If you were independent and getting along fine, you’d probably take exception if your parents complained about your spending/financial habits. It’s probably best to just smile and nod when you disagree with their approach.
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True, but I’m guessing it depends upon the type of relationship people have. It sounds like his parents have shared every possible detail with him, opening themselves up to criticism, though his dad seems like he doesn’t want to listen. However, there is a way that one can help educate and steer one’s parents to the appropriate solution, if they’re clever, are you listening @DarkMatter565? It took years for my mom to let me help her, now she’s decided I’m the financial genius, when all I did is steer her towards some easy, safe, more profitable decisions using the right code words.
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We’ve had umbrella coverage for decades. It make some our other coverages less expensive.
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Thanks so much for the feedback on fee-only planners! Going to email the planner we met w/and ask for more details, plus talk to a second planner a friend recommended.
Glad to see the reminder on umbrella policies!! Meant to get one months ago (after earlier discussion). Will call today!
PS For my own peace of mind am actively trying to not think about the discussion above where $6.3 mil for retirement is “not the best but not the worst”…LOL 
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IMHO one or both of your parents may be ‘oversharing’ with you/siblings - maybe one of them has some unhappiness with some of the decisions going on - or is stuck a little in a lifestyle that can be easier/better for that one person but as a couple, goes along with the other person. That is what marriage is all about - and it seems they are not way out of bounds on anything.
If they don’t subscribe to “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance” you might want to give them a gift subscription.
Your parents are financially secure, so try to let them live the way they want - yes you may see them ‘throwing away money’ or not doing as well with investments with the income they have - but it also doesn’t seem they want to change.
I think DD1’s husband is jealous (or his behavior with what he says to her) of what DH and I have built up, and also he is struggling with being ‘the head of the household’ - yet has yet to deliver such except for the talk before and during their 6 year marriage (DD1’s career is very solid while her H has had a late start but also was not willing to do better in his career where they live - they will be moving for his career, in Dec/Jan). So he chips away at comments to her, throwing out comments to downgrade things in the past which he has no knowledge of but thinks it makes him look better - which the comments have lessened as I have countered the most ridiculous of these statements of his. DDs received better education/quality extra curriculars, and had several trips to other countries (his brother and he had no non-US travel) - we had the resources, and also lived in a community where DDs had more opportunities. Can’t change the past and I try to limit SIL’s ‘spin’.
DD1/H are not homeowners. They want to give advice (through DD) on our home, and what they (and DD2) would be dealing with if we suddenly died – I replied “we have lots of money - you can hire someone!” - also our home is worth more than what they would ever be able to purchase once they are ready to purchase a home.
I have not turned my house upside down to ‘childproof’ for example (I do not center my life around theirs, DH and I live our lives) - I/we go to their place for watching the kids and overnight visits (I was 6 week M - F live in nanny for them when their daycare was closed for COVID for example, with going home on the weekends) - which they were grateful for (they need both incomes, and although he worked from home during COVID, he needed full concentration and stayed in master bedroom suite). His parents cannot travel well now, nor did they ever come much before - so they have them come to their place as often as they can (which their home is close to some nice beaches) and his mom gets the house ready for them (daughter in laws help by grocery shopping and managing meals, and also helping the mom clear out stuff - like paperwork and some of the son’s things each time the sons and families visit). On the early parent visits to DD1/SIL, when I found out his parents had to sleep on an air mattress, we offered (and they chose) to accept their selection (and our purchase) of a innerspring roll out sofa and love seat set which looks nice and has held up well.
for those folks chasing bps, Vanguard Federal MMF is up to 5% (7-day yield) and nearly all exempt from state income tax.
https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vmfxx
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Few retirees (even here on CC) have that kind of net worth.
But folks should keep in mind that if a couple happens to have pension(s) coming, that can be equivalent/better than a million in the bank.
https://andrewmarshallfinancial.com/what-is-a-pension-worth/
example - “So, for this couple to confidently withdraw an inflation adjusted $77,000 annually for the rest of their lives, they would need to have an additional investment account with $1.67 million in it! ”
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I believe 38% is exempt from state income tax. Vanguard has other alternatives with larger % exempt from state tax (see https://www.vanguard.com/pdf/USGOIN_2023.pdf ), some of which have similar yield. The Fidelity fund I listed earlier is >50% (my state has >50% makes it fully tax exempt rule).
I use my Fidelity money market like I would a bank account, including using an account number and routing number for financial transfers or sending/receiving payments. Right now my balance is quite low because of other recent opportunities with higher APY. I mentioned tbills, which are 100% state tax exempt. I purchased some at 5.2% recently. And I invested in a savings account at effective 7.5% APY (after bonus) for first $100k last week. I have some tbills that will be paying out later this month, which will replenish the balance in my Fidelity money market until other opportunities come along.
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Yes, that pension is so valuable. No matter what happens to the stock market, it always comes, more reliable than any paycheck ever was. I’m hoping that they have strengthened pension protections enough that should our former company ever go down the tubes, pensions will be unaffected, because one never knows what the future will bring.
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my bad, (critical reading fail)
Yeah, my grandfather has a inflation-adjusted pension paid for by his government. They’re pretty amazing because it’s completely uncorrelated with the market and the government is the one who’s taking the risk here.
The only disadvantage is that it’s gone once you’re gone. I’d quite like a inflation-adjusted pension but no company where I currently am provides one these days.
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Actually, many people choose a survivor benefit with their pensions. I had many different options to choose when I retired, to take my pension at a reduced rate and give my husband a percentage of the pension when I passed away. Since we both have pensions, neither of us chose the survivor benefit, since the other person shouldn’t need it.
It is unfortunate that there are very few jobs with pensions left. It is very costly for a company.
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Just starting to receive SS benefits for me – and will do so relative soon for ShawWife as well. My monthly SS check would not cover our mortgage, though it makes a healthy dent. But, the mortgage interest rate is 2.625%, so I am not in a hurry to pay it off.
It will be interesting to see how our kids deal with their mates about money. ShawWife and I jointly pool everything. I have income. She has had and will have an inheritance but nominal income relative to me. Her inheritance is small compared to what I’ve earned but was very helpful when we were buying our first house and in other ways.
ShawSon has our ethos. His wife is completely self-made. Came from a rough family environment. Got herself a full scholarship to a very good private HS without any help from family. Got herself a full scholarship to an excellent LAC. Got great jobs and went to one of the very top business schools. Has worked at several of the major tech companies and has accumulated stock that has probably gone up in value a lot. She was nervous about sharing and I think there is room to for them to keep what they each had before they got together. He has the shares of his startup, which on paper makes him pretty wealthy. But, going forward, both have a good incomes and will I think share completely on current earning. From what I can see, they are fully supportive and behind each other in every way. No undercutting.
ShawD is without a partner at the moment but is about to close on a two-family house, with the help of her grandmother for 70% of the downpayment. She has in effect an interest-free loan against her inheritance from my MIL. The MIL let other grandkids know they could do this as well if they were buying a house. We thought she might need our help as well, but she has accumulated money also. With her ex-BF, he was a senior software engineer at big tech, so his salary was significantly higher than hers. I think they split the rent evenly but he paid for all restaurants and take-out and I think they split groceries and he paid for her many food appliances (she is a great cook). Alas, a lot of those appliances burned in the moving truck taking her stuff east. But, I suspect that they would also have shared fully had they not split up. They were both fully supportive of each other as far as I could see.
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I’m going to gift my Dad my level 1 CFA books lol.
He’ll be an expert on fixed income and equity valuation in no time.
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Taking a slight detour of our $$ discussions… just saw a news blurb that a 95 yr old Federal Circuit judge is suing the other members of FC over their investigation into her fitness to remain on the bench. Whoa. Talk about being a workaholic. If I live that long, I will be definitely retired at 95.
What age do you think you will retire?
60…
A nurse retired at age 96.
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@BunsenBurner, I have no plans to retire. I love what I do. Unless I am traveling, I work at home in a beautiful office looking down at a bend in a river, a horse farm and conservation land. Over time, I will shift my work in two ways: 1) more pro bono work; and 2) less travel (I was in London and Nairobi a couple of weeks ago and that will become harder to do even though I travel business or first class for work and stay at nice hotels). I might at some point have to shift to a first floor office.
I will likely spend more time writing (I haven’t written a book in over 15 years) and in co-founding new ventures that other people run (I have one in gestation and am really thinking about the disaster that is dating/mating that we were discussing in another thread).
But, I can’t see why I would retire if I am still able to work. Fortunately, ShawWife thinks the same way.
My father also loved what he did. He worked until a few months before his death at age 80. He had two jobs until 75 (one as a physics professor and one as a physicist at a private research institute). At 75, the institute said they were no longer able to pay a salary (they apparently should have stopped paying at 70) but would continue to offer him an office, an assistant, and generalized perks so he would keep coming in.
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Exactly.
I like what I do.
My office is opposite one of the world’s most famous cathedrals.
I get cooked food in the afternoon, air-conditioned rooms and free alcohol pretty regularly as every month, there’s a drinks mixer for the people on my floor. I regularly treat myself to hot chocolate every day.
I do have 40 years of work to go but yeah, no plans to retire any time soon.
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However, if he prefers low maintenance investments, he may benefit more from general asset class knowledge rather than valuation of individual securities.
A retired financial analyst may find investment management of personal retirement accounts to be an interesting retirement hobby, but many other retirees may just want low maintenance investments that will not run out while they are alive. Similarly, a retired rental property manager may find managing their own rental real estate to be an interesting retirement hobby, but many other retirees do not want to deal with investment properties, tenants, etc.
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