# Retirees or near-retirees: I want your advice



## james4beach

I'm in my 30s, so retirement is a long way away (I will probably be working for the next ~ 40 years). I've read the standard things about retirement in newspapers and magazines, but I would specifically like to hear some advice from near-retirees or maybe anyone over 60.

About myself: 30s, not married and living alone for now. I rent, but am saving money for a home (maybe in 5 year timespan). I have zero debt. I've also saved a chunk of money for business capital (I once ran a successful small business and want to try it again). Leaving aside the money saved for home+business capital, I have pretty standard allocations... 30% fixed income, 51% in equity&riskier things. My income is reasonable, as a professional, but I'm also in a volatile field of work and we all seem to get laid off every few years. I have a fully maxed out TFSA and RRSP, but am not convinced about the RRSP as a pancea because I believe that taxes will be much higher in the future, thus by deferring they really might not be saving me anything.

I'm all ears, and frankly I don't trust the financial salespeople and media much.

Any specific practices or money habits that worked out great for you?
Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
Did you encounter any financial disasters or big losses? How might I steer clear of those things?
Any types of products that you got sold on, but regret?
Any other things you would advise me to watch out for or stay away from?


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## sags

I am no expert, but I would say diversify beyond what would be considered investments/assets that are linked to the big world of finance. 

A smattering of other investments, such as 1/4 section of farmland in Saskatchewan for example. It is still very cheap relative to land prices in other Provinces and around the world. With a big enough down payment, the land can be rented to a responsible farmer to pay the mortgage. Saskatchewan farmland has gone up......even through the recession.........for decades, and recently has been rising 20% a year, according to the Farm Credit Corporation.

Some physical gold, perhaps gold coins/bullion or an interesting product offered by the Royal Canadian Mint which buys shares of real physical gold that is held in trust in their own vaults, and is audited regularly. An investor can also trade their shares for bullion if they wish.

Collectibles can be amazing investments...............but you need to become an expert in the genre to ensure what you are buying will retain value. There is some satisfaction to owning something going up in value.........that you can hold in your hand and appreciate.

I remember going to an auction with a friend, and it was held in a huge auditorium. My friend knew the guy who had passed away and his widow was observing the auction. He said the widow got angry when the guy brought home "more stuff" and packed into the garage, basement, and other rooms in the house. The walls of the auditorium had shelving and there were literally hundreds/thousands of items to auction. There were hundreds of people bidding and items were selling for 200......1000.....and more each. It took 2 full days to complete the auction (it was old colored glass, such as old electrical glass etc.). and it gathered high six figure dollars for the widow.........who was smiling all over the place. 

I am not a big fan of annuities.........but perhaps some investment in a small one, that will provide additional income in retirement? Retirement incomes usually consist of bits and pieces from all over..........rather than one big lump coming from one source. A couple hundred extra dollars a month is always welcome.

Domain names (website names) is something I was interested in for a few years, but didn't have enough money at the time to really invest a lot in them. I do own one domain name, designed a free website for it, and it costs me 10.00 a year to register it. It earns 50 per year in Google Adsense.........which isn't great...........but it is a 500% return on the 10 bucks. Anyone interested in this kind of investment would need to spend some time on domain name forums to learn the ropes though. 

I think Marina is probably the resident expert on domain names and websites on this forum.

Lots of alternative investments out there I think...........just have to weed through them and find something you are interested in.

I wouldn't bet everything on alternative investments....but spending a little might be an interesting sideline.


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## Itchy54

It's good that you are thinking of this at your age.

I am 56, so don't quite meet your criteria as hubby and I won't be retired for 6 months or so...but here are some thoughts from my perspective.

Stay healthy. This has got to be number one on my list--no amount of money will help with bad health (well, it might). When I see my Dad stumble around, my father in law coughing out a lung and a dear close friend losing his life to a very stressed heart (darn that butter!!) I know that eating my kale and hitting the gym beats wondering if I could make another half a percent on some money making venture.

Continue to distrust anyone who wants to make you rich...stick to your instincts. I personally have ZERO risk tolerance and we have made our money on GIC's and home renovations. Hubby stayed at his job for the pension...best move we ever made. Everyone here will have their own money making ideas and I love to read them all but always stick with what I am comfortable with.

Take holidays every year.....don't always save, save and save. I very nearly died at 49 from acute severe pancreatitis...very sudden and cause was unknown (I am not and never have been a drinker). In a blink the fun times can come to a sudden end....so enjoy, to an extent--ie don't spend it all. We now take the month of December and hang somewhere hot to celebrate my life, and our life together.

Stay informed, as you are now, and your life will be special!! Now, eat your kale young man!


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## Retired Peasant

james4beach said:


> Any specific practices or money habits that worked out great for you?


- paid off mortgage as soon as possible
- don't buy stuff until you have the money to pay for it
- live within or below your means


> Is there anything you wish you had done differently?


I wish I hadn't taken the commuted value of my pension. I didn't do as well as I thought I would.


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## Eder

If you are motivated enough as you said to own your own business this is by far the easiest way to financial success. If you need a partner make sure he is 2x as smart as you and works 4x harder...otherwise go it alone.

Biggest mistake I ever made...real estate speculation. Lost everything but my family in 1984.
Smartest thing I ever did...move to where prosperity was encouraged & rewarded to start my business.

If you are lazy get a government job with good job security,little effort, and a fat pension after 30 years...(teaching,police,infrastructure etc)


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## donald

Hey ed!sorry to hijack thread!could you expand on ''what'' the speculation was?and why you lost?
I just bought some land myself(future building lot)I have some issues facing me with sewer/water and a approach(semi-rural-i knew going in though somewhat)I have a sinking feel i may have made a mistake.I still feel like it will work out.
Would love to hear what happened to you in 84 if your open to share,no problem if not.


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## marina628

sags said:


> I think Marina is probably the resident expert on domain names and websites on this forum.


July 2007 I spent $59,000 in domains on snap names  I bought two that were page rank 7 for $3100 and $4000 and I sold them for $30,000 ,technically I never even owned then as I paid for them with my credit card and gave the buyers info to snap names lol

Domain business is a bit tougher now than it was 6 years ago , I still own a 15 year old domain that I paid $13,000 for back in 06 and I used it for audiobooks.Go to Poker Stars click Sit & Go play the Fifty50 games where top 5 win and when you are up $30 a day quit ,that should cover your rent  One of these days I will set up a Poker School for CMF


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## Barwelle

I'm younger than you james... but the boomer & echo blog has a series of stories from retirees that you might find interesting. 

Here are some links. 

http://www.boomerandecho.com/the-effect-of-serendipity-on-retirement/
http://www.boomerandecho.com/my-view-of-early-retirement/
http://www.boomerandecho.com/our-retirement-philosophy-lock-it-away-until-we-need-it/
http://www.boomerandecho.com/how-my-retirement-plans-got-derailed-big-time/
http://www.boomerandecho.com/how-this-couple-spends-their-retirement-travelling/

Some written by CMF addicts.... ahem, members.

Itchy54, good to hear you made it through. As much as nearly dying ... well, sucks, it sounds like you are enjoying your life more now because of it.


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## james4beach

sags said:


> I am no expert, but I would say diversify beyond what would be considered investments/assets that are linked to the big world of finance.
> 
> A smattering of other investments, such as 1/4 section of farmland in Saskatchewan for example.


Thanks for the reply. This is one area I've been interested in, but haven't done much about. It seems like a good idea (hard assets especially). I do own some physical precious metals and was planning on picking up some more this summer with the sudden big discount. Thanks for the ideas.



> I am not a big fan of annuities.........but perhaps some investment in a small one, that will provide additional income in retirement? Retirement incomes usually consist of bits and pieces from all over..........rather than one big lump coming from one source. A couple hundred extra dollars a month is always welcome.


I've wondered about these annuities. I thought there were lots of hidden fees? It seems with an annuity you're just paying for the convenience of having several things wrapped up to produce one cashflow. If going this route I get the sense that one may be better off in one of these 'monthly income funds' which is the same concept. Even XTR for example (which I've posted negative things about because they _misrepresent_ the yield) - but once the corp/junk bond bubble bursts, I can see the appeal of XTR.

Is there a big difference between an annuity and an 'income fund' or something like XTR or ZMI?


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## Guban

james4beach said:


> Thanks for the reply. This is one area I've been interested in, but haven't done much about. It seems like a good idea (hard assets especially). I do own some physical precious metals and was planning on picking up some more this summer with the sudden big discount. Thanks for the ideas.
> 
> 
> 
> I've wondered about these annuities. I thought there were lots of hidden fees? It seems with an annuity you're just paying for the convenience of having several things wrapped up to produce one cashflow. If going this route I get the sense that one may be better off in one of these 'monthly income funds' which is the same concept. Even XTR for example (which I've posted negative things about because they _misrepresent_ the yield) - but once the corp/junk bond bubble bursts, I can see the appeal of XTR.
> 
> Is there a big difference between an annuity and an 'income fund' or something like XTR or ZMI?


You can read a book coauthored by MoneyGal about pensionizing your income to understand the reasoning behind annuities.


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## james4beach

Itchy54 said:


> Stay healthy. This has got to be number one on my list--no amount of money will help with bad health (well, it might). When I see my Dad stumble around, my father in law coughing out a lung and a dear close friend losing his life to a very stressed heart (darn that butter!!) I know that eating my kale and hitting the gym beats wondering if I could make another half a percent on some money making venture.


Thanks Itchy54. Really seems like solid advice there... focusing on good health, getting regular exercise.




> Take holidays every year.....don't always save, save and save. I very nearly died at 49 from acute severe pancreatitis...very sudden and cause was unknown (I am not and never have been a drinker). In a blink the fun times can come to a sudden end....so enjoy, to an extent--ie don't spend it all. We now take the month of December and hang somewhere hot to celebrate my life, and our life together.
> 
> Stay informed, as you are now, and your life will be special!! Now, eat your kale young man!


Sorry to hear about the pancreatitis and glad you recovered. Balancing saving money with enjoying life is a tough one! A delicate act, but I understand what you're saying.


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## james4beach

Retired Peasant said:


> - paid off mortgage as soon as possible
> - don't buy stuff until you have the money to pay for it
> - live within or below your means
> 
> I wish I hadn't taken the commuted value of my pension. I didn't do as well as I thought I would.


Thanks, Retired Peasant. Luckily I probably won't have to worry about the pension since it's been mostly phased out in my generation  But good to know still.


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## james4beach

Eder said:


> If you are motivated enough as you said to own your own business this is by far the easiest way to financial success. If you need a partner make sure he is 2x as smart as you and works 4x harder...otherwise go it alone.
> 
> Biggest mistake I ever made...real estate speculation. Lost everything but my family in 1984.
> Smartest thing I ever did...move to where prosperity was encouraged & rewarded to start my business.


Interesting tips about the small business partner selection!


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## james4beach

marina628 said:


> July 2007 I spent $59,000 in domains on snap names  I bought two that were page rank 7 for $3100 and $4000 and I sold them for $30,000 ,technically I never even owned then as I paid for them with my credit card and gave the buyers info to snap names lol


I own a few domains, mostly my old technology business & related spinoffs. Until 2008 the revenue from advertising was very substantial, in fact it became the majority of my income. That all crashed in 2008 and never came back, though. It gives me a sense that there was a 'web advertising bubble' in those early years, 2003 to 2008.

Google ads pays out much less than back in those years, unfortunately. I almost feel silly serving Google ads, considering how little they pay.


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## james4beach

Barwelle said:


> I'm younger than you james... but the boomer & echo blog has a series of stories from retirees that you might find interesting.


Thanks those are great links, reading through all of them.


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## james4beach

Guban said:


> You can read a book coauthored by MoneyGal about pensionizing your income to understand the reasoning behind annuities.


Didn't know we had a published author here. Wow. I'll msg her to get a title so I can go and check it out, unless someone has the title handy?

I'm more inclined to synthesize the annuity myself and cut out the middlemen, if I can. My best understanding how to construct a retirement income stream is from the description in The Income Illusion (article) which says it's just a balance of dividends, interest income, and return of capital (adjusted according to how long you want it to last). The article suggests that this is all that annuities do.

Over time I've finally learned that there's no such thing as magic or free money, which makes me think that a real annuity product couldn't be doing anything that I can't do myself. Or if they have another way to generate money I haven't heard of yet, I might as well learn the mechanics of that too.


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## CanadianCapitalist

james4beach said:


> Didn't know we had a published author here. Wow. I'll msg her to get a title so I can go and check it out, unless someone has the title handy?


Pensionize Your Nest Egg. Look it up on Amazon or Chapters.


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## MoneyGal

lol, I told him to hit up the public library. :encouragement:


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## MoneyGal

james4beach said:


> Over time I've finally learned that there's no such thing as magic or free money, which makes me think that a real annuity product couldn't be doing anything that I can't do myself. Or *if they have another way to generate money I haven't heard of yet*, I might as well learn the mechanics of that too.


Mortality credits.


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## Daniel A.

I've been broke twice and still managed to retire at 56 due largely to my DB pension.

Court custody fights will drain a bank account as will divorce many couples have had to rework retirement plans due to this.
Next to bad investment decisions divorce is right up there for derailing retirement. 

My wife and I agree that we spent way to much on the kids when they were growing up.

I do own a major web forum that has been going for seven years now.
My forum does not make money but could if I were willing to push advertising. I hold it in a break even position and have the traffic to grow.
95% of forums fail in the first year.

Your young enough that having a plan is good just make a point of living for the present.
In these times most people really don't have a clue how they will ever retire, some simply didn't have means others didn't plan for it.
If you have the means and a plan your much further ahead than most.


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## Eder

donald said:


> Hey ed!sorry to hijack thread!could you expand on ''what'' the speculation was?and why you lost?


I don't really want to admit but it involved spec houses and borrowed money at 18% and youthful greed. I hope your land purchase works out as I know how hard you work building yourconstruction business ...a few good breaks and I'm sure you will be on easy street.


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## james4beach

Daniel A. said:


> I've been broke twice and still managed to retire at 56 due largely to my DB pension.
> 
> Court custody fights will drain a bank account as will divorce many couples have had to rework retirement plans due to this.
> Next to bad investment decisions divorce is right up there for derailing retirement.


I've heard lots of stories about bad divorces. Seems that men often get bled dry, and this is something that's even deterring me from marriage.

Defined benefit pension would be nice  Is there any place I can get one, other than government? I've heard many forecasts that none of these pensions will exist by the time I retire...


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## Daniel A.

Your right about the DB, I was lucky to have it and even the company I worked for has since dropped it for new hires.


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## Eclectic12

james4beach said:


> Didn't know we had a published author here. Wow.
> 
> I'll msg her to get a title so I can go and check it out, unless someone has the title handy? ...





CanadianCapitalist said:


> Pensionize Your Nest Egg. Look it up on Amazon or Chapters.


Adding, here's the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.ca/Pensionize-You...1437&sr=8-1&keywords=pensionize+your+nest+egg


Cheers


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## pwm

I've been retired since 2005. I quit at age 55. (2 months short of 56).

I was able to do so because I always lived within my means, payed off my mortgage in 1984, invested for retirement after that, didn't make imprudent investment decisions, stayed married to the same woman; just the routine things that everyone should do if they want to prosper.

*Worst investment mistake:* Didn't sell my Nortel shares when they were spun off from BCE, and bought more on the way down. 
*Best decision:* Enrolled in my company's stock purchase plan at day one. It's the main reason I could quit work at 55.
*Still undecided: *Worked as a cubicle slave at a job I hated for 35 years. It's been said that no amount of money is worth doing a job you hate. I got a DB pension with benefits, (drugs dental etc.), and $1/2 million in company stock, the dividends about equal to the pension. Was it worth it? I'm still pondering that one.


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## retiredat45

*Stick to the basics*



james4beach said:


> I'm in my 30s, so retirement is a long way away (I will probably be working for the next ~ 40 years). I've read the standard things about retirement in newspapers and magazines, but I would specifically like to hear some advice from near-retirees or maybe anyone over 60.
> 
> About myself: 30s, not married and living alone for now. I rent, but am saving money for a home (maybe in 5 year timespan). I have zero debt. I've also saved a chunk of money for business capital (I once ran a successful small business and want to try it again). Leaving aside the money saved for home+business capital, I have pretty standard allocations... 30% fixed income, 51% in equity&riskier things. My income is reasonable, as a professional, but I'm also in a volatile field of work and we all seem to get laid off every few years. I have a fully maxed out TFSA and RRSP, but am not convinced about the RRSP as a pancea because I believe that taxes will be much higher in the future, thus by deferring they really might not be saving me anything.
> 
> I'm all ears, and frankly I don't trust the financial salespeople and media much.
> 
> Any specific practices or money habits that worked out great for you?
> Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
> Did you encounter any financial disasters or big losses? How might I steer clear of those things?
> Any types of products that you got sold on, but regret?
> Any other things you would advise me to watch out for or stay away from?


As others have stated - congratulations for having established yourself financially at such a young age. Clearly you have a goal and are working towards achieving it which is half the battle.

I retired at 45, and my greatest worries came from stepping away from the security of a good paying job with lots of security. I took the plunge in July of 2007 - which meant that my first two years of retirement included the market meltdown of '08/'09. I was thinking about polishing my resume after only being two years away from the rat race! 

I have two suggestions for you: i) understand what you require for income in order to afford a standard of living that makes you happy, and secondly; ii) understand what returns you can expect from a portfolio that allows you to sleep at night. When you reach the point where the first requirement matches the second, save another 10% and then pull the rip cord! If you know that you'll need $90,000 of gross income to do the things you want post retirement and your portfolio has produced that much positive cash flow over a number of years - you're almost there. I believe the 10% rule takes a lot of stress away if you happen to have the same luck that I did and retire before a big downward shift in the market. As for understanding how much you'll need - it's critical to track your spending patterns for years to gain that insight into what "life" really costs. It's different for everyone. Then you won't need to rely on the cliche that "you'll need 70% of your net income in your retirement". What the heck is that based on? Calculate your own and be confident in the numbers.

Don't dismiss the power of the RRSP - I understand your concern about future tax rates, but the real benefit that they offer someone your age is the benefit of tax sheltered growth. You can actively manage your RRSP without being concerned about the impact of crystallizing capital gains, the tax impact of collecting interest income, and event the benefit of holding foreign equities in a registered account. Yep, you may pay the same tax rate when you start to withdraw the funds, but they'll have grown to a substantially higher amount than if they had been held in a non-registered account.

My biggest regret - taking a commuted payout of a pension that I had earned and then parking the relatively small amount in an assortment of proprietary mutual funds with a bank instead of opening a self directed LIRA and investing the time to manage it properly. By the time I was preparing to retire, it was too late to recapture the effect of compounding that I could have applied to grow it to a much larger amount than the MF's had resulted in.

Good luck reaching for your goals!


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## james4beach

retiredat45: thanks for the well wishes, and the advice.

I'm still working on "calibrating" the amount of income I require... my life could change a lot in the coming years. Good point about having realistic expectations from a portfolio that lets me sleep comfortably at night and the 10% rule is a neat one.



> Don't dismiss the power of the RRSP - I understand your concern about future tax rates, but the real benefit that they offer someone your age is the benefit of tax sheltered growth. You can actively manage your RRSP without being concerned about the impact of crystallizing capital gains


Good point, I may have overlooked that. I'm not throwing away the RRSP... I take it pretty seriously, I just don't have faith that it's going to be all the glamour that the industry has made it out to be. So far I've accumulated 60K in my RRSP over 7 working years and I track its performance using XIRR in a spreadsheet to watch how my "retirement fund" is performing.


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## My Own Advisor

Impressive work james4beach. 

Like you, a bit maybe, I'm not all over the RRSP. Eventually, I have to pull the money out. Who knows what my tax situation might be then but I'll be sure to withdraw in a lower tax-bracket than today.

On that note, it would be nice to keep some of my U.S. stocks that are in my RRSP, that pay dividends. I guess I could move them into a non-registered USD $ account.


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## Eclectic12

james4beach said:


> ... I'm still working on "calibrating" the amount of income I require... my life could change a lot in the coming years.


The key is knowing oneself ... most of my retired relatives express concerns about rising costs, particularly medical case but as they have never been extravagant - they pretty much all said they are able to do a lot more (especially traveling) in retirement, even though it's on "less" income.




james4beach said:


> ... Good point, I may have overlooked that. I'm not throwing away the RRSP... I take it pretty seriously, I just don't have faith that it's going to be all the glamour that the industry has made it out to be. So far I've accumulated 60K in my RRSP over 7 working years and I track its performance using XIRR in a spreadsheet to watch how my "retirement fund" is performing.


Another benefit that I think is not well understood and undervalued - is the potential to have the full $ invested either immediately or in a relatively short order.


Cheers


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## fatcat

in no particular order, this is what i would do if i magically became 30 again

-excercise and eat right
-develop and get good at a useful skill that can't be outsourced
-don't live in a big city
-take self defense classes ... get and learn to use a firearm
-develop a support network of friends and neighbors (instead of hoarding precious metals)
-stay out of debt at all costs
-sell all your bonds (in 40 years, exxon might have better credit than the government of canada)
-dollar cost average into a broad portfolio of excellent companies across all sectors

live in the moment is my best advice, but of course nobody actually _does_ that :chuncky:


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## sags

It's funny how our "expectations" of retirement have changed over the years.

At one time we dreamed of a lakefront home in the woods for 6 months...........and 6 months in Florida.

We had a trailer at a lake for 15 years, and discovered we really got bored there after a week or so, and now we would like to live right smack downtown in the centre of the noise and activity.

We thought we wanted to travel...........but don't want to go anywhere farther than a day trip now.

My advice would be..............save as much as you can.................and plan what you are going to do after retirement........when you get to retirement age.


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## Nemo2

sags said:


> We thought we wanted to travel...........but don't want to go anywhere farther than a day trip now.
> 
> My advice would be..............save as much as you can.................and plan what you are going to do after retirement........when you get to retirement age.


Don't know about the 'planning' department, (never been one of my strong points), but socking the cash away instead of simply urinating it up against a vertical structure is always a plus.

As to travel...after 60+ countries, followed by a hiatus, I'm back into it.......Czech Republic earlier this year, and in 29 days we head to Barcelona (on a cheap one-way flight) for a week, (where we'll stay in cheap accommodation......found online using the same site wherein we found the Prague apartment), before catching a cheap repositioning cruise with Holland America from Barcelona-Ft. Lauderdale..........my child bride will spend her 61st birthday in the Azores.

Life is great, retirement is great!


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## avrex

Excellent 1st post @retiredat45.
I hope to see more of your insights in the future, on the 'Retirement' forum.


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## kcowan

sags said:


> At one time we dreamed of a lakefront home in the woods for 6 months...........and 6 months in Florida.
> 
> We had a trailer at a lake for 15 years, and discovered we really got bored there after a week or so, and now we would like to live right smack downtown in the centre of the noise and activity...


Yes our cottage was a release from the pressures of working daily in the city. Now we love being steps from the chaos.

(When we took our Med cruise, we dined with 2 couples from Great Britain. They were both taking the cruise for relaxation and warmth. They had been to all the ports multiple times so had no desire to rush off the ship. Our friends from PV are taking a relocation cruise from Stockholm to Ft Lauderdale: 16 days at $38/day.)


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## Islenska

My retirement plans have taken a 180, was doing a bit of fill-in pharmacy work and then two stores became very short staff so figured out last week I put in 61hours, not what my pre-retirement plan was for sure.

Right now couldn't care less if I worked another hour for the rest of the year.

Reread fat-cat's comments, well said.

Life is not a set plan------------Thankfully!


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## marina628

Nemo2 said:


> Don't know about the 'planning' department, (never been one of my strong points), but socking the cash away instead of simply urinating it up against a vertical structure is always a plus.
> 
> As to travel...after 60+ countries, followed by a hiatus, I'm back into it.......Czech Republic earlier this year, and in 29 days we head to Barcelona (on a cheap one-way flight) for a week, (where we'll stay in cheap accommodation......found online using the same site wherein we found the Prague apartment), before catching a cheap repositioning cruise with Holland America from Barcelona-Ft. Lauderdale..........my child bride will spend her 61st birthday in the Azores.
> 
> Life is great, retirement is great!


Are you going on the 21 day Meditteranean Farewell Collector? We have a conference October 3 -October 6 in Barcelona and our plan is/was to do this trip for our 25th Anniversary (October 15) .Lots of things up in air with my brother but that would be great if we are on same cruise for 3 weeks!

Marina


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## Nemo2

marina628 said:


> Are you going on the 21 day Meditteranean Farewell Collector? We have a conference October 3 -October 6 in Barcelona and our plan is/was to do this trip for our 25th Anniversary (October 15) .Lots of things up in air with my brother but that would be great if we are on same cruise for 3 weeks!
> 
> Marina


We're on the 14 night cruise departing Barcelona on October 13 on the Nieuw Amsterdam: http://www.repositioningcruise.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=13368

http://www.repositioningcruise.com/ship.cfm?shipid=516


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## My Own Advisor

Sounds kick *** Nemo! Have a great time! (Only slightly jealous I'll be at my desk job while you're touring Europe...only slightly....


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## Nemo2

My Own Advisor said:


> Sounds kick *** Nemo! Have a great time! (Only slightly jealous I'll be at my desk job while you're touring Europe...only slightly....


Thanks......(Yuk, 'job'.......the very thought make me shiver......24 1/2 years of not working, (after a few years of work, which were preceded by years of not working), and I haven't missed it a bit.)

Not really a 'cruise person', (was only ever on one, circa 1971, and that's because I'd always wanted to be on that particular ship....which was later to be a troop carrier in the Falklands war).............







but, back in 'the day' when ships were the way to travel from Oz and back, 'buses' more than 'cruises', I was on a few..........looking forward to an Atlantic crossing.


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## My Own Advisor

You haven't worked in 24+ years? Nice. 

I like my job (at least parts of it) but I can certainly think of other things I'd rather do for 9 hours a day.... Travelling comes to mind. Golfing 9 or 18 each day. Mountain biking. Maybe run my blog for an hour or so. The list goes on...


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## kcowan

You can do it too. Nemo is barely 70.


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## My Own Advisor

Barely?  That made me laugh. Nemo has earned it. 

I will hopefully be "there" at 55. If I keep my current job and things go well, i.e., mortgage gets killed as per plan, etc. Life is unpredictable though. I just want my health. If I don't have that, I don't have much.


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## Nemo2

kcowan said:


> You can do it too. Nemo is barely 70.


Barely 70? In 20 days I'll be 71! :biggrin:


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## Nemo2

My Own Advisor said:


> I just want my health. If I don't have that, I don't have much.


Health is everything........there are things beyond our control, but the things we can control should be top priority.....good luck.


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## Nemo2

marina628 said:


> Are you going on the 21 day Meditteranean Farewell Collector? We have a conference October 3 -October 6 in Barcelona and our plan is/was to do this trip for our 25th Anniversary (October 15) .Lots of things up in air with my brother but that would be great if we are on same cruise for 3 weeks!
> 
> Marina


After a second look http://cruises.affordabletours.com/search/itsd/cruises/39007131006/ it appears that it _is_ the same cruise........we're just catching the latter 2/3rds of it when the ship arrives back in Barcelona. Ahoy thar!


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## jimbob.seeker

Thanks for posting the link. Maybe the wife & I will catch a cruise in the near future.

Regards,
JimBob


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## jimbob.seeker

Barwelle said:


> I'm younger than you james... but the boomer & echo blog has a series of stories from retirees that you might find interesting.
> 
> Here are some links.
> 
> http://www.boomerandecho.com/the-effect-of-serendipity-on-retirement/
> http://www.boomerandecho.com/my-view-of-early-retirement/
> http://www.boomerandecho.com/our-retirement-philosophy-lock-it-away-until-we-need-it/
> http://www.boomerandecho.com/how-my-retirement-plans-got-derailed-big-time/
> http://www.boomerandecho.com/how-this-couple-spends-their-retirement-travelling/
> 
> Some written by CMF addicts.... ahem, members.
> 
> Itchy54, good to hear you made it through. As much as nearly dying ... well, sucks, it sounds like you are enjoying your life more now because of it.


Barwelle:

Thanks a lot for posting the links. The retiree stories are well worth reading.

Regards,
Noel


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## My Own Advisor

A little off topic for this thread, but I'll post the question(s) anyhow....

A buddy of mine and I have been emailing back and forth. Some of his math tells him he'll need about $4 M to retire "comfortably" in another 25 years (2038), aged 65.

"Comfortably" is defined as spending about $60,000 per year in retirement, in 2013 dollars. Given inflation, tax rates and other factors, he's worried he and his family won't have enough. He has purposely excluded CPP and OAS out of his calculations.

To the current retirees and those nearing retirement in the CMF, what was your portfolio value when you knew you could call it quits? How were you confident that was your "enough" number? I'm guessing it wasn't a $4 M portfolio value, maybe not even half that but I would be curious about your answers if you could share...

Thanks,
Mark


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## OnlyMyOpinion

As we've posted elsewhere, this little on-line calculator might be handy for playing with different scenarios: 
http://finance.yahoo.com/calculator/retirement/ret02/
If you were 64 today, retired in 1yr with $1.2MM you could live to age 90 with $60k per year of income assuming inflation of 2% and returns of 4%.
It's scarier if we plug in: age 40, retire at 65, current income $60k, $200k saved, inflation 2%, retire at 65, need retirement income for 25 yrs, replace 100% of income ($60k), pre and post investment ror 4%: You'd have nearly $2MM saved by age 65 and that would last you till 90. The big challenge though is saving to get to that $2MM when you retire  As always, more+sooner=better. Dont' see where $4MM is needed though.


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## Jon_Snow

Oooh... love calculators like this. Gonna plug in some of my numbers.


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## james4beach

That's kind of cute how the calculator assumes my income will increase at the rate of inflation... we can all dream right? American wages have been rising at less than the rate of inflation, for many decades...


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## OnlyMyOpinion

Set inflation to 0 and your income won't go up. 
Then set your investment return to an after-inflation value like 2%. 
Overly simple, but may give us some insight.
Don't take any of the numbers to the bank.


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## Daniel A.

My Own Advisor said:


> A little off topic for this thread, but I'll post the question(s) anyhow....
> 
> A buddy of mine and I have been emailing back and forth. Some of his math tells him he'll need about $4 M to retire "comfortably" in another 25 years (2038), aged 65.
> 
> "Comfortably" is defined as spending about $60,000 per year in retirement, in 2013 dollars. Given inflation, tax rates and other factors, he's worried he and his family won't have enough. He has purposely excluded CPP and OAS out of his calculations.
> 
> To the current retirees and those nearing retirement in the CMF, what was your portfolio value when you knew you could call it quits? How were you confident that was your "enough" number? I'm guessing it wasn't a $4 M portfolio value, maybe not even half that but I would be curious about your answers if you could share...
> 
> Thanks,
> Mark



My wife and I decided long ago that our pensions would carry us for the bulk over thirty years we will collect at a rate of 80,000.00 per year.
Yes there is RRSP money sitting for major purchases but our retirement is based on pension money.


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## My Own Advisor

Thanks guys....I'm going to take that calculator for a test drive. Seems good. Even with "normal" inflation (3%), anything close to needing $4 M at the time of retirement, in this case, age 65 (2038), seems like a TON of money and much more than necessary.

Interesting chart james4beach.

Daniel A. - sounds like a great plan. You are very fortunate to have pensions, churning out $80k per year. My friend doesn't have a pension, neither does his wife, so when he crunches the numbers, he's a little freaked out. Maybe rightly so?

Based on the numbers I've crunched, I figure $2.5 M at the time of retirement, with an annual spend rate of about $60,000 in 2038 dollars should work nicely; certainly less than his $4 M nest egg necessary.


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## Ihatetaxes

The only calculator you need is RRIFmetic. Steve was nice enough to do a couple for me and its fantastic info.


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## steve41

I got $ 2.2M at age 65 for a die-broke of 95 at 4% rate of return, 2% inflation, and full CPP/OAS.


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## Nemo2

My Own Advisor said:


> To the current retirees and those nearing retirement in the CMF, what was your portfolio value when you knew you could call it quits? How were you confident that was your "enough" number? I'm guessing it wasn't a $4 M portfolio value, maybe not even half that but I would be curious about your answers if you could share...


I guess _comfortability_ is a malleable factor........I stopped working the beginning of 1989 with $500K.......no pension(s)........now, (including our little condo townhouse and CPP/OAS), we're at ~ $1.6 million and still spending less than we bring in.......(but then we're cheap bastards :wink: )


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## kcowan

We had $1.4 million plus a DB pension for $28k/yr in 2002. Now getting OAS/CPP. Plus our Mexico purchase has reduced our annual budget since 2007. So we are OK. Not as cheap as Nemo and certainly not bastards.:encouragement:

But then he has so much more experience at it, beating us by 15 years.


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## Toronto.gal

Nemo2 said:


> 1. we're cheap bastards :wink:
> 2. comfortability is a malleable factor


1. Not sure about the ******* part, lol, but certainly you can replace cheap with smart IMHO. I do not believe for a nanosecond that you're less happier than anyone with a bigger home, pensions, etc. From what you have told us, you're enjoying life/travel the world/make good investments/have a great wife, etc., etc., so IMHO, you're pretty rich! :encouragement:

2. Indeed!


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## Nemo2

Toronto.gal said:


> 1. Not sure about the ******* part, lol, but certainly you can replace cheap with smart IMHO. I do not believe for a nanosecond that you're less happier than anyone with a bigger home, pensions, etc. From what you have told us, you're enjoying life/travel the world/make good investments/have a great wife, etc., etc., so IMHO, you're pretty rich! :encouragement:
> 
> 2. Indeed!



Rich indeed. I've always considered myself to be/have been very lucky......even when bad things happen, (death of a spouse, run over by a truck, etc), good things are generally never too far behind.


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