Savings You Will Experience in Retirement
Many people are looking forward to retirement with mixed emotions.
On the one hand, they are excited about finally getting out of the 9 to 5 rat race (which, let’s face it, is usually more like 8 to 6). They are looking forward to relaxing more and to finally starting some home projects they haven’t had time to tackle due to their fulltime jobs.
On the other hand, some people are nervous about having enough cash in retirement once those regular paychecks stop coming. Nobody is sure how long they will live, so it’s impossible to know if the money will last.
Fortunately, there are some savings to be experienced once we retire, as long as we’re willing to sacrifice a little bit. Some of these savings are in terms of time, some are in cash, and others involve both. Let’s take a look at six of them:
- Car. Assuming you and your spouse both own cars, this might be the time to sell one of them. Sharing a car with a spouse isn’t so bad when one or both of you spends a vast majority of time in the home.
- Clothing. Few of us dress as well at home as we do at the job. Not having to purchase work clothes anymore should save some bucks.
- Housing. If you’ve paid off your mortgage during your working years, then staying put might be your best option. But if you’re not close to accomplishing that, consider downsizing to a smaller house, condo or apartment.
- Commuting. Unless you worked at home, you probably experienced commuting costs in terms of train fare, gasoline, wear and tear on your car, etc., during your working years. Retirement will eliminate these costs.
- Senior discounts. Some places of business, including restaurants, offer discounts to folks when they reach retirement age. Take advantage of them. You’ve earned it.
- Tax rates. With less income comes fewer taxes. Ask your accountant to show you how to time your retirement account withdrawals to incur the fewest fees possible.
If men were intelligent they would start something like an annuity when they get their first job and put something in it every month. Yet you hear all the excuses…gee I have car to pay for, gee I’m getting married, gee we have to rent or buy a house, gee we are having a kid, gee the old car is wore out and I have to buy a new one, gee the cost of living is taking all my money, gee Obamacare is taking all my money, and so they never save. They are shocked when they retire and have nothing.
Nothing like retiring from the military and getting half pay for your monthly check. Boy do you learn to be frugal. After a few cost of living raises, I had a new trick.
At the end of Every month, whatever amount was left over, whether a dollar, $10, or any amount, I would subtract it from the checkbook and ADD it in the back of the checkbook. This way I always lived within my paycheck, and I was saving money bit by bit in the back.
After 20 years, I moved to Kentucky, made a down payment on a house ($4,000 and a15 yr mortgage) and installed Central Heat/Air, installed new sidewalks (from driveway to front and side door) and an aluminum carport. Wow where did that money come from? The back of the checkbook, of course. Yes I could have put the money in some type of savings but interest rates are crap and I didn’t have to wait til I was in a rocking chair to have the money available. What do you call doing this? SELF DISCIPLINE!
I don’t buy crap toys that I don’t need. I’m not a child so I don’t need games, I don’t buy every new toy that everyone insist I just MUST have it. I don’t need multiple computers, one main one to use and one to run my security cameras. I
I was told the only reason I stayed in the military was because I could not make it in the “real world”. After 25 years I am retired with an annuity and free medicare/tricare. I suppose they have pink slips and Obummercare. Who is in the “real world”?
I’ve been retired for 35 years, am 82 and enjoying my life. Some ask if I get bored being home so much. I reply that only boring people are ever bored. Active people are never bored. There is always something to be done.
“I ain’t going to go quietly!” To retire or not is a personal predicament that one must consider carefully. One wrong misstep or error in judgement can mean that all the hard work and planning can go down the drain, like water poured onto the sand.
To really consider retirement you must start thinking about it when you are in your early thirties. This will give you time, twenty years worth of time, to plan your course and navigate your finances through this troubled world.
I have found that an man or women with nothing to look forward to in life, such as working everyday or working on something that makes them happy will wither away and die. You have to find something that you can do on a daily basis that will keep you moving and belonging to the community in general.
The question now becomes, “Will I have enough money to stay retired. Can I live on the interest of my investments without having to use the principal?” In truth, this is why you need the twenty years to save up for this point in time of your life. The bigger the principal the more interest you earn.
Part of what Frank’s blog has already stated is true, you need to save, you need to pay your self first, and you need to put your money into a finical vehicle that will give you more bang for your buck like mutual fund account along with a solid blue chip stock. The more money you put into these finical vehicles the more you earn. Never leave your money in the bank. The best interest that they will pay is 1% or less. They make more interest on your money while paying you peanuts to use it. Remember, it was J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sack’s, as other finical institutions, that were investing in crude oil speculations that caused the price of oil to rise all the while they paid their customers literately nothing for using their money to do it. Why give your money away for someone else to make money off of it? If you buy a can of pop and you pay 5 cents for the redemption on it; why allow another to collect what you had already paid for it? If 20 people fail to get their 5 cents back that means that someone that recycles just earned a dollar. This is why the banks love charging you a bounce check fee of $35.00 dollars. It only cost the banks 3 cents to handle leaving them $34.97 profit. So go through your spending and truly look at what you spend your money on, where it is going, and do you really need to purchase it now? Perhaps you can do with out or find it at a cheaper price. Learn to be comfortable with what you have and what you truly need; not with what you would like to have.
Retirement is not something you truly need; but, rather something you would like to have. Remember, it is the younger generation that is chomping at the bit for your job. Your employer would like to hire someone at a lower rate; it means more profit for them. It is your life don’t just roll over because someone wants you to. They are not taking care of you and your family; that is your job. Retire on your terms and no one else.
Start an online business – it’ll get you more (if you know how to do it) than you ever made at a “job”.
Having already retired, I have another idea. Use some of the time you formerly spent working for pay, much of which only got taken away in taxes anyway, learning to become more self-sufficient. Learn and practice new skills, doing things for yourself that you used to pay others to do for you because you didn’t have the time.
Just four days ago I used a chainsaw for the first time to cut down a dead tree on the side of my house. To tell you the truth, I was afraid of using a chainsaw out of fear of hurting myself. In any case, I just saved myself $1000.00. It only took me one day to cut it down and two days to clean up the mess. I worked hard; but, it felt good like the good ole days. I’m 60 years old. Who said that I should retire now? I’m still going on strong. :-)