Meeting with a financial advisor was great!

[RosieTR]

I feel funny sharing this IRL so I'll share here. DH and I met with a financial advisor: the ones that work for the retirement fund companies and offer counseling one-on-one for free as part of the deal of servicing retirement accounts.
So mostly it was about the $ in my retirement account but they also do a look at all the rest of your finances. The guy said we made his month! Simple living and following (not perfectly by a big stretch but to some degree) the program really does make a difference over time! We've been more or less working on some form of simple living for a bit over 15 yrs, and now the program says that if we take retirement pretty early (55) and one person works part time, we'd have more $ than what we bring home now. He was unwilling to do younger or without at least some part time work til 65 in his model so heh, I'm hopeful early retirement (FI3) is a very real possibility. Anyway, I wanted to say esp to those starting out to keep on keeping on, even if you make some mistakes or struggle sometimes. It's trying again each and every month to spend less than you earn and think about what really makes you and your family enjoy each dollar.

[iris lilies]

That's great news! 55 was my number to, but I hit it and passed it up because I didn't mind working. Now I do mind, so I'll be skipping out one of these days.

[Spartana]

That's great Rosie - Congratulations! I've never formally met with a financial adviser except once and he didn't get the concept of frugal simple living and early retirement at all. Kept telling I had to work many more years so I could afford such things as luxury cruises, spa retreats, etc... Even went line by line with what he precieved would be my expenses and I kept saying "I don't need money for that because I don't do that" i.e. like needing a monthly budget for my dry cleaning bill (I haven't owned anything in years that needs dry cleaning). It was very frustrating and kept me away from financial planners - especially the retirement kind - so it's nice to hear that some "get it" and don't just flat out tell you it's impossible.

So how long out is the retirement and who gets the PT gig and what do you think it will be? I think if I was going to go back to work I'd opt for a full time seasonal job for a few months each years rather than a permanent PT job. Leave you with the same amount of money but a more freedom during much of the year.

And Iris Lily...I'm waiting.... waiting......... :-)!

[SteveinMN]

Very true, Rosie!

It was nice for us to have a financial advisor confirm our planning, too. So I'm retired early now and DW has her sights set on 2019 (30 years with the county). But DW also knows she could move to a different job if she wanted to and not worry about her earning power quite so much. Or she could consult in her chosen field. I can keep up on the photography until I can't move 25-30 pounds of gear around anymore. Or we can take part-time (Mc)Jobs to get out in the world and bring in some money.

Yes, it really does work. And it's the best advertisement I can think of to "sell" the idea of living simply to our friends with the big bills who have another 10-15 years to go before they can enjoy all their "stuff".

[EDITED]And congratulations on reaching the goal (or at least having it within sight)!

[pinkytoe]

That's great! I have been attending various retirement presentations too at work as I would like to retire to at least part time next fall. Once I crunch some more numbers, I will have a truer picture. I just learned that my SS payments whenever I do take them will be reduced because I will be getting a monthly pension. Darn!!

[iris lilies]

And Iris Lily...I'm waiting.... waiting......... :-)!

Well, let's just say I will not be spending one more freeking spring weeding flower beds between days that I have to go to work. :~)

[Spartana]

I just learned that my SS payments whenever I do take them will be reduced because I will be getting a monthly pension. Darn!!I'm in the same situation and it really chaps my butt (or whatever that term is). I contributed into SS all the years I was in the service as well as when working as a teenager so earned the credits to get a benefit. But that SS benefit will be reduced by 2/3rds the amount of my public pension. So If I was to get a SS benefit of $900 and a pension benefit of $900 then the SS benefit would be reduced by $600 and I'd only get $300. URGHHHHH... I don't really understand that because like everyone else, I paid into it to get that benefit but because I earned a pension at another job those years of paying into SS just evaporate? If I had just did my time in the service, quit and never worked again - or worked for a non-public place and had a 401K instead of a pension - I would have gotten the full amount. I paid towards my government pension 7% plus a matching 7% from my employer (the state of Calif) so it's really not much different from a 401K in terms of contributing to both a 401K and SS - contribute to both, get a benefit from both. Should be the same for public penisons and SS. Contribute to both, get a benefit from both. Oh well. SS probably won't exist by the time I'm old enough to get it anyways.

ETA: I do understand the logic behind it but still chaps my butt!

[Spartana]

Well, let's just say I will not be spending one more freeking spring weeding flower beds between days that I have to go to work. :~)Yessssss... she is ready to join me on the Dark Side...

[Teacher Terry]

I am in the same boat with a pension & will lose most of my SS. Actually it is not right because if you had a pension for 2 different companies you would still get both & this is no different. To the OP: so glad you will be able to retire soon:cool:.

[RosieTR]

That's great Rosie - Congratulations! I've never formally met with a financial adviser except once and he didn't get the concept of frugal simple living and early retirement at all. Kept telling I had to work many more years so I could afford such things as luxury cruises, spa retreats, etc... Even went line by line with what he precieved would be my expenses and I kept saying "I don't need money for that because I don't do that" i.e. like needing a monthly budget for my dry cleaning bill (I haven't owned anything in years that needs dry cleaning). It was very frustrating and kept me away from financial planners - especially the retirement kind - so it's nice to hear that some "get it" and don't just flat out tell you it's impossible.

So how long out is the retirement and who gets the PT gig and what do you think it will be? I think if I was going to go back to work I'd opt for a full time seasonal job for a few months each years rather than a permanent PT job. Leave you with the same amount of money but a more freedom during much of the year.

And Iris Lily...I'm waiting.... waiting......... :-)!

Yes, there was some of the incredulity of retiring when you have about what you need to live on coming in, rather than more! In my case I would anticipate growing more food and doing some freelancing type thing, though your seasonal point makes me think about the ski resorts! Could be a worse life than working the ski resorts in winter (with free lift tickets!) and then footloose and fancy-free from late summer through fall (mountain-climbing and gardening season). As for who does what, we'd probably both do some stuff. DH has experience with computer networking which could very easily be turned into something part-time as-needed. My work is a little more difficult, but I get free classes so I can start taking economics/finance and maybe teach or apply it otherwise. Additionally or alternatively I can take coding classes and figure out a freelance type thing with that. If you don't need to earn much, you don't need to limit yourself. I think it'd be fun to work at a nursery or dog day care ;-)
As for when...well I'm 39 now so this guy's calcs were suggesting another roughly 15 years. We may be able to shorten that by increasing our saving a bit more aggressively and by not worrying about having a lot more income after retirement (?) than what we're spending before it.