<p>If there is an employer match to the 403, he should at least contribute enough to get the maximum match.</p>
<p>I assume he will have a pension so he will probably not use/need his defined contribution much. With the low tax rate, I donât know if itâs advantageous to put in the pre-tax like 403b. Maybe put in some to get the employerâs matching contribution. I would probably put some into Roth IRA, because with the law right now, one doesnât have to have RMD at 70.5 like other plans.</p>
<p>He has a pension plan, no employer match to 403b since it is government (school district), he is putting max into Roth IRA right now, since he is living at home, he does not have much expenses now, he wants to save some money while he can (by living at home), once he gets tenure then he will consider moving out. As he is in a low tax bracket, 403 (b) does not gain him much, but we want to figure out what the is the best use of the money he has saved so far, he has a small mutual fund account we set up for him when he was young, but stopped contributing for years, current market value is less than $10k, maybe he can put a small amount in that fund periodically. </p>
<p>I have one fund for my daughter that I kept all her Roth IRA. Luckily this fund is now close to new investor but she can contribute up to $25k a year. I doubt that she will contribute that much. But I just want her to get into the habit of contributing, once she gets a higher balance she can diversify later.</p>
<p>DrGoogle, you donât mean she can contribute up to $25k for Roth IRA, right? If it is a regular mutual fund, why is there a limit of $25k contribution? Maybe I am not understanding something.</p>
<p>No, because she is an existing investor, she can contribute to that particular fund up to $25K. It doesnât have to be all Roth IRA. Max Roth IRA is about $5-6K per year.
The fund is closed to new investors, itâs too popular.</p>
<p>Just got a taste of Rick Steves - our AL PBS has a fundraiser where you can get the 100 shows DVD or recent book (Europe thru Back Door).</p>
<p>I would seem to think that Great Britain/Ireland/Scotland, France, and Germany, in addition to Switzerland will stay fairly strong as countries (and CH is still on its own currency, not having joined EU). The Scandinavian countries as well.</p>
<p>It may be some time before I can take advantage of visiting my relatives and friends in Switzerland - the two hour job interview didnât secure the position, so I am back to the job search. Blessed with continued health, and also with my family. I havenât been in CH for 16 years - at that time, for two weeks, but it was wonderful. If I won the lottery, I would like to visit Lourdes and Rome too for a start. Will soak up my DDâs stories when she returns from CH/Italy next week.</p>
<p>I like the comment (that I had not heard before) go go, etc. So true.</p>
<p>Just saw a USA article (catching up) from May 28 titled â5 top stressors in retirementâ - financial concerns, health worries, caregiving, relationship issues, and super-charged changes. Quoted from two books Amit Sood âThe Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Livingâ and Steve and Cathy Brody âRenew Your Marriage at Midlifeâ </p>
<p>"Brody (a psychologist) says three keys to a successful retirement are finding a sense of purpose for yourself, structuring your day and replacing the social connections you lost when you retired. Also if you can retire graduallyâŠ</p>
<p>âNurture your spiritual values, which may mean developing a deeper connection with your faith, Sood says. Live your life fully, and say your âI love yousâ every day. Most importantly do not postpone joy, and do not bypass kindness.â</p>
<p>Turkey was shown yesterday but it was Eastern Turkey. My husband wanted to visit Western Turkey. He has a fondness for this place because he did spend some years there when he was younger. Watching the show gave him some smiles, especially the cute kids that got a tip from Rick Steves.</p>
<p>Google for Work Less, Live More: The New Way to Retire Early( I canât post it here)</p>
<p>Perpetual travelers - I used to buy a book from Billy and Akaisha in the 90s, they now live in Panama on $24,000 a year. They were interviewed by Kiplingerâs in the 90s IIRC. They said half of Californians can sell their homes and do what they do. Very interesting.</p>
<p>Thanks DrG. I am thinking about ordering the book for DH for our anniversary. Weâve enjoyed talking about what I read here on this thread. </p>
<p>Colorado_mom, I hope you and your H enjoys the book and happy anniversary! This couple retired in their 30 or 40s, very young, I think Bill used to own a restaurant in San Jose. He sold the business and then retired, but back then interest rate on savings account was high. They bought a high deductible health insurance plan, or catastrophic one, but use cheap local overseas doctors whenever they traveled for minor health issue. Some of these doctors overseas are even American trained.
They used to own a small place in Arizona, but I believe they even sold it now.</p>
<p>Itâs a different situation than ours, but it would be interesting to read about various factors and tradeoffs. Ha, the cheap local overseas doctors is definitely not on our list of potential compromises. </p>
<p>That does look like an interesting book, and Iâm tempted to get it. But Iâm afraid that itâs going to tell me to massively cut down on my lifestyle and constantly watch what I spend, which Iâm not really willing to do right now. We need some new windows and a new roof, which means either work or debt.</p>
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<p>I think a lot of people will have hang-ups about leaving North America. How like North America is Panama? </p>
<p>You donât have to go to Panama. There are many places in the US one can live cheaply. Iâd feel too isolated. I donât know how easy it is to start over at retirement.</p>
<p>" I donât know how easy it is to start over at retirement"</p>
<p>Especially if you had to learn a new language. Unless youâre a language enthusiast, it can be really hard to pick up a new one as you get older. Iâm still having trouble with English.</p>
<p>You can learn. My uncle is fluent in Spanish and never had to learn until in his late 40 and 50. He owns a construction business and it was necessary for him to learn Spanish. Same with English. He has a Ph.D. in humanities from UCB without having an extensive knowledge of English before he started the program. But heâs been a go getter. </p>
<p>My father came to the US when he was 50, not speaking English. He learned enough to read very well, write well enough, and speak with an accent but completely understandably. His English was good enough for him to find work soon after arriving.</p>
<p>When I read many of the posts here, and see how amazing some of you are with your plans/investing strategies, I canât help but think that the average American cannot begin to do what yâall are doing. Many either donât have the no-how or even the ability to set aside enough money on a regular basis for retirement/elderly years.</p>
<p>Are we going to have many, many millions of unprepared very low-income seniors in a few years?</p>
<p>I also want to add, my uncle learned Spanish without having to leave California. I think it would be much easier if you live in a Spanish speaking country to learn Spanish.</p>