Wednesday June 14 2023

Good morning!

Joe, maybe you should get a retirement or financial advisor. I know the administrator of the plans where I work will make appointments to go over things.  This might ease your anxiety about it.

I actually got a call from my financial advisor that he and junior partner want to see me and go over "Goal Managment and Managing Goals".  I guess it's an annual thing.  Last year they said I'm on track to meet my goals, so I'm not expecting anything different.  I've been saving steady for 30 years now and am so glad I did as there is no pension.  But anything can happen.  I'm still not where I was after some losses but at least this year I'm in the plus category.  My big decision is going to be timing...do I retire fully in 4 years?  Do I go part time before I fully retire?  Do I keep working for six more years?  

Today I got up around 5:30 relatively rested and set the alarm for 30 minutes to limit my online time so I can get some things done.  I've been relatively productive in the kitchen and am set with prepared meals for the coming days.

I think I'm in charge tomorrow.  Ugh.......

Good morning. 

The vet visit was emotionally draining. The vet noticed that the dog seemed to have a tender tummy, as well as being distended. The X-ray showed an enlarged heart but clear lungs. They did an abdominal ultrasound, which they concluded showed a bleeding splenic tumor, likely metastatic. Angus's rapid breathing was likely due to anemia. But the blood count was normal. So they tapped his peritoneal fluid to see if it was bloody, but it was amber. So no bleeding, I guess. They sent him home with Lassie to take every 8 hours. He's had 2 doses and actually seems to be resting, for the first time since Friday. I am trying to get an echo sooner than next Wednesday. My only wish is that he be comfortable. 

We had a nice dinner with the fam. Today is volunteering at the demo garden. 

Got up at 11:45 AM. I am drinking coffee to wake up, as it is almost time to get Nannie up. The ballgame today is a double-header because last night's game was rained out. 

I'll be back by here later on....hope y'all have a good'n today....

Tweety said:

 I've been saving steady for 30 years now and am so glad I did as there is no pension

Surely you have Social Security? 

londonflo said:

Surely you have Social Security? 

 

 

Yes and my advisor is advising me to wait until I'm 70 to take it, so I get the max.    It will probably cover my mortgage, utilities and high insurance rates, but maybe not as insurance is becoming out of hand.  But I will need more to live as I'm living now and have money for groceries, entertainment and travel.   I want to enjoy my retirement.  SSI won't be a livable income, so as I said, I'm glad I've saved all these years.   

I bought a Bissell vacuum cleaner yesterday and forgot about it until this afternoon. I got it out of the back of the car and have just 'assembled' it and read the owner's manual. When the ball game has a brief break I am going to plug it in and attack the filthy stairway that has 25 year old carpeting. I think it used to be somewhat of a 'high pile', maybe shag? I dunno.). It weighs 8 lbs compared to the 25 pounder the old, useless vacs Nannie had. NOW, since *I* am the only one who vacuums around here, this new vac will be MUCH easier to deal with.

My husband is a CPA and is one who says when someone who offers you $$$ take it. My health is not good and I would rather spend my SS on my grandchildren.

Tweety said:

It will probably cover my mortgage, utilities and high insurance rates

I do save every month for property taxes but my home is payed off. Yes, utilities are high, but we do not have central air conditioning. I haven't noticed my insurance rates climbing because we have not had any claims. We keep our cars as we do not put any mileage on them. 

I will admit my husband and I are in the antique business for at least 25 years. That is our hobby, joy and work for about $900/month discounting costs of goods sold and income taxes. 

Besides SS do you not have a pension from any job you did in 31 years?  

Tweety said:

 my advisor is advising me to wait until I'm 70 to take it, so I get the max.

Your advisor is just looking at the numbers but not looking at your quality of life. If you drop dead at 75? Don't you think the government has this figured out by the actuary tables? 

Quote

What is an Actuary? - A Brief Overview | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)

londonflo said:

My husband is a CPA and is one who says when someone who offers you $$$ take it. My health is not good and I would rather spend my SS on my grandchildren.

I do save every month for property taxes but my home is payed off. Yes, utilities are high, but we do not have central air conditioning. I haven't noticed my insurance rates climbing because we have not had any claims. We keep our cars as we do not put any mileage on them. 

I will admit my husband and I are in the antique business for at least 25 years. That is our hobby, joy and work for about $900/month discounting costs of goods sold and income taxes. 

Besides SS do you not have a pension from any job you did in 31 years?  

Your advisor is just looking at the numbers but not looking at your quality of life. If you drop dead at 75? Don't you think the government has this figured out by the actuary tables? 

 

I'm still working and see no need to take SSI if waiting means more than $1500 a month.

Many private industry employers for a long time now went to 401 and 403 plans instead of pensions.  My generation will be the first to have retire on them.  

Longevity runs in my family (both parents are still alive) and I'm currently without illness.   So I'm preparing for the long haul, but also traveling and enjoying life mow should I drop dead today.  I hope to continue to travel in the years to come.

I had to refinance my house in my 50s after my divorce and will have a mortgage into my 80s.  

My utilities are reasonable since I live alone but flood and hurricane insurance is out of hand.  Car insurance rates have skyrocketed as well.

Hoping for the best for Angus ❤

I'm glad I put away savings while I was working inpatient. I'm also glad I was part of a union that negotiated regular wage increases. Every contract we would get a 1 or 2 percent increase, that went straight into the 403b account. I ended my career working for the county, so I get a small pension. I chose to retire at age 66: people in my family seldom live to 70, and I have a chronic condition that will only worsen. The house will be paid off in 4 months, both vehicles are paid for. Our biggest expense will be health care, and not much we can do about that cost, other than preventative care. 
My dad left me some money and I hope to pass that on to our grandsons for college.

I'm sure J22 will make sure poor Angus is comfortable.  All the best.

There's been times I've been "maxed out" and didn't get a raise but the market has kept us getting raises without a union.  My current employer raised the max salary the last two years so I've been getting raises.  Early on in my career we would get 3 to 5% raises.  Mostly I've set aside 10% of my salary but for about a decade now it's been 15%.  My new employer has a Roth 403B which taxes the money prior to depositing it unlike prior years.  So moving forward that money will already be taxed.  I also have to look at my funds as not being taxed so it's not as much as I think.  LOL. 

The main thing that bothers me is market variables.  My max in my retirement funds was January 2022 and I still haven't recovered from that crash a year and a half later...far from it.  I'm not sophisticated enough to understand what to do about that.  

I can't believe I'm even talking about these things.  

Today was a decent day.  Just in from the gym and did some meal prep.  I need to go to the store but had such bad heartburn at the gym I came home to take some TUMS.  I think it was the junk food I ate yesterday.  I had a very good Cuban sandwich and fries at lunch with my niece and her family.

Hoping Angus stays comfortable. It is always so hard when they have these issues.

Tweety - we are scoping out Florida for retirement (middle class income). Any areas you recommend?