A rather naive woman I worked with ages ago had a negative amortizaton loan. It was brutal. People got her to re-fi as soon as she was able. I still shudder thinking about it now.
Was it invested in something that will give you some kind of pension? Or did you just get completely ripped off?
The “windfall” provision is the biggest scam ever. We should have a separate thread on that. Money due from paying into SS isn’t exactly a “windfall.”
I started one Social Security Windfall Provision
I assume that’s how he has three million on which to retire.
And similar question: are you eligible for Medicare?
Yup. That’s a combination of my wife and I. House is paid off a while back. We should be OK. Not rich, but pretty good.
No pension. It’s just our money to do with as we please. I’d rather have the cash anyway. Pretty good deal I think.
Yup. You have to have 10 (40 credits) years of paying in. Which I have. It’s only gonna be about $1000 a month though for SS. But that’s ok. I think the county I work for made a wise choice.
I concur. How much does it cost to buy a house and reliable car outright? Take what’s left and multiply by 5%. $2M would be $100K annually. Could you live on that considering no mortgage, rent or car payment?
If I could get medicare at 63, I would retire ASAP. But, I have an obligation to my coworkers as well. They are my friends. I’ve made it clear that I will not be involved in any long term projects. I’m trying to put together training for the stuff I do.
We are going to have to move. My neighbor called a wrecker yesterday because his 4x4 with a winch on it, was stuck. The wrecker would not come until the county plowed the road. My Wife and I were stuck as well. Her AWD stuck in bottom of driveway because of sudden mechanical problems. I could not plow to get us out.
So we will go downhill. Get out of the mountains. It’s the only reasonable thing to do.
When the shit hits the fan, it’s usually all of it.
I have the example of my parents, who are 76.
They live in a four-bedroom house in Richmond Hill, a suburb of Toronto. Their official pensions are low, because my father retired early (de facto quit his job) at 62 to be my mother’s caregiver, and my mother had not been employed since she was 46 or 47. They get checks from the old age security that they paid into while employed (federal government), which is less than they would get if they had worked to the age of 65, and an Ontario seniors’ benefit, which basically has the value of social assistance.
However, they are doing well financially, because they have a lot of money invested in secure funds. As I understand, it comes from two principal sources. The first comes from a company pension (they both worked for IBM) and the second comes from a small business they had renting properties. They flipped a number of houses and apartments before the rental business became profitable, and sold the two (?) rental properties they had shortly after they became profitable. About five years ago, the amount of money they had in the funds (in two or three financial institutions, let’s say two credit unions and perhaps a lesser amount in a major bank), amounted to about 1.2 or 1.3 million dollars (CDN). They make an effort not to touch the investment money but to live off the interest and off the aforementioned public pensions. The interest at the time amounted to well over 20,000 dollars a year, with potential for reaching up to 30,000 dollars a year, as I recall. So they have been all right.
That would be a real concern for anyone working there who did NOT have the 10 years elsewhere (I assume that’s how you qualified for Medicare - from another job). Or did the county take steps to address that issue?
Interesting article arguing that the 401(k) approach is turning out to be a Bad Thing:
An article on what to do if your 401(k) options are bad:
And on another tack, this recent article on couples that struggle when they retire:
I’m hoping that last one won’t be us. We’ve been together since 1977, married since 1983, and as I quip, as newlyweds we spent a month travelling cross-country in a Mazda 626 (sedan, like a Honda Accord), camping and crashing on friends’ couches, and we survived that!
I had my 10 years in before working for the county. And now working for the county for 32 years.
I have two retirement accounts from the county in my and my wife’s name. She does as well.
Some extra IRA’s 3 of them in my name. Yeah, it’s weird but but two are BDA’s. Beneficiary account after my mom died.
Yes, I have a tax person.
1983 was a long time ago.
My wife made sure I saw that article. 
I like the bit about the predictive power of helping each other stretch to try things new.
I am 25 years away from retirement give or take.
I don’t know who to believe about how much to save for retirement. We live in what I’m guessing is a HCOL area.
Several years ago my FIL who was once a financial advisor said we don’t have to save any more for retirement. But the online calculator says we need to be saving more. So we are saving more.
Supposedly we need something like 4.5 million dollars according to these calculators?
I have no real desire to travel or do anything fancy in retirement. But I expect a lot of medical issues.
We do plan to see a financial planner.
Why would one of those financial planners tell anyone they’ve saved enough? It’s not in their interest to do so.
I mean, he’s my father in law. There was no financial interest involved.
I still haven’t figured out what happens with an inherited IRA when the inheritor dies - I have one from my mother. When I go, it goes to my husband of course. Not sure if it becomes “his” at that point (like a regular IRA), or if he has to withdraw it on my predicted life span (which is technically longer than his… but if I’ve died, clearly I died early), or if it has to be fully withdrawn.
I know that if the kids inherit, the rules are a lot tighter now than they were a few years back; they’ll have to take it all within 10 years or some such.
I read that article. It was awful - except the part explaining how 401(K)s got big.
Notice they mentioned that the old days were not paradise, and that only 50% of workers had pensions. And that was when unions were more powerful. Today the number would be less, and I bet half the people who might be covered by pensions would find themselves reclassified as contractors and out of luck. I think they also mentioned about pension plans going belly up, with the government on the hook.
The solution put forth was to require employer and worker participation. Which would be great if it were possible (I doubt it is) and would work probably better with 401(K)s.
Back then pensions took a few years at least to kick in. With greater mobility today a lot of people would wind up with no pensions or losing many years of pension investments. Chaining people to their jobs is not good for the economy. People in the computer business back 45 years ago complained about this all the time.
I love the Times, but that article was crap.
The relationship article wasn’t that much better. Guys who had no life outside of work are assholes when they stop working. Who knew?
When did your mother pass? The rules on inherited IRAs changed when the SECURE Act was passed in 2019.
Certainly one could be housed and fed somewhere in the USA for that much per year (which is more like $80K after federal tax alone for a married couple if it’s in a taxable account like a Traditional IRA or Traditional 401K, even less in a state with income tax).
But personally, I aspire to a standard better than “not homeless or starving” in retirement. I want to be on a coast (for sailing/boating/beaches) in a state that’s not too winter-y, isn’t a total swamp, and has acceptable human/civil rights conditions - which narrows the options a bit. Plus we want to have some fun in retirement - activities and travel. Planning to spend about $150K per year (after tax, 2024 dollars) when we retire someday.
Also 5% withdrawal rate pretty much guarantees that balance will be going to zero after 20 years and means you won’t be keeping up with inflation. That money will have a lot less purchasing power toward the end, and if you live long enough to have more than 20 years of retirement you may find yourself suddenly going from $100K/year to $0/year (or SS only which is pretty close).