Welcome to retirement. We’ve spent 40 years of our life socking away money and now it’s time to start spending the money we’ve saved. This should be easy, right? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as we might have hoped. And the potential impacts of taxes could cost us. Let’s take a look. Account Types If […]
Taxes in Retirement – Which Account Should I Use First? Read More »
It’s 61 degrees and drizzly in mid-June, what else do I have to do? Today I’m thinking about how my spending has changed. I wrote in an earlier post that I spend about the same in retirement as I did before. Those of us who were told that our expenses would decrease when we stopped
Now That I’m Retired, How Does My Spending Compare? Read More »
I’ve written about the US National Debt here and here and here. I even wrote my representatives in congress here. I try and avoid politics, but the staggering amount of debt we have, coupled with no efforts whatsoever to address the debt make me concerned. In my first post a little over a year ago,
We’re Part of The Problem Read More »
I’m 62 and retired. Paychecks stopped coming over 5 years ago. I took the leap and retired at 56, after doing quite a bit of analysis on expenses, growth projections, and likely market scenarios. It seemed like there was a high probability that I could retire comfortably and my job just wasn’t that much fun
Here’s An Idea To Generate Some Income. Read More »
I’ve written a bit about retirement planning. While most people focus on the big number – How Much Money Do I Need to Retire Comfortably? – That number can be very different depending on each of our individual circumstances. That big number will be very different for someone who is still paying a mortgage (or
Expenses In Retirement Read More »
There has been a lot of excitement about social security lately. Social Security is funded by us and our employer. Since this is “our money”, we expect that it will be paid out to us when we retire. While that makes sense, there has been a lot of talk about: Both of these are causing
Where Is My Social Security? Read More »
This morning I was reviewing my year-to-date expenses. Yup, you’re jealous right – we retirees have all the fun. Don’t feel bad. I have a big BBQ lunch coming up later. Anyway, once again, I was surprised at our expenses. Everyone said they’d go down once we retired, but they’re up. What gives?? Taxes I
Early Retirees – Don’t Forget To Budget For Taxes Read More »
This morning, I was reading about tariffs and the national debt. I wanted to understand more about how tariffs could help the US pay off some of our debt. If other countries are paying us tariffs, presumably that is a huge amount of money that could be put toward our $37 trillion debt. I’ll spare
What’s Your Plan For Retirement Finances? Read More »
There is a ton of information online about when to take social security. While many conclude that it makes better fiscal sense to wait until full-retirement-age (67 for me) or 70, when we can get the largest benefit payment, I decided to take it as soon as possible. ssa.gov The Social Security Administration has lots
I Pulled The Trigger. Social Security At 62. Read More »
I seem to read a bit lately about angry old men (hey wait, that’s me) ranting about social security. “I’ve paid into social security my whole working life. That’s my money and you can’t take it away.” As a retiree, more sympathetic I could not be (het wait, that rhymes). ssa.gov If you haven’t already
That’s My Money! You Can’t Take My Social Security! Read More »