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Retirement Advice From Those Who Learned the Hard Way

Brett

Brett

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Retirement Advice From Those Who Learned the Hard Way
Regrets of their postwork lives include not giving more time to health, finances and relationships

https://www.wsj.com/articles/retirement-regrets-investments-relationships-b67a1080

Many retirees say they realized too late how they could have prepared for a more financially secure and rewarding postwork life. They would have focused on saving more money to cover the higher cost of living. Or they would have put more time into building relationships, taking better care of their health or cultivating new pursuits.

Investing for retirement means more than money

Jim Pilzner, a retired entrepreneur, regrets not setting goals for himself when he retired about four years ago. Now 78, he found there is only so much golf to play and only so many lunches to go to.
Retirees frequently don’t realize how much their career provided a sense of identity and self-worth. Many fail to grasp the need to plan for a different source of purpose in retirement

Relationships are the key to retirement The best predictor of longevity, health and happiness in later life is the quality of your relationships.
That is the finding of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has followed families for decades.



Retirement is longer than you think

Arthur Parmentier, 69, regrets retiring at 65, rather than working a few more years, partly because he missed out on a few more years of contributions to his retirement account.
 
I live in a pretty wealthy part of Northern Virginia. I have many friends who spend money on cars, trips, eating out, etc. Many have very little saved. It will be a huge adjustment trying to retire and give up that lifestyle. On the other hand, if you save your money before retirement you can do all of the expensive stuff when you have time to enjoy it
 
I retired early, don’t regret it, at least I had a few years before I started fighting cancer, this is my 16th year of that. My husbands Alzheimer’s took over the last ten years. At least we had a few years to enjoy.
here’s something I don’t get, people with no savings. A woman I know whose husband has Alzheimer’s just had to place him. She says in six months their money will be gone and is applying for Medicaid. Why retire to an expensive area and buy a more expensive place if it Takes all your income. Another friend thought that she would get to keep her pension and his and the government would pay for his care.
 
rapmarks said:
Another friend thought that she would get to keep her pension and his and the government would pay for his care.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you got those few years. It's one of the reasons my wife and I retired early -- who knows what's going to happen tomorrow?

In my grandmother's case, they made her drain her bank, sell her house, drain that too, and then only when she was utterly destitute would they take care of her. It's one of the many reasons I retired young. Our system is cruel. That's the only way to put it -- a cruel system run by cruel people who will cheerfully run other people through a wringer if it means they make an extra dollar.

I'm not interested in playing that game.
 
ScoopKona said:
I'm glad you got those few years. It's one of the reasons my wife and I retired early -- who knows what's going to happen tomorrow?

In my grandmother's case, they made her drain her bank, sell her house, drain that too, and then only when she was utterly destitute would they take care of her. It's one of the many reasons I retired young. Our system is cruel. That's the only way to put it -- a cruel system run by cruel people who will cheerfully run other people through a wringer if it means they make an extra dollar.

I'm not interested in playing that game.
Click to expand...
You would not believe the number of people who barely knew me who came up to me to tell me I needed to apply for Medicaid They would not believe me when I said I was fine. They wanted me destitute
 
There is definitely a misconception about what type and level of benefits are provided by the US government. I started FT work in 1995, and have been putting away personal retirement savings with the assumption that by the time I get there, the government will provide $0.
 
Our retirement life, much like our life before retirement, has been filled with family and friends. I had a grand daughter fall asleep on my lap last night watching fireworks and in a few minutes the older grand daughter that spent the night will be heading to the cabin with me to check our rat traps. My opinion is that money spent making good memories with people is always the best investment.

Bill
 
mentalbreak said:
There is definitely a misconception about what type and level of benefits are provided by the US government. I started FT work in 1995, and have been putting away personal retirement savings with the assumption that by the time I get there, the government will provide $0.
Click to expand...

You went to work FT right around the same time I did - in 1994-95 timeframe right after I went to college. The Gen X'ers are generally well aware that no promisory system of any kind really works long term - whether we're talking SSI, pensions, you name it. Many in the BB generation and older have pensions paying out that provide a fair amount of their retirement income. However, anyone who is tracking the general state of pensions knows very well that most of them are massively underfunded - and the end result when we finish kicking the can down the road is - these income streams will simply go bankrupt and the payouts will cease. The one intercessor, the government pension guarantee corporation - the funds are already running way short - and when the government debt/deficit reaches the point where we are no longer able to utilize the federal credit card - those guaranteed pension payments will also cease. It is inevitable IMHO - it's a question of when, not if. The entire system is like a house of cards in my view - and no one really seems to care enough to do anything about it.
 
Big Matt said:
I live in a pretty wealthy part of Northern Virginia. I have many friends who spend money on cars, trips, eating out, etc. Many have very little saved. It will be a huge adjustment trying to retire and give up that lifestyle. On the other hand, if you save your money before retirement you can do all of the expensive stuff when you have time to enjoy it
Click to expand...
And on the other hand, many people end up with health issues soon after they retire and are not able to do all those expensive things they had imagined. I've seen way too many people who have lived so frugally just to end up dying or have serious health issues soon after they retired. It is a balance, but don't forget to live and do some things while you are young and not push everything off to "when you have time to enjoy it", because you may not.

Kurt
 
PigsDad said:
And on the other hand, many people end up with health issues soon after they retire and are not able to do all those expensive things they had imagined. I've seen way too many people who have lived so frugally just to end up dying or have serious health issues soon after they retired. It is a balance, but don't forget to live and do some things while you are young and not push everything off to "when you have time to enjoy it", because you may not.

Kurt
Click to expand...
Indeed - that's a big part of why we bought into timesharing - to boost our quality of life as of 2018 as we entered our fifties and to place more of an emphasis on leisure time together with friends and family while not breaking the bank so to speak.
 
Brett said:
Retirement Advice From Those Who Learned the Hard Way
Regrets of their postwork lives include not giving more time to health, finances and relationships

https://www.wsj.com/articles/retirement-regrets-investments-relationships-b67a1080

Many retirees say they realized too late how they could have prepared for a more financially secure and rewarding postwork life. They would have focused on saving more money to cover the higher cost of living. Or they would have put more time into building relationships, taking better care of their health or cultivating new pursuits.

Investing for retirement means more than money

Jim Pilzner, a retired entrepreneur, regrets not setting goals for himself when he retired about four years ago. Now 78, he found there is only so much golf to play and only so many lunches to go to.
Retirees frequently don’t realize how much their career provided a sense of identity and self-worth. Many fail to grasp the need to plan for a different source of purpose in retirement

Relationships are the key to retirement The best predictor of longevity, health and happiness in later life is the quality of your relationships.
That is the finding of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has followed families for decades.



Retirement is longer than you think

Arthur Parmentier, 69, regrets retiring at 65, rather than working a few more years, partly because he missed out on a few more years of contributions to his retirement account.
Click to expand...
THIS again "Retirees frequently don’t realize how much their career provided a sense of identity and self-worth." Oh boy. Modern-day people making modern-day mistakes. If 20 yrs of career and 40 or more yrs of experience doesn't result in a "sense of identity and self-worth", then OK, chain yourself to a mirage. Let us be our happy selves.
Though this helps explain it "only so much golf" ... um ... try better hobbies perhaps?
 
WaikikiFirst said:
THIS again "Retirees frequently don’t realize how much their career provided a sense of identity and self-worth." Oh boy. Modern-day people making modern-day mistakes. If 20 yrs of career and 40 or more yrs of experience doesn't result in a "sense of identity and self-worth", then OK, chain yourself to a mirage. Let us be our happy selves.
Though this helps explain it "only so much golf" ... um ... try better hobbies perhaps?
Click to expand...
I recently retired a bit early at 56 and this is something that several people had mentioned as being an issue with them as they had retired, so I was gearing myself up to have the same feelings. However, now that I have been retired for a year I have found that is not an issue for me. I do not miss my job or doing the work at all. Not in the slightest. This was a bit of a surprise for me, since I truly enjoyed my job and what I did, and the work gave me a great sense of accomplishment. I miss seeing some of the people I worked with, but w/ Covid and mandatory work from home for two years before my retirement, I had already gotten use to that new normal.

Another thing that surprised me after retiring is that I have never had the sense of being bored, or lacking something to do. Sure, I am less busy than before, but I always have something going on or a project to work on to keep me busy. I have to say, early retirement was a great decision for me, and I'm not looking back.

Kurt
 
Maybe most people equate "busy" with "useful" & "not busy" with "bored". This topic in general always makes me think of the idea of "marginal" in economics. When I was working a TON, kicking butt, loving it, making a TON of money, I always knew clearly:
a marginal hour or rest and relaxation has a lot more value to me now than a marginal hour of work and money does. Then 2 hrs, then 3 hrs ...
I retired twice. I went back for a few years almost more to re-test the theory than any other reason. I also thought it might be nice for my kids to remember seeing me actually "work". Go figure. The first time was early 40s, a long time ago, and I agree with everything you wrote. Disclaimer: I managed stock portfolios and I still do regularly (my own) so I can't actually say "I do not miss doing the work".
 
I retired 15 years ago at 62 from a demanding job that's life expectancy is early 60's. I married well and haven't regretted it for a second. It was the right thing to do. All in all, it's been a pretty good run.

Jim
 
We both retired at 58.75 years. We have never regretted it. We travel 4 to 6 times per year. 1 to 4 weeks each time. We have more than enough income. We have 5 income streams. We both have State Pensions and Social Security. I also have a Military Retirement from 20 years of Active Duty and Reserves. This also provides our Tricare for Life. With this and Medicare we pay very little out of pocket for any Medical Treatment. Patti does volunteer. I take care of the Yard and House. Felix use to also keep me busy. Now that Felix has passed I may volunteer at the local Humane Society. Life is good.
 
Sometimes I think people just think too much about things. I retired a year and a half ago at 58.5. I'm a simple man, no problems with boredom, relationships or self worth. Retirement has been good so far. shaka
 
ScoopKona said:
In my grandmother's case, they made her drain her bank, sell her house, drain that too, and then only when she was utterly destitute would they take care of her.
Click to expand...
This has changed. My dad had Parkinson's and died in '92 and the rules then to qualify for Medicaid were the surviving spouse had to drain almost everything to the point there wasn't enough for her to live on. The rules changed a few years later to a higher income and savings limit. It's a great deal better, not perfect, but better.
I retired at 53. Things were miserable at work after being bought out, then outsourcing and a series of layoffs. I was hanging in there for the health insurance. A colleague pointed out I could do better on the individual market. I ran the numbers and realized my lifetime of saving (and being generally cheap) meant I could afford to quit. Took the last of my sick leave/vacation days at a timeshare and quit. I've never regretted it and have never been bored; there are too many things to investigate/discover out there.
 
Retirement: "A never-ending weekend."

Speaking of weekends:
Working people seem to think they can take time off. Offices close.
To us retired people, it means we can't get stuff done.
Now, I look forward to Mondays (or the next workday)...
when working people go back to work. <bah-humbug>.
 
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