Talking about retirement is incomplete without talk about money. It is a weird topic for me. It certainly comes from my upbringing. I guess most of us do carry some emotion around this topic. I have listened to Dave Ramsey and Suzi Orman - they are just dynamic and accessible. Less accessible is honest, not perfect, real everyday people and their stories. At least specifics. Most people will talk in generalities. Actually, some of the more specific numbers I get are other bloggers. Whether they are accurate is no way to tell.
I looked at some statistics...According to the Motley Fool, 40% of Americans do not have enough money to cover a $400 emergency. This same article says that the ave American hh savings is $16, 420 while the median is $4380. That means most Americans have closer to the $4380 figure. In another article, this same source indicated that ave retirement costs a bit over $700,000. It also indicates that 1/3 of American hh do not have ANY money saved for retirement.
This tells me that we are a bit above average. We have more saved up and less debt and also DH has a small pension which is a trend of a bygone era.
For us, our goals were simple. Pay off our house and credit cards. See if we could anticipate our budget needs, both bare bones and with a little flesh for wiggle room. 6 months emergency fund. 2 months immediate emergency fund for Oct and Nov - before pension and SS start. I have our taxes saved up for house/personal property that is due in Oct. I also have a year of homeowners insurance ready to renew that policy in mid October. We have gotten everything in the house the way we want it (kitchen flooring and lighting). No other home improvements for a while. I have cash to buy a TV for my kitchen and I have paid off our NYC trip. What else?
Another way that makes us stand out, is that DH is 13 years older than I and I can and will go back to work. We have decided that just for the time being, we are going to take a break and see how we do on this reduced budget. I can start looking in 2019 or 2020. I don't really care what career track I am on, so I will be fine reinventing myself.
We have decided we are going to sell our old suburban and my motorcycle. If we sell my Harley, we may get a small cheaper bike I can hop on just to go to the next town, or just scoot up the road. The suburban, we will keep that money and save it to eventually replace DH older car. We are still paying on my Toyota truck, but that fits in budget fine and we need reliable vehicle to be able to drive back to the city to see my Granny.
I am using my last paycheck for spending money in NYC. I can't think of a more fun way to celebrate that!
Have you sat down with a financial person to make sure you will be ok w/finances in retirement?....or at least used an online calculator to see if your money says y'all are ready?
ReplyDeleteWhat about your medical needs? I am assuming DH is on Medicare(not that that's free)so what will your insurance costs be?
Oh, good point. Duh. Yes, DH will go on Medicare next year. DH is retiring from fed gov, so he has elected to pay annuity so that I will be cov under his health care too, at cost to employees. Then when he goes on Medicare next year, we will have to pay for Part A, but we will not have to get Part B or D.
DeleteWe have sat down with 2 planners who tell us we will be ok as long as we don't buy a bigger house or new cars/toys like we used to do, lol.
Sounds like you are covering all bases. I could have planned better but so far no problems. Though my income is meager by some standards, I have no payments for home or transportation and can save a bit each month. Suppose something huge could wipe me out but for now, I am good. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteYou plan, you save, you do the best you can...sometimes all the rest is a little faith. Live and have fun doing what you like and not wait for the piano to come falling out of the sky.
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