Community Chat

[brewhaha]

On 1/11/2014 Predsfan said:

On 1/11/2014 brewhaha said:

One Sugar Daddy

With todays economy, might want to make that two.

You know what they say. Two's company, three's a party.

[Kalli]

I'm hoping to take early retirement next year. Will have to stop buying some frivolous stuff but I've already started doing that. For me, the only drawback is my expensive hobby: I have a horse.

For the last few years I've been socking money aside into an account for horse emergencies. When I retire, I'll take out an insurance policy to cover any type of drastic injury to my gelding. Then the money in my horse account will only go to cover his expenses should I die. My younger friend has agreed to keep him forever if that happens. This was important to me because I don't want him going to a kill auction. Horses can live into their 30s and sometimes 40s. He's only 6 so this plan is for my peace of mind.

-Kalli

[------]

There's no one amount. And I do not agree that one million or two is what one needs.

[muttmom]

The major key is to go into retirement debt free.

[bikerbabe]

On 1/11/2014 ------ said:

There's no one amount. And I do not agree that one million or two is what one needs.

Strongly agree with this!

Also not everyone can retire debt free or owning their home outright. It's a fact depending on what life has thrown at you along the journey.

[------]

On 1/11/2014 Kalli said:

I'm hoping to take early retirement next year. Will have to stop buying some frivolous stuff but I've already started doing that. For me, the only drawback is my expensive hobby: I have a horse.

For the last few years I've been socking money aside into an account for horse emergencies. When I retire, I'll take out an insurance policy to cover any type of drastic injury to my gelding. Then the money in my horse account will only go to cover his expenses should I die. My younger friend has agreed to keep him forever if that happens. This was important to me because I don't want him going to a kill auction. Horses can live into their 30s and sometimes 40s. He's only 6 so this plan is for my peace of mind.

-Kalli

Have you looked into creating a pet trust for your horse? I have one for my dogs just in case something happens to me. Unfortunately I can't trust certain someones to carry my wishes out unless it's down in writing.

[151949]

On 1/11/2014 Qwackertoo said:

On 1/11/2014 tansy said: Just keep in mind that many of the retirement calculators on a site like Vanguard have a vested interest in making people super scared that they need to save huge amounts using one of their funds.

well informed and savvy investors aren't ""super scared"" into anything.

Not everyone is knowledgeable about these things. Investing money is very scary to many people. I am one of them! Thank goodness for us that our friend's son works for Morgan stanley and does nothing else but retirees accounts and has taken excellant care of us. How many people did not know that the crash was going to happen in 2007 and lost huge amounts of their retirement funds? We were fortunate that my cousin was handling our retirement funds and had withdrawn them from the stock market into a CD because she felt the crash was immenent. Thank Goodness we trusted her opinion on this.

[151949]

On 1/11/2014 sue52 said:

Agree with your original statement, happyhousewife. We, too, live modestly and within our means. If you don't mind, about where, (generally speaking) do you live in Florida? If you find this too personal a question, I understand.

I live in a suburb of Sarasota. A beach community just to the south -pretty much a retirement town - not a lot of younger folks here - but very nice for retirees.

[151949]

On 1/11/2014 Qwackertoo said:

On 1/11/2014 happy housewife said: I guess some people can be content with a home that is 1 1/2 miles from the beach and some have to be able to walk out the front door onto the sand. I am happy being the mile and a half away.

that is coming out of far left field. okie dokie.

actually I'd prefer NOT to live @ the beach OR a lake house. the sand tracked in would drive me crazy.

I'd prefer the mountains.

like I said . . . everyone has DIFFERENT priorities. it helps make the World go round.

You totally missed the point.

[Kalli]

On 1/11/2014 happy housewife said:

On 1/11/2014 Qwackertoo said:

On 1/11/2014 tansy said: Just keep in mind that many of the retirement calculators on a site like Vanguard have a vested interest in making people super scared that they need to save huge amounts using one of their funds.

well informed and savvy investors aren't "super scared" into anything.

Not everyone is knowledgeable about these things. Investing money is very scary to many people. I am one of them! Thank goodness for us that our friend's son works for Morgan stanley and does nothing else but retirees accounts and has taken excellant care of us. How many people did not know that the crash was going to happen in 2007 and lost huge amounts of their retirement funds? We were fortunate that my cousin was handling our retirement funds and had withdrawn them from the stock market into a CD because she felt the crash was immenent. Thank Goodness we trusted her opinion on this.

We did not know the crash was coming but we had indications that things were changing because of changes we saw in our own area of investing. We only took a hit in 1 investment so we held it longer than originally planned and finally unloaded it without losing, but with only a slight gain.

-Kalli