an instant. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mosbonian:
Seen too many friends continue to work past retirement age....and regret it.
I have health issues...one's that make the thought of working a silly thought. I don't want to be the guy whose wife gets a call saying "sorry Mrs. Mosbonian, but your husband had a heart attack at work and didn't make it to the hospital".
Truth brother.. And I think retirement also allows a person who needs to, to get healthy. [Reply]
Since we are talking about 401K's, I'll just kick this out there. I've been self-employed since 2003. Shortly thereafter, I started contributing to a SEP IRA. It's an awesome way to save on paying taxes, and a great way to put some money aside. You can put up to 25% of what you make, or in 2024 ('23 Tax basis) it's $66,000 max. If you are self-employed, make sure you are doing something like this. [Reply]
Originally Posted by crayzkirk:
Two days... Feels really weird... Like this is the last Thursday and Friday of work and then every day is Saturday forever. No more asking for the day off, after hours support or planning things on the weekend so I can be back on Monday.
The end of one thing is the beginning of another.
My brother in law wants to work until he is 70 to maximize his SS money. They were on the first leg of a trip in Arkansas, he tripped on a trail, fell, landed on a big rock and broke his hip. Now his vacation is surgery, physical therapy and recovery. I hope this wakes him up because life can and does change in an instant.
He needs to take a look at how little the benefit is waiting until he is 70...the difference between what I am earning now vs what I would make per month then is not really that much.
In fact...I started drawing mine at FRA and still worked another 18 months. So the SS I was getting was just money I could put away extra. Better in my hands making it work for me instead of it in the governments hands..
Sorry what happened to your B-I-L....it sucks that these things can and do occur.
Imagine working your last day of work....your friends have a going away dinner for you and your spouse at a nice restaurant. On the way home a careless/drunk driver plows head long into your car and your wife survives and you don't?
That happened to a peer of mine in the industry I worked in... [Reply]
Originally Posted by ChiTown:
Since we are talking about 401K's, I'll just kick this out there. I've been self-employed since 2003. Shortly thereafter, I started contributing to a SEP IRA. It's an awesome way to save on paying taxes, and a great way to put some money aside. You can put up to 25% of what you make, or in 2024 ('23 Tax basis) it's $66,000 max. If you are self-employed, make sure you are doing something like this.
Good advice! Every dollar you put away to work for you is a little wage earner. Do that long enough and you will have an army of earners!
I will add for anyone capable of maxing or at least contributing to Roth IRA's and HSA'S do that as well. When my employer added the High Deductible Health plan and an HSA I took advantage of maxing out my HSA. Being a healthy guy we paid out of pocket for the little health care we used. We still do. We are saving the HSA and allowing it to grow until it is really needed in our later years.
What I failed to do was invest in a Roth. I have around a 14-16% effective tax rate in retirement. Nothing sucks more than to pay Uncle Same $1600 bucks for every $10K you withdraw from your IRA. [Reply]
Just thought I would bring this one back up to the top in case anyone new has retired lately.
The really nice part about retirement? When you have the Sunday Night and Monday Night games, there is no real rush to get up early in the AM to have to get to work. :-) [Reply]
Starting on week 4 of retirement. I have enjoyed sleeping in that is for sure but I really need to get myself on a schedule to get up earlier and get to the honey-do list although I have knocked a few items out just to keep the honey happy. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mosbonian:
Just thought I would bring this one back up to the top in case anyone new has retired lately.
The really nice part about retirement? When you have the Sunday Night and Monday Night games, there is no real rush to get up early in the AM to have to get to work. :-)
I'm one year and four days retired and LOVING it... Trips to Roatan to dive, Green Bay for Chiefs, Northern Iowa to teach Ice Diving, Cozumel for diving, Cayman Brac for diving, Cozumel #2 for diving, Roatan #2 for diving, Sint Maarten/Saba/Saint Kitts for Diving, Egypt/Red Sea for diving, Cozumel #3 for diving, and about ready to leave for Bonaire for five glorious weeks for diving... Then I have dive trips scheduled for Cozumel (kinda my 2nd home), Hawaii/Fiji, The Maldives, and Roatan setup for Jan-July 2025. While I'm retired I LOVE leading dive trips (saved a LOT of my nest egg...), so I guess I'm not 100% retired.
