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Thread: Looking ahead

  1. #11
    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    I love my Dr. He tried retirement in his 60's and got bored so started taking patients again. As he put it it, "There is only so much golf or fishing one can do and still feel excited about it." Working 3 days a week keeps his mind sharp and keeps him useful. He's in his late 80's.
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

  2. #12
    Senior Member Gardenarian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    I’m 54, and am tempted in the coming year to move to a nearly-all-cash position, from a 100%-invested position.

    Not because I fear market swings and whatnot, but simply to reduce fuss, bother, paperwork. I don’t see my current lifestyle getting significantly more expensive (less so, as daughter is finishing college this summer), and I think I can just put all our loot under the mattress and not run out before I’m 99.

    It would be great to just not have to think about finances at all.
    I do not enjoy the financial game and try to think about finances as little as possible.

    What's not in savings is in property, and I use a property management company that takes care of most everything.

    As far as spending - I might get a lighter, more robust electric bike. Maybe. That, and a bit of travel.

  3. #13
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Float On View Post
    I love my Dr. He tried retirement in his 60's and got bored so started taking patients again. As he put it it, "There is only so much golf or fishing one can do and still feel excited about it." Working 3 days a week keeps his mind sharp and keeps him useful. He's in his late 80's.
    That's awesome. He sounds a lot like my mother-in-law. She's 85 now, a nurse and had quit a few years ago. She was keeping busy with lots of stuff. Events at the library, delivering meals on wheels, going on trips with her children, etc. But it just wasn't enough, so now she's back to working for the doc's office she retired from for two days a week. We were just there for Christmas and she's still spry and alert as can be. When we drove up she was outside brushing the snow off my sister-in-law's car because SIL needed to leave for work soon. There isn't a rocking chair in her life anytime soon.

    The comparison to my father, who passed away at 85 a few years ago after spending the last 4 years of his life sitting in a rocking chair in his little assisted living apartment staring at the tv on full volume (because he just never got around to going to get fitted for hearing aids so he couldn't even have a conversation with someone unless they were yelling at him) basically waiting to die, couldn't be more stark.

  4. #14
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    It would be great to just not have to think about finances at all.
    I concur. I am nowhere near wealthy but have little stashes of cash and Vanguard funds that I rarely look at. It is all more complicated than I wish to think about.

  5. #15
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    When I was working, I didnt think about finances much. I just threw money into investment vehicles, looked at our total assets one time a year, and that was it.

    Now that I have a little more time I tally our monthly expenditures and record that number to get an idea of how our spending is changing. I am still far from watching individual investments and their performance.

    All I get from close scrutiny of investments is worry about how much should be in cash vs growth. We have crap loads in cash. Yet, That allows me to sleep st night. i do not want to dwell on it since there is no clear answer.

    But I do keep my ear cocked to the daily Dow report.

  6. #16
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    I'm of the same mindset as iris lily. In fact it was last week that I re-balanced my investments and just yesterday that I updated my spreadsheet to see where things stand for the year. Last year I deposited a little over $41k (including my employer 401k match) into my various investment accounts and saw about $25k in growth on top of that. I'm pleased with that result. It could have been larger, but I was nervous about what a trump presidency might bring so last year's re-balance was towards a more conservative strategy. This year, in light of the tax cut, I went the other direction, figuring we've probably got some time before the economy overheats, interest rates go up, and it all falls apart. May as well ride that wave. Depending on how things are looking I may do a mid-year re-balance next summer.

    It's probably not in the cards that I will ever be able to go strictly cash and stop thinking about investment income. (although who knows, that powerball ticket I bought sunday may pay off bigly!) I currently spend a little over $45k per year on everything from rent to vacations so I'm steadily marching towards FI. If I could convince SO (and myself) to move to Hermann MO and buy a $79k house I could retire today. While I'm sure that IL would be a lovely neighbor my preferred retirement locales don't involve snow and don't have $79k housing options unless we want to buy an old RV and park on a street corner somewhere, so I'll likely continue working for at least a few more years...

  7. #17
    Senior Member dmc's Avatar
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    Well I did rebalance to 55/45, and now it’s out of wack again. Damn republicans and their new tax laws.

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