Early retirement

Can you do PT where you are? Would you want to?

 

Congratulations! Once you're out, try and give your wife a little space, to adjust to the new reality.

 

I think what she is trying to say is buy that motorcycle and tour the country!

Congrats on your retirement date and be sure to announce it once it happens. But then again, you're only going to part time anyway.....

 

Late to the party but I'll chime in.
I retired early, at 50.
Health ins wasn't bad till obama care kicked in fully.
Our (Wife and I) ins went from $8-9K/yr to $17k/yr.
That was 3 yrs ago. I'd be willing to bet we'd be close to 30K/yr with obama care right now.
Contrary to his promises we could not keep our current plans.
We ended up going to a health share. rates are way better (this year its less than 5k/yr).
Found out that if we don't have health ins our local Drs./Hospital/Clinic lowers the bill 45% right off the bat. They do not consider health shares as ins.
So that helped out the ins. angle.

If you can afford to go out early I would unless you really love working.
I had had enough and it was making me miserable.
One way or another I had to have a change, I was lucky I sold out in the end of '08 just before everything took a dump.

Best thing I ever did. I keep myself busy and now realize I spent so much effort and time in work that I was missing alot of life.

 

Tell us about health shares, please. My husband is considering retirement, or working as a contractor, and we each have a few years to go until we're Medicare eligible. Thanks!

 

That makes perfect sense, but I cannot work PT there in the true sense of the word.

However, the side gig I referred to above (lets call it "testing") is partly tied into my current employer. In doing that work (outside of work hours) I provide a service that they need. I give them a really good deal on it.

Our current agreement allows me to do the testing using their facility, because of the value added. I am hopeful to continue that, and they are wanting me to. I will be better able to meet that need for them while "retired," as I am unable to currently meet their demand, let alone others'. Without the job, I could meet the need with 2-3 days of work (average) per week, and I get to choose the days and times, most days would be partial days.

So, for the moment everyone "local" sees the value of maintaining the current relationship. But getting legal to agree to a non-employees using the facility may be a little challenging.

Replacing me for my job is one thing, but finding someone ready to come in the door to do both the job and the testing (like I am) is unlikely to happen.

Setting up my own facility for testing is not realistic for the short amount of time (maybe 5 years at most) that I would hope to continue doing this. I could maybe find another place that would welcome the work, but doing it with my current employer would be the most satisfactory. We have a good relationship.

I would guess that after several years they will be getting tired of me, and will have figured out how to replace me for my testing service. And I would be ready to go as well, and I will then thank them and move on.

If none of that works out as envisioned, there are other things I can do. I probably don't have to, but I will for right now.

 

I'm thinking about retiring early - at 50 - too and my friends suggest me to buy property in Greece for renting out. I made some research and seems like it's the best market in Europe to invest in right now. There are a lot of favorable mortgage options and prices are low comparing to the profit margin they maintain.

 

Hmmm, first post ...

 

I just paid off my vehicle loan and received the title! And, ta da........ I just received confirmation of my mortgage payoff from the bank!!! Retirement plans proceeding along nicely. Step # 1 complete. Soon enough I'll be ..

 

We have Liberty Health Share.
Google it.
They do have restrictions that Health Ins. does not have.
They will not cover you if you have "hazardous" hobbies, sky diving as an example.
I asked about making firewood, they said no problem.
If I remember right if your an excessive drinker or smoker they won't take you either.
Didn't matter to us as neither smoke and if we drink a 12 pack a month between us thats a lot for us.
My wife had a pre-existing condition so she had to be covered for a year before they would pay any benefits.
Didn't really bother us as the cost at the time was $300/month for both of us. Way cheaper than Ins.

There are some other health shares out there.
We have been very satisfied.
Turn around time is much better than Ins. ever was.
And the cost is less.
Its the way to go if you can qualify.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. It may work for us, if my husband ever quits his job... you never know.

 

Sometime this year I have to file for my DROP. I can draw my pension while working my final three. It goes into a fund, that I can cash it out or put it int my 457 plan.

I was looking at the ever popular “when should I start my social security “? I found a chart, in an article that showed all the potential years a person can start. According to that chart, all the lines from 62 up to 70 merge at about age 79.

I will have just turned 63, so if I begin straight away, it’s an extra 20-21K in addition to my pension. I figure it should also prevent the need to dig into my 457, and let it continue to grow.

Only reason to wait until the last year to begin drawing is because a person didn’t prepare, and know they will have to keep working and hope the SS money will keep them in Ramen noodles until they are condemned to a nursing home.

 

So well said.

 

I'm waiting, not cause I have to work, I retired at 50, and not cause I didn't prepare but cause I have options, one of which says that SS grows at 8% which is not a bad sure fire return. Not too many places you can get that with zero risk.

 

Well, not quite. There are many reasons to wait on Social Security, one is to maximize the benefit. The other is "longevity insurance."

I am retiring this year at 55. I am planning on taking SS at 70 and can handle the expenses until then, with or without working. My wife will take hers at 67, because there is no value in her waiting any longer. Being well prepared means there are options, and one option is waiting in order to maximize SS benefits. If we live past the break-even (at about 83), we will be better off by having done it that way. Since we will have more then, we can choose to spend more now - or not. It is our choice.

Tell me again how that fits the definition of not being well prepared?

 

I couldn't have said it better!

 

I have looked into Liberty, and some of the others. They look interesting, however I can also get a plan on the health exchange for similar or less money. For equal cost, would you still favor the health share than a high deductible health plan? If so, why?

Not questioning your judgement or anything, I am seriously weighing my options, and valuing input.

 

Congratulations! Now start dumping the funds from those two payments into a retirement plan!

 

I suppose there are different ways of looking at it. A person will get X dollars at Y age. For the supposed 8% increase at 70’ we have 8 years of drawing let’s say 20K.
That is $160,000. Do I want a few hundred bucks more a month which starts at 70,
or a few hundred less and an extra 160,000 in pocket?

Say a person lives to age 73. He or she drew a scant three years on what they paid their working life into. I will have the 160, thank you.

 

I "retired" at 55, since then I have worked harder than I ever had when I had a "job".
Buy, restore and sell houses to keep busy.
Retired is what my Dad did, collect pension, travel and have fun, no work period. His retirement was as long as he worked, the company sent us a thank you letter when the were able to stop paying his pension AND healthcare after 30 years retired.