FYI. New RMD schedule is out.
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When I read those āthis is how much you needā things, I can never tell if theyāre talking about for a person or for a couple.
Anyone want to take a guess for the Schwab study?
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I would say the culture of the place matters a lot. That will likely impact things like staffing ratios and training but also with the dedication that the staff feels for the residents. That comes from the top.
In my motherās place, they really work hard to keep people alive (I guess one could argue that this is good for business) and seem generally compassionate (Iāve overheard conversations where the staff person is interacting with my mother who thinks sheās turned the phone off and with the close observation they have. But the cleaning staff is a little sloppy and flexibility with diets is a bit of an issue (sheās kosher and in the South so she gets salmon for most meals and we canāt seem to get any variety). But, they imposed vaccine mandates on their staff at the very beginning even though they knew they were going to lose staff and no patients in independent living (and I think assisted living) died from Covid. So good for us too.
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Absolutely. It is interesting to talk to professional caregivers. Many work multiple jobs and they talk amongst themselves. They will tell you the places that treat them well and reward them for actually caring for their charges. The best caregivers often end up doing in home work, though. Big facilities can be a grind, for low pay and little appreciation. They often are hired as independent contractors or part time, too, so crummy benefits. There is a ton of turnover.
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Bunsen - not sure if I missed it (and I know itās a subjective survey) - but did that $1.9 mil number include home value/equity? Canāt help but be interested in the flat figure even though I know (as has been discussed here with such nuance) there are many other factors! (the inevitable appeal of the short-cut!).
@CateCAParent some of what you say is true - but it depends. We have had some of the CNAs go to being sitters because they are lazy and get paid for sitting; some of the sitters are fine. I have seen LPNs go from one facility to another - some of them tend to not be the greatest either, be it trying to work multiple jobs with little sleep for example. Trying to keep the professional type of caregivers in every job classification - from housekeeping through caregivers.
Also it depends on the familyās perceptions and family dynamics. We had a couple whose elderly relative was in our facility and they were super happy ā but then when very dependent DH was declining and wife was able to stay at bedside 24/7 at Veteranās hospital ā then they found all kinds of issues with the facility and caretakers ā including taking a tissue to the corner of the bathroom tiles and saying the facility was not clean. The social worker was able to find other placement ASAP.
The staff and facility where FIL was had very caring personnel and the facility was well run. MIL was warmly greeted and they took great pains to help her feel at home ā and she actually was complimentary of the food and the care. One week two her body gave out and she had a natural death in her sleep.
Unfortunately especially during Covid, contract workers do need to get placed. Our facility had very competent LPNs with contract work. Typically can get some other staff to split another shift for overtime pay or work a double shift. Working on the same unit, there is a routine that is helpful with the staff workers.
Our facility did not have much turnover with housekeeping except for 2nd shift floor techs who did hallway maintenance, evening trash duties etc - those were typically young men who were students or graduated to other jobs ā one was a tech guy and got a position there; another learned facility maintenance and promoted into that.
It didnāt say. I bet thatās per couple (though individual number would be around the same) and excludes home equity as it says āsaved.ā
I want to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who participates on this thread. Yāall always keep me thinking and learning. In the past week, @notrichenough 's 80% retirement math and @thumper1 's starting the conversation about transitioning from saver to spender gave me much food for thought. I am a Saver with a capital S. I hate to spend money.
Hereās my new question. I have been eligible since 55 for a small pension from where I used to work 20 years ago. I called the benefits people to see what I would get if I started drawing on the pension now, at 59, vs waiting until 65. The difference is around $250/month. The break-even timeframe is almost 20 years. If I waited to draw the pension at 65 and waited to draw SS until 65 and dh did the same, we would be bringing in more money than we have our entire working lives. Once we get to RMD off my 401k, I seriously donāt know what weād do with all the money. We have no major bills, other than medical premiums and our property taxes. House is paid off, no car payments, pay off credit card every month. If there is money left for the kids, great, but our main retirement goal is to not be a burden to our kids so an inheritance is just icing.
So, is there a compelling reason that I should wait until 65 to start taking that money? Is there a tax thing Iām not thinking/donāt know about? Do we NEED this pension to get by right now? No. But it would just about pay our hefty property taxes so that would free up some monthly cash flow. Both of my parents lived/are beyond 90. Dhās family isnāt quite as hardy. Thoughts?
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I encourage you to use Firecalc to run your scenarios. Itās great for trying out different scenarios to see the likelihood of your money lasting. https://firecalc.com/
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The only way to accurately answer this is to know exactly when you will die.
Since we obviously donāt know, unless there are known health problems that could shorten your life, if you donāt need the money now my bias is to delay taking the money for as long as the benefit keeps increasing, and have more income in the future.
If you need the money now and itās a choice between using your own savings or collecting a pension early, delaying using your own savings will potentially leave more for your heirs.
Itās tough to know which is better.
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Well, that was interesting. A 0% fail rate, even with my taking the pension and SS early. Woot!
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My goal is to gift my heirs money while Iām alive so I can see them enjoy it. If there is anything left in my coffers when Iām goneā¦I view that as gravy.
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Seems like there are four broad retirement financial scenarios after you leave the labor class for retirement:
- Dependent. Your assets and their investment earnings and pensions are not enough to cover your living expenses, so you will be dependent on your relatives, charity, and/or the government.
- Marginal capitalist. Your assetsā investment earnings and pensions are not enough to comfortably cover your living expenses, so your assets will gradually be depleted, but are unlikely to run out before you die.
- Comfortable capitalist. Your assetsā investment earnings and pension are comfortably higher than your living expenses, so your assets will continue to grow during retirement.
- Upper capitalist. Like scenario 3, but you have enough to use your pocket change to pay for a relativeās medical school, be a named and recognized donor to a college or other non-profit organization, have substantial influence on a politician, etcā¦
From your description above, it looks like your goal is scenario 2 at the minimum (basically avoiding scenario 1), but you may be in scenario 3.
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Yep. Iād say that Iām a firm 2.5.
My 401k, which I hope to not touch in retirement, and my house are our two biggest assets. I figure if I leave those to the kids they would be delighted, but I always can spend down the 401k if I have to. Our financial planner said that we wouldnāt need to touch it, but itās there if I need it.
Iām really trying to get out of the constantly saving mode. I donāt want to white-knuckle retirement. I want to enjoy the fruits of our labors and the lifetime of scrimping.
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You have to withdraw RMDs when the time comes. Nothing says you have to spend it, but if your situation is such that you donāt āneedā it, enjoy it. Give it away to your family and/or a worthy cause. Take the family on a fun vacation. Update your furniture. You saved ā¦ enjoy it!
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Yeah, I lowered my āportfolioā amount on that calculator by $200k to account for withdrawals from my 401k just to see how the numbers worked. When I did that I still had a 96.7% success rate. 
When youāve grown up in a relatively poor family, itās hard to believe the numbers. I hear my parentsā voice saying, āYou never know. Continue to pinch every penny.ā 
I want to have a healthier relationship with money.
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I may be incorrect on this, but I believe (at least at one point) one could use RMDs for charitable contributions and not have to pay the personal income tax on the distribution itself.
I really like @ucbalumnusās, ābucketsā of retirees. Iād say we are a 2.5 as well. I think we could comfortably live off earnings, etc. However, itās the concerns over long-term care that make me desire to be a solid 3 (which Iām not). Because I can see those depleting all our assets. I mean, this has happened to some of my friendsā parents. They spend down all their savings for LTC and then go on Medicaid.
I guess Iām greedy. I want enough for quality LTC AND the ability to leave some $ to ds.
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Well, that would be awesome if we could make a charitable deduction and not have to pay tax on the RMD. Right now, in my will, I have left some monies to four different entities that were, I feel, major influences on my kids. Iād love to be able to give them that money while alive ā¦ and maybe get a tote bag to boot! 
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Here is some information from Fidelity:
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Regarding travel in retirement, since the kids left for college, this has become significantly cheaper. First, we pay for two and not four. Second, we are not tied to school holidays and can go slightly off season which is significantly cheaper both as airfare and accommodation. For instance, this pst summer, we went to Greece in the beginning of September and to Sardinia at the end of September. Wonderful time to go - avoiding the heat and the crowds.
Likewise, going skiing is now possible whenever, and also to Europe where it is much cheaper.
In general, we avoid traveling in the US as it involves a lot of time in a car and is more expensive.
YMMV
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