<p>"Ah, many of us have done many stupid things with our money. Just imagine how much we’d have now if we hadn’t been so stupid. Or, perhaps, better to not imagine it.’</p>
<p>@VeryHappy, I think that would torment us if we actually crunched the numbers. All those mistakes, and I still do stupid things today…even knowing better, repeating the same mistakes. Then again, I like to think that whatever dumb things I’ve done have gotten me to my current situation, and I am extremely happy, so why would I change a thing? Except…I could still be extremely happy and have a lot more money saved.</p>
<p>We plan to have a much smaller yard, so DH may do our yard work, at least at first. We’d probably still prefer having someone clean the house every 2 weeks.</p>
<p>Section 2 discussed Calculation Methodology ans specifically states that geometrically linked returns must be used (compounded returns).</p>
<p>All the financial institutions and mutual funds abide by these standards. I have never seen one not report investment performance using geometrically linked (compounded) returns for any investment product.</p>
<p>The reality is…60 has become a very young retirement age. All us baby boomers are suffering from this upward trend to retirement now. Caught! LOL. My brother (not a boomer) retired at 55 and has never worked a day since then and he’s now 70. I’ll be 63 in Aug. and…well, I just can’t yet. We have lots saved but still the thought terrifies me of not having a paycheck!</p>
<p>I think I commented on this once before, but it sounds like bus driver has all of the tools to monitor any wrongdoing, and also knows the fellow from a long way back. Having said that, It is nearly in the category of impossible for someone to have earned 18% compounded over the past 17 years without having any down years. </p>
<p>Just keep your eyes open and make sure that the access to your account squares up with what the custodian says is yours. I’m not sure how this advisor/client set-up works. </p>
<p>Speaking of AARP, I think they do a HUGE disservice by enticing people to think they are of a retirable age at 50. I think they need to change their philosophy a bit and edge that number up!</p>
<p>"I think I commented on this once before, but it sounds like bus driver has all of the tools to monitor any wrongdoing, and also knows the fellow from a long way back. Having said that, It is nearly in the category of impossible for someone to have earned 18% compounded over the past 17 years without having any down years.</p>
<p>Just keep your eyes open and make sure that the access to your account squares up with what the custodian says is yours. I’m not sure how this advisor/client set-up works."</p>
<p>I don’t know that he has not had any down years, I wouldn’t claim that. It is certainly possible to have a strong compounded return after several years, even if you have some down years. His goal has always been just to beat the S&P, he hasn’t gotten 18% for every year, every year has been different.</p>
<p>TD Ameritrade advisor/client is pretty straight forward. Both parties have access to the account, with the advisor given legal permission to make trades for the client. I have submitted massive amounts of paperwork to the company setting it up, and have called them when I have a question. I can view every single thing, prodigious amounts of information, far more than I desire. We also still get paper copies from TD Ameritrade for every trade, and my husband monitors it on Quicken. I don’t think he’s managed to set up a bogus TD Ameritrade account for me, unless he’s fooling them also…and if so, I wish he’d make that account magically turn into 100 million!</p>
<p>dadinater - Thank you for clearing that up. They may be dumbing down for the general public who go misty eyed for anything beyond the simple addition. That’s what I did when i said one of the stocks we own appreciated 100%/yr over 11 years when in fact it is only 25%.</p>
<p>I am sure there are many honest hard working FA’s who give genuinely helpful advise. I don’t know what constraints our ex FA had to work with. The firm could have intructed to trade a lot. He was a nice guy always fun to talk to.</p>
<p>“That’s what I did when i said one of the stocks we own appreciated 100%/yr over 11 years when in fact it is only 25%”</p>
<p>That’s funny. It ONLY appreciated at a 25% annual return rate for 11 years. Hey, it’s one of those cases where procrastination has paid off. Now after the 1 for 7 stock split, it’s probably going to go way higher. I wish I had that kind of inertia!</p>
<p>^Oh, I thought you were talking in codes :)</p>
<p>BD, IMO isolated successes are sucker holes. The same ex FA also invested in a fund that appreciated 100% in less than year. That I sold asap and put it in the S&P. Wall Street gurus may not be happy until they can do better than anyone in the universe, but I am quite happy to do as well as an average person.</p>
<p>Going back to the OP’s question, we are semi-retired. We will be fully retired in a two years. I don’t expect our income or expense will drasically change unless we get sick. </p>
<p>I retired to help my wife who was diagnosed with breast cancer one year ago. I have not read most of these posts so I may be repeating this. Look at your annual Social Security Benefits booklet and see what is projected monthly at ages 62, 66, etc. Look at your paycheck and see how much money you actually take home monthly. So you have the amount you are now living on and know what the amount will be when you retire and get social security. Subtract the difference, and then look at monthly expenses which should tell you if you will be eating cat food or caviar for dinner. I have a shortfall of $500 per month so I need to still work part-time. The more monthly payments you can eliminate the more peace of mind you will have the day you retire.</p>
<p>If you draw S.S. before full retirement age, you can earn up to a maximum of around $15,480 per year and still get social security without paying a penalty. If you can find a part-time job or seasonal job at age 62 then you are making quite a bit of money with your social security checks. We have to withdraw 401(K) money either in a lump sum or in large chunks. That is our emergency fund for taxes, repairs, large bills etc. Don’t let anyone depress you because you haven’t saved $500,000 or more. You’d be surprised how much money you will save by purchasing items when they go on sale and you have the time to actually watch this. </p>
<p>I haven’t even considered any 401(K) money or a pension plan to keep this simple. Nobody plans to fail, they just fail to plan.</p>
<p>Are couples planning on retiring about the same time (within a year of each other)?</p>
<p>my mom retired a bit earlier than she planned because she was annoyed at having to work two jobs (home and work) while my retired dad slept in, took naps, and fiddled with his hobbies. lol</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, DH retired 12 years ago as soon as he could since he hated his job. I promptly retired from the household job. I turned over the remaining child care (highschoolers), cooking, cleaning and all but personal laundry. Dinners were boring for a while and sometimes out of a bag, house not the way I would keep it. But in the 12 years he has way stepped up and learned to cook and keeps the house better than I used to. He still is not as frugal a shopper as I was, but we don’t have any kids at home with their expenses so that is not really a big issue. </p>
<p>I am 6 years younger than he is. DH has a pension. We enjoy the income my work brings in. My clients do not want me to retire. I can travel and still work on client issues so my work does not hold us down. I can see doing this for several more years. Meanwhile my retirement account grows. </p>
<p>My elderly parents and inlaws have help with cleaning and yardwork; they wouldn’t be able to continue to live in their homes without that help. </p>