Folster
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Lots of different articles on this.
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Retirement Planning Thread
- Thread starter Zeno
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OP
OP
Zeno
Ancient
Yet another reason to not count on Social Security as anything more than gravy in retirement.
Yes. You need to have 10 years in to be fully vested in the pension.
I think they're gonna have to figure out something though. Like many, I've been paying into that system since I was 15. I wish I had had the option to invest all that money on my own. I am sure my return would have been better.
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I don't doubt it. Of course, if there isn't anything to be had when we retire, then the end result would be the same.
I'd love to be able to invest it even if it was more like a 401k where I have a list of funds to chose from and not fully self managed. I'll even go for that just happening from here forward with the previous pay ins sticking with the traditional system.
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This is why IMO they need to raise the cap on FICA so that people who max out on it pay in more during the year before they max out. It's only the high earners that max out.
Folster
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It was never your money. Money that you paid in went to current retirees. It's a government run ponzi scheme and like all ponzi schemes, they collapse when there aren't enough inflows to cover the outflows.
That doest mean that those benefits will stop immediately as the government can just increase the deficit. But eventually that will have dire consequences.
Folster
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Let's try to keep this apolitical.
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I've been saying this for years if there were a way to opt out of Social Security so you don't have to pay it and have to waive the right to ever get it, I would have done so years ago and been way ahead for it.
It's frustrating. A friend of mine for over 20 years asked me a few months ago why her rollover 401K wasn't doing very well. I said it must be the markets been way up and I referred you to the person at Fidelity who is managing mine so you MUST be way ahead. Turns out my manager has a minimum amount and she was below that, but she never told me that so I thought Fidelity was managing her money and it was in a holding account the whole time making almost no interest!
She's fairly risk averse because she has no experience with stocks so in the end I got her to put about 60% into FFFEX which is a time horizon Fidelity Fund for when she'll be 65. She actually should be MUCH more aggressive since she's playing catchup but I know she'd panic if the markets went down. I think she bought in at 19.90 not sure either that or 20 it's at 20.50 as of close yesterday so she's up something like 800 dollars I don't recall exactly how many shares she got. She's absolutely thrilled. I feel terrible I thought she was being managed for the last 18 months and she thought I knew she wasn't. So now I just gave her a list of things to consider for the last 40%.
She never grasped it's in a holding fund because before she rolled it over to Fidelity it was in the funds she had in her 401K. So she made money before, asked me to help her roll it over, I did and I just assumed she'd reinvested it when she hadn't. She probably missed 3 years of really good returns I'm not entirely clear how long it's been in that holding account
Sorry - that was a feature of the board - when you start a post, then end it, it keeps it in the memory. I only meant to have the last part - didn't notice the part I thought I had erased was still there -will fix
Considering it came from my working wages, I'd argue that it was my money (though I understand where it went and what you're getting at).
OP
OP
Zeno
Ancient
Retirement is coming closer, as I approach 2 years until eligibility (July 2028) I am becoming even more focused on having everything in order. I run constant Monte Carlo simulations for future years earnings, I use AI to calculate taxes, pension (including my COLA), SS etc. I know I often overthink, but I want to be prepared for surprises and have as comfortable a retirement as I possibly can. My wife and I also don't have heirs so we want to make sure we spend what we saved without depleting it early at the same time not dying the richest people in the graveyard. That's a tougher thing to manage than I had anticipated, nobody knows when our time is up for sure but do i set my life expectancy to 85 or 90 and use that as the zero mark? All kinds of financial advisors have theories on this and they vary.
The good news is my TSP (gov employee 401K) has exceeded the amount I wanted the balance to be at in retirement, in fact I am about $175,000 beyond what I originally was aiming at with 2 years to go. Between my pension & TSP taking pretty conservative withdrawals I am actually on track to make a little more money than I do working and that is before social security kicks in. I also have a Roth IRA that is doing better than anticipated as well but I can't touch that until I am 59.5 (I will be 56 when I retire) anyway so I don't even use it in these calculations.
My wife retired last June, she also has a pension, TSP and a Roth IRA. She is enjoying life, hasn't made a TSP withdrawal yet since I am still working.
Taxes, down markets & inflation are a focus now and IRMAA & RMDs are a future concern that I feel like I need to plan for ahead of time.
The good news is my TSP (gov employee 401K) has exceeded the amount I wanted the balance to be at in retirement, in fact I am about $175,000 beyond what I originally was aiming at with 2 years to go. Between my pension & TSP taking pretty conservative withdrawals I am actually on track to make a little more money than I do working and that is before social security kicks in. I also have a Roth IRA that is doing better than anticipated as well but I can't touch that until I am 59.5 (I will be 56 when I retire) anyway so I don't even use it in these calculations.
My wife retired last June, she also has a pension, TSP and a Roth IRA. She is enjoying life, hasn't made a TSP withdrawal yet since I am still working.
Taxes, down markets & inflation are a focus now and IRMAA & RMDs are a future concern that I feel like I need to plan for ahead of time.
82CardsGrad
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You seem to be on a solid path toward a comfortable retirement phase of your life journey. I turned 62 today actually...and like you, I've been thinking about retirement more and more with each passing month, week, day...
ChatGpt has been incredible in terms of providing very sound, practical guidance (seriously, will there be a need for financial planners in the future??). I don't have the luxury of a pension and I also will not be inheriting anything of significance. My 401k has done very well, especially over the past 6 years or so. I also can begin accessing my deferred compensation plan when I turn 69, which, along with SS and my 401k (which I'll be converting to a Roth IRA), I should be fine. #fingerscrossed
OP
OP
Zeno
Ancient
You seem to be on a solid path toward a comfortable retirement phase of your life journey. I turned 62 today actually...and like you, I've been thinking about retirement more and more with each passing month, week, day...
ChatGpt has been incredible in terms of providing very sound, practical guidance (seriously, will there be a need for financial planners in the future??). I don't have the luxury of a pension and I also will not be inheriting anything of significance. My 401k has done very well, especially over the past 6 years or so. I also can begin accessing my deferred compensation plan when I turn 69, which, along with SS and my 401k (which I'll be converting to a Roth IRA), I should be fine. #fingerscrossed
Its always nice to feel prepared. Much better than the alternative for sure.
I use ChatGpt a lot too, I run all kinds of scenarios--down markets, good markets, making higher withdrawals earlier in retirement when I am younger and more able/willing to travel and do stuff, making steady withdrawals, adjusting withdrawals based on inflation, it calculated based on the average last 10 years cost of living allowance for federal pensions my projected future payout amounts and I had it calculate my SS earnings based on me stopping working at 56 rather than the 62+ the annual statement figures (costs me a couple hundred $$ a month). AI is super helpful, if you feed it enough data and are clear about what you want its super helpful. I did have to correct it once when it was using 2025 tax year information rather than 2026 but otherwise I have had no issues.
Oh, yesterday I had it calculate working days until my December 2028 retirement date, 610 working days (not including weekends and vacation days).
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I retired early and it was real up and down for me until my wife retired 12 years ago. Now, we do absolutely nothing but get to do it together and we love it.Retirement sucks guys. Just keep working.
If you need an heir brother my services are available.
I can send Christmas/mother's day cards,...host 1 barbecue per summer, and supply 4 calls yearly as to why I can't make it.
T
THats my plan...cannot afford to fully retire anyway... best I'm hoping for is a side business and a P/T telecommuteRetirement sucks guys. Just keep working.
