Can I retire yet?

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anonymous said:
The problem with recommending one amount of money for everyone as a minimum to retire is that it doesn’t account for their individual needs. That’s not helpful and it might actually discourage some people from saving at all because they feel hopeless.

The reality is that lifestyle expectations in retirement and expenses are much more important when calculating your nest egg requirements. Minimizing debt should be anyone’s first priority. Then it comes down to where you want to live, what you want to do, and factor in a reasonable estimation on how long you expect to live.

From there you can figure out a reasonable amount needed each month to meet your personal retirement lifestyle. You can factor in any potential sources of retirement income such as SS or pensions and calculate any shortfall you’ll need to make up out of savings.

People can retire on what seems like trivial amounts of savings if they are frugal and live within their means. Plus, if a person spends their life being responsible with money and putting a little away for their golden years there’s nothing to suggest they will suddenly become irresponsible spenders in their retirement. This means they will make it work with their savings just as they made it work during their working careerswith their salaries.

The big concerns I would have is healthcare costs if I wanted to retire before becoming eligible for a Medicare and the potential long term care costs later in life. You can mitigate the risk of the later with LTC insurance and the former by budgeting more per month for your healthcare expenses until you reach 65.

My advice: think long and hard about what your personal expectations are regarding the lifestyle you want in retirement. Then plan accordingly and don’t worry about any anonymous forum poster throwing out random dollar amounts without knowing anything about you.
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I don't want to be frugal when I retire!!!
 






Worried abt having to pay Healthcare if retiring @ 61. Own 3 properties clear and free. Make $8,000 rent income. $2M in 401k. Better to wait for severance or time to say bye bye to this nonsense. Thoughts?
 






anonymous said:
Worried abt having to pay Healthcare if retiring @ 61. Own 3 properties clear and free. Make $8,000 rent income. $2M in 401k. Better to wait for severance or time to say bye bye to this nonsense. Thoughts?
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Retired at 57 with $5M (spouse with large amount of stock options while gainfully employed helped greatly with early retirement). Healthcare is a huge issue! Plan on $1100/month for just average coverage nothing great. Healthcare costs are the biggest fraud in the country. Should be considered illegal what insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and doctors/HCPs charge to patients! If you think a severance is just around the corner definitely wait for that...why not? You deserve it!
 






anonymous said:
Retired at 57 with $5M (spouse with large amount of stock options while gainfully employed helped greatly with early retirement). Healthcare is a huge issue! Plan on $1100/month for just average coverage nothing great. Healthcare costs are the biggest fraud in the country. Should be considered illegal what insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and doctors/HCPs charge to patients! If you think a severance is just around the corner definitely wait for that...why not? You deserve it!
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Congrats to you for being 57 and having 5 m. I'm almost 59 and have 4.8 (wife and I). We are hoping to retire in a year and a half or so, Are you taking SS at 62 or waiting?
 






























anonymous said:
Congrats to you for being 57 and having 5 m. I'm almost 59 and have 4.8 (wife and I). We are hoping to retire in a year and a half or so, Are you taking SS at 62 or waiting?
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I’ve been advised to start taking it along with two pensions at age 62. FP says that’s best & waiting would be gambling away my own money. Don’t quite get that analogy but will do as they advise.
Good luck to you! A year or two will go quickly.
 






anonymous said:
Retired at 57 with $5M (spouse with large amount of stock options while gainfully employed helped greatly with early retirement). Healthcare is a huge issue! Plan on $1100/month for just average coverage nothing great. Healthcare costs are the biggest fraud in the country. Should be considered illegal what insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and doctors/HCPs charge to patients! If you think a severance is just around the corner definitely wait for that...why not? You deserve it!
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I agree about the ridiculous fraud of healthcare costs. If you retired at 57....why at 58 or 59 could you not get a major medical policy for far less money? You'd not have any income if you didn't work for a year--so say 58.5 or 59 getting a policy for 400 or so. I've heard that is an option as they only go on your last year's income. Wait a year after you retire, then you have no income...cheaper.
 






anonymous said:
I agree about the ridiculous fraud of healthcare costs. If you retired at 57....why at 58 or 59 could you not get a major medical policy for far less money? You'd not have any income if you didn't work for a year--so say 58.5 or 59 getting a policy for 400 or so. I've heard that is an option as they only go on your last year's income. Wait a year after you retire, then you have no income...cheaper.
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Thanks for your advice! Have researched many options and those cheaper ones you mention are literally awful with $20K deductibles, networks with the worst providers & hospitals, and out of pocket costs beyond reasonable. Have to admit pharmaceutical companies offer fantastic health benefits however after retiring no longer eligible.
 


















anonymous said:
Thanks for your advice! Have researched many options and those cheaper ones you mention are literally awful with $20K deductibles, networks with the worst providers & hospitals, and out of pocket costs beyond reasonable. Have to admit pharmaceutical companies offer fantastic health benefits however after retiring no longer eligible.
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I do agree that pharmaceutical Companies offer very good health care. I don't think what you are saying is correct though. I don't want to appear argumentative, but in the midwest when my wife lost her job she found a plan for about $400 a month. Granted it had about a 3K deductible, but that's not bad. She shortly found a job so we did not have to resort to that. I'm not sure where you live, but I've heard that due to this Obamacare stuff, they go on your last year's income. Wait a year, little income and one should be ok. I need to research this further. My wife found this policy one month after she was laid off as we didn't want to pay cobra for her.
 






anonymous said:
I’ve been advised to start taking it along with two pensions at age 62. FP says that’s best & waiting would be gambling away my own money. Don’t quite get that analogy but will do as they advise.
Good luck to you! A year or two will go quickly.
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Thanks! I can't wait until then. I'm definitely taking mine at 62. I want to make sure I get what I've worked hard for. Hopefully I live a long and healthy life, but one never knows. Of course the govt. wants people to wait as long as possible. They are hoping these people die off before they have the opportunity to get any money! NO WAY
 






I'll be 62 later this year. Retired from pharma 6 years ago. Still working a second career job so I won't be taking SS when I hit 62. My plan is to work a little longer and take SS at full retirement age. Its a gamble either way regarding when to take SS. No right or wrong answer.
 






#456 I retired from another large pharma company with 35 years of service. My medical from age 62 to 65 (to Medicare) was $1,200 per year so it was a great deal. Medicare costs me at 55 $1,600 a year. I will take social security next year when I turn 66 at full benefits.
 






anonymous said:
I'll be 62 later this year. Retired from pharma 6 years ago. Still working a second career job so I won't be taking SS when I hit 62. My plan is to work a little longer and take SS at full retirement age. Its a gamble either way regarding when to take SS. No right or wrong answer.
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What's your second career? I need to figure out something else to do for a few years. I am tired of the stress with Pharma--metrics and sales #, and all the crap that now goes with this job and in this industry. I want to take my SS at 62 like the other person stated as I want something. IT is a crap shoot and there's no right or wrong answer. I do need to find another job somewhere, but I need ideas. What are you doing?
 






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