for those nearing retirement age

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 19, 2011

I'm not banking on living into my 80s or caring how much income I have at that point. .

I'm planning to live to 100. I probably won't live that long, but I don't want to run out of money. I figure if I die young, the money issue won't matter. But if I do live to be very old, I want to have the money I need to support myself. So, I want to have the larger checks and am willing to wait a couple of years if that seems reasonable when I get to 62.

Also, I have retirement accounts that I will tap to live on. In fact, I have one account that I HAVE to withdraw from now. I inherited a portion of my parents' IRA -- and the law stipulates that I MUST take a portion of that out each year and pay taxes on it. Right now, I pay the taxes on the mandatory withdrawal and then put the rest into my Roth IRA. But when I am in my early/mid 60's, I might actually use that money to live on while I delay the SS checks.

But who knows? When I have to make my first decision in 6 years ... things may be very different.

Jules A, MSN · Aug 19, 2011

I'm planning to live to 100. I probably won't live that long, but I don't want to run out of money. I figure if I die young, the money issue won't matter. But if I do live to be very old, I want to have the money I need to support myself. So, I want to have the larger checks and am willing to wait a couple of years if that seems reasonable when I get to 62.

Llg, I hope you live as long as you are happy and healthy! As an avid saver and investor I love this topic and reading different thoughts on it. Social security if it is even still available will be of minimal consequence with regard to my retirement portfolio also. I have plenty for home health care but if a SNF is needed that becomes so ridiculously expensive that it would drain most anyone's nest egg and by that point I'm pretty comfortable betting that I will be foggy enough not to know or give a rip what kind of accomodations I can or can't afford. My medical and family history doesn't lend itself to longevity and frankly after 85 or so most people, even healthy people, start the rapid decline anyway. Getting old and frail really doesn't seem fair in the big picture.

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 19, 2011

Jules ...

Yeah. I agree that I don't want to get so infirmed that I don't enjoy life. But 2 of my grandparents lived (with quality) into their 90's. So I want to be prepared ... just in case. I know the retirement community I will move to (and perhaps later, the nursing home there). It is nice, but not cheap.

No one can predict what I'll need in 30 years and it worries me that I won't be able to earn more money at that point. I'll be dependent on what I have saved -- and whatever SS and Medicare provide. I have decent savings and long-term care insurance, but who knows how much I'll need. There is no real way to predict. So I am just trying to save as much as I can.

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

God willing I hope I can retire by 62 if I make it that long! I'm doing everything I can to get my home paid off by then if not sooner because I fear the future. Work is stressful and wearing my body out and I just hope I can survive without any serious injury or chronic pain. But the stress is definitely getting to me! I'm taking medicine to help me cope with the stress and trying to take time off (vacation) as much as they'll let me!

I wish I had done things differently! I was so foolish back in the day thinking being a bed-side nurse was so noble a profession, but I should have went back to school and gotten out of this rat race. I wish I had gone back for an NP.

'

Now in hindsight I think I would have been much happier and I recommend this to all the young ones starting out who are feeling burned out. Do yourself a favor and go back to school! You will still have time to pay off your student loans before retirement and have a much better quality of life because staying in floor nursing your just a work horse and when they have ground you down, they will just find some new grad or foreign nurse to replace you with!

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

i thought retirement money and ss checks were totally different. if u put money in a retirement 401 k you get paid the 401 k and the ss check?

Yes. Nurses do. For some professions (teachers/educators- and probably many others) they pay into Social Security, and get maybe 5-10% of what they would get if they didn't have their retirement plan through the union (good friend and my dad have had to deal with this giving money away). So, they pay in and get next to nothing back.

I'm on disability, and can definitely attest to the fact that Medicare and Social Security are not enough to survive. I had a long term disability insurance policy through work (never thought I'd need it, but after neuro/rehab, I wanted to be covered if some idiot creamed me in a MVA). Without the LTD policy, I'd be living in a ratty area, and wouldn't be able to buy the needed Medicare supplement insurance (Medicare covers very little of total costs).

If you've refused any short or long term disability policies in the past, reconsider for your next open enrollment. Nobody plans on ending up needing it- but until 7 years ago, I was working full time (with manageable medical issues) just like most of the people here. I never envisioned this. My dad (at first) thought that getting paid to be at home before retirement age was some great thing- that hurt. When I'm 62, I lose the LTD. I'm already starting to go through some of my stuff, slowly, to make it easier to move into a much smaller apartment when I lose the LTD.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't rely on SS at all (for any quality of life)...I'm thankful I've got it- but without the other, I'd be in bad shape. At least I can pay for the Medicare part B, part D, supplement, and part D co-pays. I'd rather buy one of those $450 scrubs ()....but at least I can pay for what I need. Not much left for "wants"... but that's ok.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

I did admissions at a LTC for a while... something to also consider is estate planning, to protect assets in the event of needing LTC care. Nobody plans on needing that either, and back in the late 90s/early 2000s, a decent semi-private room could easily run 120.00 per day- that is room and board. Meds/supplies, doc visits, for qualifying diagnoses were additional...unless on Medicaid- that's a whole different bag of very small beans :)

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

I work with a lot of older women who are woefully unprepared for retirement and they joke they will work till they die but many are struggling to keep going due to health problems, and chronic back pain, most likely work related. Majority are single and were single mothers so they struggled all their lives to support themselves and their family.

The sad truth is if you are married you will have a better financial life in retirement. Even if you divorced you may still be able to get social security benefits off your ex-husband and since men tend to be paid more than women, married women get better benefits than single women in America! Social security benefits are set up to support married couples at the expense of single working class women.

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

i thought retirement money and ss checks were totally different. if u put money in a retirement 401 k you get paid the 401 k and the ss check?

Problem is if you become disabled you would still be penalized for taking out the 401k before you were 59 1/2. You are told to do this or do that, but it ends up becoming a trap. People are encouraged to go to school, but the govt then takes away all consumer protections on student loan debt making it the most dangerous debt out there. God forbid you are disabled and unable to work your social security disability will be garnished to pay off the student loans. If you were to die and your family member co-signed a private student loan for you, they will be forced to pay back your student loans. If you retire and still haven't paid off your loans, don't worry they will garnish your social security. We need the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau that Elizabeth Warren advocated for! No one should be taking out student loans to the tune of becoming an indentured servant without at least taking a personal finance class first. President Obama acknowledged this problem by offering the 25 year Income Based Repayment plan but that is only offered for govt loans. If you took out private loans, you're out of luck!

Now the common advice to put money in your 401K or 403B I also disagree with. It is better to stick with a Roth IRA and give up the pretax deduction so you can have the money available tax free and penalty free in an emergency! If you get a company match then go ahead and contribute to the maximum of the match. But I think you are better off investing in index funds outside of your retirement if you have extra money. You pay less in taxes, capital gains vs ordinary income tax and can access the money at any time without penalty unlike the 401K and 403B's the govt pushes.

So many people have been forced to withdraw money due to an unforseen crisis, job loss, health issues, etc and then are faced with the double wammy of penalties (federal and state equals 20%) plus taxed at your current income rate. Even with the massive unemployment rate the govt refused to stop the penalties on early withdrawal! Congress gets free healthcare and an incredible pension, but they don't give a damn about the everyday worker!

Jules A, MSN · Aug 19, 2011

Problem is if you become disabled you would still be penalized for taking out the 401k before you were 59 1/2. You are told to do this or do that, but it ends up becoming a trap. People are encouraged to go to school, but the govt then takes away all consumer protections on student loan debt making it the most dangerous debt out there. God forbid you are disabled and unable to work your social security disability will be garnished to pay off the student loans. If you were to die and your family member co-signed a private student loan for you, they will be forced to pay back your student loans. If you retire and still haven't paid off your loans, don't worry they will garnish your social security. We need the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau that Elizabeth Warren advocated for! No one should be taking out student loans to the tune of becoming an indentured servant without at least taking a personal finance class first. President Obama acknowledged this problem by offering the 25 year Income Based Repayment plan but that is only offered for govt loans. If you took out private loans, you're out of luck!
Now the common advice to put money in your 401K or 403B I also disagree with. It is better to stick with a Roth IRA and give up the pretax deduction so you can have the money available tax free and penalty free in an emergency! If you get a company match then go ahead and contribute to the maximum of the match. But I think you are better off investing in index funds outside of your retirement if you have extra money. You pay less in taxes, capital gains vs ordinary income tax and can access the money at any time without penalty unlike the 401K and 403B's the govt pushes.
So many people have been forced to withdraw money due to an unforseen crisis, job loss, health issues, etc and then are faced with the double wammy of penalties (federal and state equals 20%) plus taxed at your current income rate. Even with the massive unemployment rate the govt refused to stop the penalties on early withdrawal! Congress gets free healthcare and an incredible pension, but they don't give a damn about the everyday worker!

It is my understanding that if someone is disabled that will allow their govt. student loans to be forgiven which would be the one instance I'd advocate for a break. If someone dies why shouldn't the company that shelled out the money be paid off by the cosigner? I agree 100% that people need a finance class before taking out huge amounts in student loans. The denial process seems to run very deep when it comes to justifying loans for education or mortgages and in many so cases neither one is appropriate.

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Aug 28, 2011

All you have to do is check out http://www.studentloanjustice.org and you will find hundreds if not thousands of stories of students and their families who are caught in the vise of student loans. I took out over $20,000 in loans back in the day, now I know coworkers who have $80,000-100,000 in student loans! I just shudder. That's a mortgage or at least half a mortgage!

FYI student loans are without any consumer protection at all. There is none! A person can declare bankruptcy for credit cards, medical bills, even gambling but that is not the case for student loans. Most students who end up in these situations didn't know the first thing about finance, and as I said, they have no consumer protections whatsoever. It's like the predatory sub prime mortgage crisis on steroids.

It's worse than the mortgage crisis because at least people can walk away and start fresh. Even when you are disabled it is still very difficult if not impossible to get rid of your student loans. I have cared for patients who were disabled and still struggling with student loan debt fighting to get it discharged.

If you think its ok for a student or family to end up an indentured servant than I hope you know better than to take out student loans for yourself or your family! The rich don't need loans, they have more money than they know what to do with.

It's the poor and the struggling "middle" class that tend to know very little about finances and want to help themselves and their children get a better life and the myth out there that college is the way to a better life. Yes college may improve the odds, but is not a guarantee and if its ok to bankrupt credit cards and even gambling, then student loans should have the same consumer protections. There used to be consumer protections. There used to be a statute of limitations and the ability to declare bankrupcty after so many years, I don't know all the details, just that things were changed by Congress for the benefit of the Bankers to basically create a class of indentured servants! Even to the point of taking away your license to practice which prevents you from working in your profession and earning a living wage to try to repay the loans. Also the Banks want people to default because the govt pays them, then their own collection agency can double-triple what you owe with fees, etc and they can continue to come after you and your family till you die!

When they have all the rights and you have none, there is no ability to negotiate even if you wanted to pay back what you owe!

FYI I've never been in default myself, thank God, I've always paid my student loans, though they were put in deferment/forbearance at times when money was tight. My student loans are almost paid off! But when you know so many people are struggling against seemingly impossible odds, for the grace of God go I.

I'm speaking out not for myself, but to warn others of the dangers since the banks, the schools and the govt are not looking out for the students. Instead they are colluding with each other in sometimes sinister ways! Colleges were getting bribes to push their students into private loans with certain lenders and the govt's willingness to take away ALL consumer protections from student loans tell you who they are serving! It's definitely not we the people!

I think it is heart-breaking and wrong to be a parent who co-signed a student loan for a child who tragically dies before their time and then while struggling with grief you find out the lender demands payment. Some of these tragic stories are in the headlines. Cases where people were going to law school, medicine and have very high loans then die. Apparently the govt loans will end after the student's death, but most private loans will not. I wonder how many of these parent's were aware of this provision in the private loan and ever imagined their own child would die before their time! I bet no one pointed these provisions out when the loans were signed!

Because of the recent cases in the news, Suze Orman who always was against co-signing in the first place, adds the following provisions if you co-sign for someone you should take out a life insurance policy on that person for the amount of the loan in case the unthinkable happens! Likewise if your a student and you are having your parent's co-sign a loan you should have a life insurance policy on yourself for the loan amount so your parents are safe if the unthinkable happens!

bagladyrn, RN · Aug 28, 2011

Exactly what do these cosigners think it means when they cosign? When you cosign you are guaranteeing that if the original signer is unable or doesn't pay off the loan for ANY reason you will do so. Surely anyone old enough to be the parent of a college student should understand something this basic.

caliotter3 · Aug 28, 2011

I intend to work as long as possible because I can't see not needing the income at 66, 67, or even 70.