Roll call unretired! What is your timeline? Contingencies??

[CCL]

I really don't know how much most pensions amount to, but some are not as much as people think. I know a few people who's pensions are somewhere around $1000 per month. With a 4% withdrawal rate you would need somewhere around $300k saved. Or you could purchase an annuity, probably for less. That's a good chunk of money, but no where near a million.

Don't forget, a married couple has 2 people to think about. 1 can live cheaper than 2. Pensions are often reduced if you choose a spousal benefit. I've never had a pension or 401k. When I was raising my kids, I worked part-time or not at all. That didn't give me a lot to work with as far as retirement savings.

Or, if they both have pensions and can save a lot, that might be ideal.

[minnesotapaintlady]

State pensions are typically 50-70% of highest income.  And yeah, one can live cheaper than 2, but not half.  Housing expenses and utilities are basically the same either way, you can often share a vehicle in retirement, and with two people there are two social security checks. Lots of widows and widowers find out that single with one check is a lot harder than married with two.

[pulmonarymd]

Everyone should take a longevity quiz. There are many on the internet. They ask things like do you have hypertension or diabetes, smoking ke, drink too much, etc. some are more involved than others. They are much more accurate than guessing based on your parents and siblings. Social Security also has actuarial tables to use. That’s what they use at my wife’s practice when they start having discussions about aggressiveness of care for men with prostate cancer.

Again, many of you are making assumptions with little hard data. Which is surprising given how much knowledge you all have regarding finances. I am just giving my opinion about something I know a great deal about

[laterbloomer]

Oct 9, 2023 0:10:11 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Everyone should take a longevity quiz. There are many on the internet. They ask things like do you have hypertension or diabetes, smoking ke, drink too much, etc. some are more involved than others. They are much more accurate than guessing based on your parents and siblings. Social Security also has actuarial tables to use. That’s what they use at my wife’s practice when they start having discussions about aggressiveness of care for men with prostate cancer.

Again, many of you are making assumptions with little hard data. Which is surprising given how much knowledge you all have regarding finances. I am just giving my opinion about something I know a great deal about

That was interesting. I tried 2 and got 85 and 88.

[resolution]

I am moving my retirement date up to December 22. I found out from the Pennsylvania exchange that their health plans won't provide coverage until the first of the month after I lose my work coverage, and my work won't cut off my medical in the middle of a pay period to make it coincide with the end of a month. I don't want to go without for the whole month of January, which would have happened with my plan to retire at the beginning of the year. Dec 22 is the closest I can get to the end of the month, unless I want to string things along until the end of March (I don't).

Getting everything set up for retirement seems like its more work than just keeping on going to work, but I am determined to make it happen.

I have no clue what I will do with social security. My current plan is to judge what my health is like when I turn 62. My husband may want to retire about a year before I reach 
62, so we would need to see what our retirement accounts look like and decide if we should wait on the social security or not at that point. I always assumed I would wait until 70, and I am still leaning that way, but as others mentioned, I am seeing death announcements with more frequency at work these days.

[CCL]

Oct 9, 2023 0:37:28 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Oct 9, 2023 0:10:11 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Everyone should take a longevity quiz. There are many on the internet. They ask things like do you have hypertension or diabetes, smoking ke, drink too much, etc. some are more involved than others. They are much more accurate than guessing based on your parents and siblings. Social Security also has actuarial tables to use. That’s what they use at my wife’s practice when they start having discussions about aggressiveness of care for men with prostate cancer.

Again, many of you are making assumptions with little hard data. Which is surprising given how much knowledge you all have regarding finances. I am just giving my opinion about something I know a great deal about

That was interesting. I tried 2 and got 85 and 88.

I also tried a couple and got 93 and 99. The 93 did ask if I'd ever had a stroke. The 99 didn't ask if I'd had a stroke. Neither asked whether I had a history of heart disease or cancer. How accurate can that be?

I might take a closer look and find a "medical" resource. I suspect the first few that came up in my search may have an agenda, like trying to sell me an annuity.

[Pink Cashmere]

Oct 9, 2023 0:10:11 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Everyone should take a longevity quiz. There are many on the internet. They ask things like do you have hypertension or diabetes, smoking ke, drink too much, etc. some are more involved than others. They are much more accurate than guessing based on your parents and siblings. Social Security also has actuarial tables to use. That’s what they use at my wife’s practice when they start having discussions about aggressiveness of care for men with prostate cancer.

Again, many of you are making assumptions with little hard data. Which is surprising given how much knowledge you all have regarding finances. I am just giving my opinion about something I know a great deal about

That’s one of the great things about this board Imo, the exchange of information and ideas between people with different areas of expertise or knowledge.

I’ve never considered there might be such a thing as a longevity quiz. Thank you for sharing the info.

[TheOtherMe]

Two said over 90.  Of course that assumes no accidental death.  

I don't want to be 90 something unless I have a good quality of life.

[movingforward]

I guess there are lots of different senerios in regards to when you should take SS. My dad retired at 60 and took SS at 62. His home is paid off and he has basically lived off of his SS alone once medicare kicked in, which has allowed his money to grow. He has more money now than he had when he retired 16 years ago. I do realize that a lot of that has to do with him being in good health and not having had to spend yet in that area. We have looked at his finances together and he should have enough to cover assisted living should he need to go in a few years. Plus, his home is paid off so that would be around another $250K available if he were to go into assisted living and sell it.

ETA: And I agree that I only want to live as long as my quality of life is good. Merely existing is not good enough. I would rather just Thelma and Louise it off the Grand Canyon.

[laterbloomer]

Oct 9, 2023 10:03:50 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Two said over 90.  Of course that assumes no accidental death.  

I don't want to be 90 something unless I have a good quality of life.

That begs the question of what exactly is quality of life. Because of things like this board and other online activity I have I would not suffer emotionally as much as some of my friends that lose their mobility. I still feel connected. And I'm not someone that will get depressed because I can't mow the lawn or shovel the driveway. I'm not sure how much chronic pain I could tolerate. And I'm not sure how much senility would bother me. What exactly would it take for me to say enough is enough?

ETA- Off the top of my head the main thing I couldn't handle would be a prolonged terminal illness like cancer.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 8, 2023 19:21:18 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Oct 8, 2023 13:00:46 GMT -5 giramomma said:

I mean. We probably make less than half of you, and are worth half of you. (We're still only worth 1mil, give or take).  We are going to be fine, to have enough to deal with life.

I don't understand you aren't in the same position.

But with no pension and being single in a HCOL area she also has to save a lot more than you too.  All while paying a lot more in taxes while trying to do so.

Lot of rambly, stream-of-consiousness thoughts here......but all boils down to a big - yes! The taxes are alot, the col is highish, and just 1 soc sec check with no pension needs more liquid assets to compensate.

It is highly likely that I could retire today and be 100% ok, based on historical market performance. But in the event of a major or prolonged downturn, or a flat market decade that security would be illusory.

So I need to continue for a little while longer building assets, lowering potential risks, and upgrading the house and my person. If I got fired tomorrow, I would not look for another job! I would retire and see how the next 2-3 years went and assess if another gig was neccesary. So I am pretty confident! Just not confident enough to pull the plug willingly at the moment.....national and global unrest continuing to increase....seems the mostt sensible path forward.

If I end up "too rich" from working longer than neccesary, I'll try to take my lumps with as good of grace as I can muster....

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 8, 2023 20:44:05 GMT -5 CCL said:

1 can live cheaper than 2. 

huh? not on a per person basis. If the budget for a similar house and lifestyle was 50k for the single and 75k for the couple. Yes the single person is cheaper for the household, but the couple is 37.5k/per person, which is cheaper.

and only one person was accumulating assets. Plus doing all the household cleaning, maintenance, child care, etc. or paying for those serrvices. One person working FT is oftenThe single person has fewer resources of both time and money for the same household.

That said - it does beat being married to a spendthrift.....

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 9, 2023 9:05:48 GMT -5 CCL said:

Oct 9, 2023 0:37:28 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

That was interesting. I tried 2 and got 85 and 88.

I also tried a couple and got 93 and 99. The 93 did ask if I'd ever had a stroke. The 99 didn't ask if I'd had a stroke. Neither asked whether I had a history of heart disease or cancer. How accurate can that be?

I might take a closer look and find a "medical" resource. I suspect the first few that came up in my search may have an agenda, like trying to sell me an annuity.

My mother has had hypertension for decades, needing 3-4 medications at some times, multiple hospitalizations for uncontrolled hypertension, and one stroke. Also, history of cancer. Plus about 4 decades of a heavy smoking habit.

99 and counting.....

[pulmonarymd]

Oct 9, 2023 9:05:48 GMT -5 CCL said:

Oct 9, 2023 0:37:28 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

That was interesting. I tried 2 and got 85 and 88.

I also tried a couple and got 93 and 99. The 93 did ask if I'd ever had a stroke. The 99 didn't ask if I'd had a stroke. Neither asked whether I had a history of heart disease or cancer. How accurate can that be?

I might take a closer look and find a "medical" resource. I suspect the first few that came up in my search may have an agenda, like trying to sell me an annuity.

The risk of heart disease tracks very well with smoking status and diabetes. So it is not that surprising. About 1/3 of all cancer deaths are the result of lung cancer. If you do not smoke, you risk is quite low. Regular colonoscopies lower the risk of colon cancer. The only other common cause of cancer death is breast cancer. The results reported on this board are not surprising. People grossly underestimate their life expectancy.

I have done both simple and more involved life expectancy calculators. The results all track between 86-90 for me. Some do try to sell annuities, but it doesn’t make them less accurate

ETA: these longevity calculators give a better idea of your life expectancy than some of the WAG I have seen on this board

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 8, 2023 22:00:22 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

State pensions are typically 50-70% of highest income.  And yeah, one can live cheaper than 2, but not half.  Housing expenses and utilities are basically the same either way, you can often share a vehicle in retirement, and with two people there are two social security checks. Lots of widows and widowers find out that single with one check is a lot harder than married with two.

those are pretty sweet deals!

One place I worked had a pension that if you worked 25 years, you retired with 80% of highest salary - so then with soc sec you had no decrease in income. I left about 11 months before vesting.....I think it would have been like 450/month once I vested at 5 years.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

inflation says that would be 685/month now, but I am not sure if it would have been inflation adjusted if I left or not.

They did downgrade the pension about 5 years after I left, so previous years were grandfathered into the super generous calculation, but then the later years were not...

[azucena]

www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

Soc security actuarial table which is for general population. I'm a 44 yr old female so this shows I have 37-38 years left. So general life expectancy of 82.


Pulmonary - would be interested in a link to one you like from a medical perspective.

[pulmonarymd]

Oct 9, 2023 12:15:14 GMT -5 azucena said:

www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

Soc security actuarial table which is for general population. I'm a 44 yr old female so this shows I have 37-38 years left. So general life expectancy of 82.


Pulmonary - would be interested in a link to one you like from a medical perspective.

A well verified one for 10 year risk of heart disease is the AHA calculator. Needs your blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol, and some demographic data. Doesn’t say anything for mortality, just any event. I think you can’t get an accurate estimate until age 45.

I otherwise just google life expectancy calculators. I would do a few and see the results and if they are consistent.

My wife’s practice uses the SS data when helping patients decide on treatment for prostate cancer. Unless your life expectancy is >10 years, they usually recommend against aggressive interventions. Gastroenterologist recommend stopping colon cancer screening at >75 unless someone has a limited life expectancy.

Patients do a poor job at guessing life expectancy. They generally underestimate it when they do not have severe health problems. Those with severe disease tend to be overly optimistic. Doing these calculators can at least give a starting point for discussion

[minnesotapaintlady]

Oct 9, 2023 0:10:11 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Everyone should take a longevity quiz. There are many on the internet. They ask things like do you have hypertension or diabetes, smoking ke, drink too much, etc. some are more involved than others. They are much more accurate than guessing based on your parents and siblings. Social Security also has actuarial tables to use. That’s what they use at my wife’s practice when they start having discussions about aggressiveness of care for men with prostate cancer.

Again, many of you are making assumptions with little hard data. Which is surprising given how much knowledge you all have regarding finances. I am just giving my opinion about something I know a great deal about

I think it's because the hard data doesn't change much for me.  I ran a couple of them and they were around 85.  I mean, if I KNEW that were true, it would make things a lot easier, but I still have to plan to live to be closer to 100 because it could happen and 15 years is a long time to be broke when I'm too old to go out and get a full time job.

[pulmonarymd]

Oct 9, 2023 12:35:29 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Oct 9, 2023 0:10:11 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Everyone should take a longevity quiz. There are many on the internet. They ask things like do you have hypertension or diabetes, smoking ke, drink too much, etc. some are more involved than others. They are much more accurate than guessing based on your parents and siblings. Social Security also has actuarial tables to use. That’s what they use at my wife’s practice when they start having discussions about aggressiveness of care for men with prostate cancer.

Again, many of you are making assumptions with little hard data. Which is surprising given how much knowledge you all have regarding finances. I am just giving my opinion about something I know a great deal about

I think it's because the hard data doesn't change much for me.  I ran a couple of them and they were around 85.  I mean, if I KNEW that were true, it would make things a lot easier, but I still have to plan to live to be closer to 100 because it could happen and 15 years is a long time to be broke when I'm too old to go out and get a full time job.

I get that. But it is a more accurate starting point than a wild ass guess, which is what many on here are doing. Unless you have a genetic disease, once your parents make it to 65, their contribution to how long you live fades, and environmental/ behavioral factors take over-smoking, drinking to excess, drugs, exercise or lack thereof, obesity/underweight, diet, and presence of diabetes become the main factors.

Knowing you are likely to make your mid 80s tells you you need to plan for the possibility to live into your 90s. Too many people who take SS early do not have any idea how long they live. That is the point I am trying to make

[laterbloomer]

Oct 9, 2023 12:03:11 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Oct 8, 2023 20:44:05 GMT -5 CCL said:

1 can live cheaper than 2. 

huh? not on a per person basis. If the budget for a similar house and lifestyle was 50k for the single and 75k for the couple. Yes the single person is cheaper for the household, but the couple is 37.5k/per person, which is cheaper.

and only one person was accumulating assets. Plus doing all the household cleaning, maintenance, child care, etc. or paying for those serrvices. One person working FT is oftenThe single person has fewer resources of both time and money for the same household.

That said - it does beat being married to a spendthrift.....

That is assuming you want to keep your own house and live alone. I am either going to have boarders or be one ala Golden Girls. Being single makes me much more mobile in those kinds of decisions. So my individual housing cost will be comparable to being married. And my assets only have to cover my own potential health issues. Travelling costs will depend on if I have friends to go with, and honestly it looks like I will. As long as 2 singles partner up all the savings are there except maybe car.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 9, 2023 12:44:18 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Oct 9, 2023 12:35:29 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I think it's because the hard data doesn't change much for me.  I ran a couple of them and they were around 85.  I mean, if I KNEW that were true, it would make things a lot easier, but I still have to plan to live to be closer to 100 because it could happen and 15 years is a long time to be broke when I'm too old to go out and get a full time job.

I get that. But it is a more accurate starting point than a wild ass guess, which is what many on here are doing. Unless you have a genetic disease, once your parents make it to 65, their contribution to how long you live fades, and environmental/ behavioral factors take over-smoking, drinking to excess, drugs, exercise or lack thereof, obesity/underweight, diet, and presence of diabetes become the main factors.

Knowing you are likely to make your mid 80s tells you you need to plan for the possibility to live into your 90s. Too many people who take SS early do not have any idea how long they live. That is the point I am trying to make

Nobody has any idea how long they'll live - unless they've been given X to live under a specific diagnosis. And even that is frequently not very accurate!

It's all a crap shoot, and we here are all aware of it. Everyone is balancing risks when they decide when to take SS. You keep saying people haven't done this that or the other - with actually no evidence whatsoever that they haven't. I've done plenty of those online longevity estimators, and they're worth every penny you pay for them.

Deluty, J. A., Atzmon, G., Crandall, J., Barzilai, N., & Milman, S. (2015). The influence of gender on inheritance of exceptional longevity. Aging (Albany NY), 7(6), 412.

Logistic regression models revealed that the odds of being a centenarian for the female and male offspring increased by 21% and 31%, respectively, for every additional 10 years of life achieved by the mother (p<0.05). These findings support a gender‐specific inheritance pattern of human longevity and may help focus the search for longevity genes.

.......

The logistic regression models demonstrated that the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of a daughter being a centenarian was 1.23 (0.96-1.56), p=0.09, and of a son being a centenarian was 1.52 (1.17-1.98), p<0.01, per every additional 10 years in average lifespan achieved by the parents. The results of modeling maternal vs. paternal associations revealed that the OR of a daughter being a centenarian was 1.21 (1.03-1.41), p=0.02, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the mother. However, this relationship was not noted between daughters and their fathers, OR 1.01 (0.83-1.23), p=0.92. The OR of a son being a centenarian was 1.31 (1.08-1.59), p<0.01, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the mother and 1.18 (0.99-1.42), p=0.07, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the father.

[laterbloomer]

Oct 9, 2023 13:48:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Deluty, J. A., Atzmon, G., Crandall, J., Barzilai, N., & Milman, S. (2015). The influence of gender on inheritance of exceptional longevity. Aging (Albany NY), 7(6), 412.

Logistic regression models revealed that the odds of being a centenarian for the female and male offspring increased by 21% and 31%, respectively, for every additional 10 years of life achieved by the mother (p<0.05). These findings support a gender‐specific inheritance pattern of human longevity and may help focus the search for longevity genes.

.......

The logistic regression models demonstrated that the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of a daughter being a centenarian was 1.23 (0.96-1.56), p=0.09, and of a son being a centenarian was 1.52 (1.17-1.98), p<0.01, per every additional 10 years in average lifespan achieved by the parents. The results of modeling maternal vs. paternal associations revealed that the OR of a daughter being a centenarian was 1.21 (1.03-1.41), p=0.02, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the mother. However, this relationship was not noted between daughters and their fathers, OR 1.01 (0.83-1.23), p=0.92. The OR of a son being a centenarian was 1.31 (1.08-1.59), p<0.01, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the mother and 1.18 (0.99-1.42), p=0.07, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the father.

I need that explained in plain english please. How long will I live if my Mom lives to 90?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 9, 2023 13:51:36 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Oct 9, 2023 13:48:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

I need that explained in plain english please. How long will I live if my Mom lives to 90?

this particular study was just looking at your odds of making it to 100. So you are 21% more likely to make it to 100 than if you mom only lives to 80.....whereas your brother <should one exist> is 31% more likely....

there's another study I read that just talks about the number of 1st and 2nd degree relatives who are considered longevous, whether or not your actual parents were. they found longevity may be inheritable if at least 20% of 1st and 2nd degree relatives were longevous. Longevous generally is 85 or older.

So in my case, among grandparents and aunt/uncles, 40%-50% were considered longevous, some passed away in 80s and I'm not sure which side of 85 that was on. No clue about 1st cousins....don't even know how many of those I have on the paternal side.

[pulmonarymd]

Oct 9, 2023 13:48:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Oct 9, 2023 12:44:18 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

I get that. But it is a more accurate starting point than a wild ass guess, which is what many on here are doing. Unless you have a genetic disease, once your parents make it to 65, their contribution to how long you live fades, and environmental/ behavioral factors take over-smoking, drinking to excess, drugs, exercise or lack thereof, obesity/underweight, diet, and presence of diabetes become the main factors.

Knowing you are likely to make your mid 80s tells you you need to plan for the possibility to live into your 90s. Too many people who take SS early do not have any idea how long they live. That is the point I am trying to make

Nobody has any idea how long they'll live - unless they've been given X to live under a specific diagnosis. And even that is frequently not very accurate!

It's all a crap shoot, and we here are all aware of it. Everyone is balancing risks when they decide when to take SS. You keep saying people haven't done this that or the other - with actually no evidence whatsoever that they haven't. I've done plenty of those online longevity estimators, and they're worth every penny you pay for them.

Deluty, J. A., Atzmon, G., Crandall, J., Barzilai, N., & Milman, S. (2015). The influence of gender on inheritance of exceptional longevity. Aging (Albany NY), 7(6), 412.

Logistic regression models revealed that the odds of being a centenarian for the female and male offspring increased by 21% and 31%, respectively, for every additional 10 years of life achieved by the mother (p<0.05). These findings support a gender‐specific inheritance pattern of human longevity and may help focus the search for longevity genes.

.......

The logistic regression models demonstrated that the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of a daughter being a centenarian was 1.23 (0.96-1.56), p=0.09, and of a son being a centenarian was 1.52 (1.17-1.98), p<0.01, per every additional 10 years in average lifespan achieved by the parents. The results of modeling maternal vs. paternal associations revealed that the OR of a daughter being a centenarian was 1.21 (1.03-1.41), p=0.02, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the mother. However, this relationship was not noted between daughters and their fathers, OR 1.01 (0.83-1.23), p=0.92. The OR of a son being a centenarian was 1.31 (1.08-1.59), p<0.01, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the mother and 1.18 (0.99-1.42), p=0.07, for every 10 year extension in the lifespan of the father.

Whatever. I will shut up. It’s not like o have s as my specific knowledge about this. A bunch of you are pointing to how long your relatives live, like that gives you a better idea.

All of you make assumptions on rate of return and how much money they will have at a specific age, like that is any more accurate. But sure, pile in this.

[resolution]

Oct 9, 2023 15:40:51 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Oct 9, 2023 13:48:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Nobody has any idea how long they'll live - unless they've been given X to live under a specific diagnosis. And even that is frequently not very accurate!

It's all a crap shoot, and we here are all aware of it. Everyone is balancing risks when they decide when to take SS. You keep saying people haven't done this that or the other - with actually no evidence whatsoever that they haven't. I've done plenty of those online longevity estimators, and they're worth every penny you pay for them.

Whatever. I will shut up. It’s not like o have s as my specific knowledge about this. A bunch of you are pointing to how long your relatives live, like that gives you a better idea.

All of you make assumptions on rate of return and how much money they will have at a specific age, like that is any more accurate. But sure, pile in this.

I appreciated your comment about the longevity calculators, and was a bit surprised at how old they estimated I might live. I have tried to make my planning self sustaining without social security, but I have no idea how my investments will be doing by the time I reach age 62 or 70, just as I don't really know how my health will be at that point. Of course I am wishing for the best right now, but I really need to get serious about using some of my extra time in retirement to improve my diet and fitness.

[Pink Cashmere]

This conversation has really gotten interesting to me. When I started really thinking about what retirement could and would look like for me, the only real plan I could come up with, was to just try to prepare for it, as much as I reasonably could and can. 

My retirement benefits are different from what TheOtherMe spoke of, with people retiring from federal government under the old CSR model. I am part of the “newer” program that they call FERS. People that worked at my agency under the old system, their pension benefits were/ are more generous than what I can get. They could retire with a larger percentage of their salary, where if I work ling enough to meet the minimum requirements to retire, my pension will be 30% of my salary. BUT, the old system, SS was not deducted from their paychecks, and is not an option for them in retirement. Not only is it an option for me, but if I retire in my late 50’s after meeting the minimum requirements, I can receive a supplement loosely equivalent to what I would receive at age 62, until I am actually 62yo. The supplement ends at age 62, and it’s my choice then, whether to apply and receive actual SS payments at that age, or delay it.

Also, when they were changing the retirement benefits and how it worked, there was the TSP (which is similar to a 401k), and my employer started matching contributions to the TSP, up to 5% of our salary. They put 1% of our salary in there, even if we don’t contribute anything, we have to contribute to get the other 4% in a match. 

I had a coworker that retired a couple years ago, under the Civil Servant Retirement system, and he had not ever contributed a dime to the TSP, but there was still money in the retirement account created for him, from the 1% of his salary that our employer contributed to it. His investment in his future had been real estate, and having rental properties. As savvy as he seemed to be about money, I didn’t understand why he didn’t choose to get every penny he could from our employer, by at least contributing enough to his TSP to get the other 4% of his salary that our employer would have given him. But I’m not him, and he is not me.

Even though I started contributing to my TSP from my first paycheck, even though I wasn’t even thinking about retirement, and just didn’t want to leave free money on the table, I still don’t feel like I can save enough money to cover me needing LTC for some decades. 

My biggest concerns are 1. the wear and tear on my body, from the nature of my job, which already started causing issues for me years ago. I have had and still have coworkers that schedule surgeries they need to address those problems, while they are still on the clock, right before they retire. And 2. The fact that dementia seems to run in my family, on my Mom’s side. My Aunt is 78yo now, and has been exhibiting early signs of it for a few years now. Fortunately, it has not progressed for her, at a rapid pace, she is still only at the point that she might get confused on minor things, and she might not remember that she already told you something a week ago, or just yesterday. I am “just” her niece, and I am very grateful that even though we all know what is happening to her, she still knows who I am, who my children and grandchildren are, and she even tells me to tell Mister she said hi and to hug him for her, every single time I talk to her. To me, knowing what dementia does to a person, I am very grateful for all the time I have, where she remembers who I am, and also remembers the people I love.

But the dementia stuff does worry me. My Aunt has a loving husband, and it is not so bad yet, that he can’t look after her and keep her safe. But I know how bad it can get. 

I don’t see me being able to try to save enough money for years of the kind of care I might need it if happens to me. So I just try to prepare for being retired and spending my later years in decent health, physically and mentally, until I die. I just pray about all the other stuff that can happen, because I’m just the average person, working an average job, and even if there was a way I could’ve set myself up in my younger days, to have many millions of dollars when I retire, at this point in my life, I don’t see me being able to make that happen. So, enough to try to be comfortable, and maybe get through a hiccup or 2, is going to have to be good enough. That’s all I got right now.

[Pink Cashmere]

Oct 9, 2023 15:40:51 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Oct 9, 2023 13:48:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Nobody has any idea how long they'll live - unless they've been given X to live under a specific diagnosis. And even that is frequently not very accurate!

It's all a crap shoot, and we here are all aware of it. Everyone is balancing risks when they decide when to take SS. You keep saying people haven't done this that or the other - with actually no evidence whatsoever that they haven't. I've done plenty of those online longevity estimators, and they're worth every penny you pay for them.

Whatever. I will shut up. It’s not like o have s as my specific knowledge about this. A bunch of you are pointing to how long your relatives live, like that gives you a better idea.

All of you make assumptions on rate of return and how much money they will have at a specific age, like that is any more accurate. But sure, pile in this.

I can only speak for me, and I don’t want you to “shut up”. 

I have said that I appreciate that you talked about longevity calculators, because I never considered before that something like that might even exist.

And regardless of what other posters are saying that you might have an issue with, I am interested in your thoughts about how I am concerned that even if I am likely to live into my 90’s, I am concerned that I might lose my mind years before my body actually gives out. That is what what happened  to my great grandmother, and it made me sad that her body lingered for so long, after her mind was so far gone that she was far beyond just being child-like again, and basically a vegetable.

So even with the calculators based on science, and our physical health, is mental health and the possibility of dementia factored in? The way I think, what good is a healthy body, if my mind is gone and will never come back to make me a whole person. That is technically being alive, but imo, not actually living. So, knowing my family history, it makes since to me that the odds are greater that it might happen to me too, moreso than a person who doesn’t have that kind of history in their family. 

That is pertinent information to me, regarding the subject of the thread, because if I could, that is something I would try to provide for me to have the money for whatever I needed, that didn’t mean my loved ones have to turn their lives upside down to try to take care of me. 

I am not at all being dismissive of your knowledge and what you’ve shared so far. I actually appreciate you chiming in. I am just also hoping that you are open to questions I have.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 9, 2023 16:24:37 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

My biggest concerns are 1. the wear and tear on my body, from the nature of my job, which already started causing issues for me years ago. I have had and still have coworkers that schedule surgeries they need to address those problems, while they are still on the clock, right before they retire. 

That sounds like another added layer to considered. Best of luck making a good decision for your time!

[Rukh O'Rorke]

and now.....falling on the other side of it.....had a couple of stress bombs land in my lap late yesterday....and then I push myself to get the crises dealt with and then get a bit quiet quitty (today.....in late, ignoring important emails, not working on my behind time reports)but stress builds in the background as I know another stress bomb will develop from my lackadaisical ways....

Thinking I could either make it, or make it for at least 25 years and 84 year old me can go pound sand and live on just the social security if she dares to live that long...and better not need assisted living!

But then I think - if I quit now, cut out all the nonsense, sleep as much as I want to every day, slow down, take care of all the little details, do leisurely walks in the sun, get back into yoga and weight lifting, etc. etc. then I'll probably live that long life....

Meanwhile, the stress is slowly killing me, so I won't need so much money?

What kind of society have we built for ourselves!

I guess I just need to buckle down and get through to the holidays....work get quieter, we get a lot of days off, and I use up a lot of vacation time.

I'll think about what direction to go over xmas/new years. I'll be taking my usual 2 weeks off I think....I'll go put the time in now, so that will ease my way back to being in front of the work computer.....