How are you planning for retirement?

[Howard]

I'm 43, soon 44, and I've been planning my retirement for 7 months. I started with a budget to see how much I could save per month while keeping an adequate lifestyle. I'm much of an hermit, so my entertainment budget is low. I live in a small appartment that's pretty cheap. That leaves me being able to save, despite having to pay dental work and help a child through college, about 20% of my take home pay. Now, I took advice from my uncles and a stepfather and looking for more input. I did not fully agree with anyone I spoke of about their retirement stategy, but found something neat in each one of them.

I diversify my saving this way an plan do to so for the upcoming years :  5-10% in precious metals, 5-10% in tax-deductible registered retirement saving plan and 85% in stocks. I have holdings in 2 companies and I'm looking to put money in a third one.They are not companies in related fields. The first is in media, the second is a real-estate company and the one I'm contemplating is a bank. After five years, I want to phase out completely precious metals and divide my savings 85% stocks, 15% RRSPs, and every year thereafter take less stocks and more RRSPs. The reason for that is that the closer I get to my retirement, the more careful I have to be with my savings and the tax-rebate I take is more important when divided by the number of years left before my retirement. 

With that plan, I should be able to buy a house or a 2-appartment block in a small city where real-estate is cheap and have no rent to pay. I will do so with the money I saved on the stock market byt the time I'm 59. I will have provincial retirement benefits that I could supplement with my RRSPs until I qualify for federal retirement benefits. The RRSPs will also come in handy to pay city taxes and if something around the house breaks.

So, how are you planning your retirement? Do you have any tips for me? Or did I give you any tips?

[daveb]

Too late. I'm already retired.  

 

What I did was, first I lucked into a job that provided me with a small pension starting at age 60, got into another job later in my career where I maximized my 401k contributions (something like 25% of my income before taxes went straight into it), bought a house, and ran through lots of calculations and budgets and talked to financial planners at my 401k company before I actually retired. I figure everyone has different needs and methods, but the above suited me. I like owning my home vs renting since the payments generally don't go up as much (where I live and with my finances it actually costs me less per month to own than to rent and I'm not at the mercy of rising rental costs). I didn't have the interest or the know-how to be comfortable investing in things like the stock market and managing that sort of stuff myself so having the 401k company manage was better for me, too.

 

My number one tip is to plan for it.  

[griffinej5]

I’m 33, and well, This year i finally have it set up so i should make the max contributions to my IRA. I pretty much let the website it’s through manage things though. Next step, i should finish laying my student loan this year so I’ll be able to save more money. But well, let’s be real, no normal person  my age is going to be able to retire completely. 

[Skycaptain]

My plan is to downsize my house upon retirement and use the capital to live on. 

[Techie]

For me, the first step was I got lucky and stupid. For 8 1/2 years I worked for a corporation that was being sued left and right but made a product people wanted. I disregarded sound advice and invested 50% of my 401K money in the company stock. There were many rough years but I kept investing and eventually it paid off (it could just as easily have gone the other way). Meanwhile, I took on a financial advisor many years ago who started steering me toward sound investment strategies (buying Amazon.com at $400 for example or my deciding to buy Sirius XM Radio at 11 cents a share). My advisor also pushed me to open a ROTH IRA.

 

Now being ACE without a family or dependents gave me the "freedom" to live like a bum and put money in investments. I live out of a duffle back shuttling between relatives who need me to be around so they can travel and do their family things. But when I turn 65, various investments mature and a small pension from a previous employer kicks in, I can then tell the world to "F it" and start to have a brief life. The problem I am facing now, ironically, is having such a large retirement income in the future that I will be in a high tax bracket. I have been working with my advisor to try and move some of those assets to a ROTH to minimize the impact. I also need to do some estate planning so some charitable groups can benefit. My sisters or their kids, who are my beneficiaries will eventually win the "lottery" so to speak but I need to balance the money they receive tax free from my life insurance with the taxable money that can go tax free to charitable groups. 

[Nick2]

1 hour ago, Howard said:

I'm 43, soon 44, and I've been planning my retirement for 7 months. I started with a budget to see how much I could save per month while keeping an adequate lifestyle. I'm much of an hermit, so my entertainment budget is low. I live in a small appartment that's pretty cheap. That leaves me being able to save, despite having to pay dental work and help a child through college, about 20% of my take home pay. Now, I took advice from my uncles and a stepfather and looking for more input. I did not fully agree with anyone I spoke of about their retirement stategy, but found something neat in each one of them.

I diversify my saving this way an plan do to so for the upcoming years :  5-10% in precious metals, 5-10% in tax-deductible registered retirement saving plan and 85% in stocks. I have holdings in 2 companies and I'm looking to put money in a third one.They are not companies in related fields. The first is in media, the second is a real-estate company and the one I'm contemplating is a bank. After five years, I want to phase out completely precious metals and divide my savings 85% stocks, 15% RRSPs, and every year thereafter take less stocks and more RRSPs. The reason for that is that the closer I get to my retirement, the more careful I have to be with my savings and the tax-rebate I take is more important when divided by the number of years left before my retirement. 

With that plan, I should be able to buy a house or a 2-appartment block in a small city where real-estate is cheap and have no rent to pay. I will do so with the money I saved on the stock market byt the time I'm 59. I will have provincial retirement benefits that I could supplement with my RRSPs until I qualify for federal retirement benefits. The RRSPs will also come in handy to pay city taxes and if something around the house breaks.

So, how are you planning your retirement? Do you have any tips for me? Or did I give you any tips?

Make sure you have good heal care insurance.  Unforeseen medical situations can destroy all the planning you did.  Also, get long term care insurance if you don't already have it.

[Nick2]

I was able to retire at 52 (now almost 68).  Get a pension and income from the family mining and farming operation.  Also, since I am single have put a lot away and have a lot invested.  Yearly income is now larger than my working years.

[LonesomeCrow]

I'm still young but I guess it's never too early to plan ahead. I have 401ks at both of my jobs, so it's a start.

[iff]

I started my own pension in 2012 at 27 years old and last year, my employer brought me in to the company pension. 

[AllThisTime]

6 hours ago, Howard said:

tax-deductible registered retirement saving plan

Howard, I've been retired for 3 years now; I am lucky that I worked for a municipality and paid into the retirement savings plan (OMERS), which has made a huge difference for me. I'm not going to give you any investment tips, but since I live in Canada I wanted to remind you that the money you put into your RRSP should stay there until you are 71, when they assume you'll be taxed less because you'll have a lower income. However, you can withdraw money from the RRSP without penalty for the purchase of your first home.  A Tax Free Savings Account is something to keep in mind also. That's about it from me, other than I've invested in a couple of solar energy co-ops (in an RRSP) where I can actually see the structure I've invested in feeding into the grid, and making me environmentally friendly earnings.  Looking forward to hearing more of your ideas.

[Coily the Spring Sprite]

I'm 52 and don't see myself having that luxury.  I'm doing ok, but if any major health problems arise, I'm not sure what I'd do. After seeing what my father went through in his last years, I only hope I'd be cognizant enough to swallow a bullet and not linger on for several more years.

[Guest Jetsun Milarepa]

Had a private pension most of my working life although I didn't put much into it.

My luck came with my choice of house, having bought in SW19 London I had no trouble making money on the house by upgrading it and living there for 16 years.

I never treated it as an investment at the time, as it was our family home, but it's made my pension now.

Invested as a spread of shares, plus a tax free ISA that I add to yearly.

I can't retire officially till I'm 66 (59 now), but in all honesty, I haven't been working seriously since 2009.

Plan is...get the last of the NI contributions in (2 years) ...maybe a bit of part time work to keep busy, draw that state pension and use my private one for luxuries like travel.

If that starts to dwindle and and I'm still in good health and fitness, I'll downsize again.

[Tanwen]

70 next week, officially retired 10 years ago but still working.  As a single parent with no maintenance from ex, 100% of my earnings went on keeping my family housed and fed. Still working, although down to 2 days a week with a 5-day weekend - no prospect of giving up. Will probably be working till the day of my funeral, will have to ask for a day's holiday for it, and get told 'No, you can't have that day.Too many booked off. You will have to die in three weeks' time'

[ryn2]

I had it planned out (a mix of small pensions from long-past jobs, tax-deferred retirement savings plans, and mutual funds) and was right on target but am now getting divorced so the whole plan is out the window.

[Fydron]

I am 36 got no plans other than I think I will just wing it just like ihave done everything in my life.

[Nick2]

2 minutes ago, Fydron said:

I am 36 got no plans other than I think I will just wing it just like ihave done everything in my life.

Those wings get pretty tired when you get older.

[helana12_03]

I'm too broke to think about retirement.

[nerdography]

I’m 35 and I really don’t earn enough to consistently save. But, after my grandmother passed I got a small inheritance, so I put all of it into a Roth IRA. 

 

I dont know if I’ll ever fully retire. I had planned to going part time by 50.

[acematt]

Just be a frugal cheapskate, don't get married and/or have kids, and be wise with your money. Don't make risky investments. Save some and put it away every month. Being asexual works in our favor in that we have no desire to marry and have kids or at least most of us don't. Easier said than done but with patience, determination, willpower, and self-control you can achieve financial security. Just take it one step at a time. 

[LoraSeagull]

Hello, FOLKS! Question: anyone here is thinking about "downshift"? Ex): to buy a small house with land in rural Bulgaria & have Your own organic veggies/fruits - to live a quiet Life in Nature enjoying the Black Sea & Mountains, nice peaceful atmosphere? (Looking for a person like that - to implement this together - in retirement).

[LoraSeagull]

"Bonsoir", or other time of the day - to everyone. Please disregard my question. Wishing all the best!

[CrazyCatLover]

I'm 30 and need to get going on retirement planning. I have two 401ks with not much in them. Currently, I'm spending money on nursing school (making a career change from teaching). I guess my retirement plan at this point is get my doctorate as quickly and cheaply as possible, and then max out 401k contributions. I did move back in with my parents for college which keeps me from needing student loans. 

[wyrdwyrm]

I've been pretty pathetic about planning for my own retirement, but I hope to have my house paid off in a few years and then focus more of my income on my 401K. It's not the most economical way to do it, but it's better than nothing perhaps?

 

I might collect all of my single friends at that point, pool our resources, and create an old folks' commune so I don't have to live alone in my old age. Hopefully with someone who can cook better than I do.  

[robnrdbrd]

On 4/28/2019 at 3:07 PM, wyrdwyrm said:

 

 

I might collect all of my single friends at that point, pool our resources, and create an old folks' commune so I don't have to live alone in my old age. Hopefully with someone who can cook better than I do.  

 

Some friends and I always joke that we're going to start a "non-creepy commune" ... no suicide pact, no weird sex stuff (none at all for me, thanks), no religion; just people sharing life on a plot of land. The 'extreme' of us have a vision of it being like an old timey village where we each have a trade or skill that can be marketed. We'd also have wifi, so definitely not an off-grid scenario either. 

 

On a more serious note, I've heard that there are places already popping up like this. CBC in Canada did a story about an old mining town getting an influx of seniors who live in a tight-knit community, not wanting to go into a care home, and instead looking after each other until they die. The things these people were saying in the interviews were really sweet.

[Dreamsexual]

.

[wyrdwyrm]

On 5/12/2019 at 11:14 AM, robnrdbrd said:

 

Some friends and I always joke that we're going to start a "non-creepy commune" ... no suicide pact, no weird sex stuff (none at all for me, thanks), no religion; just people sharing life on a plot of land. The 'extreme' of us have a vision of it being like an old timey village where we each have a trade or skill that can be marketed. We'd also have wifi, so definitely not an off-grid scenario either. 

 

On a more serious note, I've heard that there are places already popping up like this. CBC in Canada did a story about an old mining town getting an influx of seniors who live in a tight-knit community, not wanting to go into a care home, and instead looking after each other until they die. The things these people were saying in the interviews were really sweet.

Yes! Exactly the idea I had!  

[Frogster]

retire? yikes! I don't see how. I'm 65 and hoping that my body holds out a while longer. 

[Mocha Jo]

On 2/23/2019 at 4:20 PM, ryn2 said:

I had it planned out (a mix of small pensions from long-past jobs, tax-deferred retirement savings plans, and mutual funds) and was right on target but am now getting divorced so the whole plan is out the window.

This is the best piece of advice I have- stay single or don’t get divorced. I was on track. Now have debt of half the value of the house that would have been paid off (no chance now) and down half the savings acct. I am 62 and probably won’t be able to afford to stop working at all. I have never worked in a place that had either a pension or stock options, and I have been late to the 401k thing. My ex liked a high lifestyle and we didn’t have “spare” cash for retirement someday. 

[ryn2]

5 hours ago, Mocha Jo said:

This is the best piece of advice I have- stay single or don’t get divorced. I was on track. Now have debt of half the value of the house that would have been paid off (no chance now) and down half the savings acct. I am 62 and probably won’t be able to afford to stop working at all. I have never worked in a place that had either a pension or stock options, and I have been late to the 401k thing. My ex liked a high lifestyle and we didn’t have “spare” cash for retirement someday. 

Same (advice; similar situation).  Unfortunately my soon-to-be-ex is the one who insisted upon divorce.

[Techie]

16 hours ago, Mocha Jo said:

This is the best piece of advice I have- stay single or don’t get divorced. I was on track. Now have debt of half the value of the house that would have been paid off (no chance now) and down half the savings acct. I am 62 and probably won’t be able to afford to stop working at all. I have never worked in a place that had either a pension or stock options, and I have been late to the 401k thing. My ex liked a high lifestyle and we didn’t have “spare” cash for retirement someday. 

As a never married, I have been living an austere life and saving for the future (and if that is cut short, my two younger sisters win the "lottery" except one young niece who just became a teenager gets my ROTH). That only makes the possibility of any potential future relationship on some level even more difficult since it would be very easy to be "cleaned out", or at least lose a substantial chunk of savings, due to a breakup under court mandate. While there are some legal ways to protect yourself (such as with an irrevocable trust), just avoiding legal entanglements with another person altogether seems the best bet. I cringe at the thought that having lived so spartanly for so long that I could lose so much to someone else just because they decided they had enough and a court thinks they were entitled to a good chunk of my savings.