Worried about retirement

oneLoneNurse · Jun 22, 2004

Yeh, the pension plans we have now days just don't cut it. I plan on burning the mortgage in 10 years. Then cutting back on work from 5 to 4 about 60; then 4 to 3 about 70; then 3 to 2 about 75 and so on. I have seen many people retire who made a mistake though some of them don't admit it.

cannoli · Jun 22, 2004

Yea, I plan on working until I'm in my 80's too.

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 22, 2004

I am single. So, yes, I'll be paying for everything myself, too, and worry about retirement. I won't have a pension because I have always worked for hospitals that had 403b plans. I prefer that as I have been able to "take my retirement money with me" each time I have changed jobs and I have been able to invest it as I prefered.

However, I still ask myself "How much is enough?" At what point do I say, "This is enough and I can stop now." My sister was a public school teacher for 30 years and is retiring this year at the age of 51. Her pension (as a state employee) guarantees her 60% of her current salary for the rest of her life -- adjusted annually for inflation. She figures she will work part time as a substitute for another 10 years or so, then completely retire.

Like a previous poster, I hope to be able to phase down my work hours, dropping to part time in my late 50's, then completely retire in my mid-60's.

llg

purplemania, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2004

as for Clinton, HELLO! That is a marketing trick to get you to buy the book. That guy could not recall anything while he was president and now, suddenly, his memory has been restored. Amazing feat.

Euskadi1946 · Jun 22, 2004

as for Clinton, HELLO! That is a marketing trick to get you to buy the book. That guy could not recall anything while he was president and now, suddenly, his memory has been restored. Amazing feat.

Whatever!!!! He's still a far better president than that loon we have in the White House now...At least when Clinton was president the economy was great, we were all working. So he had an affair, what world leader hasn't??? At least it didn't cause the deaths of 800 of our troops and we had a little prestige in the world.

oneLoneNurse · Jun 22, 2004

And deficit, though according to mr Cheney "deficits dont' matter ".

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Jun 22, 2004

I expect to work until I drop. It's a good thing that I enjoy working, huh? I'm married but for retirement purposes, I may as well be single. Actually it's a little worse than that.

In Texas, community property means that everything a wife accumulates while her husband isn't working is theirs (i.e., she has to share it with him), and the tax return goes to him. Isn't that nice? Everything he accumulated before the marriage is his. Since women finally are earning 72 cents on the male dollar, you can imagine how much I have accumulated....

Meanwhile, he hasn't rewritten his will since his first wife died, and his ne'er-do-well sister (he shares this opinion of her) will inherit everything, including this house. He believes he doesn't have to do anything, because in Texas the wife inherits everything. He will not accept that if there is a will, and the wife isn't in it, and the husband dies, the wife doesn't get squat.

It is also his opinion that I should be paying him some sort of rent for the privilege of living here, because he pays the taxes on the property from his investment income. (You guessed it, I'm not on the title to the house, either.) He does not see keeping the house clean and tidy and tending to his every whim as worth any money.

Sometimes it is a little hard to do all the little nice things for him that I enjoy doing, and to remind myself that I will have to take care of myself, because there isn't anyone else to do it.

The sad upshot is that soon I will be working as an RN, and while I won't be making the big bucks he did when he was working (engineers can't get jobs in our area), he will be expecting me to turn my check over to him. It isn't going to happen this time around.

I suspect that there will be a big fight when I don't, and a bigger one when he figures out that I am having the most minimal amount withheld from my paycheck possible.

I have considered divorce--not to live apart or because I don't love him, because I do, but because it is the only way I can actually benefit from my own efforts, and protect my own old age. It would be sad, wouldn't it, to have to go to those lengths? I'm hoping he wises up before then, but I am not holding my breath. On the other hand, that would be one way to solve my retirement crisis, wouldn't it? :rotfl:

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2004

At least you have a pension. The hospital I work at has no pension. We have a savings plan that we have to contribute to ourselves. It's tough to put money away to retire. I'm very worried. I just hope my health is good so I can continue to work until I'm in my 70s. By then I might have enough to retire. Hopefully, the house will be payed for.

CHATSDALE · Jun 22, 2004

CHRIS you need to move out and buy a house and invite him to come and live with you, he could sell the house you live in now and 'pay the rent to you" for a change....his sister shoulc be looking out for herself...and the divorce idea is not bad...then he will know that he is one step away from being shown the door...love is not enough when there's not bacon and eggs or a roof to eat them under

cannoli · Jun 22, 2004

I expect to work until I drop. It's a good thing that I enjoy working, huh? I'm married but for retirement purposes, I may as well be single. Actually it's a little worse than that.
In Texas, community property means that everything a wife accumulates while her husband isn't working is theirs (i.e., she has to share it with him), and the tax return goes to him. Isn't that nice? Everything he accumulated before the marriage is his. Since women finally are earning 72 cents on the male dollar, you can imagine how much I have accumulated....
Meanwhile, he hasn't rewritten his will since his first wife died, and his ne'er-do-well sister (he shares this opinion of her) will inherit everything, including this house. He believes he doesn't have to do anything, because in Texas the wife inherits everything. He will not accept that if there is a will, and the wife isn't in it, and the husband dies, the wife doesn't get squat.
It is also his opinion that I should be paying him some sort of rent for the privilege of living here, because he pays the taxes on the property from his investment income. (You guessed it, I'm not on the title to the house, either.) He does not see keeping the house clean and tidy and tending to his every whim as worth any money.
Sometimes it is a little hard to do all the little nice things for him that I enjoy doing, and to remind myself that I will have to take care of myself, because there isn't anyone else to do it.
The sad upshot is that soon I will be working as an RN, and while I won't be making the big bucks he did when he was working (engineers can't get jobs in our area), he will be expecting me to turn my check over to him. It isn't going to happen this time around.
I suspect that there will be a big fight when I don't, and a bigger one when he figures out that I am having the most minimal amount withheld from my paycheck possible.
I have considered divorce--not to live apart or because I don't love him, because I do, but because it is the only way I can actually benefit from my own efforts, and protect my own old age. It would be sad, wouldn't it, to have to go to those lengths? I'm hoping he wises up before then, but I am not holding my breath. On the other hand, that would be one way to solve my retirement crisis, wouldn't it? :rotfl:

Can you throw that will away?

As soon as you start working, open an IRA, (INDIVIDUAL Retirement Account, it belongs to you alone), and contribute the maximum. Right now, with the $500 catch up for people age 50 and older, you can put $3500 a year in, and the amount is supposed to go up next year. It would be something anyway.

Good luck with the rest of it.

Soonstudent · Jun 22, 2004

I assume that it's different in every state, here in SC, ANY income earned before or while married is joint property. Whether it be salary, or interest form an IRA or 401k you contributed to years before your marriage.

My advice to everyone, If you have a company matching 401k, put the max amount you're allowed, even if you only up your contribution 1% every few months, you can get there! It's the best retirement plan out there. Its never to late. If you don't have a 401k invest in a IRA and with both make sure you contribute before taxes are taken from your check. Like cannoli mentioned there is a "catch up clause" for older investers. If you can get in a 401K or IRA at a young age, you could have litarally millions to retire with. Don't wait, do it today. JMHO

Can you throw that will away?
As soon as you start working, open an IRA, (INDIVIDUAL Retirement Account, it belongs to you alone), and contribute the maximum. Right now, with the $500 catch up for people age 50 and older, you can put $3500 a year in, and the amount is supposed to go up next year. It would be something anyway.
Good luck with the rest of it.