Retirement

[GAME05]

A lot of us here are getting older or already there, so I thought maybe there might be an interest in a retirement-related thread.

Unless something bad happens, I'm out at 55. Belize is still my targeted retirement destination because it's a little cheaper with no capital gains taxes. Odd to say but my only hesitation with it is the place kinda doesn't have a golf course. Not that golf is my life or anything, but I see it as a great means of keeping busy and getting exercise. I hesitate at other countries only because if English isn't the primary language I think it would become really difficult to acclimate.

[PlayerHader]

I'm 38. Hope to retire at 55. Should be able to with the current plan. My wife dreams of being snow birds. I could get on board if finances allow. We have a pretty solid savings rate, but not sure if that's in the cards. If it's really a must...I'm probably not retiring at 55. LOL

[nate82]

Just now, PlayerHader said:

I'm 38. Hope to retire at 55. Should be able to with the current plan. My wife dreams of being snow birds. I could get on board if finances allow. We have a pretty solid savings rate, but not sure if that's in the cards. If it's really a must...I'm probably not retiring at 55. LOL

In AZ at least there are a bunch of 55+ communities that are extremely affordable.  Depending on the community I believe you can buy a property before you hit 55 if you don't have any children that will be living with you in the community.  Would have to check the bylaws for the communities but I am fairly certain there are a few that will allow you to buy the property before the age of 55.  There are a bunch of condos in the $180k range and some houses in the $150k range also.  I know some look down on trailer parks but the 55+ communities here are actually rather nice.  You can either buy a lot with no trailer and park an RV or put a trailer on the lot.  Also in AZ there is basically only a 1% chance of a tornado ever forming so safe from that.  The only weather related issue would be during the summer months when the monsoons come. 

[nate82]

I just looked it up in AZ you can buy property in a 55+ aged community before you turn 55.  The only rule is that a resident must be 55.  If you are not claiming that property as your main residence then you can have the property.  To be able to stay there you would have to look up the bylaws of the community on how many weeks or months you can stay there being over the age of 18 and under 55.  So for example if your significant other turns 55 before you do or you turn 55 before they do you could live there as your main residence without any of the bylaws impacting you. 

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I plan on to retire when I'm 58 which in 7.5 years. I was just discussing with my wife last week about possibly moving to the Phoenix area part time. We'd keep the house in Wisconsin and get something in Arizona. My wife works for a company that has an office in Phoenix, so I had her ask if it was possible to work out of the WI office 6 months and the Phoenix office 6 months. My wife is 7.5 years younger than me, so she would keep working. She loves her job and the human interaction of working, and probably would want to put up with me 24/7 anyways... maybe 18/7 as I would be at Maryvale everyday possible. My joke around her office is if they ever won the lottery my wife would still go to work everyday.

[owbc]

Realistically I'm aiming for 68. Currently 36. Didn't start saving until my early 30s due to attaining some advanced degrees but I'm happy with the trajectory my career is on and I'm currently racing to catch up. 

I was just down in Phoenix for spring training again this year...other than the food, that city is not my cup of tea. Cost of living is really taking off there as well, it's no longer as cheap as it once was. My wife dreams of becoming an expat and I think I could get on board with that after the kid gets sent to college. 

[madbad2000]

So I'm still trying to decide on a final destination and age.  I hit 30 years of service at 61, which is a nice mark to hit.  I do have young kids, so that puts me middle of college for the youngest which may delay me a few more years.  It is nice having some time and options in terms of where to settle down and when. My current plan for my end of career (Government) is to take a final assignment in Europe for 4-5 years and then move to my final destination after that.  That way I do a lot of the prep work for a move (down sizing household goods, selling home, etc.) and can get a pseudo start to retirement by living it up in Europe and seeing a lot places on the bucket list cheap.  Once I'm done, they can ship me back to my desired location.  If I had to choose a spot right now, I'd probably choose Florida/Alabama Gulf somewhere.  I'm not down for doing the Phoenix/desert lifestyle.  I've been there quite a bit, love the food, do not love the summer weather.  Not interested in snow birding either.  I'm currently in the Huntsville area and we love it here.  Lots to do, cost of living is low, weather is very good with fairly mild winters. Seeing as how I'll have a paid off house in a beautiful neighborhood, we could just choose to stay here and not mess around.  The Rocket City Trash Pandas are a very short walk away, so that could consume my time easy enough.  We have talked about doing the expat thing a bit, but nothing too concrete in terms of planning.  I loved Thailand when I was there and it's easy to do expat thing.  I also looked into doing it in Europe, such as Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Greece (basically southern Europe/Mediterranean) and would need to do more research.  I see the appeal of Central America and that is on my research list as well.  Having time to plan makes it nice because I can identify good spots and hopefully travel there for vacation/scouting before having to commit.

[pitchleague]

My wife and I have begun looking into this topic in the last year.  She hits 30 years next school year.  I will in 2026-27.  In Arizona, teachers can “double dip” by starting to collect your pension and still go back to work at a slightly reduced year-to-year contract.  I’m having a tough time convincing her to “double dip” while I finish up my career, as we could easily bank that extra money to help pay for a good portion of health insurance until Medicare kicks in at age 65(???) or whatever age it ends up being.

But she wants out.  She is so frustrated with the system and the politics of a low-income school that seems to be more and more focused on test scores while behavior (student and parent) has gone down the toilet.  She’s already promised a colleague that she’ll do year 31 because that colleague’s daughter will be in her class.  So I keep asking her why not at least do one year of double-dipping, you know?  It’s better than nothing!  But I’ve kind of given up battling with her over the other couple of years.

Past that, I think there’s a very good chance that we’ll just stay here in Arizona.  If we somehow won the lottery (big problem:  you gotta play to win, and we don’t play) then we would probably buy a place in Wisconsin and do the snow bird thing.  But otherwise, my wife is officially done with snow, cold, mosquitoes, humidity, severe storms, and other Wisconsin things.  I’m pretty sure I’d be fine with it, but whatever.  Happy wife = happy life, right?  The extreme heat isn’t that big of a deal, it really isn’t.  So that’s not a problem.  The mild winters are great and, where we live, we’re good for one or two days each winter that we’ll get snow—although we’ve actually had a couple of snowpacalypse events for our area in the last three years.  But it was all gone in a day or two (it was so funny watching the natives try to deal with it!)

We’ve got many investments to go along with our pensions so we should be fine with retiring at 55, although I wish the markets were better.  Thankfully, we won’t be touching those investments until we’re well in our sixties—at least that’s the plan—so hopefully things will turn around.  I AM concerned with social security and whether or not it will exist by the time we’re 67 (or, again, whatever age it changes to) but I don’t want to make it any more political than that.

I am thankful that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and brighter.  I never thought it was going to happen.

 

[TURBO]

I retired from teaching high school in June at 57 years old.  33 years in that profession and by the end, I couldn't get out fast enough.  Talk about a profession that has changed during my career...and not for the good.  I very much pity any new teacher these days, but then again, they don't know any better, they just know what the profession is like now.  I can't imagine anyone lasting 30+ years in the current teaching climate.  So anyway, I got out, and couldn't be happier.

My wife still has 3 years to go, but she still enjoys it.

We will probably move to wherever my daughter and her husband are in 3 years to be near our future grand kids.  My wife also thinks we will be moving to a warm climate for the winter months, but I am not too keen on that idea.  I enjoy the Wisconsin seasons, even though I am not a winter sports enthusiast. (snowmobile, ice fishing, etc)

I have kicked around the idea of getting a simple meaningless part time job, the kind you punch in and punch out and don't think about again until you show up for your next shift.  Haven't talked myself into it just yet, but at some point, will find a little something to keep me busy.  I actually applied to, and was offered a job in a local small business setting, but when I found out the pay was $10 an hour, and I had to work every other weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, I had to pass.  I am far past the point of working for next to no pay and especially if that means working on weekends, which is now the only time each week I get to spend time with my wife.  Would have been a fun job though...

One job that I refuse to do is subbing.  If I wanted to remain in teaching, I wouldn't have left.  Subbing is probably one of the worst jobs on the planet, and if I wanted to teach I would have continued my real job.  I felt a little guilty at first since subs are almost impossible to find for every district in the state, but I got over that quickly.

I laugh at all the people who tell me they are bored in retirement.  That is sooooo far from my reality it isn't even funny.  I LOVE being retired, coming and going as I please, answering to no one (but my wife occasionally lol), just plain being on my own is joyous!  I joined the local Y and am back in shape.  Hadn't touched a weight in 25 years, so it was hard getting back into it, but now that I am seeing results, it is awesome.  It is impossible for me to be bored.  There is always something to do and if not, going to the movies or watching my massive DVD collection is always an option.

Retirement is a gift that a lot of people get very little of because they didn't plan properly.  We have been putting money away since the day we were married and it as paid off.  Anyone out there still reading, PUT MONEY AWAY for retirement!  Start with your first paycheck, even if that means you only put $25 per check into a fund.  You can always do more when you have more.  It all adds up!

 

[nate82]

5 minutes ago, TURBO said:

One job that I refuse to do is subbing.  If I wanted to remain in teaching, I wouldn't have left.  Subbing is probably one of the worst jobs on the planet, and if I wanted to teach I would have continued my real job.  I felt a little guilty at first since subs are almost impossible to find for every district in the state, but I got over that quickly.

Why not just teach at a local tech school or university or one of the online schools?  The pay sucks but it is not as demanding as an every day job.  I taught a few online classes through the university of phoenix.  Basically it is just give curriculum and they figure it out.  Got about $500 a month after taxes during COVID.  The grading is super simple you just put it through a program that they give you access to and that is it. 

[GAME05]

My mother went from Special Ed full-time to 32 hours in the library and loved that move. Not much in the paycheck but kept the benefits. 

[madbad2000]

"Anyone out there still reading, PUT MONEY AWAY for retirement! Start with your first paycheck, even if that means you only put $25 per check into a fund. You can always do more when you have more. It all adds up!"

This!  So much this.  I'll also add a tip for those that care about retiring early, set a standard of living that is comfortable/affordable and keep it there.  When you get promotions or pay bumps, try to keep your life at the same comfortable level and move that increase out of sight/out of mind into your retirement or investments.  I have been doing this for awhile now and its amazing. I'm at the point where I have started building up my kids accounts too to help them down the line.  50-60 years of untouched growth..yes please. 

[PlayerHader]

Any non-teachers on Brewerfan? Lol

I’m 38. Making it another 17+! Years feels daunting. I like working with kids. Teaching high school English is challenging, though. And there’s more pressure to get kids to perform on tests (that mean nothing to them) each year.

It sounds insane, but I’ve been considering a change in content or even adding an admin license. I’m even considering SPED.

[LouisEly]

Son of a teacher here - does that count?

My rental properties will be paid off when I'm 62, so that's what I'm targeting.  49 now, started investing early but lost my job four times during my adult life plus going back to school full-time for MBA to switch careers; I was unemployed for most of 2013-2016 (lost job twice plus time in MBA program) so I have some catching up to do.  Fortunately the IRS upped the 401k limit for those 50+ to $30k/year, so I can start taking advantage of that this year.  If I can average just 7% on my investments they should more than double in 13 years and I can retire very comfortably.

The plan was to sell the rental properties when I retire and use that to buy my retirement home.  The rental properties are worth ~$500k now, so assuming similar increases in housing values I could buy the equivalent of a $500k home today when I retire and not have a mortgage, just property taxes, so I'm looking at a low-tax area such as Colorado; $500k doesn't get you much in Denver anymore, but property taxes there are about 0.5% (looking on Zillow, $500k properties have recent taxes of ~$2,500/year).  I like Denver; far enough south that it doesn't get too cold, high enough elevation that it doesn't get too hot, and very dry so not much in the way of mosquitos.  Average high in January is 49 degrees, average high in July is 92 and in August is 90 but much lower humidity than WI.  July is the least humid month; average afternoon humidity is 30% on mid-90's temps and in August it's <50%.  I can deal with that.

[MrTPlush]

On 4/22/2023 at 4:37 PM, PlayerHader said:

Any non-teachers on Brewerfan? Lol

I’m 38. Making it another 17+! Years feels daunting. I like working with kids. Teaching high school English is challenging, though. And there’s more pressure to get kids to perform on tests (that mean nothing to them) each year.

It sounds insane, but I’ve been considering a change in content or even adding an admin license. I’m even considering SPED.

Yes...still a public slave though. 🤣

[GAME05]

My 401k funds are all garbage but it doesn't appear I have the option to self-direct. The 10-year return of the S&P is 162% yet not one of my funds beats 5.

[hawing]

I'm not a teacher, but as a librarian my profession is education-adjacent.  My SO retired in fall 2021 from his library career, and if I had a dollar for everyone who asks me "so when's it going to be YOUR turn?", I might be able to retire sooner!  😬 

For real, though, I have reached the minimum age for retirement without an age penalty from the state (I work for a state agency).  However, I'm not as close to being eligible for full federal benefits.  Having a partner at home whose time is almost entirely his own certainly makes it tempting to stop sooner.  Another temptation is that one of my two closest colleagues at the library retired last fall, and the other just requested a retirement benefit estimate today.  I was hoping we could be the three amigos for a little longer and am ambivalent about being the last remaining amiga for super long.

Having said all that, I'm not sure I want to go from 60 to zero in terms of work pace.  The SO didn't have as abrupt a close to his career since the last 1.5 years was the heart of the pandemic. 

 

[RobDeer 45]

Louis Ely - Son of two teachers, I think we count!  That's amazing that there are so many teachers on here.  Thanks for what you all do!

 

Crazy this thread just popped up because I was crunching numbers on our retirement accounts just this weekend to see how we are doing.  We are a little ahead of where we should be using some basic rule of thumb calculations, so that was nice to see.  I think what we are struggling with is what do we want in retirement.  That is obviously a big part of understanding where you need to be at certain ages.  Also when do we want to retire.  I feel like that all could change depending on what our kids end up doing and where they end up.

 

As others have said, just put that money away and start right away.  It's so important.

 

Madbad2000 - That's a great way of looking at things.  Don't keep chasing more as your career progresses.  We've started to pull back on things like cars.  I'm going to try and follow that mindset!

[MrTPlush]

I am one to basically just take the company match and I also have a pension. Which, I really hate the pension because I could do better just investing that money myself...in my opinion. It is also horrible if I leave anytime soon because the amount wouldn't be worth staying vested and if I take the money out I basically could have been investing it for all those years (since if you opt out when you leave the job you just get the amount you paid in). Though, I always assumed I would never stay in the career to retirement, but as the years have gone by I think it is more possible than I once thought. 

That being said, I am sure I will retire with a pretty healthy egg. I started straight out of college doing so at the age of 22 with a solid salary, so such a modest savings strategy will pay off more than one might think. Props to people that try to max contributions and put every raise into retirement, I could never do it. To me a raise is a reward and should help add enjoyment now. I see so many people that are frankly addicted to retirement saving. I see too many people die before retirement or even soon after. I wonder if those people regret saving all that money for nothing in the end. 

 

 

[GAME05]

It's surprising to me that pensions have pretty well died apart from government work. It really does stick a person to a job, plus having a vesting period probably saves a company money if the employee leaves before vesting as opposed to giving them a 401k match. As a higher-up has reportedly said, "Oh, they won't quit; they're on a pension."

I'll have to start thinking of alternatives to retiring in Belize in case "go golfing" becomes a bigger desire to keep me busy and active. The basically-only course was just bought by a hotel chain, so good chance it'll either become private or prohibitively expensive to play. A single cousin retired to Puerto Rico, so maybe there. Otherwise vaguely wondering about Eastern Europe, like Poland or Belarus, Although being able to get around using English plus at least some expat community are important, too.

I know places like Portugal are growing in popularity as retirement options, but I make the immediate assumption that it'll be too expensive. Similar with retiring in the States, I just don't think that $2500/mo is all that sustainable since I'll be paying rent on a place as well as having half my income be based on capital gains.

[nate82]

25 minutes ago, GAME05 said:

I know places like Portugal are growing in popularity as retirement options, but I make the immediate assumption that it'll be too expensive. Similar with retiring in the States, I just don't think that $2500/mo is all that sustainable since I'll be paying rent on a place as well as having half my income be based on capital gains.

I believe in the States Alabama would be the cheapest place to retire to.  Alabama has one of the lowest cost of living I believe there was a study awhile back that stated $100 is equal to approximately $115 in Alabama.  Social Security and pension income are not taxed in Alabama all other retirement income are.  State income tax is 5% which is higher than neighboring Florida but your cost of living is far lower in Alabama which should offset this. 

May want to check out Vietnam as another country to retire to.  There is a capital gains tax you have to pay but I believe it is rather small.  Cost of living is extremely low in Vietnam.  Thailand is another option similar to Vietnam.

Poland is a good country to move to though you will need to learn Polish as English is not spoken all that much.  You may be able to get away with speaking German but you would probably want to pick up some Polish at least. 

Panama is another country you may want to look into.  Panama is home to basically every country in the world.  You can find Americans, Venezuelans, Chinese, French, Koreans, and other communities in Panama. 

[OldHeidelberg]

Colombia I think is a bit underrated as a retirement destination. I looked into it and if you invest 200K there, which can be just buying a house/property, you can get some sort of visa/residency. I could basically trade my house for one down there and am guessing it would be a bit of an upgrade over what I have here. Health care is cheap and good. I am leaning toward Mexico if I do it though, I like that it's drivable and I think it would be a little easier to adjust to things culturally there than in some of the other countries mentioned here. 

[GAME05]

So I've still been building my list of expat retirement destinations.

Been liking Tblisi, Georgia lately. They have a great golf course I can afford plus joining condos. 1100 sq. ft. for $150k which is pricey for over there. A cousin who lived there said everyone is super nice and it's easy to make friends. Best wine in the world. Obviously there's a downside to any country, and to Georgia it's the 36-hour flight back home. The more I dream about expat life the more I wonder if the reality is that back to Wisconsin is the most practical. Three cousins and a brother I'd be close to in WI, which trumps ordinary friends I'd make in Georgia.

The boss is likely moving to Colombia. Ecuador is apparently getting worse with crime that expats are moving away. Cyprus seems like it'd be too hot. Malta is getting dirtier and permanently under construction (noise).

[LouisEly]

2 hours ago, GAME05 said:

So I've still been building my list of expat retirement destinations.

Been liking Tblisi, Georgia lately.

Conveniently nestled between Russia and Iran.  Sounds wonderful.

[nate82]

1 hour ago, GAME05 said:

So I've still been building my list of expat retirement destinations.

Been liking Tblisi, Georgia lately. They have a great golf course I can afford plus joining condos. 1100 sq. ft. for $150k which is pricey for over there. A cousin who lived there said everyone is super nice and it's easy to make friends. Best wine in the world. Obviously there's a downside to any country, and to Georgia it's the 36-hour flight back home. The more I dream about expat life the more I wonder if the reality is that back to Wisconsin is the most practical. Three cousins and a brother I'd be close to in WI, which trumps ordinary friends I'd make in Georgia.

The boss is likely moving to Colombia. Ecuador is apparently getting worse with crime that expats are moving away. Cyprus seems like it'd be too hot. Malta is getting dirtier and permanently under construction (noise).

I wouldn't go anywhere near Georgia as Russia seems to have its eyes on Georgia again. 

May want to try Poland though that would be a really long flight back to the US.  The popular place right now is Portugal.  I know I have suggested this previously but you may want to look into Vietnam.  It is very retirement friendly and there are a bunch of Australian, UK and Americans now retiring in Vietnam.  You may want to check out Thailand also but that will be another long flight. 

In the US I still believe Alabama or West Virginia would be the best options.