How did/will you make your decision to retire? SIAP

117,945 Views | 652 Replies | Last: 23 min ago by MyNameIsJeff
Kool
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AgOutsideAustin said:

Confidence to spend is real for the majority of retirees. There was a Blackrock survey that showed after like 15 years in retirement 75% of people had the same or more money than when they first retired. My percentage may be off slightly but it definitely showed most retirees just don't spend their money. Not me. I retired to have 100% control of my time and I want to really enjoy the go go years from 60-75 if I can. I'm confident in our plan so this first year we have definitely been spending.

If this big withdrawal you are making is a nice golf trip I approve !!

Take care JJ

Interesting that so many of those retirees weren't spending down their retirement. Good for their heirs and designated charities, but probably represents a missed opportunity as well.

Unfortunately, I can see myself struggling with starting to pull from savings in my retirement, but I hope once I get started that doesn't continue to be a problem. It's a lot easier to spend money when you are continuing to generate income. Knowing myself, I could see where a few down or lean years in the market soon after retirement could easily scare me off of continuing to draw down what I've saved up.
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AgsMyDude
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jja79 said:

I started living on my retirement budget 18 months before I retired so the income I earned during that period plus social security was sufficient.

That budget was about 50% of my budget while I was working.


I really like this approach and will keep this in mind when I get close to that point.
LMCane
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Texker said:

Great subject. My biggest mistake is not that I retired early, but that I retired from something not to something. I just completed the SSA benefit app Thursday.


THIS SSA website is driving me crazy!

suddenly after years I have to confirm my identity- but it won't accept my phone pictures of my drivers license and I go to the post office which it says to do and they say you have to have a barcode which you can't get unless you go back to the website

Government bureaucracy at it's finest!!
YouBet
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jja79 said:

I was thinking about this thread the last few days and something that came up in conversation with some retired friends recently. I turned 69 last week. My friends and I played golf 4 times, went to a Diamondbacks game and watched a bunch of fools karaoke one night so there wasn't a lot of down time. I've been retired 22 months and have withdrawn a total of $12K from my retirement funds. Obviously the increase in the funds has been significant so the issue isn't the money. The discussion among my friends was how do you give yourself permission to spend? It might sound ridiculous but I've found myself thinking about this. There's something I've been thinking about doing that would require a larger withdrawal than any I've made. In my head I I know it's not a problem but I haven't yet given myself permission. Anyone else thinking about this or are me and my friends the only ones?


It's a legit issue. I still second guess everything and how much we can safely spend. It usually takes our Financial Advisor to reassure me that we are fine to get me over that mental hump. I'm sure he's rolling his eyes when he gets off phone with me. Ha.
AgOutsideAustin
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Having the market be up so much during my first year helps for sure. But I also set up a bucket one to pull money from for the first several years in retirement. This is in cash and totally out of the market so I have years of spending set aside regardless of market fluctuations. I can ride out a downturn and return to market highs for most bear markets unless there is another lost decade. Have I missed some run up ? Sure I have but I sleep well at night and I'm guarded against sequence of return risk.

I have friends within a year or two of retiring and they still won't go on trips with their wives. I told them they need to do some bucket list things now while they are in their peak earning years because once their paycheck stops I can easily see them not having confidence to spend since they don't spend now.

Retirement is numbers based for sure but the mental aspect can actually be more important.
jja79
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You have to fail an IQ test to work for the government. SSA is the worst. In 2024 I had some questions and there's an office near me. They said they had no record of me ever working in the US. I pulled up my account on the SSA website and showed the guy the record of employment and contributions dating back to 1970. He was completely bamboozled. Took 4 months and several trips to get resolution.
stonksock
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I've been retired for a little over two years. Outside of one large watch purchase, I have had trouble spending what the software says I can safely support. I am only withdrawaling around 3-3.5% a year but the software says I could easily support 4.5-5% and stay above 80% probably of success. I am slowly working on it adding a few quality of life things here and there. I wouldn't say it's a major problem for me but it's not something that just comes natural and I have had to work on it.
RightWingConspirator
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Generally, the best savers make terrible retirees. This is something I will struggle with mightily. We've saved substantially and I could have retired a year or two ago. Once the money stops coming in, not sure what i'll do with myself because spending money is just not in my nature - much to my wife's chagrin.
cgh1999
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RightWingConspirator said:

Generally, the best savers make terrible retirees. This is something I will struggle with mightily. We've saved substantially and I could have retired a year or two ago. Once the money stops coming in, not sure what i'll do with myself because spending money is just not in my nature - much to my wife's chagrin.

Not counting JJA, i've had conversations recently with three retirees who were all conservative spenders and good savers. EVERY one of them has left the corpus of their retirement accounts untouched and are living off SS and other passive income. EVERY one of them has seen their retirement accounts grow over the last 5+ years and they are all struggling with how much to spend on family/friends now vs continuing to hold for future expenses.

I am very much in the same boat as someone who has always lived well below my means. My wife and I are discussing some major spends that we really should make, but it's very difficult to pull the trigger. I can't imagine how difficult that would be if I wasn't actively earning new income.
jja79
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I've known this guy his entire adult life and worked with him in banking as well. He was 50 when he was 25 and I mean that as a compliment. He understood early it's mostly about how much you spend.

I bumped this thread yesterday to see if I'm the only one having conversations with myself seeking permission to spend outside my normal budget and it looks like I'm not.
Throwout
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This describes my parents exactly--extreme savers, conservative spenders and retired 20 years ago. They bought some land and built a house out in Marble Falls for retirement. They pay for everything in cash and have no debt. They've never touched any of their retirement principal and simply live off the interest and even then, they can't spend what they receive monthly. They reinvest what they don't spend and just watch their principal continue to grow and grow. They're just so accustomed to not spending money. They do enjoy travel which they primarily do with the Traveling Aggies because it's so well organized, but they've just lived a simple life for so long, they're most comfortable that way. At this point, they've decided to throw a lot of it into trusts for each of my kids for them to have when they get older. It's a completely different mindset from the majority of what you see today, but having something they can pass along to my kids truly gives them joy.
Caliber
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RightWingConspirator said:

Generally, the best savers make terrible retirees. This is something I will struggle with mightily. We've saved substantially and I could have retired a year or two ago. Once the money stops coming in, not sure what i'll do with myself because spending money is just not in my nature - much to my wife's chagrin.

I can see this being a big problem for us as well, but that is part of why some of the early larger spends we want are getting baked into the overall plan to make it easier to spend it.

We're still 8+ years out from retirement but are at that point that contributions are making significantly diminishing returns vs the overall account balances doing the work. Even with that, the idea of not making some of those contributions to spend on something big is still hard.

The idea of nonspecific saving for the "future/retirement" vs a specific savings goals is the issue. So, we are making sure that that future is at least somewhat defined with expense buckets that are ok to spend for us.
AgOutsideAustin
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Maybe some of you can flex your retirement spending muscle a bit and see how it goes. Take your wife somewhere nice and it doesn't have to be a hugely expensive trip. See how you both enjoy the experience and come back in a few months to see did that really affect your plan and do you regret it? Maybe you both liked it and can see that it was a great experience that you get to relive down the road and your plan is still intact?
cgh1999
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I've been talking recently to my parents about spending some of their money on my children and their other grandchildren. Lord willing, I'll be 70 something by the time my parents passed away. I sure hope I don't need an inheritance at that point. It would be amazing if over the next 20 years, they could watch their grandkids and great grandkids enjoy the fruits of their labor.
AgOutsideAustin
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cgh1999 said:

I've been talking recently to my parents about spending some of their money on my children and their other grandchildren. Lord willing, I'll be 70 something by the time my parents passed away. I sure hope I don't need an inheritance at that point. It would be amazing if over the next 20 years, they could watch their grandkids and great grandkids enjoy the fruits of their labor.


If they are readers suggest the book Die with Zero. It really emphasizes trying to gift money now while they are around to see the joy it can bring. It encourages experiences and spending time together as well as helping for college, cars, house down payments and such. They have been great savers all these years and let them know the joy they can have in helping now and assuring them there will be plenty at the end of the road I bet. We have told our kids we are going to do some of that starting now to help them and also experience stuff with us so we can have fun together. We told them this in no way jeopardizes our retirement but we get to see our money really make a difference. Our kids are still going to get what's left when we pass which will be way more than they ever expected. A sit down with a financial advisor going through their plan and various gifting amounts can go a long way with giving them the confidence.
Hoyt Ag
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AgOutsideAustin said:

Maybe some of you can flex your retirement spending muscle a bit and see how it goes. Take your wife somewhere nice and it doesn't have to be a hugely expensive trip. See how you both enjoy the experience and come back in a few months to see did that really affect your plan and do you regret it? Maybe you both liked it and can see that it was a great experience that you get to relive down the road and your plan is still intact?

I had a long talk with my dad recently about this. They live off a small pension and SS and live a VERY simple life, but not because they didnt save. He has Parkinsons and it is not getting better, so they have half a dozen cruises booked this year in what I imagine the nicest cabin possible. They booked this because he just doesnt think he will be mobile too long and luckily the cruise lines have all they need to get around and enjoy the ship and ports.. Dad said he has not touched a cent of his retirement savings since he retired and has just lived off the other funds and rental income. Makes me a little sad they did not spend more and have amazing adventures before his diagnosis (He also had cance not too long ago and is now in the clear 6 years now).
Alr3111
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I am nearing retirement. I have found the approach by these guys a good way to view how allow yourself to spend your "fun money" on your terms.

https://www.theretirementandirashow.com/category/podcast/

These shows provide the details

Quote:

Quote:

April 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 1: EDU #2417
May 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 2: EDU #2418
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 3: EDU #2419
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 4: EDU #2420
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 5: EDU #2421
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 6: EDU #2422
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 7: EDU #2431
August 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 8: EDU #2432
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 9: EDU #2433
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 10: EDU #2434
September 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 11: EDU #2436
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 12: EDU #2437
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 13: EDU #2438




MyMamaSaid
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AgOutsideAustin said:

suggest the book Die with Zero.

^^ Overall a fantastic read that has given me a lot of inspiration on how to spend my days. Now and in the near future. The concept of 'memory dividends' really resonates with me.
Diggity
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Alr3111 said:

I am nearing retirement. I have found the approach by these guys a good way to view how allow yourself to spend your "fun money" on your terms.

https://www.theretirementandirashow.com/category/podcast/

These shows provide the details

Quote:

Quote:

April 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 1: EDU #2417
May 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 2: EDU #2418
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 3: EDU #2419
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 4: EDU #2420
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 5: EDU #2421
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 6: EDU #2422
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 7: EDU #2431
August 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 8: EDU #2432
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 9: EDU #2433
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 10: EDU #2434
September 2024
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 11: EDU #2436
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 12: EDU #2437
Our Retirement Planning Process and Philosophy Part 13: EDU #2438






yikes. Need a TLDL for 15+ hours of podcasts on 1 topic
jja79
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I'm 69 and have a 97 year old mother. She never worked one day in her life but my dad set her up with a 6 figure passive, mostly tax free income for the rest of her life. She has 6 grandsons from 23-45 some of whom could benefit from some generosity. When I brought this up her response was money is power and I have them both. Don't live like that.
AgOutsideAustin
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MyMamaSaid said:

AgOutsideAustin said:

suggest the book Die with Zero.

^^ Overall a fantastic read that has given me a lot of inspiration on how to spend my days. Now and in the near future. The concept of 'memory dividends' really resonates with me.


Me too! Also The Psychology of Money is a good read too. I love the concept of memory dividends and I talk to my friends about those all the time. I tell them if you have an experience or go on a trip that cost $5000 today, you will always have great memories of what you did with your loved ones. And that $5000 keeps repaying you over time in your memory and conversations with your loved ones so the money spent is well worth it.
Medaggie
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AgOutsideAustin said:


If they are readers suggest the book Die with Zero. It really emphasizes trying to gift money now while they are around to see the joy it can bring. It encourages experiences and spending time together as well as helping for college, cars, house down payments and such. They have been great savers all these years and let them know the joy they can have in helping now and assuring them there will be plenty at the end of the road I bet. We have told our kids we are going to do some of that starting now to help them and also experience stuff with us so we can have fun together. We told them this in no way jeopardizes our retirement but we get to see our money really make a difference. Our kids are still going to get what's left when we pass which will be way more than they ever expected. A sit down with a financial advisor going through their plan and various gifting amounts can go a long way with giving them the confidence.

I know some will disagree with paying too much for their kids = raising "soft" kids. I had this mindset when I was poor/growing up with little = raised "hardened" but it was because my parents were poor.

My mindset has changed greatly in the past 20 years. I have plenty of $$ to retire and eventually my 3 kids will inherit 90+% of it so why not give it to them now when they need it instead of when they are 50+ and do not need it anymore. Why pass on most of the wealth to my grandkids/in laws who I have yet to meet.

I still have talks with my kids to study hard, get a good job, parents may not be there to help, blah blah blah so they won't feel entitled.

But I am starting to pass on their inheritance right now. All education will be paid, their 1st house will be paid, all family trips will be paid. Each kid and their future kids get 38K gifted from us each year into their Schwab. Each kid gets 8K in their roth. Each kid is on my company Payroll and will be until the foreseeable future allowing them to be part of the company CBP.

I am setting up a DAF this year for gifting legacy.

I plan on giving 75% of our wealth by the time we hit 80.
AgOutsideAustin
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AG
Wow, that is incredibly generous and I think the right thing to do in your situation. I don't have near the funds that you have to help with, but my philosophy is the same as yours. I agree with you as I didn't grow up with money either, worked my way through junior college and my two years at A&M and came out without any debt. But that was a long time ago and times have changed. Growing up my kids never were given the latest iPhone, the designer clothes, they got their high school cars later than their friends and they were older model Hondas. Good kids, stayed off drugs, and both graduated from A&M with masters degrees. Not soft kids at all. Were there college loans absolutely but since graduation, we have helped to pay them off as a gift. Help one kid buy a new car and about to help the other with the house down payment. They have good jobs, health insurance, and are taking care of themselves, so I'm absolutely going to give them money now when they could use it rather than when they're in their 50s and I'm about to kick the bucket and they get a big check. I just don't see any sense in that but that's me personally. Plus, we are going to take them on trips with us and enjoy our time together. Growing up I always told them to save some and spend some but the save some always comes first, now they are seeing the wisdom in that and how it pays off in the long run. Both have set up their retirement accounts in their 20s, which is earlier than when I surely started so they are well on their way.
tamc93
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Interesting thread…made the decision years ago to have the ability to retire at 55 and work towards it while having "fun", providing a launching board for kids (no college debt), family trips, AM sports, etc.

Thankfully all has been accomplished including 55 in a couple of days. The new goal is to keep funding the experiences while staying professionally active for the secondary benefits of insurance and additional retirement savings. At the same time, I foresee more trips and 3-4 day work weeks in my ongoing future.
P.H. Dexippus
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I'm 44 and this is my plan, subject to how the market performs over the next 8-9 years. Out of curiosity, what's your investment mix at this point and are you planning any changes as you move into quasi-retirement?
EliteZags
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permabull
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The example in this video basically showed that in some cases, your net worth would actually be higher at 80+ if you retire vs continuing to work due to the compounding effect of Roth conversions and lifetime tax savings. So at some point you are just working to pay it all back in taxes. I can't think of a clearer sign its time to retire than that.
tamc93
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Related to retirement focused accounts have been 80-85% stocks for years with decent results.

FA suggested transitioning to 70% with more dividend paying stocks going forward.

non-retirement based accounts 80% stocks and 20% "TexAgs" gambles (which have mixed results)

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We own a small consulting business, so fully retiring has no upside when I can still continue to work "where ever" plus it gives me something to do while not dipping into accounts until fully ready. The goal was always "to be able to," which was accomplished (just with a different lifestyle).
tamc93
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Thanks for sharing. Had some interesting points to consider.
jja79
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This may not be relevant but I'm playing my 72nd round of golf YTD this morning.
Diggity
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Living the dream Jed!

We're going to be posting in 20 years, you'll still be golfing, and people will still be chirping that you and your buddies didn't save enough.
LeftyAg89
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jja79 said:

This may not be relevant but I'm playing my 72nd round of golf YTD this morning.


Holy Smokes JJ! Be careful or you're going to get CTS or something!!! haha

You've given me some incentive to get back on the course. I "retired" from golf about 15 years ago, very shortly after my best ever round (79 -- true score, no foot golf). I am 60 and just retired from my job and now my two sons are wanting me to get out on the course with them.
Medaggie
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I'm at around 35 and still loving the frustration. .
jja79
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AG
Not sure what CTS is but for me and the people I hang with it's about how much you spend.
BigPete3281
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jja79 said:

This may not be relevant but I'm playing my 72nd round of golf YTD this morning.

I don't think I've played 72 rounds in the last 10 years. That's just sad. I'm actually pretty dang good at golf! I gotta get out there while I can still hit 300.

Yes, I can hit 300, just not always sure on the direction it's going, but it's going 300 yards to get there.
 
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