<p>“Busdriver and Hayden…please read my response again. My husband and I have been financially planning for retirement for YEARS. YEARS. It wasn’t like I woke up one morning and said “listen honey…I’m retiring and now our income is ALL up to you”. And it was a surprise. That didn’t happen.”</p>
<p>@thumper1, I wasn’t responding to anything you wrote in your post. I was responding to what Hayden said in hers. Actually, I think I hadn’t read your post, but I will now.</p>
<p>We have the maximum coverage on our vehicles PLUS umbrella coverage. It costs $1000 for both of us to have 3 vehicles covered for 12 months. H is over 70, which sometimes costs additional. When we only had 2 vehicles covered, I believe it was only $600 or so, so paying only $300 or so for auto with a perfect driving record on only one car is certainly possible.</p>
<p>When H retired was an economic choice. We had calculated when it made the most financial sense for him to do so and he chose it. It was after we had finished paying off our mortgage and after we had paid the last tuition payment. It also happened that if he stuck around longer, his pension would start DROPPING and also many of the colleagues he liked retired around the same time. HE said that his workplace was getting tougher and tougher to stay at, morale was falling and he was being asked to do more and more with fewer and fewer resources. He wasn’t given anyone to train to replace him and they are trying to fill his position with about 5 people trying to do parts of his job. He did leave a bookshelf of binders with written instructions and procedures to help them, but they still periodically take him to lunch to try to pick his brain, which he enjoys.</p>
<p>I could retire, but feel that running this nonprofit IS my retirement hobby that allows me to write off my trips to attend conferences as unreimbursed business expenses, which I find enjoyable. I don’t really know what I’d do if I stopped running my nonprofit and feel we really are helping the community in our own way.</p>
<p>“We know too many folks who wanted to retire…but kept on working to maximize their retirement incomes. Sadly…some of,them didn’t live long enough to smell the roses.”</p>
<p>Amen. Success can not be measured if you are not alive to enjoy it. Life is too short. </p>
<p>We are traveling more, while we are still able to enjoy it and eat pretty much what we want and wander as we choose. It’s especially nice that nothing is piling up at work for either of us while we are away. It is a lot of fun for us, especially as the bills are manageable and we aren’t needed to care for our kids OR our parents. It’s a very nice time right now.</p>
<p>H actually LOVE his work and didn’t want to retire until he did and made the financial decision that it made sense to leave when he did, and it happened that work was becoming increasingly less enjoyable. </p>
<p>His best buddy has a wife who became disabled just about when she was planning to retire. They had planned to travel the world together and enjoy their golden years–she is now in a skilled nursing facility 24/7 and he visits twice a day. It is very depressing for them and could have been financially draining if he didn’t have two long term care policies on her that will help pay the $11,000 per month that her costs run! Happily, she seems to be improving somewhat but will likely never be able to return home, as she needs 24/7 care.</p>
<p>“I could retire, but feel that running this nonprofit IS my retirement hobby that allows me to write off my trips to attend conferences as unreimbursed business expenses, which I find enjoyable. I don’t really know what I’d do if I stopped running my nonprofit and feel we really are helping the community in our own way.”</p>
<p>You should definitely keep working if you are happy and feel like you are doing good for the community. Very few people get that sort of satisfaction by continuing to keep working when they don’t have to, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>I have wondered about the tax benefits of after I retire, becoming classified as a “real estate professional” as far as managing and working on the condos that we own. We are unable to deduct any losses or depreciation until that point. Sure would be great to travel all over the world for real estate conferences, and write off the costs. Though that sounds like too much of a good deal to be legal!</p>
<p>Thanks–I feel fortunate having founded something that fulfills me and helps a lot of people. Last month, our website had over 1000 hits! We are featured in the radio and newspaper periodically and annually host an event that draws 200-300 people. My CPA has no problem deducting all of my travel for conferences and meetings as business expenses. Fortunately, most are in locations we enjoy and we manage to have multi-city itineraries so we visit other cities as well.</p>
<p>It is certainly a luxury being able to help others without worrying that I’m not producing money, other than what I can to cover basic expenses. I count my blessings! </p>
<p>We are also grateful that we can afford to continue to support D while she pursues her career and hope that she will make her name and in the near future be able to earn SOME income. 
Glad that at least S is drawing an income.</p>
<p>That is cool, Himom. It sounds like your non profit is growing even larger. That has got to be very rewarding.</p>
<p>Is your daughter getting unpaid work now, or some sort of internship? Does she have to work in an unpaid capacity to get qualified, or is it more of catching a break in a tough industry? She is fortunate to have you guys helping her.</p>
<p>@busdriver11 - the first requirement to being a real estate professional is that you have to spend at least 750 hours per year in the real estate trades. That’s 15 hours per week on average… unless you have a lot of condos you are unlikely to meet this. </p>
<p>She is in cinema and assistant director for a full-length film that HOPEFULLY will help lead to something paid in the near future. We are excited for her and asked to be able to attend the premier! We feel fortunate that we can handle her room and board and have already told her it’s MUCH cheaper than paying for that as well as tuition. ;)</p>
<p>We are glad that S is doing well and totally self-sufficient! Our nonprofit has been around since 2007, so word of it is slowly but surely spreading. We get referrals from the state Department of Health and doctors, so it’s all good.</p>
<p>Dh and I have been discussing retirement for years, decades in fact. But like so many other aspects of our lives (and, I assume, other people’s lives) things happened to alter our plans. Travel was the primary focus of our early discussions, but it’s not as appealing or even comfortably feasible due to various health issues. </p>
<p>If I thought that dh wanted to continue working mainly because he enjoys the challenges and gets a great deal of satisfaction from work, I wouldn’t be as concerned, but I think he’s worried about leaving a significant sum in a special needs trust, too. Several changes in the c-suites have created a very negative work environment over the last few years and other people have commented on the toll the stress appears to be taking on dh. I don’t want to end up funding that trust with proceeds from dh’s employer provided life insurance.</p>
<p>Dh is offering a compromise of actually taking his available vacation days, something he’s done fewer than 10% of the years he’s worked. He also says he will cut back on late hours, bring work home less often, and commit to being available for more leisure activities. I guess we may have to ease into retirement…slowly.</p>
<p>Yes, trying to leave enough in a special needs trust would be an important issue. It sounds like you and your H are carefully thinking through and working on what you both feel will work.</p>
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<p>Plus you have to pay self-employment tax which negates most tax benefits.</p>
<p>“busdriver11 - the first requirement to being a real estate professional is that you have to spend at least 750 hours per year in the real estate trades. That’s 15 hours per week on average… unless you have a lot of condos you are unlikely to meet this.”</p>
<p>Right now we only have four condos. But when you add up all actual activities, it can be very time consuming. I don’t know what you mean by “real estate trades” exactly, but I think it includes all the stuff that you do in regards to your business. All the paperwork, all work on your real estate, including driving there to do work (constantly, sometimes). Refinancing, driving to Home Depot to get yet another part for something broken, researching new properties for sale. When you add up all the time that related just to this business, it can end up to be quite a bit. I realize that I’d have to spend some time looking for more condos, but when I consider all the time I have put in so far, I can see the 750 hours adding up pretty easy. The reason why I don’t even consider it now, is that you have to spend over half of your work as the real estate professional, and even if I qualified with the 750 hours, I couldn’t claim that.</p>
<p>Hope to see your daughter’s name on the big screen highlights soon, HImom! I have heard that directing is very tough. My son has said it is so much harder than acting.</p>
<p>@busdriver11 - unfortunately, there are tax court rulings that prevent you from counting transportation time (driving etc) in the 750 hours, and you aren’t allowed to count the time researching or looking for another property in the 750 hours either.</p>
<p>Condos are complicated by the fact that there is mgmt on place in the form of the condo board. Meeting the material participation requirements can be tough.</p>
<p>“Trades” means leasing, selling, brokering, managing, developing, and a couple other things I am forgetting. There a list in one of the IRS pounds.</p>
<p>@cbreeze - you do not have to pay self-employment tax on rental income. You might have to pay the 3.8% Medicare surcharge if you make enough, but that stuff is really complicated.</p>
<p>My D likes most parts of cinema but NOT acting. She’d much rather do the artistic and directing NOT the in front of the screen acting. We are hoping she can find her niche in the file, but she is going to try to figure out a plan B at some point if she doesn’t find something in the fairly near future.</p>
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<p>Exactly.</p>
<p>What if you hit a hydro pole? Or take out a stretch of guardrail? Or, heaven forbid, a fire happens after the crash and damages the roadway? These are not unusual occurrences, trust me. Even more likely that you’d cause a crash with more than one other car involved. You could reach that low limit of liability quicker than you think. And if there are injuries? </p>
<p>To get things back on track…retirement is wonderful. We are both loving every minute of it. </p>
<p>@notrichenough, if you claim to be actively managing your own real estate, you need to be paid an income and thus incur self-employment tax so you could deduct your expenses from your real estate income.</p>
<p>Yes, multi-car accidents tend to be much more common than single-car accidents and the cost of damage can mount very quickly. My mom was stopped in a brand new $60+K car when it was rear-ended and totaled and sent her to the ER with a fractured sternum. I am sure the other driver’s insurance paid out a LOT of $$$$ on the claim. Thankfully, mom healed mostly but has never been the same since that accident.</p>
<p>Yes, so far, H & I are definitely enjoying retirement/semi-retirement. It has given us a ton of flexibility, which we are getting quite used to!</p>
<p>@cbreeze - all expenses go on schedule E regardless of whether you are actively managing or not. The REP tests and material/active participation stuff does not require a business where you get paid, that stuff is for being able to deduct sched E losses without limitation.</p>