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Replies: 24
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110%er [7219]
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To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 2:54 AM
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How did you do it? That seems an incredible achievement. I have just turned 60, I “could” retire but would have to learn to live on about 1/2 the money we live on now monthly. I’m not ready to do that. I like to think my wife and I are near average in that we will have no pensions or retirement plans- we will have to live on our own savings, 401k, and whatever is left of social security when we get there. We have been incredibly fortunate in the stock market with our 401k doing well above average thanks to some timely stock picking by me (advisors have been marginal at best).
We plan to work 4 to 5 more years then live on what we have. How have you early retirees done it, and congrats!
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CU Guru [1266]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 3:23 AM
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Pensions help a lot. Both my wife and I were employees involved with the SC State retirement system (PEBA), so both of us began drawing our pensions at 60. We also both started SSA at 62 and are doing just fine. $100k with no debt goes a long way. We also sold the large family home and that allowed us to move to the NC mountains, pay off all debt, load up our savings account and buy a new pickup that should last us as long as we need it.
Many things get cheaper once you stop going to work. No need for two newer vehicles, much less fuel, cheaper auto insurance, less meals out and even less taxes paid on less income. One the other hand, doctor visits seem to be a little more often and spending on grandkids goes up.
I also had been working on spreadsheets laying everything out for a few years and refining my numbers. While we both have pretty good 401s, at this point we won't touch them until the law makes us. One other big factor is how you plan on spending retirement. If golfing in Hawaii or trips to Paris are on your horizon, keep on working.
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1st Rounder [628]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 27, 2023, 12:03 PM
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Where in NC Mtns? I’d like to make acquaintance with some Clemson peoples in Avery County for social and game watching.
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110%er [5121]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 9:13 AM
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Retired at 52. I refuse to work my tail off until I die.
The trick? Started a business 20+ years ago. Bought land and built a building at the same time. Worked our ##### off. Maxed out 401-k from the beginning. Sold the business. Still own the building/land and collect rent, which is enough to pay the bills.
The real key is knowing how much you really need to live on….we don’t need much and everything we have is paid off.
If I had worked my life for someone else I would be working until 65 or I die, probably.
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CU Guru [1266]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 10:20 AM
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Well stated. You can't decide to retire early once it's too late. It has to be a plan all along.
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Orange Blooded [4095]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 26, 2023, 2:54 PM
[ in reply to Re: To those that retire before age 60…. ] |
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What are you doing for health insurance?
That's a real expense when you stop working that many people don't consider.
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110%er [5121]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 26, 2023, 4:36 PM
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Insurance is a big bill, at least until Medicare kicks in. We have a high deductible Obama-care plan but still costs around $12,000 per year. Hopefully Medicare will still be available in about 12 years…
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Hall of Famer [22752]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 6:28 PM
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Marketplace insurance was a game changer for us. Our advisor suggested about 15 years ago that we were in pretty good shape with our pre-tax investments (401k) and that we should start putting more money in after tax savings in case we decided to retire early. We started doing this at about age 46. Put annual bonuses in a brokerage account that has investments that look a lot like our 401k choices. When our daughter finished college in 2017, we started putting the same amount as tuition payments were into this account as well. We started drawing from this account when I semi-retired at age 57 and went to work at Clemson so I still had medical insurance. Just before turning 60 I retired when I realized that because the account we are drawing from is an after tax account our taxable income is low enough that we are eligible for a large subsidy on our insurance through the marketplace. We have a high deductible plan but pay zero monthly premiums. This was the only way we could afford to retire and have medical insurance. So we will need to draw from this “bridge account” until I turn 65 when we will be eligible for Medicare. After that we can draw from our more conventional 401k type retirement funds which we have put into a deferred annuity that has a guaranteed annual minimum return so we know when we turn 65 exactly how much we can draw from it for the rest of our lives. We will also probably start taking social security payments at 65.
The strange thing is I am very conservative politically and do not believe in most government programs. But since this one is out there for everyone, I might as well take advantage of it too.
The other thing that helped us a lot was moving several times during my career that allowed us build equity in our house faster. The last move to SC at the end of 2019 was most opportune because the interest rates were very favorable so rather than paying the house off we took a roughly 3% mortgage for 15 years and put the equity in our bridge account where it can make significantly more than that for us.
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Athletic Dir [876]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 28, 2023, 6:12 PM
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Hey when you turn 65 I would love to help you with Medicare. We are a family-owned Christian health insurance brokerage in Upstate South Carolina and are the official health insurance agency partner of United Way of the Lakelands. We strive to educate everyone on their health insurance and Medicare options. It’s free to use our services. Our business is Community Care Insurance Agency. You can visit us online at www.CallCCIA.com
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All-In [38653]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 10:43 AM
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No matter the age, one should save as much as possible and of course have zero debt.
Before 50, 60, 70 makes no difference if you have debt such as cars and mortgages.
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Orange Blooded [3663]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 26, 2023, 10:47 AM
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a lot of the people who do are single
Myself I am many years pass 60 and still working.
Don't mind it as I have done it my whole life
My wife is retired
We also don't have any plans to move because grandkids are close by
AND I HAVEN'T WON THE LOTTERY YET
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Heisman Winner [111709]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 10:50 AM
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put everything you own on Black, guess right 3x and you can retire at 60.
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110%er [7219]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 26, 2023, 2:12 PM
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I suspect some have done it by betting on bitcoin. Some have inherited wealth. Some have successful businesses. A few have saved and avoided debt.
That’s why I started the poast, just to see what the more common ways were- so that I can advise my children.
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Varsity [236]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 2:53 PM
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I did it mostly by saving and avoiding debt. I've never had a car loan (or lease), and I've done all of the service/maintenance myself. I also do most of the maintenance on my house myself. Not having to pay someone for basic plumbing, electrical, appliance, carpentry, etc repairs has saved me a ton over the years.
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Hall of Famer [22752]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 26, 2023, 6:36 PM
[ in reply to Re: To those that retire before age 60…. ] |
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To add to my earlier comments, we started with NOTHING - I literally didn’t even have a checking account when I graduated Clemson. I refereed intramural basketball and worked at the Clemson creamery for spending money and mailed $20 in cash to Zales jewelers every month to pay for my wife’s engagement ring. We got where we are by working my tail off and making good financial decisions. We have always had a mortgage and, after about the age of 35 or so, one car payment. We buy a car every 5 years and keep it for 10 years. Never carried any credit card debt. We have 2 that we use but we pay them off monthly. We didn’t take expensive vacations or buy all the toys my friends had - boats, jet skis, new trucks every couple of years, etc. But now we are retired at 60 and I’m enjoying every minute of it.
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110%er [5466]
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My last two years at Clemson...
Jul 27, 2023, 12:19 PM
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...I was on the Co-op program. When I worked, I saved everything I could to get through the next semester at school. When I graduated from Clemson (1983), I had to close my checking account because there was a $100 minimum balance. Fortunately I had a very good engineering job lined up, just had to get by until my first paycheck.
Since I had learned to live on very little, I saved hard. Once 401K became available, I maxed out every year except when I had two kids at Clemson the same time. I have enough to retire and pay off the house so everything is gravy now. Going to make a little extra to make sure my grandkids can go to college...or start a business.
Now the government wants us to take care of the people who didn't save and/or borrowed money for a worthless degree.
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Asst Coach [701]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 26, 2023, 6:51 PM
[ in reply to Re: To those that retire before age 60…. ] |
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OK Balm, going to Cherokee and will put life savings of $250 on black. Thanks for the advice buddy.
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Legend [17626]
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Retired 4 days before my 60th birthday.
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Jul 26, 2023, 6:42 PM
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We saved like crazy and were obsessed with paying off our mortgage, saving over $100k. Maxed out 401k and invested bonuses. Took advantage of a company early out offer which extended salary and healthcare. Had to bridge with expensive Obamacare until Medicare kicked in. Have a small pension and living on that, social security, and investment earnings. You'd be surprised how much less you can live on when everything is paid off and you don't have to go to work. My truck is 9 years old and just crossed 50k miles. A tank of gas lasts almost a month.
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Asst Coach [701]
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Re: Retired 4 days before my 60th birthday.
Jul 26, 2023, 6:57 PM
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I can't help you. I was 6.5 years late at 66.5. If I had bought Microsoft in 1986....well, you get the point.
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110%er [7219]
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CU Guru [1514]
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Re: Retired 4 days before my 60th birthday.
Jul 27, 2023, 11:46 AM
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Thrift, saving and starting early. I know guys who were factory workers (started early) with a level head and they have no worries about retirement. I've seen executives who lacked a level head and by mid 70s were clearly running out of money - even with a benefit plan.
Having someone to share expenses with helps a lot too.
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110%er [5121]
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Re: Retired 4 days before my 60th birthday.
Jul 27, 2023, 11:52 AM
[ in reply to Re: Retired 4 days before my 60th birthday. ] |
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I would just add make a retirement plan early, like in their 20’s. Seems people wait and then try to figure out how they can ever retire when it’s really too late.
Also, avoid credit like the evil it is, except for a house or to start a business.
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All-In [46574]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
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Jul 27, 2023, 12:04 PM
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Can’t take all that cash with you!
Invest in silver & Gold now, the dollar is tanking…
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Freshman [10]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 28, 2023, 5:53 PM
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My wife and I had an unchallenged decision to retire at 65. Why because I loved my work, co-workers and my clients. A major benefit from my work was traveling which my wife really did great planning financially and each day of our vacation. We took 30 day vacations somewhere outside the US every year and minor excursions in between. Then Covid hit and I got a medical scare. Two wonderfully planned and paid vacations canceled I feeling the affects of my body. Covid made us reacess our priorities. Enjoy life more. I put in my notice one year in advance. This allowed us to reorganize our financial structure, create a doable financial plan for yearly budgeting till our last days on earth. As the year progressed we became more comfortable with the decision until it was absolutely the right thing to do. I used the 25/4 rule of thumb for retirement money required and I doubled it. This was my financial comfort blanket. We already were debt free. Our original plan was to build on our land in SC but we already had a house in Thailand. Since I was retiring at the age of 57 I was concerned about medical cost. Thailand afforded me low cost great medical care and low cost of living. The day I left work I went to Greenville and stayed with my parents 91 and 90 year old for three months. My last day of work was officially Dec 31 2021. It has been the right decision for us. I am in better health than I have been in years. We are very busy and making new friends all the time. We love having old friends come to Thailand to stay with us and showing them the sites snd giving them a home feel vacation up in Chiang Mai. My parents are having serious trouble now and I will be in Greenville to spend 45 days helping them out in about a month. Retirement has given me this flexibility. I always dreamed of being able to spend time in the fall going to the Tiger games and that is a regret I live with. But as a young boy Dad was IPTAY class of 54 and me much later. As a student the decks were already built but as a child Jim Phillips called the games and no upper decks existed. Memories of a great childhood.
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Asst Coach [701]
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Re: To those that retire before age 60….
Jul 28, 2023, 7:04 PM
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Sorry but it sounds like it's all about you at the moment rather than your aging parents. Just MHO.
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