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Thread: longing to retire

  1. #1

    Default longing to retire

    first thanks to all who have contributed to this site...i have learned much

    when i started 33 years ago at my facility, it was more patient care and less metics....getting to the point where it is wearing me down....i will probably will last until the end of this year...my service comp date is early december

    we have lived under our means for many years and scrimped and saved....

    here is my situation..think i am in fairly good shape
    will retire at just under 63 years old...my spouse has no social security credits

    34 years as federal employee...fers pension should be around be around 50,000 per year ...after taking 10 percent off so spouse can continue health care and receive 50 percent pension upon my death

    i will prefer to not be taking social security until 66.5 years..would even like to wait until 70 if possible so my wife could collect more after my death...social security estimate about 30,000 per year...

    tsp account at this moment has about 1,300,000....house is paid off...kids college is paid off...feel like i am getting to the end of the race....if the stock market stays stable i will be in good shape


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  3. #2

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Washington State
    Posts
    185

    Default Re: longing to retire

    Sounds like you have a great handle on the numbers & in good shape & feeling good about it. Thanks for your service to USA, Best of luck with retirement and may you be blessed along with your wife and family.

    Quote Originally Posted by alfaman View Post
    first thanks to all who have contributed to this site...i have learned much

    when i started 33 years ago at my facility, it was more patient care and less metics....getting to the point where it is wearing me down....i will probably will last until the end of this year...my service comp date is early december

    we have lived under our means for many years and scrimped and saved....

    here is my situation..think i am in fairly good shape
    will retire at just under 63 years old...my spouse has no social security credits

    34 years as federal employee...fers pension should be around be around 50,000 per year ...after taking 10 percent off so spouse can continue health care and receive 50 percent pension upon my death

    i will prefer to not be taking social security until 66.5 years..would even like to wait until 70 if possible so my wife could collect more after my death...social security estimate about 30,000 per year...

    tsp account at this moment has about 1,300,000....house is paid off...kids college is paid off...feel like i am getting to the end of the race....if the stock market stays stable i will be in good shape

  4.  
  5. #3

    Default Re: longing to retire

    Quote Originally Posted by FAAM View Post
    Sounds like you have a great handle on the numbers & in good shape & feeling good about it. Thanks for your service to USA, Best of luck with retirement and may you be blessed along with your wife and family.
    thank you....right now it is about making sure my wife has enough after i am gone...running the numbers again today..it probably make more sense to wait for two more years, but work environment has changed so much....i called in sick today, something i never would have done in the past (just minor sickness/migraine)...have about 9 months of sick leave.

    loved being a federal employee...when i first started, i was earning about 15 to 20 percent less than than the private sector ( about first 8 years of my career), but loved the job, patients and people i worked with...a lot more impersonal now...

    thanks for letting me vent!

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  7. #4

    Join Date
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    Default Re: longing to retire

    Quote Originally Posted by alfaman View Post
    thank you....right now it is about making sure my wife has enough after i am gone...running the numbers again today..it probably make more sense to wait for two more years, but work environment has changed so much....i called in sick today, something i never would have done in the past (just minor sickness/migraine)...have about 9 months of sick leave.

    loved being a federal employee...when i first started, i was earning about 15 to 20 percent less than than the private sector ( about first 8 years of my career), but loved the job, patients and people i worked with...a lot more impersonal now...

    thanks for letting me vent!
    You are in the almost perfect position. By all means, get your paperwork together so you can sign it and turn it in when ready. With $1.3 M in the TSP now- I'd say you can easily put that to work for you- get a steady stream of income off of it, and then hold off on the SS as long as you wish to.

    Just remember- there is a finite number at the distant end- and every day now continuing to work, is a day that you aren't traveling the world. (Dang- I got to remember that one myself!!)

    Best of luck! AND Congrats on having that kind of hard problem- deciding when to retire! You did great!

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  9. #5

    Default Re: longing to retire

    Why wait till December 2019 or 2 more years for that matter? Staying another 10 months isn't going to drastically change your financial position is it? FERS pension will not be that much larger for only 10 months or 2 years and you have more than enough in your TSP to go now, everything is paid off already, you aren't considering collecting SS for a few more years as it is.

    Sure you could work the remainder of this year and build that lump sum leave payout, but I get feeling you don't need that payout (although it's a nice to have). Life is short, retire and enjoy the remainder of it.

    Whatever you decide, best of luck! I hope to be in your financial position in another 24 or so years lol

  10.  
  11. #6

    Default Re: longing to retire

    Quote Originally Posted by alfaman View Post
    i will prefer to not be taking social security until 66.5 years..would even like to wait until 70 if possible so my wife could collect more after my death...social security estimate about 30,000 per year...
    alfaman;

    Thank you for sharing this with us.

    I would check to make sure your spouses' social security survivor benefit is going to be what you expect. I thought that survivor benefits were capped at your full retirement date. It goes up 8% a year for you after that but the survivor benefit does not. Please correct me if I'm wrong, anybody. I'm in the same situation with my spouse and trying to maximize survivor benefits.
    Allocations as of COB Dec 28 : 100% S. | Retirement Date:Dec 2025
    Past Returns:
    2020 31.85%,2019 27.97%,2018 -3.36%,2017 13.10%, 2016 -1.79%, 5Yr Avg 12.61%

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  13. #7

    Join Date
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    Default Re: longing to retire

    Totally agree with James!
    Looks like your finances are in GOOD shape! (And you are still young enough to get a second job, if you like. And can make it a part time job too.)
    I can repeat what others told me, prior to my retiring. When you are in your quiet time, listening to your ‘inner voice’, you will KNOW when it is time to retire.

    Oh, and one more thing, that I also posted on my own account talk recently:
    ’I wish I had worked longer’, said no retiree ever!

    Good Luck! (And maybe share with us how you got to 1.3M !!).
    There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who know binary, and those that don't!!
    Retired on December 31, 2018!!

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  15. #8

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    Default Re: longing to retire

    Oh, and one more thing....

    Not to be coming across as a expert or anything, but I often wince when I hear someone say they want to wait on SS until 70, even if they retire at 63 (or 66). Just suggest you consider: If you take SS at 63, that means that you will have collected $210,000 by age 70 ($30K x 7yrs). It will take you a LONG time to make up that 210K at the slightly increased rate you will get at 70. PLUS, once you are in SS, you will get annual Cost of Living raises, so the extra you get from waiting is even less.

    Hope this gives you some ‘food for thought’, as well as others out there debating the same question!
    There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who know binary, and those that don't!!
    Retired on December 31, 2018!!

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  17. #9

    Default Re: longing to retire

    good advice especially on social security and quality of life....i have two daughters under 26 so have to make sure health insurance will continue to cover them....i will be starting the paperwork on retirement estimate early next wk...appreciate all you input and wisdom

    thanks again


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  19. #10

    Default Re: longing to retire

    since it was asked how i got to 1.3 million
    1. maxed out tsp from the get go...pay yourself first etc...mostly in c fund...although lifestyle 20 and 30 last couple of years
    did not try to time the market...do not think i even looked at my tsp for about the first 10 years
    2. started catchup contributions about 4 years ago...suggest you start earlier if you can
    3 drove 13 year old cars (father was a mechanic and i learned enough to do all work myself on them....daughters have new cars however)
    4. paid extra on the mortgage principal every month....came out to an extra mortgage monthly payment per year...had a 15 year loan
    5. most vacations were at hilton or hyatt properties using hilton or hyatt points...europe, hawaii 4 or 5 times....went to just about every national park
    6. my wife is a great cook and bargain finder....we like a good deal, but splurge on the good stuff...especially while on vacation
    7. i am really not that smart in retrospect....my wife does all the budget...i'm lucky if i find a 20 dollar bill in my wallet (if my wife feels generous)
    8. never cheaped out on the kids, food, or family vacations
    9. did not live in a huge super expensive house, but it fits our needs well, and is close to work....about 5 min away...very lucky
    10. i did not mention that we took advantage of lowering our taxable income...my wife has a spousal ira that helped with that as well...
    she has about 40 thousand in that i think

    as a side note...i make both of my kids start a roth ira, with automatic investments when they were 18 years old......hopefully they will be in good shape when they retire....

    thanks all
    Last edited by alfaman; 02-14-2019 at 12:16 AM.

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  21. #11

    Default Re: longing to retire

    Nice! You did a lot of things right! You started early and kept socking away the contributions through good years and bad! Best of luck to you in your retirement!

  22.  
  23. #12

    Join Date
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    Default Re: longing to retire

    Quote Originally Posted by uscfanhawaii View Post
    Oh, and one more thing....

    Not to be coming across as a expert or anything, but I often wince when I hear someone say they want to wait on SS until 70, even if they retire at 63 (or 66). Just suggest you consider: If you take SS at 63, that means that you will have collected $210,000 by age 70 ($30K x 7yrs). It will take you a LONG time to make up that 210K at the slightly increased rate you will get at 70. PLUS, once you are in SS, you will get annual Cost of Living raises, so the extra you get from waiting is even less.

    Hope this gives you some ‘food for thought’, as well as others out there debating the same question!
    If you retired under CSRS and earned SS outside the government you get hit with WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/wep.html. You may be better off taking SS when eligible.
    May the force be with us.

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